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Archive for September, 2023

Death Grips (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, September 23, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Death Grips, Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA on September 23, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 23, 2023] Death Grips

Death Grips is a band I learned about a few years ago.  They are noisy and scary and apparently put on an insane live show.  But they are also really flaky, including posting this on Facebook a decade ago

We are now at our best and so Death Grips is over. We have officially stopped. All currently scheduled live dates are canceled.

This show was scheduled to be at Union Transfer, which I was pretty psyched about.  But it sold out in about five seconds and they moved it to Franklin Music Hall, which is kind of a bummer, although somehow it seems fitting that they would play at a much bigger venue.

It also appears that it’s unclear how long after doors open that they will go on.  You could wait almost two hours if you get there when doors open.  Yikes.

 

(more…)

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Mr. Phylzzz (Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, September 21, 2023) [BORIS]

Posted in Boris, Brooklyn Bowl, Mr. Phylzzz , Philadelphia, PA, The Melvins on September 23, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 21, 2023] Mr. Phylzzz 

Mr. Phylzzz were described as a “two-piece loud-ass noise rock band from Chicago, IL.”   And indeed, they were a two-piece and in the way of man two-piece bands, they were loud-ass.

Mr. Phylzzz (pronounced Flyzzz) consists of Clinton Jacobs (guitar/vox) & Danny Sein (drums).  Since Sein is behind the kit (and seriously pummeling it), it’s up to Jacobs to be the entertainment.  He pretty much never stood still. He ran back and forth around the stage, he climbed into the audience, he waved his guitar around, he looked very intimidating.  And yet he had a completely childlike (comically so) speaking voice.

Were the songs simple?  Sure!  Did they rock?  Yes indeed.

There was a real classic rock feel to many of the songs (probably because of Jacob’s falsetto).  A song like “Pretend Friends” is only a couple of notes, but they are catchy.  And after the verse (single notes really fuzzed out) the song gets huge when Jacob plays the whole chord.

And there was much entertainment at the end of the song when Jacobs and Sein crashed the chords/cymbals at the same time and Jacobs roared his guitar during the pauses.

Incidentally, Sein was wearing a shirt and tie and Jacobs had on a suit–although the jacket was ripped from the bottom up to the sleeve for maximum free movement. (more…)

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Igorrr (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, September 20, 2023)

Posted in Igorrr, Melt-Banana, Otto von Schirach, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on September 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 20, 2023] Igorrr

I bought tickets to this show back in December–I was really really looking forward to seeing Igorrr after reading about his live shows.  I thought that I had missed him a few years back–he was supposed to tour with ministry but left the tour before coming to the States.  So I don’t really see any evidence of him having played Philly since like 2018.

But I wasn’t going to miss this opportunity.

Igorrr is the creation of French musician Gautier Serre.  He mashes up genres in a crazy quilt of styles which often changes every few seconds.  He has a base of heavy metal but he throws in hip hot, break beats, classical and opera–it’s thrilling and confusing.  I loved his album Savage Sinusoid which Metal Injection gave a perfect 10/10 score, and named it the “Batshit Crazy Album of the Year.”

The follow up, Spirituality and Distortion focused more on the metal component of his repertoire.  Sinusoid was heavy mostly because it was so erratic and there were heavy components thrown in.  But Spirituality is a heavy metal record–with Igorrrr elements like baroque music, harpsichord and Middle Eastern melodies floating around and between the heaviness.

When Melt Banana cleared off their gear, all that was left was a table and a drumset.   So when Serre came out and started doing some amazing splicing and breaking up of sounds, I thought for a short time that the whole show was going to be this.  And that was cool.  I enjoyed watching him (in the moody light) manipulate sounds and create the wacky composition that is “Paranoid Bulldozer Italiano.”  (more…)

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Måneskin (Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, September 21, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Madison Square Garden, Måneskin, New York City on September 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 21, 2023] Måneskin

At the end of last year, my wife and daughter went with me to see Måneskin in Philly.  It was a great show.  Super fun, with a great classic rock n roll swagger that you don’t see much these days (for better and worse).

