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Archive for the ‘Philadelphia, PA’ Category

Magic Sword (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, April 22, 2023) [TWRP]

Posted in Magic Sword, Philadelphia, PA, TWRP, Union Transfer on April 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 22, 2023] Magic Sword

I saw Magic Sword open for Avatar back in 2021 and I knew I’d want to see them again.

What I wrote about them then stand up pretty well for this show:

There are three members: The Keeper (red, keyboard, audio-visual), The Seer (blue, guitar), and The Weaver (yellow, drums).  Oh yes, they are all masked (and not COVID masked, but like a fencing mask with a glowing light (in the above color) for the eyes).  All of their songs are pretty heavy with a main riff (and bass) coming from the keys and really heavy drums.  And then The Seer plays some extended impressive and super catchy guitar solos.

Every song feels like the exultant triumph of a cheesy 80s sci fi movie.  Which is not to say that their music is cheesy (it really rocks) but that it would be placed in a cheesy movie–and would sound great.

In fact, the band has written epic stories (and comic books) that go along with their music.  These songs are the soundtrack to those stories. So it all makes sense.

The set opened with a proclamation in a deep voice explaining that Magic Sword was here to defend all that good in the world.  And then the trio came out.

It’s all vaguely preposterous, but they are completely into it (The Weaver is excellent at getting the fans pumped up) and the music is so good, that it all works wonders.  A handful of people in the crowd had purchased Magic Sword swords (a tiny imitation of the real Magic Sword sword) and waved their blue glow around.

I felt like they played newer songs–songs that were a little more complicated with some excellent stops and starts in them.  But, since they are all instrumentals, it’s hard to know what songs they played.

But most importantly, mid way through the set The Keeper held aloft the blue glowing Magic Sword and all was well in Philadelphia.

I really thought my son would enjoy this show and he said he enjoyed Magic Sword a lot.  So that’s cool.

When the show was over we went to the merch table and I was pretty tickled to see that if you didn’t know what you wanted, you could roll a D20 and see if luck was on your side.  The guy in front of us rolled it and was granted the right to have his picture taken holding THE Magic Sword.

Cool.

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Andy Shauf / Marina Allen (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, April 21, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Andy Shauf, Marina Allen, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on April 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 21, 2023] Andy Shauf / Marina Allen

After not seeing Andy Shauf a bunch of times the last few years, I also managed to not see him again this year.

There were three other shows happening this night, two of which I was really torn about.  So even though I would like to see Andy Shauf some day, the other shows were booked long before this was announced.

I am pleased to see that Andy does seem to come around quite a lot, so I’m sure he’ll be back next Spring.

Marina Allen is opening for him on this tour.  According to her label she is a

once-in-a-decade five-tool musician: She writes beautiful melodies and brilliant lyrics, expresses her ideas with an unusual voice of extraordinary depth and range, thinks in fanciful arrangements, and constantly navigates the knife-edge between too much and too little.

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a blurb quite like that before.

I listened to her first song on Spotify “Falls on Me,” and I would have guessed that it was literally from the 1970s.  She has an absolute classic-sounding voice.  I can’t get over how much she sounds like a blast from the past. I can’t decide if I love it or hate it.

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Chris Forsyth / Purling Hiss / Garcia Peoples (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia PA, April 21, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Chris Forsyth, Garcia Peoples, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Purling Hiss on April 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 21, 2023] Chris Forsyth / Purling Hiss / Garcia Peoples

I had planned to attend fewer shows this year.  It turns out there haven’t been that many days that were overbooked with shows.  This was  the first one that was totally overbooked.

I had tickets to M83 and also to Acid Dad and it was a hard decision which one to go to.

So this show didn’t really stand a chance.

I love Chris Forsyth, and would love to see him again.  However, I have seen him fairly recently and at Johnny Brenda’s.  The show would be reliably great, but as I said, already booked.

I saw Purling Hiss back in 2017 about which I said

I knew that the bulk of the band’s catalog was basically Mike Polizze making music for himself.  It was pretty noisy and abstract with lots of jam moments.  They are now a band–I’m not sure who the other two guys in the band were (based on the latest album, I’m assuming Ben Hart on drums and Dan Provenzano on bass)–and they have gotten more musical since then.  But thy are still noisy.  So I expected a lot of squalling feedback and pummeling sounds.  I was quite pleased with how melodic the band’s songs were (no idea what songs they played, but I assume most of it came from their newest album).

I’d definitely see them again.

Garcia Peoples are joining this tour in Brooklyn.  If they had been in Philly, this would have been a much more difficult choice.

UPDATE: Turns out they DID play as well.

And here’s video proof from the always reliable Markit aneight

Here’s video of Purling Hiss

And here’s Chris Forsyth

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Acid Dad / Wine Lips / Wax Jaw (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, April 21, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Acid Dad, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, Wax Jaw, Wine Lips on April 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 21, 2023] Acid Dad / Wine Lips / Wax Jaw

I saw Acid Dad back in October and really liked them.  I knew I wanted to see them again, so when they announced this show on the same night that I had a ticket for M83, I was torn.

I decided to grab a ticket because they were really cheap.

And then the day of the show, I wound up not going out at all.  We had been doing things around then house and it felt kind of weird to leave a guest at home.  So I bailed on all of the shows.

Wine Lips is a band I didn’t know.  They are a trio of Cam Hilborn on Guitar and Vocals with Aurora Evans on Drums and Charlie Weare on Bass.

Their music seemed to fit well with Acid Dad as this review says:

“Fuzzy, loud and fast, Wine Lips are a garage/ punk/ psychedelic band whose music feels like a shot of adrenaline to the heart. A no holds barred kind of rock n roll that’ll make you want to buy a motorcycle, just to crash it.” – Sled Island

Wax Jaw must have been added at the last minute because I didn’t even know they were supposed to be there.  They are a Philly five piece who describe their music as “philly dirty surf rock” which fits the bill.

But Markit Aneight has a video of their show (I assume ones of Acid Dad and Wine Lips are coming) and I really liked them.

I missed a good night.

Interestingly, Wax Jaw had their debut live show at PhilaMoCA just a couple of months earlier.  And here’s that show.

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M83 / Jeremiah Chiu (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, April 21, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Franklin Music Hall, Jeremiah Chiu, M83, Philadelphia, PA on April 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 21, 2023] M83 / Jeremiah Chiu

Back in 2005 I bought an M83 album, Before the Dawn Heals Us.  I also got the 2008 album Saturdays = Youth.  Then I kind of forgot about them.  Ironically, it was their next album, Hurry Up We’re Dreaming, that produce the massive hit “Midnight City,” a song I have known for years since it is on the radio a lot but which I had no idea was M83.

When it was announced that M83 had a new tour coming–the first in a while–I decided to grab a ticket.  I’d heard good things about their live show.  But when I listened to the new album, Fantasy, I thought it was kind of bland.  And I didn’t really relish the thought of standing there for ninety minutes of chillout music.

When I listened to the opening act Jeremiah Chiu, his music was certainly interesting (the nineteen minute improvisational Leaving Grass Mountain–a duet with electronics and viola–was trippy), but it really didn’t change my mind about wanting to see them.

Then it turned out that Acid Dad was going to be playing across town at PhilaMoCAand I really wanted to see them again.

It also turned out that Chris Forsyth and Purling Hiss were playing at Johnny Brenda’s

And that Andy Shauf was playing at Union Transfer.

An embarrassment of riches, so I opted not to go.  I also found out this show sold out and tried to sell my ticket, but I was a little too late for it.

Sounds like the show was really good though.

 

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Skinny Puppy (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, April 18, 2023)

Posted in Lead Into Gold, Philadelphia, PA, Skinny Puppy, The Met Philadelphia on April 19, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 18, 2023] Skinny Puppy

I saw Skinny Puppy with my friend Garry back in 1988–on Halloween.  Thirty-four and a half years later and I saw them again on their Final Tour.  It would have been great to see them with him, but he was in Florida at the time, so that made it tough.  He did see the a few weeks ago though, so it’s almost like we saw the show together (except that his setlist was so much better than ours).

Turns out lead singer Oghr had been ill the night before and had to miss the Pittsburgh show.  He was fine for our show, although I assume ours was several songs shorter because of it.

So I admit to being something of a “fake fan” as my daughter says.  I liked them a lot back in the day, but haven’t really listened to them in twenty-five years.  I haven’t listened to much of any of their newer stuff at all.  But Garry told me that this was something of a greatest hits show.

The show didn’t really go very well for me in large part because of the audience.

The guy in front of me who had been into Lead Into Gold, suddenly turned into a full-on dancing arms in the air lunatic, making it impossible to stand behind him.  About half way in, some guy decided he was going to start slam dancing and managed to smash as hard as he could into everyone (including me) around him.  I  thought a fight might break out.  There were several girls who were talking at full volume and late in the show a very drunk guy started talking to me about how Oghr had been throwing up in Pittsburgh the night before. (more…)

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Fruit Bats / H.C. McEntire (Brooklyn Bowl, Philadelphia, PA, April 19, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Brooklyn Bowl, Fruit Bats, H.C. McEntire, Philadelphia, PA on April 19, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 19, 2022] Fruit Bats / H.C. McEntire

Exactly one year ago to the day, Fruit Bats played Philadelphia.  My wife really liked the song that was on the radio, so when the show was announced I grabbed us tickets.   We never listened to anything else by them, and when the night of the show came up, we had other things to do, so we didn’t go.

It’s a year later.  I don’t even know if they have new music out.  Suffice to say we didn’t plan to go.

H.C. McEntire is from North Carolina.  She plays piano and sounds (at least on “Rows of Clover” remarkably like Tori Amos (with more of a southern accent).  On another song she sounds less like Tori and more Southern.  I probably would have enjoyed her as an opening act.

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The Sadies / Carson McHone (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, April 18, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Carson McHone, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, The Sadies on April 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 18, 2023] The Sadies / Carson McHone

I could clearly spend most of my time at Johnny Brenda’s, but somehow, I seem to blow off these show more than any others.

I’ve been aware of The Sadies for a pretty long time, although I’ve never really listened to them much.  I kind of assumed they were a country band.  Wikipedia describes them as a a Canadian rock and roll / country and western band.

They are quite beloved by other musicians (in and out of Canada) and just about everyone has sung guest vocals with them (their first three songs on Spotify feature Neko Case, Kurt Vile and Gord Downie).  Just as I was becoming more familiar with them, their singer Dallas Good died suddenly.  I assumed that that was the end for the band, but they have continued.

My brother-in-law saw them recently and said they were great.  I would have liked to see them, but I had tickets to the Final Skinny Puppy show.  So I wasn’t going to miss that.

Carson McHone is a singer-songwriter from Austin. In describing her music, Nashville Scene Magazine says “she’s a young country singer who expresses herself through the form while avoiding the formalism that etiolates the work of many country purists.”

I wouldn’t have specified her as country as much as these review do.  She doesn’t have a twang, but I can see the connection to country.  I like her anyway,

This would have been a good bill.

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Lead Into Gold (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, April 18, 2023) [SKINNY PUPPY]

Posted in Lead Into Gold, Philadelphia, PA, Skinny Puppy, The Met Philadelphia on April 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 18, 2023] Lead Into Gold

I figured that Skinny Puppy would have an interesting opening band. I vaguely remembered hearing of Lead Into Gold.  When they projected the logo on a screen at one point it looked very familiar.

I see that they put out an album in 1990 so I might have heard a song (apparently “Faster Than Light”), but I don’t really recall.

I also had no idea that I was in the presence of Industrial Royalty, as Paul Barker himself is Lead Into Gold.  Barker was known as Hermes Pan and was the engineer and producer for Ministry as well as many other bands.

When the duo came out on stage, I wasn’t even sure who was the main person because the guy with the keytar, yes, keytar, was wearing a shimmery gold pajama-looking suit.  But he stepped aside as Barker played the gadget that the gold man was standing in front of to make an interesting industrial instrumental. (more…)

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Black Belt Eagle Scout / Claire Glass & Adobo (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, April 17, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Adobo, Black Belt Eagle Scout, Claire Glass, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA on April 17, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 17, 2023] Black Belt Eagle Scout / Claire Glass & Adobo

When I first heard about Black Belt Eagle Scout back in 2018, I was really inrigued:

Katherine Paul grew up on a small Indian reservation in the Pacific Northwest. The singer, who performs as Black Belt Eagle Scout, identifies as a “radical indigenous queer feminist” and is influenced by Native American tradition as well as indie rock.

But when I listened to her song, I found it kind of bland.  Her voice is soft and pretty, but the indie rock component was pretty minimal and was, as I say, kind of bland.

It’s now five years later and the new Black Belt Eagle Scout album, The Land, The Water the Sky, ups everything that I found missing that first time around.

I rather wanted to go to this show and a friend of mine says it was really good.  But I have a birthday party to attend to coming up and I’m out tomorrow night so it was important to stay home.

Claire Glass Claire Glass is the solo project of Claire Puckett (of Hikes and Mother Falcon). This iteration highlights intricate classical guitar compositions overlaid with delicate vocals, with lyrical content prodding the deeper meanings of everyday wonders. Her newest release, “Dust”, explores themes of spiritual seeking after religion, alluding to Phillip Pullman’s ‘His Dark Materials’ trilogy. It blends classical guitar with airy synths to create an ethereal, otherworldly feel.

Adobo Adobo is the solo project of Filipinx naturalist Nay Mapalo (of Hikes); Adobo is a foray into patient, emotive songs that pull inspiration from pop composition and the intricacies of classical guitar technique.

The listing said Claire Glass and Adobo were performing together, but photos made that seem incorrect.

 

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