Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Philadelphia, PA’ Category

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, August 30, 2019)

Posted in Australia, Franklin Music Hall, Full show video, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Philadelphia, PA on August 30, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 30, 2019] King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

I’ve already stated that I’m really happy for King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard that they are finding so much success here.  I mean in Philly, they jumped from a 1,500 to a 2,500 capacity venue.  Plus, they got to headline a concert in Central Park.

One of the guys in line next to me had been to Central Park the night before as well.

But I couldn’t believe the line to get in the place when I arrived 30 minutes before the opening band was supposed to go on.

Turns out most people are there for the merch.  The merch line was insanely long.  And, when the show was over–I have never seen this before–they had a hand written sign that said “all King Gizzard shirts and posters are sold, why not try our vinyl?”

Not band for a bunch of guys from Australia with a goofy name and a completely unpinnable style.  Indeed, they have released two albums this year and one was a full-on blues boogie type pf album and their most recent release was a blistering heavy metal album in the spirit of early 80s thrash.  And they played songs from both of those albums (as well as ballads and just about everything else). (more…)

Read Full Post »

ORB (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, August 30, 2019) [KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD]

Posted in Australia, Franklin Music Hall, Full show video, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, ORB, Philadelphia, PA, Stonefield, The Electric Factory, The Murlocs on August 30, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 30, 2019] ORB

After the great stoner/groove vibe of Stonefield I still wasn’t If I had missed ORB or not.  We had heard a band playing while we were waiting on line, but it seemed too early for the opening act to end.

On the other hand, ORB went on first in Central Park the night before.

Well, we didn’t need to worry because after a very brief window, ORB came out and continued with the stoner/groove vibe.  They impressed me by adding a whole lot of prog elements to their songs–time changes, keyboard solos, extra long drum fills, nifty riffs and long songs. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Stonefield (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, August 30, 2019) [KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD]

Posted in Australia, Franklin Music Hall, Full show video, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, ORB, Philadelphia, PA, Stonefield, The Electric Factory on August 30, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 30, 2019] Stonefield

I was very excited to see King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard again.  I was a little less excited that they were playing at Franklin Music Hall (formerly The Electric Factory).  I’ve had some pretty bad show experiences there and the venue is fairly narrow and quite long.  (Although good for KGATLW for moving from the 1,200 capacity Union Transfer to the 2,500 capacity Franklin (not sure if they sold out)).

My worst experiences were with parking–huge lines, high fees.  Then I discovered you can park for free on the streets a couple blocks away, so that made things much better.  But those parking issues often meant that I got in the building later than I wanted to.  For Nick Cave I was so far back I was next to a very ill-placed bar in the middle of the floor.  Franklin has removed that bar, thankfully.

So, I made sure to arrive super early (for me).  Doors opened at 7:30, show at 8:30.   I arrived at 8 and the line to get in was around the building!  Usually people don’t arrive all that early for shows–they blow off the openers, which is fine by me.  But this crowd was nuts.  Turns out Franklin is REALLY slow about checking people in.  Not as bad as the abyssal Starland Ballroom, but pretty bad.  I did not get into the building until 8:25.  Which is unbelievable.  We also heard a live band playing while we were on line, which we all assumed was the opening band going on early (it wasn’t, I have no idea what it was). (more…)

Read Full Post »

Tame Impala (The Mann Center for Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, August 23, 2019)

Posted in Dungen, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, Tame Impala, Velvet Negroni on August 23, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 23, 2019] Tame Impala

I’ve liked Tame Impala since they first came out back in 2010.  I more or less pit them in a category with Dungen because of the jamming psychedelic sound and high-pitched vocals. I really enjoyed Innerspace and thought Lonerism was really good too.

When Kevin Parker (he makes the records himself and then tours with a live band) put out Currents in 2015, I thought it had some great songs and that the cover was quite an iconic and unforgettable image.

Then about a year ago I discovered that Tame Impala are HUGE!   People love them!  They even headlined Coachella.

How did this happen?  Not impugning the band in any way, but they are not a typical pop band.  Nor are they super catchy like Foo Fighters (another improbably popular band).  They’re even from Australia, for crying out loud.  But their fan base in the States is massive.

So I’d had them on my list to see for a while, but in recent years I’ve heard their live show is spectacular.  When I saw they were playing the Mann Center I was sure to get a ticket as close to the stage as possible.   And a couple days before the show it turned out the show sold out–that’s 14,000 people.  Wow. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Death Valley Girls / The Distillers (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, August 14, 2019) [POSTPONED AGAIN]

Posted in Death Valley Girls, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Starcrawler, The Distillers, Union Transfer on August 14, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[NOT ATTENDED: August 14, 2019] Death Valley Girls/The Distillers [rescheduled from June 1, moved to October 7]

On June 1, I drove to Union Transfer to see Starcrawler and The Distillers only to learn:

“Brody has a herniated disc and can not stand. She’s at the hospital getting treatment now.”

So I went home with the knowledge that the show was going to be rescheduled for August 14.

Then on August 3rd, I received this email

Hello Distillers fans,

Unfortunately another member of The Distillers was recently injured and they have to postpone their Philly date again. They are dedicated to make it back to Philly and play for you!!! So all tickets will be honored. Including tickets originally purchased for the original June 1st date.

