This funktastic fundraiser will feature Smackdab with Randle and the Late Night Scandals, and it will benefit the Matt Urban Center. Tickets for “Funktastic Friday” will be available at the door for just $5.

“Smackdab excels at what might be called a new fusion, a hybrid of styles rooted in R&B and funk, with the instrumental dexterity of jam bands. Which means you can dance to the music, but it’s not all endless jams. Vocalist and front man Jon-Marc Johnson is at the center of the band’s sound, and he keeps things grounded in classic funk and soul.” – Jeff Miers, The Buffalo News

“Smackdab enjoy the kind of blazing word-of-mouth reputation most bands dream of. Ostensibly a modern soul/funk group, their live performances open the windows wide on what that means, bringing in sounds from much farther afield. Here’s the 4/4 intensity of a rock band married to the rhythms of old school R&B, soul, blues, and funk, as well as thick dollops of jazz and pop—made for the sole purpose of getting you onto your feet. Jonny Johnson, Mark Cooper, Matthew Baxter, Ryan Ecklund, and Daniel Witherspoon formed Smackdab from the remnants of legendary Jamestown bands Zeta Cauliflower, Mysterious Moonshow, and Little Dirty Goat. The Great Blue Heron has extended the band an open invitation to play the festival, to which every year they bring one of their barn-burning sets.” – Steve Lafreniere, Chautauqua Region WORD

Randle & The Late Night Scandals: A blend of charisma, sensuality, serious chops and the ability to make soul, funk, R&B and blues commingle in a perfectly seasoned gumbo.

For more information regarding the event, please contact Alissa Venturini at 893-7222, ext. 401.

The Matt Urban Center has provided crucial services for the previously forgotten residents of Buffalo’s lower East Side who suffer from extreme poverty — 45.9 percent of whom live below the poverty rate -- for more than 35 years. The Center offers programs for low-income people of all ages, pre-school through senior citizen. The Matt Urban Center also operates three satellite locations in the city: The Matt Urban HOPE Center at 385 Paderewski Drive; the T.J. Dulski Community Center at 129 Lewis St.; and Hope House, an emergency shelter for women and women with children. Last November, the Matt Urban Center also opened Hope Gardens, providing permanent housing for chronically homeless women.

For more information on the Matt Urban Center, please visit www.urbanctr.org or follow the organization on Facebook for frequent updates.