[DID NOT ATTEND: October 26, 2022] We Were Promised Jetpacks / Breakup Shoes
I’ve seen We Were Promised Jetpacks a couple of times and they put on a ripping show.
But recently one of their original members left and they seem to have changed their sound a bit. I didn’t enjoy it quite as much. But they tour around here all the time, it seems (especially for a band from Scotland). I’m curious if their shows will be as intense. However, this show was right in the middle of a bunch of shows and I had tickets to see Band-Maid, who I’d never seen before.
I also didn’t quite think that Ardmore Music Hall was the right venue for them.
So, I’m sure WWPJ will be back again.
Breakup Shoes reminds me of The Housemartins/non-funny Barenaked Ladies–soda pop sweet, surf-flavored indie rock but with dark lyrics that you might not pick out. All of this wrapped in a more 90s sound–buzzy guitars and fuzzy production with guitar solos.
Metric was on my radar back in the early 2000s, but their album Fantasties proved to be one of my favorite releases of 2009. I had not considered seeing them live until I’d heard such glowing reviews of their live show.
When this tour was announced, Secret Machines was listed as the opening act for all shows but Philly and one other location. No other information was given. Even walking into the venue I wasn’t sure if there was an opening act. The only clue was that Metric was live streaming their show at 9 and the venue said the show started at 8.
A few minutes after 8, the lights dimmed and two people walked out. The crowd cheered, and then I heard someone say, “Wait. is there an opening band?” So I wasn’t the only one confused.
The people on stage were a guy behind some keyboards and a woman with a guitar.
The first song began and the keyboards made some cool sounds–weird and catchy–with a beat. Then the woman started singing. I liked the whole vibe she projected. As the song came to an end, she played some really wicked guitar licks–they reminded me of the earlier sounds that St. Vincent made on her first couple of albums–weird, unexpected and really compelling.
The rest of the set was more or less like this. Sometimes the guitar parts were more of a lead. Sometimes they were more like solos
She didn’t say much. She thanked Metric. Thanked us for coming early. And just as she was about to start the last song, someone shouted, Who are you? She smiled, leaned into the microphone and whispered something inaudible, which I think was her saying Miss Grit. I had actually heard of Miss Grit on an All Songs Considered episode from a couple of years ago. I remembered liking the song.
The only way I knew the band was by doing an audio search on my phone during the last song “Like You” which had a distinctive guitar riff.
Then they walked off, with the audience pretty much blown away. I think we all enjoyed her set immensely and I’m surprised she didn’t make sure we all knew who she was.
[DID NOT ATTEND: September 3, 2021] Mac Sabbath / Speedealer / Lung
I saw Mac Sabbath back in 2019 and enjoyed their weird schtick.
Basically, they are a Black Sabbath cover band, but all of their lyrics are about McDonald’s and the fast food industry in general. So that’s pretty funny. But that’s not all. They have taken this concept to an absurd length. Each band member is costumed or wears makeup. And the costumes are phenomenal–not cheap little handmade things, but remarkably detailed and well constructed heads and bodies. The attention to detail is really impressive.
I don’t really think I ever need to see them again, frankly. And I almost feel like playing the small Foundry would be a detriment to them, with their full size costumery and everything.
Speedealer was supposed to open for Fu Manchu on theat ill-fated tour. They were originally called REO Speedealer, which I love. They were told to cease and desist from REO Speedwagon (imagine that). They play a kind of aggressive garage metal. They have a punk edge and the lead singer has a growly punk voice that is clear enough amid the roughage.
Lung is a two-piece based out of Cincinnati, Ohio, comprised of Kate Wakefield (vocals, effected electric cello) and Daisy (drums). This set up is pretty wild. Kate plays an electric cello (it’s very thin, with all the wood cut off. And Daisy plays a stripped down drumkit. Kate plays mostly heavy deep notes, but there’s that distinctive cello feel that makes it all sound so surreal.
It’s hard to imagine anyone not in a comedy band opening for Mac Sabbath. I can kind of see Lung because they are pretty unusual, but it seems odd for Speedealer.
[ATTENDED: August 30, 2019] King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard [rescheduled from May 22 and then October 22, 2020 and again on October 23, 2021]
After the previous King Gizzard show in this very venue, I was all set to wait in line for this one. People arrive very early for the merch. But when I got there (close to 8), there was no line to get in. That’s because the merch line was (once again) insanely long. It went almost to the stage. In fact, it was unclear who was on line and who was just milling about. Well, even though I would have liked a poster, I certainly didn’t need to wait in that line (or spend $50).
The show started very late. While waiting last time, I felt a sense of existential “what’s the point” last time, and I kind of felt this this time. It’s crowded, it’s hot, we’re just standing here.
And then they came out and all was forgotten. They launched into Oddlife. By the way, the band has released six albums since the last time they played here, so who knew what was coming. This song featured the “Flying Microtonal Banana” guitar, so there was bound to be a couple more microtonal music.
Up next was “Billabong Valley” on which Ambrose sang (and played guitar).
At some point, all the yahoos who were hanging back started pushing in trying to get into the center for the inevitable pit. I was really blown away last time at how mobile the KGATLW crowd was. Slamming, pogoing, bouncing, just full body contact everywhere. We were all pushed way away from our original position.
After the looming fun of “K.G.L.W.” Stu switched guitars to his new inverted flying V. Although they had played songs from Infect the Rat’s Nest last time, this time they played two different songs from it, and they inserted the thrashing “Predator X” from Omnium Gatherum which fit perfectly.
Then things slowed down immensely for the mellow acoustic vibe of “Her and I,” the final song on I’m in Your Mind Fuzz.
So far, “Billabong Valley” was the only song they’d played for me before.
Then they began “Crumbling Castle” and the fans went nuts. It’s one of my favorite songs, but I didn’t know it was everyone’s favorite song (who knows with KGATLW–they have 22 albums out). “Castle” and “Her and I” take about 20 minutes alone, and this show was turning from a headbanging ball into a jam fest. Especially when it segued into “The Fourth Colour” also from Polygondwanaland/
Then Ambrose said it was time to dance as they played King Gizzard’s rap song “The Grim Reaper.” There was much dancing and waving. And then they segued into “Ice V” the only song from the three albums that they released in October. It’s probably my favorite track on Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava.
Then they called Leah Senior out and she began reciting some of Altered Beast with Leah doing the narration. In 2018, they had played us Alter Me I and Altered Beast I. This time it was Alter Me III and Altered Beast IV It was like the ended the story four years later.
They ended with “Evil Death Roll” a rollicking good time from Nonagon Infinity. They jammed this out for a pretty long time, throwing in teases from other songs.
Comparing this show to previous shows, the number of songs in significantly lower. But they really jammed out some songs in the middle, giving this a more psychedelic feel than previous shows. This in no way stopped the crowd from pushing and shoving and surfing. Indeed ,some guy was just pushing me, for no reason that I could see–quite hard too–until I asked him to switch places with me. Which he did.
Despite how much I love them, I decided that I don’t think I’ll be seeing them again. The crowd is just not my crowd. Unless they play somewhere else (but there’s really nowhere bigger than Franklin Music Hall) and they keep selling that venue out pretty easily.
Markit Aneight had a much better view than me and filmed the whole show
Franklin Music Hall October 22, 2022
Franklin Music Hall August 30, 2019
Union Transfer June 18, 2018
Oddlife ∑
Planet B ℜ
Digital Black ⊗
Billabong Valley ⇔
Perihelion ℜ
Vomit Coffin ⊗
K.G.L.W. £
The Great Chain of Being Ω
The Lord of Lightning ⊗
Mars for the Rich ℜ
Stressin’ ℘
Cellophane β
Predator X Ø
I’m in Your Mind β
Alter Me I ⊗
Organ Farmer ℜ
I’m Not in Your Mind β
Altered Beast I ⊗
Her and I (Slow Jam 2) [Iron Lung tease] β
Cellophane β
Evil Death Roll ∝
Crumbling CastleΔ
I’m in Your Mind Fuzz β
Billabong Valley ⇔
The Fourth ColourΔ
The Balrog ⊗
Nuclear Fusion ⇔
The Grim Reaper Ø
Acarine €
Rattlesnake ⇔
Ice V ¥
Murder of the Universe ⊗
All Is Known Ω
Alter Me III (with Leah Senior) ⊗
The Bird Song €
Crumbling Castle Δ
Altered Beast IV (with Leah Senior) ⊗
Let Me Mend the Past ∼
The Fourth Colour Δ
Evil Death Roll ∝
(Altered Beast & Hypertension teases;
contained elements of Invisible Face)
[CANCELLED: October 24, 2022] METZ / Spiritual Cramp
I saw METZ open for Modest Mouse four years ago and my ears might still be ringing. I knew of Metz from their noise filled chaotic but amazing albums.
Their live show was less about the abrasiveness and more about their intense stage presence. I knew I wanted to see them headline a show.
I was unable to see them on their headline tour last year. But I was pretty excited for this year’s 10 year anniversary tour. But then, sort of out of the blue it was announced that they’d cancelled the fall leg of their tour (all of October). There’s still no word on what happened [UPDATE: they did play the December shows, so, maybe they didn’t want to be on the east coast for Halloween). No word yet on a rescheduled date.
Spiritual Cramp are a San Francisco punk band in the old school Ramonesy fashion. Simple clean and fast with a singer who kind of blurts out the words. They’re kind of refreshing, frankly.
[DID NOT ATTEND: October 24, 2022] Algernon Cadwallader / Sun Organ / Customer
Algernon Cadawaller is another show where I fell for the hype and then couldn’t go.
Since I couldn’t go to the Saturday show–King Gizzard–I could have tried to go to the Monday show. However, I had been to a show on Friday and Saturday and had shows lined up for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of the next week. Something had to give.
Eight is the recording project of Mimi Gallagher, based in Philadelphia. Delight in Eight is the debut record, assembled from recordings done at home and at the Bunk with a revolving door of friends — anchored by the core trio of Mimi Gallagher, Cat Park, and Pat Brier.
I listened to a few songs from the album and I really like it. It has a Julian Hatfield (circa 1995) feel–gentle vocals over some good old fuzzy guitar rock. I really liked them.
Lizdelise opened for NNAMDÏ / Ghösh in May and was described by NPR as
Liz de Lise is a singer, songwriter and guitarist who writes alternative folk songs with jazz influences. She creates lush soundscapes with acoustic and electric guitar, vocals and a loop pedal.
Big Nothing is from Philly and have a very open feel about them–like you can hear all of the strings on the acoustic guitar strumming. The lead singer sounds a lot like Bob Mould. I’d say this is more Mould solo than Sugar. Perhaps a little too poppy, but could be fun live.
[ATTENDED: October 22, 2022] Leah Senior [rescheduled from May 22 and then October 22, 2020 and again on October 23, 2021]
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard created a record label (Flightless) and they released Leah Senior’s latest album.
I had listened to Leah Senior when it was first announced that she was going to open for them on the tour. I think her new album wasn’t out yet, because I found what I heard to be fine, decent folk music.
Or as NME says:
Her first two albums, 2015’s ‘Summer’s On The Ground’ and 2017’s ‘Pretty Faces’, are sparsely arranged folk records – usually just Senior and her guitar, maybe a bit of piano – with songs she says were often born from anguish. But on ‘The Passing Scene’, Senior moves away from the sounds of early Joni Mitchell to something echoing the late-’60s, jazzy, jam-band sound of Karen Dalton’s ‘In My Own Time’. Senior says she approached recording with a sense of playfulness for the first time.
Because live, these songs were delightful! Fun and bouncey with a fantastic band and, the killer ingredient: backing vocals by her sister, Andi. Together the two of them sang beautiful harmonies.
I expected to like her set, but I was enchanted by it. By her voice, by the way her band fleshed out these songs and by the overall vibe she generated. She played guitar for the first few songs and then switched to piano/keyboards for the rest.
I was less enchanted by the loud dude near me who felt compelled to talk a lot about which King Gizzard albums he had and how much he hated baseball and how mean the Aussies were during the lockdown. Fortunately, the person he was talking to moved away from him and he was left talking to no one and we all enjoyed the last few Leah Senior songs ever the more.
I couldn’t see her all that well–a wall of KGATLW fans were in my way, but her voice soared over any obstacles.
[ATTENDED: October 21, 2022] Psychedelic Porn Crumpets [rescheduled from May 5, 2022]
I’m not exactly sure how I discovered Psychedelic Porn Crumpets. They are an Australian band and they are weird and pretty wonderful.
I wondered if they had any connection to fellow weird and wonderful Australians King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, but Perth and Melbourne are over 2,000 miles apart and it takes about 36 hours to drive from one to the other. Which is about as long as it would take for someone in NJ to drive to Las Vegas.
Seeing them at Underground Arts was really fun because I was right up on the stage–I got to see Rodney the Turtle sing backing vocals).
I’ve listened to the band’s records a bunch, but somehow I didn’t expect the crowd to be quite so frenzied. The songs are fast and frenzied (and not really psychedelic at all) and a Friday night Philly crowd is just waiting for a chance to slam and surf. I was luckily just off to the side so I wasn’t in the pit at all.
PPC have three guitarists. Jack McEwan is the band’s vocalist and main songwriter (he’s actually British, but moved to Australia when he a teenager. Luke Parish is the lead guitarist for the band, although McEwan also plays lead and Chris Young plays the guitar/keyboard (which also includes lead–sometimes all three play leads at the same time). Danny Caddy is the band’s drummer. Wayan Billondana plays bass. He was in front of me on the stage and his bass playing was outstanding.
The show opened up with the band placing Rodney the Turtle front and center. I was concerned that someone might try to walk off with Rodney, but the fans behaved themselves. And he sat patiently until a spotlight shone on him as operatic music started.
As the operatic song came to a close, the band came out and bashed into “Tally-ho,” a fast song full of wild guitar and funky rhythms that set the tone for the night.
The band jumped all over their discography, playing songs from their 5 albums.
Songs like “Lava Lamp Pisco” feature these wonderfully catchy high notes (sung and played on guitar) that act as a massive hook. But no hook is as big and catchy as the riff of “Bill’s Mandolin” which got the crowd bouncing. The floor would have been bouncing if we weren’t underground on bedrock.
More terrific riffs followed in “Mundungus” and then things slowed down for a breather in “Found God in a Tomato” the first of many from their debut album. Things stayed mellow and actually got jazzy for the only track from High Visceral Part 2, “November.”
Like Acid Dad, PPC projected psychedelic images behind them. It was cool when it showed up on them and their faces swirled around.
People went berserk for the riff of “Hymn for a Droid.” I assume that most of us knew PPC because of And Now for the Whatchamacallit which i think was the first (and only for a while) PPC record you could get here. I happen to love this song especially the middle section which sounds like one of my favorite Supergrass songs.
Even though they released their latest album Nigh Gnomes fairly recently, they only played two songs from it (“Lava Lamp” and the thumping and rocking “Acid Dent.”
The band was genuinely excited to be playing to a large (for them…in the States) crowd. They had previously played to 100 person rooms and this room was four times the size. And the crowd was really into it.
They ended the set with three songs from High Visceral Part 1–the three opening tracks in reverse order. “Marmalade March,” has a series of great catchy riffs as the march proceeds to stomp all over the song. “Cubensis Lenses” continues the riffing that culminated in a spectacular encore of “Cornflake,” which they stretched out far longer than its three minute recorded version. It shifts back and forth between a big catchy riff and very mellow verses.
