[ATTENDED: June 5, 2026] Mekons
Mekons are a legendary punk/DIY/country band from England. Their fanbase is as intense although the people who have never head of them is probably ten times as large. I’mnot a huge fans, although I do like two of their albums from the 90s. I thought it would be fun to see them live and hope that they played one or two of the songs that I really like. I was also really intrigued that they were playing at the Latvian Society of Philadelphia (which I’d never heard of). Evidently they tend to play offbeat places when they play in Philly (and maybe when they play elsewhere too). But I was pretty pleased to explore the Latvian Society which is pretty cool. Its right next to the German Society which is even more impressive on the outside.
I looked online and some site said that we could park in the German Society parking lot for shows at the Latvian Society. I parked there and when I asked at the door, the Latvian folks had no idea what I was talking about, so I had to run off and move my car again.
I made it back in in time. And I got a nice spot near the stage (in what was basically like a grammar school auditorium). The show was going to be about 90 minutes and then “the band DJs after their set (they’re calling it a “Mekonic Disco”, so cool).” So, there was incentive to stay late.
However, I had just discovered a band called KulfiGirls who were playing that night at Warehouse on Watts. And I thought it would be super fun to go to both shows. I was told that the KulfiGirls would go on at 10, so I planned to leave around 9:40.
Once the band came on, the old fans (and they were old! I was definitely on the young side) pushed forward and blocked views and were just awful.
That didn’t help. Nor did the fact that the old dude with the big white beard who pushed his way next to me was dancing in a way that I can only describe as invasive. He rocked back and forth and swung his arms out to the side as he did so–basically taking up the room of 3 or 4 people. I was really uncomfortable by the guy who was really close to hitting me, so I backed up and then he was in front of me rocking back and forth. And I guess he was having fun, but Jesus.
So he really made me not enjoy myself. And, worse than that, my hip started hurting and it was actually getting painful to stand on it. So I thought I’d stick it out until they played the one song that I wanted to hear. Of course, when I looked at the setlist again to see when Millionaire was being played–it wasn’t on the setlist at all. (more…)
Sigur Rós are nothing if not ethereal. Their music is constantly floating up in outer space somewhere. So imagine the surprise when the first song of this disc opens with some thudding drums. And, there are acoustic instruments aplenty this time around. Their previous disc Hvarf/Heim had them playing a number of acoustic pieces in various unexpected settings. And clearly the experience must have been a good one.
I Just Read About That... 