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Archive for the ‘Philadelphia, PA’ Category

Tash Sultana (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 5, 2017)

Posted in Australia, Philadelphia, PA, Prince, Tash Sultana, Tiny Desk Concert, Union Transfer, World Cafe Live, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on October 5, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 5, 2017] Tash Sultana

WXPN starting playing Tash Sultana’s “Jungle” gosh… over a year ago.  I liked the song fine, but it was as I learned more about her–that she plays the entire song–every single sound–herself and she does it live using looping pedals that I became really interested in her.

I was totally blown away when I saw her Tiny Desk Concert and realized that she was an amazing guitarist and so much more.

I decided then that it would be very cool to see her live.  So when I ordered my ticket for her show back in June, I had no idea that anyone else had ever heard of her.  Much less that she would sell out the venue within a week.  Realize at this point she has only released one official EP (and has released dozens of YouTube videos–which is where her fanbase is).

Tash came out and started playing guitar.  She played two songs that she built step by step.  First playing some chords that she looped and then adding some solos which may or may not get looped in.  Then a riff or drums or various other percussive sounds (including beatboxing) and within a couple of minutes she had a complete backing track (usually very danceable) to sing over. (more…)

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Pierce Brothers (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 5, 2017) [TASH SULTANA]

Posted in Didgeridoo, Mumford & Sons, Mumford and Sons, Philadelphia, PA, Pierce Brothers, Rock duo, Tash Sultana, The Lumineers, Union Transfer on October 5, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 5, 2017] Pierce Brothers

This new construction on the way to Philly is really cramping my style.

I got to Union Transfer about 15 minutes late (unavoidable this time).  And that delay meant I missed some of the best supporting act that I’d never heard of before.

Pierce Brothers are Australian twins Jack and Patrick Pierce (that’s Jack on the left).  I saw three or four songs–walking in during a rollicking “Genevieve” that had the crowd going utterly nuts.

I don’t know what the crowd (which was quite large when I arrived) was like when the guys first started, but we were eating out of their hands by the time of this song.

During “Genevieve,” Jack was on electric guitar while Patrick played acoustic and sang lead.  Jack was jumping around and inciting us all to sing along and have a great time. (more…)

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Torres (Boot & Saddle, Philadelphia PA, September 28, 2017)

Posted in Boot & Saddle, Frightened Rabbit, Philadelphia, PA, Torres on September 28, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 28, 2017] Torres

I saw Torres play Union Transfer about four months ago.  She opened for Frightened Rabbit and I really enjoyed her set.  So I was pretty excited to see her at Boot & Saddle, where she was headlining.

I didn’t realize it was the first night of the tour for her new album Three Futures–she claimed to be very nervous.

It was quite a different show and Torres herself, Mackenzie Scott, was quite different.  At Union Transfer, she seemed kind of distant and aloof.  And it was a really effective persona–she really wowed the crowd who may not have been there to see her.  But at this show some of that veneer dropped away–there were some jokes and some smiles.

Torres’ previous album, Sprinter has some great noisy guitar stuff.  The new one has more synth and a much more spare, but interesting, guitar. (more…)

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Aphra (Boot & Saddle, Philadelphia PA, September 28, 2017) [TORRES]

Posted in Aphra, Boot & Saddle, Philadelphia, PA, The Dove & The Wolf, Torres on September 28, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 28, 2017] Aphra

Up until about a week before this show, there was no support act listed for Torres.  And then a few days before the show, it was announced that The Dove & The Wolf, a Philadelphia band, would be the support.  I’ve heard rumblings about this band, and I was looking forward to seeing them for myself.

Then I saw that they were starting the tour on her second night, not our night.  A day or so later it was revealed that our opening act was another Philly musician named Aphra.

My night was surprisingly hectic getting to the show, so I walked in a few songs into Aphra’s set.

She had an electric guitar and was singing along to it.  The volume didn’t balance well for some reason and I didn’t really like the song all that much.

But after she took off the guitar she switched to a more electronic sound and for those last two or three songs, she sounded great. (more…)

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X: 40th Anniversary Tour (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, September 22, 2017)

Posted in Billy Zoom, D.J. Bonebreak, Exene Cervenka, Philadelphia, PA, Ray Manzarek, Skating Polly, The Doors, Underground Arts, X on September 22, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 22, 2017] X

The very first CD I ever bought was by X (More Fun in the New World).  My college friend Anita was a big fan (I’d never heard of them).  When I got my first CD player, rather than buying music I already had on vinyl (why would anyone do that?), I bought this band that I really liked.  That was in 1987.

So, while X was celebrating their 40th Anniversary, for me it was a 30 year anniversary.

Either way, I was really excited that all four original members were playing: John Doe, Exene Cervenka, Billy Zoom, and D.J. Bonebreak.

My friend Kelli told me about this show and I was instantly intrigued about going.  And boy am I glad I did.  The band sounded great.  The crowd was really into it and I got to hear a bunch of songs that I really love.

(more…)

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Skating Polly (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, September 22, 2017) [X]

Posted in Exene Cervenka, Philadelphia, PA, Skating Polly, Underground Arts, X on September 22, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 22, 2017] Skating Polly

Skating Polly are now a trio (until recently a duo) with a great origin story.

The band was founded by multi-instrumentalist step-siblings Kelli Mayo and Peyton Bighorse who were just 9 and 14 years old when the band formed.  The band’s first setup consisted of Peyton on drums and Kelli playing a basitar (Kelli’s father made her a basitar after she complained that a traditional six-string guitar hurt her fingers.)  Shortly before their debut album Taking Over the World was released on Nice People Records in November 2010, Kelli and Peyton met Exene Cervenka after a show in Oklahoma City. Exene was surprised by the girls’ extensive knowledge of punk and began corresponding with the girls and discussing them in numerous interviews.  In 2017 the girls’ brother Kurtis Mayo joined the band.

So that’s all pretty interesting but how did they sound?

Well, after being cocky about not having any trouble getting to shows on time, I hit yet another snag on my way to Philly–a big section of 95 which is always under construction was particularly bad in one spot.  I think I missed one or two songs.

But the rest were really good.  Rocking and punky with great lead vocals from both singers and some really cool harmonies as well.   (more…)

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Public Service Broadcasting (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, September 12, 2017)

Posted in Alexei Leonov, Camera Obscura, Philadelphia, PA, Public Service Broadcasting, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Foundry, Tiny Desk Concert, Tracyanne Campbell on September 12, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 12, 2017] Public Service Broadcasting

I first saw Public Service Broadcasting on their amazing Tiny Desk Concert.  I was blown away that J. Willgoose, Esq. and Wrigglesworth could make such complex and satisfying music with just the two of them (all the while projecting visuals behind them that matched the songs perfectly.

I instantly put them near the top of the list of bands that I wanted to see live.  But I also put them very high on my list of bands that I’d be unlikely to see live since I assumed they played primarily in the UK (whether they have recently played festivals).  Plus, how likely were they to come to the US to tour their most recent album which is all about coal mining in Wales (seriously–and it’s fantastic).

Well, when I saw that they were playing The Foundry, I bought a ticket immediately.  I figured that the show would either be unattended or sold out.  Well, sadly for the band, it was barely attended, but luckily for me, that meant I got to hang out right in front of the stage (and even meet the guys afterwards).

But even if there were only 100 or so people, the band didn’t act like the crowd was puny (because everyone there was really into it).  They played an amazing show and I’m thrilled to have seen it.

In the way of bands who don’t have roadies, all three guys were there to tune up their gear for about ten minutes before they ultimately left the stage and then came back on fresh and new.  It gave them time to put up the test pattern above.

I parked myself right in front of J. Willgoose, which was awesome seeing everything he did.  I joked with my friend Marcus (who has seen the band 6 times in the States and was going to Brooklyn the following night to watch them again) that I didn’t know where to stand.  J. Willgoose overheard and said it didn’t matter because they didn’t do anything interesting.  This was utterly false, as it was great watching everything that J. Willgoose did with guitars, keys, foot pedals, and so much more.  He even played percussion.  I only wish I had been a little to the left because I was actually so close, his keyboard was blocking some of the rest of the stage (the horrors). (more…)

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Fire Is Motion (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, September 12, 2017) [PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING]

Posted in Fire is Motion, Philadelphia, PA, Pinegrove, Public Service Broadcasting, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Foundry on September 12, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 12, 2017] Fire is Motion

A few days before the Public Service Broadcasting show, I saw that a local NJ band (based in Union), Fire is Motion, was set to open for them.  I went to their bandcamp site and really liked what I heard.  I wrote to the band to see if they were going to be bringing any merch to the show, and Adrian wrote back that they were and to thank me for listening.

