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Archive for the ‘Venues’ Category

ZeLooperz (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 3, 2025) [EARL SWEATSHIRT]

Posted in Alexey Ekimyan, Cletus Strap, Earl Sweatshirt, Liv.E, Niontay, Philadelphia, PA, Quadie Diesel, Union Transfer, ZeLooperz on December 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 3, 2025] ZeLooperz 

After seeing Tyler the Creator earlier this year, I thought my daughter might also enjoy seeing Earl Sweatshirt, his former partner in Odd Future.

It had been about 50 minutes and the third act was bouncing on stage.  ZeLooperz brought some much needed energy to the stage.

He was fast and funny–loud and interactive.  He has some great song titles (not sure if he played them or not though): JayJay-Z, Bustin Jieber.

He immediately shouted a Hands Up!  Which most people did.  It was during his set that I realized how short most of the songs have been.  Most are around the 2 minute mark.

About half way through he brought a guest on stage (Quadie Diesel) and he rapped a song while everyone on stage danced around.  And then he had a dance contest–he cleared the floor–but don’t worry this ain’t no mosh pit, this is for the ladies, this was “Skinny Dip.” (more…)

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Niontay (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 3, 2025) [EARL SWEATSHIRT]

Posted in Cletus Strap, Earl Sweatshirt, Liv.E, Niontay, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, ZeLooperz on December 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 3, 2025] Niontay

After seeing Tyler the Creator earlier this year, I thought my daughter might also enjoy seeing Earl Sweatshirt, his former partner in Odd Future.

After Cletus Strap, Niontay was up.  He came out in a huge puffer jacket and had excellent locs.  He is also a mumble rapper (he even has a song called mumbleman).  He too had a lot of people videoing him while walking around him on stage.

Pitchfork loved Niontay back in 2024:

His flow is all over the map: He can lay a stone-faced delivery over a hearty chipmunk-soul loop fit to soundtrack a downtown New York streetwear shop, or raise his pitch to Florida-fast-music levels–a relentless marathon of cold punchlines and flexes.

And that seemed right.  He had a lot more variety than Cletus, although overall the tone was similar.

At some point possibly during Cletus’ set, Earl Sweatshirt came up on stage too.  He stood behind the table with the DJ and may have done some DJ work too–it was hard to tell.  So by the middle of Niontay’s set there were nearly a dozen people on stage, mostly just hanging around while the person rapping took center stage. (more…)

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La Luz (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 4, 2025) [PORTUGAL. THE MAN]

Posted in La Luz, Philadelphia, PA, Portugal The Man, Union Transfer on December 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 28, 2026] La Luz

I grabbed tickets to the Portugal. The Man show and was really excited that La Luz was opening for them.

I know La Luz from a live Levitation recording that I really dig.  I don’t know a lot more about the band aside from the basic bio.  They are from Seattle and are known for their “surf noir” style, with layered vocal harmonies.  The blurb says their “energetic live shows often include Soul Train-inspired dance contests and crowd surfing.”

As and opening band it’s unlikely that you’ll elicit that kind of response, but the crowd did really enjoy them.

I had an ADA seat so I wasn’t worried about trying to get too close to the stage.  And since I had a few minutes I checked out the booths that PTM had in the lobby. There were some great causes including their own book publishing label.  I saw some excellent bandanas for sale with the money going to good causes, so I bought two.  But the guy selling them to me was so slow!  It felt like he needed to tell me the origin of each one and where the money was going to and, I don’t know, the serial number.  And while he was doing this La Luz started.  So I missed the beginning and some of I Wanna Be Alone.  I could hear through the doors, but boy was I annoyed.

So La Luz has been around since 2012.  They were founded by Shana Cleveland who sings and plays guitar.  She is a great front woman, clearly having a great deal of fun.  She does play a kind of surf guitar, but that is mostly due to the vibrato.  Some songs are clearly not surfy at all, like Poppies.  But the guitar has that classic vibrato sound.

Anyhow, I got to my seat as that first song was ending and they moved right on to Call Me in the Day, a slower statelier song with lots of keys from Maryam Qudus.  For even though there is kind of a punky edge to the band, they are all about harmonies and cool sounds.  Plus, during the keyboard solo, Shana and bass Lee Johnson did a spinning dance routine. (more…)

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Cletus Strap (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 3, 2025) [EARL SWEATSHIRT]

Posted in Cletus Strap, Earl Sweatshirt, Liv.E, Niontay, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, ZeLooperz on December 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 3, 2025] Cletus Strap

After seeing Tyler the Creator earlier this year, I thought my daughter might also enjoy seeing Earl Sweatshirt, his former partner in Odd Future.

What was fascinating was that Tyler’s show was MASSIVE.  He sold out Wells Fargo Center.  He had two stages, lots of lights, and a whole routine.  Earl’s show was at Union Transfer and didn’t even have a backdrop.  There was no light show, just the venue’s lights.  And all of that is totally fine, it was just such a contrast.

It was also interesting that there were FIVE artists on the bill and I hadn’t heard of any but Earl.

There was a table in the middle of  the stage.  There was a DJ (possibly unnamed).  He had a laptop or two.

Up first was Cletus Strap. (more…)

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Sanguisugabogg / Despised Icon / Defeated Sanuty / Corpse Pile (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 29, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Corpse Pile, Defeated Sanity, Despised Icon, Emma Harner, Leith Ross, Philadelphia, PA, Sanguisugabogg, Union Transfer on November 29, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 29, 2025] Sanguisugabogg / Despised Icon / Defeated Sanity / Corpse Pile

There’s a few reasons why I like Sanguisugabogg and none have to do with their music.  Most of it is their social media presenceand thatthey have some kind of sense of humor. I also love that their name is crazy and their logo is impossible to read because their name is so weird.  They play death metal.  Lots of death metal.

Despised Icon is a Montreal based deathcore band.  So lots of growing and lots of really fast drums.  The drums in MVP sound impossible fast to me (and also don’t sound very heavy).

Defeated Sanity is a German technical death metal band.  They throw n some fascinating prog rock elements and then blow it all away with really fast parts and really deep growling vocals.

Corpse Pile is from Houston.  They are heavy, slow, and heavy.  The singer sings in the slowest growling manner I think I’ve ever heard.

I like a little death metal now and again.  This evening would have destroyed me.  Possibly just seeing a whole show by Sanguisugabogg would have destroyed me.

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Avatar / Alien Weaponry / SpiritWorld (Archer Music Hall, Allentown, PA, November 28, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Alien Weaponry, Archer Music Hall, Avatar, Phantogram, SpiritWorld  on November 28, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 28, 2025] Avatar / Alien Weaponry / SpiritWorld 

Avatar are a great live band. I’ve seen them three times and have been wanting to take my son to see them.  We did get to see them open for Pierce the Veil, but it was really hard to see what was going on.  I think I need one more show from them.  But this wasn’t it.  It was the weekend after Thanksgiving and we had company, so we did not go to this one.

Alien Weaponry are a power trio from New Zealand.   They play a mix of thrash and hardcore but with some really catchy parts as well.  The band currently consists of Lewis de Jong (guitar and vocals), Henry de Jong (drums), and Ethan Trembath (bass guitar). They are known for tackling sociopolitical issues particularly pertaining to New Zealand’s history and contemporary society. They often incorporate Te Rao Māori lyrics into their songs.  So that’s pretty cool.  Listening to Kai Tangata, it’s clearly not English.  Maybe their fans can learn a new language.

SpiritWorld are pretty fascinating.  They sound like Helmet but they dress like spangled cowboys.  They have an album called Deathwestern which is hilarious.   They play mostly thrash metal with elements of death metal (and chanted choruses), yet thematically it’s all about Westerns.  I hear elements of Slayer and Pantera in their songs too.

This whole evening would have been pretty intense.

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Momma / Narrow Head (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, November 22, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, Momma, Narrow Head on November 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 22, 2025] Momma / Narrow Head

I saw Momma back in May and really enjoyed their set a lot.  They play the kind of music that I just love–female fronted alt/grungy stuff.  When they announced this show in Asbury I was really sure I wanted to go.  I mean, they were great when I saw them last time and I think they only get better each time.

Plus, I suspect that their next album will show them growing their sound more.  I imagine they’ll be expanding their sound some. So the next time they tour, it will be for a new album and they won’t play these songs as much.  But sometimes things come up and seeing a band you just saw six months ago isn’t as important.

This was, apparently a double headline show with Narrow Head whom I’ve never heard of.  Turns out they did a split single with Momma.  They are from Dallas and sound a lot like Helmet or Biohazard or some heavy band like that.  They seem like a really odd match for Momma, but it was probably an interesting show.

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Rheostatics: The Great Lakes Suite (TD Music Hall, Toronto, ON, November 21 & 22, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Alex Lifeson, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Dave Bidini music, Hugh Marsh, Kevin Hearn, Martin Tielli, Rheostatics, TD Music Hall, Tim Vesely on November 21, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 21 & 22, 2025] Rheostatics

I am a huge fan of the Rheostatics, but I’ve only seen them live one time–ten years ago!

