What’s Good: January 9-15, 2025

Our weekly guide to what’s going on around Buffalo and in the world of sports and pop culture.

Thursday, 1/9

Meve (Hallwalls, 341 Delaware Ave, 6pm, FREE)
Intty.

Improv Mixer (Buffalo Improv House, 255 Great Arrow Ave #207, 7:30pm, $5 suggested)
Join in some low-stakes improv comedy, or just sit back and enjoy the show!

Free Fallin’ (Iron Works, 49 Illinois St, 7pm, $25adv/$30, 18+)
Tom Petty tribute

Lunch Bunch (Sportsmens Tavern, 326 Amherst St, noon, FREE)

WNY Blues Society (Sportsmens Tavern, 326 Amherst St, 7pm)

Sue Kincaid & Doug Yeomans (Duende, 85 Silo City Row, 6-8pm)

Poetry Open Mic & Game Night (Twentysixallen, 26 Allen St, 6pm)
Co-hosted by Sara Ali and Meg Specksgoor

Friday, 1/10

Castles & Creatures (Buffalo Improv House, 255 Great Arrow Ave #207, 7pm, $12)
Improv comedy based on (but not affiliated with!) everyone’s favorite role-playing game

You Should Smile More (Buffalo Improv House, 255 Great Arrow Ave #207, 8:30pm, $8)
An all-female and gender-nonconforming improv show. ($5 off with ticket to 7pm show)

Eric Carlin’s Half Dead (Iron Works, 49 Illinois St, 7pm, $15adv/$20, 18+)
Grateful Dead cover band plays set of Jerry Garcia Band covers

Silent Legacy (The Cave, 71 Military Rd, 8pm, $12.40)
Melissa Etheridge tribute

Indie Sleaze Dance Party (Electric City, 433 Pearl St, 8pm, $10)
Grateful Dead cover band plays set of Jerry Garcia Band covers

The Skiffle Minstrels (Duende, 85 Silo City Row, 6-8pm)

Live Band Karaoke (Rec Room, 79 W Chippewa St, 10pm, $8)
Belt out your favorites in front of a live band.

New Movies This Week

Den of Thieves 2: Pantera (in wide release)
Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr. return for another heist.

The Damned (Market Arcade, Elmwood Center, Walden Galleria)
A young window runs an Arctic fishing outpost, which is struggling to survive even before a haunted shipwreck appears. (Not to be confused with Roberto Minervini’s Civil War film of the same name, which premiered at Cannes a few months ago)

The Last Showgirl (Amherst Theatre, Elmwood Center, Walden Galleria)
A veteran showgirl (Pamela Anderson) considers an uncertain future when her show abruptly closes. With Jamie Lee Curtis, Dave Bautista, Brenda Song, Kiernan Shipka, Billie Lourd, and Jason Schwartzman.

Game Changer (Elmwood Center, Walden Galleria)
An ISA officer with anger management issues fights corrupt cops and politicians, including his own brother. In Hindi or Telugu with subtitles, check listings.

Identity (Elmwood Center)
A cop and an eyewitness are sucked into a conspiracy when a blackmailer is murdered. In Malayalam with subtitles.

Vanangaan (Elmwood Center)
Arun Vijay stars in writer-director Bala’s comeback film. In Tamil with subtitles.

Saturday 1/11

Live From the Phoenix Dance Party (Electric City, 433 Pearl St, 8pm, $10)
A tribute to legendary CFNY DJ Martin Streek.

Ann Lacagnina Book Signing & Pasta Sauce Tasting (Read It & Eat, 2929 Main St, 2pm, $77)
The author of Make a Pot of Sauce does just that.

Thurston Howell (Iron Works, 49 Illinois St, 7pm, $20adv/$25, 18+)
A Yacht Rock spectacular

Bowie (The Cave, 71 Military Rd, 8pm, $23)
A tribute show presented by Stoneflower

Jon Lehning & Harry Graser (Duende, 85 Silo City Row, 1-2pm)

Neville Francis (Duende, 85 Silo City Row, 3-5pm)

Joe Rozler’s Rockin’ Little Trio (Duende, 85 Silo City Row, 6-8pm)

Argyle Street Band (Sportsmens Tavern, 326 Amherst St, 3pm, $10)

Sunshine & Co (Sportsmens Tavern, 326 Amherst St, 8pm, $10)

Sunday 1/12

Susan Peters Jazz Band (Duende, 85 Silo City Row, 4-6pm)

Anne Philippone (Nietzsche’s, 248 Allen St, 6-8pm, FREE)
Barrelhouse blues and boogie piano.

Jazz Cache (Nietzsche’s, 248 Allen St, 8:30pm-mid, FREE)
Live music from a rotating cast of Buffalo jazz musicians.

Monday 1/13

Gusto Vinyl Happy Hour w/Jeff Miers (Sportsmens Tavern, 326 Amherst St, 7pm)

Songwriter Showcase (Nietzsche’s, 248 Allen St, 8pm-mid, FREE)
Singer-songwriters from 8-9, and then an open mic for the rest of the evening.

Tuesday 1/14

Jamie Lissow (Helium, 30 Mississippi St, 4:30pm, $33)
Lissow co-wrote and appears on Netflix’s Real Rob, and his Dry Bar Comedy Special has over 20 million views.

Let’s Play Chess (Duende, 85 Silo City Row, 6-8pm, FREE)
All skill levels welcome.

Twang Gang (Sportsmens Tavern, 326 Amherst St, 6pm, $10)

Steam Donkeys (Nietzsche’s, 248 Allen St, 6-8:30pm, FREE)
Long-serving “cosmic Americana” group.

Rust Belt Comedy Showcase (Nietzsche’s, 248 Allen St, 9-10pm, FREE)
A rotating cast of local stand-ups.

The Stripteasers (Nietzsche’s, 248 Allen St, 10pm-mid, $4)
Weekly burlesque show.

Open Mic (Cucina @ Hotel Richardson, 444 Forest Ave, 6-8pm)
This weekly open mic features music, poetry, and comedy. Register at jkonze@douglasdev.com.

Karaoke (Milkie’s, 522 Elmwood Ave, 8pm)

Wednesday 1/15

That Comedy Show (9th Ward, 341 Delaware Ave, 7pm, $20adv/$25, 18+)
Join some of WNY’s funniest comics, including Uncle Trent, Daphney Joseph, Don Johnson, Kevin Thomas Jr., and your hosts, Jameel Key & Tyrone Maclin.

Joan Smith & the Jane Does (Iron Works, 49 Illinois St, 9pm, price not listed, 18+)
Canadian hard rockers whose debut, Do Me Some Harm, was produced by Alain Johannes of Queens of the Stone Age.

Open Mic Night (Helium, 30 Mississippi St, 7pm, FREE)
See aspiring comics try out their stuff. Free, but reservation required and two-item minimum.

Brains & Grains (Duende, 85 Silo City Row, 6-8pm)
Trivia night in the shadow of the grain silos.

Baudo Jazz Quintet (Sportsmens Tavern, 326 Amherst St, noon, FREE)

Dillon Whitford Band (Sportsmens Tavern, 326 Amherst St, 6pm, $10)

Nickel City Sessions (The Cave, 71 Military Rd, 7pm, $15)

Comedy Open Mic (Milkie’s, 522 Elmwood Ave, sign up 7pm, show 9:30pm)

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