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Archive for the ‘Cities’ Category

Darlingside–SOPAC (South Orange, NJ, December 17, 2017)

Posted in Darlingside, Snowed Inn, SOPAC, South Orange, NJ, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA, XPN Fest on December 17, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 17, 2017] Darlingside

We saw Darlingside at XPNFest in 2016.  The outdoor setting and our wilty family led to a less than stellar experience despite the amazing sound of the band.  How can four guys with one mic sound so good in an outdoor festival?

Well, when I heard they were coming back around, I was super excited to get tickets at Bethlehem Steel Stacks–the day they went on sale I bought a ticket right in front of the stage.  And then we couldn’t go.  A commitment came up, I got rid of the tickets and then we wound up not even going to the commitment. Ugh.

But it was all fine because they had announced a show at SOPAC and I still got second row seats.

The band sounded amazing in this small venue–which had wonderful acoustics.  And they were charming and funny as well. (more…)

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Henry Jamison–SOPAC (South Orange, NJ, December 17, 2017) [DARLINGSIDE]

Posted in Bethlehem, PA, Darlingside, Henry Jamison, Nick Drake, SOPAC, South Orange, NJ, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on December 17, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 17, 2017] Henry Jamison

We had never heard of SOPAC when I got tickets for this show.  We were supposed to go to see Darlingside in Bethlehem, but it was the same night as a Boy Scout event (which, frustratingly we did not go to, anyhow).  But I hoped that they would be playing somewhere else nearby and huzzah, they were playing in South Orange!

Well, the theater is charming and the sound is phenomenal.  I can only hope that other people that we like will play here.

Main Street also had some yummy looking restaurants, but we didn’t have time to check them out.  We did arrive in plenty of time to claim our 2nd row (!) seats for this show.

As the lights dimmed and we were told to power off our phones (three humorous times).  Then Henry Jamsion walked out with his phone on–saying he had to have it on during the show.

He never introduced himself, just started playing. (more…)

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Elephant Stone (The Black Box, Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, December 12, 2017)

Posted in Canadian Music, Elephant Stone, Groovy Movies, Philadelphia, PA, The Black Box, Underground Arts on December 12, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 12, 2017] Elephant Stone

I heard Elephant Stone on NPR and loved their alt rock/shoegaze sound mixed with some awesome sitar,

Lead singer/bassist Rishi Dhir is a masterful sitar player and, as I read somewhere, if you’ve heard a sitar in an alt-rock song, it was Dhir.

Elephant Stone are a trio based in Montreal with Dhir, Jean-Gabriel Lambert on guitar and Miles Dupire-Gagnon on drums.   For this show they had an additional player on keyboards and backing guitar but I never got his name.  Amusingly, the lightning in The Black Box was pretty dark and this extra guy was almost perpetually in the dark, so photos were pretty hard. (more…)

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Groovy Movies (The Black Box, Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, December 12, 2017) [ELEPHANT STONE]

Posted in Canadian Music, Elephant Stone, Groovy Movies, Love, Philadelphia, PA, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Byrds, The Monkees, Underground Arts on December 12, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 12, 2017] Groovy Movies

I had never been to The Black Box before. It is a smaller club inside the already small club Underground Arts (the main room is cordoned off).  The setting is intimate and cozy with couches and a tiny bar.

When I got there, there were seven people waiting for the show to start.

I felt bad about that.  I love a show to be not too crowded, but that was uncomfortably empty.

Groovy Movies, a Philly band, came out and did their opening set.  And they were terrific.  Dressed all in white, they played the greatest not-exactly-Beatles music I’ve ever heard. (more…)

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Pinegrove / Saintseneca / Adult Mom (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 10, 2017) [CANCELLED]

Posted in Adult Mom, Cancelled, Fire is Motion, Forth Wanderers, Philadelphia, PA, Pinegrove, Saintseneca, Sayreville, NJ, Starland Ballroom, Union Transfer on December 10, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[CANCELLED: April 28, 2017] Saintseneca/Adult Mom/Pinegrove

I saw Pinegrove at the First Unitarian Church in Philly.  The venue was kind of fun, although I have basically decided that I will not ever go to another show there (despite THREE bands that I like playing there in coming months).  My takeaway from the venue is that if it’s at all crowded, it’s not worth going.

But I really enjoyed the Pinegrove show.  And I was super excited to see them twice more for the end of the year–tonight at Union Transfer and Starland Ballroom.  Kind of unreasonably excited, actually, especially the Starland show, because one of my new favorite up and coming Jersey bands Fire is Motion were going to open for them.

The openers were

Saintseneca, Adult Mom at Union Transfer

Forth Wanderers, Fire is Motion at Starland Ballroom

And then, out of the blue (at least to me), the band cancelled the tour.  This is now the third (and fourth) show this year that has been cancelled on me.  Oh well, I’m glad that problems like this come out and I hope that all involved get the help they need.  But because I’m selfish, I just wish that they would be revealed a few days after my show instead of before.

