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Archive for the ‘Porches’ Category

Belle and Sebastian (The Mann Center, Philadelphia, PA, August 3, 2017)

Posted in Andrew Bird, Belle and Sebastian, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, Porches, Thin Lizzy on August 3, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 3, 2017] Belle and Sebastian

Sarah and I saw Belle and Sebastian back in 2015 at Radio City Music Hall.  The show was great and we had a really fun time.  I knew we’d enjoy seeing them again, so I was surprised and pleased to see that they were playing the Mann Center (even if I said we wouldn’t go back and this was now show number three).

The venue was perfect for the band, and Stuart at least seemed to really appreciate the sound and warmth of the shell.  Astonishingly, the show was nowhere near sold out.  One of the guards told me they’d barely sold 3,000 tickets.  What the hell?   That explains how I was able to get row R or whatever we had.

So the band had no new album to promote (although they did recently release a new song).  I wondered what they’d be playing and if it would be basically the same show as last time. (more…)

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Andrew Bird (The Mann Center, Philadelphia, PA, August 3, 2017) [BELLE AND SEBASTIAN}

Posted in Andrew Bird, Belle and Sebastian, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, Porches, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on August 3, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 3, 2017] Andrew Bird

My experience with Andrew Bird has been frustrating.  I often hear a song or story about him and I think, “I love this guy!”  Whether it’s a feature on his amazing whistling or his adventurous violin playing, I love the songs that they play.

But when I try to listen to more of his songs, I find them…okay.  Never bad, just okay.  Perhaps if I really devoted time to the songs I would learn to appreciate them more, but as it is I find them pleasant.

And this concert was much the same.  I really enjoyed a number of the songs he played (I don’t know the names of most of them), but by the end of the set, I was sort of drifting off a bit.

Before the show we met some friends who were also there.  One of them told me that he often plays solo, looping his violin and such.  He did loop the violin a number of times, but he played every song with his four piece.  And while I can’t compare something I haven’t seen, I feel like the band worked very well and made the show a bit more upbeat. (more…)

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Porches (The Mann Center, Philadelphia, PA, August 3, 2017) [BELLE AND SEBASTIAN}

Posted in Andrew Bird, Belle and Sebastian, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, Porches on August 3, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 3, 2017] Porches

I’ve complained several times already about the trip to the Mann and while this one moved a little more smoothly, we were still pretty late.  We caught all of two songs from Porches.

I had heard of Porches when I saw that they were the opening slot for Belle & Sebastian and Andrew Bird, but I didn’t know much about them (I think I had them confused with about four other bands with similar names).

They are described as a synthpop band on Wikipedia, but as you can see from the photo, there’s more than synths. Lead Porch Aaron Maine was an amusing and engaged front man.  I enjoyed that when he introduced the final song he said, “I suppose this will be our last song,” or something else noncommittal.

(more…)

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