Live Music To Our Ears

It's good to see a couple of new music venues popping up around the city - Downtown in particular. What's even more interesting is that both of the venues are surrounded by lots of activity, even when the venues are not in use. 136 Lofts (lead image) is pulling in bands such as The Breathing Tree and Lohio and Donora (just to name a couple... there are many) to a part of town that could really use the activity. The 136 Lofts venue is located inside the Lofts at 136 student housing project that opened back in October (see post). At the time, there was a general buzz regarding the building and amenities, but there was not much talk about future bookings for local and traveling musicians. Today the building is playing host to a series of concerts as well as a Battle of the Bands (follow on Facebook).

Another venue that has been creating quite a stir is The Game Room found inside Brian Wantuch's Wasteland Studio (see post). The Game Room, located at 700 Main Street, was first opened as a performance area for the bands that were already practicing in studios within the building. Musicians and bands including Stu Fuchs, On Guard, Mel Latimer, A Relative Term and Breckenwood have recently played a gig at the space. The first floor of the building formerly housed The Arts Council, until an inappropriate spending controversy nailed the organization, causing it to disband. Fortunately, the internal arts movement within the building had gained enough speed to create a dynamic ecosystem for artists and musicians. It's good to know that sometimes the grassroots efforts of a single individual can be just as effective as a publicly funded non-profit with similar goals. One glimpse of Wasteland's Facebook page is enough to get anyone excited about the inner-workings of the complex. On any given day or night, the sounds of live music can be heard piping out of myriad windows. Once again, this effort could not have benefited an area of the city more in need of a live music injection.

Be sure to follow the Facebook pages of both 136 Lofts and The Game Room (Wasteland Studios) for upcoming info on a different sort of live music scene - one that doesn't revolve around the bar scene.

136 Lofts
136 North Division St.
Buffalo, NY, 14203
716.935.6400
www.136lofts.com

The Game Room
700 Main Street (above The Vault art gallery)
Buffalo, NY
www.wastelandstudio.com/

Lead image: Jessica Rene Photography


^The Game Room @ Wasteland Studios