Snapcase’s homegrown snarl influenced every fledgling hardcore act for decades-including fellow Buffalonians Every Time I Die, who tore up local spots before rising to a now flagship act of its genre. The Goo Goo Dolls went from sweat-drenched local club shows to eventual pop radio stardom. Rick James found his funk on these streets. Walk up to a collaborative evening within the Colored Musicians Club stroll in and get situated within the jazz-infused ambiance of Pausa Art House or head to bohemian cool of Nietzsche’s, whose exterior artwork states its position quite clearly: Without music, life would be a mistake. Pack into Mohawk Place for genuine rock club grit, or find the city’s answer to Austin, Texas within the alt-country, honky tonk confines of Sportsmen’s Tavern. Catch a touring show inside the lower bowl of the historic Town Ballroom, then shuffle across the street to the Tralf for blues, jazz or the spirit of Prince-who famously played a surprise set in the place in 2002.
Step into Asbury Hall Babeville and find downtown’s most angelic venue, set inside a converted 19th century Gothic Revival-style church. It’s the amplified exuberance of a region still rising from the ashes of its Rust Belt past, but now blooming from the artistic fervor that’s always kept it pulsating.īuffalo’s music is its heartbeat, and every night, it’s unleashed to illuminate this once-heralded City of Light. It’s the drum thump of an ethnically diverse population, packed together in rock clubs once host to jazz greats, alt rock gods and every performer in between. It’s the gritty guitar chords of a city always grinding, with fledgling musicians flicking strings through punk sets or intricate progressions in the corners of dive bars and dance halls. Buffalo has its scene – but it also has a sound.