MERSIV coined “Pretty Dark Loud” because nothing else in the bass music lexicon covered what he was making — freeform electronic that hits heavy while leaving room for something more contemplative, all of it built around pulling listeners into the present moment rather than routing them from drop to drop. Anderson Benoit Gallegos has been developing that framework since 2015, and on New Year’s Day he brings the Nostalgia Tour to Town Ballroom in Buffalo.
About the Show
MERSIV performs with support from Hairitage, OkayJake, and Daggz. The Buffalo date is the second night of a two-night New Year’s run — the Dec. 31 NYE show at Town Ballroom precedes this New Year’s Day set. Both dates land near the midpoint of the Nostalgia Tour, a 40-plus city North American run stretching from October 2026 through March 2027, with later stops at 9:30 Club, The Tabernacle, The Salt Shed, and Brooklyn Steel.
The tour is behind Nostalgia, his current album, the latest in a discography that traces the PDL sound’s development: the 2019 Digital Eden EP on the WAKAAN label crossed 1.6 million Spotify streams and kicked off a 50-plus date tour; the 2021 debut full-length Pretty Dark Loud via MorFlo Records spread 20 tracks across hip-hop, pop, and bass production; the 2023 release Out of Bounds featured collaborations with Wreckno and PROBCAUSE.
Gallegos came up through piano and guitar training, drew early influence from rock acts like Tool and Seether, and pivoted to electronic production after his mother’s passing in 2012 — he has cited that grief as the origin of the music’s therapeutic dimension, a thread the PDL framing makes explicit. His breakthrough came at Electric Forest 2018. The festival circuit since has included Shambhala, Bonnaroo, Okeechobee, and Red Rocks. He heads MorFlo Records as its curator.
Venue & Logistics
Town Ballroom sits at 681 S. Main Street in Buffalo, a 1,000-capacity standing-room venue and a consistent anchor for national touring acts in western New York. Doors at 8 p.m. Ages 16 and up with government-issued ID. Two-night passes (NYE + NYD) are available, along with a travel package including hotel at Aloft Buffalo Downtown for attendees 18 and up. Presented by MNM Presents.
Tickets
Tickets start at $49.51. Buy tickets