Oh damn! Who would have thought spending a Thursday night in a basement on the west side of Buffalo would be the highlight of the week? We had heard a lot about the punk house-turned-venue fondly known as Soup of Dissent, and it definitely lived up to the hype. We found it to be overwhelmingly positive; friendly and welcoming residents, a cool dog, and a basement just teeming with good vibes.
After loading in, we met some new friends in NYC-based Something Bitter, and invited them to walk a few blocks north with us to Autark Brewhouse where we spent about 40 minutes enjoying cheap pints and good conversation.
Eventually we wandered back to Soup and got ready to kick off the evening. We played, we laughed, we jumped around, we talked about Magic, The Gathering and Yankee Candles. Damn it was a good time. I’ll take a basement with 30 people who are there to be part of the moment over 300 lackluster bar-goes any day of the week.
Next up was Buffalo’s Pure Heel. They played aggressive punk rock with growling vocals and quick scream-the-name-and-keep-playing transitions between songs. After they finished, we chatted a bit with a few of the guys in the band and I have a feeling this won’t be the last time we end up on a show together.
Closing the night was Something Bitter. These guys played super tight and were as much fun to watch play as they were to hang out at the bar and trade stories with. Their set featured songs from their lasted record, It Doesn’t Have to be Now (which you can listen to here as well as a rad cover dedicated to Joel Menter. Joel is a ridiculously talented tattoo artist and contributed his talents to Something Bitter’s album artwork as well as the flyer for this show. Joel was at the show and he was a really cool guy – also someone we hope to cross paths with again in the future.
Amazing night. Amazing people. Let’s do it again soon, fellas.
