Buffalo Creek

I blame my hazy recollection of this evening on my neighbors, who told me LaSalle's happy hour starts at four o'clock, not six. I rushed to LaSalle's at four, only to find that happy hour didn't start for two hours. Needless to say I had a couple happy hours of my own before Buffalo Creek hit the stage.
For the first set, Buffalo Creek's longtime friend, Mark "Gonzo" Gonzalez, took the place of acoustic guitar player and lead vocalist Bryn Loosley, who was still in class. Guitarist Marc Stafford and Gonzalez shared the vocals. I couldn't tell you how the sound differed because I've never seen these guys before and by the time Bryn arrived the doubles had me seeing double.
Buffalo Creek plays feel-good rock 'n' roll with an occasional twang to form a style some refer to as "California Country." The drums are tight, the bass lines are catchy, and the use of three guitars (two electric, one acoustic) brings an added dimension to the music. They introduced a newer, fast-paced song called "Firecracker" with a groovin' bass line that has an Old West feel to it. They also played a couple cover songs by the Beatles and Bob Dylan.
In between sets, "Gonzo" played a few solo acoustic songs, giving a sample of what his band, Nine Balls Deep, will bring to LaSalle's April 12th. This is when things get foggy. In the second set, they played their hilarious crowd-pleaser, "Axl Rose," which basically explores where this guy's been hiding. Many people were able to sing along to this song, showing these guys are building a nice following. Seeing all the Buffalo Creek stickers everywhere I couldn't help but think we've got a new fixture on the scene. I left eager to see them again and thinking I might make those doubles into singles next time, or maybe not.

- Adam Weis

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