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Archive for the ‘Cities’ Category

[POSTPONED: July 30, 2020] Flora Cash / Beau Young Prince

indexI was looking at upcoming shows and was shocked to see that Flora Cash was headlining The Fillmore.  (It makes a ton more sense that they were headlining The Foundry).

I saw them open for Aurora two years ago.  I’d never heard of them and then a few months after the show, one of the radio stations around here started playing their single “You’re Somebody Else,” which is a cool song.

I wouldn’t have gone to this (there were two other shows I would have gone to first), but it is neat to have seen someone long before they were big enough to do a small headline tour.

I’d never heard of Beau Young Prince.  He’s a young rapper and the first comment on the first song I listened to said, “No drugs, no money, no mumble…love it!” which pretty well sums it up.  He uses autotune and raps pretty well.  I’m pleased at the diversity of this line up.

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[POSTPONED: July 30/July 31, 2020] Built to Spill [White Eagle Hall show moved to July 30, 2021]

indexI’ve seen Built to Spill a bunch of times. The last time I promised myself I wouldn’t get too close to the stage, but I did.  The problem with being so close is the way Doug Martsch has his guitar set up.  His amp is right next to him and it is so loud.  From where I was you could barely hear anything else.  Of course I’m there to watch Doug play, so it’s not too bad.  But I promised myself I would stand back to fully appreciate his band.

On this newly announced tour, his whole band was going to be different.  In fact, I have seen at least three different lineups for the band over the years.  This tour was going to feature drummer Teresa Esguerra of Prism Bitch (who opened for Built To Spill last time) and bassist Melanie Radford of Marshall Poole.  I knew it would be a very different show.

Unfortunately, I had tickets to Kraftwerk on July 30 and tickets for The national on July 31 (not to mention we were supposed to leave for the Newport Folk Festival on the night of the 31st as well).  So I sure hope he keeps this line up when he;s ready to play again.  And I will stand back and take it all in.

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[CANCELLED: July 30, 2020] Kraftwerk 3-D

indexKraftwerk are one of the most influential bands of all time–and most people don’t know them.

I know a lot of their songs, although I’m sure at a Kraftwerk concert I probably wouldn’t know half of the songs.

And yet, when they announced a North American tour to celebrate their 50th anniversary in which they will bring their beloved 3D visuals, music, and performance art on the road to play a career-spanning set this summer, I grabbed tickets immediately.

Normally I wouldn’t want to see a band that wasn’t full of original members. Kraftwerk really only has one–Ralf Hütter is the only guy still in the band from the beginning/  of the other three, Fritz Hilpert has been on board since 1987, Henning Schmitz since 1991 and Falk Grieffenhagen since 2012.  Florian Schneider another co-founder just died this year but he had left the band twelve years ago.

Nevertheless, Kraftwerk is decidedly not about the musicians, they are about the music.  And the spectacle.  And a 3-D show is pure spectacle.

I was really holding out hope that this show would not be cancelled.  I hope they decide to try again next year, (Hütter is only 73, after all) because a 51st anniversary is just as good!

 

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SOUNDTRACK: RunHideFight-“He’s a Jerk”/”Because I Love You” (2018).

RunHideFight is (was?) a Philly band which features author Christine Weiser on bass.  This is their only available single and I love that the cover features lead singer Geeta Dalal Simons holding her double neck 12-string guitar (which is in fact a custom 12 electric neck / 12 electric sitar neck).

“He’s a Jerk” is a two minute blast of garage rock fun. The song has lots of fuzz and a simple riff that sounds like “All Day and All of the Night” but isn’t.  Lead singer Geeta Dalal Simons has a great rough, unpolished scream of a voice.  And the chorus is really catchy.  There’s even time for a guitar solo from John Terlesky.

“Because I Love You” slows things down with a nifty sitar line.  I really like the start-stop nature of the main riff.  The intertwining backing vocals really flesh this song out.  It clocks in at 2 and a half minutes, but really fits in a lot of different musical moments.

This seems to be the band’s only release and it was from two years ago, so maybe they are no longer.  Which is a shame, these two songs are pretty great and although I listened because if Weiser, I want to hear more from Geeta Dalal Simons.

[READ: July 25, 2020] Broad Street

I saw Christine Weiser play bass in Suffacox a few months ago.  When she was introduced, it was mentioned that she was a writer.  I found this book, her first novel, and decided to check it out.

Weiser has been in a number of bands.  One in particular was Mae Pang (if you don’t know the origins of that name, do look it up–I had no idea).  Mae Pang was an all-girl garage rock band based in Philly.  As far as I can tell, they didn’t release any music.

However, Weiser has mined her experiences with Mae Pang for the basis of this book.  She has chosen the far superior band name of Broad Street for the book.

Kit Greene is a proofreader for a medical publishing house.  It’s the kind of job where an errant decimal point can be deadly (literally–it could effect the dosage of medicine).  It’s high stress and her boss doesn’t make it any easier. (more…)

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[POSTPONED: July 24, 2020] Kim Gordon

indexKim Gordon was a founding member of Sonic Youth (duh).  I never got to see Sonic Youth while they were together (how could I have missed them??).

I recently saw Thurston Moore solo and it was fantastic.  Kim Gordon’s solo output is a bit more esoteric, but I’d love to be able to see her live at least once.

I was really looking forward to this show.  But then on May 6, Kim Gordon announced

Due to the ongoing desire to keep everyone safe, my US shows have now also been cancelled. Tickets will be automatically refunded at point of purchase. I look forward to seeing you all in the near future.

I hope she can come back around when things are better.

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SOUNDTRACK: TOM MISCH AND YUSSEF DAYES-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #49 (July 13, 2020).

mishTom Misch and Yussef Dayes play a light jazz with lots of interesting elements floating around the songs.  The blurb says the music “evokes a dreamy utopia, blending live electronica, psychedelia and avant-garde jazz.”

I didn’t realize that Misch was British until the chorus–the way he sings “the dash.”  Actually I first realized when he spoke after the song, but then it was obvious when he sang.

Producer/guitarist Tom Misch and drummer Yussef Dayes released a surprising and stunning collaborative album earlier this year called What Kinda Music,. This Tiny Desk (home) concert — recorded across six different musicians’ homes — features two songs from that album, “Nightrider” and “Tidal Wave.”

“Nightrider” has cool echoing slow guitars and fantastically complex drumming.  But the focus of this song seems to be the wonderfully busy five string bass from Tom Driessler.  Jordan Rakei provides backing vocals and

special guest John Mayer provides a closing solo, just as he did at last year’s Crossroads Guitar Festival.

It’s weird the way Mayer stares at the camera at the end though.

“Tidal Wave” has a different cast.  It features Rocco Palladino on bass, which is not as complex.  Although Yussef’s drumming is fantastic once again.

There’s a nice lead guitar line before the vocals kick in.  I almost wish the song were an instrumental until Joel Culpepper adds his wonderful high backing vocals.

This is some good chill out music.

[READ: July 10, 2020] “Calling”

I know I’ve read Richard Ford stories before, but this stories was so fascinating to me–it felt very different from so many other stories that I read.

Set around Christmas in 1961, the narrator’s father has left him and his mother in New Orleans while he has moved to St. Louis to be with a male doctor.

His mother, meanwhile, had begun a singing career, which essentially meant that she was sleeping with her African American singing coach.

What’s fascinating about the story (aside from how trasnsgressive his parents seem in 1961) is that the narrator is telling the story from the present:

They are all dead now.  My father.  My mother.  Dr. Carter. The black accompanist, Dubinion.

These interjections of the present allow for some reflections on this tumultuous period in his life.  (more…)

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[CANCELLED: JULY 18 & 19, 2020] Sparta / Emily Davis and The Murder Police [rescheduled from May 1& 2]

indexWhen At the Drive-In broke up, they split into two bands: The Mars Volta and Sparta.  The Mars Volta went in a wild, psychedelic/prog metal direction and Sparta maintained a more tradition heavy rock sound.

I enjoyed the first Sparta albums but I hadn’t heard anything recently.  I considered going to this show because I’d heard they were really good live.

Emily Davis and The Murder Police [EDMP] are an alt-folk-punk band living in the desert southwest with an affinity for writing aggressive, introspective music.  I’ve listened to a few songs and I like what I heard–I feel they are a bit more folk-leaning, but there is a punk edge.

These newly rescheduled dates wound up conflicting with a Ministry show on the 18th.  I probably wouldn’t have had the energy for this show, so maybe when they come around again, I’ll be free.

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[CANCELLED: May 22, 2020] Bully / The Spirit of the Beehive / Control Top

indexI really liked Bully’s first album Feels Like, which came out back in 2005.  Then they just sort of disappeared (I gather there were label issues with their second album).

They have a good grungey guitar sound with a controlled screaming vocal from Alicia Bognanno.  They would probably be a lot of fun live.

The two opening bands are from Philly.  I’ve seen them both and would love to see them again.

The Spirit of the Beehive were outstanding live.  I’d never heard of them before but they easily blew me away with their set which was a nice mix of shoegaze and noise.

Control Top are an outstanding punk band with great lead vocals from bassist Ali Carter.  I was supposed to see them in march but that show was one of the first postponed.

This is an outstanding bill and although the show is cancelled, I really hope the three can do a show again in the future.

Amazingly there were four different shows I would have gone to on this night.  And this one might have won out.

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[POSTPONED: July 18, 2020] Tigers Jaw / Gladie / Kayleigh Goldsworthy [rescheduled from April 24]

indexThis show was moved from April 24 and is now postponed once again.

Tigers Jaw is a band I know from a Tiny Desk Concert.  They played poppy gentle rock.  I had seen a poster for one of their shows up in a local sub shop recently.  At the time, the band was Ben Walsh and Brianna Collins and they traded off lead vocals and harmonies wonderfully.  Their new pictures show four members, so perhaps they have fleshed out their sound.

Gladie is a band that has formed out of the ashes of Cayetana, a Philadelphia band that I’ve heard of for years but don’t know anything about.  Shame they broke up I guess, but Gladie has resulted. Gladie plays gentle alt pop sung by Augusta Koch.

Kayleigh Goldsworthy is also from Philadelphia. She has a great 90s alt rock sound.  Her album has a full band, but I imagine she’d be playing solo.

This show wasn’t super high on my “gotta see” list, but i would have enjoyed a mellow, pretty night.  However, I was planning on seeing Ministry this same evening (such a choice!) so I hope the new, new date works out.

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[POSTPONED: July 18, 2020] Ministry / KMFDM / Front Line Assembly [moved to April 17, 2021 and also April 16 at Wellmont Theater]

indexI’ve been a fan of Ministry for decades.  I even liked the first album With Sympathy (and listen to it now more than their hardercore stuff).  But when Land of rape and Honey came out, it was the most intense thing in the world. It was incredible.

They put out a series of great heavy albums, although by 1999’s Filth Pig either I stopped enjoying it or they just weren’t as good.

So I guess it has been two decades since I cared about Ministry.  However, Al Jourgensen and his band keep touring and, since I’ve seen Slayer now, I thought I should see what a ministry experience is like.

I wanted to go to their show in 2018, (I was really interested in seeing opening band Igorr) but the date just didn’t work for me.

Although I hadn’t yet gotten tickets for this show, I was looking forward to this retro bill.

I liked KMFDM more in theory than actually listening to them–I have one album I think). But I always appreciated them (especially the joke that their initials stand for Kill Mother Fucking Depeche Mode–actually it is Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid, “no pity for the majority”).  Only one guy is still in the band, but I’d be curious to see what their proto-Rammstein show would be like.

Front Line Assembly was one of the few bands on the industrial label Waxtrax that I never really got into.  I liked many bands on the label, but really never had much exposure to FLA (in the days before you could listen to things online).   I’m curious what 1980s industrial music sounds like in 2020.

Now that I see that the show is also going to be at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair, I will definitely try to get to that one instead.

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