They don’t play live much these days and they record music even less.   But they had just released this new project–The Great Lakes Suite.  And, even crazier, Alex Lifeson was on the record and was going to play live!  I could go to this relatively small venue in Toronto and see one of my favorite bands with one of my favorite guitarists.

When I saw Rheostatics, they were playing their Group of 7 album–it was a special event.  So, I saw them play my least favorite of their albums (although live it was really tremendous) plus a few extra songs.

The Great Lakes Suite is a beautiful piece of symphonic music inspired by the Great Lakes.  And this is what they were playing.  And no matter how much I wanted to see Rheostatics and how exciting it was to see Alex up close, I didn’t want to drive all the way to Toronto and hear a band I love NOT play the songs I wanted to hear.

I see on the setlist that they played the entire Suite and two encores.  So I’m glad I didn’t get tickets.

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Stinking Lizaveta / channls (album relase) / Deathbird Earth (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, November 21, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in channls, Deathbird Earth, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Post Animal, Stinking Lizaveta, The Slaps on November 21, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 21, 2025] Stinking Lizaveta / channls (album relase) / Deathbird Earth

For reasons I don’t entirely remember, I’ve added Stinking Lizaveta to the list of bands that I’d like to see.

I think what inspired me to check them out is that they are an instrumental band who play complex music.

And this is the third or fourth time that I am not seeing them.  But for some reason I didn’t really feel like going to this show.

channls is a heavy post rock band from Philadelphia.  This show was an album release show for them, although they weren’t the headliners.  Their bandcamp page says

Formed in 2023 by drummer Jay Yachetta and guitar player Steven Rosplock – veterans of the progressive outfit Phantasm – channls is rounded out by two key figures from the Philly music underground: bassist Vincent King (In the Presence of Wolves) and guitarist Jace Miller (Alright Junior). In a move that borders on poetic irony, the band boasts three frontmen in a project where vocals are conspicuously absent.  The band’s sound, rooted in post-rock but unafraid of distortion-drenched aggression, occupies a liminal space between beauty and brutality.

I’m now thinking that this would have been a really good show and I should have gone.

Deathbird Earth are a dup from Philly (BJ – BASS, SYNTHESIZERS, VOCALS; DAVE – DRUMS, PERCUSSION, SYNTHESIZER).  I really enjoy watching two people make a ton of noise and their recording has a lot going on.  They note:

Deathbird Earth’s sound tends to eschew typical genre classification but is made from a mix of heavy drums and distorted bass layered with keyboard sounds that may or may not be lifted from your favorite classic science fiction films.

I guess you’d call them heavy metal, but there’s a lot going on in this heavy metal. They’re the only band with and singing tonight.

 

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Ted Leo (Revilla Grooves and Gear, Milltown, NJ, November 20, 2025)

Posted in Milltown NJ, Ray Lego, Revilla Grooves and Gear, Ted Leo on November 20, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 20, 2025] Ted Leo

I’ve seen Ted Leo three times before this.  Twice with Pharmacists and once with Aimee Mann for a Christmas show.  When I saw that he was playing a solo gig at Revilla Grooves, since it’s only 45 minutes from me, I had to go.  I also happen to know the owner, who DJ’d at my wedding.  But this is the first I’d been to his store and it is impressive.  A fantastic collection of vinyl and CDs as well as a ton of used equipment.  If you’re into music, it’s worth the trip.  He knows his stuff too.

But back to Ted Leo.

Back in September, Revilla Grooves hosted the ‘Noise In Focus: 30 Years of Music Photography’ exhibition.  It’s 30 years of candid photos of hundreds of musicians (while I was there I saw MCR, Deftones, Phoebe Bridgers, Jarvis Cocker and so many more) by Ray Lego.  This was the final night of the exhibition which also included a video room containing “Unseen behind the scenes of making of Deftones’  “Sat Night Wrist” record.  The video was from a bunch of tapes Lego had saved from when the band was making Saturday Night Wrist.  It showed the guys playing and taking candid shots.  There was no sound, but it was cool to watch for a bit.

So on this closing night, Ray invited Ted Leo (of whom there were many photos) to play a 45 minute electric set.  I’d never been before and the setup was great.  There’s a small stage and the sound was fantastic.  So, standing about five feet away I got to see Ted Leo do his thing.  This seemed like a great opportunity for Ted to play whatever the heck he wanted.  And I was pretty delighted by the variety of songs he played–some that I knew and many that I didn’t. (more…)

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