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Archive for the ‘Philadelphia, PA’ Category

Trupa Trupa / The No Good Crowd (Silk City, Philadelphia, PA, February 28, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Silk City, The No Good Crowd, Trupa Trupa on February 28, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: February 28, 2025] Trupa Trupa / The No Good Crowd

I Trupa Trupa is a band from Gdansk Poland.  Their music is moody and cool and I’ve heard they are great live.  They came to Philly in 2022 but by the time I heard about the show, I had tickets to TWO others shows that night (one had been rescheduled to this date).  Now, almost three years later, they have announced their second show in Philadelphia.  And it’s the same night that my wife and I have  tickets to see Father John Misty.

Here’s how the band describe themselves on bandcamp

Trupa Trupa is a post-punk band from Gdańsk, Poland, known for their unique blend of brooding leftfield rock and psychedelic influences. They combine dark, introspective melodies with rich, experimental sounds to create their own distinctive space in the world of alternative guitar music.

They definitely have a dark 80s vibe, which I think would get more people into them.

No offense to Father John, but I would 100% rather see Trupa Trupa.  But we already have the tickets and I’m sure Father John will be enjoyable.

But, damn.  What bad timing.  I do hope they come back again in a couple of years.

I don’t know The No Good Crowd, but their bandcamp pages says

Formed in 2023, guitarists Jamie Olson and Jim McGuinn have history going back to Philly’s beloved indie rockers Cordalene(2000-2005), with Jamie forming the rootsier Midnight Singers not long after, where he was joined by drummer Neil Simpkins. Later Jamie formed the even more rootsy Atlantic Coast Ramblers with bassist Brendan Skwire, and putting us all together, we become The No Good Crowd.

I just listened to them and, wow I do not care for them.  So I guess that’s something.

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Destroyer (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, February 28, 2025) [FATHER JOHN MISTY]

Posted in Destroyer, Father John Misty, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia on February 28, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 28, 2025] Destroyer

I bought tickets for this show long before I knew who the opener was.  I was pleased that Destroyer was opening.  Destroyer was the last show I saw before the pandemic shut everything down.

Dan Bejar, who is Destroyer, is an unusual guy.  He’s got the vibe of a lunge singer, but he sings rather unusual lyrics (and has a rather unique voice).  None of which leads to a band named Destroyer of course.

Last time I saw them there were six members on stage.  This time there were only two in addition to Dan.  There was a drummer (who also played keys while drumming!) and a guitarist.  And of course, Dan was up front singing in his unusual manner–Dan’s microphone stand is set up so that the microphone was at his waist.  Basically he held onto the stand almost like a cane when he sang, and sang more or less to the floor.  And when there were instrumental sections, he would squat down so all eyes were on the other two.

He’s an unusual guy for sure.  I don’t know if he won anyone over–the Fillmore is a much bigger venue than he usually plays in Philly.  He’s also unabashedly himself, so he doesn’t really seem to care if everyone likes him, because a lot of people do.

The arrangements were stripped down to be sure, but I really enjoyed them this way.

He’s playing a headline tour in October, and I may just have to go.

 

2025 2020
The Music Lovers ♥ Crimson Tide ¿
Tinseltown Swimming in Blood ⊄ Kinda Dark ¿
It’s Gonna Take an Airplane ♥ The Raven ¿
Painter in Your Pocket ♦ Cover From the Sun ⊄
Times Square ∇ Kaputt ⊗
Cue Synthesizer ¿ Times Square ∇
It Just Doesn’t Happen ¿ Bangkok ∇
Stay Lost ⊄ It Just Doesn’t Happen ¿
Chinatown ⊗ Cue Synthesizer ¿
Poor in Love ⊗ University Hill ¿
Tinseltown Swimming in Blood ⊄
Chinatown ⊗
European Oils ♦
foolssong ¿
Bay of Pigs (detail) ⊗
encore
Poor in Love ⊗
Looters’ Follies ♦

 

¿ = Have We Met (2020)
⊄ = Ken (2017)
∇ = Poison Season (2015)
⊗ = Kaputt (2011)
♦ = Destroyer’s Rubies (2006)
♥ = Your Blues (2004)

 

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Alcest (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, February 20, 2025)

Posted in Alcest, Kaelan Mikla, Kælan Mikla, Mono, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on February 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 20, 2025] Alcest 

I hadn’t heard of Alcest before this tour.  I was mostly excited when I saw that Mono was playing Union Transfer.  But when I listened to Alcest, I rather liked them.  Especially their latest album Les Chants de l’aurore, which is the album they were touring.

So Alcest has been around for almost 20 years, although their first album came out in 2007.  After some lineup changes, the band was solely the work of Stéphane “Neige” Paut who played everything.  In 2009, drummer Winterhalter from Les Discrets joined Alcest, after eight years with Neige as its sole full-time member.  Neige still plays everything except drums on the records.

