Posted in Don Babylon, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on September 18, 2018| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: September 18, 2018] Don Babylon
I rather enjoy when there are two opening bands. Especially if the first opening band is a local band. Philly has been producing some great bands in recent years and I like getting exposed to them.
Don Babylon are a Philly-based band who I’d never heard of before. They play loud songs. Or as they describe their music:
“Drunk, sad rock’n’roll in between kitchen shifts and last call.”
They were terrific. (more…)
Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Superorganism, Union Transfer on September 13, 2018| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: September 13, 2018] Superorganism
When I first heard Superorganism, I found “Something for your M.I.N.D.” to be kind of annoying. Then it grew on me a bit. But I was intrigued by this band whose origin story was really fascinating.
The band began as a casual recording project in 2017 (last year) with members based in multiple countries, across the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia. Most of the band had met online in music forums or via mutual friends over a number of years. By he time of Superorganism’s formation, the majority of the members had been living in London since 2015 and they decided to embark on a musical project together based on their mutual interest in internet memes.
So that’s interesting, as is this musical breakdown: (more…)
Posted in New Order, Philadelphia, PA, Shabazz Palaces, Superorganism, Union Transfer, Yuno on September 13, 2018| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: September 13, 2018] Yuno
I had heard of Yuno, but hadn’t realized it. All Songs Considered played his song “No Going Back” back in February. I liked it but had forgotten about it come September.
When I saw the poster for the Superorganism show and saw that Yuno was opening I assumed it was a dance band (possibly Japanese, probably female). But I didn’t investigate.
So I was surprised when Yuno came out and he was an African-American dude from Florida. As soon as he said his name (like “you know”) I remembered joking about the pronunciation of his name on the podcast and it all came flooding back.
Yuno is a 27-year-old from Jacksonville. He recorded a lot of his work in his bedroom and posted it on Soundcloud. In what sounds like a made up story Ishmael Butler of Shabazz Palaces started tracking him on Souncloud and eventually reached out to him to record an EP with SubPop. (Yuno didn’t tell us this, I looked it up). (more…)
Posted in First Aid Kit, Heart, Kate Bush, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia, Union Transfer on September 8, 2018| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: September 8, 2018] First Aid Kit
Seven month ago Sarah and I saw First Aid Kit (sold out) at Union Transfer. Now here they were back in Philly seven months later playing at the larger Fillmore.
We both enjoyed that earlier show a lot (obviously). I wasn’t sure if it was smart seeing the band again on the same tour (as with Sloan, there was a lot of duplication). But there was something quite different about this show compared to the first one.
The (very beautiful) poster was different and this leg of the tour was called the Rebel Hearts Tour (whereas the first one was called the Ruins tour). So what this meant was that they were still playing mostly songs from their new album Ruins, although not all of them, and, indeed, not the title song. But they’d added a new song (woohoo!) and one from Ruins that they didn’t play last time.
In a nutshell, it felt like a very different show even though it was more or less the same show. (more…)
Posted in First Aid Kit, Julia Jacklin, Phantastic Ferniture, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia, Union Transfer on September 8, 2018| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: September 8, 2018] Julia Jacklin
I had heard about Julia Jacklin from NPR, so I was intrigued to see her live. Jacklin is Australian, but you can’t really tell from her singing voice (or her speaking voice, really). Although the way she enunciates “buh sket ball” makes her sound conspicuously non-American. I had heard a song called “Don’t Let the Kids Win” which contains that basketball. The title is amusing and I knew she was lyrically dense, so Iassumed there’d be amusing lines throughout the show. But indeed, no.
Jacklin is not a partier, but nor is she a downer either. She is thoughtful and inquisitive. Her music, even live, is fairly spare–except when it’s not–and she sings pretty quietly–except when she doesn’t.
She was charming and funny–delightful in an opening act. She played a quick six songs and that was that.
“Lead Light” has a kind of old school swing to it, almost 50s rock and roll. I enjoyed the way the song built and stopped several times.
Her band, three Canadian guys, Harry (lead guitar) Eddie (bass) and Ian (drums) kept perfect accompaniment and backing vocals. (more…)
Posted in Full show video, Jonny Greenwood, Junun, Madison Square Garden, New York City, Philadelphia, PA, Phish, Radiohead, Shye Ben Tzur, The Rajasthan Express, Wells Fargo Center on August 1, 2018| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: August 1, 2018] Radiohead
I
have never really seen a band two times close together. Sometimes with smaller bands if they are playing two clubs, but never a stadium show.
But I had already gotten my Radiohead ticket for WellsFargo, so I was sure as heck not giving it up.
I saw Phish twice on the Baker’s Dozen run–two shows 16 days apart. Now here was Radiohead 21 days apart. For some reason their tour didn’t go NY to Philly, it went NY to Canada, to Ohio to Boston and then to Philly. This was a cool way to see the band twice with some decompression time in between gigs.
Strangely enough, these tickets which were literally at the side of the stage–I was parallel with the gap between the stage and the crowd and 23 rows back–and they actually cost more than the General Admission floor seats at Madison Square Garden (although the fees at MSG were more, so these tickets were technically cheaper when all was said and done).
Since I had trouble getting to the arena for Pearl Jam, I decided to leave work a bit early, drive in and beat the inevitable traffic. Which meant I arrived 45 minutes before the gates opened. Duh. So I sat in the car and continued my book.
Then I went in and got some merch that hadn’t been available at MSG and found my seat. As with the MSG show I was surprised at how uncrowded it was. I guess many people didn’t care about Junun. But when the lights went down for Radiohead, my section (and everywhere else) seemed full.
I had a pretty great view of the stage (except for one lighting pole which was directly in my view of whomever was up front (usually Thom). I also couldn’t really see the screen in the back (which was ok) and the lights are obviously very different from off to the side instead of head on.
But what was most important was the music. And despite what I thought was a terrible sound for Junun, Radiohead sounded amazing once more The music was crystal clear and powerful without being too loud. (more…)
Posted in My Bloody Valentine, Philadelphia, PA, Sunn O))), The Fillmore Philadelphia on July 30, 2018| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: July 30, 2018] My Bloody Valentine
Back in the 1990s I loved My Bloody Valentine. I can recall checking the racks in Newbury Comics on a weekly basis just to see if there was some kind of follow up to Loveless (this is before the internet told us when things were coming out). After waiting some 20 years I basically gave up on the band. When mbv came out, I didn’t even bother listening to it, the hype was so much.
When they announced this tour I wondered whether it was worth going. But I was assured that they always put on a good show. I was also warned that it would be loud. Really loud. Like, people leaving the theater loud. It actually made me a little nervous. They were giving out earplugs at the entrance (which is a good idea for any show, nut especially for this one).
I knew I wouldn’t be there early enough to get too close. But I’ve learned from past show that being up too close ruins the vocals. So that was fine. The crowd was pretty large when we arrived and I wasn’t sure where I wanted to be. (more…)
Posted in Heavy Blanket, J. Mascis, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia on July 30, 2018| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: July 30, 2018] Heavy Blanket
About a day before this show, I looked up who Heavy Blanket were. Imagine my surprise to read that they are a side project of J. Mascis. So this makes four times I’ve seen Mascis live now (twice with Dino. Jr and once when he jammed with Pearl Jam in Boston).
Heavy Blanket put out an album 5 years ago ( I completely missed it) and the backstory of the band is pretty funny:
It was the summer of 1984, and a teenage j Mascis was bored. Sure, his band Deep Wound were still playing shows and melting faces. [but] he wanted to start something new. He wanted to shed the pretentiousness and elitism that had risen around him – to slow things down and turn the volume way, way up.
