Saturday, July 19

Mother Red and Siren Street Shutdown w/ Johnny Nobody and Club Awesome

Rock is not dead in Buffalo, in fact it’s surging. You can’t deny it when look at the cluster of acts like Johnny Nobody, the Found, and Chylde living for the riff and lining up believers behind them. Add Mother Red and Siren Street Shutdown to the list, too. Mother Red’s vocalist/guitarist Joe Orlando and lead guitarist Matt Roberts spent a good part of the ‘90s slogging it out at all-ages afternoon matinees and touring in vans while cutting their teeth in the hardcore scene. The pinnacle was in the blistering metalcore quintet Buried Alive, which toured relentlessly and issued a pair of releases on the hardcore kingpin imprint Victory Records. Two years back, Orlando and Roberts paired with drummer Joseph Folmar (who they’d previously played with in the Frame Up) and bassist Sean Kader for Mother Red. Not only were Orlando and Roberts starting a new band but also a label, ultimately helming the Buffalo-based collective Stampede Records. Stampede had already issued records by Handsome Jack and now is simultaneous putting out sets from Mother Red and Siren Street Shutdown. What surprised—I guess I can even say delighted—me most about Mother Red’s debut album was the diversity of it. I had them mostly pegged for stoner rockers ready to take up the mantle of Kyuss. Take It From Me (Stampede) shows that side but also finds Mother Red delving into glam metal, snotty punk, offbeat new wave, and trippy psych. A quick sampling of Siren Street Shutdown’s record suggests a taut, wiry post-hardcore bend with flashes of Modest Mouse and the funky punk edge of the long lamented Big Boys. Hear for yourself this Saturday and—get this—not only is admission free, the bands are giving away the records. Fuck the internet, you can get free music on Allen Street!

—donny kutzbach

10pm. Nietzsche’s (248 Allen St., 886.8539/www.nietzsches.com). FREE