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Archive for December, 2025

ZeLooperz (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 3, 2025) [EARL SWEATSHIRT]

Posted in Alexey Ekimyan, Cletus Strap, Earl Sweatshirt, Liv.E, Niontay, Philadelphia, PA, Quadie Diesel, Union Transfer, ZeLooperz on December 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 3, 2025] ZeLooperz 

After seeing Tyler the Creator earlier this year, I thought my daughter might also enjoy seeing Earl Sweatshirt, his former partner in Odd Future.

It had been about 50 minutes and the third act was bouncing on stage.  ZeLooperz brought some much needed energy to the stage.

He was fast and funny–loud and interactive.  He has some great song titles (not sure if he played them or not though): JayJay-Z, Bustin Jieber.

He immediately shouted a Hands Up!  Which most people did.  It was during his set that I realized how short most of the songs have been.  Most are around the 2 minute mark.

About half way through he brought a guest on stage (Quadie Diesel) and he rapped a song while everyone on stage danced around.  And then he had a dance contest–he cleared the floor–but don’t worry this ain’t no mosh pit, this is for the ladies, this was “Skinny Dip.” (more…)

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Niontay (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 3, 2025) [EARL SWEATSHIRT]

Posted in Cletus Strap, Earl Sweatshirt, Liv.E, Niontay, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, ZeLooperz on December 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 3, 2025] Niontay

After seeing Tyler the Creator earlier this year, I thought my daughter might also enjoy seeing Earl Sweatshirt, his former partner in Odd Future.

After Cletus Strap, Niontay was up.  He came out in a huge puffer jacket and had excellent locs.  He is also a mumble rapper (he even has a song called mumbleman).  He too had a lot of people videoing him while walking around him on stage.

Pitchfork loved Niontay back in 2024:

His flow is all over the map: He can lay a stone-faced delivery over a hearty chipmunk-soul loop fit to soundtrack a downtown New York streetwear shop, or raise his pitch to Florida-fast-music levels–a relentless marathon of cold punchlines and flexes.

And that seemed right.  He had a lot more variety than Cletus, although overall the tone was similar.

At some point possibly during Cletus’ set, Earl Sweatshirt came up on stage too.  He stood behind the table with the DJ and may have done some DJ work too–it was hard to tell.  So by the middle of Niontay’s set there were nearly a dozen people on stage, mostly just hanging around while the person rapping took center stage. (more…)

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La Luz (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 4, 2025) [PORTUGAL. THE MAN]

Posted in La Luz, Philadelphia, PA, Portugal The Man, Union Transfer on December 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 28, 2026] La Luz

I grabbed tickets to the Portugal. The Man show and was really excited that La Luz was opening for them.

I know La Luz from a live Levitation recording that I really dig.  I don’t know a lot more about the band aside from the basic bio.  They are from Seattle and are known for their “surf noir” style, with layered vocal harmonies.  The blurb says their “energetic live shows often include Soul Train-inspired dance contests and crowd surfing.”

As and opening band it’s unlikely that you’ll elicit that kind of response, but the crowd did really enjoy them.

I had an ADA seat so I wasn’t worried about trying to get too close to the stage.  And since I had a few minutes I checked out the booths that PTM had in the lobby. There were some great causes including their own book publishing label.  I saw some excellent bandanas for sale with the money going to good causes, so I bought two.  But the guy selling them to me was so slow!  It felt like he needed to tell me the origin of each one and where the money was going to and, I don’t know, the serial number.  And while he was doing this La Luz started.  So I missed the beginning and some of I Wanna Be Alone.  I could hear through the doors, but boy was I annoyed.

So La Luz has been around since 2012.  They were founded by Shana Cleveland who sings and plays guitar.  She is a great front woman, clearly having a great deal of fun.  She does play a kind of surf guitar, but that is mostly due to the vibrato.  Some songs are clearly not surfy at all, like Poppies.  But the guitar has that classic vibrato sound.

Anyhow, I got to my seat as that first song was ending and they moved right on to Call Me in the Day, a slower statelier song with lots of keys from Maryam Qudus.  For even though there is kind of a punky edge to the band, they are all about harmonies and cool sounds.  Plus, during the keyboard solo, Shana and bass Lee Johnson did a spinning dance routine. (more…)

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Cletus Strap (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 3, 2025) [EARL SWEATSHIRT]

Posted in Cletus Strap, Earl Sweatshirt, Liv.E, Niontay, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, ZeLooperz on December 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 3, 2025] Cletus Strap

After seeing Tyler the Creator earlier this year, I thought my daughter might also enjoy seeing Earl Sweatshirt, his former partner in Odd Future.

What was fascinating was that Tyler’s show was MASSIVE.  He sold out Wells Fargo Center.  He had two stages, lots of lights, and a whole routine.  Earl’s show was at Union Transfer and didn’t even have a backdrop.  There was no light show, just the venue’s lights.  And all of that is totally fine, it was just such a contrast.

It was also interesting that there were FIVE artists on the bill and I hadn’t heard of any but Earl.

There was a table in the middle of  the stage.  There was a DJ (possibly unnamed).  He had a laptop or two.

Up first was Cletus Strap. (more…)

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