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Archive for the ‘Johnny Brenda’s’ Category

Lucy Dacus (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, April 13, 2018)

Posted in Johnny Brenda's, Lucy Dacus, Philadelphia, PA on April 13, 2018| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 13, 2018] Lucy Dacus

I first heard Lucy Dacus’ “I Don’t Wanna Be Funny Anymore” a few years ago.  I liked it and thought it was really catchy and more than a little subversive.

Then a saw a live performance (which I can’t find now) and that simple, quiet quality of her music was blown away by moments of complete intensity.

I knew I wanted to see her and was excited to see that she’d be playing Johnny Brenda’s.  The show sold out pretty quickly.  So much so that they added an earlier show to the night.  At first I laughed wondering who would go to a show that started a 6:30, knowing that they had to be offstage by whatever time the next show started.

Then I thought to myself I could be home by 10PM!  So I bought a ticket for the early show and headed into Philly during rush hour traffic.

It was kind of weird having a show start at 6:30, but the room was dark and it was easy to forget that it was early once the first band started.  And then Lucy came out on stage with her guitar and the rest of her band. (more…)

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And the Kids (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, April 13, 2018) [LUCY DACUS]

Posted in Adult Mom, And the Kids, Johnny Brenda's, Lucy Dacus, Philadelphia, PA on April 13, 2018| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 13, 2018] And the Kids

I watched an And the Kids Tiny Desk Concert a while back.  At first I wasn’t that impressed, but over the course of 10 minutes they totally won me over and I knew I’d want to see them live (I didn’t quite get what they were doing in the beginning to really appreciate it).

I was pretty psyched that they were opening for Lucy Dacus.  But I was bummed to discover that their set would be shortened because I was seeing them for the early show (I think they did about 30 minutes rather 40).  I was even more bummed after the fact when I found out that the when given room and time, they put on a killer live show.

Instead, I got a great live show. (more…)

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Adult Mom (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, April 13, 2018) [LUCY DACUS]

Posted in Adult Mom, And the Kids, Genderqueer, Johnny Brenda's, Lucy Dacus, Mal Blum, Philadelphia, PA, Transgender on April 13, 2018| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 13, 2018] Adult Mom

Adult Mom is a band created by Stephanie Knipe.

I had heard of them, but wasn’t too familiar with them.  I knew that they had released a number of “bedroom recordings” which is unfairly dismissive.

Nevertheless, I wasn’t expecting them to rock out as much as they did.

Because Lucy Dacus was offering two shows this evening, it meant that the opening bands (and Lucy herself) was somewhat truncated for the first show.  So Adult Mom only played for about 20 minutes.  (more…)

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Palehound (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, February 8, 2018)

Posted in Johnny Brenda's, Nirvana, Palehound, Philadelphia, PA, Tall Friend, Weaves on February 8, 2018| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 8, 2018] Palehound

I also first heard Palehound on Tiny Desk.  I was really impressed with the range of songs that Ellen Kempner played as well as her dynamic guitar work–from pretty melodies to seriously scorching solos.  But it was her other show (from (Le) Poisson Rouge in the fall of 2015) that NPR broadcast that really made me want to see her live.

So getting Palehound and Waeves in one show was pretty awesome.

I was pretty delighted that she said she was inspired by Weaves to make their setlist fast in the beginning–she was ready to rock out.  And so she started with some of her best full-on songs.

Kempner is fun to watch (she was wearing that cool dress and some big work boots) as she switched effortlessly from wailing guitar to singing and sometimes both. (more…)

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Weaves (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, February 8, 2018) [PALEHOUND]

Posted in Johnny Brenda's, Palehound, Philadelphia, PA, Tall Friend, Tanya Tagaq, Weaves on February 8, 2018| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 8, 2018] Weaves

I saw Weaves on a Tiny Desk concert and knew I had to see them live.  Their songs are poppy and definitely a little weird.

I was particularly excited that their show was a double bill with Palehound–two bands who I like a bunch on the same bill.  Normally I know that a double headline show like that means that both bands play fewer songs, but since both bands only have two albums each it’s not like they were each going to play for two hours anyhow.

Vocalist Jasmyn Burke sings in a fun and peculiar style–hitting interesting falsetto notes and growling and screaming.  On their first album, the guitars (with a fast vibrato effect) often followed her vocal line in a kind of manic way.

Their second album has less of that but the songs are no less energetic and are still rather manic.

I loved when guitarist Morgan Waters came out to warm up.  He played some great, unusual sounds (I guess his rig was plugged into a laptop?).  I was really psyched for the rest of the show imagined what was in store. (more…)

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Tall Friend (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, February 8, 2018) [PALEHOUND]

Posted in Johnny Brenda's, Palehound, Philadelphia, PA, Tall Friend, Weaves on February 8, 2018| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 8, 2018] Tall Friend

Tall Friend is a Philadelphia band which seems to be the creation of Charlie Pfaff, who writes the songs, sings and plays guitar.  She has a quiet, almost deadpan delivery and her guitar playing is nicely spare.  The band is rounded out by Cale Cuellar on bass and Jesse Paller on drums.  For this show they had just added a fourth member, whose name I forget.  All I remember is that he was barefoot (!) and his guitar wasn’t loud enough!!.

They were supposed to go on at 9.  But they didn’t go until like 9:25.  Of course, they played nine songs in 20 minutes, so it’s not like they were running late.  Turns out they have an album out but it, too, is only about 18 minutes (and an EP that’s about 11 minutes).

I was right up against the stage, but I gather the guitar was not in the main speakers, because it was much louder than the vocals.  I moved back a bit and that helped, but I probably should have moved to a different spot to fully appreciate the band (more…)

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Jen Cloher (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, January 31, 2018)

Posted in Chrissie Hynde, Courtney Barnett, Jen Cloher, Johnny Brenda's, Laura Marling, Mia Dyson, Philadelphia, PA, Roland S. Howard, Union Transfer on January 31, 2018| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 31, 2018] Jen Cloher

Sarah and I saw Jen Cloher open for Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile.  But because of traffic and parking, we saw barely two songs by her.  Her set (like Barnett & Vile’s) was acoustic.  She announced that she would be playing at Johnny Brenda’s in January and that her set would be much more rocking.  She also teased out that Courtney would be playing lead guitar for her.  Those two details made me want to see the show.  And I’m really glad I went.

I hadn’t been to Johnny Brenda’s before.  I heard it was small and sight lines could be tough if you got there late.  This show was sold out but I must have gotten there early because I was almost right in front of the stage (I was behind a woman who basically took up three spots with how often she moved around).

After being pretty far from Courtney at the previous set I made sure to set up on her side of the stage.  And it was pretty electric when she came out to tune up he guitar.  I saw that Kurt Vile was hanging around off to the side of the stage too, although he didn’t come out or anything. (more…)

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Mia Dyson (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, January 31, 2018) [JEN CLOHER]

Posted in Courtney Barnett, Jen Cloher, Johnny Brenda's, Mia Dyson, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on January 31, 2018| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 31, 2018] Mia Dyson

I had never heard of Mia Dyson before this show.  She is a fellow Australian and old friend of Jen Cloher’s.  I arrived just after her set was underway (amazingly, this was my first time at Johnny Brenda’s, I haven’t quite sussed out parking there, yet).

Mia’s set was really enjoyable.  She has a kind of Bonnie Raitt/rootsy vibe.  As she was singing her songs and I was impressed with her vocal power, her guitar playing and the cool bass and drums parts these songs had.

I don’t really love roots music typically, but her set worked great live.  And the audience responded appropriately.  She even said that she had played Philly and never had a good show here, until this one. (more…)

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