Buffalo, Buffalo, Buffalo. It’s shit isn’t it. I’m mean, if you have nice hair and massive amounts of disposable income then I guess it’s fine for drinking in but as a gig venue it just doesn’t work. The new upstairs bit is a damn site better than it was but the decor still tries to hard. Why not plaster the place with posters of gigs you’ve actually had in your venue rather than black and white posters of tits and Alice Cooper? And the neon? Fuck off. The rant is going to make sense later. Promise. It’s just setting the tone.

Right, Picture Books In Winter, anyone who has read my posts of late will know that I love this band, they have crazy time signature changes without being twatty and annoying, they have a singer that looks like he’s going to scratch his way out of his own skin, they have a violin player so get called folk but best of all, they have a set of fucking awesome songs. Very original songs. Bit of a reviewers nightmare when they take away your option of describing them as Great Lake Swimmers on Ritalin. They play folk infused math punk. There. Go and see them, that’s what this site is about, either just take my word for it or go and listen to their Myspace.

I was really looking forward to seeing Samamidon. In my mind it was a hushed room entranced by his gravelly voice and effortless charm. But this is Buffalo so my review of Samamidon is going to consist of a conversation myself and Neil had with a group of girls in their early twenties sat on a table at the back of the crowd screaching, shouting and sounding like they were at the fun fair rather than an acoustic gig.

Neil: Have you paid to get in this evening?
Girls: Yes.
Neil: Well shut up then.

Head screacher girl then comes up to us, obviously a bit put out that she didn’t have the last word.

Girl: Did you just tell us to shut up?
Me/Neil: Yes.
Girl: Why?
Me: Because you are squealing and shouting while a man is on stage trying very hard to play his music to an audience that have paid to see him.
Girl: (she was about to speak but before words came out her mouth…)
Neil: Fuck off you mad cow.*

This had numerous effects, firstly she realised that she may not get the last word in again, secondly, we started laughing, thirdly she trudged back to her table and started getting the girls to screach on the count of 3. This, ladies and gentlemen is the type of people that pay 7 quid to get into a gig to not watch a band. It just wouldn’t happen in Clwb or Barfly would it? They left shortly after, whether it was a coincidence that it wasn’t long after I’d casually told a bouncer about their behaviour is debatable.

To be honest Anathallo were a bit of an anticlimax. There are lots of them and Buffalo’s stage ain’t built for those numbers. There was nothing wrong with their American take on the alt.twee.folk.college.rock genre, I just thought they’d be a bit more energetic on stage. The first song had two of them playing wooden blocks, no band needs two wooden block players. My girlfriend said that they sounded clockwork and I could see where she was coming from but to me it sounded a bit like a percussion workshop run in a teppee by velvet jacket wearing hippies.
Maybe I was in the wrong frame of mind at this point, if anyone was there and thought they were brilliant (which the crowd generally did) then feel free to write a review!!

* Neil did actually feel guilty for telling her to fuck off.