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Noah Kahan–All Things Go Music Festival [Day 1] (Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD, September 26, 2025)

Posted in All Things Go, Caroline Kingsbury, Columbia, MD, Joy Oladukin, Lucius, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Noah Kahan, Sharon Van Etten, Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory, Sharon Van Etten and the Attachment Theory, Sunday (1984), The Beaches, The Last Dinner Party, The Marías on September 26, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 26, 2025] Noah Kahan–All Things Go [Day 1]

Noah Kahan was the headliner for Friday night.

I know that I exist in a musical world that is all of my own so I didn’t know Noah at all.  I was aware of his song Stick Season because my daughter played it for me, but it seemed like he was basically a folk singer.  So I guess I don’t understand kids these days.

Anyhow, I was surprised that he would be the headliner, but clearly no one else was.

But I was pretty happy that it wasn’t just him and a mandolin.  He had a full band and they rocked much harder than I thought they would.  Although it was pretty fascinating to hear the crowd react so powerfully to a dude with a mandolin.

But he had a full band and they harmonized really nicely.  He also seemed genuinely funny and nice.  (I’m Noah Kahan and I’m here to ruin your evening). (more…)

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The Last Dinner Party–All Things Go Music Festival [Day 1] (Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD, September 26, 2025)

Posted in All Things Go, Caroline Kingsbury, Columbia, MD, Joy Oladukin, Lucius, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Noah Kahan, Sharon Van Etten, Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory, Sharon Van Etten and the Attachment Theory, Sunday (1984), The Beaches, The Last Dinner Party, The Marías on September 26, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 26, 2025] The Last Dinner Party-All Things Go [Day 1]

I was most excited to see The Last Dinner Party. They had only played Philly once but I had tickets to another show that night.  Ugh.  So this was my first time seeing them.  And they were terrific.

The opening strains of Prelude to Ecstasy played over the speakers as they came out on stage.  The five women up front filled the whole stage–keys (Aurora Nishevci) , guitar (Emily Roberts), vocals (Abigail Morris), guitar (Lizzie Mayland), bass (Georgia Davies) with their drummer back on the riser.

They opened with Burn Alive and it was cool to hear these songs come to life.  The problem for me was that the woman next to me felt compelled to scream every single word.

The empowering anthem Caesar on a TV Screen came next and Aurora played keytar which was fun to see.  She rocked out next to Emily–who plays some phenomenal solos.

Count the Ways played live for the first time 2 nights ago in New York City. Abigail  went over to acknowledge the ASL interpreter and to thank them–she said they didn’t know they had one.

Abigail introduced the next song as being from the first record and you might know it.  And Lizzie said no you won’t this is from the new record.  Abigail laughed “I don’t know my own setlist.”

Second Best opens with gorgeous acapella harmonies from all of them.  It’s a great song, continuing their streak of great songs.  And of course since they were new, the woman next to me couldn’t sing them.

On Your Side has some really gorgeous quiet moments that showcases how great their voices are.

Aurora sang Gjuha next after giving a brief introduction about it (it’s about her relationship with her mother tongue).  Everyone sang backing vocals and Emily played the mandolin–absolutely lovely.  And it segued right into the rocking Sinner.   It was really fun to see Abigail dancing around the stage with abandon. Lizzie sings some lead vocals on this song too, which I didn’t realize.

Then came another new one Agnus Dei.  Which Abigail introduced as “This is a song about a boy–ew!”

After a moment with a QR code to donate to Palestine, Abigail said she was really sorry for what was happening on our country and it was not a time to be scared–letting us really know how the rest of the world sees us right now.

Aurora started playing the piano up on the riser and as Abigail walked up the risers and as they started the next song Aurora gasped and stopped playing–she was attacked by a huge moth. Everyone laughed–“you guys have some massive bugs here.”

They returned to Portrait of a Dead Girl which builds to some great sing alongs–over and over again as well as the really fun “give me the strength.”

I didn’t realize that the band doesn’t have a drummer.  They use session drummers for tour (wonder why).  For this show they had Victoria Smith who was great–she totally rocks. (more…)

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All Things Go Music Festival [Day 1] (Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD, September 26, 2025)

Posted in All Things Go, Caroline Kingsbury, Columbia, MD, Joy Oladukin, Lucius, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Noah Kahan, Sharon Van Etten, Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory, Sharon Van Etten and the Attachment Theory, Sunday (1984), The Beaches, The Last Dinner Party, The Marías on September 26, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 26, 2025] All Things Go [Day 1]

My daughter and I went to All Things Go in 2023 and had a great time.  We didn’t go last year, but this year we decided to go again–for all three days (last time it was two).

The first day was a Friday and my daughter had a half day of school.  So we left after classes and got to MD in pretty decent time.  The early shows on Friday were great and I would have loved to see Lucius (having just seen them) and Sharon Van Etten (having seen them a few weeks earlier), but it was fine that we arrived too late for them.  But my huge YES was for The Last Dinner Party, a band I could have seen when they played Johnny Brenda’s but my wife and I had gone to a meh show elsewhere that not instead.  So I really wanted to see them!

We arrived, got good ADA parking (phew) and used our fast pass entry (yay).  We could hear The Beaches playing and they sounded great.  My daughter went for food and I grabbed a seat as we watched a video of The Marías playing. I was a little bummed we didn’t see them (although I hadn’t heard of them at all before this) because their set sounded really good.

In a bizarre coincidence, we ran into my niece/her cousin while getting food.  It was great to see her (she lives in DC).  She was really looking forward to seeing Noah Kahan.  Then we parted–thought we might see her at Noah but we didn’t.

Then we headed down to the Chrysalis Stage (which was pretty packed) in time to see The Last Dinner Party.  My daughter and I have different wants at a show.  I like to be really close and she is cool hanging out and letting the music wash over her.

So I snuck down as far as I could and enjoyed TLDP very very much.  I even got a photo of the setlist. (more…)

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Lucius (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 22, 2025)

Posted in Lucius, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, Victoria Canal on May 23, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 22, 2025] Lucius

I saw Lucius last year when they played the anniversary of their debut album.  I enjoyed the show and their performance so much that I knew I’d want to see them again.  And I knew my wife would really enjoy it as well.

But I had no idea she’s enjoy it as much as she did.  She said it was her favorite concert of the year [UPDATE: at year’s end she maintains that belief].

The stage was set up with two large cacti flanking the keyboard set up of Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig.  I love that they dress alike (down to the wigs they are wearing).  They wore red, beautifully decorated ponchos, and it’s amazing that they face each other and more or less mimic each others movements–they’re not a tightly choreographed ship, which is good.  They are more like a loose duo who can allow the moment to overtake perfect choreography.  And they’re all the better for it,

But mostly, Lucius are instantly recognizable because of the gorgeous vocals of Wolfe and Laessig,  And it gives you goosebumps to see them perform live.

There’s a several Lucius songs that I absolutely love.  There’s also some that I’m iffy about (but the hits greatly outweigh the misses for me).  And I really like the vibe of the new album a lot.  I’m sure that has a lot to do with Adam Granduciel of The War on Drugs who produced the album (his fingerprints are all over it).  The opening song Final Days doesn’t sound like The War on Drugs, but it does sound like Lucius covering a War on Drugs song.

They followed up with Gold Rush, which I was surprised to hear so early as its the big hit from the album.  They wound up playing five new songs in a row.  Trespassers Will Be Shot uploaded several songs from our show (see below).  Things had mellowed, but when Stranger Danger came on and the guitars went crazy and Jess and Holly came to the front of the stage–it was electrifying.

The band had a simple set up.  Jess and Holly in the center.  On our right side was drummer Dan Molad and on our left was multi-instrumentalist (but mostly, an amazing guitarist–the sounds he generates are amazing) Peter Lalish.

They played the quieter 24 and then moved to Wildewoman for the amazing Tempest.  Since they had just toured the album last year I didn’t think they’d play too much from it, so it was cool to hear this one.

Then for the really fun Joy Ride, they put on matching hats and sat stage right in a couple of folding chairs.  We got a kick out of them snapping their heads left and right to the beat.

They jumped back to Wildewoman again for the awesome (and even more awesome live Nothing Ordinary) and the fantastic Genevieve, which was delightfully percussion heavy (Jess and Holly playing cowbells) and full of cool lighting. (more…)

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Victoria Canal (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 22, 2025) [LUCIUS]

Posted in Lucius, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, Victoria Canal on May 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 22, 2025] Victoria Canal

I had not heard of Victoria Canal before this show.

She has a fascinating backstory.  She was born in Germany but is of Spanish American heritage and was raised mostly in Spain.  And yet when she spoke she had no trace of an accent.

Canal was born without her right forearm.  What’s fascinating is that although she does not try to hide it at all, we didn’t notice for the first couple of songs.

Victoria played acoustic guitar and keyboards.  She also had really nice boots on.  Between songs she told delightful stories that really fleshed out songs like the new (and wonderful) Pseudo Zen Buddhist: A Screenplay.  Which she introduced by saying the song was about her ex boyfriend’s next girlfriend murdering him (she works in movies, hence the screenplay part).  It was great.

There was also a really funny intro to Yes Man, a song she write when on a songwriting retreat with Chris Martin of Coldplay.

Canal’s voice is soft and gentle with a really nice timbre.  And she can mix in some falsettos on a song like Totally Fucking Fine. (more…)

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Lucius (Brooklyn Bowl, Philadelphia, PA, January 29, 2024)

Posted in Brooklyn Bowl, Jeff Taylor, Lucius, Philadelphia, PA on February 1, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: January 29, 2024] Lucius

I’ve had a ton of opportunities to see Lucius in the last two years.  My count is 5 (plus two at festivals I wasn’t going to).  For one reason or another (sometimes inertia) I just didn’t go.

Then they announced this ten year anniversary of their debut album and I thought that that would be really fun to see.  I really liked about half of the album a lot.  The rest was good.  And I figured in a live setting all of the songs would be great.

The strange thing is I had no idea that Lucius has released only three albums (and various other remixes and stuff).  So when they played in NJ last year, had I gone, I would have seen half of this album anyway!  In fact, had I gone to that show, I would have heard them play one of their newer songs that I love, “Next to Normal.”  Serves me right.

But there was something neat about going to this little mini-tour and being one of the select cities that got to see it.

It took them a while t o come out.  In fact, they turned the lights out at 8:45 and we sat in the dark until like 9:10, which is just weird.  But whatever.  The guys came out first and then Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig came out in matching outfits–berets and bold colored jackets00primary colors splitting the coats in half with brighter colors on the pockets.  They looked great.

There was a (tall) family in front of me and they were pretty good when they started singing “Wildewoman.”  There was a woman behind me who was singing very loudly.  She had a good voice, but honestly we are here to hear these two women with incredible voices.   Fortunately she was mostly in tune and easy to ignore. (more…)

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Jeff Taylor (Brooklyn Bowl, Philadelphia, PA, January 29, 2024) [LUCIUS]

Posted in Brooklyn Bowl, Jeff Taylor, Lucius, Philadelphia, PA on January 31, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 29, 2024] Jeff Taylor

Jeff Taylor is an old friend of Lucius.  He is from new Jersey but lives in Pittsburgh.

He opened his set by humming a kind of dissonant sound as he strummed his guitar.  It went on for far longer than it should have and became kind of funny, but not actually funny.

Then he finally sang a line “We lost my dad,” and seemed to start the whole song over.   Whether he messed up or just wanted that line to hang there is unclear.

Jeff played an electric guitar and sang and I just couldn’t get into it.

By the end of his set I feel like he warmed me up a bit and I enjoyed the last few songs more.  But most of his songs were about breaking up with someone and they just weren’t that interesting.

I mean “Flashes” goes

Just push me away
Let me be free of you
You weren’t my kinda girl

So, yeah. (more…)

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The War on Drugs / Shakey Graves / Lucius / Steve Gunn (The Stone Pony Summer Stage, Asbury Park, NJ, August 18, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Asbury Park, NJ, Lucius, Shakey Graves, Steve Gunn, The Head and the Heart, The Revivalists, The Stone Pony, The Stone Pony Summer Stage, The War on Drugs on August 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: August 18, 2023] The War on Drugs / Shakey Graves / Lucius / Steve Gunn

My wife and I saw The War on Drugs as our first show after the pandemic.  And it was wonderful. We were seated in a terrible seats at The Met, but the show was chill and mellow and we sat far away and the music swept over us.

I wasn’t sure if we’d want to go to this show, though because Stone Pony Summer Stage is a questionable proposition.  It’s a lovely venue but depending on the crowd, it can be terrible.  Plus, I know that standing around for four bands can be exhausting.  Especially since I wanted to see Lucius, but not necessarily Shakey Graves.

Steve Gunn is a musician who I thought I didn’t know, but I have seen a Tiny Desk of his.  He plays a kind of slow acoustic guitar with an eastern-style drone. It’s slow and addictive but I don’t think I’d want to stand to hear it.

Lucius is a band that I’d like to see live but somehow keep missing, as they play every stage that I’m not going to.

Shakey Graves and Lucius were both at the Guster festival this past weekend.  Which is kind of crazy.  I had said that I didn’t want to see Shakey Graves, but when I re-read my thoughts about his Newport Folk performance from a few years ago, I remembered that I thought he’d be fun to see live–he’s great at getting the crowd psyched up.

But, honestly, we were happy to stay home on a Friday night.

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Guster’s On the Ocean Weekend (State Theatre & Thompson’s Point, Portland, ME, August 11-August 13, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Bahamas, Brooke Annibale, Guster, Lucius, Madison Cunningham, Oshima Brothers, Shakey Graves, The Ballroom Thieves on August 11, 2023| Leave a Comment »

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

There’s very few festivals that I’d like to go to, but Guster’s On the Ocean seems like a lot of fun.  It’s kid friendly (but there’s still adult things to do).  The band is very participatory and they curatea  weeknd’s worth of fun all in a pretty chill atmosphere.

My wife says that we might not like the other people there, which is true–Guster fans near us tend to be kind of partiers, but I still think it would be fun.

But not this year.

Here’s what was on the docket. (more…)

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Lucius / Danielle Ponder (White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, NJ, April 11, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Danielle Ponder, Lucius, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts on April 11, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 11, 2023] Lucius / Danielle Ponder

Last year I didn’t see Lucius on two separate occasions because the shows didn’t line up properly for me.

So when they announced a shwo at White Eagle Hall, I thought I’d try to get to it.

But it turned out to be opposite Sleaford Mods who I had been wanting to see for quite a while.  So, sorry Lucius.  I suppose I won’t get another opportunity, but if I do I’ll be sure to take it.

Although as I keep saying–

I’m not even 100% sure I want to see them live–I really like some of their songs a lot, but a lot are just kind of okay for me.  Although their harmonies are absolutely dynamite.

Danielle Ponder is a soul singer with an amazing voice.  Her raspy vocals on “Some of Us are Brave” are incredible.  I feel like she could easily be working with Hozier one of these days.

In 2020, NPR described her music as anthemic while compassionate; soulful, while bold and strong. She reverberates with a goosebump-inducing passion,.”

She’s be pretty great to see live.  And she has a fascinating backstory too:

Danielle attended Northeastern University where she received her Juris Doctorate. For 5 years, Danielle worked as a public defender where she provided criminal defense to the indigent community.

While working as a public defender, Danielle also toured Europe and scored an opening spot with George Clinton.

In 2018, after five years as a public defender, she made the gutsy decision to pursue her No.1 passion — music. In 2021, Danielle performed at the Newport Jazz Festival where her performance was hailed as one of the stand out performances of the event.

 

 

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