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Archive for May, 2024

Psychedelic Porn Crumpets / Spoon Benders (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, May 11, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Spoon Benders, Underground Arts on May 11, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 11, 2024] Psychedelic Porn Crumpets

Of all the shows I was sure I wouldn’t miss, it was this one.  I love Psychedelic Porn Crumpets and when I saw them two years ago the show blew me away.  I genuinely couldn’t wait to see them again.

So what happened?  Well, we had a house emergency and I spent most of the evening repairing a toilet.  And I had zero interest in doing anything after that.  I was also having terrible leg pain and couldn’t imagine standing for three hours–or getting in an inevitable mosh pit.

Plus, we were heading to the dreaded Freedom Mortgage Pavilion for Neil Young and Crazy Horse the next night and I didn’t want to be wiped out from this show for that one.

Sigh.  I need that crazy stamina back!

Spoon Benders are a progressive psych-rock powerhouse that has been relentlessly crisscrossing the United States, leaving a trail of newly acquired fans in their wake. Spoon Benders have become synonymous with an electrifying stage presence that can only be described as loud, controlled chaos.

When I first listened to some of their songs I wasn’t that excited, but I feel like I must not have been paying attention because their sound is very cool with lots of echoing guitars and a much-needed female voice on lead and backing vocals.

This really would have been a great show to see.  I hope PPC comes back soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2024 2022
2024 Tally-Ho ¿
2024 Lava Lamp Pisco ♠
2024 Bill’s Mandolin &
2024 Mundungus ¿
2024 Found God in a Tomato
2024 November
2024 Mr. Prism ¿
2024 Hymn for a Droid &
2024 Acid Dent ♠
2024 Marmalade March
2024 Cubensis Lenses
2024 encore
2024 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)

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Cannibal Corpse / Obituary / Frozen Soul (Wellmont Theater, Montclair, NJ, May 9, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND ALL] [AMON AMARTH]

Posted in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Amon Amarth, Cannibal Corpse, Frozen Soul, Montclair, NJ, Obituary, Wellmont Theater on May 10, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 9, 2024] Cannibal Corpse / Obituary / Frozen Soul

My son and his friends saw Amon Amarth open for Ghost last summer.  So when they announced a headlining tour, I grabbed us tickets.

The rest of the lineup didn’t thrill me though.  I mean, I guess, yes, Amon Amarth is a death metal band, but not REALLY.  The rest of the lineup was all (mostly old school) death metal bands.  Once I found the details of the settimes, I let the rest of the party know and we agreed that we could easily skip the first  two band and show up sometime in the middle of the 45 minute cannibal Corpse set.

Frozen Soul is a death metal band from Texas.  They formed in 2018.  I had not heard of them and wasn’t really that interested in seeing them anyway.  They are heavy death metal with growling vocals.  I give them props for the whole “frozen” vibe that they have going on.  One of their songs i called “encased in ice” and I was amused to see that were selling shorts that said “encased in ass” which doesn’t make any sense, but is still funny.

Obituary is another super old school band from Tampa (formed in 1984).  I know of them (their logo is very familiar) but I guess I never listened to anything they did.  They are heavy and fast but the singer actually does a kind of high voice when he sings (as well as some growling).  It’s a different vibe to be sure and more of what I think about with 80’s metal bands.

I feel like the addition of this band would be a nice change from the deep growling voices of the rest of the 4 hours of music. I didn’t care if we arrived in time for them and no one else did either.

I wasn’t really that interested in seeing Cannibal Corpse again.  I saw them open for Slayer five years ago.  They played a twenty minute set and I was glad to have seen it, but 20 minutes was plenty. (more…)

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Sweet Pill / Equipment / Broke Body / Have a Good Season (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 10, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Broke Body, Equipment, Have a Good Season, Philadelphia, PA, Sweet Pill, Union Transfer on May 10, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 10, 2024] Sweet Pill / Equipment / Broke Body / Have a Good Season

Sweet Pill opened for Pool Kids last year.  But I arrived too late and missed them.

The other bands raved about them so I was interested in checking them out.  I was really surprised that they had a headline spot at Union Transfer.  And they sold it out!  Very impressive.

I decided I didn’t care enough to go to a four-band show if I didn’t even know the headliners.

Philadelphia’s Sweet Pill writes eruptive emo songs that embrace the edges of pop and hardcore. The kind of band whose members are fully immersed in their local scene—through a handful of notable side projects (twentythreenineteen / Goings / Harm Assist / typopro) and the show-promoting Philly staple 4333 Collective—the quintet’s sound takes wide-spectrum influence from its environment. The result is an amalgam of complex song structures and flourishes of technical acumen, wholly unconcerned with genre, yet evoking the specific styles of touchstones such as Paramore and Circa Survive.

I personally hear a huge amount of Pool Kids in their music, without the wild guitar pyro that Pool Kids use. (more…)

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The Decemberists (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, May 8, 2024)

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Ratboys, The Decemberists, The Fillmore Philadelphia on May 9, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 8, 2024] The Decemberists     

This was our fourth time seeing The Decemberists (which is frankly too low a number for how much we love them).  But this show was on my birthday!  Imagine that.

I have actually never been to a show on my birthday before, mostly because I like to spend my birthday with my family.  But this was a band that my wife wanted to see as well, so we invited the kids along too, for a fun birthday night.

Sadly, my daughter was on crutches so she chose to stay home, but my son came even though he didn’t think he knew The Decemberists very well.

It turns out he knows them from osmosis and recognized a lot of songs from having heard his parents play them.  He was also pleasantly surprised by how much they rocked (my wife likes the folkier side and she plays them more).

And the show opened with a folky vibe.

There were light fixtures out front and Colin Meloy wandered out with his acoustic guitar and played “Red Right Ankle.”  He sounded great and the ambient lighting was perfect.  He described it as singing in a grotto.  Then Jenny Conlee came out with her accordion and the rest of the band came out soon after.  Nate Query with is upright bass, Chris Funk at his guitar and Lizzy Ellison singing as they played a lovely June Hymn.

They stayed acoustic for the new song All I Want is You complete with Victor Nash on horns and keys.  John Moen came out, the cool lights were removed and the “grotto” was taken away.  They spread out and used the full stage which was delicately designed with floral patterns and curtains.

With the full band out they played Don’t Carry it All with Chris Funk playing lap steel guitar.  Then they played the new song Burial Ground, after which Colin apologized for rhyming the word malaria in the song in case anyone in the audience was currently suffering from it.

The Decemberists could play pretty much anything in their catalog and I’d be happy.  And now that they have so many albums out there are fewer and fewer older songs that they can squeeze in.  So if they can only fit one part of The Crane Wife, I’ll take it.

After a rousing and fun The Sporting Life, with a little coda from The Smiths, Ellison got to show off her vocal chops with a fantastic The Queen’s Rebuke/The Crossing.  The Hazards of Love remains my favorite album of theirs and I love any song they play from it (this was the only one tonight).  But the heavy jamming during The Crossing was great–with some serious metal chords blasting out between the Hammond organ chords. (more…)

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Ratboys (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, May 8, 2024) [THE DECEMBERISTS]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Ratboys, The Decemberists, The Fillmore Philadelphia on May 8, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 8, 2024] Ratboys

I saw Ratboys headline a show in November and it was great.  They have been together since 2010, formed by singer/guitarist Julia Steiner and guitar wizard David Sagan.

When I saw them, Steiner told us how pleased she was to have so many different guitars on tour with her, because they were all tuned differently–it made things so easy!  She had a flying V, which was in standard tuning.

That’s the only guitar she used for this set, so I’m guessing all six of the songs they played were in standard tuning.

The set opened the same with, with the blistering rocker “Making Noise for the Ones You Love.”  It’s like a statement of purpose that totally rocks for like 90 seconds before there’s even vocals.

Morning Zoo slows things down and lets you know the diversity of the band’s sound. (more…)

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Chastity Belt / Charlotte Cornfield (First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA, May 5, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Charlotte Cornfield, Chastity Belt, First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA on May 5, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 5, 2024] Chastity Belt / Charlotte Cornfield

I saw Chasity Belt back in 2017 and really liked them.  I’ve wanted to see them again, but the schedule never seems to match up.

And this time they were playing The Church, which I don’t go to.

I haven’t listened to them much in the last few years and I think they’ve gotten more mellow on their last few albums.

Which might explain why their opening act is Charlotte Cornfield a singer-songwriter from Toronto.

It’s been less than two years since Highs in the Minuses became Charlotte Cornfield’s breakout—a magnetic mission-statement for the Toronto songwriter described by Rolling Stone as “Canada’s best-kept secret.”

