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Archive for the ‘Philadelphia, PA’ Category

Margaret Glaspy: Free at Noon (World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA, August 18, 2023)

Posted in Free at Noon, Margaret Glaspy, Philadelphia, PA, World Cafe Live on August 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 18, 2023] Margaret Glaspy

I had been wanting to see Margaret Glaspy for a pretty long time.  She last played Philadelphia in 2016, about two months before I heard her album.  (Well, actually, she played Philly when opening for Ruston Kelly, ew).  She was supposed to headline a tour back in 2020, but that show was postponed, so it’s not her fault that it took six years for me to see her.

It also takes her a pretty long time to put out new music.  Her new album is only her third in seven years.  She had been working on these songs for a while because she played a bunch of them when opening for Spoon last year.

She announced a new tour and is playing Underground Arts the same night I have a ticket for Explosions in the Sky. I’m still torn–they’re very different shows.  But then WXPN announced she’d be doing a Free at Noon and I grabbed a ticket.  I’ve often thought it’s not worth doing one of these–I mean it’s about three hours of my ay for a 30 minute show.  But this one was especially fun because her album came out today and she signed them.

And the band sounded great!

I love how loud and brash her guitar sounds.  I tend to think of her as a kind of soft-spoken singer, but her guitars really rock.   Her new single “Act Natural” is so damned catchy with a great riff and a fun chorus.  Like last time she opened with “I Didn’t Think So” and “Act Natural.”  They are a great one-two punch of riffs and melody.  (more…)

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Otherworld Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA, August 17, 2023)

Posted in Otherworld, Philadelphia, PA on August 17, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 17, 2023] Otherworld Philadelphia

I had gotten an ad on Instagram for something called Otherworld.  There was very little information about what it was, but it seemed like an immersive interactive art exhibit.  My kids have both been to Meow Wolf in Denver and I imagined it would be something like that: Rooms where you looked at things and touched things and just marveled at everything around you.

Even some of the proper reviews of the place were deliberately vague.  This was pretty much everything from ABC 6 News online:

“Otherworld” features more than 55 rooms and large-scale installations. Guests of all ages can roam at their own pace through the 40,000-square-foot location. More than 100 artists are working on the project.

So I purchased early bird tickets at a reduced rate and took the day off work and we headed into Philly (there’s AMPLE parking!!!)

We walked in and my first thought was (having just been to a Flaming Lips concert) that this building must be what the inside of Wayne Coyne’s head is like.

It was fantastic. (more…)

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Kreulty / Outer Heaven / Goetia (Kung Fu Necktie, Philadelphia, PA, August 14, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Goetia, Kreulty, Kung Fu Necktie, Outer Heaven, Philadelphia, PA on August 14, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: August 14, 2023] Kreulty / Outer Heaven / Goetia

I have a fondness for bands from Japan–they tend to go one step further than bands from other places.

When I saw the ad for this show, I was definitely intrigued

Formed in Tokyo, Japan in the summer of 2017, KRUELTY has emerged as the most notable artist to find that sweet spot where the amalgamation of heavy beatdown hardcore and ‘90s American/Scandinavian death/doom metal become s the blueprint of brutality and slam KRUELTY unleash.

But when I listened to their first song, I realized it was a lot of growling vocals like you;d expect from bands whose logos look like the ones at the right.  Just not my thing.

Outer Heaven is from the backwoods of PA. Pennsylvania-based death metal legion​ OUTERHEAVEN​ immediately left a pulverizing imprint on the East Coast death metal scene with their crushing live performances, old-school ethos and string of releases. 

Goetia is more of the same from Washington D.C.

It would have been a brutal, exhausting night.

 

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Sylvan Esso (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, August 12, 2023)

Posted in Califone, Dehd, Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, Sylvan Esso on August 13, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 12, 2023] Sylvan Esso

I’ve had Sylvan Esso on my list of bands to see for a while, even though I’ve never been a huge fan of the band.  I like a lot of their songs, but I don’t really listen to them all that much.

However, every time they release a new single I dig it.  Plus, I had heard that their live shows were electric.  The last time they camw to Philly it was part of another tour and I’d never even heard of the headliner(!).  Before that was 2018 at a Festival.

The problem, such as it is, is that I didn’t know their new album all that well at all. But that’s fine, because the songs are fun and Amelia Meath, literally the only person to watch on stage is all about being in charge.  Her musical partner Nick Sanborn creates all of the music on a variety of electronic devices.  he stands up in the corner of the stage, occasionally looking up, but mostly very busy making sounds including manipulating and echoing Amelia;s voice as she sings.

Amelia started out wearing a suit jacket long enough to cover most of her body.  She opened the jacket for “Ferris Wheel” (and I love how the whole room shouted the NO! at the right time).

Then she took off the jacket to reveal that she was wearing a leather bikini of some sort (which looked really uncomfortable if I’m being honest).  But she was in her element–dancing some impromptu moves and getting the whoel crowd inspired by her. (more…)

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Dehd (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, August 12, 2023) [SYLVANO ESSO]

Posted in Dehd, Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, Sylvan Esso on August 12, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 12, 2023] Dehd

I only know Dehd from one song that WXPN plays a lot called “Bad Love” (although I didn’t know that was the name of it).

I also didn’t know a thing about them.  Turns out they are a trio from Chicago and have been around since 2015.  The three are Emily Kempf bass and (most) vocals, Jason Balla guitar and (some) vocals, and Eric McGrady drums.

Emily Kempf is a fascinating person in her own right–a look for her history will turn up lots of interesting tidbits.

I loved the way she stood, upright and almost defiant on stage playing bass and singing with whoops and trills as needed.  Meanwhile, Jason Balla, with his neon green guitar jumped around all over the stage–a perfect companion. (more…)

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The Flaming Lips (Fillmore Philly, Philadelphia, PA, August 6, 2023)

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Rainbows, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Flaming Lips on August 7, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 6, 2023] The Flaming Lips

I have now seen The Flaming Lips seven times.  I’ve wanted to bring my kids to a show because there’s really nothing like a Flaming show. Last year, their set was on my daughter’s birthday and she didn’t want to spend her birthday seeing a band she didn’t really know (fair enough).

So this year, the show was in the middle of the summer with no other commitments around us  And, it was the anniversary show of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots–a catchy album with a song (“Do You Realize??”) that they knew.  My daughter’s friend also wanted to go, so I wound up getting five tickets for us.

Since there was no opening band I wanted us to get there fairly early so we could be in the confetti blast zone.  My daughter (who typically doesn’t like to be up close) and her friend wound up really close (they were at the barrier by the end), although they were off to the side quite a lot.

The rest of us got right in the middle (behind some tall people, sadly) and could see as the giant pink robots (all FOUR of them) inflated and the test began …  NOW!

It was great to hear “Fight Test.”  And then to hear the song segue into the rest of the album.  That mellow song morphed into “Yoshimi Pt.1” which I’ve heard five time and never get tired of.

By the way, the confetti included pink robots, which was a chef’s kiss touch on the Lips’ usual fun nonsense.  I was pretty excited to hear Yoshimi Pt. 2, a weird instrumental in which lots more confetti came out.  Wayne grabbed his tiny confetti tubes and shot them at everyone–there’s still streamers in the rafters I’m sure (they must pay extra for cleanup). (more…)

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Speedy Ortiz: Free at Noon (World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA, August 4, 2023)

Posted in Free at Noon, Philadelphia, PA, Speedy Ortiz, World Cafe Live on August 6, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 4, 2023] Speedy Ortiz

I feel like I have seen Speedy Oriz a few times.  But I had only seen them once before.  It was a very memorable show, though, with me getting to stand right in front of Sadie Dupuis as she played and sang.

Here it is five years later (after they opened for Foo Fighters in Fenway a few days after I saw them), with a new album out soon.  I bought a ticket for their Johnny Brenda’s show in a few weeks, but I decided to give the Free at Noon show a go.  (This time it only cost me 3 hours of sick time).

I was pretty no nonsense about this one.  Sucked it up and paid for parking (it had just started raining) and I felt like I was cutting it a little too close to be driving around.  I was bummed for them that it was so sparsely attended, but maybe they’re just not that big of a band.

But it meant I could get up nice and close and watch them play.

They were so spread out on  the big stage.  I felt like bassist Audrey Zee Whitesides (now a permanent member of the band) was miles away.  I was in between Saide and Andy Moholt.  Last time I couldn’t really see Moholt but he was fun to watch this time, playing weird chords and lots of solo frills 9as well as a keyboard).  Initially his lead guitar was way too loud, but they mixed it down pretty quickly.

I’m guessing my location was to blame for how loud Joey Doubek’s drums sounded.  Or more specifically, his one cymbal.  When he crashed it a lot, it really drowned out everyone else. I’m sure you won’t hear that when it gets uploaded to the streaming playback, but it was quite loud to me (I probably should have moved).

They played 8 songs in half an hour.  Four from the new album (released Sept 1) and four oldies.

I was surprised and delighted that they started with “The Graduates” a favorite of mine.

The new songs sound great–a bit heavier and a bit more unusual with the guitar chord choices and whatnot.  And Doubek’s drumming was much louder and more intense on the new songs.  Sadie said that Scabs had something to do with striking postal workers.  I’ll have to listen to the playback to get the details (she was drowned out by the applause).

The folks around me were definitely fans as they sang along to the older songs like “Silver Spring.”

Audrey said that the last time they played World Cafe, they played all of Twerp Verse.  They didn’t want to do any duplicates for this show, but they did want to play a song from each album, so they played “Lucky 88” my favorite off of Twerp.

They ended with the new song “You SO2” (which continues the album’s trend of Sadie’s lyrics being more narrative than rhyme based) and finished with “Plough” a great song from their debut.

Seeing this made me wonder if I still needed to go to Johnny Brenda’s, but it’s a few weeks away and I expect they’ll probably play at least twice as many songs, right?

It’s great to have them back.  I’m looking forward to more new music from them.

Free at Noon 2023 PhilaMOCA 2018
The Graduates € Buck Me Off ⇓
Scabs ¥ Lean In When I Suffer ⇓
Ghostwriter ¥ Lucky 88 ⇓
Silver Spring ⊗ Raising The Skate €
Plus One ¥ The Graduates €
Lucky 88 ⇓ Silver Spring ⊗
You SO2 ¥ Plough ♠
Plough ♠ Alone With Girls ⇓
I’m Blessed ⇓
Taylor Swift [single]
You Hate The Title ⇓
Moving In ⇓
Villain ⇓
Swell Content €
Dvrk Wvrld €

 

¥ Rabbit, Rabbit (2023)
⇓ Twerp Verse (2018)
€ from Foil Deer (2015)
♠ from Major Arcana (2013)
⊗ from Sports EP (2012)
[single] from (2012)

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Sparta : Wiretap Scars 20th Celebration Tour (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, August 1, 2023)

Posted in Geoff Rickly, Philadelphia, PA, Sparta, Thursday, Underground Arts, Venezuela, Zeta on August 3, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 1, 2023] Sparta

Since 2020 I have had four opportunities to see Sparta. Two were cancelled because of the pandemic.  One saw them opening for Get Up Kids (a show I was interested in, but not enough to go) and now this one.  And while those two cancelled shows were probably good, seeing them for this one was undoubtedly better.

Sparta formed out of the breakup of At the Drive-In (Mars Volta was also formed from that breakup).  Sparta sounded more like ATDI because the songs were short and punky, even though Cedric the lead singer went on to Mars Volta.  Guitarist Jim Ward sings lead on Sparta songs and his voice is unique and sounds just as great as it did when Wiretap Scars came out twenty years ago.

The band came out–a trio now–with Matt Miller on bass and Neil Hennessy on drums. Jim Ward stood on the far side of the stage (not too far away) and the band launched into the album.

It was great to hear these songs live.  I hadn’t listened to the album in quite awhile, although I did listen to it a week ago to refamiliarize myself.  And I remembered how much i loved at least half of the album.  And the rest I enjoyed.  Hearing (and feeling) the guitar riffs and the excellent bass lines was fantastic.

The crowd wasn’t as dense as I would have thought and there was surprisingly, no mosh pit (which I appreciated).

The whole album sounded great–fresh and new and really great live. (more…)

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Geoff Rickly (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, August 1, 2023) [SPARTA]

Posted in Geoff Rickly, Philadelphia, PA, Sparta, Thursday, Underground Arts, Venezuela, Zeta on August 2, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 1, 2023] Geoff Rickly

Geoff Rickly is the singer for Thursday, a band from New Jersey who I had never even heard of when I saw them open for My Chemical Romance last year.

I wasn’t really looking forward to his set (I would have missed this one if he was first), because I didn’t love the Thursday set.  It was fine and I may have liked it more if I was closer.  But it was fine.

However, as a solo performer, Rickly was fantastic.  He told little stories before each song.  He said that since Thursday torued with Sparta 20 years ago, he was going to play mostly Thursday songs (instead of his solo songs).

I didn’t know any of them, and at first I didn’t think the set would be that enjoyable, but he put so much passion into his singing that “Time’s Arrow” blew me away.  He had lots of fans in the audience who knew all the words and it was fun to hear them singing along.

He told us about a lawsuit that the band faced back ten years ago or so that cost them $100,000 which they did not have.  So they wound up doing a lot more shows to make some money.  They even did an “emo cruise.”  He said that he had written a solo osng which he thought was perfect and after the show the Captain of the theater told him to never play that song on a ship again. (more…)

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Zeta (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, August 1, 2023) [SPARTA]

Posted in Geoff Rickly, Philadelphia, PA, Sparta, Thursday, Underground Arts, Venezuela, Zeta on August 1, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 1, 2023] Zeta

Zeta (pronounced Zeh-tuh) is a band “of immigrants from Venezuela” as they put it.  They are now based in the U.S. trying to deal with the immigration deal.

I had listened to a little of their music before the show and I was absolutely intrigued.  I arrived just before 7:30 but they had already started by the time I came in.  I don’t think I missed too much, but as I got to the stage, the band was in full flight.

There were four members of the band.  As I walked in Juan Chi (Juan Ricardo Yilo) was whaling lead guitar and singing.  Right in the front of the stage was drummer Eduardo Sandoval.  He was front and center because this is a band that loves drums.

The wall of sound was really loud, but not harsh.  Sandoval was a maniac on the kit–it was amazing to have such a fun drummer right in the front of the stage.  Standing behind him was bassist Antonio Pereira.  Pereira was the one constant through the set–his bass was fast and steady keeping the song moving forward and also keeping it in perfect time.  He kept everybody moving. (more…)

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