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Archive for the ‘Philadelphia, PA’ Category

Ex Pilots (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, March 11, 2024) [CHERRY GLAZERR]

Posted in Cherry Glazerr, Ex-Pilots, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Foundry on March 11, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 11, 2024] Ex Pilots

I was not familiar with Ex Pilots before this show, but a guy behind me certainly was.  he was one of those guys who feels the need to talk loudly about whatever he thinks he knows a lot about.  He was pretty annoying, but he was right: people are going to come away from this show as Ex Pilot fans.  At the very least, I became a fan.

He also went on some crazy rant about Cherry Glazerr saying he’d never heard of them but thought they were some kind of 90s female grunge sound which he was never into (I was shocked that the the women around him didn’t pound him).  he also said he was surprised that there was only one opening band because most shows have like four.  Ugh, men.

But he was right about Ex Pilots.

I really enjoyed the way Hammer started as a fast rocking song and then after a minute it shifted gears to a slower, heavier rocking sound and then immediately shifted again into a lighter bouncier verse.  According to their recording, this song is only two minutes long.  It changed gears about five times and I was hooked.

“Exactly Like You” is a quieter song with echoing guitars.  It has very few words (only the title is sung) and at two minutes long, the vocals don’t come in until the half way part.

There were lots of fascinating things about this band.  There are six members in the band, including three guitarists!  And yet despite this, lead singer (and from what I can see, the main Pilot) Ethan Oliva played most of the lead guitar lines too.

After two new songs (I always think it’s funny bands ask if it’s okay if they play a new song, especially if hardly anyone has heard their older songs) they played “Nick Song” has a really catchy vocal melody.  “Bad Aibling” has a rocking shoegaze feel.  Most of the songs were about two minutes long but “Aibling” stretched out to 3! (more…)

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Slide Away Philadelphia: Nothing / Swirlies / Loveliescrushing / Tagabow / Mint Field / Knifeplay / Astrobrite / Glixen (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, March 9, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND–COVID]

Posted in Astrobrite, Glixen, Knifeplay, Loveliescrushing, Mint Field, Nothing, Philadelphia, PA, Slide Away, Swirlies, Tagabow, Union Transfer on March 9, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: March 9, 2024] Slide Away

When this day-long event was announced, I grabbed a ticket because I knew a couple of the bands.  Amazingly, perhaps, I didn’t know Nothing, the headliner.

I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to spend an entire day at Union Transfer, but the lineup was pretty great.  The recently sent the proposed schedule

3:00pm Doors Open
4:00pm Glixen
5:00pm Astrobrite
6:00pm Knifeplay
7:00pm Mint Field
8:00pm TAGABOW
9:00pm Lovesliescrushing
10:15pm Swirlies
11:30 Nothing
w/ DJ set by Full Body 2, Kip Berman and Vyva Melinkolya between bands

And it sounds like most of the sets were going to be about 30 minutes, at least until Loveliescrushing.

But then my son came home from college for Spring Break and I REALLY didn’t want to spend most of the day away.   I mostlu wanted to see Knifeplay and Mint Field, but as I listened to more of the bands, I realized I quite liked them all.

Glixen is from Phoenix.  Now, pretty much all of these bands are shoegaze, so the descriptions are going to be quite similar, but here we go

Glixen is a shoegaze band from Phoenix, Arizona whose sound consists of tender melodies encased inside chrome walls of grungy textures and heavy guitars. Founder and lead vocalist, Aislinn Ritchie, began the project in 2020 enlisting guitarist Esteban Santana, drummer Keire Johnson, and bassist Sonia Garcia.

I really liked the Glixen vibe–lots of soft guitars and thick cottony sounds.  Aislinn Ritchie has a beautiful soaring voice that suits the music really well. (more…)

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The Teeth / Toby Leaman (First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA, March 8, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Dr. Dog, First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA, The Teeth, Toby Leaman on March 8, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: March 8, 2024] The Teeth / Toby Leaman

Back in January I wrote this about the Teeth.

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.

Well, that short run of songs has been extended.  They’re playing this show at The Church and they’re opening for Dr. Dog in July. (more…)

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Daði Freyr: I’m Doing a Tour (Brooklyn Bowl, Philadelphia, PA, March 7, 2024)

Posted in Atomic Kitten, Backstreet Boys, Blusher, Brooklyn Bowl, Daði Freyr, Philadelphia, PA on March 8, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 7, 2024] Daði Freyr 

I saw Daði Freyr about a year and a half ago on his first tour of the United States.  So now I’ve seen ALL of his appearances in Philadelphia (two).  I enjoyed the first one so much I grabbed a ticket for my wife and daughter as well.  Turned out that my daughter had a school thing she couldn’t miss.  And had I looked up the details, I would have seen the the show was sold out and I probably could have sold my ticket.  I never would have guessed it had sold out, but look at that poster–sold out up and down the country.

To my knowledge, Daði Freyr was only known from his Eurovision songs.  I had no idea that he made any kind of inroads into the US.  When I saw him last time there were some die hard fans at the show.  But this was crazy. There was a woman in front of us who, when he sang “Sunshine” nearly passed out saying “I can’t believe he’s real.”

