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Archive for the ‘Johnny Brenda’s’ Category

Spencer Krug / Greg Mendez (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, October 26, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Greg Mendez, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Spencer Krug on October 26, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 26, 2023] Spencer Krug / Greg Mendez

I was excited to see Sunset Rubdown last year.  I wound up talking to this guy who was a MASSIVE fan of Spencer Krug–seen him many many times.  He also insisted that I had to see Spencer solo.  That his solo shows were the best in business.

But I prefer spencer for all of his sounds and instrumental noises.  I feel like I would not enjoy the solo show all that much.  So I’m not going to this one.

As the Canadian musician behind Sunset Rubdown and Moonface, co-frontman of Wolf Parade, songwriting member of Swan Lake, and keyboardist for Frog Eyes and Fifths of Seven, Spencer Krug has been a major player on over twenty-five releases within the past two decades. He currently writes and releases music under his own name, and performs a mix of new and old material on stage.

I had not heard of Greg Mendez until two weeks ago when I could have seen him open for Tigers Jaw.  It always amazes me how certain people make the rounds as an opening act with entirely different bands.

Here’s a crazy blurb from the artist

For Greg Mendez, reflection doesn’t mean a static image in a mirror, or even a face he recognizes. It’s more a kaleidoscopic mirage, where paths taken shapeshift with the prospect of paths untread, and the subconscious merges with the intentional. On his self-titled new album, the Philadelphia-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist investigates the shaky camera of memory, striving to carve out a collage that points to a truth. But there isn’t a regimented actuality here; instead, Mendez highlights the merit in many truths, and many lives, and how even the hardest truths can still contain some humor.

I had written Greg Mendez plays mellow folk music with a gentle voice.  According to Bandcamp Daily, he is

one of the Philly DIY scene’s best-kept-secrets, the soft-spoken songwriter with a preternatural ability to craft brief yet powerful songs is enjoying a raised profile with the release of his self-titled full-length. On the strength of a few early singles, the initial run of vinyl sold out within a month of the album’s announcement, but with releases and demos dating back to 2006, Mendez is hardly an overnight success.

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L’Rain / Flanafi (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, October 25, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Flanafi, Johnny Brenda's, L'Rain, Philadelphia, PA on October 25, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 25, 2023] L’Rain / Flanafi

I saw L’Rain open for Animal Collective and loved her whole set.  She was charismatic and her band was incredible.

I would have liked to see her headline a show, but I already had tickets to see Les Claypool.

Her blurb says

L’Rain is the musical project of multi-instrumentalist, composer, performer, and curator, Taja Cheek. Alongside Andrew Lappin and Ben Chapoteau-Katz, she has developed L’Rain into a shape-shifting entity that blurs the distinction between band and individual. At once personal and collaborative, it mirrors the journey that brought L’Rain into being to begin with.
L’Rain’s sonic explorations interrogate instead how multiplicities of emotion and experience intersect with identity. The experimental and the hyper-commercial; the expectation and the reality; the hope and the despair. L’Rain is searching for balance in the obliteration of binary logic.

I had never heard of.  The blurb says

Flanafi is the musical nom de plume of songwriter and guitarist Simon Martinez. As a guitarist, Martinez has played with everyone from Jazmine Sullivan and Marsha Ambrosius to Derrick Hodge and Salami Rose Joe Louis. 3 years ago, Martinez debuted the Flanafi moniker with a barrage of releases that combined beautifully written indie-soul songs with intriguing electronic production.

Listening to a couple of songs, they are pleasant enough, soft and delicate.

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This is the Kit / Gruff Rhys (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, October 13, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Gruff Rhys, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, This is the Kit on October 13, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 13, 2023] This is the Kit / Gruff Rhys

This is the Kit is a band I know from NPR Music.  I haven’t thought of them in a while.  I recall liking their music but that there was something unusual about it.

I enjoyed this blurb about them from bandcamp:

This Is The Kit is the musical project of Kate Stables and whoever joins her. You thought you didn’t like the banjo but you were wrong pal. Listen as Kate rips forward with her hypnotic twang pattern and a voice of rare, unaffected beauty.

Kate has a very British delivery.  Reading my review of their Tiny Desk Concert, I really liked them more than I remembered.

I do rather wish I was going to this show, but with a show tomorrow night I needed to cut back something.

The reason I was interested in this show in the first place was because Gruff Rhys from Super Furry Animals was opening.  I saw him headline here a few years ago and I would have loved to see him again.

Well, maybe someday I’ll see both of them again.

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Tigers Jaw / Yowler / Gladie (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA October 12, 2023) Philly Music Fest Day 4 [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Gladie, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Tigers Jaw, Yowler on October 12, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 12, 2023] Tigers Jaw / Yowler / Gladie

There’s a lot of great shows at Philly Music Fest this year.  Here’s the third of four nights that I would have loved to have gone to.  But I have a lot of shows that I’m going to and I can only get to Philly so often.

Plus, I’ve seen Tigers Jaw twice and both shows were great.  I really like their catchy emo pop punk, but I’m not sure I need to see them again.  But man if I was a die hard fan, here’s three days in a row of really close concerts I could go to.

And yet…  Here’s what they say about these two shows (they love playing Crossroads)

Mystery Setlists? We’re pulling out all the stops for Garwood this weekend. We’ll be playing two very distinctive sets for people who might want to come to both shows.
One of the shows setlists will concentrate on two worlds + spin, and the other will be charmer + I won’t care heavy. (Not full album plays, just most of both records, plus both sets will have some self titled oldies and newer Ep songs.)
We’re not saying which night is which combo. 🤔
So many songs. Maybe a fun cover.

Yowler, is Maryn Jones, a Philly based musician and the guitarist and lead vocalist of the band All Dogs and formerly a member of the band Saintseneca.  For Yowler her songs are kind of spare and sad, but there’s some pretty heavy elements thrown in which kind of blow you away after being lulled into mellowness.

I saw Gladie open for Otoboke Beaver late last year and really enjoyed their set a lot.  I would happily see them again, although this is the second time since that show that I’ve had to miss them.  They were supposed to open for Charly Bliss, but cancelled at the last minute.  They also played a Free at Noon recently but I didn’t go to that one.  I’m sure that with each show they just get better so when I finally get to see them again, they’ll be fantastic.

 

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CHAI (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, October 11, 2023)

Posted in CHAI, Font, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA on October 12, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 11, 2023] CHAI

I saw CHAI about a year and a half ago and it was one of the more memorable shows I’ve been to.  The four members of the band are funny, silly, coordinated (sartorially) and play sweet pop music.

Here’s a brief history of the band

Chai was formed in 2012 in Nagoya, by twin sisters Mana and Kana.  Mana, Kana, and Yuna were in the same class at high school.  Yuna introduced the other band members to Japanese music that did not easily fit into the traditional definition of “J-Pop”, such as the band Cero or Kimyō Reitaro. After the members went to university, Mana became friends with Yuuki (originally from Gifu Prefecture, who had moved to Nagoya), and asked the four friends to form a band.  The band’s name comes from Russian tea (known as chai). Kana drank the tea with jam with her Russian literature professor at a Russian restaurant, which she thought was cute.

They have just released their fourth album, Chai. (more…)

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Font (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, October 11, 2023) [CHAI]

Posted in CHAI, Font, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA on October 11, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 11, 2023] Font

Before this show I looked up Font on bandcamp and they had …  one song.

And it was great.

But who are they?

Font is an Austin-based band made up of Thom Waddill, Jack Owens, Anthony Lawrence, Roman Parnell, and Logan Wagner. Font began playing shows regularly in the beginning of 2022.

The Austin Chronicle has described their music as “relentless post-punk with New Wave keyboards and arty, personality-driven singing.”

I don’t know what “personality-driven singing” means, but the rest is pretty accurate.  They make noisy, unexpected songs with catchy parts and decided uncatchy parts.  The songs tend to have something–a piano note, a guitar riff–that recurs enough to call it a hook.

The bass wanders all over the place–in a great New Wave sorta way.  And, as it turns out the percussionist is a major component of the band.  From where I was I couldn’t really see the drummer (there was so much STUFF on stage), but I could clearly see the percussionist who had cowbells, blocks, cymbals (which he moved around to make different sound) and some bongos.  He must have been exhausted. (more…)

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Ratboys (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, September 26, 2023)

Posted in Free Range, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Ratboys on September 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 26, 2023] Ratboys

I’m not sure when I first heard about Ratboys.  I think it was the release of their (terrific) album Printer’s Devil.  They were scheduled to play Johnny Brenda’s three times and each one was postponed during the pandemic.  I seem to have missed when the show was actually rescheduled though. Oops.

At any rate, two years later and they are back.  And they have a new album, The Window.  And it is really great too.  Which is good because they played every song from it (although not in album order).

Ratboys have been together since 2010, formed by singer/guitarist Julia Steiner and guitar wizard David Sagan.  I really enjoyed watching Sagan play with the pedals on the floor–for the encore, he even brought out some kind of remote controlled feedbacky gadget which was cool.

I was in a strange location for me at the show.  I was literally standing right under bassist Sean Neumann, so I couldn’t really see his face much, but I enjoyed watching his basswork and his backing vocals were stellar. (more…)

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Free Range (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, September 26, 2023) [RATBOYS]

Posted in Free Range, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Ratboys on September 26, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 26, 2023] Free Range

When the lineup for the All Things Goes Festival was announced, the first band to play on Saturday was Free Range.  My daughter and i are going to the Festival and we both agreed that we had not heard of Free Range.

Imagine my surprise to find out that Free Range was opening for Ratboys at Johnny Brenda’s.

Free Range is Chicago musician Sofia Jensen (who is originally from Scandinavia).  Free Range put out an album (Practice) in February.  I listened to maybe a song on it and was kind of meh about it.

But live, they were excellent.

The songs had a pretty consistent feel to them–they would start slow and would often build to a loud middle section (usually instrumental) and then kind of fade back into the quieter verses.   It wasn’t a quiet-loud-quiet verse chorus thing because the loud parts were more of like a jamming session in the middle of these (otherwise rather short) songs.

Sofia’s voice sounded familiar–maybe a kind of Phoebe Bridgers vibe–a kind of strong whispery style, and her songs had a strong Pinegrove feel to me (turns out that Nick Levin from Pinegrove plays pedal steel on on two of the tracks).  I guess the songs are indie rock with a whiff of country about them. (more…)

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Palm [FINAL SHOW–BAND CALLING IT QUITS] (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, September 14, 2023)

Posted in Johnny Brenda's, Nourished By Time, Palm, Philadelphia, PA on September 15, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 14, 2023] Palm 

I discovered Palm by accident back in 2016 when they opened for the band Dilly Dally (who have since broken up).   About that show I wrote:

So Palm was fantastic.  An amazing band to see live (especially from so close).  The band plays noisy, complex music that has parts math-rock and parts shoegaze.  They remind me of Battles, but only in part.  The two guitarists Kasra Kurt and Eve Alpert are constantly playing different (and highly unlikely) chords or notes.  Meanwhile the bassist (Gerasimos Livitsanos) is typically playing his own patterns that somehow meld with the two and keep everything grounded.  And the drummer (Hugo Stanley) is doing complex things of his own.  It’s so hard to tell who you want to watch.

I got to see them headline a few months after that at PhilaMOCA and that was great (although apparently I was shoved aside by a slam dancer at the show).

Six years later and I hadn’t had a chance to see them again when they announced that they were calling it quits as a band.

“Palm is ending. Thank you to everyone who has supported us, to the artists we’ve shared the stage with and to all our collaborators over the past 12 years”.

Not much more was said, and not much more was said in stage either. (more…)

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Nourished By Time (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, September 14, 2023) [PALM]

Posted in Johnny Brenda's, Nourished By Time, Palm, Philadelphia, PA on September 14, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 14, 2023] Nourished By Time

Nourished By Time is Baltimore producer Marcus Brown.  I could have seen him a while back, but didn’t make that show.  He’s also supposed to open for Vagabon later next month, but I think I’m not going to make that show either.  So this was my only chance to check him out.

During the Palm set, Eve said that they had been listening to his new album Erotic Probiotic 2 all the time.

Nourished By Time was, indeed, just Brown, with a laptop on the floor and keyboard on a stand.  I liked that he had a bandana round his mic cord–I imagined it was his way of keeping track of his stuff.

He played about six or so catchy songs.  They were kind of a blend of new wave and R&B.  His vocal delivery differed for each song, which I really liked.  His first song, “Staring Into the Fireplace” he kind of drawled and sounded almost bored as he rhymed his final lines.

Each song had an instrumental section–either middle or coda which had him playing solos over the prerecorded music.

Some of the later songs got bigger and were even more catchy.  I liked “The Fields.” (more…)

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