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Archive for the ‘Philadelphia, PA’ Category

Frost Children [Speed Run] with support from Frost Children [Hearth Room] / Mother Cell (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, February 1, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Frost Children, Mother Cell, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA on February 1, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: February 1, 2024] Frost Children / Mother Cell

When this show was announced I grabbed a ticket pretty quickly.  I had seen Frost Children open for Yves Tumor and their set was wild and super fun.  I knew I’d want to see  them again.

I also loved that they billed the show as Frost Children with special guest Frost Children.  They were going to play their two new albums (which sound very different) as if they were two bands.

But when I listened to the new albums, they were far more sedate than when I’d seen them live.  And, actually, I wondered if their show, which felt so big to me could translate well onto the PhilaMOCA stage.

Then I saw that they had another opening band, Mother Cell.  They are described as a rhythmic noise pop band, but when I listened to the two most recent songs I found them far more mellow and poppy than noisy.

Since the show was sold out and I’d been to four shows in the last few days, I decided to give this one a miss.  I’m actually planning on going to fewer shows of young, noisy bands like this.  So we’ll see if that comes to pass too.

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Lucius (Brooklyn Bowl, Philadelphia, PA, January 29, 2024)

Posted in Brooklyn Bowl, Jeff Taylor, Lucius, Philadelphia, PA on February 1, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: January 29, 2024] Lucius

I’ve had a ton of opportunities to see Lucius in the last two years.  My count is 5 (plus two at festivals I wasn’t going to).  For one reason or another (sometimes inertia) I just didn’t go.

Then they announced this ten year anniversary of their debut album and I thought that that would be really fun to see.  I really liked about half of the album a lot.  The rest was good.  And I figured in a live setting all of the songs would be great.

The strange thing is I had no idea that Lucius has released only three albums (and various other remixes and stuff).  So when they played in NJ last year, had I gone, I would have seen half of this album anyway!  In fact, had I gone to that show, I would have heard them play one of their newer songs that I love, “Next to Normal.”  Serves me right.

But there was something neat about going to this little mini-tour and being one of the select cities that got to see it.

It took them a while t o come out.  In fact, they turned the lights out at 8:45 and we sat in the dark until like 9:10, which is just weird.  But whatever.  The guys came out first and then Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig came out in matching outfits–berets and bold colored jackets00primary colors splitting the coats in half with brighter colors on the pockets.  They looked great.

There was a (tall) family in front of me and they were pretty good when they started singing “Wildewoman.”  There was a woman behind me who was singing very loudly.  She had a good voice, but honestly we are here to hear these two women with incredible voices.   Fortunately she was mostly in tune and easy to ignore. (more…)

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Jeff Taylor (Brooklyn Bowl, Philadelphia, PA, January 29, 2024) [LUCIUS]

Posted in Brooklyn Bowl, Jeff Taylor, Lucius, Philadelphia, PA on January 31, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 29, 2024] Jeff Taylor

Jeff Taylor is an old friend of Lucius.  He is from new Jersey but lives in Pittsburgh.

He opened his set by humming a kind of dissonant sound as he strummed his guitar.  It went on for far longer than it should have and became kind of funny, but not actually funny.

Then he finally sang a line “We lost my dad,” and seemed to start the whole song over.   Whether he messed up or just wanted that line to hang there is unclear.

Jeff played an electric guitar and sang and I just couldn’t get into it.

By the end of his set I feel like he warmed me up a bit and I enjoyed the last few songs more.  But most of his songs were about breaking up with someone and they just weren’t that interesting.

I mean “Flashes” goes

Just push me away
Let me be free of you
You weren’t my kinda girl

So, yeah. (more…)

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Torres (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, January 25, 2024)

Posted in Aisha Burns, Philadelphia, PA, Torres, Union Transfer on January 27, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 25, 2024] Torres 

This was my fifth time seeing Torres play.

Every time I see her, her set becomes more powerful and intense.  What was fun about this tour was that her new album, What an Enormous Room, was coming out the next day.

So we were able to hear most of these songs for the first time in a live setting, which was great.  Especially since she gave a little explanation of each song before playing them. I also love that she played a new song followed by an old song–a kind of mini greatest hits.

A lot of times when you hear a song for the first time, it may not land right away.  There were a couple of songs that are going to take a few listens to really get into, but for the most part, these songs were grabbers, doing what Torres does best–catchy powerful choruses with her great voice doing its thing.

I had wondered what the title of this album was supposed to mean, and she told us that life these days was overwhelmingly depressing.  And without trying to forget that, she felt that this album was a ray of hope–this is an enormous room, look what other things I can do in it.

She played a few songs from each of her recent albums (although only one from her lost-to-COVID album, Silver Tongue). (more…)

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Meet Me @ the Altar (Theatre of Living Arts [TLA], Philadelphia, PA, January 23, 2024)

Posted in Elliot Lee, Honey Revenge, John Harvie, Meet Me @ The Altar, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts on January 26, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 23, 2024] Meet Me @ the Altar

I had tickets to see Meet Me @ the Altar last year but went to The Beths instead (good choice).  MM@TA were headlining The Foundry.  And now a year later they are headlining TLA.

My daughter and I saw them at the All Things Go Festival and I loved them.  I knew I wanted to see them again–especially as a headliner.

I thought that Meet Me @ the Altar were really really young (teenagers), but this summer, singer Edith Victoria announced that it was her birthday and that she was now 23.  I’m not sure how old guitarist/bassist Téa Campbell or drummer Ada Juarez are.

They play feminist pop punk.  Téa Campbell absolutely rips on guitar and Ada Juarez pummels back there.  I’m not sure how they play the backing sounds–basses and extra percussion.  I assume Juarez triggers a sampler and they play to the sounds as opposed to them being triggered on the fly.  I loved the sound of the guitars.  I loved Edith’s voice (and Téa’s backing vocals) and I loved their attitude.

From the start, they brought the pop punk.  In addition to playing a lot of new songs, they dig into their back catalog (which they have).

After a couple of songs they got a pit going and when they played “Hit Like a Girl,” Edith told the crowd that this pity was just for the women, which I thought was pretty cool.

When I saw them this summer, they played some excerpts from songs they’d wished they’d written.  I assumed that was just a fun way to endear yourself to a festival crowd.  But they’ve been doing this on each show of the tour (although mixing things up a bit).  I really enjoyed their cover of “Complicated” this summer.  They didn’t play that this time, instead playing “Since U Been Gone” and putting a great punk attitude on it.

The end of the set was a collection of killer tracks that the crowd was fully into.  We all sang along to “Kool” and they ended with the name of the tour: Say It to My Face absolutely shredded the room.

The show was only an hour, but they packed everything in and the crowd was really psyched by it.  On the way out I heard someone say how much better they were than at The Foundry last year.  So I think i picked the right show after all!

 

2024 (TLA) 2023 (All Things Go)
Same Language ⇔ Same Language ⇔
Brighter Days (Are Before Us) Δ T.M.I ⇔
Now or Never Δ Try ⇔
Beyond My Control ♦ Since U Been Gone (Kelly Clarkson) (excerpt)
Try ⇔ Complicated (Avril Lavigne) (excerpt)
May the Odds Be in Your Favor Ø Take Me Away (Christina Vidal) (excerpt)
Hit Like A Girl § Hit Like A Girl §
It’s Over For Me ⇔ Say It (To My Face) ⇔
Since U Been Gone (Kelly Clarkson) (excerpt) Garden Ø
Take Me Away (Christina Vidal) (excerpt) Kool ⇔
Burnin’ Up (Jonas Brothers) (excerpt)
T.M.I ⇔
Garden Ø
Feel a Thing Δ
Kool ⇔
Say It (To My Face) ⇔

⇔ Past//Present//Future (2023)
Δ Model Citizen EP (2021)
§ single 2021
Ø single 2020
♦ Bigger Than ME EP (2019)

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Aisha Burns (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, January 25, 2024) [TORRES]

Posted in Aisha Burns, Philadelphia, PA, Torres, Union Transfer on January 26, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 25, 2024] Aisha Burns

I hadn’t heard of Aisha Burns before this show, although the way she talked about her career, it sounded like she’s been playing music for years and years.  She’s in her late 30s and has been playing violin for ages.   She has appeared on several records as a featured violinist, but she has only released two solo albums in the last ten years.

She actually didn’t play as much violin as I imagined.  The first song opened with some looped violin, but then she played the melodica or guitar for most of the songs.  She had a partner on lead guitar with her but she never introduced him.  He played mostly backing solos and noises. They made a solid wall of sound.

Her songs were a little too slow for me overall.  There wasn’t a ton of variety.  But what she played was great.  I think just not in this setting, maybe–a seated venue with a great sound system would be an amazing way to experience her. (more…)

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Honey Revenge (Theatre of Living Arts [TLA], Philadelphia, PA, January 23, 2024) [MEET ME @ THE ALTAR]

Posted in Elliot Lee, Honey Revenge, John Harvie, Meet Me @ The Altar, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts on January 25, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 23, 2024] Honey Revenge

I hadn’t heard of Honey Revenge, but before the show I checked out a few songs and really liked them.

Apparently they have a pretty big fan base too, because there were several people who left the front after their set.  And one guy in front of me who was dancing in a very elbows-in-your-face kinda way.  I was very glad when he pushed further forward.

Honey Revenge has played Philly three times in about a year, once as a headliner at The Foundry, so the Philly love is big.

So Honey Revenge is evidently a two-piece: Devin Papadol (vocals) and Donovan Lloyd (guitar), although there were two other people on stage too–touring musicians Tay Fischer (@witchybassist) who was super fun and jumped off the bass drum at one point (and who will be playing with Jhariah in February) and drummer Matt Arsenault who I feel like I’ve seen play with other people too.

They play grungy 90s rock with great pop hooks.

Papadol is a take-no-shit front woman.  She encouraged people to mosh and to crowd surf (it’s not often that people crowd surf for an opener, but they did).  She asked who had never crowd surfed before and aid that tonight was the time to do it.  And, she threatened, if anyone gets dropped, I will stop the show.  It was really fun seeing little kids (with big era protectors) crowd surfing during the songs.

She also insisted that there be a pit AND a conga line.

Lloyd was a great guitarist too.  I didn’t really notice the guitar work at first because really, all eyes are on Papadol, but Lloyd pulled out some great sounds and some kicking (but short) solos.

I also really liked their lyrics which were empowering.  But also funny.  Like a song that is part slacker, part ass kicker

Sure, I could be doing more, but I could be doing lessUsed to going overboard and if I had to take a guessNever been too proud, I’ve always been too loud to ignoreMy mouth’s a messNow being annoying comes with reward and everyone’s impressed

Although one of their most popular songs is “Airhead” as in “damn, I’m such a” so there is definitely a sense of humor in the lyrics.

They were a lot of fun and I would absolutely see them again.

  1. Seeing Negative (Disappointment) ∞
  2. Worst Apology ∞
  3. Recipe for Disaster @
  4. Favorite Song ∞
  5. Habitual ∞
  6. Rerun ∞
  7. Murphy’s Law ∞
  8. Are You Impressed? ∞
  9. Airhead ∞
  10. Distracted ∞

@ new song 2024
∞ Retrovision (2023)
[from this album, they did not play Fight or Flight, Sensitive, Scapegoat]

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John Harvie (Theatre of Living Arts [TLA], Philadelphia, PA, January 23, 2024) [MEET ME @ THE ALTAR]

Posted in Elliot Lee, Honey Revenge, John Harvie, Meet Me @ The Altar, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts on January 24, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 23, 2024] John Harvie

I didn’t know who John Harvie was before this set.  He seemed like a slightly out of place artist since everyone else was female (token male on the tour perhaps?).  Although he was more of an odd presence because his songs are mega-emo rather than pop punky.

But he won me over pretty quickly because he’s a Philly guy and he was pretty psyched to be playing in his hometown.

Unlike Elliot Lee, Harvie had a live drummer.  Although like Lee, much of the rest of the music was on backing tracks. John did occasionally play guitar too.

The things that really made an impression on me were his stage presence and his voice.  he absolutely commanded the stage like a guy who has been playing for far longer.  And, even more impressive, his voice sounded like he was the singer for any number of long-time emo bands.  He strained his voice to the breaking point a few times (and may have paid for it by the end oft he show).

Most of his songs seemed to be a bout breakup, but there was some clever wordplay in the lyrics, which I appreciated.

I also chuckled when he said that “Beauty in the Bad Things” was about being an Eagles fan.

I wound up enjoying his set more than I thought I would.

  1. roses £
  2. A Little Bit Longer ©
  3. Alaina ©
  4. Beauty in the Bad Things ©
  5. at my worst £
  6. figure 8 £
  7. Bleach (On the Rocks) ©

£ single 2023
© Told Ya. (2022)

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Elliot Lee (Theatre of Living Arts [TLA], Philadelphia, PA, January 23, 2024) [MEET ME @ THE ALTAR]

Posted in Elliot Lee, Honey Revenge, John Harvie, Meet Me @ The Altar, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts on January 23, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 23, 2024] Elliot Lee

Elliot Lee looks like they are about 12 years old. In fact, they are 26 and are simultaneously adorable and, for someone who commands a stage, really nervous-seeming.

I didn’t know anything about Elliot Lee before this show.  I listened to a couple of their songs and wanted to get there early enough to see their set.  I’m glad I did, even if it was only 20 minutes.

They played five songs and when the lights first dimmed a guy in a full on bunny costume (with really long ears) came out and either did nothing or triggered the sounds of the first song “Sicko.”

Elliot came out shortly after wearing a bonnet with small ears.  The whole outfit was wild–striped shirt, colorful bra on the outside and pink ski pants.  And they proceeded to bounce around the stage with abandon.

Her songs are catchy and poppy but with a dark edge.  On record, the production is really sharp with lots going on.  But live, the music was stripped down, letting Elliot’s voice shine.

“Fun” is pretty much a disco song with a dark edge (come to think of it, just like ABBA).

Elliot was pretty clear about what the songs were about, but here’s an article from Outwrite (more…)

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The Teeth / Alejandro Morales (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, January 19, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Alejandro Morales, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, The Teeth on January 19, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: January 13, 2024] The Teeth / Alejandro Morales

I had never heard of The Teeth before I saw that they had sold out three nights at Johnny Brenda’s months and months before these shows happened.

So who were they?

The Teeth was an indie rock band from Philadelphia consisting of twin brothers Aaron MoDavis on rhythm guitar and Peter MoDavis

After abruptly breaking up 15 years ago The Teeth are reuniting for a pair of special shows at Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia. Twin brothers Peter MoDavis (Bass) and Aaron MoDavis (guitar) will reassemble with Jonas Oesterle (drums) and Brian Ashby (guitar) on their favorite stage in the City of Brotherly Love.

Opening for this show was comedian Alejandro Morales.  I watched a clip of his standup and found it okay.  I wanted to like him more than I did.  The vibe was good but the jokes didn’t seem to land very well.

Here’s some more about The Teeth: (more…)

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