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Archive for the ‘Johnny Brenda’s’ Category

Gilla Band (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, February 22, 2023)

Posted in Gilla Band, Girl Band, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Pure Adult on February 23, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 22, 2023] Gilla Band

When Irish quartet Gilla Band first became a band back in 2011 or so, they were called Girl Band.  I first heard about them in 2015, when the single “Why They Hide the Bodies Under My Garage” came out.  It was noisy and abrasive and painful and wonderful.

I lost track of them for a bit (WIkipedia says they had a hiatus for health issues).  Then in 2021 they announced they were changing the name of the band because it was a “misgendered name” and that their former name could have been “propagating a culture of non-inclusivity.”  Which is pretty cool.  They changed it to Gilla Band (keeping the G and the Band).

The quartet has remained the same since the beginning: vocalist Dara Kiely, guitarist Alan Duggan, bassist Daniel Fox and drummer Adam Faulkner.  This is probably a good thing because I don’t see how anyone could reproduce what these guys do.

They opened with a bunch of older songs.  First up was “Lawman” which has scraping guitars and a mechanical sliding bass. as Dara sing/speaks (in a manner not unlike Mark E. Smith) as the song slams forward.   The end of the song features some high pitched noises that I don’t now how guitarist Alan Duggan even thought to make.   That song pushed six minutes and they followed it with the 90 second blast of noise called “Heckle the Frames.”  I loved the guitar that was just a high pitched note sliding up the neck.  (Is it about making fun of Glen Hansard’s band?)

“Pears for Lunch” was largely quiet (relatively) until about half way in when the guitars turned into a wall of noise.  “Fucking Butter” was amazing because bassist Daniel Fox was playing these really nigh notes that didn’t sound like a bass at all. The guitar was just a buzzsaw of scraping playing along with the drums.  Somehow the guitar made a increasingly higher and higher sound that seemed to keep going up and up long after he reached the highest point of his strings. (more…)

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Pure Adult (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, February 22, 2023) [GILLA BAND]

Posted in Gilla Band, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Pure Adult on February 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 22, 2023] Pure Adult

I knew about Gilla Band and have listened to a few of their songs.  They’re a bit too abrasive to listen to for fun, but I imagined that their live set would be amazing.

I had no idea who would open for them, and had not heard of Pure Adult.

Pure Adult is technically a duo: Jeremy Snyder and Bianca Abarca.

Although on stage there were five people.

Pure Adult is that wonderful kind of band that I feel like was more prevalent in the 1990s (and maybe bands like this have always been around and I don’t know them).  They play weird music that doesn’t really fit a style or pattern.  There are catchy parts and non-catchy parts and sudden stops and starts and vocals that may or may not match with the music.  The singers are weird and the lyrics have no context and feel like they are story songs.  In other words, they will never be popular and never make any money.  But they may find some fans on college radio stations.  And they will always be amazing live.

They came out and Jeremy Snyder looked like someone straight out of a 70s movie (possibly pornographic).  He had on tan pants (maybe polyester) with a button down shirt and a jacket.  He had shaggy hair and a bushy mustache.  He jumped around the stage shouting and relating his lyrics.

Bianca Abarca was on keys, but they traded off when she sang the lead parts.  She also did some cool moves–the Johnny Brenda’s stage was way too small for them.

Their guitar player Nelson Antonio Espinal (in the dim light I pictured him as Paul Rudd in a big curly wig) played some wild solos and made some great noises as well.  I also really enjoyed the sounds that their bassist created ( I didn’t get the name of him or their drummer who was solid and handled the wild time changes easily). (more…)

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Strand of Oaks [Winter Classic VII] / Pat Finnerty (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, December 9 & 10, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Boot & Saddle, Johnny Brenda's, Pat Finnerty, Philadelphia, PA, Strand of Oaks on December 9, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 9 & 10, 2022] Strand of Oaks / Pat Finnerty

Somehow I missed that this show happened and only found out about it tonight in 2023.

It was the same dates, Dec 9 and 10, although on Fri and Sat.  Pat Finnerty opened both nights.

I have no idea how I missed it so completely.

