Three years ago I saw Osees and really enjoyed the chaotic energy of the show. Since then they have returned every year in mid October.
Last year had an appointment scheduled that ran really late and made me unable to get to the show. This year, I bought tickets for the show in February.
But this year my daughter’s birthday conflicted (as it tends to do) and I wasn’t able to go out that night. I really would like to see Osees again. Maybe if they come back around this year I can go.
Godcaster is a screamy noise band from Brooklyn. Pitchfork wrote of them that their music is “teetering right on the edge of irredeemable obnoxiousness, daring you to resist their charm and lightning-fast musicianship.” Another reviewer says of their show “If you’ve seen Godcaster live, you know they put on a show as if they were in a crowd of thousands.” That’s a cool recommendation, and I’ve enjoyed what I’ve heard.
[DID NOT ATTEND: September 25, 2023] Osees / Nolan Potter’s Nightmare Band
Last year, I did not go to the Osees show. And I wrote this:
I saw Osees exactly one year ago today. I summarized by saying
The show was intense, exhausting and a ton of fun. I am so glad I went.
When they announced this year’s show I wasn’t quite in the mood for seeing them again (the exhausting part being the most vivid memory of the show). But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t see them again maybe next year.
When Osees announced their new show (exactly one year and a day after last year’s show), I bought a ticket for it in February, figuring what I said last year was true.
September was turning out to be a busy concert month, when I was trying to calm down my concert going. And I figured there was always a chance I wasn’t going to go to this show.
But since I had blown off the weekend show, I figured I’d go to this one. Especially since I really like the new Osees album.
But this time the world got to me instead. I had made an appointment for a COVID booster. But I accidentally went to two of the wrong locations (first one my fault, second one a misunderstanding). What should have taken five minutes wound up taken 90, and by the time I actually got the booster, it was later than when I wanted to leave for this show. And I hadn’t even been home yet.
There’s no way I would have made much if any of Nolan Potter and by then, I was just too worn out from driving around to bother going anywhere (we’ll blame a little vaccine exhaustion too).
But since Osees love to play Philly, I’m promising myself that I’ll see them next year.
I had not heard of Nolan Potter’s Nightmare Band before this show and I imagined them being loud and crazy and abrasive. But when I listened to their latest album Let It Stream, I was amazed by how much I liked it! It was like Frank Zappa with jazzy and proggy moments.
Another reviewer says of them
Awesome newish prog-psych band with an awesome vibe and a TON of flute. Lotta King Gizzard vibes from them, and if you’re a fan of Matt Berry too you might really like them.
So, yeah, I might be more bummed that I missed them than the Osees. Will definitely have to catch them in the future.
But Markit Aneight recorded the show for everyone:
[DID NOT ATTEND: September 26, 2022] Osees / Bronze
I saw Osees exactly one year ago today. I summarized by saying
The show was intense, exhausting and a ton of fun. I am so glad I went.
When they announced this year’s show I wasn’t quite in the mood for seeing them again (the exhausting part being the most vivid memory of the show). But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t see them again maybe next year.
Bronze is a sychedelic synth-goth outfit whose album Absolute Compliance is to be released by Osees main guy John Dwyer’s Castle’s Face records. Their earlier record was a bit more angular and choppy while the new song “People Watching People” is slower and synthier.
I didn’t really know the Osees very well when I bought tickets to this show (which had been rescheduled, but I didn’t have tickets to the original show). I knew them more from knowing their history of names changes. [They have recorded as OCS, The Ohsees, The Oh Sees, Thee Oh Sees, Oh Sees and now Osees]. And also from the Levitation/Reverb Appreciation Society live stream/quarantine shows.
Because of this, and because of the chill nature of the opener, Mr. Elevator, I never expected the show to be as wild, raucous and mosh pit filled as it was.
The first indicator should have been when the two drummer set up at he front of the stage (nods to King Crimson, there). But it wasn’t until main Osees guy (the only one who has been in all iterations of the band) John Dwyer came out on stage (off to the left as we faced the stage). He noted that it was Sunday, the Lord’s day, then he started playing “The Dream” and the crowd went apeshit.
Within minutes I was pushed pretty far to the side of the crowd, safely out of the way of flying feet.
Their set covered albums from 2011 (their twelfth album) through to last year’s Metamorphosed (their 23rd album). It was glorious. (more…)
I had I had never heard of Mr. Elevator and really didn’t know what to expect from them.
It turned out that they are a fun, retro-sounding psychedelic band.
I was immediately blown away by their drummer Jesse Gorman Conlee who was metronomically precise and playing complicated rhythms. Which seemed at odds with, but which worked perfectly with the synthy grooves the rest of the band was making.
It also turned out that the keyboardist and main singer Tomas Dolas is (as of 2018) the keyboardist in Osees. They started out as Mr. Elevator and the Brain Hotel, but droped half of the name after releasing their first album Nico and Her Psychedelic Subconscious.
The show started with them spread across the stage–drums on the left, bass (Jon Tattleman), keys (Dolas) and more keys on the right (Justin Ruiz). They played a series of mellow, but still rocking songs. There were lots of cool trippy synths and some solid basslines. Dolas has some lengthy jamming keyboard solos that were very retro. (more…)
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