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Archive for the ‘Philadelphia, PA’ Category

Melt-Banana (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, June 6, 2024)

Posted in babybaby_explores, Melt-Banana, Philadelphia, PA, The Flying Luttenbachers, Tomato Flower, Underground Arts on June 9, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 6, 2024] Melt-Banana

I’ve known about Melt-Banana for years.  I knew they were loud and fast and were from Japan.  But I didn’t know much beyond that.  Turns out they’ve never had a permanent drummer.  They like the freedom of a drum machine.  For over twenty years they had a bass player (Rika Hamamoto) but when they decided to tour again recently, they decided to go just as as duo Yasuko Onuki – vocals and Ichiro Agata – guitars, effects.

I saw them nine months ago when they opened for Igorrr.  I knew they toured a lot but I didn’t think they’d be back again as a headline act.

This show was really really packed and I was on the side of the stage so I didn’t really see all that much, but since there’s only two of them, it was actually not a bad place to stand.

The set wasn’t radically different from the last time I saw them.  I wrote:

After getting all of their gear set up, Yasuko calmly stood with a colorful videogame controller looking device in her hand.  A wall of amps and a laptop behind her.  Off to her left a few feet was Ichiro, with a guitar, a huge array of pedals and his own wall of amps.

He played fast and he looped his sounds and did a million things most of which I can’t even fathom.  Yasuko had her device and from time to time, she would wave her hand and presumably push a button on the gadget and the drums and bass blasted out of the speakers.  And these drums sounded great–they sounded real and not like a preprogrammed device.  I actually wondered if they were somehow triggering the drumset that was set up behind them (they weren’t).

Yasuko sings very high, very fast and sounds kind of angry.  But she never looked angry.  And she never broke a sweat (while Ichiro was a sweaty mess).

They played a whole bunch of songs, I can’t even imagine how anyone could tell them apart.  But someone did, as the setlist below is from the NY show but I believe it is the same (or roughly so) of ours–comparing my clips to what the songs are, it seems like the setlist was the same each night.

(more…)

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The Flying Luttenbachers (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, June 6, 2024) [MELT-BANANA]

Posted in babybaby_explores, Melt-Banana, Philadelphia, PA, The Flying Luttenbachers, Tomato Flower, Underground Arts on June 8, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 6, 2024] The Flying Luttenbachers

The Flying Luttenbachers are an American instrumental unit led by multi-instrumentalist, composer, improviser and producer Weasel Walter. They focus on noise and dissonance, but surprisingly composed and controlled, almost like jazz punk.   And I see that they have been around since 1992!

I wish I was in a better place for this band–I was too far off to the side to see Weasel Walter doing his thing and drummer was obscured from time to time.  But I had a great view of bassist who was a maniac seemingly doing his own thing but always perfectly n synch with the other when needed.

They opened the show with a wall of noise.  Thunderous drumming from James Paul Nadien, rumbling bass from Luke Polipnick and screaming guitars. (more…)

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TAGABOW / Hotline TNT / Fib / Menu (Ukie Club, Philadelphia, PA, June 8, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Fib, Hotline TNT, Johnny Brenda's, Menu, Philadelphia, PA, Tagabow on June 8, 2024|

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 8, 2024] TAGABOW / Hotline TNT / Fib / Menu

This was my third missed show at the Ukie Club in a month.  Each one is a show I really wanted to go to.  Although as it turns out, this one was probably the least most interesting one of the three.  I was mostly interested in seeing Hotline TNT who I’ve really been enjoying over the last few months.

TAGABOW I hadn’t heard of until the Slide Away Festival in Aptil–their set was really good (having seen the video).

The other two bands I hadn’t heard of at all.  They are new(ish) indie bands from Philly.

The night’s tickets went to Palestinian Relief, so I didn’t mind getting a ticket since the money went to a good cause.

On the night of I just decided I didn’t really want to go to a full night of bands, even if I would have liked it.  And, watching the videos below, I think I would have.

TAGABOW (They Are Gutting a Body of Water) is a Philly-based shoegaze band that I’ve never heard of.  They seem to be on the noisier side of shoegaze–heavier guitars, more wild distortion, extra noises.   Wikipedia says that genres besides shoegaze that have influenced the band include drum and bass, breakcore, jungle, and reggaeton, which could certainly explain some of the noisier components.

