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The Avett Brothers (Live at Musikfest, Sands Steel Stage at PNC Plaza, Bethlehem, PA, August 14, 2016)

Posted in Amy Schumer, Bethlehem, PA, Bob Dylan, Langhorne Slim, Musikfest, The Avett Brothers, Willie Nelson on August 15, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 14, 2016] The Avett Brothers

2016-08-14 21.01.57Sarah and I were supposed to go see The Avett Brothers but our child care debacle meant that only I could go.  Other people did bring their kids to the show (there were quite a few kids, actually).  Once I showed up, I suggested that she come with the kids but they were settled in for the night by then.  This would have been a much more fun show with Sarah–The Avett Brothers are a fun band meant to be shared with your neighbors.

But at the same time, among a sea of really short people, the two guys right in front of me were gigantic.  And worse yet, they talked to each other throughout the show by leaning in to each other.  I tried to watch the first two songs between their giant heads but they kept leaning in and blocking my entire view.  So I moved to the side of them and the guy next to me asked me to move back to give him more room.  Well, since I had paid for two tickets I was using the space.  So if Sarah had been there, we would have been really tightly packed and one of us would have seen nothing.

When I joked that since Sarah couldn’t come I hoped the show would be terrible so she wouldn’t miss anything, she retorted with a line from the great Amy Schumer Abusive Relationship sketch: “I hope the next time you got to a concert that the band doesn’t play the song you want to hear and instead they just play songs from their NEW ALBUM.”  And that came true when they did not play the couple of songs I really wanted to hear and did in fact play six songs from their new album.  I like a bunch of Avett Brothers songs quite a lot, although I don’t know a lot of their catalog.  I don’t have their first releases and I haven’t gotten their newest album (although I have listened to the new album a few times and did like it).

So if I’m not a huge fan, why go?  Well,I had heard that their live shows were epic–fun and wild with sing alongs and foot stomping and covers and all that good stuff.  So my expectations were high for a good time.  The crowd seemed largely into it–although as I said the people on either side of me were real drags.  It was even weirder when during a couple of slow songs, there was a lot of chatter around me.  I think everyone was distracted by the flashes of lightning that filled the sky in the distance.  Knowing that previous shows were cancelled, those flashes were worrisome.  The lightning stay far away and were actually very cool to see and despite the threats, it never rained on us and nothing was cancelled. (more…)

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Langhorne Slim (Live at Musikfest, Sands Steel Stage at PNC Plaza, Bethlehem, PA, August 14, 2016) [THE AVETT BROTHERS]

Posted in Bethlehem, PA, James Cavanaugh, Kississippi, Langhorne Slim, Musikfest, The Avett Brothers on August 14, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 14, 2016] Langhorne Slim

2016-08-14 19.00.02 I had planned to go to Musikfest early on Sunday to catch Kississippi who I missed at XPNFest.  But as soon as our child care plans fell through, I knew that that early show was out the window–missed them yet again.  I wasn’t even sure if I’d get there in time to see Langhorne Slim, but he went on a few minutes later than scheduled, which worked out perfectly for me.

I didn’t know Langhorne at all.  I thought he was a country singer but he’s more folkie, which I liked.  And he’s from New Hope, PA which makes us practically neighbors.

Musikfest had been plagued by thunderstorms this year.  Earlier shows had been cancelled or cut short because of them.  And like the other nights’ forecasts were mixed–from 0% to 100% chance of thunderstorms during the show.  I arrived just as Langhorne was coming out on stage and he introduced The Avett Brothers.  Scott and Seth sang a fun and spirited rendition of “You Are My Sunshine” to try to keep the rain away and it pretty much worked.

Langhorne joked that that was the last we’d see of The Avett Brothers that night.  And then he proceeded to play a number of songs just him and his guitar. (more…)

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VoirVoir (Musikfest, Bethlehem, PA, August 9, 2016)

Posted in Bethlehem, PA, Moonstruck, Musikfest, The Flaming Lips, Voirvoir on August 10, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 9, 2016] VoirVoir

2016-08-09 21.30.20VoirVoir was one of the opening bands for The Flaming Lips show I saw at Musikfest last year.  Because I mis-estimated the amount of time it would take to get to the show, I missed all but the last few chords of VoirVoir’s set.  But I liked what I heard and bought the CD.  And then I spent the past year trying to see them again.  They’re a local Bethlehem band, so it didn’t seem like it would be that difficult to catch a show.

They’d played a few times in the Bethlehem region but I was never available.  And then finally they announced they’d be at Musikfest again.  I wasn’t even sure if I could make this one, as we were supposed to come back from vacation that day.  But we wound up coming back the night before and I was determined to take a few hours and see the band.

