Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Free at Noon’ Category

Gladie: Free at Noon (World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA, October 6, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Free at Noon, Gladie, Philadelphia, PA, World Cafe Live on October 6, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 6, 2023] Gladie

I saw Gladie open for Otoboke Beaver late last year and really enjoyed their set a lot.  I would happily see them again, although a Free at Noon didn’t really seem like a worthwhile trip.

Here’s the blurb from the show and what I missed

After a successful tour with Jeff Rosenstock, today’s Free at Noon performer Gladie made a pit stop at the World Cafe Live stage to dazzle fans with their indie rock magic. Performing songs from their last album Don’t Know What You’re in Until You’re Out, along with a few favorites from other projects, the band truly came to impress.

The stage was decked out in the best gear, necessary for a classic Indie Rock experience. Guitarists Pat Conaboy and Matt Schimelfenig had full pedal boards, and used them frequently throughout the show, conjuring waves of distortion, their eyes were glued to the floor in true shoegaze fashion. The band started with their song “Mud,” immediately exploding into the room with a beautiful wall of sound that demanded the attention of everyone — a common theme that remained through the entirety of the show.

Lead vocalist Augusta Koch sang with intense power. She was able to strongly project (and even scream during some songs) her voice over the volume of the band, and listeners could also eel the emotion within her voice, whether the track had a somber energy or an exasperated energy. Koch’s lyrics were very impactful, influencing the tone of her vocals, as we heard during “20/20” where she and Schimelfenig harmonized to sing “I am angry, I am lonely, but I’m optimistic too.” Later, Schimelfenig took over vocals for “Fixer,” a song where he sings lead with a bit of a country twang from the band’s 2022 album Don’t Know What You’re In Until You’re Out.

Drummer Miles Ziskind was astounding to watch. The movement of his hands was difficult to track throughout the show due to his fills being so quick and precise. At stage left, bassist Liz Parsons accompanied the music with interesting lines throughout the set, especially on “Hit the Ground Running,” which was a bit groovier than the rest, allowing her to show off her skills. As the set came to a peak, “When You Leave The Sun” from Gladie’s 2020 album Safe Sins was the most commanding part of the set. It was faster, heavier, and built up a breathtaking ending with the band members blaring their instruments, hitting the crowd once again with that wall of sound.

That’s a lot of blurb for this fairly short set.  Here’s the setlist and you can listen to it here

  • Mud ⇔
  • 20/20 §
  • Hit The Ground Running ⇔
  • When You Leave The Sun §
  • Fixer ⇔
  • Nothing ⇔
  • Chaos Reigns [new single]
  • Born Yesterday ⇔

When I saw them they played:

  1. When You Leave The Sun §
  2. thank you card ¥
  3. Mud ⇔
  4. Twenty Twenty §
  5. …Heaven, Someday ⇔
  6. Hit the Ground Running ⇔
  7. Nothing ⇔
  8. Born Yesterday ⇔
⇔ Don’t Know What You’re in Until You’re Out (2022)
§ Safe Sins (2020)
¥ thank you card EP (2020)

Read Full Post »

Margaret Glaspy: Free at Noon (World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA, August 18, 2023)

Posted in Free at Noon, Margaret Glaspy, Philadelphia, PA, World Cafe Live on August 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 18, 2023] Margaret Glaspy

I had been wanting to see Margaret Glaspy for a pretty long time.  She last played Philadelphia in 2016, about two months before I heard her album.  (Well, actually, she played Philly when opening for Ruston Kelly, ew).  She was supposed to headline a tour back in 2020, but that show was postponed, so it’s not her fault that it took six years for me to see her.

It also takes her a pretty long time to put out new music.  Her new album is only her third in seven years.  She had been working on these songs for a while because she played a bunch of them when opening for Spoon last year.

She announced a new tour and is playing Underground Arts the same night I have a ticket for Explosions in the Sky. I’m still torn–they’re very different shows.  But then WXPN announced she’d be doing a Free at Noon and I grabbed a ticket.  I’ve often thought it’s not worth doing one of these–I mean it’s about three hours of my ay for a 30 minute show.  But this one was especially fun because her album came out today and she signed them.

And the band sounded great!

I love how loud and brash her guitar sounds.  I tend to think of her as a kind of soft-spoken singer, but her guitars really rock.   Her new single “Act Natural” is so damned catchy with a great riff and a fun chorus.  Like last time she opened with “I Didn’t Think So” and “Act Natural.”  They are a great one-two punch of riffs and melody.  (more…)

Read Full Post »

Speedy Ortiz: Free at Noon (World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA, August 4, 2023)

Posted in Free at Noon, Philadelphia, PA, Speedy Ortiz, World Cafe Live on August 6, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 4, 2023] Speedy Ortiz

I feel like I have seen Speedy Oriz a few times.  But I had only seen them once before.  It was a very memorable show, though, with me getting to stand right in front of Sadie Dupuis as she played and sang.

