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Archive for the ‘Torres’ Category

Torres (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, January 25, 2024)

Posted in Aisha Burns, Philadelphia, PA, Torres, Union Transfer on January 27, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 25, 2024] Torres 

This was my fifth time seeing Torres play.

Every time I see her, her set becomes more powerful and intense.  What was fun about this tour was that her new album, What an Enormous Room, was coming out the next day.

So we were able to hear most of these songs for the first time in a live setting, which was great.  Especially since she gave a little explanation of each song before playing them. I also love that she played a new song followed by an old song–a kind of mini greatest hits.

A lot of times when you hear a song for the first time, it may not land right away.  There were a couple of songs that are going to take a few listens to really get into, but for the most part, these songs were grabbers, doing what Torres does best–catchy powerful choruses with her great voice doing its thing.

I had wondered what the title of this album was supposed to mean, and she told us that life these days was overwhelmingly depressing.  And without trying to forget that, she felt that this album was a ray of hope–this is an enormous room, look what other things I can do in it.

She played a few songs from each of her recent albums (although only one from her lost-to-COVID album, Silver Tongue). (more…)

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Aisha Burns (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, January 25, 2024) [TORRES]

Posted in Aisha Burns, Philadelphia, PA, Torres, Union Transfer on January 26, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 25, 2024] Aisha Burns

I hadn’t heard of Aisha Burns before this show, although the way she talked about her career, it sounded like she’s been playing music for years and years.  She’s in her late 30s and has been playing violin for ages.   She has appeared on several records as a featured violinist, but she has only released two solo albums in the last ten years.

She actually didn’t play as much violin as I imagined.  The first song opened with some looped violin, but then she played the melodica or guitar for most of the songs.  She had a partner on lead guitar with her but she never introduced him.  He played mostly backing solos and noises. They made a solid wall of sound.

Her songs were a little too slow for me overall.  There wasn’t a ton of variety.  But what she played was great.  I think just not in this setting, maybe–a seated venue with a great sound system would be an amazing way to experience her. (more…)

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Superchunk (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, June 11, 2022)

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Superchunk, Torres, Union Transfer on June 12, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 11, 2022] Superchunk [moved from March 2, 2022]

I saw Superchunk four years ago.  It was my first time seeing a band that I have liked for decades.  They have put out a ton of music and I don’t know all of it, but I still enjoyed their set a lot.

Enough to see them again when they put out a new album this past year.

Last time, they played a ton of stuff from the then new album (8 new songs).  This time, for whatever reason, they played only five songs from the new album and the rest of the set was chock full of songs from throughout their career.

Indeed, they played 21 songs with only 7 duplicates (and I think we’d have been upset if they didn’t play those seven).

The band was, like last time the (nearly) original members: Mac McCaughan of course on vocals and guitar, Jim Wilbur on guitar (he joined after their first album) and Jon Wurster on drums (he joined after the third album)–they’re bonafides!  The only one missing was bassist Laura Ballance.  She plays on the albums but because of her hyperacusis, she no longer tours.  So, on bass we had Jason Narducy who has played with anybody who is anybody. (more…)

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Torres (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, June 11, 2022) [SUPERCHUNK]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Superchunk, Torres, Union Transfer on June 11, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 11, 2022] Torres [moved from March 2, 2022]

This was my forth time seeing Torres play.  I was excited to see her open for Superchunk, but I was (obviously) even more excited to see her play as a headliner.

The headlining gig was great, and I was curious to see how much it would differ when she opened for a well known but not huge indie band.  Especially since she is not exactly the same type of music.

Her new album is a love/lust letter to her new wife and in a close setting like Johnny Brenda’s she explored the album in great detail.  But her she was able to rock it out with amazing intensity.

She switched her setlist a little to open with the more rocking “Are You Sleepwalking” and followed it with the slower opening “Don’t Go Puttin’ Wishes in My Head” (even though it is ultimately even more catchy). (more…)

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Superchunk / Torres (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, March 2, 2022) [postponed]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Superchunk, Torres, Union Transfer on March 2, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: March 2, 2022] Superchunk / Torres [moved to June 11, 2022]

I saw Superchunk four years ago and really enjoyed their fast and furious set.  I realized that most bands that I like, I want to see twice.  So when they announced a new show, I was ready.

In mid February, when Omicron was surging, they announced that they were going to postpone their tour until the summer, which makes sense given their new single is “Endless Summer.”

It actually worked out alright for me as I was out late the night before seeing Dazey and the Scouts.

I’ve seen Torres four times and she always puts on a great show.  I’m glad she’ll be playing with them in June as well.

