Location, Location, Location
The biggest acts to come through Buffalo usually end up in the Showplace Theatre, tortured by their terrible acoustics. Local bands customarily open for bigger bands, so hopefully you'll see some of the Buffalo talent there. Other than that, the best place to find WNY punk and hardcore are the bars and basements.
One of these wonderful dungeons is the basement of 33 Tyler St. The great thing about this place is that the basement is actually the size of a small club or show space (the good residents actually had shows in mind when they chose the house). You can even dance down there, as many circle pits have revolved around the axis of one of the support pillars. 33 Tyler is the biggest and best basement to play shows that I think I've ever experienced. It's off of Winspear in the Heights.
99 Custer St. is another venue for DIY shows. The creative residents here have dubbed the house "The Last Stand." They'll put on just about any show, and they're friendly fellas. Out of this house are the forces behind They Live and No Time Left. The residents also produce vegetarian soap (flashbacks of Fight Club?) and 1" customizable pins at a great low price. The Last Stand is off of Main Street in the Heights.
Mohawk Place is probably the last true refuge of real rock in this rusty metropolis. This is a great bar with a little red curtained stage and a trusted clientele of rock 'n roll greaser types. Cheap beers and booze are club staples, and they always rock until last call. When I used to work late, I'd head over and things would just be getting started at 1:30 AM. Mohawk place is off Ellicott, on E. Mohawk Street.
The Basement Bar has shows from time to time, thanks to the remnants of DC Connections. It's next to The Continental, on Franklin, which also features local bands. The Continental has had a rough reputation of charging eight dollars at the door for underage kids, with no big headliners, and there are sketchy rumors about bands not receiving payment. Essentially, they don't care who plays there--they can use bands as a source of revenue. Basically, they're assholes. The Atomic hosts shows occasionally as well. It’s located at the end of Chippewa, downtown. 223 Minnesota Avenue is another venue that helps out local and traveling bands.
Spaces where bands can play are vital to the scene. Sure, they may be smaller than Marine Midland Arena, but I pity the local bands who want to play local showcases at the Showplace theatre. The bands pretty much pay to play, and lose money if they can't sell enough tickets. The basements and bars provide an honest alternative to the bullshit attitudes of greedy assholes trying to take advantage of a bunch of kids who just want to have fun.
Where Do You Want To Go Today?
One excellent resource for the local punk and hardcore scene is the Buffalo Show Website. At http://www.buffaloshows.org, you can find show listings, contacts, band home pages, show and album reviews, and a popular message board. The diligent Heather Ryan has maintained the site since 1994. Since then, she's put a lot of work into this thing, and it has become a staple of the local scene. There are plenty of pictures and even MP3's too, for the total multimedia experience. Future plans include old flyers or other artifacts and documents of the scene, more reviews and critical opinions on shows, and a further discussion of ideas in the community. If you have show listings you would like to announce, old flyers worth posting, or anything else to contribute e-mail Heather at buffalo@dangpow.com. The site is an invaluable asset to our scene.
Another great music resource is www.wnymusic.com. Run by a guy named Jay, this site has classifieds, message boards with show announcements, tips and techniques, band lists, labels, stores, studios, radio stations, web pages, magazines, and contacts. It’s everything you ever wanted to know about local music and more.
