Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Philadelphia, PA’ Category

Alex Silva (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, November 20, 2021) [DAN DEACON]

Posted in Alex Silva, Dan Deacon, Ed Schrader's Music Beat, Patrick McMinn, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on November 25, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 20, 2021] Alex Silva [rescheduled from April 30, 2020]

Alex Silva was up after Patrick McMinn.  He took the left side of the stage and was basically right in front of me.

Silva is from Galicia, Spain but now lives in Maryland.

I was delighted that he was wearing a retro Froot Loops T shirt.

Much like McMinn, he mostly pushed buttons on his gear, but it was a more interested watching him work.  He also sang (and processed his voice) to create new sounds.

He introduced a bunch of his songs with personal stories and easily won the crowd over with his stories.

I found his music to be very enjoyable

Read Full Post »

Dan Deacon (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, November 20, 2021)

Posted in Dan Deacon, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on November 25, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 20, 2021] Dan Deacon [rescheduled from April 30, 2020]

The only thing I knew about Dan Deacon was his outrageous “remix” of “Call Me Maybe” in which he looped the entire song on top of itself some 147 times.  It was weird and irritating and funny.

And then a little while later he did a Tiny Desk Concert and it blew my mind and I knew that I wanted to see him in concert.  That was six years ago.

I finally got to see him live and it was everything I imagined.

I don’t really know Deacon’s music.  That’s not strictly true, I know a lot of his early self-released stuff which is really weird.  His newer stuff is less weird, but still unusual–but his albums are usually beloved.  And he has amassed a huge fan base.

Deacon is an unlikely electronic music hero, but hero he is.  He is heavy (he joked about how he should have gotten in shape for this tour), balding and wears glasses.  But he’s got a great sense of humor and an amazing gift for music.  He has a college degree in electro-acoustic and computer music composition.  And he has played in all kinds of bands throughout his career (from ska to grindcore).   But it’s his electronic music, often with his voice pitch-shifted to beyond cartoon level, that makes the night. (more…)

Read Full Post »

The Lemonheads / Hey Rocco / Larlene (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, November 24, 2021) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Full show video, Hey Rocco, Larlene, Lemonheads, Philadelphia, PA, Soft Kill, Underground Arts on November 24, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 24, 2021] The Lemonheads / Hey Rocco / Soft Kill / Larlene

I saw Evan Dando play a bunch of Lemondheads songs solo at a tiny venue in Jersey City.  He seemed kind of wasted, but he sounded great and I had a wonderful time.

I was genuinely interested in checking out this show (in which he had a full band), but it was scheduled for the same night as Jinjer who I really wanted to see live.

I see that he and the band played 35 songs that night.  It must have been a blast.

I had not heard of Soft Kill or Hey Rocco.

Soft Kill is a post-punk band from Portland who on their Facebook pages call themselves “sad rock”, a new musical subgenre.  That does not make me want to see them, that’s for sure.

Hey Rocco is a grunge band that formed in 2009.  I’m curious what that sounds like.

Markit Aneight was there to record the bands

Larlene apparently played instead of Soft Kill and here’s there full show

Hey Rocco

Lemonheads

Read Full Post »

Patrick McMinn (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, November 20, 2021 [DAN DEACON]

Posted in Alex Silva, Dan Deacon, Ed Schrader's Music Beat, Patrick McMinn, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on November 24, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 20, 2021] Patrick McMinn [rescheduled from April 30, 2020]

I was really excited to finally get to see Dan Deacon that I didn’t really think about opening acts.

Traffic was a little worse than I expected and I wound up walking in during Patrick McMinn’s set.

The original opening act was scheduled to be Ed Schrader’s Music Beat.  I’m not sure why he wasn’t on the list anymore.

What amused me most about the stage was that it was set up with three table with laptops and such on them.  On the far right table (facing the stage) McMinn was standing bathed in blue lights.

I had never been to an electronica show before, so I didn’t really know if it was going to be literally all knob twiddling.  And it was, more or less.

But McMinn also plays trumpet and for the final two songs he played nice trumpet melodies into his processor and then proceeded to alter and mix them  to fit into the beats he was creating.

While it is certainly interesting to watch someone create music on the fly like that, the addition of a nice visual like the trumpet certainly adds a fun element.

The set didn’t blow me away or anything, but it was enjoyable introduction to the evening.

Read Full Post »

Dinosaur Jr. (Union Transfer, Philadelphia PA, November 18, 2021)

Posted in Dinosaur Jr., J. Mascis, Lou Barlow, Philadelphia, PA, Ryley Walker, The Cure, Union Transfer, Vagabon on November 21, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 18, 2021] Dinosaur Jr.

Back in March when concerts were just starting to happen again, Dinosaur Jr were first out of the gate to announce a fall tour. I grabbed a ticket and it sold out almost instantly (yes, we were desperate for live music!).

I was excited more about the show than the fact that it was Dinosaur Jr.  The last time I saw them ( I can’t believe it was five years ago) the show was so good, I felt like didn’t really need to see them again.

Except for one thing.  The two shows I’d seen with them I was too close to the stage.  The guys’ amps are so loud that you can barely hear the vocals (bassist Lou Barlow even yelled at the people up front who complained–“stand father back, it’s physics!”).  So I wanted to stand further back to get the full Dino experience.

After being right up on the stage for Riley, I walked to the back and took up a spot in the middle of the room (I couldn’t voluntarily go all the way to the back).

And it was a much more enjoyable experience–except for the people around me.  There were a couple of really tall guys who just wouldn’t budge an inch. There were also a lot of loud people, including a guy who kept shouting “Just Like Heaven” (as if Dinosaur Jr is a band who takes requests). (more…)

Read Full Post »

Ryley Walker (Union Transfer, Philadelphia PA, November 18, 2021) [DINOSAUR JR.]

Posted in Dinosaur Jr., Philadelphia, PA, Ryley Walker, Union Transfer on November 20, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 26, 2016] Dinosaur Jr.

I’ve seen Ryley Walker twice before this (and one time when he played lead guitar for Nap Eyes).  Every time I’ve seen him, it’s been a totally different experience.

The first time, back in 2018 (when Walker had long hair and a beard), he was on stage with Bill MacKay.  They jammed a bunch of songs and Walker was really funny.

Most of the songs were instrumental, but one, “Telluride Speed” was a fairly conventional song and super catchy.

I saw him again at the end of 2019 as part of a post Phish concert in NYC.   He looked totally different, with short hair, no beard and a winter hat.

He had a four piece, with Ryan Jewell on drums.  It was mostly lengthy guitar solos and lots of improv.  Walker has some wild noisy guitar skills and I was right up there watching him.

For this show, it was again a four piece.  Ryan Jewell was on drums again (he’s the main reason I wanted to go) and Bill McKay was on co-lead guitar.  I’m not sure who was on bass. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Starset (Theatre of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia, PA, November 17, 2021)

Posted in All Good Things, Another Day Dawns, Metallica, Philadelphia, PA, Starset, The Word Alive, Theatre of Living Arts on November 19, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 17, 2021] Starset

My son got me into Starset and I enjoy going to see them live with him.  Last time at the TLA we were kind of far back but this time we got pretty close.  I actually wondered if we were too close since it’s fun to take in the whole spectacle of their show.  But it’s hard to pass up the opportunity to get close to the stage.

Starset was formed in 2013 by Dustin Bates, who is also the band’s lead singer and songwriter.  Bates has a Masters’ degree in electrical engineering.  He has done research for the US Air Force and taught at the International Space University (whatever that is).

Using that educational background as a jumping off point, Bates has created this complex backstory.  The story goes that Starset was formed as part of a public outreach initiative by The Starset Society. The Society had obtained a Message from a mysterious signal sent from space and wanted to alert the public to it.

And so every show is a “Demonstration” and there’s all kinds of codes and buzzwords that the band uses, which makes it indeed like a secret society. (more…)

Read Full Post »

The Word Alive (Theatre of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia, PA, November 17, 2021) [STARSET]

Posted in All Good Things, Another Day Dawns, Philadelphia, PA, Starset, The Word Alive, Theatre of Living Arts on November 18, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 17, 2021] The Word Alive

The Word Alive was up next and  I found them to be a puzzling band.

Their name sounds like they’re a Christian band.  But I don’t think they are.

Their sound was ll over the place during this show.  Which is not a bad thing, although it felt more confused than intentional.

Their third song “Misery” (a new song) was a singalong and lead singer Tyler Smith got everyone doing a hand wave back and forth.

But their earlier song “Trapped” which I guess was a bit of a hit single back in the day featured some really dirty screamed vocals from both Smith and one of the guitarists.

And in this song Smith yelled at us for not giving enough back.

It was kind of all over the place.

The band has had many lineup change over the years and apparently half the band left just before this tour.

I won’t say I didn’t like them, because I did, but it didn’t really do a lot for me.

  1. monomania ≠
  2. SEARCHING FOR GLORY ≠
  3. Misery
  4. No Way Out ≠
  5. Red Clouds ⊕
  6. BURNING YOUR WORLD DOWN ≠
  7. Trapped ♦
  8. Wonderland
  9. Why Am I Like This? ⊕

♦ Dark Matter (2016)
≠ monomania (2017)
⊕ Violent Noise (2021)

Read Full Post »

Vagabon / Angelica Garcia (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, November 18, 2021) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Angelica Garcia, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Vagabon on November 18, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 18, 2021] Vagabon / Angelica Garcia

I was planning in seeing Vagabon in March 2020, but her show was cancelled of course.

I really enjoyed Vagabon’s debut album.  It had a great indie rock sound, but the fact that Lætitia Tamko is originally from Cameroon gives her music a unique quality that makes it stand out.

There is no way I would have missed this show if I hadn’t already purchased Dinosaur Jr. tickets for this night [Dino Jr. was the first new show announced as lockdown ended and I grabbed tickets immediately].  In fact, if they had been announced at the same time, I would have happily grabbed the Vagabon tickets. (more…)

Read Full Post »

All Good Things (Theatre of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia, PA, November 17, 2021) [STARSET]

Posted in All Good Things, Another Day Dawns, Philadelphia, PA, Starset, The Word Alive, Theatre of Living Arts on November 17, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 17, 2021] All Good Things

This would be my son’s second show in just over a week.  We drove to TLA and had plenty of time to grab cheesesteaks (something I never do when I’m by myself).  Or so I thought.

The info said the show started at 7:30.  We walked in at 7:30 only to be told we missed the first band Another Day Dawns.  Their set must have been really short.

We got into the club and got up nice and close to the stage, just in time for All Good Things to take the stage.

I hadn’t heard of them, but as soon as they took the stage they played the kind of huge metal anthems that are designed for big group sing alongs.

So I looked them up and discovered

All Good Things were happy supplying dramatic soundtracks for video games and TV shows… until a growing army of fans tracked them down.  The band have built something of an online fanbase supplying music to video games and soundtracks, from WWE Smackdown to Prison Break and Bones. Cut to next scene, and two of the band’s songs have each generated more than two million Spotify listens.

So that makes total sense.  Songs filled with big hooks and lots of woah oh ohs.

Dan Murphy (vocals, guitar), Andrew Bojanic (guitar, vocals), Liz Hooper (bass, keyboard, vocals), Miles Franco (guitar, bass, vocals) and Randy Cooke (drums) played a terrific and enjoyable set.

The one big surprise for me was when they busted out a Destiny’s Child cover.  I don’t know Destiny’s Child at all, so I don’t know if this was a popular song. I do enjoy a left field cover and this was way out in left field.  The anthemic quality fit in pretty well with the rest of their songs, which shows just how poppy metal is at its core.

After the show I found that I didn’t really like the music as much–it felt a little too perfect, too anthemic, too made for movies.  But live, it was a cathartic and fun experience to shout along to these rockers.

  1. Kingdom ⊕
  2. Machines ≠
  3. Hold On ⊕
  4. Push Me Down ⊕
  5. The Comeback ⊕
  6. Survivor (Destiny’s Child cover)
  7. For the Glory ≠

≠ Machines (2017)
⊕ A Hope in Hell (2021)

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »