Buffalo Tom

Wednesday 5th December. Electric Ballroom, London. Buffalo Tom. For some reason neither myself or companion Graham saw Buffalo Tom back in the day and by the day I mean the nineties and on the evidence of tonight we missed a treat.

Unusually we are slap bang in the right demographic tonight with an audience largely made up of like-minded and similarly aged men. The main difference is that we do not begin to match the energy from the stage. Whilst it’s a brisk eighty minute set each song is played at break neck speed so much so that the band make hasty additions to the setlist as they rattle through their greatest hits with a few tracks from their excellent album from this year ‘Quiet and Peace’ thrown in for good measure.

Buffalo Tom are a throwback to the guitar bands of the nineties and it’s a shame that there aren’t more of these bands around now. You can’t beat a power trio of just drums, bass and lead. Led by the relentless Bill Janovitz on guitar and lead vocals this is a proper rock show. Ably supported by Tom Maginnis on drums and Chris Colbourn on bass we are offered some slight changes of pace when Colbourn takes over lead vocals and the songs take a Teenage Fanclubesque air to them which is a good thing. This is particularly evident on new song ‘Roman Cars’.

The highlights are many and varied from ‘Sodajerk’, new song ‘All be Gone’ but of course it’s a belting version of ‘Taillights Fade’ with the whole of the Ballroom calling it back.

A great, exhilarating night with the finest purveyors of guitar rock who show they can still do it.

Keep on rockin y’all

Buffalo Tom is incredible! They are a alternative/grunge band, who really knows how to rock! Buffalo Tom knows exactly how to win over a crowd. I saw them at a rather large venue and it was packed full of screaming fans! They love to interact with their fans, talking and asking questions. But then straight back to the hard hitting music. They play so effortlessly, the lyrics fly out so smooth, and the chords sound hot together. We were so close to the stage, I know the singer smiled right at me! My favorite song by far is "Bad Phone Call" because honestly, we've all had one of those, and can totally relate! His words are so raw, even gritty. They cut right through you, and you really feel the emotion he felt. They have plenty of older songs which they did play, but they also played some new hot hits! It was a perfect blend of both, everyone seemed so pleased. I cannot wait to see them again. Don't pass up any opportunity to go to their show, you will not regret it! It's going to be hard to not compare any other concerts to this one, it was just that great!

One band, two sets...lots of humility and a great audience. It's been over 20 years since I saw them last but well worth the wait.

First set of most songs the audience would want and a main of Let me come over, a classic 90s album.