There’s some clips on you tube from these shows.  Here’s one

~~~~

In 2015, Timothy Showalter played his first Strand of Oaks Winter Classic at Boot and Saddle.

Every year since then he has played two to four shows around Christmas time to a small but rabid fan base.  Obviously he didn’t pay one in 2020.  And now Boot & Saddle is closed

I have been to three of these fun winter events.

When he announced December shows at Johnny Brenda’s, it just didn’t occur to me that these would be Winter Classic shows.  I’m not sure why it would have made a difference, but had I realized, I would have gotten a ticket before they sold out.  Even S said, you love those, I can’t believe you didn’t go.

When I’m looking for it now I see that it was clearly stated that this was a Winter Classic, but I guess I was looking in the wrong places. (more…)

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Bit Brigade / Standards (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, December 4, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Bit Brigade, Ducktails, Johnny Brenda's, Legend of Zelda, MegaMan II, Philadelphia, PA, Standards on December 4, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 4, 2022] Bit Brigade / Standards

I saw Bit Brigade in 2018 and really enjoyed the show.  The premise of their live show is terrific.

The band plays the soundtrack to a video game while their resident gamer plays the game.  The band is heavy and the sound is amazing.

I can’t believe they were here in May and are back now in December and I didn’t get to go to either show.

For this show they were playing MegaMan II and Ducktails, two games I don’t know at all, so maybe that had some impact on my decision.

Standards opened the set.  Once again, I had not heard of the opening band for a Bit Brigade show.  But once again, they picked wisely.  Broadway World (!!!) has this succinct review of their music

Led by ebullient guitarist Marcos Mena, the pair boast a fruitful combination of musical chops and catchy guitar-driven melodies which has garnished popularity among fans who laud standards for their uniquely danceable brand of complex instrumental rock. For almost five years, their instrumental compositions have captivated audiences all over the world.

I need to reiterate this one part: uniquely danceable brand of complex instrumental rock.

It’s a spot on description.  The guitar is kind of showoffy intense and complicated, but never obnoxious and the light touches of synth and almost chiptune, make the songs really delightful and bright–almost like a video game is scrolling past.

 

 

 

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Tropical Fuck Storm (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, November 3, 2022)

Posted in Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Tropical Fuck Storm on November 6, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 29, 2022] Tropical Fuck Storm

I saw Tropical Fuck Storm open for Modest Mouse four years ago and I was really impressed by them.  Since then, they have put out a couple more albums and seem to have made some headway into the American market (even with a name like that).

This show was sold out (it was their first show in Philly).  However, it was also a night that the Phillies were playing in the World Series.  So, the crowd was not packed in tight.  It worked out for everyone–the band got a sold out show and I didn’t have someone on my toes.

The band came out were fun but not super chatty.  I’m pretty amazed to see that they played largely the same set that they played back in 2018–especially since they have two new albums out since then.

They opened with “Braindrops” (from my favorite of the three albums).  I love the way the band sounds like a big pile of chaos and yet they are all really tight and focused.

I was in front of RKO (Erica Dunn) who mostly played guitar and occasional keys.  In the middle was Gaz, (Gareth Liddiard).  Off to the far side was Fifi (Fiona Kitschin).  On the drums was Hammy or Hammer (Lauren Hammel).  And she smashed the drums harder than anyone I’ve seen.

I loved watching RKO play wild guitar parts–sometimes conventional chords, sometimes solos.

But really it was Gaz who was the focal point.  And how could he not be since he sang most of the songs and played a frenetic and noisy lead guitar.  He has a huge stack of effects pedals, including what I’m thinking is some kind of loop, so that when he does … something, it sounds like a siren going off (but only for a second).

His playing is loose and seemingly crazy and yet full controlled with his hands almost never off of the whammy bar.

One of my favorite parts of their songs is when RKO and Fifi sing backing vocals.  They have great voices, but they can also sing in a surprisingly high register as well–which contrasts perfectly to Gaz’s low growl.

RKO sang lead on “New Romeo Agent,” a kind of slow burning song.

The crowd was very much into the whole set but they went nuts for “You Let My Tyres Down,” a personal favorite of mine, too.  It’s just as frenetic and wild as the rest but with a slow and catchy chorus.

FiFi sang lead on the cover of the Stooges Ann, a slow moody piece.   They ended with “Two Afternoons,” a song that has slow verses but is just a noise fest in the beginning and the end.  As this was the last song, they really jammed out the end with Gaz squatting on the stage playing with effects pedals and causing all kinds of noisy feedback–glorious chaos.

They came back after a couple of minutes and played “Paradise,” a killer song from Braindrops.  On the record it’s 6 minutes long but they stretched it out even longer with noisy jamming sections and aural chaos.

