Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Philadelphia, PA’ Category

[ATTENDED: October 22, 2025] Acid Mothers Temple

This was my fourth time seeing Acid Mothers Temple.  Every show is basically the same but also very different.

This show was particularly different because I found out (after the show) that the band was being joined by Cotton Casino (for only this show and the NYC show!), the original singer of the band from 1995 (she lives in the States now).  Of course I didn’t know this and I didn’t know who the woman was when she jumped on stage with them.

Amusingly, I thought she was like a young teenager or 20something.  She looked so youthful and was wearing a hockey shirt that said SUCK IT and bounced around with so much energy.

The band lost their bassist Wolf a while back and have replaced him with Sawano Shozo, but the other four are familiar:  Kawabata Makoto guitars, speed guru, Higashi Hiroshi synths, Satoshima Nani drums and Jyonson Tsu vocals and guitar.

They opened, as they do, with a wall of noise–Kawabata furiously playing the guitar, Nani smashing up the drums and the rest adding their own noise to the mix.  And after a minute or so, they settled into the glorious Dark Star Blues.  Slow and loud and psychedelic, with Cotton adding tambourines to the rhythm.  It’s so much fun watching Kawabata go nuts on his guitar while Jyonson is chill on the other side strumming out the rhythmic chords.  Jyonson and Cottom sang complementary/competing melodies.

Things exploded and then settled down for the quiet Santa Maria which opens and sounds like a British folksong before launching into the stratosphere.

On record La Novia is an hour long, so I’m guessing they played some part of the song before entering the slow burning noise of Blue Velvet Blues.  The songs melded into Flying Teapot and OM Riff before landing on Interstellar Overdrive from Pink Floyd.  When they started the slow In A Session Not C, Cotton lit up a cigarette (which you’ll see below caused all kinds of concern)

I don’t know if AMT have ever not played Pink Lady Lemonade (actually, they didn’t play last time I saw them, huh), but it seems that they play variations on it as the years go by.  This one started with the PLL prelude and then shifted into Sparking PLL (in the past I have seen Disco PLL.  This one was unique for me though because while Kawabata was using his metal wand (whatever that is) on the strings, Cotton was singing a high melody.  I enjoyed that for some of the song, Higashi Hiroshi sat aside (even though he sits for the show) and let the rest of the band do their thing.

And then, like each of the three previous shows I’ve seen, they ended the set with Cometary Orbital Drive.  Cotton picked up a tambourine and it looked to me like Higashi was having a little fun mimicking her when he shook his tambourine (but he’s totally deadpan, so who knows).

And then, like the end of every show, Kawabata went insane for the final 3 minutes or so.  His fingers flew, he raised the guitar over his head, he bent notes (all the while the rest of the band is keeping up going faster and faster), he took off his guitar and held it head down while still making noises.  Then he brought the guitar to the edge of the stage and let everyone within reach (including me) tap the strings as he waved it around.  Satisfied, he took the guitar back and looked around…spotting something or another and then he lifted the guitar over his head and suspended it from something near the ceiling.  And there it hung feedbacking as the band finished up.

It was without question the best AMT show I’ve been to.  I even hung around and took a (sadly, very blurry) selfie with Kawbata.

Next time they come to town I might have to hang out in front of Jyonson.  I feel like I don’t get to really appreciate what he does.  But Kawabata is such a magnet it’s hard not to want to watch everything he does.

Kawabata writes a daily(ish) blog about all of his show and here’s the recap for ours

From Kawabata’s blog:

For just two shows, tonight in Philadelphia and the day after tomorrow in Baltimore, AMT’s original founder , Cotton Casino , will be joining us for a special 90-minute set. The crowd was thrilled when Cotton first appeared, her incredible vocals and trance-like performance stirring up the band and the audience. Meanwhile, the enigmatic rhythms she occasionally played on the tambourine completely captivated both NANI and I, and this only served to further enhance the hyper-psychedelic sound, transforming us into a super-fast version of the eerie star Goras, racing through the galaxy with a furious cosmic rampage, and finally bringing the set to a grand finale.

Incidentally, in the middle of her set, Cotton lit a cigarette, much like she did in her old performances, causing a plume of purple smoke, and after the show she was given a stern warning by the venue. Smoking in public indoor spaces is now considered a barbaric act, and with the Fire Service Act now also coming into play, even the charismatic Cotton would not be tolerated in this day and age, so please do your best.

2025 Milkboy 2023 Johnny Brenda’s 2019 The Saint 2018 Underground Arts
Dark Star Blues ‰ [3] Jam (while soundcheck was finishing up) La Nòvia £ Dark Star Blues ‰
Santa Maria Õ Blue Velvet Blues ⊗ [2] Sycamore Trees (Jimmy Scott cover) Blue Velvet Blues ⊗
La Nòvia £ [2] Dark Star Blues ‰ [2] From Planet Orb With Love > ≅ Disco Pink Lady Lemonade > ⇑
Blue Velvet Blues ⊗ [3] Interstellar Overdrive (Pink Floyd cover) Good-Bye Mrs. Uranus § La Le Lo >
In A session Not C > Flying Teapot (Gong cover) Hello Good Child > ‰ In C ©
Flying Teapot (Gong cover) > From Planet Orb With Love § > [2] Disco Pink Lady Lemonade > [2] Untitled > 
OM Riff From The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. > Good-Bye Mrs. Uranus § [2] In E > ∞ Nanique Another Dimension
Interstellar Overdrive (Pink Floyd cover) Cometary Orbital Drive ⇔ [3] Pink Lady Lemonade coda∀ [2] Pink Lady Lemonade coda ∀ > 
Pink Lady Lemonade prelude > Cometary Orbital Drive ⇔ [2] Cometary Orbital Drive ⇔
Sparkling Pink Lady Lemonade
Cometary Orbital Drive ⇔ [4]

It’s unclear to me what records these songs first appeared on (as they have 1,000 records out), although Setlist does a pretty good job, I think.


Õ Holy Black Mountain Side (2024)
£ La Nòvia (2023)
⊄ Never Ending Psychedelic Deathmatch (2022)
◊ Domino Dimension Drumatique Vol.1 (2022)
⇑ Levitation Sessions (2021)
∀ Diend of Fiend or Unstoppable Moonsault (2020)

≅ Electric Dream Ecstasy (2018)
§ Sacred and Inviolable Phase Shift (2018)
∞ In 0 to ∞ (2010)
⇔ Cometary Orbital Drive (2008) or Paralyzed Genius Brain (2023)
‰ IAO Chant From the Melting Paraiso Underground Freak Out (2005)
‰ Does the Cosmic Shepherd Dream of Electric Tapirs? (2004)
♥ Mantra of Love (2004)
© In C (2001)
⊗ Pataphisical Freak Out MU!! (1999)

Read Full Post »

[ATTENDED: October 23, 2025] Billie Eilish

Our history with Billie Eilish shows is interesting.  I bought tickets in 2019 to see her in NJ.  Then COVID came along and the show was postponed and then cancelled.  I bought tickets again in 2021 and we finally got to see her in 2022.  When she announced a show at Wells Fargo Center in 2024 I wasn’t sure if my daughter cared that much and so I didn’t get tickets.  The show sold out and everyone raved about it and she was bummed we didn’t go.  And then, ever so nicely, Billie announced that the tour was continuing and she was going to play in Philly AGAIN at the same venue.  So this time I was able to surprise her.  The tickets weren’t as close as they were in Newark, but her stage design was a huge rectangle on the floor and she came pretty close to us throughout the show.

And this show was basically the same as the 2024 show.  The only real difference was the middle acoustic songs that she and her backing singers played.  And the fact that the venue was then the Wells Fargo Center and is now the XFinity Mobile Arena.

As happened half the time at this venue, the traffic was terrible.  We left early and assumed we had plenty of time.  But even when we pulled in the lot, all of the ADA was taken!  Good grief.  However, it was cool that we parked right near the Billie 18 wheeler which had her logo on it (photo op!)  Nevertheless, we were going to miss some if not all of Young Miko, the opening act.  I didn’t know anything about her.  She seems to be a chill rapper who sings in English and Spanish.

Since we has already missed half of her set, we decided to just get on the merch line (which moved really quickly!). Having acquired our merch, I did the typical dad thing of figuring out that if half of the people there bought a shirt she made $500K on merch alone.  But good for her and even better for her because she happily donates to good causes and calls out rich men who don’t.

We had pretty great seats, unexpectedly.  I mean, I knew where the seats were that I bought, but I didn’t expect them to be so good.    So her stage was a square (rectangle?) on the floor of the arena.  There was a vertical lighting rig in the middle of the square on which they projected videos and also had a crane of some sort that lifted her up and down throughout the show.

The show started with some videos on the middle screens–mostly static.  And then suddenly Billie was floating above the screens.  On either side of this big screen in a lower area were her band members–2 on either side facing each other.  We were closest to the bass and drums.

When Billie lowered to the stage, she proceeded to run (pretty fast) all around the stage.  She sang and waved to all sides of the square. She stood at corners and sang. She lay down in some places.  She made sure that everyone had a good view of her.

