NOTE: All photos are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography 2025
Remember that time at band camp when a bunch of campers started jamming and turned a quiet evening into a dance party? Yeah, neither do I but that’s what watching indie rock band Rubblebucket reminds me of. Every show is so much fun, where you don’t know what to expect, whether it be outrageous costumes, the choreographed dance moves, giant robots, or band members jumping off the stage and dancing in the crowd. But the journey hasn’t been all fun and games with lead singer Annakalmia Traver being diagnosed and treated for ovarian cancer and the break-up of the two main founding members, Traver and Alex Toth. Nevertheless, the band remains and they’ve continued to make music, last year’s “Year of the Banana” being their seventh full length studio album. That album was based on a e-zine of poems that Traver wrote in 2015 during the couple’s breakup. While you’d think the album would be more somber and introspective (ok, perhaps the lyrics), most of the songs kinda make you want to dance! To celebrate their new record, the band is touring the US for three months! On just the second stop of the tour, Rubblebucket hit Electric City in Buffalo on a cold night on Saturday, January 17th. The snow was falling hard as I arrived at the venue. Fingers crossed for when we exit!
Opening for Rubblebucket was Massachusetts based singer/songwriter Hannah Mohan, whose solo record “Time is a Walnut”, released in April 2024, was produced by none other than Rubblebucket’s Alex Toth. Having been friends with Toth and Traver for “hundreds of years” (as per Rubblebucket), it’s nice to see Mohan’s band touring with them as a support act. Playing a mostly chill set, it was interesting to see Mohan, at one point, play her guitar behind her head, something I only see with heavy guitar driven rock bands. Another fun bit was Mohan playing the accordion on the final song of her set.
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By the time Rubblebucket took the stage, the venue was packed, even with the freezing cold and snow outside! Not having seen Rubblebucket perform since 2019 in NYC, it was surprising to see them perform as a four piece band rather than their previous six piece band. That didn’t detract from the exuberant energy of this amazing band, although I admit I did miss the choreographed dancing with Toth and their former trombone players. They played most of the tracks from their new album during their seventeen song set and Rubblebucket definitely threw everything they could into their performance including costume changes, climbing to the top of their enormous stage prop, choreographed dancing between Toth and Traver, magic hands playing a cowbell through a hole in the back prop, and Mohan’s band joining Rubblebucket on stage for “You Came Out of a Lady”! Through all that, Toth’s trumpet and Travers’ baritone saxophone provided the funk that had the crowd dancing all evening. As per usual, they ended the night with a band parade through the crowd, with Mohan joining them, carrying the giant disco banana (rather than the disco ball). What a fun evening! Check them out if they play in a city near you!
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