And I came to the realization that I’m glad I missed them for the Flaming Lips because I suspect that that 30 or so minute set in the blazing heat at 6PM paled in comparison to this 90 minute set on a small stage on Main Street.  (Although I do have to wonder if they had more room up on the big stage last year).

VoirVoir is a five piece band consisting of drummer Josh Maskornick, bassist Matt Juknevic, keyboardist, xylophonist and lead singer April Smith, lead guitarist and singer Matt Molchany and, playing her last show with the band, Felicia Vee on guitar (she is also the drummer in the band Moonstruck). (more…)

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Mariachi Flor de Toloache (Musikfest, Bethlehem, PA, August 9, 2016)

Posted in Bethlehem, PA, Led Zeppelin, Mariachi Flor De Toloache, Musikfest, Nirvana on August 10, 2016| Leave a Comment »

2016-08-09 19.14.11[ATTENDED: August 9, 2016] Mariachi Flor de Toloache

Some time ago, I watched Mariachi Flor de Toloache on a Tiny Desk Concert.  So when I saw they were playing Bethlehem’s Musikfest, and that they were on just an hour or so before the band I was really excited to see, I made a point of getting there extra early to witness the mariachi greatness in person.

Mariachi Flor de Toloache are from Brooklyn and are one of the few all-female mariachi bands on the East Coast.  On record the full complement of the band is 13 members, but the touring band seems to be Mireya Ramos on violin who played some amazing solos ; Shae Fiol on vihuela (see below) who was a great performer, encouraging everyone to clap and dance.  Veronica Medellin played guitarron and sang and Julie Acosta played (impeccable) trumpet and taught us all to “oip!” at the right time. (more…)

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Pearl Jam (Fenway Park, Boston, MA, August 7, 2016 & Ten Club Screening of August 5 show, House of Blues, Boston, MA, August 6, 2016)

Posted in Aerosmith, Boston, MA, Dinosaur Jr., Fenway Park, Happy Birthday, House of Blues, J. Mascis, Neil Young, Pearl Jam, Phish, Pink Floyd, Rocky, Sleater-Kinney, The Ramones, The Who, Tom Waits, Victoria Williams, Wells Fargo Center, WMMR 93.3 FM--Philadelphia, PA on August 7, 2016| 1 Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 7, 2016] Pearl Jam

2016-08-07 18.26.10After the excitement of seeing Pearl Jam at the Wells Fargo Center, we were psyched out of our minds to go to Fenway.  I didn’t realize that Fenway has a regular concert series.  I’d assumed that Pearl Jam were the first band to play there–they weren’t–but that didn’t detract in any way from the coolness of the venue.

Neither of us are baseball fans, although when I lived in Boston two decades ago, I did attend a couple of games at Fenway because it is a landmark (and when I was a kid I loved baseball, so duh).  But we knew that the venue would make the show even more special.

We’d have loved to have gone to both shows, but unlike some people, we couldn’t get tickets for both nights.  However, through a small piece of luck, I won tickets to a screening of Friday night’s show on Saturday night.  What?  Well, each night is filmed.  So the film crew filmed Friday night, then edited the footage together and had it ready on the next night as a really nicely edited package at the House of Blues (across the street from Fenway) on Saturday night.

It seemed kind of dumb to go to a music venue to watch a movie.  And Sarah and I were skeptical about going.  But we did and we had a  great time.  I’ve watched live DVDs and it’s always an okay thing to do–fun, but never like you were really there. But this was different. Having a group of some 600 people in a club–with bars and good lighting and excellent sound–it made it feel (almost) like a real concert.  And even though we laughed at the people who were clapping and cheering (as if the band were actually there), and taking videos of the screen (my battery died or I would have grabbed a few screen shots too), we were caught up in the excitement on several occasions as well. (more…)

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Deftones (Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Bethlehem, PA, August 2, 2016)

Posted in Bethlehem, PA, Deftones, Sands Bethlehem Event Center, The Smiths on August 3, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 2, 2016] Deftones

2016-08-02 23.24.33I tend to not go to metal shows all that often, but there have been a few bands that I’ve really wanted to see.  Mastodon was one and Deftones was the other.  I’ve loved just about everything Deftones have done since the super heavy “My Own Summer” and then the major turn they took into an almost shoegaze vibe on their later albums.  They are never afraid to experiment and their albums are always compelling.  Much of that is due to singer Chino Moreno’s voice.  He can whisper and sing beautifully and he can scream like nobody I’ve ever heard.  And all of that was on display last night.

Top it off with Chino being an incredibly charming and gracious frontman (who seemed to be more than enjoying himself) and you have an outstanding show.

The band sounded great.  I was right in front of guitarist Stephen Carpenter and it was amazing to watch the sounds he was making out of his eight string (8!) guitar.  I couldn’t really see bassist Sergio Vega all that well, although I was delighted that he was wearing a Smiths shirt and was singing great harmonies. (more…)

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Refused (Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Bethlehem, PA, August 2, 2016) [DEFTONES]

Posted in Bethlehem, PA, Deftones, Refused, Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Spotlights on August 2, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 2, 2016] Refused

2016-08-02 21.06.30I had never heard of Refused before this show.  I looked them up and saw that they are a Swedish punk band who supports pretty radical ideas.  The thing I missed though was that their most well known album, The Shape of Punk to Come, came out in 1998!

The band broke up right after that album (their 3rd).  They reunited in 2012 with much the same lineup (there had been some different band member in the original days as well).  Last year they put out a new album and here they were touring with Deftones.

From the little I’d read, it sounded like they were a hardcore band.  So I had very specific expectations.  But they were instantly dashed when I heard the very metal riffage that the guitarists produced. (more…)

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Spotlights (Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Bethlehem, PA, August 2, 2016) [DEFTONES]

Posted in Bethlehem, PA, Deftones, Kim Gordon, Refused, Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Spotlights on August 2, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 2, 2016] Spotlights

2016-08-02 20.18.11I have been pretty excited to see Deftones for a while.  I knew they had an opening act called Refused, who I didn’t know, and just recently they added a third opening band called Spotlights, whom I’d also never heard of.

I looked them up online and saw them described as doomgaze or sludgegaze, which I loved.  And when I listened to one of their songs that was a pretty good description–a shoegaze vibe but with some seriously heavy low end rumble and heavy metal crunch.

Seeing them live, it was a bit of a different story.  Some of the shoegaze vibe and cool subtleties on their record got a little lost in the wall of noise at the Sands Event Center.

This is not to say that the set was bad (it wasn’t at all) but that the live show had a different feel than the record.  Primarily in that the vocals were a little buried.  (They’re kind of buried on the record too, but in a different way). (more…)

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Garbage (Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ, July 27, 2016)

Posted in Chrissie Hynde, Garbage, Jane's Addiction, Kristin Kontrol, Sayreville, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, Starland Ballroom, The Pretenders on July 28, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 27, 2016] Garbage

2016-07-27 21.26.35Back in the late 1990s, I loved Garbage.  Their debut and 2.0 were two  of my favorite albums of the era.  I had the chance to meet and greet when I was living in Boston, but when I got to the store, the line was huge and they cut it short about ten people in front of me.  But I did get to see them live.  And I saw them live later in the year when they played in New York.

They took a few years off and I didn’t love their next album.  Or the one after that.  I liked them, but I wasn’t as blown away (which I suppose is natural).  They released a new album last year and I liked it–it was a little less slick than those middle ones. And in the meantime, I’ve grown to appreciate those middle albums more–sure they are slicker, but there’s some good stuff on them.

So when I saw they were touring in the area, I thought it would be fun to see them again nearly twenty years later.

And man, was it ever.

(more…)

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Kristin Kontrol (Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ, July 27, 2016) [GARBAGE]

Posted in Dale Bozzio, Dum Dum Girls, Garbage, Kate Bush, Kristin Kontrol, Sayreville, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, Starland Ballroom on July 27, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 27, 2016] Kristin Kontrol

2016-07-27 20.08.28 I didn’t know who Kristin Kontrol was before this show.  I had to look her up and I saw that she used to sing for the Dum Dum Girls (she was Dee Dee Dum Dum).  I never really cared for them (I don’t like old time “girl group” music, so I didn’t need to hear it updated).  For some reason I assumed she would be loud and brash (which I realize is not what the Dum Dum Girls sound like anyhow).  Rather, her new outfit Kristin Kontrol embraces her love of 80s synth pop.

When she came out I didn’t realize she had been performing for a few years already (they formed in 2008), so while I knew she wasn’t a new artist, I was delighted with how much stage presence she had.  She even had “moves” down (arm gestures that went along with the songs) and she was really poised.

She told us that her first concert was Garbage way back in 1995 and it was that show that made her want to be a musician.  So she was delighted to be opening for them.

The band consisted of a drummer (who used a soft mallets on his cymbals, which I liked, as well as a mixture of electronic and analog drums), a guitarist who seemed to be playing lot of weird electronic sounds with is instrument (he was on the far side so I couldn’t really see him) and a bassist/keyboardist who was right in front of me.  Despite the guitar/bass line up, the overall sound was very synthy (even when no one was playing a synth).  (more…)

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