Leo P has played Royal Albert Hall. Michael Wilbur’s band Moon Hooch got the NPR Tiny Desk and landed in The Guardian. Together as Thundersmack, they make something rawer and more immediate than either project — brass-forward electro-funk designed to keep an audience on its feet. They bring it to Buffalo Iron Works on Sunday, September 20.
About the Show
The full breakdown: Leo P is the baritone saxophone and clarinet player behind Too Many Zooz, whose BBC Proms appearance at Royal Albert Hall and collaboration with Beyoncé at the CMAs made him one of the more unexpected figures in the brass world. Michael Wilbur is a founding member of Moon Hooch, the two-saxophone-led dance band that drew coverage from The Guardian, The New Yorker, the BBC, and Thrasher in addition to the NPR Tiny Desk slot. He has been performing professionally for 16 years and has played saxophone for 28. Both share, per their bio, “an unquenchable thirst for the stage.”
Together, based out of New Bedford, Massachusetts, they released a self-titled debut on Bandcamp in May 2021: five tracks of electro/funk that sketch the territory their live show then blows wide open. The band describes the sound as “gritty yet fun, both energetic and motivating”; “high-octane musical adrenaline” is how they frame the live experience, and Leo P’s onstage physicality (his press bio calls out the “captivating dance moves”) makes it literal. The synergy between the two is the point: two musicians who know their instruments cold, redirecting all of it into groove.
The September 20 Buffalo date is the second stop on a four-city fall run that opened in Wilmington on September 17 and continues to Chicago and Pittsburgh. The run follows a West Coast stretch earlier this year through Portland and San Diego.
Venue & Logistics
Buffalo Iron Works, at 49 Illinois St., is a 500-capacity club. Given that Thundersmack’s members have each played considerably bigger rooms (Royal Albert Hall on one side, the NPR Tiny Desk stage on the other), the scale here is notable. For a show built on saxophone and groove, being close to the stage matters. Show time is 8:00 p.m. Buffalo is the only upstate New York stop on the fall run; if you’re driving from anywhere east or south in the region, this is the closest it gets. More western New York concerts on the region page.
Tickets
Tickets are $25. Buy tickets