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Helvetia (Union Transfer, Philadelphia PA, October 2, 2015) [BUILT TO SPILL]

Posted in Built to Spill, Clarke and the Himselfs, Fleetwood Mac, Helvetia, Judas Priest, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on October 4, 2015| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 2, 2015] Helvetia

2015-10-02 21.51.07After Clarke finished his set, he removed his tambourine from the hi hat and took his guitar.  And then Helvetia came out and used the same tiny drum set.  It turns out that there is all kinds of connectivity between Clarke, Helvetia and Built to Spill.  Clarke’s record was released by Brett Netson’s label.  Brett Netson is the second guitarist for Built to Spill.  And, as it turns out, the bassist and third guitarist for Built to Spill (Jason Albertini and Jim Roth) are the two guitarists for Helvetia.

I had never heard of Helvetia.  So imagine my surprise that they released their 8th (!) album that night.

As the band was setting up, Zeke Howard, the drummer, projected a cool swirling pattern on his drum head.  Which I can assume only we in the front could see since his kit was so small (see the swirl here).  About mid way through the set, the projector had moved a bit and I think a helpful fan straightened it out for him. (more…)

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Clarke and the Himselfs (Union Transfer, Philadelphia PA, October 2, 2015) [BUILT TO SPILL]

Posted in Built to Spill, Clarke and the Himselfs, David Bowie, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on October 3, 2015| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 2, 2015] Clarke and the Himselfs

2015-10-02 20.45.59Friday night was going to be my first time seeing Built to Spill and my first time going to Union Transfer, the fabled Philly venue.  I couldn’t believe the show started at 8:30 and there would be 2 opening acts.  I estimated getting home at 2AM which proved to be accurate.

I’d never heard of either opening act so I didn’t mind if I got there a little late.  But as it turned out, there was no traffic and I wound getting there about 20 minutes early.  Which was cool since there was hardly anyone there.  In fact, there was a row of people leaning against the stage and that was it (and a lot more in the bar and balcony) .  So I staked my claim near the stage and waited for Clarke. (more…)

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The Flaming Lips (Live at Musikfest, Sands Steel Stage at PNC Plaza, Bethlehem, PA August 7, 2015)

Posted in Bethlehem, PA, CHAPPO, Musikfest, The Flaming Lips on August 9, 2015| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 7, 2015] The Flaming Lips

2015-08-07 20.46.40I have been a fan of the Flaming Lips for a pretty long time.  I saw them in 2000 on The Soft Bulletin tour and it was one of the most exciting concerts I had been to.  Wayne Coyne was a stellar frontman, and he spoke of love and happiness and togetherness and it was an amazingly positive experience.  So, when they broke out “She Don’t Use Jelly,” their goofy novelty hit from 1993 (which I was surprised by), and they released hundred of balloons into Irving Plaza, the whole atmosphere was filled with joy.

For that show, it was Wayne on vocals and gong (he played the gong a lot), Michael Ivins on bass and Steven Drozd on everything else.  For a drummer they used a video feed (of I believe Steven).  It was weird but it worked really well.  And even fifteen years later I remember it very fondly.

Well, in fifteen years, the Lips have gotten bigger, technology has gotten cheaper and more portable and Coyne’s ambitions have gotten more psychedelic.  And this was the most fun I have ever had at a concert when the set list was no where near one that I would have put together myself (more on that later).

So for this show, there were giant costumed characters on stage, there was a gigantic wall of video screens, there were confetti guns (mounted as well as hand held) and there were balloons (much bigger balloons than last time).  And yes, Wayne crawled out in the hamster ball. (more…)

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CHAPPO (Live at Musikfest, Sands Steel Stage at PNC Plaza, Bethlehem, PA, August 7, 2015) [THE FLAMING LIPS]

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Bethlehem, PA, CHAPPO, Musikfest, The Flaming Lips, Voirvoir on August 8, 2015| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 7, 2015] CHAPPO

2015-08-07 19.50.02I bought tickets to see the Flaming Lips at Musikfest (opening night headliners!).  By the time the show came around it was announced that there would be two opening acts.  Local Bethlehem band Voirvoir and Brooklyn band CHAPPO.  I had listened to the Voirvoir album streaming and I really liked it.  So I decided to get to the show at 6 to check them out.  Well, I didn’t realize how chaotic Musikfest was.  So between the parking and the shuttle bus and finally finding the venue I got to the band as their final chord rang out.  I didn’t even get to actually see them, just head then end of their last song.

But since I liked the stream I listened to, I bought the album… and it is fantastic.  I will post more about it shortly.  They are also playing again (3 times!) on Saturday at Musikfest, so I may try to bring the family down to check them out.

Since I was then plenty early for CHAPPO (whose music I didn’t stream because I knew I’d be seeing them), I walked around the grounds and checked things out.  And by the time I got back to the seats I was dehydrated and feeling a little unwell.  So even though I was in row H, I sat further back in the shade with a cold water.  And at first I wasn’t too impressed with CHAPPO.  The songs were good but I think the mix may have been off (or, more likely I wasn’t feeling great).

2015-08-07 19.24.10But I was watching the people up front having a great time, and I enjoyed that the singer was throwing things into the audience (turned out to be tubes with confetti (fun!)).  And I enjoyed watching the guitarist use a bow in his guitar (how many times this summer?).  And after a few songs, some water and the shade creeping into my section, I decided to head up to my seat.  And that when CHAPPO won me over. (more…)

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Modest Mouse (Levitt Pavilion, Steelstacks, Bethlehem, PA, July 20, 2015)

Posted in Bethlehem, PA, Gene Ween, Levitt Pavilion, Modest Mouse, Neil Young, Steelstacks, Ugly Casanova on July 22, 2015| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 20, 2015] Modest Mouse

2015-07-20 21.06.16Just as I had seen Neil Young less than a year ago, so I had seen Modest Mouse less than a year ago.  The last show I saw with them was a sort of preview of the then unreleased new album.  Now the album is out and there’s a single from it and everything.  This show was announced very quickly and it was in the Levitt Pavillion at Steelstacks, a venue I didn’t know, but which I will certainly return to.

It was awesome being about seven or 8 people away from Isaac to really watch him go nuts.

Modest Mouse can be really catchy, but they are often dissonant and Brock is known for being prickly.  So, imagine starting off your show with the third from the last song from your new album.  And from there, Brock sang and raged and jumped around and was a total maniac.

He seemed to get shocked twice (from sweating a lot?–it was 85 degrees at night) and said “Did you see that?  That hurt so much!”  And man can he yell. (more…)

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Gene Ween (Levitt Pavilion, Steelstacks, Bethlehem, PA, July 20, 2015) [MODEST MOUSE]

Posted in Bethlehem, PA, Gene Ween, Levitt Pavilion, Steelstacks, Ween on July 21, 2015| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 20, 2015] Gene Ween

2015-07-20 19.31.35I knew and liked Ween back in college. I stopped following them once they released their country album, so I was surprised to see just how many records they had released and just how respected they had gotten (relatively of course).

Dean and Gene Ween are from New Hope and they released dozens of records as Ween. Gene Ween (real name Aaron Freeman) quit the band in 2012, which basically dissolved the band.

Freeman released a few records under the name Freeman and some under Aaron Freeman and one or two under Gene Ween (not to be confusing or anything).  It seemed like he wanted to dissociate himself from Ween a bit, although since hardly anyone knew his real name, it seemed like a hard thing to do, which explains why he is touring as Gene Ween now.  And given that much of this show was made up of Ween songs, he’s clearly not ashamed of it or anything. (more…)

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Levitt Pavillion, Steelstacks, Bethlehem, PA: an amazing concert venue

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Bethlehem, PA, Modest Mouse, Steelstacks, The Flaming Lips on July 21, 2015| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 20, 2015] The Steelstacks Pavilion

2015-07-20 19.18.38We have been to the Sands Casino stage in Bethlehem three times.  The sound isn’t great, but it’s a close venue and that’s where we saw “Weird Al” from row three, so it will always be awesome to us.

But just a few blocks away there is the Steelstacks venue.  I’ll be seeing the Flaming Lips in the larger venue (I don’t even rally have a sense of where it is) in a few weeks.  But last night I saw Gene Ween and Modest Mouse in the Levitt Pavillion.  And while I’ll talk about the shows, I had to spend a few paragraphs talking about this amazing venue.

After going to Philly and spending $25 for parking that was almost a ten minute walk away, or traipsing to New York City ($14 just for the tunnel), imaging going to a venue and getting free, close parking (I sorta hoped that Modest Mouse would play “Convenient Parking, but they didn’t).  (more…)

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King’s X (Sellersville Theater, Sellersville, PA, June 28, 2015)

Posted in King's X, Living Colour, Sellersville Theater, Sellersville, PA, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on June 29, 2015| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 28, 2015] King’s X

2015-06-28 20.57.00This was a special concert for many reasons.  The first was that it was a chance to see my college friend Sean for the first time in probably 20 years.  We’d chatted online, but this is the first time we actually got together–thanks King’s X!

The second reason is because it was my first concert at the Sellersville Theater, a venue I’ve heard a lot about on XPN, but never been to.  When I walked into the venue I genuinely thought it was an optical illusion.  It’s an old movie theater, with about 300 seats.  Talk about intimate!  King’s X and dUg Pinnick (with Corey Glover of Living Colour) frequent the place, and I can see why.  The fans are right there and they (we) are all into it.

So hanging out with Sean and with great seats, I was totally in the mood for a great show. And King’s X delivered. (more…)

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Rush (Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA, June 25, 2015)

Posted in Alex Lifeson, Ben Mink, Eugene Levy, Funny (ha ha), Geddy Lee, Jason Segel, Kiss, Les Claypool, Neil Peart, Paul Rudd, Peter Dinklage, Philadelphia, PA, Rush, SCTV, Tom Morello, Wells Fargo Center on June 26, 2015| 1 Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 25, 2015] Rush

2015-06-25 21.28.51I was a huge Rush fan back in the day.  In fact, to last night’s show Sarah wore my Rush shirt that I bought in, oh, 1983 or so.  Despite my huge love of Rush I actually hadn’t seen them many times live. I missed several opportunities in college (stupid work ethic) but finally got to see them on the Presto tour.  Whether it was April 20 or April 25, it was definitely 1990 and most likely at the Brendan Byrne Arena (R.I.P.).

I feel like I may have seen them on one more tour before seeing them again (possibly three times, I have 3 stubs) in 2002.  The problem with seeing them a lot in one tour is that they tend to keep the set list the same in every show (there’s some variation below).  And I remember thinking i didn’t need to see them again after that.

Of course, after seeing them last night and today listening to the Clockwork Angels tour CD I am really kicking myself for not going to that tour because there is some really interesting stuff (and a string section) which would have been pretty cool to see.  But that’s okay because the show last night was so good that it satisfied all my Rush needs–a great send off (presumably) to a great band.

Sarah had never seen Rush before (and in fact once actively disliked them, and may still).  But she was won over by the show.

I haven’t been to a big arena show (except for Kiss) in a long time, so I kind of forgot what we’d be getting.  And wow did we get a lot–flash pots, fire, lasers, explosions, video screen (even a possible marriage proposal in front of us).  And, at any Rush show… lots of air drumming (including from myself).

I had been deliberately avoiding any spoilers from the set list.  I didn’t want to have any expectations.  And I have to say, if I had made an ideal set lit, (which I thought about doing), they would have hit quite a number of them.  (Thanks Rush fans for not spoiling things for me).  And thus, below is a whole bunch of spoilers [consider yourself warned].  But one spoiler you must read–do not leave during the encore, there’s more to the show when the music is done. (more…)

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“Weird Al” Yankovic (Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Bethlehem, PA, June 16, 2015)

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Bethlehem, PA, C., Eminem, Funny (ha ha), Michael Stipe, Sands Bethlehem Event Center, T. on June 17, 2015| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 16, 2015] WEIRD AL YANKOVIC-Live at the Sands Bethlehem Event Center.

2015-06-16 19.58.17This is my sixth “Weird Al” concert, and this was the best one yet.  Indeed, this may have been the best concert I’ll ever see because I had third row seats, and I am certain I will never get the like of that again.  It was also T.’s first rock show.  (And C.’s second).  We used the big yellow ear muffs from the Monster Truck show and protected our precious kiddies’ ears.  S. and I opted not to wear plugs.  I decided not to because although it was loud, the sound was much better (and less painful) than when we saw Al in this venue two years ago.

I was supposed to get seats for my friend Matt and his family and I, but when I got the order in, I could only get 4 tickets, so he had to fend for himself.  He wound up getting VIP tickets, so although he was a few rows behind us, he did get a pretty cool pre-show extravaganza.  So we each had a win there. (more…)

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