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Archive for the ‘Film & TV’ Category

Dinosaur Jr. / Guided By Voices / Eugene Mirman (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia PA, December 2, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Bob's Burgers, Dinosaur Jr., Eugene Mirman, Guided By Voices, J. Mascis, Lou Barlow, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia on December 2, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 2, 2022] Dinosaur Jr. / Guided By Voices / Eugene Mirman

I have seen Dinosaur Jr. three times and I don’t really need to see them again.  They were great but there’s not a lot new in the mix to make it worth the trip. And that’s fine.

Guided By Voices are supposedly the greatest (or at least the most prolific) indie band of the 90s. And I’ve never really gotten into them.  I like some of their songs just fine, but I feel like Robert Pollard plays two chords for 80 seconds and write some nonsense and there’s the new GBV song.

If I had seen them open for someone I’m sure I’d appreciate it, but they weren’t going to drag me to this show.

Eugene Mirman is a comedian and the voice of Gene on Bob’s Burgers.  I wanted to go to this show just for him.  But I didn’t.  Once again, though, I love a comedian opening for a rock band.

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Let’s Eat Grandma (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, November 2, 2022)

Posted in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, Julien Chang, Let's Eat Grandma, Philadelphia, PA, The Foundry on November 4, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 2, 2022] Let’s Eat Grandma

I first heard about Let’s Eat Grandma back in 2016 from NPR music.  They had put out an album, I, Gemini that was weird and quirky, the creation of two weird and quirky girls–Rosa Walton (r, on the poster) and Jenny Hollingworth.  The album was really bizarre–strange music and spoken/shouted lyrics in thick Norwich accents.

I really wanted to see this concoction live, but they were quite young at the time and didn’t come over to the States until 2018.  Their 2018 album, I’m All Ears had a very different sound (more synthy and dancey, but still quirky).  The song “Hot Pink” from that album is about as weird as a catchy pop song can be.

Then in 2022 they put out Two Ribbons.  They had a series of personal crises in this time and it feels like a lot of the quirkiness was bashed out of them.  This makes the new album poppier and a lot mre accessible but to me a bit less interesting.

I read a review of their live show to make sure I still want to go, and it did make me want to go.  But I couldn’t help feel that there was something a little flat about the whole thing. (more…)

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Frantic City 2022 (Orange Loop Amphitheater, Atlantic City, NJ, September 24, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Atlantic City, NJ, Car Seat Headrest, Control Top, Frantic City, Fred Armisen, Protomartyr, Snail Mail, Superchunk, Titus Andronicus, Yo La Tengo on September 24, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 24, 2022] Frantic City 2022

When I saw this show listed, I knew that it would be a fun opportunity for my son and I to go to a Festival. Only one day, kinda far but not too far, and headlined by his favorite band Car Seat Headrest.

The whole lineup was pretty exciting, in fact,

  • Car Seat Headrest
  • Yo La Tengo
  • Snail Mail
  • Titus Andronicus
  • Superchunk
  • Rocket from the Crypt
  • Protomartyr
  • Murder City Devils
  • Shannon and the Clams
  • The Raveonettes
  • Samiam
  • Control Top

And Fred Armisen will serve as host, so you can expect his specific brand of musical comedy to move the acts along.

I wasn’t sure what time we were going to arrive.  I wanted to see Control Top, who it looked like would go on first, then I was kind of okay with not seeing some of the other bands.

I feel like I should know Samiam, but I don’t exactly.  I feel like I don’t like The Raveonettes.  I didn’t really want to see Shannon and the Clams.  I don’t know Murder City Devils.  I have seen Protomartyr, and would have been happy to see them again.  I liked the first Rocket from the Crypt album, but haven’t thought of them in years.  I have seen Superchunk twice in the last few years and don’t need to see them again, although they are great.  I have not see Titus Andronicus who I don’t love, but who I understand are amazing live.

I do want to see Snail Mail (who I was supposed to see in April, but didn’t).  I have liked Yo La Tengo for years and have never seen them.  And then there was Car Seat Headrest, whom we had both seen in April.

Then on September 17, Car Seat Headrest pulled out of the Festival because of Will Toledo’s health.

I probably should have turned in the tickets right then, but I didn’t want the Festival to crumble from people returning their tickets–I do hope it comes back next year.

But that really put the kibosh on my son’s desire to see the festival.