I don’t really know her new album all that well, but she is such a great performer that I didn’t care.  I enjoyed her delivery, her energy and the whole entertainment package of her show.  Like last time the girls screaming around me were far louder than the music.  In fact, listening back to the videos I took, the audience is always louder than Billie (but are in fine rhythm).

Perhaps the most interesting part of the show was when she asked everyone to be quiet so she could loop her vocals for When the Party’s Over.  She explained that she needed silence or the looping wouldn’t work.  People were okay and then people yelled at them to shut up and the Billie started and of course someone shouted I love you and Billie just shook her head and carried on (that voice did not get looped that I could hear).

During Bad Guy (easily my favorite of her songs), she grabbed one of the many cameras ringing the stage and ran around with it showing all of the band members.  And of course the crowd shouted every word.  Duh! (more…)

Read Full Post »

[ATTENDED: October 22, 2025] The Macks

I hadn’t heard of The Macks before and I wasn’t really sure what to expect from them.  I mean they were opening for Acid Mothers Temple so I knew they’d be kind of weird, but I wasn’t expecting them to be weird in the way that they are or for them to rock so hard.

After the set, I asked the singer if their set was a bunch of really short songs or a few long songs and he looked at me like I was crazy.  But there were so many stops and starts it was hard for me to tell.  Either way, though, I didn’t care because the songs were so cool.  Ben Windheim on guitar played great riffs and made wild sounds (he spent so much time on the high notes–chords, feedback, noise–it was great.  The drummer Josef Windheim (Ben’s brother) played really fast and added lots of little details that filled out the sound.  Aidan Harrison on bass played really cool lines and fills and was also up on the high notes a lot.

But it was hard to take your eyes of of singer Sam Fulwiler.  He was really intense, almost daring us to watch (or to turn away).  He had a kind of barking delivery that worked perfectly with the staccato verses.

But there were also some really catchy parts.  Like the chorus of Modern Grape: “I don’t need anymore, godamnit.”  But the verses were staccato pumps with staccato lyrics.  And then the middle slowed down with wild spacey synth sounds from Jacob Michael Perris.  That’s what made it so hard to know if these were all the same song or lots of little songs. (more…)

Read Full Post »

[ATTENDED: October 15, 2025] Margaret Glaspy

I have seen Margaret Glaspy three times.  She announced an acoustic show last year but I was unable to go.  I don’t know what she played that night, but a show around that time shows that the set was similar but not exactly the same.

Margaret’s tour manager setup the stage very nicely–a cool old fashioned microphone which was closer to her guitar than her mouth but which picked up everything perfectly–a rug, two guitars and a stool with capo and harmonica.  After a few minutes Margaret came up and took the stage.

Getting this out of the way: there was a guy there who immediately showed YEAH MARGARET!  Totally not reading the room which was quiet and respectful.  That would have been bad enough, but he shouted it before just about every song.  Everyone else was clapping politely and sometimes loudly, but this guy–holy cow.  He also whooped occasionally during the songs.  It was really weird and I feel like maybe Margaret was annoyed by it too.  It startled everyone in the room.

She grabbed her guitar and started playing.  Somehow I missed that she released an EP in 2024 called The Sun Doesn’t Think (she was selling shirts for this release and I wasn’t sure what they were talking about).  The first song Would You Be My Man? was from that EP.  It features great lyrics:

There’s a few numbers in my book, that you don’t know about
But you don’t need to know about them
And a few photos that I took, that you don’t know about
But I’ll let you know if you need to know about it
Yeah I had a life, that you don’t know about
And you don’t need to know about it
But would you be my, would you be my
Would you be my man?

I believe that Margaret is happily married, but boy she has amazing kiss off songs. Up next was her first cover of the night.  Earlier this year she released a covers EP and all three songs that she played come from it.  The first one was The Book of Love.  I’m so used to Stephen Merrit’s deep voice that it was weird hearing Margaret’s delicate voice singing it. (more…)

Read Full Post »

[ATTENDED: October 15, 2025] Daphne Gale

Daphne Gale is a singer, songwriter, composer from Brooklyn (she joked about almost being from Philly because her mom almost got a job “across the street” (not sure where that meant).  Her web page says she also lives in Berlin.

I had assumed that she was a new performer.  However, her stage confidence and ability to not feel rushed really showed what a professional she is.  And indeed, she’s been making music for a few years.

She had a guitar player with her (whom she named several times and whose name I have forgotten).  For  the first few songs she played electric guitar (a guitar that her friend found i the trash and fixed up for her) and then she switched to acoustic for the last few.

