Aqueous, the Buffalo jam band, reunites for its first shows since 2023

Aqueous will reunite for two hometown concerts at Buffalo's Town Ballroom on December 4 and 5, marking the band's first public performances since its last show at the Great Flamingle II festival in August 2023, JamBase reported. The lineup will look slightly different from that final show: former drummer Ryan Nogle, who left Aqueous more than a decade ago, is returning to the kit, replacing Rob Houk, who played with the band from 2016 through 2023.

The band, guitarist Mike Gantzer, multi-instrumentalist Dave Loss and bassist Evan McPhaden, left the door open for a reunion when it announced an indefinite hiatus in June 2023. Loss explained the decision at the time as a response to the birth of his son. "I want to be there for as much as I can and I don't want to miss a thing," he wrote. "That being said, touring and being away from my family is just not something I can do right now."

Loss went further in a separate note announcing his own step back from full-time touring. "I have decided that it is time for me to step away from the band to be home with my family," he wrote, calling it a difficult but right decision, while adding that he still planned to keep playing music, just not as a full-time touring musician.

In the years since, Gantzer has stayed busiest of the group, performing with his trio Death Kings, Andy Frasco & The U.N. and other projects, while Nogle toured and recorded with Funktional Flow following his earlier exit from Aqueous. Both musicians' outside work gives the December reunion something of a homecoming feel for two members returning from different directions.

Tickets for both reunion shows go on sale Friday, August 21 at 10 a.m. ET. The band has not announced whether the December dates are a one-off or the start of a broader return to touring.