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Archive for the ‘Philadelphia, PA’ Category

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard / Leah Senior (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, May 2, 2020) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Australia, Coronavirus, Franklin Music Hall, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine on May 2, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: May 2, 2020] King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard / Leah Senior [moved to October 22]

indexI have become a huge fan of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard (are there any other kinds of fans of them?) since I first heard about them a few years ago.

I’m sad that I missed them on the tour just before the first time I saw them (at a smaller venue when newbies like me hadn’t heard of them yet), but I have seen them twice since.

In both cases, the band overcame somewhat unpleasant (to me) situations (obnoxious capacity crowds and unreasonable heat) to change my mind from swearing I’d never bother seeing them again (before the show), to hoping they’d come back really soon (after the show).

I’m not at all surprised that this show was postponed and they have already rescheduled the new date.  So we’re all good.  I just hope the damned air-conditioner works next time.

The last time I saw KGATLW, the two opening bands were kind of doom/psychedelic–perfect matches for KGATLW’s more recent sound.  This year’s opener is a singer named Leah Senior.

Leah Senior did the narration on KGATLW’s Murder of the Universe album.  But her music is a completely other thing.  She sings gentle folk songs with delicate guitar playing and her beautiful soft voice.

I can;t imagine how well she would go over with a rowdy KGATLW crowd and I also wonder if that means that KGATLW would play their more mellow stuff?  Nah.

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Andy Shauf / Faye Webster (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 1, 2020) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Andy Shauf, Asbury Park, NJ, Faye Webster, House of Independents, Margaret Glaspy, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Union Transfer on May 1, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: May 1, 2020] Andy Shauf / Faye Webster [moved to December 17, 2020]

indexAndy Shauf is a Canadian singer songwriter.  He sings quiet, introspective songs.  He was playing at Union Transfer at the beginning of Mat and then in New Jersey in the middle of May.

I was introduced to his music from a Tiny Desk Concert in which he never really moves.  He has very long hair which also never moves.  His songs are really very pretty and well constructed.

It’s his voice that I find utterly fascinating.  He enunciates in such an unusual way.  The way he emphasizes certain vowels defies his Saskatchewan upbringing.  He sings not unlike Margaret Glaspy and other newer sings who stress their vowels in an unusual to me way.

I really enjoyed his Tiny Desk and I enjoyed reading about the album The Party which sounds like the worst party ever.

Since then he has cut all of his hair and looks totally different–I wasn’t even sure it was the same guy.

Faye Webster is a singer from Georgia who actually has a similar singing style to Andy, which is fascinating.  She sings low key torchy ballads and would be a perfect opening act for him.  I’m going to have to listen to a bit more from her.

He’s the kind of musician that I would think about going to but probably wouldn’t, and then I’d wish I had.  Well, now I have two more chances.

His initial itinerary fascinated me:

Boston, Brooklyn, Philly, D.C., North Carolina, Atlanta, New Orleans, Alabama, Indiana, Pittsburgh, New Jersey, upstate New York.

The rescheduled shows keep the same basic set up except that now Philly is the day before NJ–I wonder what changed that plan.

shuaf

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Sparta / Emily Davis and The Murder Police (Boot & Saddle, Philadelphia, PA, May 1 & 2, 2020) [POSTPONED]

Posted in ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, At The Drive-In, Boot & Saddle, Coronavirus, Emily Davis and The Murder Police, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, Sparta, The Mars Volta on May 1, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: May 1 & 2, 2020] Sparta / Emily Davis and The Murder Police [moved to July 18 & 19]

indexWhen At the Drive-In broke up, they split into two bands: The Mars Volta and Sparta.  The Mars Volta went in a wild, psychedelic/prog metal direction and Sparta maintained a more tradition heavy rock sound.

I enjoyed the first Sparta albums but I hadn’t heard anything recently.  I considered going to this show because I’d heard they were really good live.

Emily Davis and The Murder Police [EDMP] are an alt-folk-punk band living in the desert southwest with an affinity for writing aggressive, introspective music.  I’ve listened to a few songs and I like what I heard–I feel they are a bit more folk-leaning, but there is a punk edge.

I had tickets to see …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead on the 1st and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard on the second, so the postponement worked out nicely.

