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Archive for the ‘Set in New Jersey!’ Category

Prism Bitch (Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ, September 12, 2019) [BUILT TO SPILL]

Posted in Built to Spill, Prism Bitch, Sayreville, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, Starland Ballroom on September 12, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 12, 2019] Prism Bitch

I hadn’t heard of Prism Bitch before this tour.  I looked them up and listened to their EPs on bandcamp and rather liked them.

They have great lyrics and a catchy punky style, including a song called “Tits Off” which I think they played but I’m not sure.  But mostly they have a lot of energy.

Before they went on, we could see their ankles and feet below the screen that was in front of the stage.  I was amused that they all seemed to be wearing different colors.  And indeed as the screen went up they were revealed to be all wearing matching Adidas tracksuits. (more…)

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And And And (Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ, September 12, 2019) [BUILT TO SPILL]

Posted in And And And, Built to Spill, Prism Bitch, Roddy Doyle, Sayreville, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, Starland Ballroom, The Commitments on September 12, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 12, 2019] And And And

When I saw the band that was opening for Built to Spill was called And And And, I knew it sounded familiar.  I knew it was from some work of fiction.  And then it finally came to me that it was from The Commitments. Roddy Doyle’s hilarious book that inspired the movie.

The band is mentioned here:

Jimmy Rabbitte: What do you call yourselves?
Derek: “And And And.”
Jimmy Rabbitte: “And And fuckin’ And?”
Derek: Well, Ray’s thinking of putting an exclamation mark after the second “and.” Says it’d look deadly on the posters.
Jimmy Rabbitte: Psshh…
Outspan Foster: You don’t like it? You think it should go at the end?
Jimmy Rabbitte: I think it should go up his arse.

Excellent.

I instantly loved this band from Portland who were so bold as to take this name (no exclamation points). (more…)

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Uniform (White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, NJ, September 8, 2019) [BORIS]

Posted in Crawl, Drunkdriver, Jersey City, NJ, Public Image Ltd, Set in New Jersey!, The Men, Uniform, White Eagle Hall on September 8, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 8, 2019] Uniform

Uniform is a duo from New York.  But for this tour that had a live drummer Michael A. Engle (from Crawl).  The main two guys in the band are former Drunkdriver singer Michael Berdan and recording engineer Ben Greenberg (formerly of the Men) on guitar and other sounds.

I looked them up before the show to see who they were and the general impression I got was that they were loud.

So when the band walked on stage, I said to the guy next to me, “time for earplugs.”  And before I could put the second one in, Berdan pressed a button on a machine behind him and out blasted the single loudest sound I’ve ever heard.  Granted, I was standing literally right in front of the massive cabinet that the sound came from, but holy crap.  I assumed it was some kind of accidental feedback.  But indeed, no, that was the opening sound of the band.

And it never let up. (more…)

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Mac Sabbath (The Wellmont Theatre, Montclair NJ, August 27, 2019)

Posted in Beck, Black Sabbath, Blue Velvet, Friday the 13th, Harlem Globetrotters, Mac Sabbath, McDonald's, Montclair, NJ, Motorhead, Okilly Dokilly, Ozzy Osbourne, Peter Criss, Roy Orbison, Set in New Jersey!, Tame Impala, Tony Iommi, Van Halen, Weezer, Wellmont Theater on August 27, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 27, 2019] Mac Sabbath

When I saw that Okilly Dokilly was opening for Mac Sabbath I had to check out who this band was.  They’ve been around for a few years and this was their “American Cheese Tour” (that’s a good one).

And so basically, they are a Black Sabbath cover band, but all of their lyrics are about McDonald’s and the fast food industry in general.  So that’s pretty funny.  But that’s not all.  They have taken this concept to an absurd length.   Each band member is costumed or wears makeup.  And the costumes are phenomenal–not cheap little handmade things, but remarkably detailed and well constructed heads and bodies.  The attention to detail is really impressive.

The band members are also completely anonymous, which is also pretty funny.   And that is why they have such great band names:

The lead singer is Ronald Osbourne.
The guitarist is Slayer MacCheeze
The bassist is Grimalice (the least impressive name, it’s Grimace with an Alice in Wonderland hat on, but his other name is brilliant: “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butler.”)
On drums is Catburglar or Criss Cut Fries (he is dressed like the Hamburglar with Peter Criss Makeup).

I didn’t really think too much about the music before the show, I just wanted to see the stage show. (more…)

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Okilly Dokilly (The Wellmont Theatre, Montclair NJ, August 27, 2019) [MAC SABBATH]

Posted in Mac Sabbath, Montclair, NJ, Okilly Dokilly, Santana, Set in New Jersey!, The Offspring, The Simpsons, Wellmont Theater on August 27, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 27, 2019] Okilly Dokilly

When I heard about Okilly Dokilly from The Simpsons, I knew that I would like to see them live.  So, when it was announced that they would be playing with Mac Sabbath (who I’d never heard of), at a venue fairly close to me, I grabbed a ticket.  Hilariously (although not for me), this show apparently sold so poorly that by a week before the event, the venue was literally giving tickets away.  So I signed up for free tickets and then couldn’t get anyone to go with me.  Oh well.

When I saw their video for “White Wine Spritzer,” in the credits of The Simpsons (clip at bottom of page), I loved the idea of a heavy metal band comprised of many Ned Flanders (technically: Head Ned (vocals), Dread Ned (drums), Shred Ned (guitar), Bed Ned (bass) and Zed Ned (synth)).  But I was a little disappointed that the vocals they chose to use were so cookie monster/growly.  I mean, it makes huge comic sense to have Ned sing like that, but it’s disappointing to not be able to understand all of  the lyrics which are “75 per cent made up of Ned Flanders’ quotes.”

But this band is dedicated to their craft 100%. (more…)

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Playboy Manbaby (The Wellmont Theatre, Montclair NJ, August 27, 2019) [MAC SABBATH]

Posted in Big Gay Ice Cream, Mac Sabbath, Macaroni Rascals, Montclair, NJ, Okilly Dokilly, Playboy Manbaby, Set in New Jersey!, The Simpsons, Wellmont Theater on August 27, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 27, 2019] Playboy Manbaby

When I heard about Okilly Dokilly from The Simpsons, I decided that I would like to see them live.  So, when it was announced that they would be playing with Mac Sabbath (who I’d never heard of), at a venue fairly close to me, I grabbed a ticket.  Hilariously (although not for me), this show apparently sold so poorly that by a week before the event, the venue was literally giving tickets away.  So I signed up for free tickets and then couldn’t get anyone to go with me.  Oh well.  [The band did sell out venues in Florida, so it’s not like no one goes to see them].

Of the three bands, Playboy Manbaby was the one I was least interested in.  But in the end, they were the band I enjoyed the most.

Playboy Manbaby is from Phoenix. Okilly Dokilly is also from Phoenix (and PM used most of Okilly Dokilly’s gear).

They usually have horns, but for this show (and tour?) they were a four piece:  Robbie Pfeffer on vocals, TJ Friga on guitar, Chris Hudson on bass, [with a Big Gay Ice Cream shirt on] and Chad Dennis on drums.  Unlike the other two bands, this band didn’t have a gimmick, they were just a kind of goofy, fun punk rock band. (more…)

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Control Top (White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, NJ, August 24, 2019) [TED LEO]

Posted in Control Top, Jersey City, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, Tact, Ted Leo, Ted Leo + Pharmacists, White Eagle Hall on August 24, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 24, 2019] Control Top

I have wanted to see Ted Leo for a while.  In fact I almost saw him July 1 at Boot & Saddle, but that was a hectic week for me.  The opening band for that show was Tact, a Philadelphia band.  I was sure that after missing that show I’d have to wait a while for him to come around again.

But then he announced a brief tour that stopped in his once home state of New Jersey.  And I got to go to White Eagle Hall.  I love the venue.  It has great sound and it’s pretty close.  But man the lighting is terrible for taking pictures.

The opening band for this little tour was Control Top, another Philadelphia band.  Philly has been producing some great bands of late and Control Top is definitely one of them.

I was surprised by this billing because they couldn’t be any different.  It’s true that Leo has roots in the punk scene but Control Top is pure screaming punk through and through. like on “Black Hole”

I listened to their album before the show and was pleased by their roaring sound and the intense vocals of Ali Carter.

But I was totally unprepared for the guitar theatrics of Al Creedon.  He didn’t do anything fancy but the noises that he wrung from that guitar were just unbelievable.  Even moreso was that he could come out of squalling noises like in “Type A” and jump right into a pretty or unexpectedly light riff.  (more…)

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Beck (PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ, August 20, 2019)

Posted in Beck, Cage the Elephant, Elvis Costello, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Holmdel, NJ, Jason Falkner, PNC Bank Center, Roger Manning, Set in New Jersey!, The Korgis on August 20, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 28, 2014] Beck

It was five years ago that S. and I saw Beck live.

For that show, I went in with lowered expectations.  I thought the show was going to be a lot of Morning Phase, a mellow album he had just released, but it turned out to be a ton of fun.  S. remembers it as one of her favorite concerts ever.  So when I saw that he was touring and coming to Holmdel, I was excited to get tickets.

Then I saw how much they were.  Tickets were over $100 for most normal seats and the front section was well over $100.  So there was no way I was getting tickets for that.  Then I remembered the awesome feature at PNC Bank Arts Center.  If there are seats available before the show you can upgrade a lawn seat for $20.  So we bought $30 lawn seats and then a few days before the show, we took advantage of the upgrade and for $20 more, we were moved to Row N!

And Row N is a great vantage point.

Needless to say, our expectations were pretty high for this.  And Beck did not disappoint.  Well, maybe a little. (more…)

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Cage the Elephant (PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ, August 20, 2019) [BECK]

Posted in Beck, Cage the Elephant, CHAPPO, Holmdel, NJ, Minus the Bear, Pedro the Lion, PNC Bank Center, Set in New Jersey! on August 20, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 20, 2019] Cage the Elephant

I was rather surprised that Cage the Elephant were co-headlining this tour with Beck.  I assumed that Beck was the clear headliner–and yet the (younger) crowd seemed to be there more for Cage.  I also didn’t realize that they had collaborated recently on the song that this tour was named after).

But the biggest confusion for me was that I didn’t know who Cage the Elephant were.  They were part of that trend of bands that had three words with The in the middle. Like Pedro the Lion, Jukebox the Ghost, Minus the Bear and Young the Giant.  I assumed that I had no idea who Cage the Elephant were or what hey even sounded like.

But then I was surprised to discover that I really liked two of their songs but had no idea it was them: “Ready  to Let Go” and “Mess Around.”  After figuring that out, I was looking forward to them but really had no idea what to expect.

Well, they went on about ten minutes late (which was annoying, since they’d had 30 minutes to get ready).

Their stage set up was like bleachers–a guitar drum and keyboards on the top and a guitar vocals and bass on the floor.  Then the lights went down and the stage burst into flames! (more…)

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Phish (BB&T Pavillion, Camden, NJ, June 29, 2019)

Posted in BB&T Pavillion, Camden, NJ, Mike Gordon, Newport Folk Festival, Phish, Set in New Jersey!, Trey Anastasio, TV on the Radio on June 29, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 29, 2018] Phish

I was very excited to see Phish again this summer.  I bought tickets for all three shows at the BB&T Pavillion.

But then my week had turned very busy with shows and other commitments.  When I heard Cate Le Bon was playing at Boot & Saddle on the Friday night, I decided to sell Friday’s ticket.  I mean, let’s be honest, BB&T is a pain in the ass to get to (and parking is insane and expensive).   (I wound up not even going to Cate Le Bon either, boo).   I also decided to sell Sunday’s ticket because Saturday was a long night and I had had enough of the late nights for a time.

But for the Saturday show I had originally bought two tickets so that S. could go to her first Phish show.  I was bummed that they were lawn seats, although I think she felt this added to the experience because she got to see all of the people dancing and milling about.  We were supposed to meet my friend Armando, which would have made the whole night really fun, but he had car trouble and wound up not making it.  (boo).

So it was just S. and I.  Traffic sucked, parking sucked and the weather was questionable.   We arrived literally as “Mike’s Song” started.  So we found a somewhat unused spot on the lawn and settled in.  Phish fans are very friendly but for some reason the group around us wasn’t very inclusive.  In what has to be a first, no one offered either of us a joint the whole night!  They must have thought we were narcs. (more…)

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