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Archive for October, 2024

Yard Act (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 10, 2024)

Posted in Omni, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, Yard Act on October 11, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 10, 2024] Yard Act

I had tickets to see Yard Act last back in 2022.  That show was cancelled at the last minute because Yard Act was called back home to do a live TV appearance for the Mercury Prize (surely a lot more lucrative than playing a gig at Underground Arts).

But they returned to Underground Arts last year and I grabbed a ticket.  My expectations were mild and they blew me away with their energy and fun.

Yard Act are very British (being from Leeds).  On record, “singer” James Smith mostly rants and speaks angrily in his accented English.  His lyrics are placed over some very cool guitars from Sam Shipstone and some really grooving bass from Ryan Needham.  Drummer Jay Russell keeps things together.

For this tour they added two backing singers Daisy Smith and Lauren Fitzpatrick who made a surprising difference to the show.  Their vocal contributions were great but it was their physical presence that added a lot to the show.  They also added a keyboardist Christopher Duffin who fleshed out the sounds–I’m not sure if he was making some of the really weird sounds that floated through the background, but I assume so. (more…)

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The Lemon Twigs / Milk ‘n’ Cookies (Underground Arts, Philadelphia PA, October 11, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Milk 'n' Cookies, Philadelphia, PA, The Lemon Twigs, Underground Arts on October 11, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 11, 2024] The Lemon Twigs / Milk ‘n’ Cookies

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 keep managing to not see them though.  Tonight I had tickets to see Bevis Frond, but their tour was cancelled because of visa issues. So I should have gone to see The Lemon Twigs, but October had so many shows in it that some had to give.  I rather wish that I hadn’t skipped this one though as I have just learned a bit about the opening band Milk ‘n’ Cookies.

Milk ‘n’ Cookies formed in the early 1970s in Long Island, New York.  They played power pop but never made it.  The core line-up of the band was made up of Ian North, Justin Strauss, Sal Maida and Mike Ruiz and, in their time, they played classic NYC venues like CBGB’s and Max’s Kansas City. They shared bills with everyone from Talking Heads to The Ramones and have amassed a cult following, influencing the likes of Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth) and Debbie Harry (Blondie).

It would have been interesting to see them live.

So, maybe the next time the Twigs come around (if their next album kicks ass) I’ll go see them.

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Public Memory / Mint Field (Kung Fu Necktie, Philadelphia, PA, October 11, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Kung Fu Necktie, Mint Field, Philadelphia, PA, Public Memory on October 11, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 11, 2024] Public Memory / Mint Field

I found out about this show just a few days before it was supposed to happen.  It happened to be on the same night as Yard Act AND Charly Bliss, so no matter how much I want to see Mint Field (and I want to see them quite a lot), I wasn’t going to pick this show over those two.

Especially since I think Public Memory was opening.  I’ve never heard of Public Memory.  And Interlocuter says of the band

Public Memory is the latest project of musician Robert Toher. He was formerly a member of the band APSE, which had a distinct take on postpunk and post rock, and his subsequent project ERAAS rooted that moody propulsive rock sound into a more electronic-based realm. Public Memory continues in this dark and lovely musical direction.

Neither of those other bands is familiar to me, but from what I can gather Public Memory is primarily slow moody gothy synth.  I kind of like it.

But for me the real treat would be Mint Field.  Here’s just a few great blurbs about them: (more…)

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The Bevis Frond (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, October 11, 2024) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, The Bevis Frond on October 11, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: October 11, 2024] The Bevis Frond [moved to March 1, 2025]

I feel like I’ve always been aware of The Bevis Frond, but I don’t think I’d ever heard them.

When they announced their first US tour in 25 years I grabbed a ticket without even being sure if I really liked them,  So I listened to them a bunch and, yes, I do like them.

I felt lucky to be able to go to one of these shows as there were only 8 shows on the tour.

And then in late August it was announced

The Bevis Frond’s first US Tour in over two decades has now been re-scheduled for 2025. Fans can expect a selection from the Frond’s colossal catalogue as well as new music from their recent Fire releases, for what promises to be an historic live show.

But at least there’s a new date because now I’m even more excited about it

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Johnny Marr / James (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, October 11, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Franklin Music Hall, James, Johnny Marr, Philadelphia, PA on October 11, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 11, 2024] Johnny Marr / James

I saw Johnny Marr six years ago.  I can’t believe it has been six years.  I more or less didn’t bother getting tickets for this because I thought I had seen him much more recently than that.

Plus, when I saw him, it was at the TLA and this show was at Franklin Music Hall.  So good for him for upgrading so much!

But I had two other shows that I was considering that night: The Bevis Frond and The Lemon Twigs.  (more…)

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Charly Bliss / Pronoun (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, October 10, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Charly Bliss, Philadelphia, PA, Pronoun, Underground Arts on October 10, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 10, 2024] Charly Bliss / Pronoun

This was a really tough choice for me.  I was super excited when Charly Bliss announced this show because the last time I saw them it was a ton of fun.

And then Yard Act announced that they were playing Union Transfer the same night.

I had seen Yard Act before, but only once.  And I’d seen Charly Bliss three times.  So I chose Yard Act because they are from the UK and are less likely to play Philly again soon.  And, if I’m being honest, I didn’t love the direction this new Charly Bliss album went is as much as I liked the older records.  So we’ll see what happens in 2025.  (Yard Act were great, btw). (more…)

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Omni (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 10, 2024) [YARD ACT]

Posted in Omni, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, Yard Act on October 10, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 10, 2024] Omni

Omni is a trio from Atlanta. I hadn’t heard of them and thought they were a new band.  Well, they are, but the members of the band have been around for a while.  Guitarist Frankie Broyles on guitar was in Deerhunter.  Drummer Chris Yonker has been in some other bands that I didn’t know and Philip Frobos on vocals and bass has been in Carnivores.

This explains why this band of, what I assumed were young newbies, was so confident playing their off-kilter post punk.  And probably explains why I loved their set immediately.

I was in front of Frobos and it was cool watching him play bass lines that were more like lead lines than simply rhythm.  I also really liked the sound of his bass–clean but not sharp.

I was pretty far from Broyles, but I enjoyed that he played interesting guitar lines that complemented the bass–but it basically meant there was no simply chord playing going on.

Granite Kiss was staccato with fluid lead guitar lines over the stomping bass and drums.  (more…)

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Beat (Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre at the Count Basie Center, Red Bank, NJ, October 9, 2024)

Posted in Beat, Count Basie Theatre, Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre, Red Bank, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, Steve Vai, Tony Levin on October 9, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 9, 2024] Beat

I have seen King Crimson five times, all in the most recent iteration of the band.  I never saw the earlier incarnations when Adrian Belew was the singer/guitarist.

When it was announced that Adrian was gathering troops together to play 80’s era King Crimson, I was intrigued.  The tour had the blessing of Robert Fripp AND it featured Tony Levin on bass.  So that was pretty much all it took.

I’m not sure why Pat Mastelotto wasn’t invited, but Tool’s Danny Carey was a great choice.  As was bringing in fellow Frank Zappa guitar player Steve Vai Although the two never played together).

This ear of King Crimson is not my favorite.  Although Discipline was the first KC album I’d ever bought, I never really got into the other two (a few songs from each, but never the whole things). (more…)

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Julien Baker / Lucy Dacus / Katie Malco (Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn NY, October 8, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, Julien Baker, Katie Malco, Lucy Dacus, New York City, Webster Hall on October 8, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 8, 2024] Julien Baker / Lucy Dacus / Katie Malco

My daughter and I saw Julien Baker at Webster Hall on Sunday night, the night that Julien got sick and left early.  

She immediately announced a new show two nights later in Brooklyn.

We would have loved to have gone to this show but there were a few reasons we couldn’t.  My wife and I had tickets to see Kishi Bashi and we were pretty excited to go to that one.  Plus, Brooklyn is much harder for us to get to than NYC (which is much more challenging to get to than Philadelphia).

So, we missed out on this show which featured a “surprise” set from Lucy Dacus.  My daughter and I assumed that Lucy would be the surprise, and yeah we’re bummed we missed the show, but at least we got to see some of Julien on the first night.  (Plus, a video that I saw made it sound like the crowd was really noisy and rowdy–and consequently very distracting).

And, most likely we would probably have been too late to see Katie Malco, just like Sunday.

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Julien Baker (Webster Hall, New York City, NY, October 6, 2024)

Posted in Julien Baker, Katie Malco, Lucy Dacus, New York City, The Ophelias, Webster Hall on October 8, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 6, 2024] Julien Baker

My wife and I saw Julien Baker open for The Decemberists back in 2017.  I had liked a few songs on her album and I was happy she opened.  Then she announced a headline tour the following year and we grabbed tickets.

We left that show unsettled and I assumed I’d never see her again.

Then she joined boygenius and I found myself enjoying her third of the trio more than the other two who I liked better before the trio formed.  My daughter became a massive fan of all three of them and Julien in particular.  

So when she announced a few shows in New York, and my daughter found resale tickets for shockingly cheap, we decided to go to the Sunday night show.  

After The Ophelias, we were all set for Julien.  We assumed we’d be getting home pretty late since she wasn’t going on until pretty late already.  And just as the show started and we had a decent view, two people on the side of us pushed in front of us and proceeded to get all handsy.  Which is just weird and distracting.  And the one person was tall and the other person moved their head around a lot basically obscuring the stage for my daughter.

So Julien came out and I was surprised how much the show rocked.  There were flashing lights, a full band (kicking drums) and a huge sound.  Remember the last time I had seen her it was just her and a guitar and for a few songs, a violin.  So this was a massive departure, and I really liked it. (more…)

[ATTENDED: October 6, 2024] Julien Baker

My wife and I saw Julien Baker open for The Decemberists back in 2017.  I had liked a few songs on her album and I was happy she opened.  Then she announced a headline tour the following year and we grabbed tickets.

We left that show unsettled and I assumed I’d never see her again.

Then she joined boygenius and I found myself enjoying her third of the trio more than the other two who I liked better before the trio formed.  My daughter became a massive fan of all three of them and Julien in particular.  

So when she announced a few shows in New York, and my daughter found resale tickets for shockingly cheap, we decided to go to the Sunday night show.  

After The Ophelias, we were all set for Julien.  We assumed we’d be getting home pretty late since she wasn’t going on until pretty late already.  And just as the show started and we had a decent view, two people on the side of us pushed in front of us and proceeded to get all handsy.  Which is just weird and distracting.  And the one person was tall and the other person moved their head around a lot basically obscuring the stage for my daughter.

So Julien came out and I was surprised how much the show rocked.  There were flashing lights, a full band (kicking drums) and a huge sound.  Remember the last time I had seen her it was just her and a guitar and for a few songs, a violin.  So this was a massive departure, and I really liked it. (more…)

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