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Archive for the ‘Mann Center for the Performing Arts’ Category

“Weird Al” Yankovic: Bigger & Weirder 2025 Tour (TD Pavilion Stage at the Mann Center, Philadelphia, PA, July 19, 2025)

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, Funny (ha ha), Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Milo Murphy's Law, Paul Simon, Philadelphia, PA on July 20, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 19, 2025] “Weird Al” Yankovic

This was my tenth time seeing Weird Al.  That’s pretty exciting.

I didn’t know if he’d be doing another tour (he hasn’t put out any new music (aside from soundtrack songs) in over ten years!  But this was a bigger and weirder tour.  In practice, this meant that there were more people on stage than ever before–four other people on stage aside from his long-lasting regular band.

Probyn Gregory – backing vocals, trumpet, trombone, tuba, guitars, percussion ; Scheila Gonzalez – backing vocals, saxophone, clarinet, percussion ;  Payton Velligan – backing vocals, guitars, percussion ; Monique Donnelly – backing vocals, keyboards, percussion.

I asked my whole fam if they wanted to go and all three of them said yes, rather excitedly I might add.  But that was a long time before the show.  And so my daughter wound up working and my son wound up going to a concert in Wisconsin!  I was able to sell my two tickets for basically face value and my wife and I enjoyed the show by ourselves.

I assumed that this show would be a kind of greatest hits show, but it turned out to be chock full of songs I hadn’t seen live before and, some that I had never even heard before!

They opened with Tacky, but there was some kind of technical difficulty, so I’m not sure how much of the song they were going to play.  I would have enjoyed hearing it, but it’s not a big deal.

Then he surprised the heck out of me by opening with Mission Statement, the CSNY inspired song that mocks corporate speak.  It sounded great with the backing singers doing harmonies.  Then came Polkamania!  I knew this medley, but not very well.  I had forgotten that he put it out in 2024 as a single covering the ten years since his last album.  It was really fun seeing Billie Eilish in a Weird Al concert.

After the drum solo, they played Everything You Know is Wrong, a song I simple cannot believe I’d never seen him play live before (I see he never played it before this tour!).  It was amazing. (more…)

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Phish: Summer Tour 2025 (The Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, July 15 & 16, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, Phish on July 16, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: July 15 & 16, 2025] Phish

Ever since seeing Phish on New Year’s Eve (and getting the full Gamehendge) I didn’t really think I needed to see Phish again.  I mean, sure there’s more songs I wanted to see live, but 17 times seemed like enough.  And then they announced these two shows at the Mann.  My plan was, if I get GA Pit tickets (the one thing I have not had for Phish) I would go.  And I won the lottery and got two Pit tickets!

And then Hozier cancelled his show in Camden and pushed it to July 15!  There was no debate about which I was going to.  I’ve never seen Hozier in a big setting like that PLUS, my whole family was going to the Hozier show.  So I’d sacrifice my Pit tickets (even though everyone says that this tour is one of the best in years).

I also sold my lawn tickets for the second night.  I don’t enjoy lawn tickets and it turned out we were exhausted after Hozier (home by 1:30AM that night), so I wasn’t too sad to get rid of the tickets.

Then I foolishly looked at the setlists.   I have a list of about 25 songs (which I really like) that I have yet to see them play live.  So I looked at the setlist and I am sadly bolding the FOUR songs they played over the two nights.  And I gotta say, Maze is one of my top want to see songs and Pebbles and Marbles was like a fingers crossed request.  So, yes I’m a little bummed.  But Hozier was awesome, and I’m sure I can see Phish again. (more…)

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Babymetal (TD Pavillion @ The Mann Center, Philadelphia, PA, June 28, 2025)

Posted in Babymetal, Black Veil Brides, Bloodywood, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, Poppy, Tom Morello on June 30, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 28, 2025] Babymetal

My son and I saw Babymetal last year and while we loved the show, the venue (Wind Creek in Bethlehem) was overcrowded.  So when they announced this show at the Mann, and I scored decent seats, I was excited for us to see them again.

Then my son couldn’t go.  So I asked my wife to go and she was pretty excited to see them.

We had stayed in our ADA seats for this set the actual seats were pretty uncomfortable and despite being further away in the ADA seats, the view was still much better).

Like last time, they opened with Babymetal Death.   First comes the masked Kami band (their masks are cool and the band is incredible).  Then the trio came out: Su-metal, Moametal and Momometal.

Everyone there knew the words (in English and Japanese) and what to do and when to do it–Total crowd synchronicity.

They followedwith Megitsun (that’s 2 songs from the debut to open the show). This one has a great synth line that translates well live.

Throughout the songs the trio danced like crazy.  Their precision synchronization was impressive–I like the hop dance on Megitsune. (more…)

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Black Veil Brides (TD Pavillion @ The Mann Center, Philadelphia, PA, June 28, 2025) [BABYMETAL]

Posted in Babymetal, Black Veil Brides, Bloodywood, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA on June 29, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 28, 2025] Black Veil Brides

I was really bummed that Jinjer was opening half of these shows and that our show was so close to the Jinjer dates.

I had seen Black Veil Brides open for Ice Nine Kills and my first thought when I saw them was:

“these guys have gotta be from L.A.”  Why?  Because the drummer was swinging his head around and spinning and throwing sticks and the guitarists were really flashy, doing solos up front and standing back to back while they soloed together.  None of it was especially crazy, but it just screamed L.A. metal band to me.  And indeed, I found out after that they are from Holly wood.  Turns out the rhythm guitarist is named Jinxx!

I enjoyed their set well enough then and it was fine for this show.  We had moved to the ADA section, which meant comfy chairs, so we sat through their set.  Couldn’t see them all that well, but they didn’t do anything visual, so it was no big deal.  I had mentioned my L.A. comment to my wife and she agreed.

Many people at the show were REALLY into BVB.  The person in front of us in particular was crazy for  them.

Their set was entirely fine.  I was chickling about he lead singer who sounds like a TV presenter when he talks but who started every single song with a guttural scream.  This of course made all of the songs blend together to me.

There was nothing that we didn’t like about their set, but we both agreed afterwards that there was simply nothing memorable about it.  It turned out, though, that we liked the final two songs the most.

Those songs were from 2011 and 2013, so I’m guessing I like their older stuff better.

2025 2022
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (Johann Sebastian Bach song)
(Intro theme, transitions into “Knives and Pens”)
 The Phantom Tomorrow [tape intro]
Knives and Pens ⊗ Faithless ∇
Bleeders ♦ Coffin ®
Faithless ∇ Crimson Skies ¶
Coffin ® Shadows Die ϖ
Devil ♠ Wake Up √
Perfect Weapon Scarlet Cross ¶
The Legacy § Knives and Pens ⊗
In the End ϖ The Legacy §
Fallen Angels §
In the End ϖ

♦ Bleeders EP (2024)
♠ The Mourning EP (2022)
¶ The Phantom Tomorrow (2021)
√ Vale (2018)
∇ Black Veil Brides (2014)
ϖ Wretched and Divine (2013)
® Rebels EP (2011)
§ Set the World on Fire (2011)
⊗ We Stitch These Wounds (2010)

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Bloodywood (TD Pavillion @ The Mann Center, Philadelphia, PA, June 28, 2025) [BABYMETAL]

Posted in Babymetal, Black Veil Brides, Bloodywood, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA on June 28, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 28, 2025] Bloodywood

I hadn’t heard of Bloodywood before this tour, but when I looked them up, I was totally intrigued.

They are a folk metal band from New Delhi, which I found interesting enough.  And their backstory is fascinating.

Prior to forming the band, Karan Katiyar regularly uploaded parody metal covers of popular Bollywood songs on YouTube.  In 2016, Katiyar quit his job as a corporate lawyer and together with Jayant Bhadula formed a two-piece band with the intention of “destroying pop songs”.

Live, the band is a six-piece.  Katiyar plays guitars and flute!  Bhadula sings and growls.  Raoul Kerr officially joined in 2019 and does rap vocals.  The touring band since 2019 includes Vishesh Singh on drums, Roshan Roy on bass and Sarthak Pahwa plays the dhol (an Indian drum that sounds amazing).

The band was loud as anything and they got the crowd going in a second.  They even had the crowd form a circle pit which is very impressive as an opening act and in such a small pit area. (more…)

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Pierce the Veil (Skyline Stage at The Mann Center, May 19, 2025)

Posted in Daisy Grenade, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, Pierce the Veil, Skyline Stage at The Mann, Sleeping with Sirens on May 20, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 19, 2025] Pierce the Veil

My son and I have seen Pierce the Veil twice in the last two years.  The first show at the Stone Pony Summer Stage during a pending hurricane.  We got soaked and the show was cut short.

The second show was in a fairly large arena and we were pretty far away from the stage.  It was good but unsatisfying.

But this one was at the Skyline Stage at the Mann, an outdoor venue that allows you to get close.  And this time my daughter wanted to come as well.  So I grabbed us three early tickets.

We had been put in the ADA section (my hip) and the kids were allowed to be there with me or they could leave if they wanted.  The ADA section is raised and is off to the side.  So, you get clear unblocked views of the stage (yea!) but at a weird angle (boo) with slightly distorted sound (boo).

I told the kids that I would not be offended if they wanted to go on  the lawn.  I would have if I was less held up.  So they looked at the setlist and decided that they’d like to be in  the lawn for the first part of the show and then maybe come back at the side for the hits at the end.

They enjoyed being on the lawn although they said it was hard to see the stage very well (it’s a very tall stage).  And then about half way through the show, my daughter came back to hang with my while my son made his way to the pit, where he slam danced for the next 45 minutes.  He had a blast and said it was the best show he had ever been to.

I enjoyed the show quite a lot as well.  Although, WOW was it cold.  I mean, mid-May, but the temps were in the 50s with a heavy wind.  And sitting on the side, there was no place for warmth.  Of course, I would feel much more into the show if I were in the mix with other people. But having said that, the band sounded great.  They were full of energy and seemed to be having a total blast.

