![Stylized image of the four band members' faces carved into a mountain like Mt. Rushmore](/sites/default/files/styles/column_image_xl/public/2024-08/Wooten-Bros-PAC-Admat.jpg?h=229f98a8&itok=trF5tcb9)
Victor Wooten and the Wooten Brothers
The Buffalo State Performing Arts Center at Rockwell Hall is excited to highlight its fall 2024 series, opening with Victor Wooten and the Wooten Brothers on Saturday, October 5, at 8:00 p.m.
Since they were young, the five brothers have been a musical tour de force, redefining the limits of jazz, funk, soul, R&B, rock, and bluegrass. Five-time Grammy Award–winning artist Victor Wooten is a founding member of the eclectic group Bela Fleck and the Flecktones and was named one of the top 10 bassists of all time by Rolling Stone magazine. An award-winning author and music educator, Victor Wooten will lead a master class at Buffalo State earlier in the day on October 5. Joseph Wooten has been the keyboardist for the Steve Miller Band since 1993 and has collaborated with Kenny G. and Whitney Houston. Roy “Futureman” Wooten, also a five-time Grammy Award winner, is best known for his masterly percussion skills and is also a founding member of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. He is known for his frenzied on-stage performances with the trademark instruments he invented: the “Drumitar” and the “RoyEl” keyboard. Regi Wooten’s signature guitar style has earned him comparisons to Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, and Chuck Berry. Together, the Wooten brothers will bring a high-energy, super-funky, artistic blend of styles on stage including original songs and classics.
Average White Band
The Performing Arts Center welcomes Average White Band on Friday, October 11, at 8:00 p.m. as part of their Funk Finale Farewell Tour. Average White Band, one of the soul and funk bands of all time, will perform their biggest hits and fan favorites, such as the No. 1 hit songs “Pick Up the Pieces,” “Cut the Cake,” “Queen of My Soul,” “Walk on By,” “Schoolboy Crush,” “Let’s Go Round Again,” and many more. Formed in London in 1972, the band—somewhat incongruously, given their Scottish roots—took influences from their R&B heroes such as Marvin Gaye, James Brown, and Stevie Wonder, as well as jazz greats Cannonball Adderley and the Crusaders. The group’s consistently accomplished songwriting helped them achieve several gold and platinum albums and multiple Grammy nominations with Atlantic Records. Having remained a perennial fixture at top venues and festivals around the world for over 50 years, Average White Band brings their not-to-be-missed last-chance tour to Buffalo State for multiple generations of fans to experience the musical energy and trademark sound of one of the world’s truly great soul bands.
![Seven members of the band posing for the camera](/sites/default/files/styles/column_image_xl/public/2024-08/AWBcropped.jpg?h=a092cb8c&itok=87z14UOH)
![Poster for Debbie Gibson showing her seated at the piano with both arms raised in the air](/sites/default/files/styles/column_image_xl/public/2024-08/DebbieGibson_720x720-Buffalo.jpg?h=c586f394&itok=IZXILFqA)
Debbie Gibson
Pop icon Debbie Gibson brings her Acoustic Youth: Songs and Stories from the Electric Youth Era Tour to the Buffalo State Performing Arts Center on Saturday, October 12, at 8:00 p.m. Gibson burst onto the scene at age 16, etching her name in history with the Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper “Foolish Beat” and establishing herself as the youngest artist ever to write, produce, and perform a No. 1 hit—a record she has held for over 30 years. Her talent has translated into over 16 million album sales and a theatrical career spanning 17 musicals, from Broadway’s Les Misérables to West End’s Grease. In 2019, Gibson graced the stage alongside New Kids on the Block on the Mixtape Arena Tour to sold-out shows across the nation. She has starred in many television movies for Hallmark and proudly adds executive producer to her résumé for one of the first LGBTQ+ inclusive movies on the network, titled Notes of Autumn. This year, she is celebrating the 35th anniversary of her No.1 hit “Lost in Your Eyes” and No. 1 album Electric Youth with concerts around the country, including this Acoustic Youth Tour. Gibson said, “I have always loved breaking songs down to their purest form, and Acoustic Youth will find me at the keys, super intimate, telling stories and playing the songs the way I first wrote them on the piano. My audience and I share a connection that allows me to be super ‘in the moment,’ and this show will find me truly taking in every moment and free flowing, so that no two shows are alike! There may be some unexpected surprises on my set list, and I can’t wait to experience this unique moment that marries the then and now with my community who has been with me on this journey for over three and a half decades.”
Jeff Tweedy
Funtime presents Jeff Tweedy with special guest Elizabeth Moen for a stop at the Buffalo State Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, October 15, at 7:30 p.m. on his limited-date solo tour. As the founding member and leader of the Grammy Award–winning American rock band Wilco and cofounder of the alt-country band Uncle Tupelo, Jeff Tweedy is one of contemporary music’s most accomplished songwriters, musicians, and performers. He has released three solo albums, written original songs for 13 Wilco albums, and is the author of three New York Times bestsellers: Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back), How to Write One Song, and World within a Song: Music That Changed My Life and Life That Changed My Music. Limited tickets remain available.
![Jeff Tweedy playing a guitar and singing into a microphone](/sites/default/files/styles/column_image_xl/public/2024-08/Jeff%20Tweedy%20Thumbnail.png?h=cc46c9b2&itok=E9Iz9a0T)
![Poster with separate photos of Mindi Abair, Lindsey Webster, and Marcus Anderson](/sites/default/files/styles/column_image_xl/public/2024-08/MAXmas2024.jpg?h=0f04773a&itok=L7QkwUuX)
Mindi Abair’s ‘I Can’t Wait for Christmas’ Tour
The Buffalo State Performing Arts Center presents Mindi Abair’s “I Can’t Wait for Christmas” Tour, featuring Lindsey Webster and Marcus Anderson, on Friday, December 6, at 8:00 p.m. Grammy nominated No. 1 Billboard-charting saxophonist and singer-songwriter Abair has been a multi-genre powerhouse on the smooth jazz and blues charts for over 20 years. Her annual smooth jazz holiday tour tradition started in 2003 with Peter White and Rick Braun. In 2007, the three collaborated on the Top 20 album A Peter White Christmas, which included the perennially popular vocal song “I Can’t Wait for Christmas,” as Abair has named this tour. She is the featured saxophonist on American Idol, has sat in with Paul Shaffer on The Late Show with David Letterman and with the Roots on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, and has garnered 12 No. 1 radio hits in the jazz and blues world. In 2019, she was nominated by the Blues Music Awards as the Best Instrumentalist: Horn and won the L.A. Critics Award for Best Holiday Album for All I Got for Christmas Is the Blues. She also wrote the book How to Play Madison Square Garden: A Guide to Stage Performance, and has served 10 years as an L.A. Chapter governor, president, and national trustee for the Recording Academy. She has toured or recorded with Aerosmith, Smokey Robinson, Trombone Shorty, Adam Sandler, Duran Duran, Mandy Moore, Dave Koz, the Backstreet Boys, and many others. Lindsey Webster is the only vocalist to score two No. 1 Billboard singles (“Fool Me Once,” and “Where Do You Want to Go”) plus numerous Top Five singles in a mainly instrumental format. Marcus Anderson has performed with Prince and the New Power Generation, Brian Culbertson, and many others. He has multiple No. 1 airplay hits and Grammy nominations. Abair, Webster, and Anderson join the stage together in Mindi Abair’s “I Can’t Wait for Christmas” Tour this December.
Matt Mathews
The PAC is also excited to provide a sneak peek at the spring 2025 schedule, when comedian Matt Mathews, presented by Live Nation, visits the PAC on Friday, April 4, at 7:00 p.m. In a short time, Mathews has skyrocketed into the social media stratosphere through his hilariously raw social posts, side-splitting short-form videos, and stand-up clips, earning him over 4.8 million followers on TikTok and 2 million followers on Instagram. He recently wrapped up his debut headlining tour that sold out 100 dates with 150,000 tickets across the country. Mathews’s six-episode YouTube series, Doin’ the Most with Matt Mathews, has cameras following him as he takes on new challenges from ballet class to bartending. The series premieres September 22. Matt Mathews brings his massive 53-city Boujee on a Budget Tour across the United States this fall and spring, which includes the April 4 stop at Buffalo State. He will discuss a variety of topics and personal experiences in his stand-up, including his daily life of living on a farm, his career as a boudoir photographer, relationships, and more. And he’ll bring his ever-popular “Confessions with Matt” video series to the live stage, where he provides a real-time comedic take on audience members who voluntarily choose to spill their secrets.
![Poster with illustration of Matt Mathews holding a chicken](/sites/default/files/styles/column_image_xl/public/2024-08/MattMathews_2024_Regional_BuffaloStatePerformingArtsCenter_0404.jpg?h=bf7582db&itok=I1gB-Oye)
Tickets to all shows are on sale now and can be purchased Tuesdays through Fridays, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in person at the Rockwell Hall Box Office or by phone at (716) 878-3005, or anytime online at buffalostatepac.org. For the most up-to-date show announcement information and for early access to tickets for future shows, be sure to sign up for the Performing Arts Center email list.
Media Contact:
Andrew Binder, Director of Operations
Performing Arts Center at Rockwell Hall
Buffalo State University
(716) 878-3599