M.A.G.S. came home to finish off his short ‘farewell’ tour run with an intimate show at Rec Room on May 7. M.A.G.S, the solo moniker for Buffalo’s Elliott Douglas, hasn’t played a hometown show since 2022.
M.A.G.S. and Covey played what felt like a private send off for family, Gen Z fans who knew every word to every song, and millennial fans of frontman Douglas’ various musical ventures over the years.
Elliott Douglas came onto the Buffalo indie rock scene not as a frontman and songwriter but as a bass player with the long luscious dreads for The Malones back in 2013. Shortly after their well-received ‘self-titled’ EP, the band splintered into similarly incredible projects like The Slums and Elliott Douglas went solo as the lead singer, writer and guitarist of MAGS (now M.A.G.S), which would often have guest appearances by past bandmates, Ryan Schlia, or riffs that made us miss Malones and Slums frontman, Steven Floyd.
M.A.G.S. moved out to LA to pursue music in 2018 to the dismay of WNY fans which got used to seeing his music evolve at Mohawk Place. It seems this musical run has come to an end as Douglas declared on social media in April 2025 that he would like to pursue other passions besides being a touring musician.
M.A.G.S. played a powerful vibrant set as a three piece that celebrated tracks from his entire catalogue of music. Douglas’ energy drew the crowd in from the moment he came onstage with ‘Supermoon.’ M.A.G.S. played what he does best, indie tracks with a hard edge that feed those who want to explore the heartwarming sides of love and partying but also the darker sides of a good thing. He played popular tracks like ‘Smile’, ‘Demon’, and ‘Drugs’. About halfway through the set, Douglas felt like he was quickly ripping through the set so he decided to play solo for a few tracks and take requests.
He opened his solo set with ‘Hi Tops’ and relearned ‘Choked Out’ onstage to appease the audiences’ requests. He finished the set with his band with all the energy he had, handing over the guitar to a friend while he crowd surfed his way to the end of the set. All that was missing from the set was a guest appearance by his former beloved bandmate Steven Floyd. The audience is still wondering ’Where’s Floyd?’ as fans chanted ‘Floyd’ as Douglas walked off stage, maybe to hear this song, maybe in wonder as to where he was or in reference to ‘Sequence 7’ off his most recent album Creator.
Douglas stayed after the set to talk with friends and family and reassure that he will be back. We can only hope it will be sooner rather than later. You can follow @elliott_mags for updates on his journey.
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