Joe Queer has been doing this for over forty years and he still doesn’t use a setlist. The Queers hit Mohawk Place on December 3 for the first time in roughly four years, coming in with five Buffalo openers and the same philosophy they’ve always had: loud, fast, and whatever comes next.
About the Show
The Queers formed in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1981. They briefly disbanded in the mid-1980s, then reformed in 1986 with Joe Queer leading a new lineup, and haven’t stopped since. Queer remains the only constant member through a rotating cast of rhythm section players. Their sound gets described as “never-taken-so-serious punk rock filtered through ’60s bubblegum pop,” which is accurate, or “the Ramones meets the Beach Boys,” which gives you the shape of it. Neither quite captures how it sounds when they’re loud, in a room this small, on a night it’s clicking. The band opened for the Ramones, and Joe Queer later worked with Joey Ramone on “I Wanna Be Happy” for Ramone’s solo album — the lineage is real and shows up in how they write.
The catalog anchors on Love Songs for the Retarded (1993, Lookout! Records), produced by Screeching Weasel’s Ben Weasel, a record widely considered one of the milestones of ’90s punk rock. Subsequent records kept coming: Save the World (2020) and Reverberation (2021) are the most recent, the latter built around covers of The Troggs and The Who. The Queers are currently in the middle of a 23-date U.S. run. They play without a setlist, improvising the whole thing song by song, which means you’re getting whatever is in Joe Queer’s head that night.
Five Buffalo openers fill out the bill: Johnny Revolting, The Barksdales, The Sneers, Abandoned Trains, and BastardBastardBastard. That’s a packed card for a Thursday night. Doors are at 6:00 p.m. and there’s no reason to show up late.
Venue & Logistics
Mohawk Place, at 47 E. Mohawk St. in downtown Buffalo, is a 200-capacity club that runs consistent rock and punk shows for the Western NY scene. It’s the kind of small room where you feel the PA in your chest, and it’s the right fit for The Queers, who have never needed more space than this to do what they do. All shows are 18+ unless posted otherwise.
Tickets
Tickets are $20–$25 and on sale now. Considering the headliner and five openers in a room this size, that’s a strong night for the money. Buy tickets