Since 2010, the live shows include Pierre “Zero” Corson on second guitar and backing vocals and Indria Saray on bass.

I was really pleased with my spot near the stage when, with moments to go before the band came out, two women pushed their way up next to me taking up more room than there was between us.  And when the band started she proceeded to either really get into it or was just messing with me as she kept putting her hands through her hair and then raising her arms high and wide for minutes at a time.  I’ve literally never had one person ruin a show as much as this sociopath did.

Fortunately she (presumably) got sick after four songs.  She was clearly very drunk, and then after a couple of songs she seemed to just stop and stare straight ahead of her and then after the fourth song she bolted for the back of the room (to which a guy behind me said, thank god).  Her friend (who was very short) then proceeded to take up enough space for both of them, headbanging in a way that ensured you didn’t want to stand behind her.  A song or two later, she received a text and then headed to the back of the room.  In my mind, the tall one got drunk and nauseous and them ruined the second half of the show for herself and her friend after she ruined the first part of the show for me and everyone around me. (more…)

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Mono (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, February 20, 2025) [ALCEST]

Posted in Alcest, Kaelan Mikla, Kælan Mikla, Mono, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on February 21, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 20, 2025] Mono

I saw Mono back in 2019 and I was blown away by their show.  I haven’t been able to see them since, and I was mildly bummed that they were opening instead of headlining this show.  But any chance to see them is a good one.  And, it introduced me to Alcest!

The crowd was really really into Mono.  In fact a couple of people up front left after their set.

They played mostly new songs.  All of their songs are instrumental and sound vaguely similar, so I can’t tell them apart.  That’s not an insult, they play seven to ten minute epic tracks that build to varying degrees of intensity and I could listen to them all night.

I was in front of guitarist Hideki “Yoda” Suematsu who is described as a rhythm guitarist but who does a lot more than that.   Bassist Tamaki Kunishi was in the middle (except for the one song she played keys on).   And Takaakira “Taka” Goto was on the far side of the stage (and hard to see on the mostly dark atmosphere).

Their drummer Dahm Majuri Cipolla was tucked in behind a rack of amps, and it was hard to see him.  He also had a gong!  And I was a little bummed that I could only see a part of it, but it was cool to see him smack it on two different songs. (more…)

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Kælan Mikla (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, February 20, 2025) [ALCEST]

Posted in Alcest, Kaelan Mikla, Kælan Mikla, Mono, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on February 20, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 20, 2025] Kælan Mikla

I had never heard of Kælan Mikla before this show was announced.  And, since I love music from afar  Was instantly intrigued by this is Icelandic band whose name means (according to Google) The Great Chill or (according to Wikipedia) Lady of the Cold.

They are a trio of Laufey Soffía on lead vocals, Margrét Rósa Dóru-Harrýsdóttir on bass and Sólveig Matthildur Kristjánsdóttir. on keys and more (although only keys for this show).

They came out on stage in dark and spooky lighting (later when I saw them at the merch table, I saw that they had interesting cracked and cobwebby makeup under their eyes.  And Soffia was dressed in an all black gown (seemingly made of toile) with super long fingernails.  It was like a goth flashback and I loved it.

So I guess this music is darkwave, a genre I don’t really know.  I feel like the few darkwave songs I’ve heard I didn’t like.  But maybe seeing it live is a different story, because the whole gothy presentation was fantastic.  I couldn’t really hear Soffia’s vocals (in part because they were in Icelandic, but mostly because of where I was standing), but she sang in variants of quiet, almost whispery singing and screams.  But it combined perfectly to generate a really retro spooky feel with cool modern feminist trappings.  (more…)

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Lauren Mayberry (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, February 17, 2025)

Posted in Chvrches, Cult of Venus, Lauren Mayberry, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on February 18, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 17, 2025] Lauren Mayberry

I was a fan of Chvrches when their first album came out.  Then I kind of lost track of them.  But in that time my wife became a fan.  We missed their last tour in Philly (back in 2021 (!)).  When Lauren Mayberry released a solo album, we both loved the single “Something in the Air” and  thought it would be neat to see her live.

The show didn’t sell very well, which was surprising I thought, since Chvrches has sold out Franklin Music Hall, a much bigger venue.  But it meant that we had a really intimate show, which was awesome.

Overall I liked most of the album Vicious Creature, although there were a few songs that I wasn’t that excited by.  But wow, these songs were fantastic live!  

She had two band members on stage and, I think, a guy on the side with a bank of Apple laptops (I joked that it looked like an Apple store–there were about five!).  The two members on stage were Marian Li-Pino on drums and Heather Nation doing guitar or bass depending on the song.  Later in the set, Heather played piano and Marian played guitar for a song, too.

Heather Nation was ferocious on guitar–generating great sounds.  And Marian Li-Pino was a beast on the drums.  They had a cool cymbal that was bent and made a great metallic, non-cymbal sound.  And Lauren Mayberry was an excellent front woman–she knows how to perform a show.   And what a voice!  I mean, it was amazing.