Fascinating.

I went last time as a lark.  I went this time because I enjoyed his show and thought my family might too.  It was quite eye opening.

Like last time, the band was a trio–Daði is on synths, guitar and bass, Ylva Øyen on drums and keys and Pétur Karl on guitars and synth.

Center stage was a giant inflatable head of Daði and there were two giant hands on either side of the stage.  There was an announcement before the show in which Daði thanked us for coming and told us to look into the eyes and the souls of the people around us and get ready to dance with them.

They came out on stage and the crowd went nuts.  Appropriately, they started with “Thank You,” a classic synth pop song.  His voice is surprisingly deep and yet very warm at the same time.

last time, he followed this up with the rather amusing “Shut Up” but this time he jumped right into an older Icelandic language song–and the crowd went even crazier. (more…)

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Blusher (Brooklyn Bowl, Philadelphia, PA, March 7, 2024) [DAÐI FREYR]

Posted in Blusher, Brooklyn Bowl, Daði Freyr, Nelly Furtado, Philadelphia, PA on March 7, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 7, 2024] Blusher

I was pretty excited to see Daði Freyr again.  I didn’t pay much attention to the opening act.  Last time it wa a local musician whom I hadn’t heard of.

This time it proved to be an up and coming megastar band from Australia called Blusher.

Of course, when they came out, my wife and I thought that they were a local group of teenage girls.  They sang well, the song was catchy, but they seemed so young!

Then they introduced themselves (Jade, Lauren, and Miranda) and Jade’s Australian accent was terrific and we agreed that we instantly liked them at least 5% more.

I’ve now looked them up and learned they are not teenagers (or maybe they are, but they’ve been making music for a pretty long time, anyhow).  They opened for Aurora last year.  Jade Alice (her solo name) has been making music since 2015.

I enjoyed their lyrics, which weren’t profound but were more than standard pop lyrics.

Dead End has a really catchy pause mid-verse that draws you in.  I really like Limelight–super catchy chorus

They announced a cover that we might know (I didn’t), and then played their new rocking single “Rave Angel.”    It was followed by another new song “About You.”

Then came their first hit “Softly Spoken.”  I hadn’t heard of it but it has had a million streams.  The worldplay is pretty clever.  At the end of the song Miranda sang into a mgeaphone.  Unfortunately, it cut out while she was yelling at the end.

“Hurricane Chaser” was a fun song with a cool metaphor.  But the new song “Accelerator” had a mad fast dance beat and was super catchy.

They ended with “Backbone,” a catchy song about your friend hating your boyfriend: “You said you’d punch him in the chest if you ever met him.”  Super catchy, but an odd place to punch someone…ouch.

For this song they did some basic self-defense move choreography, which was cute.  The whole show they did very simple choreography–the kind that teenagers come up with when they’re singing in their bedroom.  It made them somehow even more adorable.

And the crowd ate it up. I felt like the crowd might have been a bunch of rubes or a bunch of plants–massive shrieking when all three waved their arms at the same time, and massive screams of pleasure when they all turned around to reveal they were–gasp–all wearing sunglasses.  It was a little weird, but it made the band feel great and I think their first show in the States was a huge success for them.

I’ve decided to follow them online to see how big they get, so I can say that I saw their first show in the States.

  1. Dead End ¿
  2. Limelight ¿
  3. Say It Right (Nelly Furtado cover)
  4. Rave Angel §
  5. About You §
  6. Softly Spoken ¿
  7. Hurricane Chaser ¿
  8. Accelerator §
  9. Backbone ¿
§ new songs (2024)
¿ Should We Go Dance? EP (2023)

 

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Wax Jaw / Life in Vacuum / Porcelain / Born Loser DJs (Ortlieb’s, Philadelphia, PA, March 1, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Born Loser DJs, Life in Vacuum, Ortlieb's, Philadelphia, PA, Porcelain, Wax Jaw on March 1, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: March 1, 2024] Wax Jaw / Life in Vacuum / Porcelain

I have recently discovered the Philly band Wax Jaw and I am mildly obsessed with them.  They recently posted that they have existed for one whole year.  In that time I could have seen them six times, but only saw them once.  And I am looking forward to seeing them again.

The confusing thing about this show is that I have seen two posters for it.  The one on the right implies that Porcelain arethe headliners.  The one below implies  that Wax jaw are the headliners.  What to believe?

I already had plans for this night and I didn’t want to give them up for a 20 minute Wax Jaw set.  Although it does sound like Wax Jaw is headlining.

Well, I already had plans.  Plus, Wax Jaw is playing in Bethlehem in a few weeks anyhow.

Porcelain is from Austin.  Post-Trash says

The quartet of Ryan Fitzgibbon (US Weekly), Eli Deitz (Dregs, Votive), Steve Pike (Exhalants, CSSS), and Jordan Emmert (Super Thief, Pleasure Venom) bring a great deal of experience together from different pockets of the city’s noise rock and punk scene, the pieces coming together to create something better than the sum of it’s parts.

I’ve never heard of any of those bands.  I like the sound of their music but I don’t really like the singer.  I bet they crush it live though, their drummer sounds like a maniac.

Life in Vacuum is from Toronto. Although Stereogum adds more details

Life In Vacuum are a band based in Toronto, formed in Ukraine, playing an aggressive form of indie rock that pulls from a few different subgenres. I hear some Fugazi-style post-hardcore and some Metz-esque noise-rock in the mix.

They play an abrasive thumping hardcore that’s lurching and unsettling. Probably amazing to see live.

Born Loser is a record label that Life in Vacuum is on.  I gather someone from the label will be spinning songs from the label between bands?

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Mary Timony / Birthday Girl DC (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, February 29, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Birthday Girl, Johnny Brenda's, Mary Timony, Philadelphia, PA on February 29, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: February 29, 2024] Mary Timony /Birthday Girl DC

Mary Timony is one of indie rock’s great guitar players.  I really enjoyed her band Helium, although I haven’t really listened to them in quite some time.

I have seen her play solo (with a band) twice and I recall not really enjoying her set all that much.   She (as you can judge by the photo below) indulges in fantasy and I thought that would make me like her solo records even more.

But honestly, nothing she’s done since Helium has intrigued me all that much,

So I wasn’t planning on going to this show anyway. (more…)

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Twin Temple / Vowws (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, February 27, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Twin Temple, Union Transfer, VOWWS on February 27, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: February 27, 2024] Twin Temple / Vowws

I saw Twin Temple two years ago when they opened for Ghost.  I said

I don’t really like the music as I don’t like doo-wop, but I was all in for the spectacle.  And wow, what a spectacle.

The band came out of stage: drums, bass, keys and a big old tenor sax.  After riffing for a bit, the two main persons in the band came out on stage in their full satanic regalia.

and concluded

It was an amazing visual experience and it was an a jam packed 25 minutes.  I even enjoyed the music by the end.

I was minorly intrigued to see what they would do as headliners, but not enough to actually go to the show.

I had heard of VOWWS but I guess I didn’t know them.  This review from Revolver says they

usually perform in near darkness, with the only light coming from a movie projector aimed at the stage. The Australian duo — singer-guitarist Matt James and singer-keyboardist Rizz — mostly play bent over their instruments in dark glasses and long black coats, crafting their brooding, deeply melodic “death pop” from the shadows.

Their music is nowhere near as dark as this makes it sound.  They remind me a lot of Black Celebration Depeche Mode.  Kind of cool and spooky synthy.

I guess maybe this would be a fun show.

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This is the Kit / Sam Amidon (World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA, February 23, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Sam Amidon, This is the Kit, World Cafe Live on February 23, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: February 23, 2024] This is the Kit / Sam Amidon

This is the Kit played Johnny Brenda’s back in October.  They are a band I know from NPR Music and I haven’t thought of them in a while.  I recall liking their music but that there was something unusual about it.

I enjoyed this blurb about them from bandcamp:

This Is The Kit is the musical project of Kate Stables and whoever joins her. You thought you didn’t like the banjo but you were wrong pal. Listen as Kate rips forward with her hypnotic twang pattern and a voice of rare, unaffected beauty.

Kate has a very British delivery.  Reading my review of their Tiny Desk Concert, I really liked them more than I remembered.

I’m happy for them that they have moved from Johnny Brenda’s to World Cafe Live and maybe this will get them some airplay on WXPN. (more…)

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Grace Vonderkuhn / Puppy Angst / Babyfang (Fringe Bar, Philadelphia, PA, February 22, 2024) [Free show–DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Babyfang, Fringe Bar, Grace Vonderkuhn, Philadelphia, PA on February 22, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: February 22, 2024] Grace Vonderkuhn / Puppy Angst / Babyfang

This show was announced not too long ago.  A free show–an opportunity to see Grace Vonderkuhn again.  In a venue I’d never been to.  It was compelling,

But I had tickets to see Indigo de Souza, who I’ve been trying to see for a couple of years now.

While I was waiting for Truth Club to go on, I saw this update from the Grace camp

UPDATE: Due to sickness in the ranks, I (Grace) will be ~opening~ the free show at @fringebarphilly tonight with an intimate *solo* performance followed by @webabyfang and @puppyangst . Hope to see you there!

I genuinely don’t even know what Grace Koon would sound like solo.  I’d have been bummed to discover that I wasn’t getting the whole band (if I had blown of Indigo for this show).

Babyfang is a trio based in Brooklyn  The band consists of: Oakland, California native, Théo Mode (guitarist), Houston, Texas native, Canteen Killa (drummer) and Queens, New York native, 13th Law (bassist). 

I listened to their album and I really like it.  It pulls from all directions, often within a singular song.  The vocals remind me of shoegaze, the guitars rock but there’s all kinds of interesting elements pinging around the songs.  I imagine they are really intense live.

Puppy Angst is from Philly and they describe themselves:

It’s like puppy love but a lil more sad 🐕 shoegazy/dreamy fuzz pop; kind of fun kind of a bummer [alyssa + eric + john + dan + pauli💓]

Their album scorpio season hits me in all the right places–fuzzy guitars, poppy melodies and  confessional storytelling.  Great stuff.

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