Hotline TNT plays what I can only describe as classic shoegaze, which is definitely having a moment again.  Unlike a lot of their contemporaries, they don’t really mess with the classic shoegaze vibe all that much–not adding elements at all.  Their music warms my heart and I’d love to see them live.

Fib Philadelphia rock band. Logan, charlie, gage, and Damien.  They play noisy, somewhat abrasive rock, with vocals!

I didn’t know Menu at all(they are rather hard to search for online as well).  I enjoyed their set (from the video below) which is the kind of lurching, somewhat off-kilter indie rock that makes me happy.  The first four songs are instrumental, but the fifth does have a few screamed words.

Rampaging post punk from Philadelphia, PA.  Fast guitars like shooting laser blasters. Tracked at home.  This most memorable Rock Band burns bright, quickly leaving you to wonder where it’s gone. We love T.V., just like we’re supposed to

And here’s videos of all four sets from Wallace, Watches!

TAGABOW full set from Wallace, Watches!

0:00 – Intro 0:32 – lude 1 2:24 – 63 skies 6:50 – lude 2 9:40 – texas instruments 11:40 – lude 3 13:49 – eightball 16:35 – lude 4 18:33 – violence I 22:15 – a wasp appears 24:15 – lude 5 27:00 – behind the waterfall 32:20 – closing

Hotline TNT full set from Wallace, Watches!
0:00 – Intro 1:00 – Protocol 7:30 – Son In Law 10:33 – I Thought You’d Change 13:40 – Candle (Unreleased) 18:00 – Stampede 22:10 – “Philadelphia…” 22:40 – Trinity 28:05 – Are You Faded? 33:00 – History Channel 38:10 – Had 2 Try
Fib full set from Wallace, Watches!
0:00 – Outro 3:53 – Taking the Piss 5:49 – Bedside 7:30 – Dotted Line 10:07 – Jam 11:26 – We’re Only in it For the Money 15:36 – Heavy Lifting 19:01 – Real Heat 22:50 – Unknown 1
Menu full set from Wallace, Watches!
0:00 – Intro 0:55 – Song 1 3:35 – Song 2 6:12 – Song 3 9:42 – Song 4 11:04 – Song 5 12:22 – Song 6 15:01 – Peter 17:40 – Sorcery

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Say She She / Carly Moffa (Concerts Under the Stars series Upper Merion Township Building Park, King of Prussia, PA, June 7, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Concerts Under the Stars series, Kendra Morris, King of Prussia PA, Philadelphia, PA, Say She She, Upper Merion Township Building Park on June 7, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 7, 2024] Say She She / Kendra Morris

My wife has been really enjoying Say She She as of late.  I was a little surprised that they hadn’t done a show in Philly in a little while and then it was announced that they were playing the Summer Concert Series in Camden County. I had been to this location once two years ago and really liked it.

We didn’t make that show (rain).  But two days later they were playing at another outdoor event.  This one was not free and we decided that King of Prussia was a little too far away.  So we missed this one as well.

Kendra Morris is a New York based songwriter.  She compares nicely to the soulful side of Say She She.

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babybaby_explores (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, June 6, 2024) [MELT-BANANA]

Posted in babybaby_explores, Melt-Banana, Philadelphia, PA, The Flying Luttenbachers, Tomato Flower, Underground Arts on June 7, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 6, 2024] babybaby_explores

TI moved to the other side of the stage which might have been a mistake as I had something of a worse view for the next three bands.

Up next was babybaby_explores a trio from Providence, RI.  The band members are Lids B-day: effected vox & sampler, sam m-h: electric guitar, and Ramona Cano-Daly: drum machines.

So, basically there was a guitar on stage and two people playing with effects boxes.  Experimental barely covers what’s going on here.

Lids B-day was a weird and funny front person, with a kind of I don’t give a shit attitude.  They were just kind of stomping around and flailing and recite/singing the lyrics.  They projected a great fun attitude. (more…)

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Tomato Flower (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, June 6, 2024) [MELT-BANANA]

Posted in babybaby_explores, Melt-Banana, Philadelphia, PA, The Flying Luttenbachers, Tomato Flower, Underground Arts on June 6, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 6, 2024] Tomato Flower

I was really excited to see Melt-Banana and I had to assume that any bands that opened for them would be interesting.  I had listened to a little bit of Tomato Flower before the show and I was really interested in them.

And they proved to be utterly fantastic.  I loved everything about them.

Their songs were jagged and indie, weird and delightful.  They reminded me of Palm (one of my favorite weirdo bands) for the unexpected shifts in tempo and direction.  They had two singers Jamison Murphy and Austyn Wohlers (who is also a novelist).

I was in front of these two so couldn’t really see bassist Ruby Mars.  And I couldn’t see drummer Mike Alfieri at all.

Austyn sang most of the lead vocals with Jamison adding a lot of second vocals (not really backing vocals but unique melody lines).  Although the opening song “Destroyer” has Jamison screaming the title word between two quiet guitar lines.  It’s catchy but decidedly weird. (more…)

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Say She She / Carly Moffa (McLaughlin Norcross Memorial Dell, Haddon Heights, NJ, June 5, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Carly Moffa, Collingswood NJ, Haddon Heights, NJ, McLaughlin Norcross Memorial Dell, Philadelphia, PA, Say She She, Scottish Rite Auditorium, Summer Concert Series on June 5, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 5, 2024] Say She She / Carly Moffa

My wife has been really enjoying Say She She as of late.  I was a little surprised that they hadn’t done a show in Philly in a little while and then it was announced that they were playing the Summer Concert Series in Camden County. I had been to this location once two years ago and really liked it.

I thought we would both enjoy going to this delightful outdoor setting to enjoy some gorgeous harmonies.  We even both took off work the day after (for unrelated reasons).  But then it decided to rain.  A lot.  We weren’t sure of the show was going on (there are no tickets, so no way to let anyone know what was going on).  We decided not to risk it, so we stayed home.

I found out later that the show had been moved to the Scottish Rite Auditorium in Collingswood. I don’t know anything about that venue and probably wouldn’t have wanted to go there, so I don’t feel bad that we stayed home. (more…)

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Sir Chloe (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, June 2, 2024)

Posted in Deux Visages, Philadelphia, PA, Sir Chloe, The Foundry on June 3, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 2, 2024] Sir Chloe 

My daughter was excite to see Sir Chloe.  We saw them back in April.  I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to go for various reasons, so I snagged a ticket to this leg of the tour just in case.

She actually didn’t love the April show as much as I did, and I wasn’t sure if she’d want to go, but she did.  And we’re both glad we went.

Because she was on crutches, and I had my cane, they put is in a handicapped spot which was next to the sound board and roped off from everyone else, but still plenty close to the action.

Last time, there were people talking a lot through the set.  This happened tonight as well–a group of guys mostly standing at the back (in front of our area) and just ignoring everything.  Fortunately, since they were in front of us, we couldn’t really hear them, they were just annoying.

I felt like Sir Chloe were more into this show than the Philly show.  Or maybe it was just easier to focus on this show (the Foundry show had a lot of distractions).  I swore that they played more songs for us than in Philly, but that was not true.  The one nice feature of  the show though was it was Asbury Park’s Pride Day, and the band made a special point of talking about it and how they were honored to be playing that evening.

So the setlist was the same, but perhaps it’s because I knew the show , that I enjoyed it more?

Like last time, when she came out, she had an oddly disaffected appearance.  She seemed quite aloof, but i am certain this time it was part of the act, because between songs she was very friendly.

I really enjoyed her new album quite a lot.  The songs are a bit more dramatic and push the envelope from the first album a little bit.  Songs like “Salivate” and “Hooves” are weird and intense, with loud guitars.

The earlier songs, though are also pretty cool.  “July” is a little more delicate on the edges, but with a nice fuzzy sound and Sir Chloe’s poppy vocal style.  “Animal” is a pretty dark song (her delivery is great) and it plays with the loud/soft vibe really well.

I realize that Sir Chloe is more or less a TikTok creation and so her audience is pretty young, but I think she could easily bust out of that pigeonhole.  In fact the audience was pretty varied.

The end of the set was when she played the big crowd pleasers.  I really really liked “Sedona.”  Her delivery is deadpan, but really catchy.  She followed that with “Michelle” the massive hit that was the only song I knew.  The crowd went nuts and the song was really fun (Michelle, you are a monster from hell).

Turs out that even though that is her big hit–the one that made her famous, I don’t like it nearly as much as her other songs.

I was surprised that that wasn’t the final song, but I guess it was more fun to end on the far more dancey “Feel Again.”

“Easy on You” was a fast tempo rocker from her first album.  Then she busted out an unreleased song (in the old days, I feel like the encore was meant for real crowd pleasers, but it seems like more and more it’s now the place to throw in one more brand new song).  It’s got a catchy, bratty “aha aha” that really sticks with you.

