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Archive for the ‘Philadelphia, PA’ Category

Bat Fangs (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, March 17, 2023) [QUASI]

Posted in Bat Fangs, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Quasi on March 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 17, 2023] Bat Fangs

I hadn’t heard of Bat Fangs when this show was announced.  But when I looked them up I was really excited to hear them. I really love duos, especially bands that can really rock even with a two person set up.

I wound up missing the very beginning of this set (parking around Johnny Brenda’s can really suck).  But I caught most of it.

Rather than being a duo, however “(Betsy Wright (Ex Hex) shreds ‘n’ howls over Laura King’s (Flesh Wounds / Speed Stick) deep-thunder drums),” there was  third person on stage playing bass.  I have recently found out that bassist was Chrissy Tashjian (lead vocalist and guitars for the amazing Philly band Thin Lips).

I was a little bummed that they weren’t a duo, but Chrissy’s bass playing was awesome and their backing vocals were pretty incredible.  Indeed, each musician was great.  Betsy Wright played some fantastic guitar solos–shredding like nobody’s business.  And Laura King not only beat the hell out of the drums, but (for some of the songs) the patterns were complex and really interesting.

However, I really didn’t enjoy the songs. (more…)

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White Reaper / Soul Blind / Mamalarky (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, March 18, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Mamlarky, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts, White Reaper on March 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: March 18, 2023] White Reaper / Soul Blind / Mamalarky

I was intrigued by this show because I’d heard some good things about White Reaper.  But when I listened to them I wasn’t all that impressed.  But then WXPN started playing their single “Pages” and I really like it.

At some point I realized that I wasn’t going  to be able to make this show, so I haven’t listened to anything else by them so I didn’t know if I was missing out on something I really wanted to see.  Now that the show’s over I’ll give them a more proper listen.

Soul Blind was originally listed as on this bill, but it appears that they didn’t play.

A review describes them as:

Soul Blind is a four-piece group from the Hudson Valley, creating a fuzzy blend of shoegaze and alternative that takes inspiration from bands like The Smashing Pumpkins, Alice in Chains, Third Eye Blind, and Deftones.

Aside from Third Eye Blind, I think I’d enjoy their set.

I had heard of Mamalarky on NPR Music.  Their single was a boppy weird thing that I kind of liked.  But I knew that the rest of their sound could have gone in many different directions.  The singer is from Cherry Glazerr.  According to the program they said they wanted to make a psych pop record but not from “60’s dude band.”

I feel like this whole show would have been really fun.  Probably best I didn’t find out until after it was done.

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Unwound (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, March 16, 2023)

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, Unwound on March 17, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 16, 2023] Unwound

This Unwound tour was announced with much fanfare.  It had been 20 years since the band had last toured.  And they didn’t think they’d reunite

“When we put Unwound on the shelf in 2002, we never thought we’d return to the project,” drummer Sara Lund said in a statement with today’s announcement. The band held its first reunion practice, secretly, in April 2022.

but

“Starting over again is a rebellious act against our failure,” guitarist/singer Justin Trosper added.

There was a compounded problem in that their bassist Vern Rumsey, died in 2020.  When introducing the last few songs of the night (the only time he spoke) Trosper dedicated the finals songs to Vern saying that he was the soul of the band.  Jared Warren filled in for Rumsey.  Scott Seckington has also joined on guitar–the band was (pretty much) always a three-piece, but I thought Seckington was an excellent addition to the overall sound.

But it turned out that the early 1990s band that I was familiar with was Unrest.  Indeed, I didn’t know Unwound at all.  But I had grabbed a ticket because the hype got the best of me.  I listened to their albums and really liked what I heard.  So I wasn’t disappointed that I got the ticket.

There was the usual pre-band music playing over the speakers, but about five minutes before the band went on, the sound was switched to a live broadcast of NOAA weather–a perfectly weird sounding recitation of ordinary weather information.  It worked perfectly.  The also played the NOAA weather when the band was over. (more…)

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Versus (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, March 16, 2023) [UNWOUND]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Sonic Youth, TEKE::TEKE, Union Transfer, Unwound, Versus on March 16, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 16, 2023] Versus

Back in the 90s, I loved a whole bunch of band that I discovered from a compilation called Ear of the Dragon.  I had known some of the bands already (which is why I bought the compilation).  It featured bands like The Dambuilders, aMiniature, Seam and Versus.

I loved everything about Versus.  Their sound was interesting–catchy and dissonant alternately.  And I loved the vocals of Richard Baluyut and Fontaine Toups (who has the best name in music).  They put out a number of albums and EPs in the 1990s and t hen went dormant.

In 2010 they put out a new album that I missed entirely.  Same with their 2019 release (which is on a label I’ve never heard of).  I basically had assumed that they were broken up for good.

So imagine my surprise to see that they were opening for Unwound on the night that I happened to get a ticket.  (TEKE::TEKE from Montreal opened the first night–I hadn’t heard of them but they are a Japanese psych rock band, hmmm).

The band came out on stage and while I recognized Richard and Fontaine, I didn’t know the other two.  They weren’t introduced, but I think they were  the rest of the Baluyut family: James on guitar and Edward on drums.

They opened with Mummified, a track off their newest album that has a really long instrumental opening.  I didn’t know it, but the band sounded great.  And after two minutes when Richard started singing, he sounded great too.  But it was when Fontaine added her vocals that everything came flooding back why I loved this band so much. (more…)

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Marco Benevento / Mike Dillon’s Punkadelic ft Nikki Glaspie & Brian Haas (White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, NJ, March 10 & Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, 11, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Jersey City, NJ, Karina Rykman, Marco Benevento, Mike Dillon's Punkadelic, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts, White Eagle Hall on March 10, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: March 10 & March 11, 2023] Marco Benevento / Mike Dillon’s Punkadelic ft Nikki Glaspie & Brian Haas

I saw Marco Benevento at Ardmore Music Hall about a year ago.

His shows are so much fun.  He’s a fantastic performer and his band is terrific.

The fact that he was playing two venues within easy driving distance of me seems like a no-brainer in terms of me going to see him.  And yet, I felt that I needed a week without shows since I have a bunch coming up.

Sorry Marco.  I still love you. (more…)

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The Beths (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, March 3, 2023)

Posted in Hans Pucket, New Zealand, Philadelphia, PA, Sidney Gish, The Beths, Union Transfer on March 4, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 3, 2023] The Beths

I saw The Beths about a year ago at Underground Arts.  Since then they have now moved up from the 650 person venue to Union Transfer (1500) which they also sold out!  Great new for them!

The Beths are actually suddenly everywhere and had we played our cards right we could have seen them like four times this year (opening for The National and a couple of other places).  But this wound up being the only show we’ll see them at.  And that’s fine because it was great and certainly tides us over for a while.

The Beths are a four piece: Elizabeth Stokes, singer and guitarist.  Jonathan Pearce who plays lead guitar. Benjamin Sinclair on bass and Tristan Deck on drums.  When introducing each other, they told “fex” about each other.  The New Zealand accent is awesome–fex would be Facts.  Like the fact that Benjamin Sinclair has a blog and Instagram account with the awesome name of Breakfast and Travel Updates.  (more…)

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Sidney Gish (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, March 3, 2023) [THE BETHS]

Posted in Hans Pucket, Philadelphia, PA, Sidney Gish, The Beths, Union Transfer on March 3, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 3, 2023] Sidney Gish

As soon as The Beths announced they were playing Union Transfer, I bought myself a ticket.  And then a little while later I bought S. one because I thought she would really enjoy a night out for rocking good natured fun.

I didn’t know the opening bands.  There were originally two: Hans Pucket dropped out of the tour.  The Beths posted the rather cryptic

Sad news is that @hanspucket unfortunately won’t be joining us this time, we’re gutted about that. But we promise to drag them over another time. So it’ll just be us and the genius Sidney Gish.

I’ve been listening to the Hans Pucket album and it’s really good.  Hope they make it over here some time.

Sidney Gish is a singer I’d never heard of, although clearly everyone else in the room had.

She has released two albums (the second one in 2017) and now is about to release a third.  What’s she been doing for the last few years?  Graduating from Northeastern apparently.

Anyway, it seems that her first two albums were viral sensations (especially her second album No Dogs Allowed).  Because everyone was singing along to all of the songs (except the new one). (more…)

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Meet Me @ the Altar / Young Culture / Daisy Grenade (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, March 3, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Daisy Grenade, Meet Me @ The Altar, Philadelphia, PA, The Foundry, Young Culture on March 3, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 17, 2021] Meet Me @ the Altar / Young Culture / Daisy Grenade

I used to listen to the NPR All Songs Considered podcast religiously.  It was where I heard all about new bands and new releases.  And then sometime at the end of last year I was just done with it.  I think a lot of it is because I really liked the dynamic between Bob and Robin and how they tried to outdo each other with better music.  Plus, they had a very similar taste to mine.

During the pandemic, the two split up and created new shows.  And now Robin is with the youth and they talk almost exclusively about bands I don’t care about–a lot more R&B and rap.  And Bob has drifted a little more into his own thing, which is a little more delicate.  So while I’m sure they still talk about music I like, I just got tired of hearing about stuff I didn’t like.

One of the last new bands they introduced me to was Meet Me @ The Altar.  I wasn’t planning on getting their music, but I thought they’d be fun to see live–youthful energetic modern punk is a lot of fun to see live.  So when they announced their show I snatched up a ticket pretty quickly.  I didn’t realize that it was the same night as The Beths.  Obviously, there was no contest–I was going to see The Beths.  But I didn’t sell my ticket just in case The Beths had to postpone or something.  But they didn’t and now I won’t ever being seeing any of these three bands. (more…)

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Thick / Jigsaw Youth / Puppy Angst (Milkboy, Philadelphia, PA, March 1, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Kississippi, Milkboy, Philadelphia, PA, Puppy Angst, Thick on March 1, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: March 1, 2023] Thick / Jigsaw Youth / Puppy Angst

I’ve been a fan of New York band Thick for a few years (since I head about them on NPR).  I’ve been wanting to see them live for a while.  I had a chance in 2021, but that show was scheduled against something else I wanted to do.

So, here they were coming to Milkboy.  I had been to Milkboy once before–although apparently not the main Milkboy venue I just learned.  I know Milkboy is a pretty small place, so I figured this would be a great way to see this riveting band.

And then, I got really sick yesterday.  I’m assuming it was the norovirus.  And, wow, although I was feeling better by show timem there was no way I felt like doing anything.  So I had to miss Thick yet again.  I hope they come back again or maybe play NJ?

Jigsaw Youth is a punk band from Staten Island.  I listened to a few songs and liked some.  I preferred their newer stuff to their older songs.  I’m sure they would have kicked ass.

Puppy Angst is from Philly and was created by Alyssa Milman (they/them) who I saw play bass with Kississippi (and thought they were great).  Puppy Angst is a moody indie dream pop quartet that Milman formed alongside Eric Naroden (drums), Dan Leinweber (guitar, vocals), and John Heywood (bass).  [These would be the only men in the show, too].

Now that I realize who Puppy Angst is, I’m even more bummed that I couldn’t make this show.

 

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Crawlers / Kelsy Karter (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, February 28, 2023) [CANCELLED]

Posted in Crawlers, Kelsy Karter, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, T. on February 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[CANCELLED: February 28, 2023] Crawlers / Kelsy Karter

Last year my daughter and I really enjoyed the Crawlers show that we went to.

When they announced that they were going to come back to the U.S., I grabbed a ticket for us immediately.  I knew The Foundry wouldn’t be quite as intimate as PhilaMOCA, but I knew she’d still love the venue.

But then near the end of January, Crawlers informed us that they were cancelling the entire U.S. tour.

hi creepy crawlies ❤

we hate to have to do this to you, but we have the made the difficult decision to cancel our USA & Toronto dates in March. </3 please know we are just as upset as you are to have to do this, we hate to let our fans down as you guys really are making our dreams come true. we are so thankful we got to see u all last year & have fun together, and look forward to doing that with you soon when the time is right. making our album the best it can be for you is our biggest priority in the coming months. combining this with the cost of touring has brought us to this difficult decision. </3. for now, we must give our time to writing the best album that you deserve, because this one really is for you and we can’t wait to share new music. Sorry crawlers family, we will make it up to you next time and it will be more special than ever before.

for those who purchased tickets, we are offering a full refund for your ticket.

we love u and we will see you soon.

crawlers x

(more…)

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