Official statement (more…)

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Wolf Alice (Wonder Bar, Asbury Park, NJ, December 5, 2017)

Posted in Asbury Park, NJ, Polyplastic, Wolf Alice, Wonder Bar on December 5, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 5, 2017] Wolf Alice

I really enjoyed Wolf Alice’s new record.  I also re-listened to their first and had forgotten how much I liked it.

They were scheduled to play a show in Philly, but it happened to be the same night as something else I was doing.  And then, as if by magic, about two weeks before this date, they announced this show at Wonder Bar.  (The original dates were announced back in Sept).  So there was little fanfare about this show on a rainy night in sleepy Asbury Park (Tuesday night in December is pretty sleepy).

The show was not very crowded, but those of us who were there were really excited (some guys who got there after me knew all the words to every song–the bassist shouted out to them for that). (more…)

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Polyplastic (Wonder Bar, Asbury Park, NJ, December 5, 2017) [WOLF ALICE]

Posted in Asbury Park, NJ, Polyplastic, Wolf Alice, Wonder Bar on December 5, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 5, 2017] Polyplastic

I was pretty excited to see Wolf Alice and I’d never been to Wonder Bar before.

It was a rainy, miserable night in Asbury Park.  I found out that despite there being no one in the parking areas, they still charged for parking.  So I drove a few blocks up and parked for free.  But by the time I got myself situated, I was about ten minutes late for Polyplastic.

I didn’t know them at all, but I was pretty delighted with what I heard.  They are a relatively new band from California.  They don’t have a record out yet, but they do have stuff on soundcloud.

Wonder Bar proved to be pretty small, but with a good sound system and great sight lines.  I found it vastly superior to The Stone Pony, but with far fewer bands that I’d want to see on the docket. (more…)

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Morrissey (The Fillmore, Philadelphia PA, December 4, 2017)–POSTPONED/CANCELLED

Posted in Cancelled, Morrissey, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Smiths on December 4, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED/CANCELLED: December 4, 2017] Morrissey

I have been a fan of The Smiths since my friend Garry introduced me to them back in the 80s.  I enjoyed much of Morrissey’s solo output (to varying degrees).  Obviously, I never saw The Smiths live.  I had never really considered seeing Morrissey live until my recent concert-going binge.

When he came around to Philly a couple of years ago I joked that he was probably going to cancel, so I didn’t bother getting a ticket.  But he didn’t cancel and my friends who went said he was great.

Over the past couple of months (alright, years) he’s been saying a bunch of really stupid-ass shit.  The kind of stupid-ass shit that should upset his fans, but probably no one else.  His fans are all a little to die-hard to care, though, so he’s sort of yelling into a vacuum.  Making headlines that people who hate him say “see he’s an ass,” and fans say, “oh never mind him.”

Well, I decided that this was the tour I’d go see him.  Fully cognizant of the fact that he might cancel the show.  And early on, he cancelled a show in L.A. because the temperature wasn’t right.

He played Madison Square Garden the night before this show and all was fine. (more…)

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St. Vincent (Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA, November 28, 2017)

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, St. Vincent, The Birthday Party, The Electric Factory on November 28, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 28, 2017] St. Vincent

Two summers ago St. Vincent co-headlined XPNFest.  Our seats weren’t great but her show was spectacular.  I was bummed that it was a co-headline, because she played five fewer songs than for her other shows, but it was still incredible.  I knew I wanted to see her again.

And then she went into a kind of hiatus–she appeared doing a few things, but no tour.  And  then she came back with a whole new campaign–fear the future.  Gone was the curly white hair and in was a whole new look.  It was very day-glo and very sexy.  Right down to the album cover of a woman’s ass bent over with her front end shoved through a wall.

It was a stunning visual campaign, with Annie doing filmed “interviews” while the “crew” of women walked around with their breasts and asses cut out of their body suits.  There was clearly a message, although I’m not exactly sure what the message was.  Or is.

And then I learned that her new tour was going to be just her on her (newly designed) guitar with backing tracks.  While I didn’t doubt her ability to play to a backing track (I’ve seen her play amazingly with no backing at all), I was afraid it would lose some of the looseness that I’ve loved about her shows.   (more…)

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Rodrigo y Gabriela (Count Basie Theater, Red Bank, NJ, November 14, 2017)

Posted in Count Basie Theatre, Metallica, Rage Against the Machine, Red Bank, NJ, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Set in New Jersey! on November 14, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 14, 2017] Rodrigo y Gabriela

My friends Liz and Eleanor came to the Rod y Gab show back in 2014 and we were blown away.  So when I saw they were playing in the Count Basie Theater and that I could get seats in Row G, I snatched seats up for all four of us again.

The last time was just such a phenomenal experience that I knew I’d want to see them again.  And being up so close and really seeing everything they were doing was a really super phenomenal experience.

I don’t know the song titles and we kind of joked that the songs all sound the same (but amazing and strangely unique at the same time) so I didn’t worry too much about what they were playing, I just sat back and enjoyed it. (more…)

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