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Archive for the ‘Holmdel, NJ’ Category

[ATTENDED: September 6, 2018] The Temperance Movement

I love that this band named themselves The Temperance Movement.

I looked them up before the show and got the gyst of their music: a British blues rock band formed in 2011.

It seemed like they might sound a lot like the band that opened for Judas Priest the last time I saw them.  I wasn’t all that interested in them because I assumed it would be very loud and sound very bad (the opening bands are never hooked up to the sound system correctly and they always sound ear-piercing).  Plus they were going on at 7PM, so I just assumed I’d never make it there in time to see them.

Well traffic was light and it turned out they started playing more or less as I arrived at the arena. (more…)

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[ATTENDED: July 20, 2018] Weezer

I saw Weezer a couple of years ago in Bethlehem.  It was my first time seeing them, but I left feeling somewhat underwhelmed. They debuted 2 new songs, which was cool, but the show felt pretty short and I was really irritated by the crowd.

Tall, drunk college kids.  A lot of pushing and shoving (but not dancing) and I could not get close enough to the action.

I enjoyed the set designs and Rivers’ get ups.  But they finished in less than 90 minutes.

True they sounded great, but overall I was just a little blah.

I felt for sure if I could see better I would enjoy them a lot more.  And this proved to be true.

This show was not in support of a new album (I didn’t realize that), it was more of a career retrospective (sort of).  And what this meant was that they played a lot of songs I really like and, amazingly, they played not only more songs than the last time (very odd for a co-headlining show), they wound up playing nine songs that they hadn’t last time. (more…)

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[ATTENDED: July 20, 2018] Pixies

I saw Pixies back in September 2017.  It was the first time I’d seen them in almost 30 years.  And they were fantastic.  They played 34 songs, nearly everything I wanted to hear.  I say nearly because they have not been playing any Kim Deal-sung songs.  Which is fair.  New bassist Paz Lenchantin played great (she’s a fantastic bassist) and sang enough like Kim (with her own unique spin of course) that her backing vocals were perfect.

So I assumed I’d never need to see them again.

Then it was announced that in a most improbable double bill, Weezer and Pixies would tour together.   I had seen Weezer a while back but came away disappointed with the show.  Not because of the band, but because of where I was and what I couldn’t see.  I also knew that there was at least one Pixies song that I wanted to hear (“Debaser”).  So I figured if I could get good seats for this show, I would go.

And I did.  Row G!

Pixies came out, the sun had not yet set, and just like last time, they said not a word and just launched into a blistering set of twenty-two songs.  Not bad at all for an opening (and therefore shorter) slot. (more…)

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[ATTENDED: July 20, 2018] Sleigh Bells

I don’t go to too many shows at the PNC Bank Center.  I usually prefer smaller venues.  But I need to change that for bigger shows.  Here’s why PNC Bank Center is better than say BB&T Pavillion.

Free Parking.

There’s probably more reasons too (the sound was really great, it’s much closer to my house), but wow, that’s awesome.  So the next time an artist I want to see is making the rounds of outdoor arenas, I will make sure to get the PNC date instead of the Camden date.  It’s closer, too.

But I didn’t realize how much closer when I went to this show.  It was on a Friday night and I assumed there would be shore traffic.  So I left very early.  So early that I got there and actually heard the National Anthem.  I didn’t know they even did that.  But it was nice to sit and relax with a book while everyone else milled about.

I don’t know if other venues do this as well, but if a show has not sold well, on the night of the concert you can upgrade your lawn seats for pretty close seats.

I didn’t need to do that because I had amazing seats for this concert.

Sleigh Bells was formed in 2008 by Alexis Krauss and Derek Edward Miller.  They released their first songs in 2010 and I remember thinking that there was nothing else that sounded like them.  I was never entirely sure if I liked them, but they were unique.

They played catchy guitar riffs with poppy verses and choruses but the drums were so maxed out that they always sounded like they were going to break your speakers.  It was a fascinating mix of major pop and abrasive noise.  Some songs, like “Infinity Guitars” seemed to max everything to the red–the guitar riff, the drums even Krauss’ voice made the whole song sound like it was really loud, even if it wasn’t.  But it was really catchy at the same time.

At the time, Alexis had long straight black hair, sharp bangs and kind of a goth look, or at least a very dark look. (more…)

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