Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

A riot by any other name can still sound just as sweet, however, a riot, the eruption of sound associated with The Buffalo Riot is almost without equal and to that end even the great plains of America would shudder with greater exposure and bounding resonance to this terrific band than a million buffalo or bison could manage as they stampede in unison.

The balmy sultry evening, peppered with rain that was on the verge of being hot and distilled enough by the July temperatures to make moonshine from Appalachian mountains seem like a bed time drink for five year olds, took a turn for the sublime as the Americana/Rock passions of The Buffalo Riot played out across the floor of Studio 2 and into the memory of great sounds that the venue has had great pleasure of hosting since Strings and Things started taking their nights of music into the building.

The five piece band detonated with the precision of a quarry gang blowing apart the stubbornness of centuries old rock and gave a blistering sense of the cool and unflappable coupled with the majesty of watching such craftsmanship that seemed a shame to be confined to the smaller stage but was nonetheless welcome and bruising to the touch. That burst of sound, the serene cocktail of the breezy and the fresh kicking out at the taste buds of music and demanding that notice be served on the tired and unloved was breathed in, rolled around the enjoyment centres of the brain and found to be fulfilling and rewarding; even after the disclosure that the band had not been together much over the last few months, what came across was cohesion and satisfying unity.

The songs were wild, brutal in some cases and like being trampled underfoot by the 1000 pounds of solid muscle that stalk the prairie to whom the band gladly share their name with, exquisite and with much foundation of spirit. Tracks such as the opener I Am the Light, the excellent 1996, Six Weeks, Hands Full and a generous cover of The Faces Glad and Sorry were all given true respect by the crowd inside Studio 2 and the applause full of character and honest praise.

The Buffalo Riot may have been away for a while but you would never have known it as the richness of the evening’s music reached a solid and undeterred crescendo. Great music from a great band, it’s what Sundays were made for.

Ian D. Hall