Arts - The Spectrum

UB’s spring performance is pushing the boundaries of live performances with this year’s musical, Spring Awakening. While many other colleges choose to perform this show censored, UB will showcase the uncensored version featuring popular songs like “Totally F*cked” and “The B*tch of Living.”

ARTS

Rock musical Spring Awakening comes to UB's Center for the Arts

By REBECCA VINCENT | Apr. 21, 2015

The UB Department of Theatre and Dance will host the controversial Broadway hit Spring Awakening for its spring show. While other college casts may try to work around or censor parts of the performance, UB’s audience will be shaking their heads along to unedited versions of the show’s most popular songs like “Totally F*cked” and “The B*tch of Living.”

Subsoil, an experimental hip-hop group, performed over the weekend at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Buffalo. The group's unique musical style involving rap and live instrumentation led a high-energy performance that kept people on the dance floor all night long.

ARTS

Subsoil brings brand of psychedelic hip-hop to Buffalo

By ALEX PENNINGTON | Apr. 21, 2015

Subsoil is a genre-bending hip-hop group that fuses the sounds of ska, funk and rock to create an auditory experience unlike any other. The group is known for its high-energy live performances and won “Best Live Act” in 2010 from Rochester’s Insider/Metromix Magazine.

ARTS

The grapevine

By BRIAN WINDSCHITL | Apr. 21, 2015

Buffalo continues to prove why it is one of the most underrated music cities in the United States. This week, indie rock legend Neutral Milk Hotel will be gracing the city with its presence, along with ’70s legend Paul Anka and ’00s throwback The All-American Rejects. No matter your musical preferences, there is no excuse to not make it out to one of these shows because there is truly something for everyone.

Say Goodnight Gracie focuses on George Burns, the pop culture figure from the 20th century famous for his performances in film, television, theater and radio.

ARTS

Alan Safier takes the stage as George Burns in 'Say Goodnight Gracie'

By REBECCA VINCENT | Apr. 19, 2015

On Thursday night at the 710 Main Theatre, Alan Safier starred as George Burns in the play Say Goodnight Gracie, taking the audience on a rollercoaster of emotions as the life of Burns unfolded on stage.

ARTS

A magic weekend at UBCon

By TORI ROSEMAN | Apr. 19, 2015

UBCon, ran Friday through Sunday. People from all over the area came dressed as their favorite characters and participated in a variety of activities, including Magic: The Gathering card tournaments and meet and greets with popular comic artists.

ARTS

Tyler, the Creator blows up his legacy with 'Cherry Bomb'

By ALEX PENNINGTON | Apr. 19, 2015

It seems just like yesterday when Tyler, the Creator was eating cockroaches on MTV – shocking people with where the direction of hip-hop was going.

Students packed into Alumni Arena Friday for the Student Association's first EDM fest, Electric Tundra.

ARTS

Under the Electric Sky: UB hosts Bingo Players, 3LAU and DNNYD

Apr. 18, 2015

Alumni Arena, which holds roughly 6,000 people, was packed Friday night for Electric Tundra, UB’s first Electronic Dance Music festival. The festival featured DNNYD, 3LAU and main attraction Bingo Players. Electric Tundra, a Student Association event, was the first of two SA concerts this semester, the second being the SA’s annual Spring Fest concert.

ARTS

'Furious 7' delivers while falling short of recent films in the franchise

By JORDAN OSCAR | Apr. 14, 2015

Furious 7 is a film that can’t decide what it wants the stakes to be.

Paul Thompson doesn't plan on pursuing his music career after graduation, but for now you can hear his political raps on Wednesday nights at Perks in Ellicott Complex.

ARTS

The psychology, politics and story behind Paul Thompson’s rap

By KENNETH KASHIF THOMAS | Apr. 14, 2015

Bronx-born rapper and DJ, Thompson, a.k.a. Vague, is UB’s resident crowd mover. He is most known on campus for his performances during Perks’ weekly open mic nights on Wednesdays.

ARTS

The Woman in Gold stays golden

By REUBEN WOLF | Apr. 14, 2015

From the trailer, The Woman in Gold might seem as predictable and repetitive as any other movie in theaters. But this movie is a lesson as to why we sit through films instead of just judging them on a two-minute snippet: the characters come to life on screen in a way that flips whatever pre-conceived notions the trailer may have instilled in the viewer.

ARTS

Rioult Dance: A 20-year legacy

By KENNETH KASHIF THOMAS | Apr. 12, 2015

Dancing can be a grueling art form – members of Pascal Rioult’s company practice for eight hours a day – three-hour classes and then another two to six hours in the studio for rehearsal. The work of Pascal Rioult and his company, RIOULT Dance NY, made its way to the Center for the Arts Mainstage Theatre on Saturday night.

Artist Adam McIlwee moves from the pop punk sound of Tigers Jaw to a more experimental, "sad" hip hop sound

ARTS

WiccaPhase’s new EP is insightful and unexpected

By ALEX PENNINGTON | Apr. 12, 2015

The instruments that accompany his music provide the atmosphere of “sadness,” but Yung Lean’s lyrics and delivery don’t provide much emotion at all.

ARTS

Lawyer up: 'Better Call Saul' finishes strong as TV’s latest must-watch show

By Joseph Wilner | Apr. 12, 2015

Better Call Saul looks every bit as popular and exciting its predecessor Breaking Bad.

ARTS

The Grapevine: everything under the sun

By BRIAN WINDSCHITL | Apr. 12, 2015

This week in Buffalo the list of concerts truly personifies Buffalo’s diverse music scene.

On his fourth LP, What For?, Toro Y Moi's quest for musical development sees the artist move away from chillwave to into indie rock.

ARTS

Toro Y Moi’s 'What For?' departs from the artist’s established chillwave sound

By BRIAN WINDSCHITL | Apr. 9, 2015

What For?, Bundick’s fourth album as Toro Y Moi, runs concurrent to the artist’s obsession with musical innovation and growth.

The film from almost two decades ago presents the city of Buffalo for what it is, instead of glorifying the set for the sake of the film.

ARTS

Buffalo '66 still doesn't glorify the City of Buffalo

By REUBEN WOLF | Apr. 7, 2015

Last Thursday, the North Park Theatre celebrated the 17th Anniversary of the first screening of the film that was shot entirely in Buffalo.

ARTS

An evaluation of Tidal, Jay-Z's new music streaming service

By BRIAN WINDSCHITL | Apr. 7, 2015

On Monday Jay-Z launched Tidal, his own music streaming service. It went viral almost immediately.

ARTS

Comic relief: Jessica Williams takes Comedy Series stage

By TORI ROSEMAN | Apr. 3, 2015

Williams, a correspondent on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, performed at the Center for the Arts as part of the Student Association’s Comedy Series Thursday night.

ARTS

Aaron Kunin reads poetry in downtown Buffalo as part of UB's Poetics Plus program

By ALEX PENNINGTON | Apr. 2, 2015

On Wednesday night, Aaron Kunin read selections of his poetry as part of UB’s Poetics Plus program at Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center in downtown Buffalo. Poets in the program are selected through votes by English department students.

ARTS

Artist Dweezil Zappa pays tribute to his father’s music at UB's Center for the Arts

By REUBEN WOLF | Apr. 2, 2015

Tuesday evening, audience members in the Center for the Arts traveled back to 1975, the year Dweezil Zappa’s father Frank Zappa, a prolific guitarist, released his album One Size Fits All.