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Archive for the ‘Gilla Band’ Category

Gilla Band (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, February 22, 2023)

Posted in Gilla Band, Girl Band, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Pure Adult on February 23, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 22, 2023] Gilla Band

When Irish quartet Gilla Band first became a band back in 2011 or so, they were called Girl Band.  I first heard about them in 2015, when the single “Why They Hide the Bodies Under My Garage” came out.  It was noisy and abrasive and painful and wonderful.

I lost track of them for a bit (WIkipedia says they had a hiatus for health issues).  Then in 2021 they announced they were changing the name of the band because it was a “misgendered name” and that their former name could have been “propagating a culture of non-inclusivity.”  Which is pretty cool.  They changed it to Gilla Band (keeping the G and the Band).

The quartet has remained the same since the beginning: vocalist Dara Kiely, guitarist Alan Duggan, bassist Daniel Fox and drummer Adam Faulkner.  This is probably a good thing because I don’t see how anyone could reproduce what these guys do.

They opened with a bunch of older songs.  First up was “Lawman” which has scraping guitars and a mechanical sliding bass. as Dara sing/speaks (in a manner not unlike Mark E. Smith) as the song slams forward.   The end of the song features some high pitched noises that I don’t now how guitarist Alan Duggan even thought to make.   That song pushed six minutes and they followed it with the 90 second blast of noise called “Heckle the Frames.”  I loved the guitar that was just a high pitched note sliding up the neck.  (Is it about making fun of Glen Hansard’s band?)

“Pears for Lunch” was largely quiet (relatively) until about half way in when the guitars turned into a wall of noise.  “Fucking Butter” was amazing because bassist Daniel Fox was playing these really nigh notes that didn’t sound like a bass at all. The guitar was just a buzzsaw of scraping playing along with the drums.  Somehow the guitar made a increasingly higher and higher sound that seemed to keep going up and up long after he reached the highest point of his strings. (more…)

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Pure Adult (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, February 22, 2023) [GILLA BAND]

Posted in Gilla Band, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Pure Adult on February 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 22, 2023] Pure Adult

I knew about Gilla Band and have listened to a few of their songs.  They’re a bit too abrasive to listen to for fun, but I imagined that their live set would be amazing.

I had no idea who would open for them, and had not heard of Pure Adult.

Pure Adult is technically a duo: Jeremy Snyder and Bianca Abarca.

Although on stage there were five people.

Pure Adult is that wonderful kind of band that I feel like was more prevalent in the 1990s (and maybe bands like this have always been around and I don’t know them).  They play weird music that doesn’t really fit a style or pattern.  There are catchy parts and non-catchy parts and sudden stops and starts and vocals that may or may not match with the music.  The singers are weird and the lyrics have no context and feel like they are story songs.  In other words, they will never be popular and never make any money.  But they may find some fans on college radio stations.  And they will always be amazing live.

They came out and Jeremy Snyder looked like someone straight out of a 70s movie (possibly pornographic).  He had on tan pants (maybe polyester) with a button down shirt and a jacket.  He had shaggy hair and a bushy mustache.  He jumped around the stage shouting and relating his lyrics.

Bianca Abarca was on keys, but they traded off when she sang the lead parts.  She also did some cool moves–the Johnny Brenda’s stage was way too small for them.

Their guitar player Nelson Antonio Espinal (in the dim light I pictured him as Paul Rudd in a big curly wig) played some wild solos and made some great noises as well.  I also really enjoyed the sounds that their bassist created ( I didn’t get the name of him or their drummer who was solid and handled the wild time changes easily). (more…)

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