What’s Good: April 17-23, 2025
Our weekly guide to what’s going on around Buffalo and in the world of pop culture.
We’ve expanded our sports listings and given them their own space: check out The Sports Page for records, recent scores, and upcoming games from the UB Bulls and every Buffalo pro and semi-pro team.
Thursday, 4/17
Socialite (Milkie’s, 522 Elmwood Ave, 7pm, $10)
w/Pink Droid, Alexander Butler
Strings Unbound (The Caz, 2221 Seneca St, 6pm doors/7:30pm, $24)
Electric cellist Alex Cousins and a six-piece band perform pop favorites.
An Evening of Poetry (Fitz Books & Waffles, 1462 Main St, 7pm)
Fitz hosts their first major reading in their new location, with poets Hoa Nguyen, Dale Martin Smith, Aaron Lowinger, and David Hadbawnik.
Mystery Night (Congregation Shir Shalom, 4660 Sheridan Dr, 7-9pm)
The Buffalo Corner Reading Series presents a reading and discussion hosted by novelist Gary Earl Ross (Nickel City). Features writers include Terez Peipens (the Dan Kiraly series), Lissa Marie Redmond (the Cold Case series), Stephen Eoannou (After Pearl, Yesteryear, Rook), and a tribute to the late Susan Lynn Solomon (the Emlyn Goode series).
Jupiter Trolley (Albright-Knox Gallery, 1285 Elmwood Ave, 5:30-7:30pm, FREE)
Local indie psychedelic outfit.
Waiting on Mongo (Nietzsche’s, 248 Allen St, 8pm-mid)
w/The Flow Bros.
McVicker & Higgenbotham (Duende, 85 Silo City Row, 6-8pm)
Led Zeppelin 2 (Iron Works, 49 Illinois St, 7pm doors/8pm, $20adv/$25, 18+)
Zep tribute band.
Crespobeats (Electric City, 433 Pearl St, 6pm, FREE)
The WBFO DJ spins in the club every Thursday from 7-9 and then live to air from 9-11.
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!
Poetry Open Mic & Game Night (Twentysixallen, 26 Allen St, 6pm)
Co-hosted by Sara Ali and Meg Specksgoor
Friday, 4/18
Donnell Rawlings (Helium, 30 Mississippi St, 7/9:15pm, $32)
Rawlings was a breakout performer on Chapelle’s Show, and has appeared on The Wire and in Pixar’s Soul. He currently stars in Black Mafia Family and hosts podcast The Donnell Rawlings Show when not touring as a stand-up.
R&B Invitation (Shea’s, 650 Main St, 8pm, $74-$143)
Eric Benét, Joe, and Musiq Soulchild team up for a killer lineup of R&B.
Joe Bellanti’s Best Day Ever (9th Ward, 341 Delaware Ave, 6:30pm doors/7:30pm, $15)
The keyboard player from local legends Organ Fairchild performs solo.
Improv Collider! (Buffalo Improv House, 255 Great Arrow Ave #207, 7pm, $10)
An hour of long-form improv comedy.
Motion Sick (Milkie’s, 522 Elmwood Ave, 8pm, $12adv/$15)
w/Stratosphere, Milo Duhn, Vanity Club
Barely Alive (Town Ballroom, 681 Main St, 8pm, $32, 18+)
w/Syzy
Philippe Lemm Trio (Pausa Art House, 19 Wadsworth St, 6:30pm doors/7pm, $21-$29)
The group celebrates their upcoming release, Echo the Sun.
Fuzzy & the Rustbelts (The Caz, 2221 Seneca St, 6:30pm doors/8pm, $24)
Roots rock band who have won multiple WNY Best Country Act awards. w/Claudia Hoyser
Hip Monarch (Duende, 85 Silo City Row, 6-8pm)
Croft, Whitford, & Keyes/Shaky Stage/What? The Band (Nietzsche’s, 248 Allen St, 5:30-mid)
Three groups perform a tribute to The Band.
Boots ‘n Beats (Iron Works, 49 Illinois St, 8pm doors/9pm, SOLD OUT, 18+)
Country-EDM dance party.
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
Sinners (in wide release)
Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan reteam to elevate the vampire movie, setting up a story of twin WWI vets trying to survive in Jim Crow Mississippi, before introducing the bloodsuckers.
The Legend of Ochi (not screening in Buffalo)
A farm girl is told never to go out after dark and fear creatures called the Ochi. But when she finds a lost and injured baby Ochi, she ventures into the wilderness to bring it home, in this fantasy adventure from A24. With Helena Zengel, Finn Wolfhard, Emily Watson, and A24 mainstay Willem Dafoe.
The Wedding Banquet (in wide release)
Andrew Ahn remakes Ang Lee’s 1993 bisexual romcom, with Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, and Kelly Marie Tran..
Sneaks (in wide release)
An anthropomorphic sneaker has an adventure in the big city, in a world where movie studios have run out of things to anthropomorphize.
Alappuzha Gymkhana (Elmwood Center, 2001 Elmwood Ave.)
A group of failing students try and get into college by faking their way into a boxing scholarship. In Malayalam w/subtitles.
Arjun S/O Vyjayanthi (Elmwood Center, 2001 Elmwood Ave.)
Kalyan Ram stars in director Srinivas Pradeep Chilukuri’s latest action/romance. In Telugu w/subtitles.
Borbaad (Elmwood Center, 2001 Elmwood Ave.)
Scorned lover Shakib Khan plots revenge against the woman who broke his heart in this thriller. In Bengali w/subtitles.
Colorful Stage! The Movie (Elmwood Center, Transit Center, Walden Galleria)
A teenage musician helps a virtual singer make emotional connections. In Japanese w/subtitles.