Here it is five years later (after they opened for Foo Fighters in Fenway a few days after I saw them), with a new album out soon.  I bought a ticket for their Johnny Brenda’s show in a few weeks, but I decided to give the Free at Noon show a go.  (This time it only cost me 3 hours of sick time).

I was pretty no nonsense about this one.  Sucked it up and paid for parking (it had just started raining) and I felt like I was cutting it a little too close to be driving around.  I was bummed for them that it was so sparsely attended, but maybe they’re just not that big of a band.

But it meant I could get up nice and close and watch them play.

They were so spread out on  the big stage.  I felt like bassist Audrey Zee Whitesides (now a permanent member of the band) was miles away.  I was in between Saide and Andy Moholt.  Last time I couldn’t really see Moholt but he was fun to watch this time, playing weird chords and lots of solo frills 9as well as a keyboard).  Initially his lead guitar was way too loud, but they mixed it down pretty quickly.

I’m guessing my location was to blame for how loud Joey Doubek’s drums sounded.  Or more specifically, his one cymbal.  When he crashed it a lot, it really drowned out everyone else. I’m sure you won’t hear that when it gets uploaded to the streaming playback, but it was quite loud to me (I probably should have moved).

They played 8 songs in half an hour.  Four from the new album (released Sept 1) and four oldies.

I was surprised and delighted that they started with “The Graduates” a favorite of mine.

The new songs sound great–a bit heavier and a bit more unusual with the guitar chord choices and whatnot.  And Doubek’s drumming was much louder and more intense on the new songs.  Sadie said that Scabs had something to do with striking postal workers.  I’ll have to listen to the playback to get the details (she was drowned out by the applause).

The folks around me were definitely fans as they sang along to the older songs like “Silver Spring.”

Audrey said that the last time they played World Cafe, they played all of Twerp Verse.  They didn’t want to do any duplicates for this show, but they did want to play a song from each album, so they played “Lucky 88” my favorite off of Twerp.

They ended with the new song “You SO2” (which continues the album’s trend of Sadie’s lyrics being more narrative than rhyme based) and finished with “Plough” a great song from their debut.

Seeing this made me wonder if I still needed to go to Johnny Brenda’s, but it’s a few weeks away and I expect they’ll probably play at least twice as many songs, right?

It’s great to have them back.  I’m looking forward to more new music from them.

Free at Noon 2023 PhilaMOCA 2018
The Graduates € Buck Me Off ⇓
Scabs ¥ Lean In When I Suffer ⇓
Ghostwriter ¥ Lucky 88 ⇓
Silver Spring ⊗ Raising The Skate €
Plus One ¥ The Graduates €
Lucky 88 ⇓ Silver Spring ⊗
You SO2 ¥ Plough ♠
Plough ♠ Alone With Girls ⇓
I’m Blessed ⇓
Taylor Swift [single]
You Hate The Title ⇓
Moving In ⇓
Villain ⇓
Swell Content €
Dvrk Wvrld €

 

¥ Rabbit, Rabbit (2023)
⇓ Twerp Verse (2018)
€ from Foil Deer (2015)
♠ from Major Arcana (2013)
⊗ from Sports EP (2012)
[single] from (2012)

Read Full Post »

Blondshell: Free at Noon (World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA, July 21, 2023)

Posted in Blondshell, Free at Noon, Philadelphia, PA, World Cafe Live on July 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 21, 2023] Blondshell

Blondshell is a new band created by Sabrina Teitelbaum.  She has recorded music under BAUM, but wanted to go in a different direction and so created Blondshell (great name).

I’d heard a couple of songs by her and she was generating a lot of buzz.  I bought a ticket to see her (and Hello, Mary, another young band I like a lot) at PhilaMOCA.  The show sold out soon after.

And then I got invited to a party for my friend’s son. I gladly blew of the show to go to the party.  But when it was announced that Blondshell would do the Free at Noon this week, I immediately grabbed a ticket.

The band played eight songs.  I really enjoyed their guitarist playing some really noisy guitar solos especially at the end of “Veronica Mars.”

The song I know and really like is “Joiner” which sounded great.

And I was impressed that Sabrina sings mostly in a kind of low dirgey style but  that she can really belt out when it’s time for it.  She has some really strong pipes. (more…)

Read Full Post »

The Residents: Free at Noon (World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA, March 31, 2023)

Posted in Free at Noon, Philadelphia, PA, The Residents, World Cafe Live on March 31, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 31, 2023] The Residents 

I’ve been an admirer of The Residents forever.  I’m not a fan exactly–I have some of their records.  I also have some of the CD-ROMS because they were one of the first entities to really make good use of CD-ROM technology.

Their music is bizarre.  Sometimes wonderfully so.  Sometimes not.  I’ve thought about going to see them for years now.  They played Philly in 2018, but i was going to see Built to Spill that evening, so there was no thought of The Residents.

Then in 2020, they announced a new show.  And that and all subsequent attempts were put on hold.

Then my friend Garry sent me a notification that The Residents were going to do a Free at Noon. What?!  I took half a vacation day and drove to Philly to see this remarkable opportunity.

Since their promo material still shows the giant eyeballs that they wore when they came out, I assumed we’d see at least one.  But instead, each member of the band had on a gaiter over their head which perfectly matched their eyeball-filled suits. Anonymity is key! (more…)

Read Full Post »

Jade Bird: Free at Noon (World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, October 15, 2021)

Posted in Free at Noon, Jade Bird, Philadelphia, PA, World Cafe Live on October 16, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 15, 2021] Jade Bird

I’ve really enjoyed the rocking songs that Jade Bird releases.  Her voice is so powerful and big that I rally wanted to see her live.  Well, we did kind of see her live at Newport Folk Festival, but that was more hearing her as we were walking around.  So when she announced a tour I definitely wanted to see her.

But it turned out that her show at Underground Arts was Thursday the 14th and I’d already had three shows in a row that week.  (One did get cancelled, but I didn’t change my plans).  So I wouldn’t get to see her.  Until WXPN announced that she’d be playing a Free at Noon (one of the few they did this year).

A Free at Noon show is weird for me.  I have to leave at least 90 minutes before the show for travel time and parking and then it takes me an hour at least to get back to work. So that’s two and a half hours, not including the show which is usually an hour.  So, if traffic is bad, it could be a four hour Free at Noon for me.  But if you have extra vacation time, why not use it?

So I drove down to Philly and got a great spot on the street.  I actually wound up being very early because of the lack of traffic.  And that was fine.  I got a spot right by the stage and waited for Jade Bird to come out. (more…)

Read Full Post »

TC Boyle–“Peep Hall” (Esquire, September 2000)

Posted in Drinking, Esquire, Free at Noon, NonComm, Nudism, Pornography, Sexism, Short Story, T. Coraghessan Boyle, T.C. Boyle, Toilets, World Cafe Live, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on May 22, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: JEALOUS OF THE BIRDS-NonCOMM 2019 Free at Noon (May 15, 2019).

I heard the band name Jealous of the Birds and I instantly formed an opinion of what they sounded like.

And this recording couldn’t be much further from what I imagined.

I assumed they would be bird-like and they are not at all.  This set rocks, it switches genres, it covers a lot of grown, but nothing at all bird-like.

Many artists live by the philosophy of creating the music that they want to exist in the world, but few do it in such a striking way as Jealous of the Birds. Northern Irish songwriter Naomi Hamilton has been making music under the moniker for a few years now, but each song we hear from Jealous of the Birds feels like a fresh new discovery — and anyone who was hearing the band for the first time today undoubtedly felt like they were experiencing something special.

Folks who attended last year’s NonCOMM music meeting may remember hearing a glimpse of the arresting single “Plastic Skeletons.” The song, which is not quite like anything else and not immediately accessible, is congruous with Hamilton breaking out of her local music scene in Northern Ireland and carving out an indescribable genre of her own. Since then, Jealous of the Birds has gone on to release two new EPs, The Moths of What I Want Will Eat Me in My Sleep and Wisdom Teeth, which show the depth and range of Hamilton’s songwriting ability.

Driven by her love of language, Hamilton’s lyrics are intricate and poetic; musically, you can detect influences from Irish folk to psychedelic rock.

With her slicked back hair and laid-back demeanor, Hamilton makes it look easy, but her songs aren’t necessarily easy to listen to — hearing them once will only make you want to listen again and again to try to understand what the artist is getting at.

The first four songs are from their 2016 album Parma Violets.

Powder Junkie is a stomping, stop and start kind of song.  It’s bluesy but stops abruptly after just 2 and a half minutes.  It’s a great introduction to the band.  As is “Trouble in Bohemia,” a slower song with a folk feel. It showcases the softer side of the band, and is also quite short.

