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Archive for the ‘Festivals’ Category

Soccer Mommy: XPoNential Music Festival: River Stage (Wiggins Park, Philadelphia PA, September 20, 2025)

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, River Stage, Soccer Mommy, Wiggins Park, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA, XPN Fest, Xponential Music Festival on September 20, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 20, 2025] Soccer Mommy

I saw Soccer Mommy in 2021 and again earlier this year in January.  I didn’t need to see her again, but I was really excited that she was on the bill and I was excited for my wife to see her as well because they previous show was great.  And the weather was perfect for this set.

It’s a standard set up: Sophie Allison (who is Soccer Mommy) plays guitar and sings.  She has a fantastic four piece behind her–Rollum Haas: drums, Nick Widener: bass, Julian Powell: guitar and Rodrigo Avendano: guitar/keys.  The band is really good and they bring these songs to life live in a more powerful way than on the album.

The setlist varied a bit from January but in a shorter set she played all of  the hits.  And there is something really fun about being outside on a gorgeous day with a great musician playing songs just fifteen feet away from you.

She opened with Circle the Drain (every time I’ve seen her I’ve been surprised that she leads off with her hits).  And she followed it with Driver, which is on of my favorite songs of the year.  I love how heavy the verses were and then how soft the chorus was.  It sounded great live.

She told us that her song Abigail is about the character of Abigail in Stardew Valley. My wife loves Stardew and was quite tickled to hear that that’s what the song was about (she didn’t know the song).  It’s a slower song which Sophie said she wrote when she was having some writer’s block. But it proved to be a delightful song. (more…)

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Tune-Yards: XPoNential Music Festival: Marina Stage (Wiggins Park, Philadelphia PA, September 20, 2025)

Posted in Marina Stage, Philadelphia, PA, tUnE-yArDs, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA, XPN Fest, Xponential Music Festival on September 20, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 20, 2025] Tune-Yards

I tend to not like Festivals.  They are long, they are crowded and usually the artists only play for like 40 minutes instead of a full set.  The XPoNential Music Festival is different because it is smaller (two stages) and doesn’t run very late.  And since we are members of the station we get some nice perks.

Having said that, we don’t go very often.  Usually there’s one or two people I want to see, but a festival is a lot of work for one or two bands.  Then this year’s lineup was announced.  And while one of the days wasn’t great (I’d have liked to see Courtney Barnett, but wasn’t willing to do a Festival just for her), the other day was great:

RIVER STAGE:
Soccer Mommy
Molly Tuttle
Sharon van Etten and the Attachment Theory

MARINA STAGE:
Tune-Yards
Richard Thompson
Kathleen Edwards

I would have happily stayed for all 6 musicians.  But it turned out that we didn’t anticipate the crowds.  By the time we finally got parking and got onto the grounds, Tune-Yards was already playing.  We were still trying to get our bearings, so we basically didn’t see any of their set.  Of course, we could hear the just fine and it was fun to hear their music.  But honestly, they are really fun to watch so it wasn’t quite the same.

Surprisingly, there’s no setlist available and even the WXPN recap doesn’t include songs or a stream (nearly everyone else has a stream).  The only thing they mention is

Merrill Garbus, the main brain behind the majority of Tune-Yards’ material, bounced between electric ukulele, toms, lead vocals, and an SP-404 electronic sampler. Nate Brenner added bass, backing vocals, and analog synth to the mix. Watching Garbus sing while creating and triggering loops on her sampler was an insanely impressive showing of multitasking, frequently using her bare feet to control her vocal chops and recording the drums in front of her into complex, layered rhythms.

I wasn’t really paying attention to what they played, so I can’t even say what I heard, but, as always, their music was fun to have floating around in the air around us. (more…)

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All Things Go Music Festival [Day 2] (Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD, September 27, 2025)

Posted in All Things Go, Bartees Strange, Carol Ades, Clairo, Columbia, MD, Faye Webster, G Flip, Gigi Perez, Hazlett, Hey, Nothing, Hippo Campus, Lucy Dacus, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Orion Sun, Paris Paloma, The Backseat Lovers, Wallows, Wild Rivers, Zinadelphia on September 8, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 27, 2025] All Things Go [Day 2]

After yesterday’s fun we headed back to our hotel and crashed.  Saturday’s show began at 11.  We had no intention of getting there that early–but there wasn’t a lot else to do in the area but hang out in the hotel.

I didn’t care about Zinadelphia (who I feel really missed an golden opportunity to call themselves Zinfindelphia) and I didn’t care about Carol Ades.  Hey, Nothing is a folkie duo, but they didn’t intrigue me enough to get there early for.

The weather was dicey with potential rain so we decided that we would just hang out under the comfort of the Pavilion and sneak out for food from time to time.

We hung out pretty close to the stage (about twenty rows up) but off to the side quite a bit.  So we had a decent but not great view–I wouldn’t want to pay for those seats for sure.

We wound up seeing most of the bands on the Pavilion Stage and watched the Chrysalis Stage bands on video.

I would have watched Bartees Strange, but I’ve seen him a few times, so really the first person I was intrigued by was G Flip.  So we rolled in to the Pavilion Stage and caught the end of Hazlett.

I enjoyed the little of Hazlett that we saw and then we caught about 20 minutes of Bartees on the video screen. (more…)

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Chinese Lantern Festival (Franklin Square Park, Philadelphia, PA, August 4, 2025)

Posted in Chinese Lantern Festival, Franklin Square Park, Philadelphia, PA on August 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 4, 2025] Chinese Lantern Festival

Last year I was driving near Franklin Square Park on my way somewhere else and I saw a huge Chinese Lantern Festival. I looked it up and thought it would be really fun to go to.  But it was just about to end, so we missed out.  Happily it returned this year and I grabbed us some tickets.

It was wonderful!

The entrance was a long walkway with lit lanterns strewn throughout.  We arrived before it got dark and it was delightful to see the park grow brighter as the sky darkened.

There were different areas throughout the park and the lanterns were thematic–underwater, pandas, zodiac and a giant dragon.

There was a lot of food to be had (we got some dumplings, my kids wanted to get cotton candy but the line was really long).  There were vendors selling interesting Chinese goods and there were more and more things to look at the more you walked around the park.

It was really cool to walk back through the archway on the way out when it was very dark out and the lanterns were very bright.

I’m not sure if we’ll go back next year, but it was a really fun evening.

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Summer of ’99: (Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, WI, July 18 & 19, 2025)

Posted in A Day to Remember, Alpine Valley Music Theatre, Creed, Daughtry, East Troy WI, Fuel, Hinder, Lit, Live, Mammoth WVH, Nickelback, Our Lady Peace, Sevendust, Summer of '99, Three Doors Down, Tonic, Vertical Horizon on July 18, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: July 18 & 19, 2025] Summer of ’99

My son and his friend went to this festival. I think they mostly wanted to take a big road trip–from NJ to Wisconsin.

They had a blast.

I kind of laughed about this lineup. It’s so, well, 1999, but holy cow some of the bands.

I think if this was just playing in the background and the festival grounds were fun, it would be a good time. But they said the people who were really into the bands were a little scary.

Day 1:  Lit, Our Lady Peace, Tonic, Daughtry, Live, Nickelback
Day 2: Fuel, Vertical Horizon, Hinder, Mammoth WVH, Sevendust, Three Doors Down, A Day to Remember, Creed

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Third Annual Abortion Access Benefit: Control Top / Dark Thoughts / Mopar Stars / Money Nicca / Nina Ryser / Noun / Pinkwash / (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, January 25, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Control Top, Dark Thoughts, Johnny Brenda's, Mopar Stars, Nina Ryser, Noun, Palberta, Philadelphia, PA, Pinkwash, Rachel Fogletto, Screaming Females, Third Annual Abortion Access Benefit on January 25, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: January 25, 2025] Control Top / Dark Thoughts / Mopar Stars / Money Nicca / Nina Ryser / Noun / Pinkwash

I bought a ticket to this show primarily for Control Top.  And I added an extra donation because I felt the cause was really important.  And then I grabbed tickets to Soccer Mommy which was a show that was easier for me to get to.

Ground Control Touring’s 3rd Annual Abortion Access Benefit Series takes place in NYC, LA, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, DC, Austin, and Raleigh on January 25, 2025! Visit their website to see the variety of bands at each show and specific event details! 100% of proceeds from all shows are donated directly to NOISE FOR NOW who will allocate the funds raised to local abortion funds in need. You can also text GCT to 53-555 if you can’t make it out but would still like to donate.

Proceeds support: Abortion Liberation Fund of PA, Access Reproductive Care – Southeast, ACCESS Reproductive Justice, The Afiya Center’s SYS Fund, Baby2Baby’s Disaster Relief and Emergency Response, Carolina Abortion Fund, DC Abortion Fund, Feminist Women’s Health Center, Lilith Fund, Midwest Access Coalition, New York Abortion Access Fund, Northwest Abortion Access Fund, and independent abortion clinics in California, DC, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, the Pacific Northwest and Pennsylvania via Keep Our Clinics.

And here’s the blurb from Johnny Brenda’s

Ground Control Touring is thrilled to announce they’re teaming up for the third year with NOISE FOR NOW, a non-profit specializing in reproductive justice, to take action and bring awareness with its third annual Abortion Access Benefit Series. The series has expanded to take over EIGHT cities, coinciding on Saturday, January 25th, 2025 – Los Angeles at Lodge Room, New York City at Bowery Ballroom, Chicago at Sleeping Village, Atlanta at The Masquerade (Purgatory), Philadelphia at Johnny Brenda’s, Austin at Hotel Vegas, DC at Songbyrd, and Raleigh at Kings. Since its inception in 2023, the Abortion Access Benefit Series has raised over $110,000 via eight completely sold out nationwide events, with performances by nearly 100 artists and silent auction bundles provided by dozens of community sponsors and local businesses.
Each benefit show will feature a special night of music and festivities in support of abortion funds, community, and bodily autonomy. 100% of proceeds will go to NOISE FOR NOW who will then allocate the funds raised to local independent abortion clinics and abortion funds in each region.
More about NOISE FOR NOW: NOISE FOR NOW is a national initiative that enables artists and entertainers to connect with and financially support grassroots organizations that work in the field of Reproductive Justice, including abortion access. Reproductive health care services, including access to legal abortion, are under attack. By organizing benefit events and campaigns, NOISE FOR NOW provides opportunities for artists and entertainers to use their talent to raise money and send a clear message that Reproductive Rights are human rights. Since their inaugural benefit concert in 2017, NOISE FOR NOW has worked with over 450 artists and entertainers to raise $1.36M for 54 partner organizations. In 2023, NOISE FOR NOW established a record label and has released 3 benefit compilations, 2 of which are streaming on all digital platforms.

(more…)

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Waxahatchee (Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, October 22, 2024) Philly Music Fest Night 2

Posted in Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, Philly Music Fest, Waxahatchee on October 23, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 22, 2024] Waxahatchee

My wife and I saw Waxahatchee open for Courtney Barnett six years ago.  I hadn’t remembered that I had seen her a few months earlier with her full band.

I’ve considered seeing her again since then, but I didn’t go back in 2022.  I was looking forward to seeing her a few months ago at the Fillmore, but the show turned out to be between two Pearl Jam shows and we couldn’t possibly do it all.

This show proved to be exactly the same as the two Fillmore shows just without the backdrops and stage props.

I was looking forward to this show because I thought I knew so much of her new album (and she played the whole thing).  I was surprised by how few songs I knew during this show.  In part because she didn’t really play any deep cuts (okay one or two, but none of her hits).

But I was delighted to hear “Can’t Do Much” (the only song of the night that I had seen her play before) and “Problem With It” which I forgot wasn’t actually a Waxahatchee song (it’s a song by Plains, which is Katie Crutchfield and Jess Williamson.

After playing a couple of songs from the previous album Saint Cloud, she told us about the new album and how she’d be playing the whole thing tonight.  This group of songs started with the wonderful “Right Back to It” and the even better “Bored.” (more…)

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@ (Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, October 22, 2024) [WAXAHATCHEE] Philly Music Fest Night 2

Posted in Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, Philly Music Fest, Waxahatchee on October 22, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 22, 2024] @

Every since going to Philly Music Fest a few years ago, I’ve been keeping track about it each year to see who is in it the next year.  This year was pretty unexciting for me until they announced a late entry of Waxahatchee as a headliner.  Since we had missed both of their shows at the Fillmore, I decided to grab us a ticket.

Opening was @ a pretty much unfindable band online.

They have a bandcamp site in which they have two releases.  They are kind of interesting and experimental, with lots of sounds layered on to straightforward lyrics.

But live, they were the least dynamic duo I’ve ever seen. (more…)

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Newport Folk Festival (Fort Adams State Park, Newport, RI, July 26-July 28, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Black Pumas, De La Soul, Guster, Hozier, Newport Folk Festival, Newport, RI, The War on Drugs, Tinariwen on July 26, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: July 31-August 2, 2020] Newport Folk Festival

We went to Newport Folk Festival in 2019.  We’ve had a kind of understanding that we would try to go again.

I’ve managed  to score tickets for previous years (and then resell them when we couldn’t go).  But this year I was shut out instantly.  Which is fine as the festival often conflicts with our summer schedule.
(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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