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Torres (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, October 18, 2021)

Posted in Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Torres on October 19, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 18, 2021] Torres

This was my third time seeing Torres.  I had actually bought tickets for this show back in December of 2019.  She was going to be touring the album Silver Tongue, which I never got.  In a way I’m glad the show was pushed back to 2021, because her latest album Thirstier is outstanding.

Mackenzie Scott has fallen in love and Thirstier is a happy album.  And Mackenzie is ripping it up on stage.  She’s been wearing essentially workout clothes and she comes off stage covered in sweat.

Her band was amazing keyboard/synth player Erin Manning, was terrific even though I could never really see her from where I was.  Bryan Bisorti rocked out the drums and J.R. Bohannon played pedal steel and matched her on lead guitar.

(more…)

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Sarah Jaffe (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, October 18, 2021) [TORRES]

Posted in Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Sarah Jaffe, Sarah Jarosz, Torres on October 18, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 18, 2021] Sarah Jaffe

I had convinced myself that the opening act for this tour was Sarah Jarosz.  Probably because I would like to see Jarosz and I knew that she was touring at the same time.  Although sonically it didn’t really make any sense (and I assume that Jarosz is probably bigger than Torres.

But anyhow, a few days before the show I confirmed that the opening act was Sarah Jaffe, whom I had never heard of.

Jaffe came out of stage and proved to be a versatile musician.  She sang, she played guitar, she rapped, she played synth pop.  All within a brief opening set. (more…)

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Frankie and the Witch Fingers / Acid Dad / Hooveriii (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, October 18, 2021) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Acid Dad, Frankie and the Witch Fingers, Full show video, Hooveriii, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, Torres on October 18, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 18, 2021] Frankie and the Witch Fingers / Acid Dad / Hooveriii

Over the quarantine, I have discovered the good fun of the Levitation online concert series and The Reverberation Appreciation Society.  I’ve enjoyed some great concerts from psychedelic garage bands.  So when it was announce with little fanfare that two bands I have really gotten to enjoy: Hooveriii and Acid Dad were going to be playing at PhilaMOCA with Frankie & the Witch Fingers (who i didn’t know), I was really excited at a chance for a night of psychedelic fun.  Then it turned out to be on the same night as the Torres show.

The Torres show that I bought tickets for in December of 2019!

It was a really hard choice to pick which show to go to.  Even though I had tickets for Torres already, they weren’t that expensive and I bought them almost three years ago!  I spend the week before this show trying to decide who I wanted to see.  I had seen Torres twice before (she’s amazing live).  I had never seen any of the other three.  Up until that morning I was still trying to decide.

Then as the morning struck, I decided that I would go to this show.  At work, I watched some live footage of Frankie and then i watched a recent live show from KEXP with Torres.  And after listening to the interview with Torres, she won out.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get to see all three bands together again, but I’m sure that at least the two openers will be back around.

But Markit Aneight was there to record all three bands

Frankie and the Witch Fingers

Acid Dad

Hooveriii

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Torres / Sarah Jaffe (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, November 14, 2020) [rescheduled date–POSTPONED]

Posted in Coronavirus, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, Sarah Jaffe, Torres on November 14, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: November 14, 2020] Torres / Sarah Jaffe [rescheduled from May 19; moved to October 18, 2021]

indexTorres is a wonderful musician who I feel has really gotten the brunt of the industry and now the coronavirus.  She really counts on shows and it’s a real shame that her shows keep getting postponed.

I have seen Torres in a small, intimate show (which was amazing) and then in a slightly larger venue (which was excellent in a different way).

I didn’t think I ‘d need to see her again, but I follow her on Instagram and was really interested in seeing her new show (especially in a different venue).  I haven’t heard all of the new album, but I did like the first single.

Sarah Jaffe is a singer from Texas.  She seems to play a lot of different styles, from folkie (“Clementine”) to more pop rocking (“Glorified High”). I enjoyed the few tracks I listened to and imagine she’d be a fun live performer.

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Torres / Sarah Jaffe (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, May 19, 2020) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Coronavirus, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, Sarah Jaffe, Torres on May 19, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: May 19, 2020] Torres / Sarah Jaffe [moved to November 14]

indexI have seen Torres in a small, intimate show (which was amazing) and then in a slightly larger venue (which was excellent in a different way).

I didn’t think I ‘d need to see her again, but I follow her on Instagram and was really interested in seeing her new show (especially in a different venue).  I haven’t heard all of the new album, but I did like the first single.

Sarah Jaffe is a singer from Texas.  She seems to play a lot of different styles, from folkie (“Clementine”) to more pop rocking (“Glorified High”). I enjoyed the few tracks I listened to and imagine she’d be a fun live performer.

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