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Archive for the ‘Venues’ Category

Thao (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, September 29, 2022) [DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE]

Posted in Death Cab For Cutie, Philadelphia, PA, Thao, Thao Nguyen, The Met Philadelphia on September 29, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 29, 2022] Thao

Initially the band Low was supposed to open for Death Cab for Cutie on this leg of the tour.  They had cancelled for health reasons (drummer, singer Mimi Parker is battling cancer).  I haven’t liked a lot of Low stuff (they’re a bit too slow for me), although their newer stuff is a bit noisier and more fun.  And obviously I hope Mimi is okay.

But I was pleased to see that Low was being replaced by Thao.

I have known about Thao Nguyen for years.  She was primarily known as the leader of Thao and the Get Down Stay Down.  She dissolved the band earlier this year (no idea why) but has been playing shows with new band members.

She just goes by Thao now and she knows how to control an audience!

We missed the very beginning of her set (we were a little late getting there and then we forgot that the GA area has to go through the far door, so we had to go in and back out before we could really enjoy her set).

Thao was up front in a cool white suit and she sang with the intensity I knew she had.   She also played a wicked guitar, which I did not know she did.  During one of the songs (I don’t know titles), she played a spectacular, noisy guitar solo while the rest of the band jammed around her.

Her band includes Micayla Grace who played an amazing bass guitar (she was all over the fretboard creating wondrous sounds).  Lilah Larson played guitar and keys and seemed to be making sounds out of nowhere.  And her drummer Jon Sortland (who also plays with The Shins) was amazing.  He created rhythms and stacked them on top of rhythms and they all worked perfectly.  Considering he just got off of tour with the Shins a few days earlier, the fact that he could do such amazing stuff with Thao is really impressive.

And then there was Thao herself.  She dedicated a song for a woman’s right to choose.  She played a great song (called “Oh No” I believe) which not only had great audience participation (this side sings Oh No!; this side sings “But I loved you the most,” but which also seemed to have two parts–a really rocking section and then a slower part that built and built.

She also serenaded us with a song that she wrote for her wife, which I believe was “Marrow.”

She ended with a song I knew, “Temple,” a catchy song that looks back at the fall of Saigon.

She played a great set and I would think she’s be amazing as the headliner.

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The Get Up Kids / Sparta (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, September 29, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Sparta, The Get Up Kids, Union Transfer on September 29, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 29, 2022] The Get Up Kids / Sparta

My friend Al got me into The Get Up Kids back in the early 2000s.  “Mass Pike” is a frequently played song on road trips.  My Get Up Kids album is Something to Write Home About.  I never really got that into Four Minute Mile.  So, even though this show could have been fun, it wouldn’t quite have been for me.

Although I certainly wouldn’t have disliked it.

I had plans to see Sparta back in 2020 but the shows were cancelled.  Back then I wrote

When At the Drive-In broke up, they split into two bands: The Mars Volta and Sparta.  The Mars Volta went in a wild, psychedelic/prog metal direction and Sparta maintained a more tradition heavy rock sound.

I enjoyed the first Sparta albums but I hadn’t heard anything recently.  I considered going to this show because I’d heard they were really good live.

UPDATE: Sparta are headlining a tour in August 2023.  So I’ll get to see them.

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Pet Shop Boys / New Order / Paul Oakenfield: The Unity Tour (Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, September 28, 2022) [rescheduled again] [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Madison Square Garden, New Order, New York City, Paul Oakenfield, Pet Shop Boys on September 28, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 28, 2022] Pet Shop Boys / New Order / Paul Oakenfield: The Unity Tour [rescheduled from September 12, 2020 and September 22, 2021]

This concert was postponed twice.  And now it was finally happening.

I had seen Pet Shop Boys a few years ago and definitely wanted to see them again.  I had never seen New Order but new it would be a fun show.  I had no real opinion of Paul Oakenfield.

And yet… (more…)

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The Mars Volta (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, September 27, 2022)

Posted in Bosnian Rainbows, Le Butcherettes, Philadelphia, PA, Teri Gender Bender, The Mars Volta, The Met Philadelphia on September 28, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 27, 2022] The Mars Volta

Back in 2000, I loved At the Drive In.  I was bummed when they broke up.  However, they split into two bands: Sparta (the more streamlined guys) and The Mars Volta (the wacky prog rockers).  I was pretty psyched to hear TMV and their debut album De‐Loused in the Comatorium was amazingly weird and cool.  I also really liked the follow up Frances the Mute, but kind of lost track of them after that.

They broke up at some point and that was that.  Guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López went on to do a million projects (like playing with Teri Gender Bender) and singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala has appeared all over the place in bands and as a guest.  i didn’t really give them much thought until they announced a new song and tour.  So I pulled out De-Loused and remembered how much I liked them.

This tour was apparently designed just for me, since most of the songs were from De-Loused and Frances, with one song from the other albums and two from the new one.

The light show was pretty great.  They had squares of light bulbs that illuminated shapes and showed various LED colors.  Not to mention super bright strobes and lots of searching beams of colors.

More impressively, Omar Rodríguez-López’s guitar was even better than I had remembered.  He did a few segments were he just soloed for two or three minutes that never felt showoffy.  And, actually, even more impressive than that was Cedric Bixler-Zavala’s voice.  He can still hit those incredible high notes.

They opened with a song that has a lengthy moody opening.  Omar played soundscapes and solos and then Cedric started singing the slow trippy opening.   And after about ten minutes of that and me thinking…huh, is this the kind of stuff they are gonna play, they shifted gears and launched into the ferocious 7 minute “Roulette Dares” from De-Loused.  This song has more shifts and turns than you can count.  As well as the super catchy “Exoskeletal junction at the railroad delayed” impenetrable lyric.

They jumped to later in the album for “Eriatarka” a slower (at first) song that jumps and pounds with frenetic energy. (more…)

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Teri Gender Bender (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, September 27, 2022) [THE MARS VOLTA]

Posted in Bosnian Rainbows, Le Butcherettes, Philadelphia, PA, Teri Gender Bender, The Mars Volta, The Met Philadelphia on September 27, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 27, 2022] Teri Gender Bender

Teri Gender Bender is the lead singer for the band Le Butcherettes who I know from an amazing Tiny Desk Concert nearly a decade ago.

I was supposed to see Le Butcherettes a few times.  They were supposed to open for Chicano Batman, but had to change as each show was rescheduled.

So I was pretty excited to see Teri Gender Bender who has put out a lot of music in addition to Le Butcherettes.  I wondered exactly how she got involved with The Mars Volta for this tour, then I found out that she was in a band with Volta guitarist Omar Rodriguez-López, called Bosnian Rainbows.   Indeed, he was also in Le Butcherettes.

As the set wore on and she introduced the band, it turned out that he was on stage with her during her set as well!  (In a pink suite with his hair in a wild pompadour).

Her band was set up in a kind of old school trio–bass and guitar behind little podiums with shiny fabric on them and a drummer behind her.  She introduced the other two musicians, but I didn’t catch their names.

The band came out and started jamming and after a minute or two Teri Gender Bender came out on stage.  She is a true performer, standing in fascinating poses, screaming intently her passionate lyrics and stalking around the stage.

The music was kind of dancey but with flairs of anarchy.  But it was all in support of Teri.  She was focused and intense as she got on the floor, contorting he body while she sang.

Between songs, she addressed the audience in Spanish (she was born in Denver, but her family moved to Mexico when her father died).

Her energy was unmatched and I wnjoyed the show.  Although I would have enjoyed it more if I knew the songs better.

  1. córtate el pelo ∏
  2. KENDALL Ø
  3. action ⊗
  4. talking about you ∞
  5. ya no soy
  6. MJ Ø
  7. THE GET UP ⇑

Ø olivia, she wanted me to leave her alone (2022)
∏ madre would not allow it though (2022)
∞ you were truly the one that made us laugh (2022)
⊗ leaving her to be was just not an option (2022)
¶ pestering became a virtue (2022)
⇑ The Get Up (2022)

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OSEES / Bronze (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, September 26, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Bronze, Osees, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on September 26, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 26, 2022] Osees / Bronze

I saw Osees exactly one year ago today.  I summarized by saying

The show was intense, exhausting and a ton of fun. I am so glad I went.

When they announced this year’s show I wasn’t quite in the mood for seeing them again (the exhausting part being the most vivid memory of the show).  But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t see them again maybe next year.

Bronze is a sychedelic synth-goth outfit whose album Absolute Compliance is to be released by Osees main guy John Dwyer’s Castle’s Face records.  Their earlier record was a bit more angular and choppy while the new song “People Watching People” is slower and synthier.

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Batushka / Witching / Hideous Divinity / Hate (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, September 26, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Batushka, Deerhoof, БАТЮШКА, Hate, Hello Mary, Hideous Divinity, Philadelphia, PA, Scarlet, Underground Arts, Witching on September 26, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 26, 2022] Batushka / Witching / Hideous Divinity / Hate

I had heard of Batushka [БАТЮШКА] because there was an article about how there were two bands with the same name.  And, it was a case of the band breaking up and the guy who left taking the name–but the main band keeping it as well.  So both bands sounded vaguely the same as well, I guess.

Krzysztof Drabikowski formedthe band.  But a falling out between Drabikowski and vocalist Bartłomiej Krysiuk in 2018 led to Krysiuk starting his own version of Batushka, which released its own recordings and performs separately from the original band. Drabikowski protested the move and does not consider Krysiuk’s band legitimate.

Here’s some of the quotes from the controversy

Drabikowski stated that “There were attempts to take my creation Batushka away from me” and “the upcoming album Панихида (“Requiem”) will not feature his voice”

Krysiuk then “hired musicians to produce an album that he planned to release as the new Batushka record, behind [his] back”.

On 27 May 2019, Drabikowski’s Batushka released a new full-length album called Панихида (“Panihida”) (“Requiem”) and was very well received by both critics and fans alike.

On 12 July 2019, Krysiuk’s Batushka released a full-length album called Hospodi (“God Almighty”), the album received mixed reviews from critics[20][21] and was panned by some of the band’s fans, with most of the criticism aimed at their “illegitimacy” to use the name Batushka.

In the wake of the public falling out and ensuing drama between Drabikowski and Krysiuk several parody bands using variations of the “Batushka” name emerged online as a widespread meme, each also claiming to be the “true Batushka”, the most notable being “Batyushka” an anonymous project claiming to be from Russia and being actual Orthodox priests and adhering to the Orthodox dogma.  Their music is completely instrumental and have independently released over a dozen albums on Bandcamp which were met with indifference and annoyance, as well as mockery from fans of the real band, several people also pointed out how the music uses a drum machine.

Controversy aside, they sounded interesting a Polish black metal band formed by Krzysztof Drabikowski.  Their music and lyrics, which are written exclusively in Church Slavonic language, are inspired by the Eastern Orthodox Church.  The band members wear habits and Eastern Orthodox schemas during live performances to conceal their identities.

I’m not even sure which band this was.  I think it was Krysiuk’s version (known as Fakeuska, apparently) as Drabikowski hasn’t done much.   But if they’re wearing robes and hoods, who is to know?

After seeing behemoth back in April, I wasn’t sure if wanted to see another black metal show.  This one seemed especially daunting given that it was in the tiny Underground Arts.

So I opted not to go.  Maybe if they come back another time.

Polish band Hate opened.  I’m not too keen on a band that is simply called Hate.  They are a blackened death metal band.  They wear corpse paint and have had many lineup changes over the years.  Their singer growls, but I have to admit that the lyrics are actually audible, which is quite a plus.

Witching opened our show.  They are a metal band from Philly.  Their track Lividity opens with acoustic guitars and witching female singing and after two minutes the vocals get decidedly demonic and scary as the music gets heavier and pummeling.   It also looks like most of the band is women, which is pretty cool for the genre: Jacqui, Nate, Tatiana, Samantha and Hazel.

Hideous Divinity are from Italy.  I’m guessing they couldn’t make the first two shows of the tour and they started in Georgia.  They, like the others are heavy and growly.

I actually thought this show was four bands, which would have been just too much growling and heaviness.  Even three bands seemed like a lot.  Although now that I know more about Witching, they might have been a nice change for the show.   Nevertheless, despite the visuals, I’m not sure I was ever really planning to go to this show.

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Demetri Martin: I Feel Funny (Wellmont Theater, Montclair, NJ, September 24, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Demetri Martin, Montclair, NJ, Wellmont Theater on September 24, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 24, 2022] Demetri Martin

Demetri Martin is one of my favorite comedians.

I would love to see him live.  But this show was scheduled for the same day as the Frantic City Festival that we had tickets for.

I hope he’ll come back around some day.

 

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Porridge Radio / Sean Henry (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, September 24, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Porridge Radio, Sean Henry on September 24, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 24, 2022] Porridge Radio [moved from August 7, 2020 Boot & Saddle]

I heard about Porridge Radio from NPR back in 2020.  They are exactly the kind of weirdo post-punk British band that I love and would never hear anywhere on the radio.

Singer Dana Margolin is more of a talker than a singer.  Her accent is thick and her intensity is palpable.  The band mixes melody and noise in an unexpected way.  And of course there’s “the growing legend of their intense live shows.”

The 2020 show was cancelled and then Boot & Saddle closed.  I’m not sure if this even counts as a rescheduled show or not.  But they did, in fact come back to Philly.

Unfortunately, I thought we were going to Frantic City (which we wound up not doing).  I probably could have gone to this show after having bailed on Frantic City, but that seemed like too much chaos for one day.

Sean Henry is from Connecticut.  Henry began his career making music under the name Boy Crush.

His stuff under the name Sean Henry is pleasant and a little twee.  Although his live recording (from Audiotree) rocks a bit harder.  He’d be a good opener for just about anyone, I suspect.

I hope Porridge Radio comes back for their next album.

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Girlpool / Cecile Believe (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, September 23, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Cecile Believe, Girlpool, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on September 23, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 23, 2022] Girlpool / Cecile Believe

I first heard Girlpool back in 2015.  I loved the way the two members of the band sang, but not in harmony–it was more like in unison.  It gave them almost a childlike quality that somehow made their songs really impactful.

I had wanted to see them live since then.  When they came around in 2017, I had a ticket and then a last minute plan meant I couldn’t go.  They came back in 2019, but it was during our summer vacation.

Finally, they came back around in 2023, but it was the same night as several other shows, including one I wasn’t going to pass up.

Interestingly, over the past seven years a lot has happened to the band.  Avery Tucker transitioned and Harmony Tividad started exploring new facets of herself.  So they looked very different from when they first started out.

Their musical style changed a lot as well.  They no longer sounded anything like they did on the debut.  Primarily because Avery’s voice was no so much deeper.   I didn’t enjoy their music that much anymore.  So I wasn’t that upset about missing them.

Then on August 25, Girlpool announced that they will breakup at the end of the year, and that their remaining tour dates would serve as a farewell tour.  So I guess I’ll never see them live.

Cecile Believe (formerly known as Mozart’s Sister) is a solo project by Montreal-based Canadian musician Caila Thompson-Hannant.

Resident Advisor describers her music:

Cecile Believe’s vocal and emotional range, with its exhilarating twinkles of vulnerability, made an immediate impression on me when I first heard her performing “Ponyboy” and “Faceshopping”  .. Her new mixtape, Plucking A Cherry From The Void, a collection of restless and reflective lockdown-fermented electro-pop bangers, has those same attributes in ample supply.

Although I listened to a few songs and wasn’t that impressed.  It was all fine.

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