Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘The Menzingers’ Category

The Menzingers / Lucero / The Dirty Nil (White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, NJ, June 7 & 8, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Canadian Music, Jersey City, NJ, Lucero, The Dirty Nil, The Menzingers, White Eagle Hall on June 7, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 7 & 8, 2024] The Menzingers / Lucero / The Dirty Nil

I have seen The Menzingers twice.  The first time I missed most of their set.  The second time I was in a terrible location and the sound was dismal.  I told myself that I really wanted to see one good set with them.

But they’ve come around a few times since then and I really just don’t care anymore.   So I guess I’m done with them.

I thought I had posted about Lucero before, that they had opened for someone else before, but  there’s no posts about them.

I have learned

Lucero is an American country-punk/alternative country/alternative rock band based in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Lucero’s sound has been described as a “synthesis of soul, rock, and country [that] is distinctly Memphisian.” They have released 11 albums and one live DVD, mostly through their own label.

I have grown to like country punk more over the years, but I’d have no real desire to see Lucero.

(more…)

Read Full Post »

The Menzingers / Touché Amoré / Screaming Females (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 25, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, Screaming Females, The Menzingers, Touché Amoré on November 25, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 25, 2022] The Menzingers / Touché Amoré / Screaming Females

I have seen The Menzingers twice.  The first time I missed most of their set.  The second time I was in a terrible location and the sound was dismal.  I told myself that I really wanted to see one good set with them.

I had tickets to this show and then the Guster show came up.  So clearly we pick Guster over this. But when we decided not to go to Guster, I didn’t feel like going to this either.

I think I’m done with them.

I love the name Touché Amoré, although I don’t know much about the band.  This Pitchfork review of their album Lament, gives a fascinating look into the lead singer’s headspace.  Sounds like a pit was inevtiable.

Screaming Females is another band that I really liked for a pretty long time but I’m a little over at the moment.  Maybe I’ll come back to them again.

Read Full Post »

The Menzingers / Oso Oso / Sincere Engineer (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, May 13, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Franklin Music Hall, oso oso, Philadelphia, PA, Sincere Engineer, The Menzingers on May 12, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 13, 2022] The Menzingers / oso oso / Sincere Engineer

I have seen The Menzingers twice.  The first time I missed most of their set.  The second time I was in a terrible location and the sound was dismal.  I told myself that I really wanted to see one good set with them.

They play Philly all the time, but I think I might just be over seeing them.  I feel like I’ve been shut out of seeing them enough (and I’ve got a bad taste in my mouth from the crowd last time), that maybe I don’t need to see this mythical third show anymore

Especially if Oso Oso is the support band.

I saw them open for The Front Bottoms and said

I’m not sure if I was annoyed by the crowd (SO CROWDED) or what but I found oso oso to be one the most meh band I’ve seen on a long time.  I really felt nothing for them. …

Their music was fine–occasionally catchy but not really memorable and I found that I really didn’t like the lead singer’s voice.  It wasn’t bad or awful, it just didn’t seem to fit the music and I found myself enjoying their instrumental sections a ton more.

Someone near me said that they thought he was so stoned he couldn’t sing right.  He did seem like he was a little off, including his weird between song banter and chants.  But maybe he’s just a weird guy.

I haven’t heard of Sincere Engineer, but listening to her now I’m blown away.  I love her/their stuff.  The band is from Chicago and the blurb says

Deanna Belos has been a fixture in the Chicago punk scene since she was in Junior High, attending shows, singing along, and raising hell in general. But she was more than just a face in the crowd, Deanna was a radiant friend to all, and at some point she picked up a guitar and made a different contribution to the Chicago underground scene: her own music under the name Sincere Engineer. Over the last couple years we’ve encouraged her to keep writing songs and she surprised us all by assembling a great band and recording an impressive album. Her debut, “Rhombithian”, was produced by Matt Jordan (You Blew It!, Dowsing, etc.) and pairs the sounds of Chicago punk and the youthful Midwest “emo revival” movement. No one is more excited about music than Sincere Engineer, and Deanna plans to play a lot of shows and bring her infectious energy to the rest of the planet in support of “Rhombithian”.

She plays grungey emo pop punk stuff.  With a heavy grungey guitar.  But what sets Sincere Engineer apart is Deanna’s voice–a snarl that doesn’t detract from her natural melody.  It’s the perfect voice for these songs.  Plus she has a song called “Corn Dog Sonnet No.7”

Read Full Post »

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…)

Read Full Post »

Control Top (Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, October 9, 2021) Philly Music Fest Night 4 [THE MENZINGERS]

Posted in Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, Control Top, The Menzingers on October 10, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 9, 2021] Control Top

I saw Control Top open for Ted Leo a couple of years ago and they were amazing.

I have been wanting to see them again live.  They’ve had a few shows cancelled and there was no real plan for them to play again in 2021, but then they were asked to play Philly Music Fest and I grabbed tickets right away.

Control Top is a trio of bassist/singer Ali Carter, guitarist Al Creedon and drummer Alex Lichtenauer.  They play a mix of raging screaming songs and somewhat more mellow raging songs.

Carter’s hair was dyed silver and looked pretty great.  She played a perfect combination of looking very nice and then raging really intensely.  It was great being up close and watching her expression change as she went from verse to angry chorus. (more…)

Read Full Post »

highnoon (Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, October 9, 2021) Philly Music Fest Night 4 [THE MENZINGERS]

Posted in Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, Control Top, highnoon, Philly Music Fest, The Menzingers on October 9, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 9, 2021] highnoon

Philly Music Fest started in 2017.  I went to a show in 2019–a great line up!  Last year was online only, but this year it was back.  The lineup was different and wonderful.  And, thankfully, the two bands I wanted to see most were on the same bill.

I hadn’t heard of highnoon.  Artist Kennedy Freeman launched Highnoon in 2019.   Now Highnoon is led by Kennedy Freeman with longtime collaborator, Justin Roth on drums, Brendan Simpson on guitar, and Nathan Avila on bass.

I listened to their music and found it pretty and quiet.   Their new EP, Divers is their first body of work since their debut record, Semi Sweet.

I wasn’t expecting a pretty rocking set from this seemingly quiet foursome.  Actually, singer Freeman maintained a pretty quiet level throughout, but she was counterbalanced by some pretty wild guitar shredding from Simpson.  I took some really cool videos of Simpson’s playing, but at this time, Instagram decided that it would no longer allow me to move my video up or down to get the main part of the video into focus. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Weezer (Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Bethlehem, PA, December 3, 2016)

Posted in Bethlehem, PA, Hari Konabolu, Kiss, Sands Bethlehem Event Center, The Menzingers, Weezer on December 3, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 3, 2016] Weezer

2016-12-03-21-34-05Comedian Hari Kondabolu has a funny bit called “How Weezer Broke My Heart.”  He says that he was a huge fan in the late 1990s but when he went to the show a few years ago he discovered that their fanbase is still fourteen years old and that he was the creepy old dude–at 28!  But he rejects that and says that Weezer are the creepy old dudes–forty-year old men singing songs that teenagers can relate to is really creepy.

Well, my show was full of college students (and at least one dad who brought his daughter who was either too young to drive or maybe they bond over Weezer–I didn’t ask–but more on them later).  I may have been the creepy old dude, but since Rivers Cuomo and I are basically the same age, we’re both the creepy old dudes.

It was cool to like Weezer for about two years (circa 1996).  But before and after it decidedly wasn’t.  Nevertheless, I’ve always enjoyed them.  I often wish that Rivers Cuomo would write more substantial songs (musically and lyrically since he studied classical composition and graduated with a B.A. in English from Harvard) but it’s hard to deny how much fun his dumb songs are.

I thought about seeing them this summer, but decided against it.  However, when they announced they were playing in Bethlehem, a close venue that I like, I decided it was time to see them.  I’d been checking their recent setlists (to see what albums they were laying songs from–I try to never look at actual songs), and I was bummed to see that they weren’t playing anything from Pinkerton, the cool person’s favorite Weezer album.  In fact it seemed like the sets came mostly from their self titled albums (blue, green, red and white).

But whatever, because even if they weren’t playing my favorite album, I knew that they’d be playing a bunch of songs that I knew and liked, right? (more…)

Read Full Post »

The Menzingers (Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Bethlehem, PA, December 3, 2016) [WEEZER]

Posted in Bethlehem, PA, Rancid, Sands Bethlehem Event Center, The Menzingers, Weezer on December 3, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 3, 2016] The Menzingers

2016-12-03-20-13-55I hadn’t heard of the Menzingers before this show.  I looked them up and saw that they were a punk band on Epitaph Records, which meant I knew what to expect–poppy punk, kind of like Rancid (without the ska-although I understand that they were formed out of a Scranton based ska-punk band).  And that’s a fairly accurate blanket statement of what they’re like–catchy songs with a kind of growly singer and lots of harmonies.

Their previous album was highly regarded and they have a new one coming out.  I was excited to see them.  I was also pretty excited to be at a show at the Sands again–my last show there was when I got a drumstick.  But imagine my surprise when there was a huge snarl of traffic getting into the venue.  I’ve seen a few shows there and have never seen traffic getting into the venue.  And then an enormous line to present tickets inside.  So I wound missing–well, maybe it was only part of the first song.

And that delay was because the show was packed.  Packed I say!  (I guess every college student in Bethlehem was there?).

I’m usually early enough that I can pick my place, but, wow, I was further back than I’ve been for almost any show I’ve seen lately.  And there was a pretty pushy crowd too.

So that kind of sucked.

But the band was good and a lot of fun.  (more…)

Read Full Post »