(more…)

Read Full Post »

Astronoid (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, June 26, 2019)

Posted in Astronoid, Bad Books, Frost Giant, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Foundry on June 26, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 26, 2019] Astronoid

I had not heard of Astronoid until I saw that Frost Giant was playing this show with them.  I actually had tickets to Bad Books this same evening and I posted a poll to see who I should check out live.  Of the 5 replies (including one from someone in Astronoid), 4 said Astronoid.  Sorry Bad Books.

Astronoid are from Boston and they play what has been described as “a buoyant mix of metal, thrash, punk, prog-rock and shoegaze.”  They cite as influences the Norwegian black metal band Emperor and the Danish band Mew (two very different bands indeed).

And all of that is evident in their music and their set.

They played every song from their new album (not in order) and a few from their debut from 2016.  The crowd around me was definitely more excited by the older stuff, but the guy next to me seemed to know every drum part to every song. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Infinity Shred (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, June 26, 2019) [ASTRONOID]

Posted in Astronoid, Frost Giant, Infinity Shred, Philadelphia, PA, Starscream, The Foundry on June 26, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 26, 2019] Infinity Shred

I had not heard of Infinity Shred before this show although it seemed like many people were very excited they were opening.

If you look up Infinity Shred you will find a few genres associated with them: electronic, dance, post-rock.  I saw synthwave and chiptune as describers as well.

I don’t know the last two, but I think they all do a good job of describing this band (although synthwave is pretty amorphous, honestly).

Basically the band is a trio from New York.  Clara Warnaar plays drums.  I was standing in front of guitarist Nathan Ritholz and on the other side of the stage was keyboardist Damon Hardjowirogo.

In addition to their instruments, they also had three bright LED panels.  These panels were synchronized to flash red white or blue.  They each lit up a member of the band (with the drummer’s inside her bass drum.  I assumed they were programmed along with some of the sounds?

Damon introduced the band but his mic wasn’t working so he just shouted.  The band began, the lights started flashing and off they went. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Frost Giant (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, June 26, 2019) [ASTRONOID]

Posted in Arkona, Astronoid, Frost Giant, Korpiklaani, Philadelphia, PA, The Foundry on June 26, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 26, 2019] Frost Giant

Can you be epic in a tiny space?

If you are Philadelphia’s Frost Giant, the answer is hell yes!

I was supposed to see Frost Giant play with Arkona and Korpiklaani at the TLA, but the promoters put Frost Giant on before the start time of 8PM (!) and I missed their set entirely.

I have wanted to check them out, so when they were listed as playing the Foundry with Astronoid, I figured I’d go.  Even though I didn’t yet know Astronoid.

So I arrived early (just in case) and took my place in front of the stage when the band came out.

I was delighted by Armen Koroghlian’s intense drum kit and Matti Frost’s look.  And then I was impressed by their power.

The band played four songs, starting with the almost lead off track from their new album The Harlot Star. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Dido (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, June 21, 2019)

Posted in Dido, Jody Linscot, Philadelphia, PA, Roswell, Union Transfer on June 21, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 21, 2019] Dido

I bought these tickets back in November thinking “Dido is playing Union Transfer?” and then, “What happened to Dido?”  I didn’t realize that she had released some albums in the intervening years. I was vaguely aware of her 2008 release but missed the 2013 release entirely.   I also see that she hasn’t toured the states in FIFTEEN years.  In 2004 she played the Tower Theatre but in 2001 she headlined the Tweeter Center.  Remember Tweeter?

So that explains the small venue.  It also explains why it sold out.

Almost all of my familiarity with Dido comes from S.  When we first started dating she played No Angel a lot and I found I rather enjoyed it–a relaxing soundtrack on a summer day.  When I received the tickets for this show, it came wit a copy of her new CD.  We listened to it and I found it pleasant but somewhat unremarkable.  I assumed the show would be the same–an enjoyable, chill evening.

Boy howdy was I wrong.  It’s as if everything on the CD was made for chilling out, but the show was made for dancing.  She had a five piece band behind her and they were fantastic.  With much appreciation to the percussionist Jody Linscott who was freaking amazing and Adam Falkner on drums who played really loud and hard and kept the songs really moving.

The other amazing thing was Dido’s herself.  She has a lovely voice–always has.  On record it’s quite subdued.  But live, she belted out notes, sang passionately and was totally engaging as a performer.  She walked around the stage.  She sat down right in front of us for a song (shame we were behind the two tallest people there), she smiled all the time–a genuine smile that showed how much she appreciated us coming out to see her.  And she was quite funny, too. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Jack Savoretti (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, June 21, 2019) [DIDO]

Posted in Dido, Jack Savoretti, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on June 21, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED:  June 21, 2019] Jack Savoretti

I bought these tickets for Dido back in November!  There was no mention of an opening act until recently.

I had not heard of Jack Savoretti.  I looked him up and saw that he was English solo acoustic singer of Italian descent.  His song “Candlelight” peaked at #70 in the UK Charts in 2019.

I assumed he’d be a solo folk singer.  But he had a full band with him.

Jack has a gruff voice–but not too gruff, S. informed me.  I rather liked him.  His songs were catchy and thoughtful.  Although honestly it was all kind of forgettable.

But my first thought was that he must certainly appeal to the hypothetical “woman of a certain age.”  He is in his 30s, handsome, rugged-sounding.  And he’s a family man.  I just imagined women throwing their knickers at him in Vegas someday.  Actually I suppose women don’t do that anymore, so whatever the 21st century equivalent is.  There were actually two drunk British women of a certain age behind us and when he came out they started yelling, “hey there, Jackie boy!”  They apparently also almost got into  fight with some one. (more…)

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »