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Archive for the ‘Animals as Leaders’ Category

Animals as Leaders (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 18, 2024)

Posted in Animals as Leaders, Philadelphia, PA, Plini, Theatre of Living Arts on November 19, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 18, 2024] Animals as Leaders

My Brother-in-law, Ben told me about Animals as Leaders back in 2019 just before they came to the East Coast.  I grabbed a ticket to their TLA show and was really impressed (although I hated the crowd).

Animals as Leaders is a 3 piece founded by Tosin Abasi.  He plays primarily the 8-string electric guitar and his fingers (on both hands) are all over the fretboard.  Basically, he’s a guy you want to watch closely.   He started the all-instrumental Animals as Leaders in 2009.  Guitarist Javier Reyes also plays the 8 string (and is equally as amazing) and drummer Matt Garstka fill out the band.

The last time I saw them, the crowd was tall and very shove-y.  This time the crowd was pretty tall, but I’m better at negotiating my spaces and the shoving was contained.   The last time I saw them they were touring the tenth anniversary of their debut album.  This tour was the tenth anniversary of their The Joy of Motion album, which they played straight through.

I didn’t know the album, but boy everyone else did–I love when a room sings a long to an instrumental.

The band sounds huge, with both guitarists playing low and high ends at the same time and the drummer playing nonstop so that it’s a constant wall of sound.

There’s not a lot more to say about the show.  Most of the songs are heavy with complex rhythms and time signatures.  There were a couple of songs that were quieter with one acoustic song (and Reyes switched down to a 7 string!).  The musicianship was amazing.   What I found especially interesting is that their songs aren’t especially long–most around 4 minutes.  This packs a lot of musical information into digestible chunks.

He told us that his favorite song was The Woven Web (it rocked) and thanked us for being there for ten years and more.

When the album was over (about an hour), they left for a brief encore break.

When they came back Tosin asked if we wanted one more.  And they played The Brain Dance.   Mid-song, opening guitarist Plini came out to play a ripping solo and then he left again.   Tosin asked if we wanted one more.  We did and they played the ripping Ectogenesis and then Red Miso from their most recent album.  After that he asked if we wanted one more, for real, last song and they ended the night with the new(ish) powerhouse “Monomyth.”

It was a great set.

I should also mention the lighting.  It was mostly kind of dark–blues and reds–but they had their own (pretty intense) lighting rig.  One of the bigger rigs I’ve seen at Union Transfer.  It was definitely cool and did lots of nifty lighting tricks.  It probably looked fantastic from further back, but I wanted to get up close to see the fingerwork.  And I think i made the right choice.

I don’t think I’ll see  them again, but I did enjoy this show quite a lot.

 

2024 Union Transfer 2019 TLA
Ka$cade ♥ Espera (tape) ∞
Lippincott ♥ Wave of Babies @
Air Chrysalis ♥ Tempting Time @
Another Year ♥ Thoroughly at Home @
Physical Education♥ Arithmophobia ϖ
Tooth and Claw ♥ Cognitive Contortions ϖ
Crescent ♥ Nephele ♥
The Future That Awaited Me ♥ The Price of Everything and the Value of Nothing / Behaving Badly @
Para Mexer♥ Para Mexer ♥
The Woven Web ♥ The Brain Dance ϖ
Mind-Spun ♥ Ectogenesis ϖ
Nephele ♥ Inner Assassins ϖ
encore The Woven Wed ♥
The Brain Dance ϖ (with Plini) CAFO @
Ectogenesis ϖ encore
Red Miso ¶ Physical Education ♥
Monomyth ¶

¶ = Parrhesia (2022)
ϖ = The Madness of Many (2016)
♥ = The Joy of Motion (2014)
∞ = Weightless (2011)
@ = Animals as Leaders (2009)

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Plini (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 18, 2024) [ANIMALS AS LEADERS]

Posted in Animals as Leaders, Philadelphia, PA, Plini, Union Transfer on November 18, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 18, 2024] Plini

Plini is Plini Roessler-Holgate, an Australian guitarist who has been recognized by all of the famous guitar gods [for instance: Steve Vai described him as “the future of exceptional guitar playing.”]

I wondered if he would play solo, but no, he had a four-piece band.  Jake Howsam Lowe played guitar with him.  And Jake was amazing as well.  He had some moments of speed and impressive dexterity–and I was glad that he was given his own spotlight in a song at the end.

I was really impressed by bassist Simon Grove.  He played a six string bass and at times played the same fast riffs as both guitarists.  He also had a few soloing moments and I loved seeing him play.

Finally, Chris Allison on drums was terrific.  And he inadvertently had one of the best moments of the night for me.  Someone in the audience held up a sign that said Mr Allison will you trade drum sticks with me  And Allison was totally game.  The fan passed their sticks through the audience (he or she was pretty far back and the sticks were crowd surfed) and Plini asked if the fan wanted the ones Allison had just played with or new ones.  And then said, oh give them both.  Then Plini asked how honest the Philly crowd was as they crowd surfed the sticks to the fan.  It was great.

Plini then said that instead of playing music for 30 minutes, they would just do a trade and swap for the next 30 minutes.

But indeed, they did play.  (more…)

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Animals as Leaders / Intervals (Brooklyn Bowl, Philadelphia, PA, April 11, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Animals as Leaders, Brooklyn Bowl, Intervals, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts on April 11, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 11, 2022] Animals as Leaders / Intervals

Animals as Leaders is a trio that plays loud, complex progressive metal.

I saw them a few years ago and was blown away.  Although I didn’t like the crowd very much, and wanted to see them again at some point.

Of course, this show conflicted with two other shows the same night and then we went on vacation, so there was not a chance here.

Intervals is a Canadian progressive instrumental metal band. I’m sure I would have liked them as well.

Maybe some other time.

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Dance Gavin Dance / Animals as Leaders / Eidola / Veil of Maya / Wolf & Bear (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, October 1, 2021) [rescheduled again, again] [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Animals as Leaders, Coronavirus, Dance Gavin Dance, Eidola, Franklin Music Hall, Issues, Philadelphia, PA, Polyphia, Postponed, Quarantine, Royal Coda, Veil of Moya, Wolf & Bear on October 1, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 1, 2021] Dance Gavin Dance / Animals as Leaders / Veil of Maya / Eidola / Wolf & Bear [rescheduled from April 3 then August 27, 2020, Then April 2, 2021]

indexThe whole reason I as thinking about attending this show was to see Animals as Leaders again.  They announced on August 27, 2021

“Due to unforeseen circumstances, we will be withdrawing ourselves from the Dance Gavin Dance Afterburner Tour. Apologies to any fans who were planning on seeing us on the tour, but we’ll be returning to all these cities on a scheduled headline tour with new music for next year.”

Obviously, I’d much rather see them as headliners, so I’ll blow this entire show off.  The final line up appears to be: Dance Gavin Dance, Polyphia, Veil of Maya, Eidola, Wolf & Bear/

This show has been rescheduled one more time–this is now the third date change.  Boy I hope October 1 is not too soon.

Over the changes, the lineup has had some minor tweaks.

Now, Issues is out and Eidola is in.

Eidola is a bit more math rock, with some pretty complex rhythms, and soaring high vocals.  They seem like they’d be a good change up in the middle of this set.

~~

This show was rescheduled from April and I recall that when it was rescheduled, some people online joked that it was too soon.  I guess they were right.

I still wasn’t sure I was going to go to this show.  It depended on what else was going on that week.  But i would love to see Animals as leaders again for sure.

I saw Animals as Leaders at TLA last May and I was amazed at the show (including the opening bands), but the crowd was really rowdy and I wound up far back behind a lot of tall guys.  I wanted to see them again, so when I saw that they were playing at Franklin Music Hall, I was surprised that they had moved up to such a big venue.

I had no idea that Dance Gavin Dance was the headliner, not Animals as Leaders.  In fact, when I later saw a poster for the rescheduled show(s) I thought Dance Gavin Dance was the (admittedly strange) name of the Animals as Leaders tour.

I don’t think I would have gone knowing that Animals as Leaders were one of (the four!) opening acts, but who knows.

So Dance Gavin Dance has been around since 2005 and I’ve never heard of them?  Apparently there are eight guys who have already left the band over the years.  People are quite divided about them.  Maybe I’ll give a record a listen.

Issues is another band I’ve never heard of although they have been around for eight years. They are described as combining metalcore, nu metal, pop and contemporary R&B.  Woah.  I don’t love the whole clean/unclean vocal thing–small doses are fine, so this might not be the band for me.

Veil of Maya have been around for six years (clearly I don’t follow this genre at all).  They are another metalcore band and I think this show might have been exhausting if I stayed for the whole thing.

Royal Coda shares (past and current) members with Dance Gavin Dance and is described as post-hardcore, progressive and math.

For this rescheduled show they were dropped for Wolf & Bear.  They play some aggressive progressive metal with growly vocals–a mix of things I like with things I don’t.  They also have a clean vocalist who sings some rather poppy sections.  They;re pretty interesting.

It would definitely be an exhausting night.

dgd

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Dance Gavin Dance / Animals as Leaders / Eidola / Veil of Maya / Wolf & Bear (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, April 2, 2021) [rescheduled again, again]

Posted in Animals as Leaders, Coronavirus, Dance Gavin Dance, Eidola, Franklin Music Hall, Issues, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, Royal Coda, Veil of Moya, Wolf & Bear on April 2, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: April 2, 2021] Dance Gavin Dance / Animals as Leaders / Veil of Maya / Eidola / Wolf & Bear [rescheduled from April 3 then August 27, 2020; moved to October 1, 2021]

indexThis show has been rescheduled one more time–this is now the third date change.  Boy I hope October 1 is not too soon.

Over the changes, the lineup has had some minor tweaks.

Now, Issues is out and Eidola is in.

Eidola is a bit more math rock, with some pretty complex rhythms, and soaring high vocals.  They seem like they’d be a good change up in the middle of this set.

~~

This show was rescheduled from April and I recall that when it was rescheduled, some people online joked that it was too soon.  I guess they were right.

I still wasn’t sure I was going to go to this show.  It depended on what else was going on that week.  But i would love to see Animals as leaders again for sure.

I saw Animals as Leaders at TLA last May and I was amazed at the show (including the opening bands), but the crowd was really rowdy and I wound up far back behind a lot of tall guys.  I wanted to see them again, so when I saw that they were playing at Franklin Music Hall, I was surprised that they had moved up to such a big venue.

I had no idea that Dance Gavin Dance was the headliner, not Animals as Leaders.  In fact, when I later saw a poster for the rescheduled show(s) I thought Dance Gavin Dance was the (admittedly strange) name of the Animals as Leaders tour.

I don’t think I would have gone knowing that Animals as Leaders were one of (the four!) opening acts, but who knows.

So Dance Gavin Dance has been around since 2005 and I’ve never heard of them?  Apparently there are eight guys who have already left the band over the years.  People are quite divided about them.  Maybe I’ll give a record a listen.

Issues is another band I’ve never heard of although they have been around for eight years. They are described as combining metalcore, nu metal, pop and contemporary R&B.  Woah.  I don’t love the whole clean/unclean vocal thing–small doses are fine, so this might not be the band for me.

Veil of Maya have been around for six years (clearly I don’t follow this genre at all).  They are another metalcore band and I think this show might have been exhausting if I stayed for the whole thing.

Royal Coda shares (past and current) members with Dance Gavin Dance and is described as post-hardcore, progressive and math.

For this rescheduled show they were dropped for Wolf & Bear.  They play some aggressive progressive metal with growly vocals–a mix of things I like with things I don’t.  They also have a clean vocalist who sings some rather poppy sections.  They;re pretty interesting.

It would definitely be an exhausting night.

dgd

 

 

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Dance Gavin Dance / Animals as Leaders / Issues / Veil of Maya / Wolf & Bear (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, August 26 & 27, 2020) [rescheduled dates–POSTPONED]

Posted in Animals as Leaders, Coronavirus, Dance Gavin Dance, Franklin Music Hall, Issues, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, Royal Coda, Veil of Moya, Wolf & Bear on August 26, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: August 26 & 27, 2020] Dance Gavin Dance / Animals as Leaders / Issues / Veil of Maya / Wolf & Bear [rescheduled from April 3; moved to April 1 & 2, 2021]

indexThis show was rescheduled from April and I recall that when it was rescheduled, some people online joked that it was too soon.  I guess they were right.

I still wasn’t sure I was going to go to this show.  It depended on what else was going on that week.  But i would love to see Animals as leaders again for sure.

I saw Animals as Leaders at TLA last May and I was amazed at the show (including the opening bands), but the crowd was really rowdy and I wound up far back behind a lot of tall guys.  I wanted to see them again, so when I saw that they were playing at Franklin Music Hall, I was surprised that they had moved up to such a big venue.

I had no idea that Dance Gavin Dance was the headliner, not Animals as Leaders.  In fact, when I later saw a poster for the rescheduled show(s) I thought Dance Gavin Dance was the (admittedly strange) name of the Animals as Leaders tour.

I don’t think I would have gone knowing that Animals as Leaders were one of (the four!) opening acts, but who knows.

So Dance Gavin Dance has been around since 2005 and I’ve never heard of them?  Apparently there are eight guys who have already left the band over the years.  People are quite divided about them.  Maybe I’ll give a record a listen.

Issues is another band I’ve never heard of although they have been around for eight years. They are described as combining metalcore, nu metal, pop and contemporary R&B.  Woah.  I don’t love the whole clean/unclean vocal thing–small doses are fine, so this might not be the band for me.

Veil of Maya have been around for six years (clearly I don’t follow this genre at all).  They are another metalcore band and I think this show might have been exhausting if I stayed for the whole thing.

Royal Coda shares (past and current) members with Dance Gavin Dance and is described as post-hardcore, progressive and math.

For this rescheduled show they were dropped for Wolf & Bear.  They play some aggressive progressive metal with growly vocals–a mix of things I like with things I don’t.  They also have a clean vocalist who sings some rather poppy sections.  They;re pretty interesting.

It would definitely be an exhausting night.

dgd

 

 

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Dance Gavin Dance / Animals as Leaders / Issues / Veil of Maya / Royal Coda (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, April 3, 2020) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Animals as Leaders, Coronavirus, Dance Gavin Dance, Franklin Music Hall, Issues, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, Royal Coda, Veil of Moya on April 3, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: April 3, 2020] Dance Gavin Dance / Animals as Leaders / Issues / Veil of Maya / Royal Coda [moved to August 26 & 27]

indexI saw Animals as Leaders at TLA last May and I was amazed at the show (including the opening bands), but the crowd was really rowdy and I wound up far back behind a lot of tall guys.  I wanted to see them again, so when I saw that they were playing at Franklin Music Hall, I was surprised that they had moved up to such a big venue.

I had no idea that Dance Gavin Dance was the headliner, not Animals as Leaders.  In fact, when I later saw a poster for the rescheduled show(s) I thought Dance Gavin Dance was the (admittedly strange) name of the Animals as Leaders tour.

I don’t think I would have gone knowing that Animals as Leaders were one of (the four!) opening acts, but who knows.

So Dance Gavin Dance has been around since 2005 and I’ve never heard of them?  Apparently there are eight guys who have already left the band over the years.  People are quite divided about them.  Maybe I’ll give a record a listen.

Issues is another band I’ve never heard of although they have been around for eight years. They are described as combining metalcore, nu metal, pop and contemporary R&B.  Woah.  I don’t love the whole clean/unclean vocal thing–small doses are fine, so this might not be the band for me.

Veil of Maya have been around for six years (clearly I don’t follow this genre at all).  They are another metalcore band and I think this show might have been exhausting if I stayed for the whole thing.

Royal Coda shares (past and current) members with Dance Gavin Dance and is described as post-hardcore, progressive and math.

dgd

 

 

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Animals as Leaders (Theatre of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia, PA, May 19, 2019)

Posted in Animals as Leaders, Philadelphia, PA, The Contortionist, Theatre of Living Arts on May 19, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 19, 2019] Animals as Leaders

My Brother-in-law, Ben told me about Animals as Leaders and I was rather shocked that I had never heard of Tosin Abasi.

Tosin is from Washington D.C. (his parents are from Nigeria).  He is self taught and has been playing since about 2000.  He plays primarily the 8-string electric guitar and his fingers (on both hands) are all over the fretboard.  Basically, he’s a guy you want to watch closely.

He started the all-instrumental Animals as Leaders in 2009.  The band is a hybrid of many different genres: heavy metal, prog, jazz, classical.  Or as he put it: “Thanks for listening to our weird ass music for the last ten years.”

I was also intrigued that right after talking about them I saw that they were coming into Philly a few weeks later.  So I immediately grabbed a ticket.

Indeed, this tour was celebrating the tenth anniversary of the debut, self-titled album.  I assumed that that meant they’d be playing the whole album but they didn’t.  They played about half of the debut and about half of their newest release (from way back in 2016).

I feel about this show that it was the most disappointing experience of an amazing show that I’ve had in a long time. (more…)

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The Contortionist (Theatre of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia, PA, May 19, 2019) [ANIMALS AS LEADERS]]

Posted in Animals as Leaders, Philadelphia, PA, The Breakfast Club, The Contortionist, Theatre of Living Arts on May 19, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 19, 2019] The Contortionist

I don’t understand how I have never heard of The Contortionist (which is a spectacular name for a prog-metal band, especially in the singular).  They have been making prog-metal since 2007.  And prog metal is one of my jams.

So how could I not know about these guys (who have a pretty intense fanbase)?

They had this cool wooden cutout backdrop thing which I rather liked.  Although when the lights came on I saw that it was beat up and weathered–ah the magic of stage craft.

The band came out and the lighting was really intense. The light behind the wooden sculpture was lit up from time to time, but primarily the stage lights coordinated very well with the (diverse and very fast) riffs and drums.  There were a few strobing moments that actually hurt my head.

I was in front of guitarist Cameron Maynard and bassist Jordan Eberhardt.  The problem for me was that once this band took the stage an influx of very tall people came up front.  Plus the lighting was mostly very very dark.  I didn’t even realize there was a second guitarist (Robby Baca) for about three songs. (more…)

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Moon Tooth (Theatre of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia, PA, May 19, 2019) [ANIMALS AS LEADERS]

Posted in Animals as Leaders, Moon Tooth, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts on May 19, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 19, 2019] Moon Tooth

Moon Tooth are a band from Long Island who began in 2012.  They have two albums and some EPs out.

What’s most striking about them is how much the one guy (guitarist Nick Lee) does not look like the other three.

Vocalist John Carbone, drummer Ray Marté and bassist Vincent Romanelli are all broad guys with short hair, while Lee has long locks and is quite thin.

In some respects he feels like an outsider musically as well.  The rhythm section is heavy and groovin and Carbone’s voice fits along really well with it.  It’s not growly or traditionally metal high-pitched, it’s just really powerful–he’s got a great voice.

Lee’s guitars feel a lot more metal, though–little squeaky high notes and flashy riffs and what not. (more…)

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