It's All Good with Griz

On Friday Oct. 23, Upstate Concert Hall in Clifton Park, NY hosted Griz, Big Wild and Muzzy Bearr of All Good Records.  The show was completely sold out, and for good reason!  Big Wild is an experience in itself, it's just one guy in a t-shirt and shaggy, goofy-looking hair up on stage with an electronic drum set, mixer, keyboard and a few other instruments.  Unfortunately for Big Wilds set they decided to use the smaller speakers at the venue, which were so quiet you could have a normal conversation in the middle of the floor.  Nonetheless, Big Wild killed it!!  Griz came out with a fire lit and kept it going throughout his whole set.  He jumped all over the map with some trap, dub, and a beautiful remix of Aerosmiths Dream On.  His killer live saxophone and the other live musicians he brought up really vibed together perfectly and got the whole crowd whipped up into a frenzy!  Behind Griz there was some of the craziest strobe lights I've ever witnessed, and with the help of these glasses and said strobes, I think my girlfriend and I may have lost a few brain cells!  Overall it was an incredible show, and if I could time-travel I would go right back to the 10-15 minutes of Griz's set where he trapped* out of his mind and the crowd went insane!


*Trapped-in this case "trapped" means to play selections of super-heavy trap or dubstep like tracks.

Emancipator and Wax Tailor

The Town Ballroom hosted Emancipator, Wax Tailor (solo set), and Yppah on Sunday October 18th, 2015.  This show was incredible, and one of the best I've been to this year.  Wax Tailors solo set was unbelievable, and he closed with his most popular song Que Sera, which he preceded with in his heavy French Accent "You have the next five minutes to convince me to come back to Buffalo with my band next year!"  Needless to say the crowd went wild!  Emancipator is on tour for their new album Seven Seas, which released in 2015.  Emancipator consisted of a drummer, bassist and two musicians who both played several instruments including keyboard, violin and guitar.  Their drummer (Colby Buckler?) was absolutely mesmerizing with his tight technique and blinding speed that was able to keep steady even through even the drum&bass beats.  This show set the bar high for a while, lets hope the music keeps getting better!!

Goldroom Live!

Monday October 12th, MNM Events presented Goldroom Live! and Gavin Turek at the Studio at the Waiting Room in Buffalo.  The first time I saw Goldroom, AKA Josh Legg, he performed a solo DJ set at Camp Bisco music festival and it was the most feel good music I had ever heard in my life!  At the Waiting Room, there was an entire live band, with no CDJ's in sight.  The band consisted of Josh Legg on keyboard, guitar and vocals, a bassist, a female vocalist/keyboard and a drummer and what a show it was!  The crowd was very small so it was a really intimate show, which Legg isn't accustomed to.  On the West Coast his self-proclaimed 'Shufflin Feet and Melting Souls' genre has been very popular for some time.  "I really do love DJing, but I play all the instruments on my tracks, so I think it's really important to bring that live experience to the crowd" said Legg after the show.  Many DJ's like Gramatik, Freddy Todd and Space Jesus also incorporate live bands into their sets, but Goldroom takes it a step further to play the instruments himself to give his fans a truly unique experience.

Aqueous vs. Kill the Noise

Different types of music warrant different types of crowds.  This week brings a contrasting of a groove rock crowd versus that of a dubstep and bass crowd.

On September 26th, Funknut and Aqueous played at Flour City Station in Rochester.  Flour City Station is a venue so small some might call it a bar with a stage.  Funknut, consisting of four members, has a keyboardist, bassist, drummer and guitarist, and lay down some crazy funk rhythms.  Aqueous, also consisting of four members, has a guitarist/keys player, guitarist, bassist and drummer, and are known for their hard-hitting groove rock.  Not only was it a great show, but the crowd was incredible!  The age range of people rocking out that night was insane, from the youngest possible at 21, to senior citizen status!  It definitely creates an interesting dynamic because music can create a common ground between the young and old, and I have met some VERY interesting people at shows.

On October 3rd, Rochester native Kill the Noise performed with another dj named AWE at a new venue this year called Anthology.  This, being electronic music, brought a much different crowd to say the least.  If you've been to a bass show, you've probably felt the intense amount of energy the room can hold, sometimes resulting in the crowd getting whipped up into a mosh pit.  The age range of this show was a little tighter, part of this due to the fact that the age limit was 18 and up, as opposed to Aqueous, which was 21 and up.  Having one performer on the stage, as opposed to four, also gives a much more personal vibe.

With these intense differences, what could possibly be similar about these crowds?  Well, not much, but at least there is the love of music every concert-attendee has!