What’s Good 3/3-3/8
Our weekly guide to what’s going on around Buffalo and in the world of pop culture.
Friday, 3/3
Free Throw w/Can’t Swim, Equipment, Early Humans (Rec Room, 79 W. Chippewa St, 6pm, $20)
A solid lineup of emo bands, at an early time so Rec Room can turn the house over for our next listing…
Live Band Karaoke: Emo/Pop-Punk Edition (Rec Room, 79 W. Chippewa St, 10pm, $5)
Sing your favorite emo and pop-punk hits from the 2000s, backed by a live band.
Jason Salmon (Rob’s Comedy Playhouse, 1340 N. Forest, Williamsville, 8pm, $12)
This stand-up has toured extensively performing for the troops in Afghanistan, his album Force of Nurture hit #1 on iTunes, and he’s appeared as an actor on Orange is the New Black and 30 Rock. He describes his comedy as, “getting the best advice you’ve ever gotten… from the dumbest guy you know.”
Free Ice Skating Weekend (Canalside, 44 Prime St, 4pm & 10pm, FREE)
The Ice at Canalside extends the skating season for another week, keeping the rink open free of charge. Curling is also still going on a first-come/first-serve basis, but the bumper cars are not running.
Daisy Jones and the Six (Amazon Prime Video)
Critics either love or hate this new series about a touring rock band with Fleetwood Mac levels of behind-the-scenes drama.
New Movies This Week
Creed III (in wide release)
Star Michael B. Jordan takes over the director’s chair in a film that’s far more interested in who Adonis Creed is as a man than how he fares in the boxing ring. He faces off against Jonathan Majors as a childhood friend who went to jail while Adonis went on to fame and fortune, and holds a lifelong grudge that can only be settled in the ring.
Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre (in wide release)
We can’t think of a better actor-director combination for a fun, dumb action movie than Guy Ritchie and Jason Statham. A supporting cast that includes Cary Elwes, Bugzy Malone, Josh Hartnett, Hugh Grant, and America’s Sweetheart Aubrey Plaza is just icing on the cake.
Children of the Corn (Regal Walden Galleria, Regal Transit Center)
The unkillable franchise is on its 11th interaction, originally based on a Stephen King story about a cult full of menacing children living in remote Kansas farmland
Saturday 3/4
Josh Ritter (Asbury Hall, 341 Delaware Ave., 8pm, $39.50)
Acclaimed singer-songwriter Ritter brings his brand of Americana to Babeville, in advance of the April release of his eleventh album, Spectral Lines.
19th Annual The Cure vs. The Smith Dance Party (Buffalo Iron Works, 49 Illinois St, 9pm-2am)
Mopey Gen-Xers of the world unite, as Iron Works plays the music of these two giants of maudlin 80s pop music all night long.
A Night for Ukraine w/Bria Blessing (The Apex, 2435 Hopkins Rd, Getzville, 7pm, $59)
This American-born singer returned home after 30 years in Ukraine, where she built a singing career, appearing on that country’s edition of The Voice. She left Ukraine for Buffalo in 2020, and is staging a benefit concert, with stories and songs from her adopted country.
Beethoven’s Eighth Day (Kleinhans Music Hall, 3 Symphony Circle, 7:30pm, $32)
Colorado Springs Philharmonic music director Josep Caballé-Domenech guest-conducts the BPO through Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony, as well as music by Strauss, Price, and Carlos Simon. With pianist Michelle Cann.
Irish Whiskey Release Party (Buffalo Distilling Company, 860 Seneca St., 1pm)
The first batch of the first whiskey aged in Buffalo (although it was distilled in West Cork, Ireland), makes its debut, with live music from 3-9pm.
Chris Rock: Selective Outrage (Netflix)
The greatest stand-up of his generation is back with another hour-long special.
Monday 3/6
The Parker Quartet (UB Center for the Arts, Mon-Wed 7:30pm, Fri-Sat 7:30pm, Sun 3pm, $20)
According to the Department of Music staff, UB is the only place in the world that performs all 16 Beethoven string quartets every year. The renowned Parker Quartet performs the entire string quartet cycle over the course of six performances this week.
History of the World, Part II (Hulu)
96-year-old comedy legend Mel Brooks produced this followup to 1981’s Part I, which was an uneven mix of sketches set throughout world history. The sequel (originally teased in a fake trailer at the end of Part I) is equally uneven, but is loaded down with comic talent, including essentially everyone working in comedy today.
Tuesday 3/7
Drunk Peter Pan (RiverWorks, 359 Ganson St., 7pm Mondays through 4/11, $20)
This classic tale of the boy who never grows up, well, grows up, as both actors and audience get increasingly buzzed as the play unfolds.
The Tossers w/Working Class Stiffs (Mohawk Place, 47 East Mohawk St, 7pm, $17)
This Chicago-based “Celtic punk” band bill themselves as “The World’s Loudest Folk Band,” and “Irish Drinking Music for Punk Rockers.” They predate the similarly-themed Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly, having been performing since the early 90s, and debuting with the wonderfully-named 1994 album Pint of No Return.
Chest Fever (Iron Works, 49 Illinois St., 7pm, $20)
A tribute to the music of The Band.
Wednesday 3/8
Best of Buffalo Album Recording (Helium Comedy Club, 30 Mississippi St, 8pm, $20)
Helium is recording a comedy album with some of the city’s best stand-ups, including Ryan Fay, Max Kaczor, Jameel Key, Jake Piskor, Jake Samson, Katie Scanlon, Kyle Turner, Katarina Valentine, Clayton Williams, and host Chris Plumer.
