Entry No. 23 — the Buffalo file — filed under: ritual-music
Silo City & Duende
Industrialist Rick Smith bought this canyon of concrete grain elevators on the Buffalo River for an ethanol venture; when that collapsed he let the artists in, and the four silo complexes (built 1906–1927) now host poetry readings, weddings, installations painted straight onto the concrete, and the Silo Sessions — concerts staged inside the Marine A silos, whose missing bottoms turn them into enormous echo chambers. Explore Buffalo runs $22 ground tours of the campus. At the base sits Duende, a bar and stage in the American Malting Company's 1940s office building, its interior built from materials salvaged out of the silos themselves, serving cocktails and a short menu with live music most of the week.
→ Three at a time, never the same twice — explore weird Buffalo
The story
Buffalo invented the grain elevator: Joseph Dart and the Scottish engineer Robert Dunbar opened the first steam-powered one on the Buffalo River in June 1843, and it moved 229,260 bushels in its first year. Within fifteen years the city had ten of them and was the largest grain port on earth. Silo City is what survived, on the south shore of the river about 600 yards from Lake Erie: the Perot elevators and their red-brick malthouse of 1907, decommissioned in 1963; American, 1906; Marine A, 1925, four hundred feet long and sixty wide and a hundred and twenty tall in solid concrete; and Lake & Rail, built in four stages between 1927 and 1930 to hold 4.4 million bushels, which kept working until 2017.
Richard "Rick" Smith III, third-generation head of Rigidized Metals — whose plant is at 658 Ohio Street, the same address where Silo City tours now meet — bought the complexes meaning to make ethanol. When that collapsed he let artists in instead, and Jim Watkins, an art student turned factory hand who had been hired for the ethanol job, stayed on as the site's steward. The concrete now carries painted and pasted work, weddings and poetry readings happen between the bins, and the Silo Sessions put concerts and recordings inside Marine A, where the missing silo bottoms have turned the structures into enormous echo chambers.
At the base of all this, in the American Malting Company's 1940s office building, is Duende: a bar and stage whose interior was handbuilt from materials salvaged out of the silos themselves. Short menu, real cocktails, and live music most of the week — Tom Stahl and the Dangerfields, Mark Dux & the Bender Project, John Bacon's jazz on the last Sunday of the month, trivia on the second Wednesday.
What it's like
You drive in down Ohio Street past a working metals plant, and the scale only registers when you are out of the car: gravel underfoot, concrete going up forever, freight noise somewhere. Duende takes no reservations, so on a good Saturday you wait a bit and then sit outside with a hundred and twenty feet of grain elevator over your shoulder, which is not a view any patio umbrella was designed for. The kitchen shuts an hour before the bar does, so eat early and drink late rather than the reverse. No dogs. On a tour you sign a waiver, stay with the guide, and keep to the route — the elevators are not a place to wander off in, and closed-toe shoes are a requirement rather than a suggestion.
The move: Unless it's Monday, Duende is open tonight: get there before the kitchen closes (an hour before the bar), order the ratatouille sandwich, and catch the set — last Sunday of the month is John Bacon's jazz. Then book Explore Buffalo's $22 ground tour so you can come back and see what's looming over the patio in daylight.
📍 Before you go Duende: closed Monday; Tue–Wed 4–9, Thu 4–10, Fri 4–11, Sat noon–11, Sun 1–8; kitchen closes an hour before the bar; no reservations, no dogs. Explore Buffalo tours meet at 120 Silo City Row and run on scheduled dates — book ahead. It's a working post-industrial site: gravel everywhere, wear real shoes, and don't wander into silos off-tour.
- 📍 Buffalo
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 85 Silo City Row, Buffalo, NY 14203
Hours: Added 2026-08-25 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Hartman's Barrel Room — Ten minutes north on Chicago Street, another bar hidden inside a working industrial building — you drink your way through a distillery to reach it, which is the indoor version of the same trick.
- Penn Dixie Monthly Stargazing — Fifteen minutes down Route 5 in Blasdell: spend the afternoon among hundred-year-old concrete, then stand in a Devonian shale quarry after dark looking at things considerably older.
- The Colored Musicians Club — The counterweight downtown — the other Buffalo room where the building itself is part of the sound, except this one has been holding jazz since long before anyone thought concrete bins were a venue.
More weird in Buffalo
Good to know
Can I just walk in and look at the silos?
Duende is open to anyone during its hours, and you will see plenty from the yard around it. Getting in among the elevators means a tour: Silo City's own Arts & Ecology tour is $30 a head, about 90 minutes, on select Saturdays through the warm season, meeting at 658 Ohio Street with pre-registration and a signed waiver.
What's the Explore Buffalo tour, and how is it different?
Explore Buffalo runs its own ground tour of the campus at $22, or $12 with an Explorer Pass, meeting at 120 Silo City Row rather than at 658 Ohio Street. It runs on scheduled dates, so book ahead and check which address your ticket names — they are different corners of the same site.
When is Duende open, and do I need a booking?
No reservations, ever. Closed Monday; Tuesday and Wednesday 4–9, Thursday 4–10, Friday 4–11, Saturday noon–11, Sunday 1–8. The kitchen closes an hour before the bar on every one of those days.
What should I wear, and is the ground manageable?
This is a rugged post-industrial site — gravel, rail beds, uneven concrete. Closed-toe shoes are required on every tour, and sensible ones are a good idea even if you are only going to the bar. No dogs on the premises.
Can I book it for a group?
Private Silo City tours start at $500 and are arranged through an inquiry form, with more notice needed for parties over twenty. The site also hosts weddings and events, which is a separate conversation entirely — email [email protected].
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · explorebuffalo.org · savingplaces.org
last checked: 2026-08-25