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Archive for the ‘Music’ Category

Pixies / Modest Mouse / Cat Power (The Stone Pony Summer Stage, Asbury Park, NJ, August 20, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Asbury Park, NJ, Cat Power, Modest Mouse, Pixies, The Stone Pony, The Stone Pony Summer Stage on August 20, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: August 20, 2023] Pixies / Modest Mouse / Cat Power

I saw Pixies for the first time in 28 years at The Stone Pony Summer Stage and it was glorious.  I’ve since seen them two more times and I don’t feel the need to ever see them again.  Even though each show has been very good, and there is some mixing up of songs, I feel like I’ve seen everything they’re going to show me.

I would see Modest Mouse every time they came around.  The shows are totally different and each one feels like a new version of the band.

I have never really liked Cat Power (blasphemy!).  She just doesn’t do anything for me.

With this line up, the nays overrode the yeas.

Recently I looked to see how much the tickets were, just in case I wanted to go and I found out it was sold out.  So good for all of them.

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Blu Eye Extinction (Wellmont Theater, Montclair, NJ, August 19, 2023) [PARLIAMENT-FUNKADELIC]

Posted in Blue Eye Extinction, Fishbone, Funkadelic, George Clinton, Montclair, NJ, Parliament, Wellmont Theater on August 19, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 19, 2023] Blu Eye Extinction

I had been looking forward to this show quite a lot.  I’ve loved Fishbone for years and I assumed that PFunk would be a lot of fun.

At the last minute I found out that there was going to be a third band, Blu Eye Extinction opening as well.  I was pretty tired going in so this wasn’t welcome news.

I walked in as they were playing and I rather liked their sound–a rock/funk/rap experience.  Off t the side of the stage was a woman playing keys and singing backing vocals.  But he singing style was… different.  Kind of operatic and not exactly related to the melody.  It was a puzzle for sure.  So I looked them up and found this

Blu Eye Extinction is a NYC-based funk fusion band.  The brainchild of Isotopia Records’ Constance Hauman who brings an unlikely combination of opera, jazz and funk to her keyboards and vocals, is only possible with the funk foundation and masterful grooves of the electric bass of James Jones. His unique style also encompasses his vocals, supporting Henry Ott’s rock guitars…  If that isn’t enough, you add front man and emcee TJ Robinson on trombone, percussion and rap vocals, supported by JS Williams‘s rich trumpet w/ R&B vocals, and last but so not the least, Joshua Keitt’s metal-rock funk drums, it is no wonder that audience’s minds have been blown on the 50 UK and US shows since their debut at New Orleans Jazzfest April 29, 2022.

(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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Margaret Glaspy: Free at Noon (World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA, August 18, 2023)

Posted in Free at Noon, Margaret Glaspy, Philadelphia, PA, World Cafe Live on August 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 18, 2023] Margaret Glaspy

I had been wanting to see Margaret Glaspy for a pretty long time.  She last played Philadelphia in 2016, about two months before I heard her album.  (Well, actually, she played Philly when opening for Ruston Kelly, ew).  She was supposed to headline a tour back in 2020, but that show was postponed, so it’s not her fault that it took six years for me to see her.

It also takes her a pretty long time to put out new music.  Her new album is only her third in seven years.  She had been working on these songs for a while because she played a bunch of them when opening for Spoon last year.

She announced a new tour and is playing Underground Arts the same night I have a ticket for Explosions in the Sky. I’m still torn–they’re very different shows.  But then WXPN announced she’d be doing a Free at Noon and I grabbed a ticket.  I’ve often thought it’s not worth doing one of these–I mean it’s about three hours of my ay for a 30 minute show.  But this one was especially fun because her album came out today and she signed them.

And the band sounded great!

I love how loud and brash her guitar sounds.  I tend to think of her as a kind of soft-spoken singer, but her guitars really rock.   Her new single “Act Natural” is so damned catchy with a great riff and a fun chorus.  Like last time she opened with “I Didn’t Think So” and “Act Natural.”  They are a great one-two punch of riffs and melody.  (more…)

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Sigur Rós with Wordless Music Orchestra (Beacon Theatre, New York, NY, August 16, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Beacon Theatre, New York City, Sigur Rós on August 16, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: August 16, 2023] Sigur Rós

Few bands are as amazing live as Sigur Rós.  I never thought I would deliberately not get tickets to a Sigur Rósshow.

When they announced a limited tour of Sigur Rós with Wordless Music Orchestra (a 41 piece orchestra), I wanted to go immediately.  I saw the closest show was New York, which is a pain in the butt.  But it would be worth it.  Then I saw how expensive the tickets were and I couldn’t bring myself to buy them.  I realize that they are paying a 41 piece orchestra, but I just couldn’t do it.

It will either be the most transcendent thing in the universe or it may be too much–Sigur Rós is able to do some amazing things as a three piece after all.

Perhaps they’ll release a video of it.

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Kreulty / Outer Heaven / Goetia (Kung Fu Necktie, Philadelphia, PA, August 14, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Goetia, Kreulty, Kung Fu Necktie, Outer Heaven, Philadelphia, PA on August 14, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: August 14, 2023] Kreulty / Outer Heaven / Goetia

I have a fondness for bands from Japan–they tend to go one step further than bands from other places.

When I saw the ad for this show, I was definitely intrigued

Formed in Tokyo, Japan in the summer of 2017, KRUELTY has emerged as the most notable artist to find that sweet spot where the amalgamation of heavy beatdown hardcore and ‘90s American/Scandinavian death/doom metal become s the blueprint of brutality and slam KRUELTY unleash.

But when I listened to their first song, I realized it was a lot of growling vocals like you;d expect from bands whose logos look like the ones at the right.  Just not my thing.

Outer Heaven is from the backwoods of PA. Pennsylvania-based death metal legion​ OUTERHEAVEN​ immediately left a pulverizing imprint on the East Coast death metal scene with their crushing live performances, old-school ethos and string of releases. 

Goetia is more of the same from Washington D.C.

It would have been a brutal, exhausting night.

 

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Sylvan Esso (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, August 12, 2023)

Posted in Califone, Dehd, Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, Sylvan Esso on August 13, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 12, 2023] Sylvan Esso

I’ve had Sylvan Esso on my list of bands to see for a while, even though I’ve never been a huge fan of the band.  I like a lot of their songs, but I don’t really listen to them all that much.

However, every time they release a new single I dig it.  Plus, I had heard that their live shows were electric.  The last time they camw to Philly it was part of another tour and I’d never even heard of the headliner(!).  Before that was 2018 at a Festival.

The problem, such as it is, is that I didn’t know their new album all that well at all. But that’s fine, because the songs are fun and Amelia Meath, literally the only person to watch on stage is all about being in charge.  Her musical partner Nick Sanborn creates all of the music on a variety of electronic devices.  he stands up in the corner of the stage, occasionally looking up, but mostly very busy making sounds including manipulating and echoing Amelia;s voice as she sings.

Amelia started out wearing a suit jacket long enough to cover most of her body.  She opened the jacket for “Ferris Wheel” (and I love how the whole room shouted the NO! at the right time).

Then she took off the jacket to reveal that she was wearing a leather bikini of some sort (which looked really uncomfortable if I’m being honest).  But she was in her element–dancing some impromptu moves and getting the whoel crowd inspired by her. (more…)

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Dehd (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, August 12, 2023) [SYLVANO ESSO]

Posted in Dehd, Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, Sylvan Esso on August 12, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 12, 2023] Dehd

I only know Dehd from one song that WXPN plays a lot called “Bad Love” (although I didn’t know that was the name of it).

I also didn’t know a thing about them.  Turns out they are a trio from Chicago and have been around since 2015.  The three are Emily Kempf bass and (most) vocals, Jason Balla guitar and (some) vocals, and Eric McGrady drums.

Emily Kempf is a fascinating person in her own right–a look for her history will turn up lots of interesting tidbits.

I loved the way she stood, upright and almost defiant on stage playing bass and singing with whoops and trills as needed.  Meanwhile, Jason Balla, with his neon green guitar jumped around all over the stage–a perfect companion. (more…)

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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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The Flaming Lips (Fillmore Philly, Philadelphia, PA, August 6, 2023)

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Rainbows, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Flaming Lips on August 7, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 6, 2023] The Flaming Lips

I have now seen The Flaming Lips seven times.  I’ve wanted to bring my kids to a show because there’s really nothing like a Flaming show. Last year, their set was on my daughter’s birthday and she didn’t want to spend her birthday seeing a band she didn’t really know (fair enough).

So this year, the show was in the middle of the summer with no other commitments around us  And, it was the anniversary show of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots–a catchy album with a song (“Do You Realize??”) that they knew.  My daughter’s friend also wanted to go, so I wound up getting five tickets for us.

Since there was no opening band I wanted us to get there fairly early so we could be in the confetti blast zone.  My daughter (who typically doesn’t like to be up close) and her friend wound up really close (they were at the barrier by the end), although they were off to the side quite a lot.

The rest of us got right in the middle (behind some tall people, sadly) and could see as the giant pink robots (all FOUR of them) inflated and the test began …  NOW!

It was great to hear “Fight Test.”  And then to hear the song segue into the rest of the album.  That mellow song morphed into “Yoshimi Pt.1” which I’ve heard five time and never get tired of.

By the way, the confetti included pink robots, which was a chef’s kiss touch on the Lips’ usual fun nonsense.  I was pretty excited to hear Yoshimi Pt. 2, a weird instrumental in which lots more confetti came out.  Wayne grabbed his tiny confetti tubes and shot them at everyone–there’s still streamers in the rafters I’m sure (they must pay extra for cleanup). (more…)

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