“Russian Doll” introduces a much more poppy sound to the band.  The chords are simple, but the highlight the clever lyrics

I took your compliments
I just struggled to believe
That I was worth loving
And you weren’t lying through your teeth
In truth, I’m a Russian doll
My egos shut inside
I painted them by hand
And I’ll never let them die

“Parma Violets” is slower and more acoustic-sounding.  It’s a ballad and a sad one a that:

Oh please
Don’t you swallow
Pills like parma violets
Again

I had to look up to discover that Parma Violets are a British violet-flavoured tablet confectionery manufactured by the Derbyshire company Swizzels Matlow.

The next two songs come from 2019’s Wisdom Teeth EP.  I like them both.  “Marrow” is a folk song, but “Blue Eyes” is a wonderfully weird rocking song.  It feels off-kilter with some unexpected lead guitar riffs at the end of each verse and some funky bass parts.

The final song, “Plastic Skeletons” comes from 2018’s The Moths of What I Want Will Eat Me in My Sleep.  It’s got a cool bass with some nifty guitar line to start the track.  The chorus is kind of staccato and lurching and quite a lot of fun.

These last two songs were my favorite of the set, and I’m glad to see they are the most recent songs. I like the direction they’re going.

[READ: May 15, 2019] “Peep Hall” 

I have read many many stories by Boyle and I like him quite a lot.  I like that he writes about so many different topics from so many different perspectives.  He is even unafraid to be sympathetic to people who don’t seem to deserve it.

It was somewhat unfortunate that I read this story and the previous one by him (written about 19 years apart) on the same day because they were both rather creepy and voyeuristic and sympathetic to people who necessarily don’t deserve it.

The narrator of this story, Hart Simpson, likes his privacy.  His phone is unlisted and the gate on his driveway locks behinds him.  When he sits on his porch, the neighbors can’t see him.  He works as a bartender at the local pub and is quite a visible person, but when it’s time off, he wants to be alone.  I mean, sure he hooks up once in a while, but otherwise he’s alone.

One afternoon, a woman came up his driveway.  She had been talking to his next-door neighbor (not his favorite person) in some kind of heated argument.  Then she came over to his porch. (more…)

Read Full Post »

T.C Boyle–“What’s Love Got to Do With It?” (Esquire, March 2019)

Posted in Death, Esquire, Free at Noon, Guns, Júníus Meyvant, Murder, NonComm, Short Story, T. Coraghessan Boyle, T.C. Boyle, Trains, World Cafe Live, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on May 21, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: JÚNÍUS MEYVANT-NonCOMM 2019 Free at Noon (May 15, 2019).

Júníus Meyvant is the stage name of Icelandic singer Unnar Gísli Sigurmundsson.  His band is a soulful Iceland six-piece with outstanding musicianship.

The set started off strong with “High Alert.”  A cool bassline and organ propel the song forward with accents from trumpet and Sigurmundsson’s soulful voice.

The second song, “Holidays” is much slower as it starts with a wavering keyboard and groovy bassline.  It’s just as soulful though–possibly more so, with nice horn accompaniments.

“Across the Borders” showcased a psychedelic-jam side of Júníus Meyvant, as well as the pianist’s skills.  After some powerful trumpet, the song settles down into a slow groove.  Midway through, the drummer plays a cool little fill and the band launches into a fast keyboard-filled jamming romp.

“Love Child” is a sweet, smooth love song with gentle horns guiding the melody.

“Ain’t Gonna Let You Drown” had a rich, gospel sound to it, it’s his new single. He slowed down the tempo for their last song “Thoughts of My Religion,” a personal ballad with a catchy chorus.

It’s a lovely set which you can listen to here (for some reasons Night Two’s shows are much much quieter on the player).

[READ: May 15, 2019] “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” 

I have read many many stories by Boyle and I like him quite a lot.  I like that he writes about so many different topics from so many different perspectives.  He is even unafraid to be sympathetic to people who don’t seem to deserve it.

It was somewhat unfortunate that I read this story and the next one by him (written about 19 years apart) by him on the same day because they were both rather creepy and voyeuristic and sympathetic to people who really don’t deserve it.

This story is about a woman who chooses to take a three day train ride rather than a three hour plane ride to Dallas.   It wasn’t long after the school shootings.  The shootings had happened at her daughter’s school although the daughter was unharmed.  This had nothing to do with her choice of taking the train, exactly, but she felt it would afford her some down time.

At morning breakfast she was seated across from a young man–Eric–about her daughter’s age.  They had a pleasant light conversation–first about state capitals and “sexy” cities  and the dangers of Splenda “its made from nuclear waste.”  He soon revealed that he went to the same school as her daughter  And just to complicate things.  He knew the shooter. (more…)

Read Full Post »

The Claypool Lennon Delirium: Free at Noon (World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, April 12, 2019)

Posted in Free at Noon, Geddy Lee, King Crimson, Les Claypool, Philadelphia, PA, Pink Floyd, Primus, Sean Lennon, The Claypool Lennon Delirium, The Flaming Lips, Uni, Voivod, White Denim, World Cafe Live on April 12, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 12, 2019] The Claypool Lennon Delirium

Nearly two years and a half years ago I saw The Claypool Lennon Delirium at the Fillmore.  Once again, this year they were playing the Fillmore.  But it was on a night that T. was doing a school play.  There is no way I would choose Les Claypool over my daughter, so I didn’t get tickets.  Then they moved her play to Thursday instead.  I could go!

But then WXPN announced that The Claypool Lennon Delirium would be doing a Free at Noon.  And that seemed like the best of both worlds–I’d get to see the band and it wouldn’t be a) at night or b) at the Fillmore (which was too big and crowded for me when I saw them).  I said I’d never do another Free at Noon because I basically had to take off four hours of work to do it, but for these guys it was a no-brainer and totally worth it.

And really, who doesn’t like to take off four hours of work. (more…)

Read Full Post »

John Patrick Green–Kitten Construction Company: Meet the House Kittens (2018)

Posted in Architecture, Cats, Children's Books, First Second :01, Free at Noon, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, John Patrick Green, Kittens, Lily & Madeleine, World Cafe Live, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on February 22, 2019| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: LILY & MADELEINE-Free at Noon, World Cafe Live (February 22, 2019).

I was pretty happy to be at my desk for this Free at Noon show today.  After seeing Lily & Madeleine Wednesday night, I was keen to hear them live again.

I was also happy that a lot more people showed up for this show than my bad-weather event.

They played a truncated version of the show that I saw–nine of the fourteen songs.  Can their real set only be five more songs?  They focused entirely on new songs, except their encore, and wound up playing all but two of the new songs.(Circles and Bruises).

The sisters aren’t the most dynamic performers.  They are quiet and somewhat subdued–look to guitarist/cellist Shannon Hayden for the action.  But they more than make up for it with their voices.  Once again Lily & Madeleine sounded great and their harmonies were transcendent.

Their new songs are really great live–the addition of the cello really fleshes out their music beautifully.  And their drummer (who goes by one name and which once again I didn’t understand (Coffee?)) was fantastic.

They played the first three songs as my show.  They skipped the older songs and went right to Analog Love.  I was surprised they played “Supernatural Sadness” right after “Analog Love” because they are very different.  Analog is, as the chorus states, “slow and sweet” whereas “Supernatural” has a much more dancey, almost disco attitude,

They ended the set with “Pachinko” and then the band left so the could play “Go” with just the two of them.

After Helen Leicht came out to thank the band for coming, they did one more song, an encore of “Blue Blades.”  This song sounded amazing when I saw them both because of their voices but also because of the awesomely echoed cello.  And she had that same effect on the song here–it just sounds massive and almost otherworldly.  It’s amazing.

Definitely check them out, they are terrific live (this will no doubt be posted soon enough).

  1. Self Care
  2. Just Do It
  3. Canterbury Girls
  4. Analog Love
  5. Supernatural Sadness
  6. Can’t Help the Way I Feel
  7. Pachinko Song
  8. Go
    encore
  9. Blue Blades

[READ: February 20, 2019] Kitten Construction Company

I loved Green’s previous book Hippopotamister and I was pretty delighted with the premise of Kitten Construction Company.  But I had no idea how funny it would be.

The city of Mewburg (I only wish it was Mewlinburg) is preparing to build a new mayor’s mansion.  The city planner is looking at excellent design plans for the mansion.  As he talks about how wonderful the designs are, he pulls back the paper to reveal Marmalade, an adorable kitten.  He stops what he is doing to marvel at her cuteness.  Marmalade is upset by this.

Even more so when the city planner says they can’t have a cute kitten as an architect–“you’re just too adorable to be taken seriously.”

Marmalade stomps off (cutely) muttering that she went to school and she has a degree.   While she is trying to drown her sorrows in milk, she meets Sampson. a dishwasher who is actually an electrical engineer.  They are sick of not being taken seriously so they decide to start their own firm.  But first Sampson has to finish his shift (which is adorable and hilarious). (more…)

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »