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Sir Chloe (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, June 2, 2024)

Posted in Deux Visages, Philadelphia, PA, Sir Chloe, The Foundry on June 3, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 2, 2024] Sir Chloe 

My daughter was excite to see Sir Chloe.  We saw them back in April.  I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to go for various reasons, so I snagged a ticket to this leg of the tour just in case.

She actually didn’t love the April show as much as I did, and I wasn’t sure if she’d want to go, but she did.  And we’re both glad we went.

Because she was on crutches, and I had my cane, they put is in a handicapped spot which was next to the sound board and roped off from everyone else, but still plenty close to the action.

Last time, there were people talking a lot through the set.  This happened tonight as well–a group of guys mostly standing at the back (in front of our area) and just ignoring everything.  Fortunately, since they were in front of us, we couldn’t really hear them, they were just annoying.

I felt like Sir Chloe were more into this show than the Philly show.  Or maybe it was just easier to focus on this show (the Foundry show had a lot of distractions).  I swore that they played more songs for us than in Philly, but that was not true.  The one nice feature of  the show though was it was Asbury Park’s Pride Day, and the band made a special point of talking about it and how they were honored to be playing that evening.

So the setlist was the same, but perhaps it’s because I knew the show , that I enjoyed it more?

Like last time, when she came out, she had an oddly disaffected appearance.  She seemed quite aloof, but i am certain this time it was part of the act, because between songs she was very friendly.

I really enjoyed her new album quite a lot.  The songs are a bit more dramatic and push the envelope from the first album a little bit.  Songs like “Salivate” and “Hooves” are weird and intense, with loud guitars.

The earlier songs, though are also pretty cool.  “July” is a little more delicate on the edges, but with a nice fuzzy sound and Sir Chloe’s poppy vocal style.  “Animal” is a pretty dark song (her delivery is great) and it plays with the loud/soft vibe really well.

I realize that Sir Chloe is more or less a TikTok creation and so her audience is pretty young, but I think she could easily bust out of that pigeonhole.  In fact the audience was pretty varied.

The end of the set was when she played the big crowd pleasers.  I really really liked “Sedona.”  Her delivery is deadpan, but really catchy.  She followed that with “Michelle” the massive hit that was the only song I knew.  The crowd went nuts and the song was really fun (Michelle, you are a monster from hell).

Turs out that even though that is her big hit–the one that made her famous, I don’t like it nearly as much as her other songs.

I was surprised that that wasn’t the final song, but I guess it was more fun to end on the far more dancey “Feel Again.”

“Easy on You” was a fast tempo rocker from her first album.  Then she busted out an unreleased song (in the old days, I feel like the encore was meant for real crowd pleasers, but it seems like more and more it’s now the place to throw in one more brand new song).  It’s got a catchy, bratty “aha aha” that really sticks with you.

Then she ended with “Too Close.”  Which is her third biggest hit (according to Spotify) and the crowd was suitably excited to hear it.  Everyone enjoyed singing “I think it’s time for you to go.”

My daughter knew two people at the show (one she knew was there, the other was a surprise) so that was fun too.

And, like last time, the show was fairly short (75 minutes) which meant we got home fairly early, too!  I don’t know if I/we will see her again any time soon, but I’m very curious what the next record will be like.

 

Asbury Lanes, June 2024 The Foundry, April 2024
Should I Õ Should I Õ
Salivate Õ Salivate Õ
Center Õ Center Õ
Know Better Õ Know Better Õ
Mercy ∇ Mercy ∇
July ¶ July ¶
Untie You ¶ Untie You ¶
Animal ¶ Animal ¶
Company ∇ Company ∇
Hooves Õ Hooves Õ
Seventeen π Seventeen π
Obsession Õ Obsession Õ
Over Again π Over Again π
I Am the Dog Õ I Am the Dog Õ
Sedona ¶ Sedona ¶
Michelle ¶ Michelle ¶
Feel Again Õ Feel Again Õ
encore encore
Easy on You ¶ Easy on You ¶
Forgiving [new] Forgiving [new]
Too Close ¶ Too Close ¶

π Single (2024)
Õ I am the Dog (2023)
∇ Single (2022)
¶ Party Favors (2020)

 

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Deux Visages (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, June 2, 2024) [SIR CHLOE]

Posted in Deux Visages, Philadelphia, PA, Sir Chloe, The Foundry on June 2, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 2, 2024] Deux Visages

I hadn’t heard of Deux Visages when they were scheduled to open for Sir Chloe.  They are from Miami and at the time of the show had only released three singles!

Since then they have released an EP from which most of the songs that night came. The band is a four piece fronted by Daphney Homono.  The rest of the band includes Antoine Lappin on drums, Jack Chiu on guitar, and Tony Jouvin on bass.

They play a really enjoyable mic of shoegaze, garage, and surf rock with a healthy dose of fuzz.  There’s some diversity within the style with Excuses being a bit heavier with chanted moments.  And Go Away has short verse lines that lead to a big fluid chorus.

Their first single Cheetah (the second song they played) is a killer tune–super catchy and fun. (more…)

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Sir Chloe (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, April 18, 2024)

Posted in Daffo, Philadelphia, PA, Sir Chloe, The Foundry on April 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 18, 2024] Sir Chloe 

My daughter was really excited to see Sir Chloe.  I wound up buying resale tickets to this show (which thankfully weren’t crazy overpriced).

We arrived a little early (last time we went to a show that she wanted to go to I was very surprised to see how early everyone else had gotten there).   I had assumed we’d get really close (I always seem to get pretty close at The Foundry, which just proves that her bands are more popular than mine).  The close up area was already full, so we got some merch and then we found a spot.  My daughter doesn’t like to be touched by other so we hung back.  The Foundry is small enough that we could see fine (but man pictures there are really tough to get).

We were in a weird (for me) spot–on the right side close to the wall, where the secret entrance to backstage is.  Which meant that kegs were going by from time to time.  Had I realized where we wound up I would have suggested the other side, near the entrance where people tend to not congregate, but whatever.

Before this show I really only knew  the one or two Sir Chloe songs that she had played me.  So, to get ready I listened to the new album a bunch and some of the more popular songs on Spotify.  I found I really liked her quite a lot–she’s a little slow for my tastes, but I enjoyed the tone and style of the music.  And the lyrics were pretty great too.

When she came out, she had an oddly disaffected appearance.  She seemed quite aloof and almost like she didn’t want to be there. And yet, I assume it was all part of the act, because she sang great and didn’t seem like she not giving her all.

It was quite a change from the warm and friendly stage presence of Girl in Red the night before. (more…)

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Daffo (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, April 18, 2024) [SIR CHLOE]

Posted in Daffo, Philadelphia, PA, Sir Chloe, The Foundry on April 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 18, 2024] Sir Chloe / Daffo

Daffo is a Philadelphia-ish musician (they are from the area but have also lived in NJ and other places, but they said this was a homecoming show).

Daffo’s voice is interesting for someone from the east coast as they have a bit of a twang–although not on every song.  But there’s some good bite in the lyrics: “I’m a shame collector, I’m a hoarder.”

They played two unreleased songs and then a few from the new(ish) EP Pest.

The songs are mostly mellow, at least a lot of them have slow introductions or first verses and then the band kicked in.  But I liked the way that “Collector” started slow, got a little bigger and then got huge for the chorus before settling down again.

“Runner’s High” rocked a bit harder to start with and then got quieter.

I really enjoyed the new song “Go Fetch” which seemed simple but had a lot going on it.

The lyrics to “Seed” were quite good too. (more…)

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Beck (The Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, September 8, 2023)

Posted in Beck, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, Phoenix, Sir Chloe, Weyes Blood on September 10, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 8, 2023] Beck

My wife and I have seen Beck three times now and his shows are always fun.

It’s interesting that his shows tend to be pretty short–he does a lot of co-headlining tours.   He also doesn’t tour that often–3 tours in 9 years.

Beck has put out a couple of albums in the last decade or so, but he didn’t play anything from his most recent album (Hyperspace) or the mellow Morning Phase.  And only one song from Colors.

The show focuses a lot on Modern Guilt and Odelay–he told us that this was the first tour that the Odelay band had played together since that album: guitarist Jason Falkner (who played on the last tour andwas amazing), bassist Justin Meldal-Johnsen and drummer Joey Waronker (were both new to me). On the top row was longtime keyboardist Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. and percussionist Ian Longwell (new to me and excellent).

The set was a mix of big hits and some weird older cuts.  This being the third time we’ve seen him, this show was almost like a mashup of the last two tours.

Like the first time we saw him, he opened with Devil’s Haircut followed soon after with The New Pollution.  Notable was that bassist Meldal-Johnsen was a maniac, adding in all the weird backing vocals and deep growls.  He also bounced around and was having a great old time.

On the way home I told my wife that I was so happy for her because he played just about everything she wanted to hear–not always the case with concerts. (more…)

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Phoenix (The Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, September 8, 2023) [BECK]

Posted in Beck, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, Phoenix, Sir Chloe, Weyes Blood on September 9, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 8, 2023] Phoenix

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is a fantastic album–wonderful French synth pop with insanely catchy choruses.

When they were announced as  co-headliner with Beck, I was pretty excited to check them out.  I didn’t know anything about their live show, but I figured I’d know a bunch of songs.

We arrived at the Mann Center and got to our seats about three minutes before Phoenix came on.  And what timing because they opened with the amazingly catchy “Lisztomania” which got everyone on their feet and singing along.  This pairing seemed to work really well as it felt like people were there for both bands and not just one or the other.

The stage was set up like a frame.  And as soon as the song kicked in, the frame was revealed to be a digital screen.  And Phoenix had a ton of fun with this setup.  Each song had a video or a scene behind it.  And most of them looked completely realistic.

So the band was playing in an opulent room, or on a classical ruin or a deserted wasteland.  Or, there were optical illusions floating around behind them.  It was amazing.  And it looked incredible.

I was also surprised at how many songs I didn’t know.  I just assumed it would be hit after hit.  And maybe it was an I just don’t know the hits.  But they played three songs from their debut album United which I had never heard of.

The band was set up so that on the ground level there were four of them: Thomas Mars – lead vocals ; Deck d’Arcy – bass, keyboards ; Laurent Brancowitz – lead guitar, keyboards ; Christian Mazzalai – guitar.  Granted I’m not sure who was who–I don’t think I’ve ever even seen a picture of them before.  On the upper level were the two touring musicians: Robin Coudert – keyboards, percussion ; Thomas Hedlund – drums.  These two were amazing to watch, especially Hedlund who was an absolute maniac on the drums.  In fact, I tend to think of Phoenix’s music as being not all that interesting drumwise–it’s pretty standard beat-keeping for the drums.  But Hedlund was great–fills, standing up and crashing the drums.  And when Coudert played snare along with him it was so loud!

They did an amazing job of mixing up the setlist.  With several songs from Wolfgang up front including in a mashup with a United song, Too Young/Girlfriend.

Phoenix has a new album out with some great songs on it, and they waited before playing them.  It took five songs to bust out “Alpha Zulu” Ooh ha, saying Hallelujah!   Followed soon after by “After Midnight.”  Then they moved on to “Armistice” (yet another song from Wolfgang).  The slow repetitive middle was a perfect lead in to the following song which I understand is a Phoenix live favorite

It is known as “Sunskrupt” and it’s a mashup of “Love Like a Sunset” from WAP and “Bankrupt” from Bankrupt.  The video behind them was incredible.  It started with a man lying on a grassy spot.  The camera then zoomed out and the distance was listed on the side (10,000 meters, 100,000 meters). It continued to pull back, into outer space, through the milky way to over a million light years away.  The the song hit a climax and the song picked up with the camera zooming back in, all the way to the man again and then closer and closer–.o1 millimeter down to millionths of an ångstrom, where I’m assuming we could see a red blood cell?  It was amazing.

Someone had been holding up a sign for “Funky Squaredance,” an early song that I didn’t know.  Well, they played a medley of that with another early song.  On stage came a personification of death who Mars sang to.  When the song ended, death was holding his head! Crazy

They played the super catchy “Tonight” from the new album and then one more new song before playing another medley from Bankrupt and then getting the entire crowd psyched for a terrific sing along of “1901.”

It was fantastic.

And just when we thought the show was over, the band started playing an instrumental (Identical) and Thomas Mars headed out to the audience.  I assumed he would stop before he got to us, but he climbed over the seat back, literally right next to my wife (we were both too surprised to get any good pictures).  Then he climbed all the way to the back of the seated area and walked around up there until he came back down the other side and then climbed on some people’s shoulders in the main front area.

What a show.  I can’t imagine the stops they pull out of they are the headliners!

 

  1. Lisztomania ψ
  2. Entertainment $
  3. Lasso ψ
  4. Too Young µ / Girlfriend ψ
  5. Alpha Zulu @
  6. Ti Amo ♥
  7. After Midnight @
  8. Armistice ψ
  9. Sunskrupt! **
  10. If I Ever Feel Better µ / Funky Squaredance µ
  11. Tonight @
  12. Winter Solstice @
  13. Rome ψ
  14. Trying to Be Cool $ /Drakkar Noir $
  15. 1901 ψ
  16. Identical (reprise) @

ψ Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (2009)
µ United (2004)
@ Alpha Zulu (2022)
$ Bankrupt! (2013)
♥ Ti Amo (2017)
** Mashup of “Bankrupt” and “Love Like a Sunset”

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Weyes Blood / Sir Chloe (The Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, September 8, 2023) [BECK / PHOENIX] [DID NOT ATTEND-missed them both]

Posted in Beck, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, Phoenix, Sir Chloe, Weyes Blood on September 8, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 8, 2023] Weyes Blood / Sir Chloe

When this show was announced, I was really excited for it.  Beck always puts on a good show and Phoenix have some really fantastic songs.

I saw that our opening acts were going to be Weyes Blood, whom I heard put on a great live show and Sir Chloe, who I knew a little bit.

Well, it turns out that this show was scheduled to start at 5:30.  On a Friday.  In Philadelphia.

So, yea, there was no way were going to see Sir Chloe.

And then the forecast was so ugly!  Thunderstorms near us and in Philly.  The Mann Center closes or postpones if there is lightning.  So we weren’t even sure if we were going to go at all.

I was pretty sure we would not see Weyes Blood either, but by the time we left (and made sure that we weren’t going to drive all the way there and then find out it was cancelled), I realized we would be lucky to make the beginning of the Phoenix show.

I like to blame the Mann Center for any delays when I go to shows there. But there was no fault of theirs tonight.  Parking was even (relatively) easy and unlike at Phish shows, the line to get in wasn’t very long at all.  In fact, no complaints about the Mann in any way.  It has made me rethink my overall desire to not go there for shows.  Maybe I just need to go to less popular shows. (more…)

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