She played the entire album.  The bangers were amazing–bigger and louder than I expected.  The quieter songs were pretty, a little too mellow for my enjoyment, but hey, you need to vary the mood.  (more…)

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Cult of Venus (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, February 17, 2025) [LAUREN MAYBERRY]

Posted in Chvrches, Cult of Venus, Lauren Mayberry, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on February 17, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 17, 2025] Cult of Venus

It was a cold windy night when we headed out to this show.  Luckily, we managed to get really close parking (Monday night shows are good for that).  Which meant we were plenty early to see the opening act, Cult of Venus.

Cult of Venus has had a lot of mystery surrounding her.  I’m sure her identity is known (I didn’t look too hard to find it), but the two main articles I saw gave this info:

Forgoing any photos to remain completely anonymous and undefined, Cult of Venus have given themself the perfect platform from which to build and long and exciting career. ][They make] music that illustrates and illuminates the dystopian world today, challenging the patriarchy and resonating with the “divine feminine.” Her on-the-ground activist work includes support for incarcerated women and environmental protest movements. Her mysterious presentation is often shrouded in darkness, with her identity and face in the shadows. Her secretive appearance aligns her poetic soundscape in a way that not only drives more curiosity to her audience but is calming in a world so focused on desperate self-promotion.  With shows in all-female prisons and detention centres in the books already, as well as a show as part of New York City’s Women’s March, Cult of Venus have a big year planned while being rooted in reform.

They opened the show with a prerecorded message about strength in the face of oppression.  And then she came out, picked up her guitar and stood in front of the keyboard.  

The only problem to me was the fairly lengthy (I mean, it was probably less than a minute, but it was SO QUIET) pause before the first song started.  I feel like she could have timed that a little more smoothly.  But whatever.

She generated some beats and some synths and proved to have a fantastic voice.  When she played guitar, she clearly had it patched into an effects box because it didn’t sound like a guitar–it was very cool. (more…)

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Emo Nite featuring MC Lars (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, February 14, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Emo Nite, MC Lars, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on February 14, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: February 14, 2025] Emo Nite featuring MC Lars

I have wanted to see MC Lars for a few years now.  But this wasn’t the way for me to see him.

I didn’t know what Emo Nite was.  I assumed it was just a night of emo music.  Which it is, but apparently, Emo Nite is a THING, an entity that tours.  As their blurb says

We are not a band. We are not DJ’s. We throw parties for the music we love.

Their website goes into detail about how they started and what they play.  Basically they love emo and play a night of emo with guest artists.  If I were younger and liked going out, this is the kind of thing I’d enjoy.  But I don’t want to go to a room to listen to records.

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J. Mascis (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, February 12, 2025)

Posted in J. Mascis, Kurt Vile, Mike Polizze, Philadelphia, PA, Pink Mountaintops, Purling Hiss, Underground Arts on February 13, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 12, 2025] J. Mascis

When this show was first announced it turned out to be on the same night as the Babymetal show that my son and I were going to.  But then it was postponed and I grabbed a ticket for the new date.

I couldn’t really imagine J. Mascis in a small club or playing quietly.  Well, this is the same place I saw Thurston Moore a number of years ago.  Amazingly neither legend sold out for a solo show (Thurston wasn’t solo, but it was his solo music).  J was by himself, but I needn’t have worried about being quiet, as he had a massive amp setup on stage.

I don’t know why it took him so long to get on stage (he showed up at 10:10 even though no work had to be done on stage).  His roadie also put like 5 different drinks on his stool, and I don’t think he had any of it.

He came out with a beat up acoustic guitar and proceeded to jam through almost 20 songs.

Before he started, some meathead started the E-A-G-L-E-S chant and J. smiled and then said, I’m impressed you guys can spell.

And then he got to business. (more…)

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Molchat Doma / Sextile (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, February 12, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Franklin Music Hall, Molchat Doma, Philadelphia, PA, Sextile on February 12, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: February 12, 2025] Molchat Doma / Sextile

I’m so very intrigued by Molchat Doma.  I first heard about them a couple of years ago, and their bio shows them to be right up my street:

Founded in 2017 in Minsk, Belarus, and now residing in Los Angeles, MOLCHAT DOMA stands at the intersection of post punk, new wave and synth pop.

I love the idea of a band from Belarus singing in Belarusian becoming successful in the States.  Indeed, when they played Philly llast year I believe they sold out Union Transfer.  At least according to this blurb from 2022

Fans who missed their sold-out tour earlier this year will have a chance at redemption as the trio play larger venues, fitting for their growth.

In 2022, they played Underground Arts, in 023 they played Union Transfer and this year they are playing Franklin Music Hall–steady growth indeed.

And here’s what Underground Arts said back in 2022 (more…)

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