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Archive for the ‘Boot & Saddle’ Category

Kevin Devine (Boot and Saddle, Philadelphia, PA, May 10, 2019)

Posted in Boot & Saddle, Cavetown, Frightened Rabbit, John K. Samson, Kevin Devine, Kevin Devine & The Goddamn Band, Kevin Devine and the Goddman Band, Nirvana, Petal, Philadelphia, PA, The Front Bottoms, Tom Petty on May 10, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 10, 2019] Kevin Devine

I saw Kevin Devine open for Frightened Rabbit back in 2017.  I didn’t know his music, but I really enjoyed his solo set.  When I heard that he was doing this tour with John K. Samson I was really excited to see him again.  I had hoped he’d be with His Goddman Band, but it turned out to be solo again.  I kind of assumed it would be with the band because of the new piece of merch (below) which I love but can’t imagine where you’d wear.

But it was excellent to see him not with the Goddamn Band because he was excellent solo.

Devine came out on stage to much applause.  He fiddled with the microphone stand and then said, you should be careful with your applause–what if I spend the whole night just tightening the mic stand.  Which he proceeded to do for another 40 seconds or so to much laughter until he admitted he couldn’t keep up the joke.

Devine played a song or more from nearly all of his nine albums as well as from his new split singles sets. (more…)

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John K. Samson (Boot and Saddle, Philadelphia, PA, May 10, 2019) [KEVIN DEVINE]

Posted in Boot & Saddle, John K. Samson, Philadelphia, PA, Steven Page, The Art of Time Ensemble, The Weakerthans on May 10, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 10, 2019] John K. Samson

I loved The Weakerthans from the moment I first heard “Civil Twilight” on a compilation and then on their album Reunion Tour.

I then went back and devoured the other three albums and loved the incredible lyrics that John K. Samson wrote.

Reunion Tour came out in 2007.  And that was the last anyone heard from The Weakerthans.  Well, not really, they put out a live album and toured some, but otherwise, that was pretty much it.  Sometime in 2014 they announced that they were more or less officially broken up.  So I figured I’d never get to see them live.

And I won’t.  But John K. Samson has been releasing solo albums since around 2009.  He has played Philly about three times in ten years.  And I was so excited to get a ticket to this show before it sold out.

The thing that made me so incredibly happy (aside from the play list) was that he sounded EXACTLY like he was supposed to.  I don’t mean that I don’t expect his voice to change over the years, but Samson has a distinctive voice and he sounded just like John K. Samson!

It was wonderful.

And the setlist was fantastic. (more…)

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Shannen Moser (Boot and Saddle, Philadelphia, PA, May 10, 2019) [KEVIN DEVINE]

Posted in Boot & Saddle, Girlpool, John K. Samson, Kevin Devine, Philadelphia, PA, Shannen Moser on May 10, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 10, 2019] Shannen Moser

It’s funny how some artists wind up as opening acts quite often.  In fact, there’s a number of bands that I could have seen many times because they opened for bands that I wanted to see.  I guess I haven’t wound up seeing all that many of these bands for whatever reason, but I do see the same opening bands popping up from time to time–especially if they are local.

A few weeks ago, Shannen Moser was scheduled to open for Girlpool, but I had to miss that show. And now a couple of weeks later, here she is opening for John K. Samson and Kevin Devine.

Shannen is from Berks County, PA.  She plays a simple kind of open-tuned guitar (such that a capo is all you need to make a chord sound good).  Some of her songs have a finger-picking section as well.

Her lyrics are personal and often pointed.

She told some amusing stories in between song–amusing stories that often led to rather dark songs.  She sings in a powerful style–with countryish inflections.

There were a few times when she sang so loud that I had to put earplugs in–which I did not need for the other two.  She had a song where she seemed to growl some of the lyrics as well.

It was a treat to hear her really let loose.

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Priests (Boot and Saddle, Philadelphia, PA, April 15, 2019)

Posted in Boot & Saddle, Daughters, Joy Division, Philadelphia, PA, Priests, Savages, Union Transfer on April 15, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 15, 2019] Priests

Priests is one of a number of bands that I know a little bit and feel like I should know more.  Most of these bands have one word plural names (Priests, Savages, Daughters–who sound nothing alike but who I have a hard time keeping straight).

Priests were supposed to play at Union Transfer, but their show got moved to Boot and Saddle.  Someone asked them why online and they responded, “Union Transfer is for bands that people actually like” or something like that.

And yes, Boot & Saddle is a considerably smaller venue.  But on the plus side, I wasn’t going to go see them at UT, but I was happy (excited even) to see them at B&S.

I knew a few songs by them, and I liked that their new album was called The Seduction of Kansas (from the book of the same name).  I knew that they were now a three piece (although there were four of them on stage), although I don’t know anything about why the fourth person left.  I also didn’t really know what lead singer Katie Alice Greer looked like.  So I was quite surprised to see a woman with a shock of blonde curls on her head dressed in a leather bodysuit (she must have been so hot!). (more…)

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Big Heet (Boot and Saddle, Philadelphia, PA, April 15, 2019) [PRIESTS]

Posted in Big Heet, Black Flag, Boot & Saddle, Gurr, Philadelphia, PA on April 15, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 15, 2019] Big Heet

I had never heard of Big Heet.  I looked them up online before the show and bandcamp said they were from Tallahassee.  But when they got up onstage, they said they were from Philly (which makes more sense for this kind of show–if you get 25 minutes, would you drive all the way from Tallahassee?).

But their location didn’t matter because I was blown away by their music.

Seriously, anyone who says to skip opening acts is a fool.  Nearly every song was two minutes or less but there was a lot of diversity of style from loud hardcore to more considered weirder punk styles. (more…)

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SOAK. (Boot and Saddle, Philadelphia, PA, February 1, 2019)

Posted in Boot & Saddle, Philadelphia, PA, Soak on February 1, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 1, 2019] SOAK.

I first heard about SOAK. from NPR a few years ago  I really enjoyed their songs and Bridie’s delivery was endearing and peculiar.  The songs were quiet and thoughtful and had catchy choruses.

When I saw that SOAK. was playing Boot and Saddle I looked up and found out that SOAK.’s debut came out four years ago!  And that they hadn’t been to the States on a tour for three years.  Then when I saw that this tour was only a handful of dates, I decided I had to see them.

I actually assumed that it would be Bridie solo.  So I was quite surprised to see a full band set up on stage.  I don’t know what’s happened since the last album, or if the lives shows were always like this, but this show absolutely rocked.

It opened with a pre-recorded intro (Bridie later explained that the album is kind of a concept album and this opening is on the record as well–I think it’s Bridie’s grandfather reciting it).  Then they launched into the first song on the album and it was great. (more…)

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claud (Boot and Saddle, Philadelphia, PA, February 1, 2019) [SOAK]

Posted in Boot & Saddle, claud, Philadelphia, PA, Soak, Toast on February 1, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 1, 2019] claud

claud is a singer-songwriter who was part of the duo named Toast.  Now claud is a solo artist, although for this set they were joined by Ondine, who played synth and clapped (and sang some backing vocals).

There had been some minimal snow that day, but it seemed to really mess up the Philly streets.  So even though I left early, I couldn’t find a parking spot for about fifteen minutes.  I wound up missing two or three songs from claud’s set.

But when I arrived it wasn’t very crowded, so I was able to get close enough to see them both clearly.

I really liked claud’s voice.  It was clear and quiet but not whispered.  I also really enjoyed the delicate guitar sounds that claud got–even when a song had a loud thumping bass, like “Giving In.” (more…)

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Strand of Oaks [Winter Classic IV, Night 2] (Boot and Saddle, Philadelphia, PA, December 7, 2018)

Posted in Beck, Boot & Saddle, Carl Broemel, Joe Pug, My Morning Jacket, Philadelphia, PA, Strand of Oaks on December 7, 2018| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 7, 2018] Strand of Oaks

In 2016, Timothy Showalter played his second Strand of Oaks Winter Classic at Boot and Saddle.  I had a really great time.  Then I saw him and his full band later the next year at a bigger venue.  I more or less felt that I didn’t need to go to the winter classic again this year.  But thinking of how much fun it was (and the fact that Carl Broemel was opening) was a huge incentive.  Now I’ve been to one night of his second and fourth Winter Classics.

Showalter came up on stage and Broemel came with him.   Showalter is such a warm and gregarious person and you can see that he is genuinely happy to be there.  He was smiling pretty much for the whole show.

Although I like Strand of Oaks newer album Hard Love, I really like the previous album Heal.  So it was pretty awesome that he played the majority of songs from Heal. In fact. the first three songs were from that album

For a few songs Broemel played lead guitar while Showalter played rhythm and sang.  And the two guitarists took the opportunity to do some great jamming together.  Broemel also played pedal steel (which was really cool) for a couple of songs. (more…)

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Joe Pug (Boot and Saddle, Philadelphia, PA, December 7, 2018) [STRAND OF OAKS Winter Classic IV, Night 2]

Posted in Boot & Saddle, Carole King, Joe Pug, Philadelphia, PA, Strand of Oaks on December 7, 2018| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 7, 2018] Joe Pug

I had no idea who Joe Pug was before this show. In fact, I’ve never heard of him.  So it was quite a surprise to discover that he had Strand of Oaks open for him on a show when Strand of Oaks Pope Killdragon came out.  Since Strand of Oaks has grown in popularity, he was returning the opening slot favor.

Joe Pug sings folks songs and writes string solid lyrics.  His song “Bright Beginnings” was quite lovely.

Of course, the ones I remember best are the funny ones. Like the one he introduces as an opportunity to tell his wife (here he hemmed and hawed about the right way to say this, until someone warned him to be careful).  Finally he revealed that it was a way to tell his wife that he didn’t work in a bank, so money will likely be tight.  It was a delightfully amusing song. (more…)

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Carl Broemel (Boot and Saddle, Philadelphia, PA, December 7, 2018) [STRAND OF OAKS Winter Classic IV, Night 2]

Posted in Boot & Saddle, Carl Broemel, Joe Pug, My Morning Jacket, Philadelphia, PA, Radiohead, Strand of Oaks on December 7, 2018| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 7, 2018] Carl Broemel

In 2016, I went to see the second Strand of Oaks Winter Classic at Boot and Saddle.  It was a wonderful night  I wasn’t even that big of a Strand of Oaks fan–I liked the latest album, but that’s all I knew.  The show was terrific and the whole night had a wonderful feeling of warmth and kindness.  Timothy Showalter is a super nice guy and very grateful for his success.

I didn’t think I needed to go again this year, but then I saw that one of the opening acts was Carl Broemel, guitarist for My Morning Jacket.  MMJ have been on my “must see again” list, but they haven’t played anywhere near us for a while.  So this seemed like the next best thing.

I was running late that night and assumed that Joe Pug was the first opener (from the way it was listed).  But when I got there I discovered that Carl was up first and had started already!  Gadzooks. (more…)

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