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…And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead / Warish / Greenbeard (Voltage Lounge, Philadelphia, PA, May 1, 2020) [POSTPONED]

Posted in ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, Coronavirus, Greenbeard, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, Voltage Lounge, Warish on May 1, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: May 1, 2020] …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead / Warish / Greenbeard [moved to July 13]

indexI really enjoyed …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead’s first few albums back in the late 90s and early 2000s.  Then I lost touch with them.  I feel like they changed style, but I’m not sure that’s true.

The one thing that was always true was that a Trail of Dead show was a can’t miss, combustible experience.

It’s about fifteen years and six albums later and when I saw they were playing nearby, I thought it would be fun to finally see them.  I read a review of a recent show in which the reviewer said that they weren’t as intense live as in the old days (without major label support, they could no longer afford to smash up guitars), but that they (meaning Conrad Keely and Jason Reece, the only two original guys) still impress with their intensity.

I’d never heard of Warish, but how’s this for a bio blurb:

Imagine if Incesticide era Nirvana were crossed with Static Age era Misfits. You’d have sinister low budget horror rock with a visceral, twisted weirdness and bludgeoning riffs. Some might call it nightmarish, we call it Warish.

I listened to a track on bandcamp and their music is great, but their singer is a little too much like Marilyn Manson.  I’ll bet they’d be fun live though.

Greenbeard sounds like a little more fun

Desert rock from the sun stricken soil of Austin, TX. Greenbeard brings prolific vibrations to the universe via drums, bass, and guitar.

The fact that they have an album called Lödarödböl makes me like them immediately.  They have a good stoner vibe too.

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The Residents (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, May 1, 2020) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, The Foundry, The Residents on May 1, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: May 1, 2020] The Residents [moved to May 14, 2021]

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The Residents are one of the most famous obscure bands in the world.  Many people have never heard of them.  Many people who have heard of them know that they wear giant eyeballs on their heads, but don’t know much about their music.  And some of us who own a couple of Residents records have no idea what their full output is like.

They’ve been around since the mid 1970s and have released some sixty albums covering all styles and genres, with the focus on avant garde sounds.  They are also hugely influential to all kinds of musicians.

When they play live, each band member wears a costume (usually the giant eyeball, but not always) and aside from the main composer for the band who died two years ago, no one really knows who is in the band.

I’ve heard their live shows were amazing spectacles, so I thought it might be fun to see them.I didn’t even realize they were still touring, so I was quiet surprised to see them coming to Philly in 2020.  I’ve heard their live shows were amazing spectacles, so I thought it might be fun to see them.  Because they’ve been around forever, I kind of assume they can play a larger venue, but again, no one has heard of them, so it makes sense that they were playing The Foundry.  But how big of a spectacle can you have at t The Foundry?

I suspected that cancelling their show might be the end of the tour for them (If the recently deceased member of the band was nearly 80, how old are the rest of them?  Who knows, they could all be in their 20s).  I’m glad to see the show is postponed, as I might just have to see what they are all about live.

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Dan Deacon / Ed Schrader’s Music Beat (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, April 30, 2020) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Coronavirus, Dan Deacon, Ed Schrader's Music Beat, Miley Cyrus and her Dead Petz, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, Underground Arts on April 30, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: April 30, 2020] Dan Deacon / Ed Schrader’s Music Beat

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I have wanted to see Dan Deacon live ever since I saw his mind-blowing Tiny Desk Concert.

Deacon is an electronic musician and a bit of a wild card.  His shows are full of audience participation and are a lot of fun.  There’s improv and looping and a whole lot of jumping around.

He hasn’t played Philly since 2015 (apparently, when he opened for Miley Cyrus and her Dead Petz). Well, he did a show at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (!) back in 2018, which was apparently wonderful, but which I wasn’t prepared to go to.

I was super excited to see that he was playing at Underground Arts and I grabbed tickets immediately. UA would have been an ideal venue to see him in, with the low ceiling and wide audience area.  I do hope this tour gets rescheduled soon.

When show were first starting to get cancelled in March, I held out hope that a show at the end of April might still go on.  But shows all around him started getting postponed.  He held out longer than most artists before postponing.

Technically Deacon’s music isn’t really my scene.  I do like him quite a lot, but I don’t particularly like other music like it.

So Ed Schrader’s Music Beat is a duo and Dan Deacon produced their latest album.  I listened to a couple of songs but didn’t really like it all that much.

I’ll bet they are fun live, especially if Deacon is guiding them.

Do come back soon, Dan!

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Joywave: The Possession Tour (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, April 24, 2020) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Coronavirus, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, Union Transfer on April 24, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: August 27, 2020] Joywave

indexI don’t know all that much about Joywave, but Union Transfer hyped this show a lot, which made me very curious about them.

For some reason I thought they were European, but they are from Rochester, New York.

They’ve been around since 2010 and apparently have had some buzz around them.  Their music is kind of alt-rock with a lot of synth.  I’m not sure I would have gone (so many other shows that night) but this postponement gives me more time to check them out.

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Tigers Jaw / Gladie / Kayleigh Goldsworthy (Crossroads, Garwood, NJ, April 24, 2020) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Cayetana, Coronavirus, Crossroads, Garwood, NJ, Gladie, Kayleigh Goldsworthy, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, Tigers Jaw on April 24, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: April 24, 2020] Tigers Jaw / Gladie / Kayleigh Goldsworthy [moved to July 18]

indexTigers Jaw is a band I know from a Tiny Desk Concert.  They played poppy gentle rock.  I had seen a poster for one of their shows up in a local sub shop recently.  At the time, the band was Ben Walsh and Brianna Collins and they traded off lead vocals and harmonies wonderfully.  Their new pictures show four members, so perhaps they have fleshed out their sound.

Gladie is a band that has formed out of the ashes of Cayetana, a Philadelphia band that I’ve heard of for years but don’t know anything about.  Shame they broke up I guess, but Gladie has resulted. Gladie plays gentle alt pop sung by Augusta Koch.

Kayleigh Goldsworthy is also from Philadelphia. She has a great 90s alt rock sound.  Her album has a full band, but I imagine she’d be playing solo.

I have never been to Garwood, but it’s not too far.  It seems like a good club to check out.  It turns out that late April was a very busy concert time for me so I wasn’t going to go to this show. But maybe the postponed date will work out.

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Juana Molina (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, April 22, 2020) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Coronavirus, Juana Molina, Juana y Sus Hermanas, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, Underground Arts on April 22, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: April 22, 2020] Juana Molina

indexJuana Molina is a wonderfully bizarre performer.

Molina is from Argentina and she plays a  blend of folk, electronica, and experimental pop (which I find to be more than a little out of the mainstream), playing with some great noises and percussion.

She recently released a more or less punk EP, Forfun, which she was the foundation of this tour.

This show was only cancelled a couple of days ago–they really held out until the last minute for this one.

This show was scheduled for the same night as the Real Estate/Palm show, so I was torn about which show to go to.  I really want to see Palm again, but I feel like Juana Molina would be a much more interesting and rare treat.

I do hope she reschedules.

Apparently it is common knowledge that her career began with her initial success coming as a massively popular comedic actress on the show “Juana y Sus Hermanas” in the early-1990s.  She walked away during the height of its popularity to pursue music.  The music was not well received at home, but she was embraced here in the States.

 

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Real Estate / Palm (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, April 22, 2020) [POSTPONED/CANCELLED]

Posted in Belle and Sebastian, Cancelled, Coronavirus, Palm, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, Real Estate, Union Transfer on April 22, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: CANCELLED: April 22, 2020] Real Estate / Palm

indexI saw Real Estate open for Belle and Sebastian five years ago.  I enjoyed their mellow set and found them very pleasant.

Seeing as how they are from Ridgewood, NJ (about five minutes from where I grew up), I feel like I should like them so much more.

Mostly I like their sound in small doses–it’s a little too mellow for me.  But i do enjoy them.

Mostly, though, I was going to go to this show for openers Palm.  I have seen Palm twice, both times in small venues.  I would have liked to see them on a larger stage (although I can’t imagine a less comparable band for them to play with than Real Estate.

Whereas Real Estate plays pretty songs, Palm plays chaotic, untethered, truly original songs.  They are magnificent and I love watching them play their bizarre songs.

There aren’t too many bands where I’ve thought “I need to see them a lot more,” but Palm is one of those bands.

This show was postponed, although I am really not sure if Palm will be with then when it gets rescheduled.  We’ll see.

UPDATE: On May 19 the band formally cancelled the show/tour

With all of the uncertainty about when we’ll be able to play live shows again, we have no choice but to formally cancel all of our announced headline shows including the previously postponed dates.

Please know that this is devastating for us on every level, but we have no doubt that it is the right decision to make.

Stay strong everyone, we will be back!

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