It was a bitter-cold night this past Friday, but Buffalo Iron Works was warm inside, with Come Back to Earth, the only Mac Miller Live Band Tribute taking the stage in a manner that was stunning to watch and soulful to be a part of.
As the doors opened, Buffalo Bison fans trickled in with a few people for the show, a crowd looking for a break from the barreling wind outside. As DJ Decote took the opening slot the crowd started to fill in a bit, the staff was pumped and ready knowing they were expecting a packed house.
The choice to have a DJ opener made complete sense and Decote did what he came to do, and that was get the people dancing, playing pop hits to Mac Miller’s “Weekend” and throwing in his own flare on the transitions and the crowd loved it, packing every spot you could find, from the front row to the raised section and even the balcony. You could not move without asking someone to move, it seemed the show had drawn the attention of a lot of people who were excited to experience Come Back to Earth.
After the set break, the crowd was again packed in tight. To get things started, MC Noah Fense and guitar player Ryan Bauer took the stage to promote and give the venue a taste of Noah Fense, his solo hip-hop work. Noah and Ryan could do no wrong here, played a few songs that Noah had written, all of which show serious talent, not only in his vocals, but in his crowd work. At one point he had the entire crowd singing the chorus to a brand new song they had never heard before. A refreshing take on the bar bands that play the local venues, Noah Fense checked every block in the book, from great, catchy songs, to having the crowd involved with him, a great solo act.
After getting everyone in the mood for some Hip-Hop, Come Back to Earth came to the stage lead by drummer and musical director, Marco Cirigliano, and one by one the band took their places, Marco on drums and vocals, Ryan Bauer on guitar and vocals, Ben Chillbert on the bass and Jesse Clinton on the synth, and Noah Fense as emcee. They started the show in epic fashion, having the entire venue sing “Happy Birthday” to Mac Miller, who would have been 34 on Monday the 19 after his death in 2018, this lead right into “Happy Birthday” by Mac Miller off of the Faces album, and leading head-on into the entirety of Mac’s discography, and its extensive, playing songs from early albums like Best Day Ever all the way to “Diablo” off of the Faces album.
The band seemed at one with the crowd the way they interacted, many times Noah Fense reaching into the crowd to show his love and appreciation and to include them in his performance. If you were to have wandered in thinking “Oh great some rap songs,” you would be sadly mistaken as the room was filled with celebrity style drum solos that would make rock fans cry, guitar solos from Ryan that would have impressed even the untrained ears of newcomers, some on the most difficult and incredible synth work coming from Jesse, when he only had three day to learn it.
Not to mention, Chillbert on bass bringing the backbone of many of the hard-hitting bass tunes of Miller and Noah bringing the true meaning of the phrase MC right into the heart of Buffalo. He truly controlled not only the microphone, but the crowd as well.
Coming off playing Brooklyn Bowl to shows in Erie, PA and heading down the East Coast, this concert was 5 of 5, a one-of-a-kind band that is so in-sync you would thing they might start a boy band next. If you missed this show, check out their Facebook and check for upcoming dates as you are strongly suggested to check them out.
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