She told a little story about each song, with fun personal details.  The song Benjamin is about a doorman.  One of the songs (Melodrama, I think) referenced a bakery that was near her ex’s flat.  She used to pass by it every day marveling at the people who were there to buy $8 croissants. (more…)

Read Full Post »

[ATTENDED: October 15, 2025] Brooke Annibale

I was happy to see Margaret Glaspy again. And I was especially happy that she was playing in Milkboy–a venue that I really like but which has terrible parking.Last time I Was here I got a parking ticket for the end of my car jutting into a motorcycle area.  I drove around a bit tonight and wound up parking in the exact same spot!  But this time I pulled forward enough that only my bumper was in the motorcycle zone… no ticket, phew.

But between driving around and then slowly getting to the venue, I missed about half of Brooke Annibale’s set.  I also had to stand pretty far in the back–I like to get close because of the strange layout of the room–narrow and very deep.  But I was able to focus on Brooke’s gorgeous voice.

I really enjoyed the lyrics of her new song Bolder Font.

I had no idea that that Brooke Annibale had been releasing music since 2005 (!).  She talked about touring for awhile and how much she liked Margaret Glaspy.  Originally, Brooke wasn’t supposed to play at this show, but she was added last minute (which I guess is why she was on first since Daphne Gale is a much newer musician).

Her albums have more orchestration, but her it was simply her and her guitar–lovely folksinger vibes.  I wish I had seen her whole set.

It also turns out that Brooke was part of Guster’s On the Ocean festival this year.

Setlist

Hold On
Things We Don’t Believe Anymore
Patience
My Favorite Part
Bolder Font
Home Again

 

 

Read Full Post »

[ATTENDED: October 11, 2025] My Morning Jacket

After such a great night last night, we wound up leaving a little bit later (figuring there was no Friday night traffic) and arrived a few minutes later than last night.  But when I walked up to the merch line there was literally one person in front of me–moments later when I looked again, the line was huge, going up the stairs.  Then we headed down to the pit.  It was a little more crowded than last night.  We were going to try to get in front of Jim, but that’s what everyone else wanted, too.  So we camped out more or less where we were the night before, in front of Carl.  We were two people back from where we were, which isn’t bad at all.

So yes, last night as pretty tiring and we’d had a busy day, but we were psyched for a second night of My Morning Jacket.  And I was super psyched when they opened with Highly Suspicious, a totally ripping song from Evil Urges and one that I’d forgotten about–it was also the first time I’d seen it live.  This was also when I learned that Carl Broemel can do so many great backing voices (including the deep, angry chanting of “highly suspicious”).  They followed it with Off the Record, one of the poppier songs off of Z.

Then Carl Broemel moved over to the pedal steel guitar and they played the short but fun Climbing the Ladder.   It was interesting that last night Carl played the saxophone on a few songs but didn’t play it at all tonight. And last night he didn’t play the pedal steel at all but he played it about three times tonight.

And it was pretty clear that if last night’s show was all about jamming, tonight show was shorter, more rocking songs.  And the guys in the front who were headbanging last night had much more cause to do so tonight.

Speaking of the pit.  Tonight’s crowd was fascinating.  There was a guy who kept walking around the pit area hugging and fist bumping people.  He switched places with people and let other be on the barrier.  In fact, one of the long-haired headbangers let some of the shorter folks switch places with him for a song or two.  It was an incredibly generous and, dare I say it, loving thing to do.  Appropriate for the next song Love Love Love, the only song they played from their previous self-titled album.  The lighting at the shows was fairly simply but effective.  They had five panels mounted behind them.  All of the panels had lights that moved and spun and changed colors. But during Love Love Love, they spelled out Love! which was pretty nice.

Up next was Wordless Chorus, one of the great MMJ songs.  The crowd went nuts and we all sang the wordless chorus over and over as Jim walked around the stage, coming over by us at last. (more…)

Read Full Post »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 12, 2025] Destroyer / Jennifer Castle

I had tickets to see Destroyer here in 2022, but other things got in the way.  After seeing Destroyer open for Father John Misty, I was curious to see how he would tour for this new album (a huge band or a small band?)

Well, we had tickets for My Morning Jacket the two nights before this show and even though I wanted to go to this one, there was just know way I could do it.  So I missed out on Dan and his band again,  But I’m sure he’ll be back again.

Incidentally, here’s a review of his show (well, actually, more of him than of the show) in San Francisco

He’s a notoriously shy performer—Early reviews of Destroyer all recall him coming on stage already drunk, if not drink-in-hand prepared for it.  English major dropout, lover of French New Wave films and 40s era jazz. The Vancouver-based artist stands aloof on stage, staring at seemingly nobody in particular, in what seems like an attempt to pretend the crowd isn’t there. He sips his beer in between songs and crouches down, closing his eyes while his bandmates do the rest. Something tells me that this is his most comfortable and preferred way of performing.

And it answered my question about his live band

Joined by the two guitarists, the bassist and drummer were feverish and impossible to take your eyes off of. The keys player and trumpeter (with his own pedal board, mind you!) took the edges of the stage, with Bejar in the center.

So I know what I missed.  And I’d like to see it again.

Jennifer Castle is a Toronto based singer songwriter.  She released two albums under the name Castlemusic.  She has played with everyone from U.S. Girls to Fucked Up.  Her 2014 album has chamber folk and psychedelic components an her previous album had psychedelic folk elements.

She sounds interesting, although the few songs I’ve listened to are far more folk than psychedelic.  And she’s a little too slow for my tastes.

 

 

Read Full Post »

[ATTENDED: October 10, 2025] Balthvs

We saw Balthvs last night and really enjoyed them.  So much so that my wife and I were both looking forward to seeing them again.  I wouldn’t have minded hearing the same set again because it was so enjoyable.  But, I assume since they knew that MMJ would be playing a different set tonight, Balthvs played an entirely new set tonight as well.

Tonight, with the audience more familiar with them, they received a huge response when they came out and the guys in the front row were 100% in–jumping and headbandging and clapping.  It had to be a great reception for them.  And they continued to impress with a whole bunch of new (to us) songs.

The opening Sun Colored Eyes was a bit more mellow and groovy, but still sounded great.  All is One continued in the mellower vein with vocals from Vanessa.  She sang in a dreamy voice that made this song even more psychedelic.  There were a few transitions where the song had a five note beat that grounded the song nicely.

As soon as Balthazar played the opening riff to Bird Song, the crowd went nuts.  I didn’t know the song but I have since learned that it’s a Jerry Garcia/Grateful Dead song, so that checks.

Apparently in the middle of the song they segued into a 2 minute original, Famagusta Port and then cycled back to finish up Bird Song.

Balthazar said that they had recently been to Turkey and took some of the scene their with them, which resulted in Turkish Coffee, a song that was perfectly in keeping with their sound, but had definite Turkish influences.  Then he joked that Philadelphia wasn’t too far from the ocean and they launched into what they call Surf Medley, a three part song of surf guitar instrumentals, starting with The Chantays “Pipeline,” segueing into Dick Dale’s “Misirlou” and finally Reverend Horton Heat’s “Marijuana.”  It was fantastic–Balthazar is an incredible guitarist and they captured the surf vibe perfectly.

Up next was an older song Siente which had a little bass solo section for Vanessa to show off her chops.  (more…)

Read Full Post »

[ATTENDED: October 10, 2025] My Morning Jacket

A couple of years ago we saw My Morning Jacket at the Met.  They played two nights in a row but we only went to one.  I’m not going to say the second night was better, but they played a lot of great songs that second night as well.  So when they announced two nights again, I grabbed GA tickets (to finally get up close to the band) for both nights.

We greatly enjoyed Balthvs and the fact that we were one person away from the barrier for most of the show.

The lights dimmed and the band came out and they were off, playing Steam Engine.  The song is 7 minutes on record and they stretched that thing out with some lengthy soloing and jamming.  It went over 15 minutes and the band sounded in great form.

I had thought that they might play all of Z (since they have been touring the album), but they didn’t (which is fine).  For this show they played three songs off of it.  One of them was It Beats 4U which, amazingly, I had not seen live before.

When we saw them last time, they didn’t play anything from The Waterfall.  Tonight they played two songs, the delightful In Its Infancy and, later on, Spring (Among the Living).

My two favorite MMJ albums are Evil Urges and Circuital, so I’m always excited to hear songs from them.  They played Circuital, which made me quite happy.  I don’t really know their first few records all that well–they’re a little too slow and not very catchy.  But the crowd seems to love when they play a deep cut like X-Mas Curtain (this is one of their older songs that I really do like, so I enjoyed hearing it).

Speaking of the crowd… we were in the pit and most of the people around us were VIP purchasers and other die-hards.  The guys in the front on the barrier all had long hair and proceeded to headbang through the whole show.  It was pretty funny and they made the front of MMJ’s Instagram page the following day.

And we were right in from of Carl Broemel and it was amazing watching him do…everything.  He played amazing solos, he played saxophone, he even sang fantastic backing vocals.  But it was so cool when he stepped up to the edge of the stage, about 6 feet from us and just wailed on that guitar.  (more…)

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »