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Cave In / Cleric (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, December 3, 2021) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Cave In, Cleric, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on December 3, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 3, 2021] Cave In / Cleric

Back in 1998 I really like the Cave In album Until Your Heart Stops.  Then I pretty much forgot about them.

They came back on my radar when one of the band members died in a car accident a few years ago.  He sang lead (but was not the only lead vocalist) and I assumed that was the end of the band.

But they did not break up.  Indeed, they have a new album coming out next year.

I wasn’t planning on going to this show without looking into what they’ve done this century, and I never got around to that, so I didn’t go.

I didn’t know who Cleric was.  Their Wikipedia write up is interesting, but this could go in a direction I don’t like

Cleric is an American avant-garde metal band based out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The band is known for their experimental approach to grindcore, doom and avant-garde metal

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Surfbort / Smirk / Dog Date / Pure Adult (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, December 2, 2021) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Full show video, Philadelphia, PA, Pure Adult, Smirk, Surfbort, Underground Arts on December 2, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 2, 2021] Surfbort / Smirk / Dog Date / Pure Adult

Here’s another great show from Underground Arts that I didn’t get to.

I had not heard of Surfbort until a few days ago.  They sound like an insanely fun band.  I mean, look at the picture of them.

They also seem to be all kinds of boundaries pushing.

Here’s what their blurb says about them

Channeling inspiration from the 80’s punk scene to produce rousing, explosive music, their feedback strafed, guitar-shredding music says no to a digital age full of intolerance; they radiate love and friendship. All are welcome in the SURFBORT FREAK FAMILY!

That’s right up my alley.  It’s a shame I found out about this show too late.

Smirk and Pure Adult were unknown to me.

Smirk is the solo project from Nick Vicario (who I don’t know).  The music is wiry, well-crafted punk with heaps of hooks.

Pure Adult has this as a write up

Pure Adult is pure experimental punk shit.

You will listen to this noisy goodness and you will love it.

(although, if you’re only looking for catchy bops, you might hate it)

That sounds pretty great to me.  And according to the videos below the longest set was 40 minutes.

Markit Aneight was there and recorded all four shows:

Pure Adult

Dog Date

Smirk

Surfbort

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Darlingside / Lullanas (Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, December 2, 2021) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, Darlingside, Lullanas on December 2, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 2, 2021] Darlingside / Lullanas

S. and I love Darlingside and have seem them several times.  I have them on my list of bands to see wherever and whenever. But sometimes things get in the way.

I think seeing them at Ardmore Music Hall would be a treat.  The sound would be amazing.  But sometimes getting to Ardmore is a hassle.

Plus, it actually felt nice to stay home for a week.  So we blew off this show, safe in the knowledge that they’ll be back to entertain us in the not too distant future.

I’d never heard of Lullanas.  According to their label

Twin sisters Atisha and Nishita Lulla, aka LULLANAS, create songs wrapped in Americana warmth, folk eloquence, country storytelling, and unassuming pop ambition. Their debut EP, Before Everything Got Real, thrives on an inimitable and familial balance.

They sound like an excellent complement to Darlingside.

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The Districts (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, November 27, 2021)

Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, Sham, The Districts, The Scouts on November 30, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 27, 2021] The Districts

I was supposed to see The Districts play at Union Transfer on March 12.  COVID-19 had just found its way into New Jersey and Pennsylvania and I was being very cautious so I decided to skip the show.  It was a safe decision, but one that I now regret as it would have been a pretty great final show of the year.  Shows pretty much completely stopped after that.

I was then supposed to see the Districts three times in 2021 (a lot of that was coincidence).  The opened for Modest Mouse (I had no idea they were going to), then they announced a show in Asbury Park and then, at the end of the year they were supposed to open for Dr. Dog (they bailed on that show, as did I, even though the show went on).

After seeing them open for Modest Mouse, I wanted to see them headline, because they tend to go a bit more nuts when they are in charge.

I was happy to see them in such a small place, but I hadn’t really thought this show through.  Asbury Park, on Thanksgiving weekend.  Holy crap, the place was full of reunited and drunk college students.  Which made for a more festive atmosphere but also meant that security almost had to pull somebody out and that everyone was singing along (badly) at the top of their lungs.  And of course drunk people were pushing forward throughout the show.

The band seemed to be in a really good mood when they came out and they rocked several classic songs: “4th and Roebling,” “Salt” and ‘If Before I Wake” (the crowd loves singing the “I’m just a narcissist” line)  Then they moved on to You Know I’m Not Going Anywhere for “Hey Jo,” and the moody “My Only Ghost.” (more…)

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Sham (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, November 27, 2021) [THE DISTRICTS]

Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, Sham, The Districts, The Scouts on November 29, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 27, 2021] Sham

After The Scouts, Sham came out.  Sham is the project of Shane Justice McCord.  It was him and a bass player (I loved his bass guitar!) for this set.

The bass player started by playing bird calls on a small device while Shane played acoustic guitar.

The set was quiet and acoustic and perhaps a little atonal.  Very experimental (in a video I took, you can barely hear the band from all the chatter, until a guy behind me says, “this band is so weird, this is the best.”

In no way were they the right band for this particular show–a rowdy New jersey crowd looking to rock.  But aside from talking over the set, the crowd was at least respectful.

A few songs in, the bassist moved to drums and a new bassist came out and that added a little (very little) oomph to their set. (more…)

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The Scouts (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, November 27, 2021) [THE DISTRICTS]

Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, Sham, The Districts on November 28, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 27, 2021] The Scouts

I didn’t know if there were any opening bands for The Districts, and it turned out there were two.

The Scouts (a difficult search term, especially when combined with The Districts) are from The District’s home town of Lititz, PA.

They came out as a five piece and won me over immediately with some really solid guitar rock.  Their songs were all pretty long–about five minutes each with lengthy intros and multiple sections.

Lead singer Nathan Yager has long hair and a big beard but has a relatively restrained vocal sound (powerful but not overpowering).  He plays guitar as well and when he and Tom Hartman played together, they really brought in a nice mix of quiet and loud guitar. (more…)

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Jinjer (Theatre of Living Arts [TLA], Philadelphia, PA, November 24, 2021)

Posted in JInjer, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts, Ukraine on November 27, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 24, 2021] Jinjer

I first heard JInjer when I saw a video for their song “Pisces.”  The song starts out slow and melodic with Tatiana Shmaylyuk singing in a quiet, lovely voice.  At the one minute mark, the songs shifts to a heavy off-kilter riff and Shmaylyuk unleashes a guttural growl that you absolutely assume is from someone off screen–but it’s not.  [Check out hilarious vocal coach reaction videos].

So I wanted to see Jinjer to experience Shmayluk’s voice in person.  But I was absolutely blown away by the rest of the band.

Jinjer is from Ukraine and I don’t know how often they come to the U.S., but there were some really die hard fans there.  The band’s lineup has changed quite a lot over the years, but since 2016, the lineup has reamined Roman Ibramkhalilov on guitar, Eugene Abdukhanov on bass and Vladislav Ulasevich on drums.

Their sound is quite heavy, but with lots of moments of quieter, pretty melodies.  Indeed, they play really complicated rhythms and time changes, with terrific riffs and bass lines.  The drummer also adds a lot of percussive sounds to the songs making them a band where it’s hard to know who to watch. (more…)

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The Menzingers / Dirty Nil / Kayleigh Goldsworthy (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, November 27 & 28, 2021) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Canadian Music, Kayleigh Goldsworthy, Philadelphia, PA, The Dirty Nil, The Menzingers, Underground Arts on November 27, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 27 & 28, 2021] The Menzingers / Dirty Nil / Kayleigh Goldsworthy

I saw The Menzingers during Philly Music Fest.  I really enjoyed the set but I was in a terribly location and the sound was dreadful.  I told myself I wanted to see them again.  And there it was, just a month later at Underground Arts!

I couldn’t go on Saturday night because I had tickets to see The Districts, but then they added a 2nd show on Sunday.

But I had just gone to a show on Saturday and the previous week was just chock full of shows.  I couldn’t bring myself to go out again.  Especially since I had just seen them.

I do hope they come back again soon.  And it would be amazing of they could play a small club like that again. (more…)

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All Hail the Yeti (Theatre of Living Arts [TLA], Philadelphia, PA, November 24, 2021) [JINJER]

Posted in All Hail the Yeti, JInjer, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts on November 26, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 24, 2021] All Hail the Yeti / Suicide Silence

I arrived a little early for this show (for a change–TLA usually has me running late looking for parking).  And it took forever the first band to go on.  I was sure something was going on.

Then it was announced that Suicide Silence tested positive for COVID and would not be on stage that night.  I actually assumed that I’d be going home early, but no, I guess the headliner is scheduled to go on at 9:30 or whatever and that’s what they’re going to do.  Which makes sense.

So All Hail the Yeti came out with their cool stage gear and I assume played a longer set than they might normally.  Yes, it looks like they played three more songs at our show.

There are four members in the band: Connor Garritty – lead vocals;  Nicholas Diltz – bass, backing vocals; Ryan “Junior” Kittlitz – drums and  Dave Vanderlinde – guitars.  And behind each member (more or less) was a giant banner with a rune on it.  Each rune looked more or less like the initials of the band.  Which was pretty neat.

Each band member had some kind of Viking paint on.  I was in front of guitarist Vanderlinde and the top of his forehead was painted white with a rune painted on top.  Lead singer Garrity had his long hair in a pony tail and had on a kind of modified corpse paint to make his eyes really stand out.  He sand in a kind of guttural style but was clearly audible.  Bassist Diltz had long bleached blond hair an a full beard and sang in a really lovely high voice–an excellent contrast and I actually preferred his vocals.

All of this is leading up to the surprising realization that they are from California and not Scandinavia.

They had some good diversity in their sounds, with some heavy grooves and then some simply heavy sounds.  But they also had some fantastic harmonizing like on “After the Great Fire.”

The one song that annoyed me though was “Witch is Dead.”  It started out kind of fun with them singing the “ding dong the witch is dead” children’s song but in their heavy style.  I thought it was pretty fun, until he had to rhyme it with “the fucking bitch is dead,” and I felt there was a little too much misogyny going on in that line–he seemed to relish it too much.

But if I overlook that I otherwise really enjoyed their set.  Their sound was great and their look, while elaborate wasn’t too far over the top to be comical.

  1. Suicide Woods ¥
  2. Headless Valley ⊗
  3. Slow Season ≠
  4. The Art of Mourning ¥
  5. Bury Your Memory ⊗
  6. Witch Is Dead §
  7. Before the Flames §
  8. Funeral Heart ⊗
  9. After the Great Fire ¥
  10. Mr. Murder §
¥ All Hail the Yeti (2012)
§ Screams from the Black Wilderness (2016)
≠ Highway Crosses (2018)
⊗ Within the Hollow Earth EP (2021)

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Alex Silva (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, November 20, 2021) [DAN DEACON]

Posted in Alex Silva, Dan Deacon, Ed Schrader's Music Beat, Patrick McMinn, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on November 25, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 20, 2021] Alex Silva [rescheduled from April 30, 2020]

Alex Silva was up after Patrick McMinn.  He took the left side of the stage and was basically right in front of me.

Silva is from Galicia, Spain but now lives in Maryland.

I was delighted that he was wearing a retro Froot Loops T shirt.

Much like McMinn, he mostly pushed buttons on his gear, but it was a more interested watching him work.  He also sang (and processed his voice) to create new sounds.

He introduced a bunch of his songs with personal stories and easily won the crowd over with his stories.

I found his music to be very enjoyable

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