We both agreed that this was the best of the three shows BY FAR! (more…)

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Sleeping with Sirens (Skyline Stage at The Mann Center, May 19, 2025) [PIERCE THE VEIL]

Posted in Daisy Grenade, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, Pierce the Veil, Skyline Stage at The Mann, Sleeping with Sirens on May 19, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 19, 2025] Sleeping with Sirens

My kids both really like Pierce the Veil and I got into them as well.  So when they played the GA stage at the Mann Center, I got tickets for all three of us.

The Mann Center is a great venue, but if you go there at the wrong time, the traffic can really suck.  And when the show starts at 6:30, there’s really no way we were going to arrive for all of the bands.

I was looking forward to seeing Daisy Grenade, but we missed them entirely.  Social Casualty says of them:

Female alt-pop, bubble grunge duo Daisy Grenade is led by Dani Nigro and Keaton Whittakker. They aspire to make diary-entry-like songs, bringing you through the growing pains of being a woman in today’s society. With raw emotions, wrapped up with femininity as a weapon, and a theatrical touch on top, they’re turning bubble grunge into something catchy and sharp with a side of something sweet.

So yea, that was a bummer to miss them. But we did arrive in plenty of time to see Sleeping with Sirens.  (more…)

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Cage the Elephant / Young the Giant / Bakar (The Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, September 6, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Bakar, Cage the Elephant, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, Young the Giant on September 6, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 6, 2024] Cage the Elephant / Young the Giant / Bakar

We saw Cage the Elephant open for Beck five years ago–I can’t believe it was that long ago.   They blew me away and I knew I wanted to see them again.  This show proved to be one I wasn’t going to go to.  I instantly bristle at going to the Mann even though the venue is great–the parking is just such chaos.

But we already had tickets to see St. Vincent that night and we weren’t going to miss that one.  So I do hope they come back again next year.

Young the Giant is one of several bands that came out at around the same (like Cage the Elephant) that had this ___ the ___ formatting.  It was very confusing at the time and I’m still not sure I know which is which.  They seem pretty good, but I don’t know any of their songs.

I thought I didn’t know Bakar but it turns out that I know his hit Hell n Back from the radio.  He plays a kind of mellow, warm, satisfying music–kind of rapping with a hint of reggae.  His music would be really nice to hear on a warm summer night at an outdoor venue.

Could have been a fun night.

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Beck with the Philadelphia Orchestra / Molly Lewis (The Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, July 25, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Beck, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Molly Lewis, Philadelphia, PA on July 25, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: July 25, 2024] Beck with the Philadelphia Orchestra / Molly Lewis

My wife and I have seen Beck three times now and his shows are always fun.

I more or less felt like I’d always see him when he came around.  And typically, an orchestral show promises an interesting performance.

But given Beck’s past history with making orchestral music, I wondered if this show would be really mellow and not all that much fun.  I mean, sure, Beck would make it fun, but, well, it just didn’t seem worth the drive to the Mann.

Looking at the setlist, I see that he played six songs from Morning Phase and five from Sea Change.  Just not my type of show, really.  But here’s some excerpts from the WXPN review:

Last night at The Mann Center, Beck took the stage with the 80-piece Philadelphia Orchestra and his Sea Change album band. This allowed him to perform songs that he usually does not get a chance to perform: cuts from Sea Change, Morning Phase and Mutations, as well as sneaking in his big hits such as “Devil’s Haircut” and “Loser,” which got the intently listening crowd to their feet. It was a truly incredible sound. He referred to playing with the orchestra as “$100,000 karaoke.”

With lots of wit and funny commentary, Beck also talked a lot about his influences such as Serge Gainsbourg and Francoise Hardy, whom he dedicated a song to. He played songs that he “selfishly wanted to sing with an orchestra, now that they were on stage” with him, such as “It’s Raining Today” by Scott Walker. He also mentioned that his very first concert was Brazilian musician Antônio Carlos Jobim.

After the 90-minute set with the Philadelphia Orchestra, they left the stage, leaving just Beck and his band on stage. Beck walked and climbed around the seats on stage having the spotlight follow him as he performed the encore, and left everyone wanting the show to go on longer.

(more…)

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Dr. Dog / Kevin Morby / The Teeth (The Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, July 13, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Dr. Dog, Kevin Morby, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, The Teeth on July 13, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: July 13, 2024] Dr. Dog / Kevin Morby / The Teeth

I never really got into Dr. Dog but I’ve liked a bunch of their songs over the years.  And I’d always heard they were great live, so I had them on my “wanna see” list.

Back in June of 2021, Dr. Dog announced their last tour.

“It is a disturbing thing to read, I’m sure, and trust me, an equally unsettling thing to write, but it’s all good,” they wrote. “It’s important to us that you understand that this is not a break up or anything like that. We don’t know what Dr. Dog will do, we just know it won’t include going on tour, except the tour we’re announcing now, which is going to rule.”

And yet, now they were back with a new album an a live show (I don’t know if there were any other shows).

I opted not to go.  The Mann is kind of a pain to get to and I just wasn’t sure I cared enough to bother.  (more…)

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