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Archive for the ‘Philadelphia, PA’ Category

[ATTENDED: May 27, 2023] Le Tigre

Le Tigre’s song “Deceptacon” became a huge viral Tik Tok sensation last year.  I remembered the song from the 90s.  I was interested in Le Tigre because Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna was involved.

I liked it enough, but I found it so simplistic and repetitive that I didn’t really enjoy the album all that much.  I grabbed their second album, but didn’t follow through with them after that.  They put out one more album and then broke up.

Then they announced a reunion tour.  My daughter really wanted to see them.  The first date was at Union Transfer and then they were going to Europe.

I snagged two tickets as soon as I could and, amazingly, we would see Kathleen Hannah twice in two months.  (more…)

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[ATTENDED: May 27, 2023] Shamir

I was supposed to see Shamir on several different occasions, but it never happened.

So I was really quite pleased to see that they were announced as the opening act for this Le Tigre show.

Shamir is a Philly based singer songwriter.  When they first released “On My Own” I was so intrigued by the song.  Shamir’s voice soars to really high notes.  The song is very poppy, but with some great rocking guitars and full-on band.

Later Shamir released an album called Heterosexuality which explored personal issues with songs like “Gay Agenda” and “Cisgender.”

When Shamir came out, the crowd was immediately supportive.  When they asked who here is gay?  90% of the crowd waved their hands.  Which was good because the first song “Gay Agenda.”

Shamir’s band was great.  Rhea on drums and Grant on bass added a ton of accompaniment to Shamir’s relatively quite guitar playing.

The album has a lot more synthy sounds that fill in the songs.  Live, it was just the three of them with Grant’s basswork really shining.  And the songs rocked a lot harder with Rhea really smashing the drums.

I was pleased that they sang “On Mu Own” especially now that I see that Heterosexuality is their eighth album!  It sounded pretty different, a bit more gritty.  Shamir said it was an introverts anthem and when someone guessed that it was an asexual anthem, well, Shamir was fine with that.

They played the first single from the soon to be released album on Kill Rock Stars called “Oversized Sweater.”  I’m curious to hear what this new phase of Shamir’s career will bring.

On a few songs Shamir’s voice dipped into a low growl which was especially effective on “Other Side” –the “metal portion of the show.”

As the set neared the end, Shamir busted out an amazing version of “Cisgender.”  It was full of so much rawness–much more powerful than the recorded version.

And the set ended with “Our Song” (not the Taylor Swift song).  It’s about a couple who lives above a record store (based on a show he saw in England).  It was a great ending.

Shamir’s voice is pretty incredible and they can hold a note like few singers I know.

  1. Gay Agenda
  2. Reproductive
  3. On My Own §
  4. Oversized Sweater £ (first time played)
  5. Other Side §
  6. Appetizer
  7. TEARS
  8. Cisgender
  9. Our Song £

£ New album (2023)
⊕ Heterosexuality (2022)
§ Shamir

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[DID NOT ATTEND: May 26, 2023] Avatar / Veil of Maya / Orbit Culture

I’ve seen Avatar twice.  The last time was about a year and a half ago.  They always put on a good show with lots of spectacle.

I thought my son would enjoy going to see them with me so I got us both tickets.  I tend to forget that there’s a lot of growling and unclean vocals in Avatar because the parts I remember are more theatrical and campy/circusy.

This tour was for their new album which I didn’t know all that well.  But it turns out they were playing from throughout their career and it seems like they played for two hours.

We were both feeling pretty exhausted this week, and were both kind of hoping the other didn’t want to go.  So when he asked if he could bail, that was fine with me.  Especially since the show wound up with some things I wasn’t that excited about.

The opening band was changed so they would go on at 6:30, which would be fine if I was leaving from work, but a real pain to get home and then drive back to Philly.  On the positive side, this mean the show would end kind of early, but that was a small comfort.

I was intrigued by the opener Orbit Culture, a Swedish melodic death metal band.  They are heavy and brutal and yet there’s something about them (maybe because they are Swedish) that I liked better than most of this kind of music.  Plus you could actually understand the unclean vocals and when Niklas Karlsson sings cleanly he has a great powerful voice.

Veil of Maya is a metalcore band from Illinois.  I think of all of the subgenres of metal, metalcore if probably my least favorite.  This band has a lot going on with different vocals styles, lots of sound effects and some progressive metal time changes.  Frankly, it sounded exhausting on a night when I was tired.

So, I knew I wasn’t going to make Orbit Culture.  If I wanted to Make Veil of Maya, I would have to leave shortly after I got home and I wasn’t prepared for that.

As the time I’d have to leave to make Avatar rolled around, I thought about TLA.  It’s a pain to park there most times.  But a Friday night, arriving after 8PM?  It just seemed like far too much work for only one band.  So I was fine with blowing this show off.  And if I they come back around I can always see them again if I want to.

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[DID NOT ATTEND: May 24, 2023] Nekrogoblikon / Inferi / Aether Realm / Hunt the Dinosaur

I don’t know a ton about Nekrogoblikon, but I do know enough to know that they would be super fun to see live.  I mean, they have a goblin in the band, after all.

When this show was announced, I asked my son if he wanted to go.  He surprised me by saying that his friend Ty had already gotten tickets for the both of them.  And they wanted to drive to Union Transfer with no adult supervision.  [Even after the stupidly late night in NYC].

Well, we had been a few times recently and I showed him how to get there and the best place to park and when the night came up, he did great and got the free parking and arrived with enough time to buy merch and still be fairly close to the stage.

Suffice to say that if I didn’t really know the headliners, I sure did know the support bands.  Ty was a fan of the headliners and Aether Realm, but didn’t know the other two bands.

So after the show I asked for their reviews.

Neither of them liked Hunt the Dinosaur, a Dallas based “Progressive Deathcore” band.  Although the clips I’ve just listened to sound like heavy low end with occasional squeals of guitar and a lot of growled inaudible vocals.  It could get old fast, even after a 20 minute set.

Æther Realm is an American heavy metal band from Greenville, North Carolina. Their music is a blend of melodic death metal and folk metal, with lyrical themes of fantasy and mythology.  I can see how this band would be more palatable to them (and to me).  I like the melodic components and I enjoy the weird folk metal genre.  The vocals are still pretty growly, which is not my cup of tea, but it seems like the words are actually audible.

Neither of them much likes Inferi a technical melodic death metal band from Nashville. I always think I’d like this genre.  As I like technical and melodic, bit the death metal component usually doesn’t do it for me.  So these songs have long, pretty guitar parts and super fast but strangely muted double bass drums and then after a lengthy intro when the singer comes in, the vocals are growled and inaudible, which seems kind of pointless to me, but whatever.

They both enjoyed Nekrogoblikon who are also a growly band (but a goblin kind of growling).  And I enjoyed looking at the pictures and videos.

It sounded like a pretty good night.

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[DID NOT ATTEND: May 23, 2023] Indigo De Souza / Sluice

Here was the fourth time that this show was scheduled.

And by now, Indigo de Souza has become even more popular.  So much so that this show is sold out.

Unfortunately, the timing of this show didn’t work out for me.

I had been planning to go but then a show with Pup, Beach Bunny and Pool Kids was scheduled for the same night.  So I grabbed tickets for me and my kids and we headed for New York City.

I wrote this blurb about a year ago (when the first show was postponed):

Indigo De Souza is a new (to me) musician who I heard about on NPR music.  Her song “Kill Me” is outstanding.  A great dynamic of sounds, very funny lyrics and memorable hooks.  I loved it immediately.  She announced a tour soon after I’d heard it and I grabbed a ticket to see her headline tour (!).

She’s been making music since she was like 9 with a few EPs and a previous album.  I imagine she’ll be a fun and wild performer.

Sluice is folk music from North Carolina singer-songwriter Justin Morris.  Pitchfork notes that the songs are “without a hook or central focus” which I agree with, although they gave his album 7 out of 10.

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[DID NOT ATTEND: May 22, 2023] Come / Sun Organ

Come are an indie band from a long time ago.  They were formed by Thalia Zedak and Chris Brokaw.  I really liked their albums Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and Near-Life Experience.  Then they broke up in 2001.

They reunited in 2013, although I missed it completely.  Thalia and Chris are still in the band, but the rest of the band was fresh.

They haven’t put out any new music, but they do tour occasionally.  I didn’t know any of that, so I was really surprised to see that they were playing Johnny Brenda’s.  I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to see them since it’s been a while since I listened to them.

But that night turned out to be the night of my kids’ honors awards ceremony, so the question was moot anyway.

Sun Organ was scheduled to open for Algernon Cadawallader back in October, although I didn’t get to the show.  They are a kind of shambolic noise band from Philly.  The first two songs on their album Candlelight Showertime are kind of slow and ponderous (as if the vocals are slowed down) and I was about to give up on them, but the third and fourth songs are more interesting both in tempo and sonic construction.  I’m sure they’d be fun live.

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[ATTENDED: May 18, 2023] Acid Mothers Temple

I have seen Acid Mothers Temple twice and both times were mind blowing.

The pandemic kept them from coming here for about three years so I was pretty excited to get to see them again.

They came out and Jyonson Tsu found out that his guitar was broken (it was supposed to have been repaired), so he had to borrow a guitar from ST 37.  Then they had trouble at the soundcheck.  Jyonson couldn’t hear anything in his monitor and Higashi Hiroshi’s synthesizer was quiet.

Kawabata Makoto started jamming out a solo and the band kicked into high gear while poor Higashi sat there making no sounds at all.  Finally, Kawabata grabbed the mic and yelled a few things and soon enough, there was synth and we all cheered and they started with “Blue Velvet Blues.”

I will admit that I don’t know many of the song names and most of their songs sound the same to me–a blur of (wild and frenetic) guitar soloing and then a slow middle section (or vice versa).  Although these songs all have “parts” and “Blue Velvet” has a slow moody middle section which slows down and in which Jyonson sings a mournful melody.

They jumped into “Dark Star Blues” in which Jyonson plays a gourd-shaped mandolin (A very cool sound) and sings before the band kicks in.

Back on the drums, Satoshima Nani is so much fun to watch.  When the songs really pick up steam, he is a blur of limbs–smacking the crap out of everything in sight.  But he can also slow things down and keep that really slow pace (like in “Blue Velvet Blues”).  He must be a sweaty mess by the end of the shows.

The last two times I saw them, on bass was Wolf.  Wolf left to do his own thing (I wonder how that’s going) and for this show he was replaced by Ron Anderson (the first non-Japanese player I’ve seen play with them).  I didn’t know who he was but Wikipedia tells me that he is known for collaborations with many famous musicians, and has a large catalog of releases and compositions.

He was great too.  Playing some really cool jazzy basslines that seemed to accentuate the wildness that Kawabata was laying down.  He was especially notable on their cover of Gong’s “Flying Teapot” which has a very cool bass line.

They played roughly seven songs, but who can say where the songs began and ended.  “Blue Velvet” ran over 15 minutes.   Their cover of Pink Floyd’s “Interstellar Overdrive” was a uge surprise to me.  The riff is so recognizable.  Their version is pretty close to the original with the main riff and a massive freak out in the middle.

This was the first show I’ve seen by them where they didn’t play any of “Pink Lady Lemonade.”  And that’s fine, although I’m somewhat surprised that they’ve ended with “Cometary Orbital Drive” each time.  It’s a great set ender.  A slow riff that builds and build and builds growing faster and faster and which can be stretched out as long as Kawabata wants.

As the song came to its noisy ending, he held his guitar out into the audience and I got to brush the strings, which was pretty cool as I usually don’t get perks like that.

And then, like all shows, he held his guitar aloft and gentle slammed it on top of his amps to signify the end.

Every show is different.  But every show is also the same.  And you feel transported every time.

Here’s a few words (Google translated) from Makoto about the show (his blog is great).

A 90-minute set will be shown tonight. On the North American tour, we usually start the performance only with the line check just before the performance, unless we do a sound check. In other words, when the start time was pushed, I started playing without hesitation, but the sound engineer interrupted the performance because he did not start monitoring Azuma’s synthesizer. Then, when Azuma-kun’s monitor finally functioned, the audience applauded loudly, and the performance resumed. However, if I suddenly break the tremolo arm, I have no choice but to play the whole song at speed tonight, and even if I’m on the verge of being shipwrecked in a black hole instead of drifting in space, a furious wave of dismantling and rebuilding goes wild. After that, after a new ritual called Guitar Crowd Surfing, the curtain finally reached the finale.

Here’s a video from RhymanTube of the opening jam/soundcheck problem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77EFNwTi3Lw

2023 Johnny Brenda’s 2019 The Saint 2018 Underground Arts
Jam (while soundcheck was finishing up) La Novia Dark Star Blues
Blue Velvet Blues Sycamore Trees Blue Velvet Blues
Dark Star Blues From Planet Orb With Love > Disco Pink Lady Lemonade >
Interstellar Overdrop (Pink Floyd cover) > Good-Bye Mrs. Uranus La Le Lo > 
Flying Teapot (Gong cover) Hello Good Child > In C
From Planet Orb With Love § > Disco Pink Lady Lemonade > Untitled > 
Good-Bye Mrs. Uranus § In E > Nanique Another Dimension > 
Cometary Orbital Drive Pink Lady Lemonade coda Pink Lady Lemonade coda > 
Cometary Orbital Drive Cometary Orbital Drive

It’s unclear to me what records these songs first appeared on (as they have 1,000 records out), although Setlist does a pretty good job, I think.

‰ Does the Cosmic Shepherd Dream of Electric Tapirs? (2004)
≅ Electric Dream Ecstasy (2018)
⊗ Pataphisical Freak Out MU!! (1999)
§ Sacred and Inviolable Phase Shift (2018)
⇔ Cometary Orbital Drive (2008)

 

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[DID NOT ATTEND: May 19, 2023] Kevin Devine / The New Amsterdams featuring Matt Pryor / Brother Bird

I’ve been a fan of Kevin Devine for a few years.  I feel like I’ve seen him a bunch because he so often plays around here.  And yet I have only seen him three time (twice solo and once with his Goddamn Band).  I would love to see him again especially with his band.

This show was intriguing–he was playing his album Make the Clocks Move (recently re-released) plus more.  The posters made it unclear whether he would be playing with the New Amsterdams or not.

From what I can gather, Kevin was solo, with an occasional guest.

But this show was the First Unitarian Church, a venue that I will not go to again.  So I missed out on this night.  This night was also my son’s prom night so I didn’t make any other plans.

I had never heard of The New Amsterdams.  They are a project of Matt Pryor, the lead singer of The Get Up Kids.  This is his more folkie/mellow side.  But as soon as he started singing, I recognized his voice right away.

The New Amsterdams were Matt Pryor and (according to Country Standard Time) “a few backing musicians.”  He/they were playing the album Worse for the Wear (plus more).

Opening for them was Brother Bird (Caroline Swon, who was a The Voice Season 4 contender).  She played solo acoustic.  She has a very pleasant voice, although the above review says “the songs ended up being a bit too similar … more variety would have suited Brother Bird.”

The review also noted that Brother Bird was a utility player throughout the night, showing up during the sets of both Devine and The New Amsterdams.

Here’s a Kevin Devine song from Country Standard Time filmed at Brighton Music Hall with a hilarious introduction about Boise Bob, Elliot Smith, Kurt Cobain and COVID.

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[DID NOT ATTEND: May 18, 2023] Kevin Devine / The New Amsterdams featuring Matt Pryor / Brother Bird

I’ve been a fan of Kevin Devine for a few years.  I feel like I’ve seen him a bunch because he so often plays around here.  And yet I have only seen him three time (twice solo and once with his Goddamn Band).  I would love to see him again especially with his band.

This show was intriguing–he was playing his album Make the Clocks Move (recently re-released) plus more.  The posters made it unclear whether he would be playing with the New Amsterdams or not.

From what I can gather, Kevin was solo, with an occasional guest.

But once again, Kevin Devine has scheduled a local show on the same night as three other shows I wanted to see.  This happened in April of last year as well–three other shows that I had wanted to go to. Tonight’s were The New Pornographers, Richard Thompson and Acid Mothers Temple (who won out).  This show was in Garwood, a local(ish) town that I hope to see more shows at. I’m bummed I couldn’t make this one as it sounds like a great night.

I had never heard of The New Amsterdams.  They are a project of Matt Pryor, the lead singer of The Get Up Kids.  This is his more folkie/mellow side.  But as soon as he started singing, I recognized his voice right away.

The New Amsterdams were Matt Pryor and (according to Country Standard Time) “a few backing musicians.”  He/they were playing the album Worse for the Wear (plus more).

Opening for them was Brother Bird (Caroline Swon, who was a The Voice Season 4 contender).  She played solo acoustic.  She has a very pleasant voice, although the above review says “the songs ended up being a bit too similar … more variety would have suited Brother Bird.”

The review also noted that Brother Bird was a utility player throughout the night, showing up during the sets of both Devine and The New Amsterdams.

Here’s The New Amsterdams (clip from Country Standard Time) filmed at Brighton Music Hall.

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[ATTENDED: May 18, 2023] ST 37

I had never heard of ST 37 until they were scheduled to tour with Acid Mothers Temple back in 2020.  That tour was postponed and then cancelled, but here it is three years later and they are still touring together.

What does ST 37 mean?  Well, when I searched for the band, what came up first was:

ST 37 ANTISEPTIC SOLUTION kills common pathogenic bacteria quickly on contact. Laboratory tests have established S.T.37 antiseptic solution as a general antiseptic for household use.

So maybe they are a tribute to the antiseptic.  Actually, an interview from 2021 sets it straights:

Carlton Crutcher named us that after the song by the great San Francisco band Chrome, from their album ‘Alien Soundtracks’. It was not until later that we discovered it was the name of a throat antiseptic product!

And what do they sound like?  Their bandcamp says

Quite simply, we rule. And we have been ruling for over 30 years. So there.

They play a noisy experimental kind of rock and have nine people listed in their “past members” category.  Wikipedia gives these two quotes about them: mind-altering space-punk whose live shows are drowning in a haze of guitar and reverb that can drift through cosmically shifting layers of aggressive punk riffs, fuzzed noise, and scalding jams.

And that’s all pretty accurate.  As they started, I was standing right in front of bassist/singer, ever present member S.L. Telles.  The bass was WAAAAAY too loud for the rest of the band, so I had to back away.  I think it was fixed later because it seemed to settle down okay.  Of course, the bass is the only constant through the set. (more…)

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