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Archive for the ‘Philadelphia, PA’ Category

[POSTPONED: January 30, 2022] Indigo De Souza / Horse Jumper Of Love / Friendship [moved to May 2, 2022]

indexIndigo 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 ben 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.

On January 13, Union Transfer announced:

Indigo has decided it’s best for all involved to move their tour to a few weeks later in the year. The Philly show will now take place at Union Transfer on May 2nd

That’s not too far off.

I hadn’t heard of either of the opening acts (such is the case when the headliner is fairy new herself).  (more…)

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[CANCELLED: March 20, 2020] Best Coast / Rosie Tucker [CANCELLED]

indexI had tickets to see Best Coast at Union Transfer in March 2020.  I like them although I was more interested in seeing their opening act Mannequin Pussy.

They were one of the first bands to cancel their tour outright back in May 2020 rather than rescheduling dates.

They announced a new tour for 2022 back in June.  I’d have rather seen them in Asbury Lanes, but that show was on the same night as our War on Drugs show.  So I considered going to the Union Transfer show.  It was supposed to be a busy week of shows, so I wasn’t sure I’d want to go or not.

But on January 6, the band announced they were cancelling the tour

Best Coast is canceling its upcoming tour in support of its “Always Tomorrow” album due to COVID concerns.

The tour was set to kick off on Jan. 11 at the Catalyst Club in Santa Cruz, California. The SoCal indie-pop group — consisting of singer-songwriter-guitarist Bethany Cosentino and multi-instrumentalist Bobb Bruno —was scheduled to hit August Hall in San Francisco as well as such cities as Chicago, Toronto, Seattle and Los Angeles.

“We are devastated to announce that our upcoming Finally Tomorrow tour is unfortunately canceled,” the band posted on Twitter. “It was an incredibly difficult decision to make, but one that we ultimately felt was right.

“The last two years have been so difficult for us as a band (and the entire world) — and we appreciate your support through it all.”

“Our last show was in Chicago (on March 11, 2020). It was about two weeks into a monthlong tour.  We had obviously been hearing a lot about COVID. But I think when you are on tour you exist in such a bubble of just what’s going on in the tour landscape. We were all kind of like, ‘OK, like I guess we’ll see what will happen with this.’ I fully didn’t think that the world was truly about to shut down. I did not see that coming whatsoever.”

“At this time, we are not rescheduling any of these dates, as the rollercoaster of the reschedule-announcement-cancelation cycle we’ve been stuck in is incredibly exhausting (for you too I’m sure!) and we just need a moment to decompress. We love you SO much and we hope to safely see you soon. Hang in there. love, bethany and bobb”

(more…)

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[POSTPONED: March 12, 2022] The Black Angels / L.A. Witch [moved to…]

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I really got into The Black Angels with their 2013 album Indigo Meadow.   I’ve recently been enjoying their Live at Levitation vinyl.

They’re just one of a bunch of younger bands who are exploring psychedelic music in a heavier vein than the original psychedelic bands.  And I like it a lot.  Plus they are supposed to put on a trippy show.

I mean, their post says

HERE is an incredible show. It will shock and amaze you.

And a poster would never lie. (more…)

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[ATTENDED: August 5, 2021] The War on Drugs

A couple of years ago our friend Cindy invited us to see The War on Drugs with her and we said no.  We didn’t really know them that well.

Cut to 2022 and they were the first live show we’d gotten to see this year.

Not a lot has changed about my appreciation of the band.  They’ve always been a band that I kind of liked–good background stuff.  Then I heard their Live Drugs album and realized that they are a great live band.

So they announced two shows in Philly and I asked if S. wanted to go.  She had been listening to them a lot this past year and so I grabbed us tickets.

I like the Met but this is the second show in a row where we were in the back orchestra section.  Now that I’ve been placed there a few times, I have finally got it in my head that when you buy tickets there, ORCH 5678 seats SUCK.  The Met is a fairly small place, so even the further away seat isn’t bad, but there’s giant poles and the entire loge hanging above you.  None of it really blocks your view, but it feels like watching a widescreen movie on a letterbox TV.  (more…)

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[POSTPONED: January 25, 2021] Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets [moved to September 23, 2022]

indexI saw the Saucerful of Secrets show back in 2019 and loved it.  I had okay seats, so I wanted to get closer if they ever did another one (which I never imaged they would).

And yet here they were…  timing their show right during the COVID resurgence.

This was supposed to be a very busy week of shows.  All but one has been postponed.  However, it’s a cold and blustery January night and The Kimmel Center is a hassle to get to at the best of times, so I can certainly wait until the Spring when I won’t mind a multi-block walk.

 

 

 

 

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[POSTPONED: January 23, 2021] Fucked Up / Empath [moved to July 17, 2022]

indexI’ve known Fucked Up for a few years and thought that they’d be a wild band to see.  They last played in Philly in 2018, and they’ve only gotten better since then.

Shows had been getting postponed, but this one was pretty hushed until only a few days ago when it was officially postponed.

I’m okay with it getting moved to July–I much prefer going out to shows in the warm weather than the frigid cold of January anyway.

Empath are a Philly band that play a kind of noise punk.  Rolling Stone says “They sound like four people who sat in a room flexing their own freaky styles until — before they realized their interests might be wholly incompatible — the chaos created its own logic.”  They sound pretty great. (more…)

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[POSTPONED: January 21, 2021] The Beths / Lunar Vacation [rescheduled from April 29 Kung Fu Necktie and August 27, 2020 from World Cafe Live; moved to February 24, 2022]

indexThis show has been bounced around now to three different venues.  I was sure I’d finally get to see The Beths, but then this new uptick pushed their tour back.  I don’t know how wise pushing back a show for one month is during this pandemic nonsense.  Especially since they’re saying the spike will drop away in mid-March, but darnit, I really want to see The Beths.

I was looking forward to Weakened Friends opening, but Lunar Vacation…

Based out of Atlanta, Georgia, the story of Lunar Vacation can be traced back to eighth grade, when Grace Repasky and Maggie Geeslin met and started sharing musical ideas. As soon as the pair became old enough to drive, they started to take Lunar Vacation on the road, playing venues across the sprawling suburbs of their home city and fulfilling so many teenage dreams along the way. As the buzz around the pair grew, so did the band, as they expanded to their current four-piece line-up, and upon finishing school, they started to self-release their music, in the shape of two EPs, Swell and Artificial Flavors.

And their new album, Inside Every Fig Is A Dead Wasp which dives into the the waters of dreamy-indie, psychedelia and bedroom-pop.  Sounds pretty great!  Come on boosters, let the bands play. (more…)

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[DID NOT ATTEND: April 10, 2020] Dr. Dog: The Last Tour / The Districts / Natalie Prass

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I never really got into Dr. Dog but I’ve liked a bunch of their songs over the years.  But I’d always heard they were great live, so I’ve had them on my “gotta see” list.

Back in June, Dr. Dog announced their last tour.

“It is a disturbing thing to read, I’m sure, and trust me, an equally unsettling thing to write, but it’s all good,” they wrote. “It’s important to us that you understand that this is not a break up or anything like that. We don’t know what Dr. Dog will do, we just know it won’t include going on tour, except the tour we’re announcing now, which is going to rule.”

This seemed like the perfect (and only) opportunity to see them.  I tried to get tickets to the TLA show, but it sold out in a minute.  Then I managed to score a ticket to the Fillmore show.  I also found out that The Districts were opening, which was pretty cool. (more…)

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[POSTPONED: December 16, 2021] The Joy Formidable / Cuffed Up [moved to October 27, 2022]

indexThings were looking up, shows were back, we had a vaccine.  And then shitty people refused to get the vaccine and it mutated and now we’re back where we were a year ago with shows getting postponed.

I was really looking forward to this show.  It would have been a great show to end the year on (I would have gone to this one if they had been in town).

The Joy Formidable are from Wales.  The trio Ritzy Bryan, Rhydian Dafydd and Matt Thomas play diverse sounds, but tend towards guitar based rock in various formats).  They even sing in Welsh sometimes.  Their newest album into the blue brings back some of the noisier sounds that the band used on early albums and explored their way away from for a time.

Cuffed Up is an L.A. based band who is getting a lot of buzz.  They play rocking songs with a great dual vocal set up between Sapphire Jewell and Ralph Torrefranca.  I was glad to have heard of them when this tour was announced and I look forward to experiencing them live.

I’m really looking forward to when this is rescheduled.

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[ATTENDED: December 15, 2021] Chicano Batman [rescheduled from May 3, 2020 and June 16, 2021]

I’ve enjoyed a bunch of Chicano Batman songs over the last few years.  When I saw the Tiny Desk concert, they seemed so cool, that I really wanted to see them live.

This show was postponed twice.  I waited until a couple of weeks before the show to get tickets, and I had no idea it would be my last show before COVID struck again.

The band started in a delightful way.  The (new) keyboardist came out first followed by their (absolutely insane) drummer Gabriel Villa.  The keyboardist started hitting a cowbell and Villa laid down a funky beat while bassist Eduardo Arenas and guitarist Carlos Arévalo came out to rapturous applause.  Moments later, singer Bardo Martinez came on stage in an Adidas tracksuit.

The band used to dress in full matching suits, so this was a bit of a surprise.  I was also surprised at how mellow and low key Martinez was.  I would almost say he wasn’t into the show, but he definitely was.  I guess he’s just a low-key kind of guy.

I had moved away from the center of the stage because a bunch of people wouldn’t leave their masks on.  I wound up in front of Arévalo who was a lot of fun to watch (his solo during “Color My Life” was awesome).  But to me, Chicano Batman is all about the bass lines.  Arenas lays down great lines and his sound was fantastic. (more…)

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