I thought they might do another song (they had been playing “Stayin’ Alive” as a second encore.  And they’d already long passed the 11PM mark (there’s no curfew apparently).  But nope, that was it.  I would have really enjoyed one more song, but it was clearly an exhausting set and it was quite an intense 75 minutes.  Highly recommended.

2022 2018
Braindrops ∀ Chameleon Paint ⊗
Chameleon Paint ⊗ Antimatter Animals ⊗
New Romeo Agent ♠ Soft Power ⊗
Antimatter Animals ⊗ You Let My Tyres Down ⊗
You Let My Tyres Down ⊗ Back to the Wall (Divinyls cover)
Legal Ghost ♠ Two Afternoons ⊗
Ann (The Stooges cover) Rubber Bullies ⊗
Rubber Bullies ⊗ Baby Squared (The Drones cover)
Two Afternoons ⊗
encore
Paradise ∀

⊗ A Laughing Death in Meatspace (2018)
∀ Braindrops (2019)
♠ Deep States (2021)

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Nina Ryser (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, November 3, 2022) [TROPICAL FUCK STORM]

Posted in Johnny Brenda's, Lily Konigsberg, Nina Ryser, Old Maybe, Palberta, Philadelphia, PA, Tropical Fuck Storm on November 5, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 29, 2022] Nina Ryser

Nina Ryser is a member of Palberta (I love that name) whom I saw live a while back.  I recently also saw her bandmate Lily Konigsberg solo, so that’s 2/3 of Palberta I’ve seen solo now.   (Clearly Anina Ivry-Block will be opening for someone in the near future).  I have also seen Nina Ryser play drums for Old Maybe.

Like the rest of her Palbertans, Ryser is a prolific songwriter who is classically trained but who likes to push the boundaries of what music should do.

For this little set, she and her husband played keyboards (and all manner of gadgets).  The set sounded improvised, but I’m sure it wasn’t.

Most of the songs were built around a beat and a simple chord pattern.  There was a droney component to it and Nina’s vocals were kind of deapan.

I know she played “Shelf the Trophy.”  She played another song that reminded me of a lo-fi Stereolab.

My favorite parts of the show occurred between songs where Nina would mess around with looping pedals and make these interesting collages out of bits of the song she’d just played.  There was definitely some improv in here and I enjoyed watching her manipulate the sounds to create something cool.

She ended the set with the catchiest song.  I don’t know what it’s called but there was a repeated refrain of “you never looked better.”  It was simple, but the vocal line complemented the music really nicely.

There’s so many interesting Philly-based musicians and so many places to play.  It’s quite a rich scene.

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Chris Forsyth (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, October 29, 2022)

Posted in Chris Forsyth, Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band, Espers, Heron Oblivion, Johnny Brenda's, Meg Baird, Philadelphia, PA, Ryan Jewell on November 2, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 29, 2022] Chris Forsyth

I saw Chris Forsyth a few years ago and have been wanting to see him again.  It didn’t really matter what he was playing, I knew I’d enjoy his improv-filled jamming rock songs.

I was pretty excited to see him at Johnny Brenda’s as I knew I could get up close to watch him play.  It turned out that this particular show lined up with the Philadelphia Phillies’ first home game of the World Series.  Which meant that a) it was impossible to find parking and b) hardly anyone was in the concert hall.  Which was fine for me.  And probably for him, as I’m sure he sold a bunch of tickets ahead of time.

After raving about Meg Baird, Chris came up on stage with some of the band that Meg had used.  Douglas McCombs (from Tortoise!) and my favorite new (to me) drummer, Ryan Jewell.

The show started with Chris on a guitar that he didn’t play for the rest of the night.  The song was quiet and a little trippy.  A simple guitar chord structure with very loud simple bass line from McCombs.  I thought I knew the new album pretty well, but I didn’t recognize this song.  Nevertheless is was clearly a Chris Forsyth song with an interesting riffs and a tasteful solo or two.   I enjoyed how after about three or four minutes of this quieter introduction, the band totally rocked out. (more…)

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Meg Baird (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, October 29, 2022) [CHRIS FORSYTH]

Posted in Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band, Espers, Heron Oblivion, Johnny Brenda's, Meg Baird, Philadelphia, PA on November 1, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 29, 2022] Meg Baird

I saw Chris Forsyth a few years ago and have been wanting to see him again.  Having Meg Baird co-headline was a bonus.  As Chris said:

On this tour, Meg & I will each be doing a set with a great band (Douglas McCombs, Ryan Jewell, and Charlie Saufley, and if they don’t appear throughout your music library, how did you even get this email?). Although it’s very much a co-bill / co-headline thing, we’ve decided that Meg will play first and I will play second, mainly for volume/dynamic considerations.

Meg’s name sounded familiar to me and I realized that I have an album that she made with harpist Mary Lattimore.  But it also turns out that she is the drummer for the band Heron Oblivion whom I saw back in 2018.  Turns out that Charlie Saufley is also in Heron Oblivion.

For this set, Meg sat at a keyboard, although mostly she played acoustic guitar.  Saufley played lead and Douglas McCombs played bass.  I was also pretty excited to find out that Ryan Jewell was on the drum kit.  He is one of my favorite drummers to watch.

Meg sat right in front of me and I was enthralled by her voice (which can soar to incredible heights).  For Ashes she “oohed” rather than singing words and it was angelic.  She sounds like she could be singing with a Fairport Convention or another sixties British folk rock band.  (more…)

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Philly Music Fest 2022 (October 10-15, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Ardmore Music Hall, Dolphin Tavern, Echo Kid, Empath, GHÖSH, Johnny Brenda's, Kayleigh Goldsworthy, Low Cut Connie, Mannequin Pussy, Max Swan, Philadelphia, PA, Philly Music Fest, REC Philly, Riverby, Screaming Females, Stereo League, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Ire, Underground Arts, World Cafe Live on October 10, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 10-15, 2022] Philly Music Fest 2022

Every year since 2019 I have participated in Philly Music Fest in some way.  But this year I wound up giving the whole thing a miss.

Philly Music Fest is a non-profit endeavor focused exclusively on local bands, with all proceeds donated to local music education charities. Philly Music Fest features both established and up and coming artists, showcasing the diversity of the Philadelphia music scene.

It wasn’t because of a bad lineup or anything, it was that I had tickets to other shows every night.  I wound up not going to all of those shows anyway, but basically I was already booked for the whole Fest.

This year’s line up was even bigger than last year’s

October 10, 2022 at Ardmore Music Hall 

  • Marielle Kraft is a poignant indie pop singer-songwriter
  • Electric Candlelight is a heavy psychedelic band that I was supposed to see open for Fuzz
  • Mt. Joy is a band I’ve heard on the radio a bunch who I don’t particularly like, so not so great in the headliner here.

October 11, 2022 at Ardmore Music Hall 

  • Stereo League is apparently impossible to describe using concrete words as I can’t figure out what their music sounds like from the blurbs I’ve read.
  • Salika is an R&B singer
  • Mt. Joy of the two nights I wouldn’t have picked this one anyhow.

October 12, 2022 at World Cafe Live

  • Perpetual Motion is described as dynamic acoustic jazz who play blues, rock, jazz, and world music
  • Kayleigh Goldsworthy is a folk singer who I saw open for Frank Turner.  She was great.
  • Ron Gallo is not Vincent Gallo, which is what I think every time I see his name.  Ron is an indie guy who I’ve never heard but who must be pretty popular or interesting if he keeps popping up.
  • Lady HD is a kind of psychedelic pop band whose name reminds me too much of that Lady A fracas that bubbled up a few years ago.
  • Low Cut Connie is one of the bigger bands at the festival.  I’d never want to see them, but I like some of their songs.

October 13, 2022 at Johnny Brenda’s

  • This was the night I would have gone to
  • The Ire is a four-piece goth-tinged post-punk band.  I like their overall sound.
  • Ghosh is a band I’ve wanted to see: they’re pissed off, informed, and ready to party.
  • Screaming Females are terrific and even better live.  I thought this would sell out in a second.

October 14, 2022 at REC Philly

  • This was a free show.  A night of hip hop and beat curated by Working on Dying who I’ve never heard of of

October 14, 2022 at The Dolphin

  • The Dolphin is a new-ish venue that I’ve yet to check out.
  • Max Swan is saxophonist, vocalist, and producer influenced y likes of Stevie Wonder, James Blake.
  • Echo Kid is two guys from RFA.  This is a hazier, no-holds-barred, psychedelic reimagining of the way they’d approach their songwriting process with a languorous sense of ease, effortless genre-blending, and an amalgam of intentional recorded conversation
  • Shamir is an artist I’d like to see live.  They keep popping up as an opening act and then something happens and I don’t see them.  Here’s another miss.

October 15, 2022 at Underground Arts

  • This would have been my pick for show of the Fest, if I hadn’t already been overbooked.
  • Justmadnice is blues-dipped psychedelic jazz.
  • Riverby are a fun indie rock band with a loose sound (and a cover of “Walk Through the Fire” from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
  • Empath is a band I was supposed to see open for Fucked Up but the couldn’t make the rescheduled date.  They are kind of noisy and poppy and punky and are probably very fun live.
  • Mannequin Pussy is one of my favorite new(ish) bands.  They are amazing live and are always worth seeing.

The 2023 Fest is bound to be great too.

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Momma / waveform* (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia PA, October 7, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Johnny Brenda's, Momma, Philadelphia, PA, waveform* on October 7, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 7, 2022] Momma / waveform*

Momma has been getting a fair amount of buzz lately.  They are a duo (from L.A.) who have a really nice 90s grunge vibe.

The band  is Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten, as well as drummer Zach Capitti Fenton.  They put out their third (!) album this year.

I really like their sound, although I had tickets to Stereolab long before this show was announced.  Turns out I didn’t really enjoy the Stereolab show as much as I thought it would–I probably should have gone to this one.

waveform* is another duo (this time from Connecticut).  Jarett Denner and Dan Poppa make “downcast guitar pop.”  That’s not quite my thing but maybe a live show would be better than the description sounds.

I hope they come back around soon.

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