I was looking forward to seeing them, but when I arrived at like 8:05, they had already started–who knows how many songs I missed.  Such punctuality in rock!

But the remaining four or five songs were really good–bigger and more complex than their recorded sound. And the band sounded really tight. (more…)

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Dead Cross (Union Transfer, Philadelphia PA, September 10, 2017)

Posted in Bauhaus, Dave Lombardo, Dead Cross, Dead Kennedys, Faith No More, Head Wound City, Justin Pearson, Mike Crain, Mike Patton, Mr. Bungle, Philadelphia, PA, Retox, Slayer, The Locust, Union Transfer on September 10, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 10, 2017] Dead Cross

I had heard that Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle and a million other projects) and Dave Lombardo (Slayer and other things) had formed a band and were touring.  I have wanted to see Slayer forever but never have.  I almost saw them last year but it sold out.  So, I kind of lost interest in seeing them.

And of course, Mike Patton is legendary and I’ve liked so much of what he’s done, but I’ve never seen him either.

I was curious what the album would be like and wasn’t entirely surprised to hear that it was basically a hardcore/speed metal album (10 songs in like 25 minutes).  Despite the two of them, I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to go to a show like that (I don’t really relish getting in a full-sized mosh pit).  But the more I thought about it (and after reading about the opening band) I decided it would be worth going to.

I checked out their setlists online and saw that they basically played the whole album and a couple extra songs.  Which, by my calculation, would be about 40 minutes. (more…)

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Secret Chiefs 3 (Union Transfer, Philadelphia PA, September 10, 2017) [DEAD CROSS]

Posted in Dead Cross, Electromagnetic Azoth, Faith No More, FORMS, Holy Vehm, Ishraqiyun, Mr. Bungle, NT Fan, Philadelphia, PA, Secret Chiefs 3, Traditionalists, Trey Spruance, Union Transfer, UR on September 10, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 10, 2017] Secret Chiefs 3

When I considered going to see Dead Cross, I wanted to know who was opening.  It was a band I’d never heard of: Secret Chiefs 3.  Turns out that the band was created by Trey Spruance, one of the founders of Mr. Bungle (and played with Faith No More).  And the description of the band sounded wonderfully unusual.  I listened to some stuff online, and that made me decide to check this show out.

Their music is a little hard to describe because there’s so much behind it, so I’m quoting from two sources here:

Jonathan Zwickel in 2004:

Spruance, Secret Chiefs 3’s chief composer and a former guitarist for Mr. Bungle, is a visionary madman capable of instilling both fear and respect in his listeners. Secret Chiefs 3 have existed in various incarnations over the course of the past eight years, and have served as the funnel for Spruance’s remarkably far-flung studies of the hermetic mysteries and musical traditions of unknown and underappreciated subgenres. Album titles like Grand Constitution and Bylaws and Book M hint at the music’s vaguely metaphysical bent. [The music is] an alchemical fusion of Morricone-esque cinematic grandeur, midnight surf guitar, traditional Middle Eastern rhythms and time signatures, demonic death metal, and electronic deviance that yields a work of undeniable force.

Whether or not Spruance and his Secret Chiefs 3 are the intermediaries between heaven and earth is, um, hard to say, but with Book of Horizons it seems they’re certainly communing with a power beyond the merely human. Virtuosity, paired with a fearless love of divergent styles and the humor and talent to skillfully, unmercifully mash them up, pushes [the music] into rarified heights.

And this fascinating bit of information from Wikipedia:

In 2007, it was announced Secret Chiefs 3 has always been a general name for seven different bands, each representing a different aspect of Spruance’s musical and philosophical interests. The seven bands are Electromagnetic Azoth, UR, Ishraqiyun, Traditionalists, Holy Vehm, FORMS, and NT Fan. Spruance has stated that the sound collages of Electromagnetic Azoth serve as the center of Secret Chiefs 3.

Right.

(more…)

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