The songs were catchy, the band was fun and it was a great time.

They announced a new tour although this time they weren’t hitting Philly (which is weird since they sold out two nights in Philly last time), but they were playing Madison Square Garden (the big time).

It’s unlikely that we’d all be going to Madison Square Garden, especially on a school night.  But when the tickets were announced they were so damned expensive that I just said no.  And the other two didn’t mind.

It looks like they have either sold out or there’s only a few random seats left.  So good for them.

For ease of searching, I include: Maneskin

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Karina Rykman / Guerrilla Toss (The Wonder Bar, Asbury Park, NJ, September 21, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Asbury Park, NJ, Guerrilla Toss, Karina Rykman, Wonder Bar on September 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 21, 2023] Karina Rykman / Guerrilla Toss

I’ve only been to The Wonder Bar once and I really liked it.  Strange how in all these years since there haven’t been any bands I’ve wanted to see there (not exactly true, but the few I’ve wanted to always conflicted).  Then Karina Rykman announced a surprise show there.

My wife and I saw her open for Guster and she was great live.  I’ve since listened to a bunch of her live shows online and she’s a great performer.

When I saw that this tour promised that Guerrilla Toss was opening, I needed to go.  So, even though I had a ticket to see Boris, a band I never want to miss when they come here (especially since they almost called it quits recently), I grabbed a cheap ticket to Karina just in case it sold out.

Then Melvins drummer, Dale Crover injured himself and was going to miss the tour.  I actually wondered if it might get postponed.  But no.  But Karina announced a show in Philly at Milkboy an I grabbed a ticket for that.  It doesn’t look like Guerrilla Toss is going to play that show which is a bummer.  But Karina is worth schlepping into center city Philly in December.

I don’t exactly remember what first attracted me to Guerrilla Toss.  I had heard very good things about them, although I don’t remember what.  I also don’t think I heard about them before 2014 when they were apparently really crazy as this clip from Impose notes:

What I loved about that band in 2014 is not what I love about them now. As long time fans of Toss know, the band is much different now. They’ve ditched the nudity, the three-song sets, the mindless and sometimes violent thrashing. Guerilla Toss brought this hurricane of inescapable absurdity and frantic release; there was always a feeling of, “I need to get this out of me, whatever it is, right fuckin’ now.” On the last three releases, they’ve synthesized the pop even further into a truly danceable and quite accessible experience, one that retains the absurdity and the anxiety that Toss fans have always really appreciated. The reason I love Guerilla Toss now is because not only can I continue to move to their music, but it’s entered a space that ultimately does not push out those who might be afraid to mix with the obscure, the scary, the sometimes absurdly violent environments that the old Guerilla Toss would bring with them everywhere they go. And yet they haven’t fully ditched that angle either. Guerilla Toss, the way I see it anyways, is a chance for experimental, fans-of-the-fringe, noise heads to fuck with mainstream indie-pop, and for mainstream indie-pop heads to fuck with the noise.

I have to say when I listened to them recently I thought they sounded really safe, so maybe they have matured really really far in ten years.  I wonder if their shows are still fun.  And I suppose there’s still a chance they’ll play in Philly.

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Death Cab for Cutie / The Postal Service / Warpaint (The Mann Center, Philadelphia, PA, September 21, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Death Cab For Cutie, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, Postal Service, The Postal Service, Warpaint on September 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 21, 2023] Death Cab for Cutie / The Postal Service / Warpaint

Back in December, Ben Gibbard announced an upcoming tour:

The Postal Service and Death Cab for Cutie have announced a co-headlining tour taking place next fall. The 2023 dates will celebrate the 20th anniversary of their respective 2003 records: Give Up and Transatlanticism. Bandleader Benjamin Gibbard will pull double-duty each night of the tour, as his bands perform the albums front-to-back. The trek also marks the first live performances from the Postal Service in a decade. Find the full tour schedule below and scroll down for a trailer video.

“I know for a fact I will never have a year again like 2003,” Gibbard said in a press release. “The Postal Service record came out; Transatlanticism came out. These two records will be on my tombstone, and I’m totally fine with that. I’ve never had a more creatively inspired year.”

I was pretty excited about this show since DCFC are so great live and that Postal Service album is pretty great as well.

As it turns out, the show sold out in about 5 seconds.  I was sure they’d announce a second Philly show, but they didn’t.  So, nope I didn’t get to see this one.  It was later announced that Boris would be playing this night in Philly and I would have been pissed if I had to miss them again even if for a show I wanted to see.

Warpaint seems to be an opening band for a bunch of shows I’m interested in and yet I’ve never seen them.  I feel like they should be noisy and wild, but they’re really not.  The only thing I really know about them is that drummer Stella Mozgawa is pretty dynamite.  They remind me a lot of Luscious Jackson.

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Melt-Banana (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, September 20, 2023) [IGORRR]

Posted in Igorrr, Melt-Banana, Otto von Schirach, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on September 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 20, 2023] Melt-Banana

I’ve known about Melt-Banana for years.  I knew they were loud and fast and were from Japan.  But I didn’t know much beyond that.  Turns out they’ve never had a permanent drummer.  They like the freedom of a drum machine.  For over twenty years they had a bass player (Rika Hamamoto) but when they decided to tour again recently, they decided to go just as as duo Yasuko Onuki – vocals and Ichiro Agata – guitars, effects.

After getting all of their gear set up, Yasuko calmly stood with a colorful videogame controller looking device in her hand.  A wall of amps and a laptop behind her.  Off to her left a few feet was Ichiro, with a guitar, a huge array of pedals and his own wall of amps.

He played fast and he looped his sounds and did a million things most of which I can’t even fathom.  Yasuko had her device and from time to time, she would wave her hand and presumably push a button on the gadget and the drums and bass blasted out of the speakers.  And these drums sounded great–they sounded real and not like a preprogrammed device.  I actually wondered if they were somehow triggering the drumset that was set up behind them (they weren’t).

Yasuko sings very high, very fast and sounds kind of angry.  But she never looked angry.  And she never broke a sweat (while Ichiro was a sweaty mess).

They played a whole bunch of songs, I can’t even imagine how anyone could tell them apart.  But someone did, as the setlist below is from the NY show but I believe it is the same (or roughly so) of ours–comparing my clips to what the songs are, it seems like the setlist was the same each night.

About half way through, Yasuko brought over a mic stand with a piece of paper taped to it.  There were 8 lines in Japanese.  She said they were going to play 8 very sort songs and proceeded to play the 8 songs in less than 3 minutes.

After that they were back to longer songs.   The last three songs of the set are around the 4 minute mark.

It was wild and fun and unpredictable.  And the crowd was totally into it.  In fact, this guy who cut in front of me to be right on the stage said he was going to see them tomorrow as well.  He moved away for the last song so he could join the inevitable pit and did not return for Igorrr.

Melt-Banana haven’t put out a new record in about ten years.  But they tour all the time.  So catch them if you can.

  1. Chain-Shot to Have Some Fun ≡
  2. The Hive €
  3. Vertigo Game €
  4. To Raffle or not to Raffle ∇
  5. Lie Lied Lies €
  6. Case D in the Test Tube ℵ
  7. So Unfilial Rule (0:14) (Discordance Axis song) ψ
  8. T for Tone (0:16) ß
  9. Lock the Head (0:28) ß
  10. Scrubber (0:17) §
  11. We Love Choco-Pa! (0:16) ©
  12. First Defy (0:11) ⊗
  13. Screw, Loose (0:24) §
  14. His Name Is Mickey (At Last She Got Him…) (0:22) ⇔
  15. Killer Garden in the Bottle ∞
  16. Sakura Spiral ∞
  17. My Missing Link €
  18. Infection Defective €
  19. Candy Gum €

BOLD songs are part of the “short song” segment

∞ split single with Napalm Death (2016)
€ Fetch (2013)
ß Bambi’s Dilemma (2007)
ψ 13 Hedgehogs (MxBx Singles 1994–1999)
≡ Cell-Scape (2003)
⊗ MxBx 1998 / 13,000 Miles at Light Velocity (1999)
⇔ Scratch or Stitch (1995)
© Cactuses Come in Flocks (1994)
§ Speak Squeak Creak (1994)

∇ Japan is Loud [Adult Swim compilation 2022]
ℵ Noise [Adult Swim compilation 2016]

 

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Melvins / Boris / Mr. Phylzzz (Musikfest Cafe, Steel Stacks, Bethlehem, PA, September 20, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Bethlehem, PA, Boris, Mr. Phylzzz , Steelstacks, The Melvins on September 20, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 20, 2023] Melvins / Boris / Mr. Phylzzz 

There’s not a lot that could keep me away from a Boris show.  Although the last time they came to the area, it was the same night that my daughter wanted to see Kurtis Conner.  So obviously she won out that night.

This year, I saw that Boris and Melvins were touring together.  I’m not a big fan of the Melvins.  I like them in theory but never really got into their music.  And yes, I know that Boris gets their name from a Melvins song, so this tour is just too perfect.

Anyhow, the one thing that could keep me away from this show was the fact that I had tickets to see Igorr this very night and I wasn;t going  to pass up that rare opportunity.  PLUS, this very show was going to be in Philadelphia the next night.

Mr. Phylzzz are described as a “two-piece loud-ass noise rock band from Chicago, IL.”  Sounds like a perfect fit for this show.  I’ll find out tomorrow.

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The Breeders: 30th Anniversary Tour / Screaming Females (The Fillmore, Philadelphia, PA, September 20, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Pixies, Screaming Females, The Breeders, The Fillmore Philadelphia on September 20, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 20, 2023] The Breeders / Screaming Females

When The Breeders released “Cannonball” 30 years ago (!), I fell in love with the song (and the video).  It had so much Pixies in it and Kim Deal sounded great.

I believed that I loved the whole album, but it’s possible that I only really liked a couple of songs.

When I saw that they were doing a 30th anniversary tour, I thought that I had to go to it since I’ve seen Pixies without Kim a few times now.  But this show turned out to be the same night that Igorrr and I’ve had tickets for that show since December and there was no way I was going to miss it.

I guess realized I liked The Breeders a bit more in memory than in reality.

Screaming Females opened the show.  I really liked them a few years ago.  I bought most of their records and saw them live twice. But recently, for reasons that are completely unclear to me, I’ve gone cold on them.

Oh well, no biggie.

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Otto von Schirach (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, September 20, 2023) [IGORRR]

Posted in Igorrr, Melt-Banana, Otto von Schirach, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on September 20, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 20, 2023] Otto von Schirach

I bought tickets to this show back in December–I was really really looking forward to seeing Igorrr after reading about his live shows.  I thought that I had missed him a few years back, but I don’t really see any evidence of him having played Philly since like 2018.

But I wasn’t missing this show.  I was pretty delighted to see that Melt-Banana were opening, but I didn’t know anything about Otto von Schirach.

So who is he?

Bermuda Triangle born Otto Von Schirach is one of a kind human/alien, His magical presence & energy makes you overwhelming happy. This Miami Native puts out many different types of epic Electronic music and always has new life and sounds to share, hence he is always touring around the earth. His Shows are more of a sonic ear cleanse, aura cleanse and will magnify your pineal gland! You will be extremely happy after his live performance.

Otto is really really into triangles.  He wears a headband with a triangle hanging off of it.  Unless I am mistaken, he has two songs about triangles (one of which “Triangle Pit” has these lyrics: (more…)

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