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Archive for the ‘Franklin Music Hall’ Category

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard / Leah Senior (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, May 2, 2020) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Australia, Coronavirus, Franklin Music Hall, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine on May 2, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: May 2, 2020] King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard / Leah Senior [moved to October 22]

indexI have become a huge fan of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard (are there any other kinds of fans of them?) since I first heard about them a few years ago.

I’m sad that I missed them on the tour just before the first time I saw them (at a smaller venue when newbies like me hadn’t heard of them yet), but I have seen them twice since.

In both cases, the band overcame somewhat unpleasant (to me) situations (obnoxious capacity crowds and unreasonable heat) to change my mind from swearing I’d never bother seeing them again (before the show), to hoping they’d come back really soon (after the show).

I’m not at all surprised that this show was postponed and they have already rescheduled the new date.  So we’re all good.  I just hope the damned air-conditioner works next time.

The last time I saw KGATLW, the two opening bands were kind of doom/psychedelic–perfect matches for KGATLW’s more recent sound.  This year’s opener is a singer named Leah Senior.

Leah Senior did the narration on KGATLW’s Murder of the Universe album.  But her music is a completely other thing.  She sings gentle folk songs with delicate guitar playing and her beautiful soft voice.

I can;t imagine how well she would go over with a rowdy KGATLW crowd and I also wonder if that means that KGATLW would play their more mellow stuff?  Nah.

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Dance Gavin Dance / Animals as Leaders / Issues / Veil of Maya / Royal Coda (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, April 3, 2020) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Animals as Leaders, Coronavirus, Dance Gavin Dance, Franklin Music Hall, Issues, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, Royal Coda, Veil of Moya on April 3, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: April 3, 2020] Dance Gavin Dance / Animals as Leaders / Issues / Veil of Maya / Royal Coda [moved to August 26 & 27]

indexI saw Animals as Leaders at TLA last May and I was amazed at the show (including the opening bands), but the crowd was really rowdy and I wound up far back behind a lot of tall guys.  I wanted to see them again, so when I saw that they were playing at Franklin Music Hall, I was surprised that they had moved up to such a big venue.

I had no idea that Dance Gavin Dance was the headliner, not Animals as Leaders.  In fact, when I later saw a poster for the rescheduled show(s) I thought Dance Gavin Dance was the (admittedly strange) name of the Animals as Leaders tour.

I don’t think I would have gone knowing that Animals as Leaders were one of (the four!) opening acts, but who knows.

So Dance Gavin Dance has been around since 2005 and I’ve never heard of them?  Apparently there are eight guys who have already left the band over the years.  People are quite divided about them.  Maybe I’ll give a record a listen.

Issues is another band I’ve never heard of although they have been around for eight years. They are described as combining metalcore, nu metal, pop and contemporary R&B.  Woah.  I don’t love the whole clean/unclean vocal thing–small doses are fine, so this might not be the band for me.

Veil of Maya have been around for six years (clearly I don’t follow this genre at all).  They are another metalcore band and I think this show might have been exhausting if I stayed for the whole thing.

Royal Coda shares (past and current) members with Dance Gavin Dance and is described as post-hardcore, progressive and math.

dgd

 

 

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King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, August 30, 2019)

Posted in Australia, Franklin Music Hall, Full show video, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Philadelphia, PA on August 30, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 30, 2019] King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

I’ve already stated that I’m really happy for King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard that they are finding so much success here.  I mean in Philly, they jumped from a 1,500 to a 2,500 capacity venue.  Plus, they got to headline a concert in Central Park.

One of the guys in line next to me had been to Central Park the night before as well.

But I couldn’t believe the line to get in the place when I arrived 30 minutes before the opening band was supposed to go on.

Turns out most people are there for the merch.  The merch line was insanely long.  And, when the show was over–I have never seen this before–they had a hand written sign that said “all King Gizzard shirts and posters are sold, why not try our vinyl?”

Not band for a bunch of guys from Australia with a goofy name and a completely unpinnable style.  Indeed, they have released two albums this year and one was a full-on blues boogie type pf album and their most recent release was a blistering heavy metal album in the spirit of early 80s thrash.  And they played songs from both of those albums (as well as ballads and just about everything else). (more…)

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ORB (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, August 30, 2019) [KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD]

Posted in Australia, Franklin Music Hall, Full show video, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, ORB, Philadelphia, PA, Stonefield, The Electric Factory, The Murlocs on August 30, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 30, 2019] ORB

After the great stoner/groove vibe of Stonefield I still wasn’t If I had missed ORB or not.  We had heard a band playing while we were waiting on line, but it seemed too early for the opening act to end.

On the other hand, ORB went on first in Central Park the night before.

Well, we didn’t need to worry because after a very brief window, ORB came out and continued with the stoner/groove vibe.  They impressed me by adding a whole lot of prog elements to their songs–time changes, keyboard solos, extra long drum fills, nifty riffs and long songs. (more…)

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Stonefield (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, August 30, 2019) [KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD]

Posted in Australia, Franklin Music Hall, Full show video, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, ORB, Philadelphia, PA, Stonefield, The Electric Factory on August 30, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 30, 2019] Stonefield

I was very excited to see King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard again.  I was a little less excited that they were playing at Franklin Music Hall (formerly The Electric Factory).  I’ve had some pretty bad show experiences there and the venue is fairly narrow and quite long.  (Although good for KGATLW for moving from the 1,200 capacity Union Transfer to the 2,500 capacity Franklin (not sure if they sold out)).

My worst experiences were with parking–huge lines, high fees.  Then I discovered you can park for free on the streets a couple blocks away, so that made things much better.  But those parking issues often meant that I got in the building later than I wanted to.  For Nick Cave I was so far back I was next to a very ill-placed bar in the middle of the floor.  Franklin has removed that bar, thankfully.

So, I made sure to arrive super early (for me).  Doors opened at 7:30, show at 8:30.   I arrived at 8 and the line to get in was around the building!  Usually people don’t arrive all that early for shows–they blow off the openers, which is fine by me.  But this crowd was nuts.  Turns out Franklin is REALLY slow about checking people in.  Not as bad as the abyssal Starland Ballroom, but pretty bad.  I did not get into the building until 8:25.  Which is unbelievable.  We also heard a live band playing while we were on line, which we all assumed was the opening band going on early (it wasn’t, I have no idea what it was). (more…)

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