Then she ended with “Too Close.”  Which is her third biggest hit (according to Spotify) and the crowd was suitably excited to hear it.  Everyone enjoyed singing “I think it’s time for you to go.”

My daughter knew two people at the show (one she knew was there, the other was a surprise) so that was fun too.

And, like last time, the show was fairly short (75 minutes) which meant we got home fairly early, too!  I don’t know if I/we will see her again any time soon, but I’m very curious what the next record will be like.

 

Asbury Lanes, June 2024 The Foundry, April 2024
Should I Õ Should I Õ
Salivate Õ Salivate Õ
Center Õ Center Õ
Know Better Õ Know Better Õ
Mercy ∇ Mercy ∇
July ¶ July ¶
Untie You ¶ Untie You ¶
Animal ¶ Animal ¶
Company ∇ Company ∇
Hooves Õ Hooves Õ
Seventeen π Seventeen π
Obsession Õ Obsession Õ
Over Again π Over Again π
I Am the Dog Õ I Am the Dog Õ
Sedona ¶ Sedona ¶
Michelle ¶ Michelle ¶
Feel Again Õ Feel Again Õ
encore encore
Easy on You ¶ Easy on You ¶
Forgiving [new] Forgiving [new]
Too Close ¶ Too Close ¶

π Single (2024)
Õ I am the Dog (2023)
∇ Single (2022)
¶ Party Favors (2020)

 

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Deux Visages (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, June 2, 2024) [SIR CHLOE]

Posted in Deux Visages, Philadelphia, PA, Sir Chloe, The Foundry on June 2, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 2, 2024] Deux Visages

I hadn’t heard of Deux Visages when they were scheduled to open for Sir Chloe.  They are from Miami and at the time of the show had only released three singles!

Since then they have released an EP from which most of the songs that night came. The band is a four piece fronted by Daphney Homono.  The rest of the band includes Antoine Lappin on drums, Jack Chiu on guitar, and Tony Jouvin on bass.

They play a really enjoyable mic of shoegaze, garage, and surf rock with a healthy dose of fuzz.  There’s some diversity within the style with Excuses being a bit heavier with chanted moments.  And Go Away has short verse lines that lead to a big fluid chorus.

Their first single Cheetah (the second song they played) is a killer tune–super catchy and fun. (more…)

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Broke Body / Grace Vonderkuhn / Spirit Weak / Whose Hands Are These? (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, June 1, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Broke Body, Grace Vonderkuhn, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, Spirit Weak, Whose Hands Are These? on June 1, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 1, 2024] Broke Body / Grace Vonderkuhn / Spirit Weak / Whose Hands Are These?

I continue to try to see see Grace Vonderkuhn.  I’ve seen them once, and they do play around here a lot, but it just never seems to work out for me.  Ideally I’d like to see them headline (which they never seem to do).  Although this show seemed very promising, it fell at an awkward time for me (Saturday nights are hard for me to want to go out on after being home all day).  But the lineup was interesting.

Broke Body is from Philly.

A slow-burning force on the Philly rock scene, Broke Body is gearing up to release its next batch of new music.  The Paranoid Particles EP last September made for a solid project-length introduction to Broke Body via a punchy set of five post-punk infused atmospheric rockers. But the stage is where the band has truly shone in the time since, and this power trio — singer-guitarist Jackie McLaughlin, bassist Davey Jones, drummer Nolee Morris — has shaped its sound into something as bracing as it is body-moving.

I really love the bass work on their songs–playing some lead parts over the guitar chords.  And the drummer is tight and up for sharp tempo changes.  The vocals/guitars are also quite good.

Grace Vonderkuhn is simply great and as I say I can’t wait to see them again

Spirit Weak is from Philly.  And their bio is really spot on

If Drug Church, Weezer, and Pup walked into a bar, Spirit Weak would be the punchline! Spirit Weak is a South Philadelphiapunk adjacent band — spearheaded by Mazz Cardone. It was March of 2023 that a full band formed around Spirit Weak, with Chris Bryson on drums, Mike Brein on second guitar, a rotation of friends filling in on bass — and they played their first show on May

I definitely see the PUP influence, although they are not quite as fast, and their vocals have a slightly harsher edge.

Whose Hands are These? are from Lancaster and play driving rock.  Their publicity is a oddly pretentious, but the music rocks.

Now that i’ve written this I probably should have gone.  It seems like a really fun night.

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