On the day of, he said he really didn’t want to go and honestly that was fine by me.

 

 

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Pony (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, July 17, 2022) [FUCKED UP] [rescheduled]

Posted in Empath, Fucked Up, My Little Pony, Philadelphia, PA, Pony, Underground Arts on July 17, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 17, 2022] Pony [moved from January 23, 2021]

I had not heard of Pony before this show.  I was interested in hearing the original opening band, Empath, who are a Philly band that play a kind of noise punk.  Rolling Stone says “They sound like four people who sat in a room flexing their own freaky styles until — before they realized their interests might be wholly incompatible — the chaos created its own logic.”  They sound pretty great.

But Pony are a pop punk band from Toronto and they were fantastic.

Pony is fronted by Sam Bielanski who plays guitar and sings.  She is also a voice actress and voiced Jazz in My Little Pony: Tell Your Tale (hence the band name).

For a couple of songs at the end Sam didn’t play guitar she just sang and dominated the stage, stomping around in Doc Martins and a plaid skirt. (more…)

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Diane Coffee / Foyer Red (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, June 12, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Diane Coffee, Foyer Red, Kim Possible, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA on June 12, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 20, 2022] Diane Coffee / Foyer Red

I’ve been intrigued by Diane Coffee for about six years.

Diane Coffee is the brainchild of Shaun Fleming.  He used to be the drummer in Foxygen, which tips off somewhat to his aesthetic.

Fleming also does voice acting between 2002 and 2006, he played the twin brothers Jim and Tim Possible on Kim Possible.

He has released four albums all in various styles.  (As Bust puts it for his 2022 album)

Once again Fleming shifts musical gears from his previous album, Internet Arms’ soulful Synth Pop sound to a jangly Folk Rock, Dream Pop vibe with a touch of Glam Rock.

I think the touch of Glam Rock is consistent, as his live show is supposed to be amazing.

This review from Westworld makes his show sound incredible.

The band wore matching suits with bolo ties, while Fleming presented himself in a well-fitted women’s suit. First off, Fleming’s stage presence is astonishing. At one time he was a Disney voice actor, and that ability transfers to his very animated live sets.  He captures all of his emotion in body movements and facial gestures. Watching Fleming perform, you can tell that he has conducted thorough research and perfected some of the most iconic bandleader movements, resulting in a mash-up of Dr. Frank-N-Furter and James Brown, exerting high levels of energy, trying to escape the imprisonment of this little man’s body.

I almost got to see him at XPNFest in2016, but we arrived just as he had finished.

This is the third time I’ve missed one of his shows (one had a good excuse, this night I just didn’t feel like going out).  But the next time Diane Coffee comes t otown, I need to read this live review above to remind myself how much I want to see him live.

Foyer Red has crazy sounds, weirdo words and multiple singers.  And somehow despite all the weirdness (their 2021 album is called Zigzag Wombat), the songs are catchy

Post-Trash says

Foyer Red is a Brooklyn five-piece that makes sweetly sung, charmingly zany art rock. In 2022 they hit the ground running with several great singles — “Pollen City,” “Pickles,” and “Flipper.” In December, the band celebrated signing to Carpark Records by releasing the delightfully spontaneous single, “Etc.”

That first line is enough to make me want to see them.

I’ve listened to a few songs by them now and I really like them a lot.  And now more than ever I wish I’d gone to this show.

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Terry Pratchett–Thief of Time (2001) [Discworld #26] [Death #5]

Posted in Alfred, Auditors of Reality, Binky, Clocks, Death, Death of Rats, Discworld, Funny (ha ha), History Monks, James Bond, Lobsang, Lu-Tze, Magic, Quoth (the raven), Susan Sto-Helit, Terry Pratchett, Unfinished series on June 6, 2022| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus

[READ: April 14, 2022] Thief of Time

The Death stories allow Pratchett to play around with new characters (in addition to old favorites).

So this story features a new character named Jeremy Clockson.  Jeremy was a founding left a the Clockmaker’s guild.  He is uncanny in his precision and was ultimately kicked out of the Guild for being too high strung.

One day a woman walks into his office (he makes the most precise clcks in Ankh-Morpork.  her name is Myria LeJean.  She is obnoxious and haughty and demands that Jeremy make the best clock that has ever been invented.  He, knowing a thing or two about clocks, says that he has already created the most precise clocks ever.  But she tells him about a clock that can be even more.

She offers him a lot of money to build it even as she knows that building such an amazing clock will be all the reward that Jeremy wants.

This is when Death gets involved.  Because it turns out that if this clock is built it will literally be the end of the world–this clock will capture and stop time.

Many Death stories have to do with the Auditors, and of course the Auditors are behind this, too.  The find humanity too messy to deal with, and they want to remove humanity so that the universe will run more smoothly.  They have sent Myris as a human to try to learn.  But she soon becomes taken over by human behavior and she kind of… likes Jeremy.

She also sends Jeremy an Igor to work with him.  I love the Igor characters and was delighted to see another one make an appearance.

As with most of the latter Death stories, Death is really enforced by Miss Susan–Death’s granddaughter.  Death him self cannot get involved when the Auditors cause trouble.  But Susan can stop them as long as Death doesn’t reveal too much.

I loved seeing Susan’s life as a teacher (her headmistress doesn’t like her, but the kids love her)

In the other major thread, we meet Lu-Tze–a powerful member of the History Monks masquerading as a humble sweeper.  There’s some wonderful karate movie shenanigans in this story.  With Lu Tze presenting as a lowly sweeper when he is indeed the most feared member of the Monks.  He works with a monk who creates with weapons called Qu.

And yet whenever he is called upon to do something that involves attacking or violence, he seems to just use trickery to get things to happen.

He is also given an apprentice, Lobsang.  Lobsang is a name that jumped out at me so much, that it made me think I must have remembered this story very well and yet I didn’t. I just remembered the name Lobsang.  Huh.

Lu-Tze and Lobsang are in charge of making sure that time isn’t destroyed.  Lobsang is considered a pain in the butt by the other monks.

Lobsang is a spoiled kid, who is bored at school and cant be taught because he knows everything.  Even Lu-Tze is not impressed with him, until he is able to bend time is ways that only the eldest Monks are able to do.  In fact, no one should be able to do the things he can do.  Lu-Tze realizes that Lobsang is naturally gifted at time shaping, he just needs to know how to control his gift.

Incidentally, the main abbot of the monastery has been reincarnated serval times.  He is presently a baby but he is also very wise, so his conversation is constantly interrupted his baser needs.

‘Ah, Sweeper,’ he burbled, awkwardly tossing aside a yellow ball and brightening up. ‘And how are the mountains? Wanna bikkit wanna bikkit!’

‘I’m definitely getting vulcanism, reverend one. It’s very encouraging.’

‘And you are in persistent good health?’ said the abbot, while his pudgy little hand banged a wooden giraffe against the bars. ‘Yes, your reverence. It’s good to see you up and about again.’

‘Only for a few steps so far, alas bikkit bikkit wanna bikkit. Unfortunately, young bodies have a mind of their own BIKKIT! ‘You sent me a message, your reverence? It said, “Put this one to the test.”’

As the apocalypse looms, Death recalls that he and the other four horsemen must ride forth.  But it has been a really long time and War is now married (he has to ask his wife if he likes meat–no it gives him wind).  Famine and Pestilence aren’t that keen on doing anything either. Leave it to Death to find the long lost horseman of the Apocalayse–a man who is now a milkman named Ronnie Soak.  Ronnie hasn’t thought about riding forth in years. But he becomes essential to the plot.

There is a huge pile of time travel in this book, as well as eastern philosophy and thoughts of what it means to be human,

There’s some really high concepts in a story in which the bad guys are defeated with chocolate.  And in which other characters are decapitated with no ill effects.

I love Susan as a character and the way that the Jeremy story and the Lobsang story combine is pretty masterful

And don’t forget Rule One.  Rule One is “Do not act incautiously when confronting a little bald wrinkly smiling man”

 

It’s a great story.

Here’s the list of all Discworld books in order:

1. The Colour of Magic
2. The Light Fantastic
3. Equal Rites
4. Mort
5. Sourcery
6. Wyrd Sisters
7. Pyramids
8. Guards! Guards!
9. Faust Eric
10. Moving Pictures
11. Reaper Man
12. Witches Abroad
13. Small Gods
14. Lords and Ladies
15. Men at Arms
16. Soul Music
17. Interesting Times
18. Maskerade
19. Feet of Clay
20. Hogfather
21. Jingo
22. The Last Continent
23. Carpe Jugulum
24. The Fifth Elephant
25. The Truth
26. Thief of Time
27. The Last Hero
28. The Amazing Maurice And His Educated Rodents
29. Night Watch
30. The Wee Free Men
31. Monstrous Regiment
32. A Hat Full of Sky
33. Going Postal
34. Thud!
35. Wintersmith
36. Making Money
37. Unseen Academicals
38. I Shall Wear Midnight
39. Snuff
40. Raising Steam
41. The Shepherd’s Crown

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Terry Pratchett–The Last Continent (1998) [Discworld #22] [Rincewind/Wizards #6]

Posted in Anachronisms, Death, Discworld, Disembowel-Meself-Honourably Dibhala, Funny (ha ha), Hex, Josh Kirby, Magic, Mustrum Ridcully, Ponder Stibbons, Racism, Rincewind, Terry Pratchett, The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, The Bursar, The Chair of Indefinite Studies, The Dean, The Lecturer in Recent Runes, The Librarian, The Luggage, The Senior Wrangler, Wizards, Wizards on June 2, 2022| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus

[READ: March 2022] The Last Continent

The Last Continent in Discworld is Australia. Or as Pratchett says “This is not a book about Australia. No, it’s about somewhere entirely different which just happens to be, here and there, a bit Australian.  Still… no worries, right?”

In the previous Rincewind story, he was sent to Four Ecks in exchange for a kangaroo.  He has been there for a time and has been adjusting reasonably well–only nearly everything wants to kill him.

But suddenly he meets Scrappy–a talking kangaroo.  Scrappy believes that Rincewind is a hero of sorts who is going to bring the wet (Rain) back to the continent.  Turns out that it has not rained in Four Ecks for a long time, although it is surrounded by forbidding storms that make the continent almost inaccessible from outside.

Four Ecks is also a time travel parody of sorts, because Rincewind is able to see himself (and the other wizards) in cave paintings that are thousands of years old but which just appeared in front of him.

Meanwhile, back in Ankh-Morpork, the librarian seems to be going through something.  His magical field (which tunrned him into an orangutan) seems to be failing.  He keeps turning into various shapes, and the senior wizards (Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully, The Dean, The Bursar, The Chair of Indefinite Studies, The Lecturer in Recent Runes, The Senior Wrangler, and Ponder Stibbons) are keen on fixing him–even if that means turning him back human–which he does NOT want, Indeed, the librarian destroyed all record of his original name–which would be essential for creating a spell to revert him to his original shape.

They decide that Rincewind might know a thing or two about the librarian since he was the librarian’s assistant.  They think about dragging Rincewind back, but soon realize the danger of that (and actually stop their plans before anyone can get hurt). (more…)

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Blue Man Group (State Theatre, New Brunswick, NJ, May 25, 2022)

Posted in Arrested Development, Blue Man Group, New Brunswick, NJ, State Theatre on May 25, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 25, 2022] Blue Man Group

Blue Man Group began in 1987. In 1997 I was working in New York City in Greenwich Village and every day I thought I would love to check out this crazy looking show.

I never did.

Over the years, Blue Man Group became a phenomenon, a punchline and much more.  I had no idea that in 2017 it was purchased by Cirque de Soliel.  It even became a plot line on Arrested Development.

And all that time I still thought that I’d like to experience the show.

So when State Theatre announced that Blue Man Group was touring, I purchased tickets for the four of us, figuring we would all enjoy it.  I gather that in the 35 years the show has changed, but some things are still the same.  They’re still all in Blue.  There are still marshmallows.  There’s still music and there’s still a kind of sensory overload.

The set was wild with lights flashing and scaffolding and walls on either side that were designed for climbing.  The set is lit up long before the Blue Men come out and you can really study everything that’s up there.  We were pretty far back so we couldn’t see it very closely.  But there were screens with Pong on it and other things that seemed futuristic and retro at the same time.

I knew that the Blue Man Group played music–they have even done a Tiny Desk.  And that they make a lot of their own instruments (mostly weird things out of PVC).  I didn’t realize there would be a (really loud, rocking) backing band [apparently Corky Gainsford on guitar Chris Reiss on the strings and drummer Chris Schultz].

Audience participation is a fun thing with the Blue Man Group.  There are parts that are clearly scripted–bits in which they come out an interact with the audience.  But there are also ways in which the audience’s reactions result in the Blue Men reacting in turn–as if they are aliens unsure about what to make of the audience in general.

And I think that’s what makes the whole thing so magical.  The three guys really do keep in character the whole time–and that character is truly alien.  Truly like beings from another world doing their thing, trying to communicate with humans in some way.  It is strangely affecting and strangely moving. (more…)

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Scott Thompson and Paul Bellini: An Evening with Mouth Congress (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, May 21, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Paul Bellini, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, Scott Thompson, The Kids in the Hall on May 21, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 21, 2022] Scott Thompson and Paul Bellini: An Evening with Mouth Congress

I love PhilaMOCA and can’t believe how many of their shows I’ve had to miss since they reopened.

Of course this one I wouldn’t have missed ina million years.  Except I didn’t even HEAR about it until it was long sold out.  [Plus, we went to Music Man on Broadway so I wasn’t around].

So what the hell was this?  And are you telling me that for an extra $15 I could have met a Kid in the Hall?

PhilaMOCA is excited to host The Kids in the Hall’s Scott Thompson and KITH writer Paul Bellini for a documentary screening and reunion performance of their 1980s gay punk band Mouth Congress! This is not a tour, this is a one-off just for Philly proudly organized in-house by PhilaMOCA!

The event will feature a screening of the pseudo-documentary MOUTH CONGRESS followed by a live performance, sketches, and a Q&A with Thompson and Bellini.

About Mouth Congress:
Mouth Congress was formed in a basement in November of 1984 when Paul Bellini rented a beatbox from an audio store. He wanted to experiment with sounds and try his hand at songwriting with his sister’s boyfriend, guitarist Rob Rowatt, and her high school buddy, bassist Gord Disley. Their cacophony immediately drew the attention of Scott Thompson, who at the time was on the cusp of joining a local comedy troupe called The Kids in the Hall. Since they only had the beatbox for a month, they recorded dozens of sketches for songs. Then, about ten months later, they made their stage debut with Brian Hiltz’s band I Want functioning as back-up. From start to finish, Bellini either tape-recorded or video-taped everything the band ever did, from jam sessions to costume fittings to lyric-writing sessions to live shows. This dragged on for about 4 years, so you can imagine how much media he accumulated. But by 1991, both Thompson and Bellini were so preoccupied with their work on The Kids in the Hall television series that they quietly put all the Mouth Congress media into a deep, dark hallway closet. They didn’t forget about it, though. For years, Bellini pondered the idea of making a film about the band. Then, in 2011, he dug all this stuff out of the closet, showed it to Thompson, and the two men set about trying to shape it all into something.

Synopsis:
It’s a cold, snowy night in Toronto. Melancholy, an 8-year old girl, is spending the night at her Uncle Kevin’s place. Uncle Kevin is Kevin McDonald of The Kids in the Hall. After a day of Josef von Sternberg cosplay (he dons an ape suit like Marlene Dietrich in Blonde Venus), Uncle Kevin sets Melancholy up in his den to watch a DVD of a movie he was in called Lilo & Stitch.

But Melancholy isn’t interested in Lilo & Stitch. Instead, she finds an old VHS tape labelled Mouth Congress and her curiosity gets the best of her. As she watches the first five minutes of this bizarre rock band on stage, she is captivated. Kevin catches her in the act and admonishes her for snooping, but she is hooked. For a bedtime story, she insists on being told the history of Mouth Congress.

NOTE: There will no longer be a 10:00 PM performance (no controversy, the performers just want to put their all into a single performance).
Admission is $40, Admission + post-show Meet & Greet is $55

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Born Ruffians / Sham Family (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, April 30. 3022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Attack on Titan, Born Ruffians, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Sham Family on April 30, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 30, 2022] Born Ruffians / Sham Family

I blew off seeing Typhoon so I could see Born Ruffians, a Canadian band that is hard to pin down exactly, except that they make hyperactive poppy punk that is catchy but not super catchy.  They’re probably not even going to sell a million records, but they should have a pretty devoted fan base.

The band is a trio–singer/guitarist Luke Lalonde, bassist Mitch DeRosier, and drummer Steve Hamelin.  They put out a trio of albums in 2020/2021 all thematically similar. Juice was my favorite.  They have a great set available from The Live at Massey Hall series (see video below).

However, my wife and daughter were out that night and I was home with my son.  We started watching Attack on Titan and I decided that I would much rather spend the night with my son than these bands, so I blew off the show and we enjoyed some bonkers anime. (more…)

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