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Archive for the ‘Foto Club’ Category

Zeta (Foto Club, Philadelphia, PA, January 16, 2025)

Posted in Foto Club, Lobby Boxer, Philadelphia, PA, Skullpresser, Zeta on January 18, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 16, 2025] Zeta

I saw Zeta open for Sparta in 2023 and I as blown away by them.  I knew I’d want to see them again and since my son was home, I dragged him along to see a band he’d never heard of.

Before the first band came on, Zeta was setting up the merch and we had a long chat with drummer Chino Sandoval, who was super friendly and excited to show off the new merch.

We waited on the main floor for Zeta to come on, but when I looked to see what was happening, there was a massive wall of tall people standing in front of the stage already!  (including Bear from mannequin Pussy and GG from Soul Glo!).

It sucked that I couldn’t see them very well, but the sound was great.

Unlike the two previous bands, all four members crowded onto the little stage.

Zeta opened the song with two songs from their fantastic album Because I don’t speak great Spanish and couldn’t really hear the words that well, I assumed they played the whole record (which is about 20 minutes long). (more…)

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Lobby Boxer (Foto Club, Philadelphia, PA, January 16, 2025) [ZETA]

Posted in Foto Club, Lobby Boxer, Philadelphia, PA, Skullpresser, Zeta on January 17, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 16, 2025] Zeta

I had never heard of Lobby Boxer (which is now one of my favorite band names to say) and I was surprised to find that they’d been around for ten years.

Like for Skullpresser, lead singer and amazing guitarist Zach Fendelman was in the floor with us, while the rest of the band was a few feet back on the “stage” (which may be elevated a couple of inches, if that).

The band was originally a trio with drummer Max Sandza and bassist Andrew Gurney (who is not afraid to play some cool basslines).  In 2020, they added second guitarist Jack Catalanotto who also plays wicked guitar lines.

As they opened, Fendelman played a quiet guitar while Catalanotto played a lead.  Fendelman sang quietly but after about a minute, the band blasted off and Fendelman sang in a great soaring emo style.  This was when I noticed that Gurney’s bass wasn’t simply following the chord pattern (which I love).  But after about two minutes the song took a kind of metal twist (Fendelman and Sandza’s first band was a metal band) and then switched back to the way the song started–but it ended with some serious guitar solo shredding.

So, in one song they threw in several different styles.  And they kept it up throughout the night–mixing all kinds of styles into one song, all held together by Fendelman’s excellent voice. (more…)

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Skullpresser (Foto Club, Philadelphia, PA, January 16, 2025) [ZETA]

Posted in Foto Club, Lobby Boxer, Mannequin Pussy, Philadelphia, PA, Skullpresser, The Wonder Years, Zeta on January 16, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 16, 2025] Skullpresser

Skullpresser was a later addition to this show.  For the longest time it was TBA.  When they were listed I had to look them up and was pretty surprised to see that they are a Philly supergroup of sorts with each of the members in other bands.  The one I knew the best was Colins “Bear” Regisford from Mannequin Pussy on bass.  Another famous name is The Wonder Years‘ Mike Kennedy on drums (I know they are quite big but I actually don’t know them at all).  I’d never heard of the other two bands involved.  One Dead Three Wounded‘s Sam Tropio is on guitar and Burdens is represented by Jared Birdseye on lead vocals and Dan Zimmerman on guitar.

I had also never been to Foto Club before and I’ll say that it might be my favorite small club in Philly!  The venue is cool and weird (a private club–whatever that means) with free pool tables and the venue upstairs.  It holds about 200 people and the floor is lit by LED lights.

When Skullpresser started, Jared Birdseye was on the floor with us.

They were tight and heavy (kind of a metal/hardcore blend). I couldn’t understand too many of the words, but the titles made the meaning obvious. (more…)

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Control Top / Carnivorous Bells / Eraser (Foto Club, Philadelphia, PA, July 26, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Carnivorous Bells, Control Top, Eraser, Foto Club, Philadelphia, PA on July 26, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: July 26, 2024] Control Top / Carnivorous Bells / Eraser

I saw Control Top back in 2019 and 2021 and really loved them.

They’ve been kind of dormant for a while so when they announced this show I was really excited to see them.  I’ve never been to Foto Club and I’m still not even sure what kind of place it is–it’s very hard to find anything about it online.

I thought my son would really enjoy the show–Control Top is a fun aggressive and somewhat interactive live band–singer/ bassist Ali Carter tends to jump in the crowd during the final song.  But he had to work that night so I knew we couldn’t get to the whole show.  But I considered that if his shift ended early enough and he was interested, we could leave and catch just Control Top (since I didn’t know the other bands anyway).  But I had my notifications off and I missed his text that he was interested in going, so I assumed he wasn’t interested so I more or less settled in for the night.

I’ve felt bad ever since because he seemed really excited to go when he got home.  On a practical level, I don’t know what time they actually went on and I’m sure  their set was fairly short, so it may not have been worth it to go anyway.  Sour grapes, I guess.

Carnivorous Bells according to R5 Productions have quietly become one of Philly’s most savage live acts.  They’re punky with a growly kind of singer. Not really my kind of show so I didn’t mind missing them.

Eraser is a Philly band who are about to release their first EP.  I’m intrigued by them, having only heard one song.  I imagine they would be fun and I’d like to see them some day.

 

 

 

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