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Mitski (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, July 24, 2022) [rescheduled]

Posted in Franklin Music Hall, Mitski, Philadelphia, PA, The Weather Station on July 25, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 24, 2022] Mitski [rescheduled from March 25, 2022]

I saw Mitski back in 2018.  She sold out Union Transfer and while I enjoyed the show very much, I remember being disappointed that I was so far back and behind so many tall people that I couldn’t really see her performance all that well.

In that time, Mitski has taken off even more with the young people.  Both of my kids love her (as does a large section of the youth).  When this tour was announced, there was no question that I would get four tickets for my two kids and one of their friends.

I figured it wouldn’t be that hard, since she was playing at a pretty huge venue.  But the presale sold out in like 5 seconds.  And the main day sale also sold out in like 5 seconds.  The bots were all over this tour.  It was so obnoxious.

My kids really wanted to see her but there was no way I was spending a ton of money on her, so we were SOL.

Then a few days before the show was to happen, it was postponed because of COVID.  It’s not often that we are happy that things are postponed, but this one worked out very well for us., because a rescheduled date meant a possibility of new tickets being made available.  I put my name on the waiting list.  But didn’t really have much hope. (more…)

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Beach House (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 23, 2022)

Posted in Beach House, Mary Lattimore, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on July 24, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 23, 2022] Beach House

I’ve been a fan of Beach House for a long time. I wasn’t sure if they were a band I wanted to see live, but then it turned out that everyone in my family was enjoying them independently of me.

Both of my kids had been listening to a few of their songs and I knew that S. liked the songs she’d heard too.  So I thought it would be fun for us all to go see them live.

I got us GA tickets because the closest seated tickets were kind of crappy.  I suppose seated would have been fine because the Beach House show was pretty much designed for you to not really see the stage very well.

The lighting was such that it had a presence in the room.  You could practically feel the weight of the colors as they fell from the stage.  The three band members were placed in a row across the stage.  with Alex Scally on the left playing guitar, Victoria Legrand in the center on keys and James Barone on drums on the right.  The band was backlit for the entire show so that they were in shadow and silhouette.  I am fairly certain I never saw any of their three faces all nights.

Whether it was white lights shining down from the ceiling, a wall of stars on a deep blue background, or waving searchlights through dense fog, the atmosphere changed with every song.  The details were different but the overall vibe remained one of a kind of smothering warmth almost like a weighted blanket.  (more…)

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The Weather Station (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, July 24, 2022) [MITSKI] [rescheduled]

Posted in Franklin Music Hall, Mitski, Philadelphia, PA, The Weather Station on July 24, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 24, 2022] The Weather Station [rescheduled from March 25, 2022]

Back in March, Mitski was forced to postpone a few shows, including Philadelphia, because of a COVID case in her touring party.  She rescheduled her shows in the summer.

Unbelievably, I was able to get tickets for this show and I was a hero to my kids.

We arrived early and the line to get in was around the block and half way down the street.  But it was warm and pleasant and the mood was good on line, so we didn’t mind the wait all that much.

We finally got into the building a few minutes before 8PM.

Everyone wanted merch.  It’s Mitski, after all!  Since I had seen her a few years ago, I offered to wait on line while they all found a spot as far up as they could get (which wasn’t very far).  My son and his friend went off to the left, but my daughter hung out with me. (more…)

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Peeesseye / TALsounds (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, July 24, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Chris Forsyth, Johnny Brenda's, Peeesseye, Philadelphia, PA, TALsounds on July 24, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: July 24, 2022] Peeesseye / TALsounds

Peeesseye is an experimental band co-founded by Chris Forsyth, who has gone on to do some amazing work on guitar.  I’m going to let Ars Nova Workshop summarize them better than I ever could:

Peeesseye was formed in 2002 in Brooklyn by Chris Forsyth, Jaime Fennelly, and Fritz Welch. Though their instrumentation changed as often as their sound, the core elements were always Fennelly’s combination of harmoniums, oscillators and feedback, Forsyth’s alternately spacious and cutthroat guitar playing, and Welch’s hyper-mutated vocals and possessed percussion.

They persistently kept listeners off balance over the course of the ensuing decade, both through chameleonic stylistic shifts from one release to the next as well as with the unpredictable eclecticism of the music itself. Gestural lowercase formalism might explode into blaring noise, sprawling psychedelia shatter into raucous free improv, back porch minimalism mutate into avant-trickster performance art—all engaged with a sense of emotionally engaged intensity that forged a unity in their often evolving sound.

The group splintered geographically and musically after a final show in Antwerp in 2011, with Fennelly pursuing theatrically Kosmiche synth gleam as Mind Over Mirrors from bases in Washington State, Chicago, Maine, and North Carolina; Forsyth carving out his own territory as a bandleader and lyrical guitar anti-hero upon relocating to Philadelphia in 2009, most notably with his Solar Motel Band; and Welch shifting from music/noise/sound to various performance scenarios to visual art extrusion in his adopted hometown of Glasgow, Scotland.

After more than a decade apart, Peeesseye is reconvening for two performances to mark the 20 years since they first made noise together.

I love Forsyth, but i didn’t know much about Peeesseye.  I assumed it was hard to listen to, but I still really wanted to go to this show.

Then it turned out that I got tickets for Mitski that night–with the whole family on board.  So I had to miss out on this bizarre evening.

TALsounds is the ambient solo moniker of Chicago-based experimental artist Natalie Chami, who is also a member of the trio Good Willsmith, one half of the duo l’éternèbre, and a co-founder of the Screaming Claws collective.

The music seems to be synthy and chill.  Almost a direct opposite of the noise of Peeesseye.   Although some of the songs add some texture, it is mostly synth playing.

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Mary Lattimore (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 23, 2022) [BEACH HOUSE]

Posted in Beach House, Kurt Vile, Mary Lattimore, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on July 23, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 23, 2022] Mary Lattimore

I’ve been a fan of Beach House for a long time.  When  they announced the opening bands, I was pretty psyched that we were getting Mary Lattimore (I don’t know any of the other artists).

I saw Mary Lattimore open for Parquet Courts about four years ago and I was blown away by her amazing harp playing.

Mary Lattimore is kind of the go-to harpist for rock albums.  She has played on all kinds of albums including two from Philly local Kurt Vile (Smoke Ring For My Halo & Wakin on a Pretty Daze).

The show wasn’t very crowded yet and I told my family that I wanted to get pretty close to the stage for this set.  So I moved in and had a really nice view of Mary’s hands as she played.

Mary’s songs are instrumental and they are beautiful, but also sad and thoughtful.  She had videos projected behind her (they were weird and looping and grainy).

She played about five songs, giving a brief introduction to each one.  She told us that she wrote “For Scott Kelly, Returned to Earth” for astronaut Scott Kelly and even sent him a copy, which he listened to in space, which is pretty wild.

One thing I love about Mary is that she plays all parts of her harp.  She taps the side and makes percussive sounds.  She also has an effects pedal and is able to morph and loop the sounds that she makes.  Plus, she uses all of the notes.  Even the tiny high notes.  And the low low notes (those were remarkably deep).

After several songs she announced a guest.  A young girl named Delphine came out.  She sat at her small harp with incredible form.  Then she and Mary played a duet of Mary’s “Wawa by the Ocean.”  It was lovely and adorable.  And once you got over how adorable it was you realized how good Delphine was.

Then Mary said that Delphine’s father was going to come out and do a song with her.  And Delphine’s father was Kurt Vile!

What a surprise.  I mean, maybe not 100% surprise as Kurt does tend to make a random appearance from time to time, but we never seem to get anything like that at our shows.  So he sat there with his guitar and they played “Ghost Town” the Kurt Vile song.

We had just seen Kurt so this was like a really delayed encore and that was a lot of fun too.

Overall, I feel like the audience could have been a little more respectful of the harp, but whatever, the harp is a hard sell for a rock crowd.

I’m just glad I got to see her again.

(sort of setlist)

  1. The Warm Shoulder
  2. For Scott Kelly, Returned to Earth
  3. Otis Walks Into the Woods
  4. It Feels Like Floating
  5. Wawa by the Ocean (with Delphine Vile)
  6. Ghost Town (with Kurt Vile}

 

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Japanese Breakfast / Yo La Tengo / Cate Le Bon [A Make the World Better Benefit] (The Dell Music Center, Philadelphia PA, July 23, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Cate Le Bon, Chris Forsyth, Dell Music Center, Garcia Peoples, Japanese Breakfast, Johnny Brenda's, Make the World Better, Philadelphia, PA, Purling Hiss, Yo La Tengo on July 23, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: July 23, 2022] Japanese Breakfast / Yo La Tengo / Cate Le Bon

Everything about this show was geared for me to enjoy.

I love Japanese Breakfast and have seen them twice (the las time was fantastic).

I have been a fan of Yo La Tengo for years but have never seen them live.

I have wanted to see Cate Le Bon for a few years now and have had a few shows cancelled on me.  [Although I will be seeing her in October].

Plus, this is a benefit show for Make the World Better.

Their motto is “A park should be a place where you see joy every single day. That’s what we’re trying to do.” — Connor Barwin

We believe community-based redevelopment projects have a unique ability to strengthen neighborhoods by creating a sense of ownership over public spaces. We engage residents in all phases of a project, from concept to construction to ongoing programming and upkeep. We design with and for the community—pushing beyond typical play space design: we’ve built community garden plots and a media lab; we have painted murals and all of our projects have included green stormwater infrastructure.

However, we had tickets to Beach House and all four of us were going, so this show was shut out.

I’ve never been to the Dell Music Center.  It’s an outdoor venue near The Mann Center which probably means parking sucks.

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Camp Cope / Petal (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, July 23, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Camp Cope, Petal, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on July 23, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 21, 2023] Camp Cope / Petal

UPDATE: Camp Cope broke up in Feb. 2023, so I’ll never see them.

Camp Cope is an Australian punk band whose music is described as ‘rough, minimal rock [with] a punk edge’, and whose lyrics ‘articulate human entanglements with a lack of sentimentality that belies how much [McDonald] cares.’

So, basically, they’re a really earnest punk band.  They have a huge following although I haven’t fully gotten into them yet.  I’d heard their live show were great so I was looking forward to seeing them.

However, this show was on the same night as Beach House which all four of us were going to see, so there was no way this was happening.

I’ve seen Petal twice.  Here’s what I said last time:

Petal is the creation of Kiley Lotz from Scranton, PA.  She has released a few albums and an EP (all on bandcamp).  Her recorded output has a somewhat heavier alternapop sound–there’s some great bass on her records.

I really enjoyed her solo set–her voice was beautiful and her songcraft was really great.  But having listened to her records, i imagined she’d be even more fun with a band.

And she certainly was.  She rocked harder for sure and I really liked the drummer’s backing vocals.

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Jonah Yano (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 22, 2022) [CLAIRO]

Posted in Arlo Parks, Clairo, Jonah Yano, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on July 22, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 22, 2022] Jonah Yano

Clairo’s Sling tour with Arlo Parks was supposed to happen at the Fillmore on February 26 2022.  It had been sold out for a long time.  I had actually been interested in going just to see Arlo Parks.  But by the time my daughter said she wanted to go to see Clairo, it was long sold out. 

I followed along because something happened to the show the night before.  And then the Philly show was was postponed on that day with almost no warning.

There were comments on Facebook like 

If my daughter hadn’t looked at IG we wouldn’t have known. We were ready to hit the road. Why are we not receiving communication via email/ticketmaster

And on reddit:

So sad i drove 6 hours to philly and have been waiting

Yikes.

Apparently it was a COVID scare, but the communication was terrible.  However, the rescheduled date was a gain for me because tickets immediately went on sale and I snatched up 2 at 7PM that evening.

Sadly for me, Arlo Parks would not be joining her.  The new opening act was Jonah Yano whom I had never heard of. (more…)

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Clairo (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 22, 2022)

Posted in Arlo Parks, Clairo, Jonah Yano, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on July 22, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 22, 2022] Clairo

Clairo’s Sling tour with Arlo Parks was supposed to happen at the Fillmore on February 26 2022.  It had been sold out for a long time.  I had actually been interested in going just to see Arlo Parks.  But by the time my daughter said she wanted to go to see Clairo, it was long sold out. 

I followed along because something happened to the show the night before.  And then the Philly show was was postponed on that day with almost no warning.

Apparently it was a COVID scare, but the communication was terrible and people didn’t hear until minutes before the show was supposed to start.  However, the rescheduled date was a gain for me because tickets immediately went on sale and I snatched up 2 at 7PM that evening.

My daughter has the misfortune (or good taste, I guess) to like popular people.  So this show was sold out and packed. (more…)

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The Linda Lindas / Bacchae (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, July 21, 2021) [postponed]

Posted in Bacchae, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Foundry, The Linda Lindas on July 21, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: July 21, 2021] The Linda Lindas / Bacchae [moved to July 26, 2022]

I was excited to take my daughter to see The Linda Lindas since she is the same age as they are.  She didn’t really know their music (I heard about them when they played at a library in LA), but I thought she’d enjoy the show and the venue.

We drove all the way to Philly.  We parked.  We walked to the venue.  And discovered that the show had been postponed!

In fairness to the world, apparently it was known on July 19th, that these shows were being postponed because of a case of COVID in the touring party.  BrooklynVegan posted on the 19th (more…)

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