My son’s friend had seen them in New York the night before and he said I would love the show and I absolutely did. It really got me out of my funk of less than stellar shows. Which is just as well as there were two more shows in the next two nights.
Tally-Ho ¿
Lava Lamp Pisco ♠
Bill’s Mandolin &
Mundungus ¿
Found God in a Tomato ¶
November ¶¶
Mr. Prism ¿
Hymn for a Droid &
Acid Dent ♠
Marmalade March ¶
Cubensis Lenses ¶
encore
Cornflake ¶
♠ Night Gnomes (2022)
¿ SHYGA! The Sunlight Mound (2021) & And Now for the Whatchamacallit (2019)
¶¶ High Visceral (Part 2) (2017)
¶ High Visceral (Part 1) (2016)
[DID NOT ATTEND: October 22, 2022] Algernon Cadwallader / Sun Organ / Customer
Algernon Cadawaller is another show where I fell for the hype and then couldn’t go.
I hadn’t heard of the band but apparently they were legendary. I wouldn’t have bought a ticket without listening to them, of course, but seeing that they were an emo/math rock band was enough to pique my interest.
So I grabbed a ticket before it sold out. Only to discover that it was the same night as my King Gizzard show (and of course, King Gizzard wins that). So I’ll never know if it was worth the hype.
Sun Organ is a kind of shambolic noise band from Philly. The first two songs on their album Candlelight Showertime are kind of slow and ponderous (as if the vocals are slowed down) and I was about to give up on them, but the third and fourth songs are more interesting both in tempo and sonic construction. I’m sure they’d be fun live.
Customer is a New York based post punk / power indie pop band. They have two songs out and they’re both really good. All of the members have been in other bands and I love the way Nicola Leel sings in a slightly out of sync way. Cool stuff.
I became aware of Acid Dad through the Reverberation Appreciation Society and Levitation Records which aired a number of live shows during lockdown. I’ve actually learned about a half dozen really cool bands from these lockdown shows.
I was especially intrigued about Acid Dad and had hoped to see them with Hooveriii at Philamoca (but I went to see Torres that night instead).
But here was Acid Dad opening for Psychedelic Porn Crumpets–a great opportunity to see two bands on my gotta see list.
I hadn’t realized that Acid Dad have no bassist (well, there is bass on the records). Rather, for this show there were two guitars Vaughn Hunt and Sean Fahey and their drummer, Trevor Mustoe I also didn’t realize that both guitarists sang lead on different songs. And the way the guitars played off of each other (with them each playing riffs and using all kinds of pedals) the bass was not missed (and I love a good bass line).
Rather, they played their kicking riffs and catchy choruses one after the other, which each guitarist showing some soloing chops.
They have a great retro sound because it seems to reference a whole bunch of musical styles–there’s a classic rock vibe, but there’s also a Jesus and Mary Chain feel (in the vocals and the fuzz).
I was really surprised by how hard they rocked live. Their recorded output is a little gentler, but they ripped their songs (maybe with just the three of them they played harder). Indeed, Mustoe broke a stick three quarters of the way through the show. He threw it to the crowd but it got stuck in the cables at the front of the stage (amazingly no one climbed up to get it).
They played for about 45 minutes, which was great as they played through a bunch of new songs, including their brand new single, as well as a few older songs too.
I also really enjoyed their backdrops, which was full of all kinds of cool psychedelic images. It was like a retro show with oily colors drifting behind the band, except that it was wholly modern and high tech. It totally captured the band’s vibe.
Mr. Major ∀
Searchin’ ⊗
Get Me High [single]
RC Driver ⊗
Don’t Get Taken $
Dissin’ ∀
BBQ ⊗
She Only Eats Organic ⊗
Living With a Creature [single]
Marine ∀
⊗ Take It from the Dead (2021) ∀ Acid Dad (2018) $ Let’s Plan a Robbery (2016)
I’ve seen We Were Promised Jetpacks a couple of times and they put on a ripping show.
I Just Read About That... 