Kesari Chapter 2 (Elmwood Center, 2001 Elmwood Ave.)
A spiritual sequel to 2019’s courtroom drama Kesari, this installment is based on Raghu and Pushpa Palat’s book The Case That Shook the Empire, about the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre. In Hindi w/subtitles.
The Ugly Stepsister (Elmwood Center, Transit Center, Walden Galleria)
A body horror riff on Cinderella. In Norwegian w/subtitles.
Saturday 4/19
Donnell Rawlings (Helium, 30 Mississippi St, 7/9:15pm, $32)
Rawlings was a breakout performer on Chapelle’s Show, and has appeared on The Wire and in Pixar’s Soul. He currently stars in Black Mafia Family and hosts podcast The Donnell Rawlings Show when not touring as a stand-up.
The Concert For Jenn (Nietzsche’s, 248 Allen St, 7pm doors/8pm, $30)
A concert honoring the life of Jennifer Orr, a mainstay of the Buffalo music, comedy, and burlesque scenes. Performances include comedy from Caitlin Peluffo, burlesque from The Stripteasers, and music from Deb and Grosh.
Good Neighbors! (Buffalo Improv House, 255 Great Arrow Ave #207, 7pm, $18 suggested)
Improv sketches inspired by a notable Buffalonian’s real-life stories. This month’s guest is cabaret artist Shaun Doyle Jr.
Queen City Roller Derby (RiverWorks, 359 Ganson St, 4pm doors/5pm, $22.50)
Local all-star team the Subzero Sirens take on the Roc City Roc Starz, and the Junior League returns for its first bout since Covid!
Park National (The Cave, 71 Military Rd, 8pm, $12.40)
Singer-songwriter Liam Fagan’s project. w/Wilcox Mansion
Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad (The Caz, 2221 Seneca St, 6:30pm doors/8pm, $29)
Reggae-infused jam band. w/Sawa Sawa Band
Lehning, Towe & Graser (Duende, 85 Silo City Row, 1-2pm)
The Wazmopolitans (Duende, 85 Silo City Row, 3-5pm)
Hartwell Hospice House Band (Duende, 85 Silo City Row, 8-11pm)
w/Plant Water, Ex Pat
Workingman’s Dead (Iron Works, 49 Illinois St, 7pm doors/8pm, $15, 18+)
Grateful Dead tribute band.
Celtic Sessions (Nietzsche’s, 248 Allen St, 4-7pm, FREE)
Sunday 4/20
L.S. Dunes (Electric City, 433 Pearl St, 6pm, $44-$165)
Members of My Chemical Romance, Saosin, Coheed and Cambria, and Thursday formed this group for Riot Fest 2022 and kept on going. w/From Indian Lakes, Night Sins
The New Mastersounds (Iron Works, 49 Illinois St, 7pm doors/8pm, $27adv/$30, 18+)
The group was born out of the 2000s funk/soul revival and have been going ever since. w/The Sideways.
Jazz Cache (Nietzsche’s, 248 Allen St, 8:30pm-mid, FREE)
A rotating cast of Buffalo’s best jazz musicians.
Monday 4/21
Leigh Stoner (Nietzsche’s, 248 Allen St, 6-8pm)
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 4/22
Momix: Alice (Mainstage Theater, UB Center For the Arts, 7pm, $44-$69/FREE for UB students)
Renowned dance company Momix’s latest show is built around a retelling of Alice in Wonderland.
Caiola (9th Ward, 341 Delaware Ave, 7pm doors/8pm, $20adv-$25)
Jordan Caiola plays in indie band Mo Lowda & the Humble, while also maintaining a folkier solo career.
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)
Andor (Disney+)
The best of the Star Wars TV series returns, with an unfortunately-even-more-timely look at life under the boot of fascism.
Wednesday 4/23
Hawthorne Heights (Town Ballroom, 681 Main St, 7pm doors/8pm, $33, 16+)
Emo group who had a hit in 2006 with “Saying Sorry.” w/Hotel Etiquette, Ashford
Dr. Lonnie Smith Jazz Festival (The Caz, 2221 Seneca St, 6pm doors/7pm, $15-$20)
Performances by renowned organist Gerry Youngman, Jay/Sharptet, as well as high school ensembles from St. Francis, Lackawanna, Global Concepts, and the Love Supreme School of Music
UB Concert Band (Lippes Concert Hall, Slee Hall, 7:30-9pm, FREE)
Songs of Memory and Forgetting (Squeaky Wheel, 2495 Main St, 7-8:30pm, $10 suggested)
A program of three short films: Mnemosyne (dir. Inas Halabi, 2016-17), What Rules the Invisible (dir. Tiffany Sia, 2022), and No Archive Can Restore You (dir. Onyeka Igwe, 2020).
Carbon Leaf (Iron Works, 49 Illinois St, 7pm doors/8pm, $30adv/$35, 18+)
Richmond indie rockers touring behind their 15th album, Time is the Playground.
Bella’s Bartok (9th Ward, 341 Delaware Ave, 7pm doors/8pm, $15adv-$20)
The band tours behind their latest album, Apocalypse WOW! w/Tyler Wescott (of Folkfaces).
Alice Di Micele (Nietzsche’s, 248 Allen St, 8-9pm, FREE)
Jazz singer with a five-octave range.
The Autonomous Vehicles (Nietzsche’s, 248 Allen St, 9pm-mid, FREE)
Jazz and folk.
Open Mic Night (Helium, 30 Mississippi St, 7pm, FREE, reservations required)
Over 20 comedians perform.
Maria Sebastian (Duende, 85 Silo City Row, 6-8pm)
Comedy Open Mic (Milkie’s, 522 Elmwood Ave, sign up 7pm, show 9:30pm)
