This show was unfortunately a huge let down. After getting to see the new Elliott album False Cathedrals only a few weeks ago, I was extremely excited to see them. Before I continue this depressing reivew, I must say that Elliott was fantastic the last time I saw them in March. Since then, there has been a change in the line up of the band. The lead guitarist Jay has left the band to be replaced by Falling Forward's Ben. Also, the bassist of the band was changed to someone from a band called Eleven Eleven. Well as always in Buffalo, we saw some local talent which were quite good. But I guess I'll get to the meat of the review. The Weakerthans were awesome. Just like when I saw them in Brampton. John was rockin. It was a fantastic set. Then came Elliott. It all started alright. The wonderful song calm americans was performed with such grace...but it all went downhill from there. The new guitarist Ben did not in any way fill the shoes that Jay had left for him. His new guitar parts seemed like messy add-ons rather than contributing to the music. He used a wahwah pedal for every song, and to make things worse, he played practically the same melodies in every single song. It was extremely disappointing. Ben seemed to manage to mangle every song. Also, I didn't like the long "jam session" like songs. I always like to look around during shows to see what the crowd feels like...I saw people with their arms crossed and confused and bored faces. The band didn't even get an encore, which indicated I'm not along in the disappointment. Plus I had never seen someone (Ben) act so "drugged" of like he/she was at some "rave" type event at a punk show. It wasn't like it was getting into the music...it was like he was on drugs. He would give the crowd blank stares and weird looks. I hope to the punk gods that they will help Chris, Kevin, and the new bassist see that Ben is ruining their wonderful creation. We can only hope!

reviewed by sidekick-vic