Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for November, 2024

Blood Incantation (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, November 25, 2024)

Posted in Blood Incantation, Hällas, Midwife, Philadelphia, PA, Tangerine Dream, Underground Arts on November 26, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 25, 2024] Blood Incantation

My brother-in-law Ben told me about Blood Incantation a couple of weeks before this show. So I grabbed a ticket just before it sold out!

With a name (and logo) like that, I assumed they were just a bludgeoning death metal band but they display all kinds of interesting progressive rock tendencies.  And those are fully explored on their newest album Absolute Elsewhere.

The album is 43 minutes long and consists of two songs.  Each song has three parts.  And they played the album in full for this show.

When I walked in I saw that there were an obelisk on either side of the stage.  It had characters carved into it and just before the band took the stage the characters lit up red.

When the band came out I couldn’t get over how the lead singer looked.  Paul Riedl has a mustache and long hair (balding on top) he looked like a manager at Staples.  But then he stepped up to the mic and went “OOH” and the growl was perfect.

Knowing that the album was a bit more trippy (with lots of synths and quiet parts) I wasn’t sure how moshy the crowd would be.  But as soon as the band started, and the opening bludgeoning began, I quickly had to move several feet to the right.

The song starts out with some pounding guitars and Isaac Faulk using all of his drum kit.  And after a squealing guitar and a bug grunted Oooh, the band took off with some seriously fast double bass drums and wild guitar soloing.

After 2 minutes of furiousness, the song slowed down dramatically with picked guitars and quiet washes of synths.  Three minutes later it’s back to the heaviness with some growled lyrics and wild soloing from Morris Kolontyrsky.

Jeff Barrett played bass and while I couldn’t seem him from where I was, his low end was felt from the speakers.

After 8 minutes, the song segued into Tablet II. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Midwife (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, November 25, 2024) [BLOOD INCANTATION]

Posted in Blood Incantation, Midwife, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on November 25, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 25, 2024] Midwife

My brother-in-law Ben told me about Blood Incantation a couple of weeks before this show. So I grabbed a ticket just before it sold out!

I knew they were death metal, and assumed that the opener would be as well.  But, wow, what a difference!

Madeline Elizabeth Johnston is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and audio engineer. She is best known for her work under the moniker Midwife, and has also released music as Mariposa and Sister Grotto. Johnston describes her music as “heaven metal.”

She came out on stage and her microphone was a telephone.  She spoke into it and her voice sounded a million miles away.

And it turns out that I have seen Midwife before!  They opened for Deafheaven.  And the funny thing is that I absolutely remembered a woman singing into a telephone, but I didn’t think it was the same person for some reason.  But I see from a previous post that I saw Midwife in 2022.  And I felt exactly the same as I did this time.

She created a beat on a drum machine and began playing very slowly.  She sang quietly, from a million miles away.

All my friends are in New York
All my friends are in LA
All my friends are in Chicago
All my friends in Santa Fe
All my friends in Colorado
All my friends are here to stay
How much more death can one person take?

It was the antithesis of death metal.  It was slow and ponderous.  I think had I not been there for a death metal show I would have enjoyed it more, but the crowd–dudes in leather and chains–ate it up.  I was really happy for her as she seemed like she could have been so vulnerable up there, but she was poised and powerful as she sang these slow songs about death.

Killdozer:

This has always been my town
Now it’s a living hell
Everyone wants a piece of me
How am I not myself?
All my songs are love songs
All my songs are blue
All my songs are about death

All of these songs were pretty long, but Midwife was given about 45 minutes to play.  I didn’t actually think she’d play another song after S.W.I.M. but then Morris Kolontyrsky of Blood Incantation came out and they played No Depression in Heaven together.

The lyrics to that song?

Crying Crying Crying Crying Crying Crying Crying Crying Crying Crying Crying Crying Crying Crying Crying Crying
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Kolontyrsky played beuatiful complicated solos over Midwife’s slow repeated guitars.  Her musical patterns are simple but effective and while he wasn’t showing off, he was playing some impressive lead solos.

When the set was over, they hugged and she began cleaning up her stuff.

I’d never listen to her music on purpose, it’s totally not my thing, but it was a mesmerizing performance.

 

2024 Underground Arts 2022 Union Transfer
Colorado £ Christina’s World £
Vanessa ⊗ God is a Cop £
2018 ∞ 2018 ∞
Killdozer ⊗ Colorado £
S.W.I.M. ∞ S.W.I.M. ∞
No Depression in Heaven ⊗ (with Morris Kolontyrsky of Blood Incantation)

∞ Forever (2020)
£ Luminol (2021)
⊗ No Depression in Heaven (2024)

Read Full Post »

Godspeed You! Black Emperor / Alan Sparhawk (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 24, 2024) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Alan Sparhawk, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on November 24, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 22 & 23, 2022] Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Back in 2000, I saw Godspeed You Black Emperor at Maxwell’s in Hoboken.  My friend Lar was in from Ireland and he went to the show with me, which was pretty awesome.

I waited 18 years to see them again, but the last time I saw them, the show was marred by the crowd.

I’ve thought about seeing them again, but this show popped up on a weekend that was really inconvenient.  And then suddenly it was postponed

Godspeed’s Fall 2024 US tour has been postponed due to illness. Information regarding rescheduled dates will be forthcoming.

Perhaps if the 2025 date works out for me, I’ll be able to see them again.

Alan Sparhawk of Low was supposed to open.  I’ve never been much of a fan of Low, because their music is just too slow for me.  Although their last album was really quite interesting.  I’m not sure what his solo show would include as he plays all kinds of music.  Maybe he’ll be opening next year too.

Read Full Post »

The Pineapple Thief (World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA, November 22, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, The Pineapple Thief, World Cafe Live on November 22, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 22, 2024] The Pineapple Thief

The Pineapple Thief is a progressive rock band which means I should instantly like them.  And yet I just can’t seem to get into them.  They fall on the more mellow side of progressive.

The main draw for me is drummer Gavin Harrison who I saw many times with King Crimson.  But, no matter how much you like a drummer, that’s a very small portion of the overall sound of a band.

Listening to their latest EP, I do rather like it, but it’s too late for me to be into them enough to see them.  Listening a little more they remind me a bit of Death Cab for Cutie, which I did not expect to say.

I do hope to see Gavin Harrison in something else soon though.

Read Full Post »

Babymetal (Wind Creek Event Center, Bethlehem, PA, November 21, 2024)

Posted in Babymetal, Bethlehem, PA, Japanese Music, Kawaii, Scene Queen, Wind Creek Event Center on November 22, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 21, 2024] Babymetal

After the horrible attempt to get to this show I was in a bad mood.  It was not helped by the guy next to me who was REALLY getting into the between bands music they were piping in.  He was shouting along and taking up way more than his allotted space.  I spent most of the show trying to inch away from him, but it was quite crowded.

And WOW, did it smell bad.  A scent of body odor or bad breath.  I thought it was just me smelling it but my son, who had moved about eight feet from me when a spot opened said the same thing about the smell.

I was also bummed because I thought we’d be a lot closer with a great view.  But instead the tall guy way in front of me basically blocked my view of the center of the stage (where all the action is). At least there were video screens.

But it’s hard to be cross when Babymetal takes the stage.  First comes the masked Kami band (their masks are cool and the band is incredible).  Then the trio came out Su-metal, Moametal and Momometal.

I didn’t realize that it had been 5 years since I last saw them.  I feel like the previous show was bigger and/or more impressive.  But again, that could just be because of my poor view.

But I was pleased when I saw my son taking videos of songs because that meant he was into it.

They opened with the first song off their first album–basically an introduction to the band.  Which is totally unnecessary.  Not only di d this show sell out, but everyone there knew the words (in Japanese) and what to do and when to do it.  Total crowd synchronicity.  And Su-metal (as a person next to me said) has total crowd control.  She waves her hands and everyone does what she says.

They had a big screen behind them which flashed various images during the different songs.  I loved hearing Pa Pa Ya (Babymetals are mostly in Japanese, so I don’t know if the stupidly catchy choruses are nonsensical or Japanese, but damn if pa pa pa pa pa ya isn’t the catchiest thing to shout.

I will repeat some things I wrote last time

Throughout the songs the trio danced like crazy.  Their precision synchronization was amazing. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Bit Brigade / Super Guitar Bros. (World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA, November 21, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Bit Brigade, Philadelphia, PA, Super Guitar Bros., World Cafe Live on November 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 21, 2024] Bit Brigade / Super Guitar Bros.

Two years ago, this lineup played Johnny Brenda’s. I’m delighted that they have been upgraded to a bigger (and not 21+ venue).  I hope they sold well.  We saw Bit Brigade last yar and I didn’t feel compelled to see them again just yet.

Plus, we had tickets to see Babymetal.

I saw Bit Brigade in 2018 and really enjoyed the show.  The premise of their live show is terrific

The band plays the soundtrack to a video game while their resident gamer plays the game.  The band is heavy and the sound is amazing.

Last time I saw them, they were playing The Legend of Zelda and it was phenomenal (The music is really good).  They came around last year playing a different game but I couldn’t go.

This time they were playing Zelda and Castlevania.  I’m sure it would have been a lot of fun.  But I just didn’t feel like going out.  They’ll be back, I’m sure.

Opening for this show was Super Guitar Bros.  They are two guys from Detroit who play acoustic guitar versions of video game theme music.  As their blurb says: “Gentle Video Game Guitar Covers For Relaxation.”

Sounds like a perfect pair.

 

 

 

Read Full Post »

Modest Mouse (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, November 20, 2024)

Posted in Modest Mouse, Philadelphia, PA, The Black Heart Procession, The Met Philadelphia on November 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 20, 2024] Modest Mouse 

At the end of 2022, I saw Modest Mouse play their album The Lonesome Crowded West.  It was the last show I saw in 2022 and it was great.

I often think that I don’t need to see Modest Mouse again, and yet when they announced a tour in which they played all of Good News for People Who Love Bad News, I knew I’d be going to that show.  I have now seen Modest Mouse 7 times.  I have only seen 4 artists more (and a couple the same amount).  [I did not go to any of their shows where they played with Pixies, even though that’s a killer lineup].

In 2022, I arrived late (I didn’t want to see the opening band) and wound up really far back.  But this time I got there early enough to get close to the stage without being in the front, exactly.   I really like Modest Mouse, but I really don’t like about half of the Modest Mouse fanboy club.  

My last post included a quote from Holly Hazelwood, which I am excerpting even more here

Do we really need another late-30s dude in a baseball hat trying desperately to make himself the center of attention in a crowd of 1500 people? Of course we don’t. And sadly, Modest Mouse are (fittingly) like Charles Bukowski for rock dudes — well-spoken but biting — so these kinds of fans, who show up and try to out-asshole everyone in the room, are an unnecessary evil that comes with seeing Modest Mouse shows.

Tonight’s crowd didn’t have too many of these bros, although, amusingly the jackasses who pushed their way in front of us were all wearing baseball hats.  There is a lot of screaming along with Modest Mouse, and fair enough, that’s how the songs go.  But overall, I wasn’t terribly annoyed by the crowd this time.  And the two people in front of me were clearly huge fans of the album and were cool about it! (more…)

Read Full Post »

J. Mascis / Pink Mountaintops (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, November 21, 2024) [POSTPONED]

Posted in J. Mascis, Philadelphia, PA, Pink Mountaintops, Underground Arts on November 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: November 21, 2024] J. Mascis / Pink Mountaintops [moved to February 12, 2025]

I can’t imagine J. Mascis playing a small club.  I also can’t imagine him playing quietly. But the picture for this tour shows him with an acoustic guitar (is there a wall of Marshall Amps attached somewhere)?

I wasn’t able to go this show because I had tickets to see Babymetal.  But the show was postponed due to illness and rescheduled for next year.  So I think I might just be going.

Pink Mountaintops are opening.  They opened for Afghan Whigs last year, but I didn’t go that show.  The band is led by Stephem McBean who is the main guy behind Black Mountain.  I saw Black Mountain a while back and they were great.  Pink Mountaintops is a more mellow endeavor, but their latest album is a lot of fun.

Read Full Post »

Scene Queen (Wind Creek Event Center, Bethlehem, PA, November 21, 2024) [BABYMETAL]

Posted in Babymetal, Bethlehem, PA, Japanese Music, Kawaii, Scene Queen, Wind Creek Event Center on November 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 21, 2024] Scene Queen

I had this great plan to arrive early to this show.  And then everything went South.

My son’s college had an event that I hoped he could attend, so we wound up leaving later than I intended.  And, somehow, when I bought the tickets, I didn’t realize that going to Bethlehem would be so far out of the way from his school (Philly is more or less on the way, but jeez, this drive was ridiculous.

We also didn’t have dinner, so we had a (yummy) stop in the Bethlehem Waffle House.  But when we got to the Wind Creek Event Center, it was a nightmare.  The traffic to get in was insane–they were directing everyone around the whole campus to the parking garage that you could enter on the way in.

I went looking for a handicapped spot and they were all full, so we had  to park about as far away from the entrance as you can get.  So we trudged through the cold rain to the doors only to find a massive security line and one of the most thorough checks I’ve been in a show in a long time.

When we got in the venue people were spread out all the way to the back of the room making it almost impossible to get in.

I was really annoyed by this time.  So it didn’t give me a great introduction to Scene Queen. (more…)

Read Full Post »

The Black Heart Procession (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, November 20, 2024) [MODEST MOUSE]

Posted in Modest Mouse, Philadelphia, PA, The Black Heart Procession, The Met Philadelphia on November 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 20, 2024] The Black Heart Procession

The opening act for this show wasn’t announced until a few days before the show.  But The Black Heart Procession had been opening all the other shows so I assumed it would be them.

I had never heard of them and assumed that they were some new young band.  And I was completely wrong.  The band was formed in 1997 (!) by Pall Jenkins who has played with a bunch of different bands and even did work with Isaac Brock in Ugly Casanova.  He and Tobias Nathaniel (these two are the main force of the band) create soundtrack music in the way Tindersticks make soundtrack music.  The big difference is that Black Heart Procession is very spare.  For most songs it is Nathaniel on keys and Jenkins on guitar.  With an unintroduced drummer playing along.

The songs are mostly slow with lots of reverb on the guitar.  

And Jenkins’ voice.  When he came out he was wearing a suit jacket and sunglasses.  He looked older than he probably is (although he’s obviously not a young guy) and he belted out songs so full of remorse that, despite the quietness of the song, no one talked through the weird opening song.  Which, I have to emphasize, FEATURED A MUSICAL SAW! (more…)

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »