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Archive for the ‘Spotlights’ Category

Spotlights (Ortlieb’s, Philadelphia, PA, June 23, 2023)

Posted in Heatmap, LaMacchia, Ortlieb's, Philadelphia, PA, Spotlights on June 25, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 24, 2023] Spotlights

I saw Spotlights open for Deftones back in 2016.  I hadn’t heard of them before, but their live show left a lasting impression on me.  I had been trying to see them again since then, but it never worked out for one reason or another.

Finally, they were playing at Ortlieb’s, a bar I’d never been to. So it was cool to check out this venue and see  this band.

The openers started late for one reason or another and so Spotlights didn’t go on until after 10.  They were supposed to end at 11 (a dance party in the main part of the bar was scheduled for 11).  They said they were going to be quick, which I guess meant minimal banter because it didn’t see to shorten their set at all.

The one thing I had remembered from their show was how big and loud this trio sounded.  Originally, Spotlights was a duo–husband and wife Mario and Sarah Quintero–but they seemed to have taken drummer Chris Enriquez into their family and he is a beast.  Enriquez is a perfect compliment to their wall of sound.

And indeed, when Sarah plugged in her bass, the sound was so big my arm hairs vibrated. They played four songs from their new album.  One of which (“Algorithmic” I think) got a huge response from the crowd.

Speaking of the crowd, Ortlieb’s holds about 75 people.  So it was a close, tiny room.  A guy next to me even put his vinyl purchases on the stage (which was about six inches high).  Of course, mid-set, Mario asked him to move them so he (Mario) could stand there and interact with the crowd.  Mario eventually came onto the floor and gave that guy a hug.  (more…)

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Heatmap (Ortlieb’s, Philadelphia, PA, June 23, 2023) [SPOTLIGHTS]

Posted in Heatmap, LaMacchia, Ortlieb's, Philadelphia, PA, Spotlights on June 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 24, 2023] Heatmap

Heatmap is from Philly and should not be confused with Heatmaps.  They weren’t originally on this bill and I’m not sure when they got added.  But wow, what a great find.

The band is a trio and they have two EPs out.

I stood right in front of their bassist who played a 1974 Gibson (I only know this because someone asked him and I overheard the answer).  It had such a great sound and it worked perfectly with the way he plays.  The bass is almost a lead instrument.  Not like Primus (they sound absolutely nothing like Primus), but sort of like Primus in that the bass plays the main riff/melody line and the guitar mostly throws sounds and textures over the top of them.

Couple that with their drummer’s complex and amazing drum patterns (now two songs have the same beat and pretty much none of them are just bass/snare) and Heatmap proved to be the most exciting band to watch.

On record, the bass prominence is less notable–it’s still there, but the guitars are more prevalent.  But live, sometimes the singer/guitarist wasn’t playing anything as the bass played the cool post-punk lines and the drums thumped away with lots of floor toms. (more…)

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LaMacchia (Ortlieb’s, Philadelphia, PA, June 23 2023) [SPOTLIGHTS]

Posted in Casablanca, Heatmap, LaMacchia, Ortlieb's, Philadelphia, PA, Shipping News, Spotlights on June 23, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 24, 2023] LaMacchia

LaMacchia is John LaMacchia.  John LaMacchia is the guitarist for Candiria, a metal band I don’t know who plays a kind of mathcore/prog something or other.

LaMacchia is his first solo album, and it’s a very different feel.  He and Sabrina Ellie are the main singers and the album has a much more mellow vibe.

For this show, he had a band and I really enjoyed their set a lot.  There was no female vocalist, but there were outstanding harmonies from his bassist (who had an excellent sound and was really fluid in the basslines) and his guitarist/keyboardist who seemed to be doing all kinds of things over there.

Their drummer was a guest drummer for the night and he was really good, too.

Overall, I was really impressed with how the band could maintain an overall heavy sound but still have excellent (at times) three part harmony.  There was also some diversity in sound up on stage too, with a couple of the songs being almost atmospheric.

“Disconnect” even had a sample from Casablanca (who samples Casablanca?). (more…)

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Korn / Faith No More / Helmet / Spotlights (PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ, September 2, 2020) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Cancelled, Coronavirus, Deftones, Faith No More, Helmet, Holmdel, NJ, Korn, PNC Bank Center, Quarantine, Spotlights on September 2, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: September 2, 2020] Korn / Faith No More / Helmet / Spotlights

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This is a show I only would have gone to if I could get lawn seats upgraded to seats near the front (for about $35).

Korn is one of the few nu-metal bands that I liked back in the day.  I thought they did some pretty interesting stuff with the genre.  And while I haven’t listened to a new song of theirs in probably a decade, I’m sure they would have played some of the early songs too.

I’m only vaguely interested in seeing Korn, so this would have been the way to do it.

Faith No More on the other hand is a fascinatingly interesting band that I would love to see live.  Mike Patton is a wonder in and of himself and I told myself I would see anything that he did if it was close enough.  But then there’s FNM themselves–weird, eclectic, oddball and sometimes catchy.  I don’t know how many shows they will do in the future, but i would definitely like to see them.

Helmet is one of the great heavy bands of the 90s.  I loved their debut album–nothing really sounded like it at the time.  I probably haven’t listened to them in twenty years, and I think there have been some fifteen people in the band over the years, but I’ll bet they are still heavy as anything.

I saw Spotlights open for Deftones a few years ago.  They were great. Heavy and doomy, making a huge sound.  And there were only two of them.  There are now three members, which might mean they are even bigger.  I’ve been meaning to see them again.  They play a lot of smaller clubs, but I never seem to be able to catch them.

The good seats were way too expensive for this show, but if I could have done it on the cheap, I would have really enjoyed it

Since this show is officially cancelled, I doubt they will be touring together again. But I do hope that faith No More can keep it together for a tour next year.

 

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Refused (Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Bethlehem, PA, August 2, 2016) [DEFTONES]

Posted in Bethlehem, PA, Deftones, Refused, Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Spotlights on August 2, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 2, 2016] Refused

2016-08-02 21.06.30I had never heard of Refused before this show.  I looked them up and saw that they are a Swedish punk band who supports pretty radical ideas.  The thing I missed though was that their most well known album, The Shape of Punk to Come, came out in 1998!

The band broke up right after that album (their 3rd).  They reunited in 2012 with much the same lineup (there had been some different band member in the original days as well).  Last year they put out a new album and here they were touring with Deftones.

From the little I’d read, it sounded like they were a hardcore band.  So I had very specific expectations.  But they were instantly dashed when I heard the very metal riffage that the guitarists produced. (more…)

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Spotlights (Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Bethlehem, PA, August 2, 2016) [DEFTONES]

Posted in Bethlehem, PA, Deftones, Kim Gordon, Refused, Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Spotlights on August 2, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 2, 2016] Spotlights

2016-08-02 20.18.11I have been pretty excited to see Deftones for a while.  I knew they had an opening act called Refused, who I didn’t know, and just recently they added a third opening band called Spotlights, whom I’d also never heard of.

I looked them up online and saw them described as doomgaze or sludgegaze, which I loved.  And when I listened to one of their songs that was a pretty good description–a shoegaze vibe but with some seriously heavy low end rumble and heavy metal crunch.

Seeing them live, it was a bit of a different story.  Some of the shoegaze vibe and cool subtleties on their record got a little lost in the wall of noise at the Sands Event Center.

This is not to say that the set was bad (it wasn’t at all) but that the live show had a different feel than the record.  Primarily in that the vocals were a little buried.  (They’re kind of buried on the record too, but in a different way). (more…)

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