He remembered a couple kids from his early high school days – stoner kids he’d always admired for their “who gives a shit” attitude. Those kids, Johnny Pancake and Pete Cougar, had been kicked out of marching band for smoking weed out of a tuba. Way better musicians than the marching band deserved, they’d formed a duo that was all rhythm section – no vocals, no guitar, a sick, punchy brew of Band of Gypsies and Japanese hard psych (Johnny’s uncle was a US Marine stationed on Okinawa in 1973. From his frequent visits to Tokyo, he brought home a killer psych record collection. And a mean dose of the clap). These were the guys he needed. He rounded them up and it soon became obvious that the heavy rhythms they created were the perfect backdrop to young Mascis’ insane, fluid ability on the guitar. The trio came up with six blistering tracks, named themselves Heavy Blanket, and set a date to record.
But then, tragedy struck. Johnny hit his head and nearly drowned while swimming in an old stone quarry in southern Vermont. His recovery was… incomplete. He gave up playing altogether and became something of a recluse, retreating to the relative safety of his grandmother’s basement. Disheartened by Johnny incapacitation, Pete moved out to Ohio to work in his uncle’s second-hand furniture store. He later did a stint in federal prison for repeatedly passing low-denomination counterfeit bills at the local Stop’n’Shop. Mascis went on to form Dinosaur jr, and the rest is history. The boys lost touch, and those blistering tracks were lost to history.
Fast forward to the winter of 2011. While on his semi-annual ski retreat to Stowe, Mascis runs into an old friend. Johnny had emerged from his grandmother’s basement (having been forced to, once her demise stopped the flow of milk and sandwiches to his underground lair) and taken a job grooming the ski trails with a Snowcat. Convinced his long-ago accident was the handiwork of those schemers in Pearl Jam, Johnny begged j to reform the band. It was the only way to get back at them, he insisted. A quick search of Ohio prison records turned up Pete, living in a halfway house in Columbus. After securing the proper permissions from his parole officer, Pete boarded a Greyhound with the only recording of Heavy Blanket in existence – an old practice cassette. Building off those old tune structures, the boys – now men – have finally succeeded in fulfilling the promise of that long past summer.
Posted in Boot & Saddle, Canadian Music, Japandroids, Philadelphia, PA, Rock duo on July 26, 2018| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: February 25, 2017] Japandroids
I saw Japandroids in February of last year. It was a wild show in which two guys made a ton of noise and sounded great doing it. The crowd was huge, there was much slam dancing and crowd surfing. It was intense and exhausting.
So I was pretty excited to see that they’d be playing Boot & Saddle for two nights in a row. I can remember standing outside on a cold day trying to refresh my page while the wifi tried to connect to something, anything. But I was sold out. And then they announced a third show, just as I refreshed my email. I was able to score a ticket for that third night. They later announced a fourth night.
I assumed it would be really packed so I got there plenty early,
I was right up front and, in a club this size, there’s no slam dancing or crowd surfing (just lots of yelling).
As with most Boot & Saddle shows, it felt like this show was just for me and the girls in front of me. Just like at Union Transfer, Brian King stood with his guitar on my left and David Prowse was behind the kit (facing King) on my right.
I didn’t realize that the band was still touring their last album, Near To The Wild Heart Of Life. This wasn’t a new showcase or anything. They told us that they had opened this tour in Philly at Union Transfer (I didn’t know that) and they wanted to finish it up here as well. (Although they did add an extra night to their tour when they played Asbury park when they opened for Hold Steady.
Like last time, they opened with the roaring title track. And how much fun is it when a whole room screams that hey are “fired up.”
The setlist was surprisingly similar for all four nights, with the different songs being one old song and two brand new ones. Japandroids have 3 albums out (and a B-sides collection). They played 4 of 8 songs from their new album and 5 from the previous album and 4 of 8 from their debut. This surprises me given that it’s just the two of them and they don;t have to worry about stage effects or lights or anything.
In fact the lights were giving them a hard time on our night. The lights went out for a second. They got stuck on red for a bunch of songs (Brian: can you please change the lights to anything but red) I also happened to get this weird lighting effect on camera.
But Japandroids are all about fun and they came to have fun, to sweat and to stretch out their songs to pretty lengthy jams. And, heck it was great hearing those songs up close. “Fire’s Highway” and “Heart Sweats” sounded fantastic and it was great watching King play these surprisingly complex chords.
It was also fun having Prowse so close–watching him lean back between songs to stretch out.
Prowse pounds the drums. At one point his snare drum even fell over–someone in front of me righted it–that would have been a cool stage story, if I had been closer.
During one of the pauses, Prowse was chatting with the audience. The guy who replaced the snare seemed to have been at the previous two shows and they started talking about Vancouver.
King sings most of the songs, but Prowse does get lead on a couple, like Rockers East Vancouver and of course he does all of the backing vocals like on North East South West.
The whole show was great–an excellent, if brief set list and the five last songs were stellar: No Known Drink or Drug, Young Hearts Spark Fire, Continuous Thunder (one of my favorites) and the supremely crowd pleasing The Nights of Wine and Roses.
I was really happy to be able to get so close for these songs (again, seeing King play thsese cool chords), because for the last song (which they announced as the last song–11PM curfew and all).
Especially since for the final song, a football team’s worth of very tall guys pushed their way to the front to slam dance and pogo everyone around them.
I wound up surprisingly far back for the last song. It was even more surprising when the lights went out for about a minute of the song (the sound stayed on though). I think this led to a bit rougher slam dancing, so I was glad to be out of it.
This was all fine, except that after the show, their roadie handed out drumsticks to the meatheads who forced their way up front for the end.
Regardless of where you stand and what or how any songs Japandroids play, they put on a hell of a set. It is fun, it is sweaty and it demands that you scream.
I’m glad I saw them in a bigger venue, but this was a great, intimate performance.
| Boot and Saddle (Night 3 of 4) July 26, 2018 | Union Transfer February 25, 2017 |
| Near to the Wild Heart of Life * | Near to the Wild Heart of Life * |
| International [new song] | Adrenaline Nightshift ! |
| Fire’s Highway ! | Fire’s Highway ! |
| Heart Sweats ∅ | True Love and a Free Life of Free Will * |
| True Love and a Free Life of Free Will * | North East South West * |
| Rockers East Vancouver ∅ | Younger Us ! |
| Younger Us ! | In a Body Like a Grave * |
| Alice [new song] | Wet Hair ∅ |
| North East South West * | Arc of Bar * |
| Wet Hair ∅ | The Nights of Wine and Roses ! |
| No Known Drink or Drug * | Evil’s Sway ! |
| Young Hearts Spark Fire ∅ | Midnight to Morning * |
| Continuous Thunder ! | Continuous Thunder ! |
| The Nights of Wine and Roses ! | No Known Drink or Drug * |
| The House That Heaven Built ! | Heart Sweats ∅ |
| Young Hearts Spark Fire ∅ | |
| The House That Heaven Built ! | |
| (I’m) Stranded (The Saints cover) (with Craig Finn) | |
Posted in Boot & Saddle, Canadian Music, Hounds, Japandroids, Mannequin Pussy, Philadelphia, PA, Queen of Jeans, Thin Lips on July 26, 2018| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: February 25, 2017] Mannequin Pussy
I ordered a Japandroids ticket as soon as they went on sale. The first two nights sold out quickly and then they added a third as I refreshed my email. So I was able to score a Thursday night ticket,
I had no idea who the opening acts would be. Later, they announced that these four Philly bands were the openers:
Thin Lips
Hounds
Mannequin Pussy
Queen of Jeans
Of the four, I had only heard of Queen of Jeans. I have since heard Thin Lips on All Songs Considered. But I was pretty excited to hear Mannequin Pussy, a band whose name I still don’t understand. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 