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All Things Go Music Festival [Day 1] (Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MS, September 30, 2023)

Posted in Alex G, All Things Go, Alvvays, Arlo Parks, Boygenius, Carly Rae Jepsen, Columbia MD, Dayglow, Ella Jane, Ethel Cain, Flecther, Free Range, Hemlocke Springs, Jensen McRae, Juliana Madrid, Lana Del Ray, Last Dinosaurs, Leith Ross, Lizzie McAlpine, Maggie Rogers, Meet Me @ The Altar, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Mt. Joy, Muna, No Vacation, Peach Pit, Raye, Samia, Sudan Archives, Suki Waterhouse, Tegan and Sara, Tommy Lefroy, Vacations, Vundabar on September 30, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 30, 2023] All Things Go [Day 1]

Sometime in April, my daughter asked if we could go to the All Things Go Festival.  I had never heard of this Festival and assumed the answer was no.  But then I saw that it was at the Merriweather Post Pavilion which is exactly three hours away from us.  So when tickets went on sale, I managed to get two pre-sale tickets for Sunday.  And then when they went on proper sale, I managed to score two more for Saturday.

If I had managed to get tickets to see boygenius at the Mann Center, we would have blown off this day, but that didn’t happen, so we hunkered down for our first Festival day (and her first Festival).

I was excited for the Festival too, as there were a bunch of bands that I wanted to see.  But this was a Festival for her, so I told her, that I wanted to arrive in time to see Sudan Archives and then the rest of the day was up to her.  I wanted to see Maggie Rogers and a few other bands during the day, but I’d go where she wanted.

I’ll write a separate post for each band we saw.

The Festival was set up very nicely with the Chrysalis Stage within easy walking distance from the main stage (and from the food and merch).  And there was free parking.

We arrived and, even though we had VIP entrance passes, we waited on line, not quite realizing how it worked.  Well, they sent us back to get our wristbands which allowed us quick entrance (very useful on Sunday).  These wrist bands also go us a swag bag full of weird goodies.

The rest was a Festival.  The food was overpriced, the bathrooms were inadequate, the water lines were really long.  At least it was September and not July.  The first day worked out great weather-wise as it was overcast and a little cooler.

I felt a little bad because we didn’t stop for lunch on the way down (tight schedule), so I made my daughter wait in line for food so I could see Sudan Archives.  I told her, that it was the last time that I’d make her do anything like this, and she was cool with it.

I enjoyed Sudan Archives in the sun, she sat in the shade and enjoyed the video screens. (more…)

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Ratboys (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, September 26, 2023)

Posted in Free Range, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Ratboys on September 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 26, 2023] Ratboys

I’m not sure when I first heard about Ratboys.  I think it was the release of their (terrific) album Printer’s Devil.  They were scheduled to play Johnny Brenda’s three times and each one was postponed during the pandemic.  I seem to have missed when the show was actually rescheduled though. Oops.

At any rate, two years later and they are back.  And they have a new album, The Window.  And it is really great too.  Which is good because they played every song from it (although not in album order).

Ratboys have been together since 2010, formed by singer/guitarist Julia Steiner and guitar wizard David Sagan.  I really enjoyed watching Sagan play with the pedals on the floor–for the encore, he even brought out some kind of remote controlled feedbacky gadget which was cool.

I was in a strange location for me at the show.  I was literally standing right under bassist Sean Neumann, so I couldn’t really see his face much, but I enjoyed watching his basswork and his backing vocals were stellar. (more…)

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Free Range (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, September 26, 2023) [RATBOYS]

Posted in Free Range, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Ratboys on September 26, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 26, 2023] Free Range

When the lineup for the All Things Goes Festival was announced, the first band to play on Saturday was Free Range.  My daughter and i are going to the Festival and we both agreed that we had not heard of Free Range.

Imagine my surprise to find out that Free Range was opening for Ratboys at Johnny Brenda’s.

Free Range is Chicago musician Sofia Jensen (who is originally from Scandinavia).  Free Range put out an album (Practice) in February.  I listened to maybe a song on it and was kind of meh about it.

But live, they were excellent.

The songs had a pretty consistent feel to them–they would start slow and would often build to a loud middle section (usually instrumental) and then kind of fade back into the quieter verses.   It wasn’t a quiet-loud-quiet verse chorus thing because the loud parts were more of like a jamming session in the middle of these (otherwise rather short) songs.

Sofia’s voice sounded familiar–maybe a kind of Phoebe Bridgers vibe–a kind of strong whispery style, and her songs had a strong Pinegrove feel to me (turns out that Nick Levin from Pinegrove plays pedal steel on on two of the tracks).  I guess the songs are indie rock with a whiff of country about them. (more…)

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