This would have been a pretty mellow almost folksy night.

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The Lemon Twigs / The Smashing Times (White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, NJ, May 4, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Jersey City, NJ, The Lemon Twigs, The Smashing Times, White Eagle Hall on May 4, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 4, 2024] The Lemon Twigs / The Smashing Times 

I discovered The Lemon Twigs a few years ago and really enjoyed their glam rock sound and I imagined that they would be a ton of fun live.  The band is technically a duo, although they have more people on stage with them.

I really liked The Lemon Twigs’ Do Hollywood album and their follow up EPs showed even more development.  Since then they have put out a few albums, and I have enjoyed them.

Their last two albums have drifted from that sound into a more Beach Boys-vibe.  They sound great but they’re not quite my thing.

It turns out that one of my son’s friends is a huge fan of the band, and he has insisted that I need to see them live.

This seemed like a good opportunity, although it was a little odd that they were only playing this venue.  Turns out this was like a pre-tour show, and they are doing more dates in the fall.

I would have liked to go, but we were having friends over, so I didn’t even bother getting tickets.

The Smashing Times are from Baltimore.  Here’s a fantastic blurb

This really is a fusion of psychedelic, twee and freakbeat that will make your heart skip and your head smile. The guitars shimmer, strum and jangle whilst the vocals float effortlessly on top of the efficient rhythm section. Every song is a bundle of energy with hooks that come both instantly and after multiple plays. Of course there are those, that this sound will be too ‘out there’ for. For such sorts there are an absolute plethora of The Byrds YouTube videos to feast your eyes upon.

And they give off a vibe of 60’s psychedelics folk but if there were indie labels that weren’t perfectly polished back then.  I quite like them and hope to see them live someday.

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TWRP (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 2, 2024)

Posted in nelward, Philadelphia, PA, Trey Magnifique, TWRP, Union Transfer on May 4, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 2, 2024] TWRP

My son and I saw TWRP last year.  We had actually gone mostly for the opening band Magic Sword.  But I figured TWRP were going to be a lot of fun.

TWRP were once known as Tupper Ware Remix Party (TWRP is much better).  They are from outer space (and Canada).  They are also from the 1980s (and the future).

They are a foursome. In order of the below photo they are guitarist Lord Phobos, bassist Commander Meouch, keyboardist and vocalist Doctor Sung and drummer Havve Hogan.

Last year’s show was so much fun that I was really excited to see this year’s show.  I got a ticket for my son but he had a final exam at 8:30 the next morning so he (wisely) stayed home.

Last time, Doctor Sung told us all about their high tech new stage manager, Grobb.  Grobb appeared on the side of the stage in a circle which previously said IBS (in the IBM logo style).  Grobb looked like a psychopathic Teletubby as he smiled and talked to us.

Grobb was back again for this tour which was all about crypto currency. (more…)

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Darlingside (Sellersville Theater, Sellersville, PA, May 4, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Darlingside, Sellersville Theater, Sellersville, PA on May 4, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 4, 2024] Darlingside 

We have seen Darlingside four times and they are always wonderful.  But it has been five years since the last time we saw them.

And yet, whereas in the past I would instantly grab a ticket to see them, lately I haven’t felt as compelled.

Seeing them at the Sellersville Theater would probably have been a great experience because the sound in that room is tremendous.

We had friends over so it wasn’t actually an issue as to whether or not to go.  I wish I wanted to see them more, though. I feel kind of bad.

I’m not sure if there was an opening band.

 

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Maragret Glaspy: Unplugged / Ryan Lerman (Sellersville Theater, Sellersville, PA, May 3, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Margaret Glaspy, Ryan Lerman, Scary Pockets, Sellersville Theater, Sellersville, PA on May 3, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 3, 2024] Maragret Glaspy: Unplugged / Ryan Lerman

I had mixed feelings about this show.  I love Margaret Glaspy, but I really love when she rocks out.  Did I want to see her unplugged?

But I felt that yes I did.  And regardless I snatched up a ticket right away.  I’ve seen her three times and she always puts on a good show, so really it was a no-brainer.

But then two things happened on this Friday.  My son decided he was coming home from college that day (instead of Saturday) and my daughter sprained her knee, which meant that my son and I were the only ones there to help him move out.  It took much longer than I anticipated and there was simply no way I could make it to the show.

Sigh. (more…)

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