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Archive for the ‘Venues’ Category

Wax Jaw / Teen Idle / Loveseat Pete (Wonderbar, Asbury Park, NJ, January 24, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Asbury Park, NJ, Loveseat Pete, Teen Idle, Wax Jaw, Wonder Bar on January 24, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: January 24, 2025] Wax Jaw / Teen Idle / Loveseat Pete

Wax Jaw continues to play really close to me but always on nights that I’m already busy.

This show was announced fairly recently but I already had tickets to see Guster AND there was a second show I really wanted to see this night, Porridge Radio.  So this show was never going to happen for me.

Teen Idle is the musical moniker of NJ-based songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Sara Abdelbarry.  Meshing the heartfelt nature of influences like Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham with the grittiness and abrasiveness of grunge and the lovelorn tendency of ’60s acts like The Ronettes, Teen Idle makes emotional rock music with a statement (and a cinematic tendency).

I had never heard of Teen Idle, and a quick listen reminds me a bit of The Weather Station (Sara has a great voice too).  But this vibe doesn’t really fit with Wax Jaw to me. (more…)

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Porridge Radio / Sluice (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, January 24, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Porridge Radio, Sluice, The Foundry on January 24, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: January 24, 2025] Porridge Radio / Sluice

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.”

I wasn’t able to see them the last time they came to Philly.   And tonight’s show was the same night as the Guster show!  The worst part was that they were playing literally upstairs from where we were.   The same thing happened the last time we saw Guster at The Fillmore, when Dilly Dally played upstairs (but I was able to catch one song from them).

This is also apparently the last tour that Porridge Radio is going to do, so I’m especially bummed to have missed it (although Guster was awesome). (more…)

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Guster: “We Also Have Eras Tour” (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, January 24, 2025)

Posted in Blue Merle, Guster, Philadelphia, PA, Talking Heads, The Fillmore Philadelphia on January 24, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 24, 2025] Guster

Back in March, we saw the We All Have Eras Tour and we loved it.  It seemed weird to get tickets to the same show a few months later when they announced the second wave of the tour.  But it was almost a year later!

This made my 12th time seeing Guster and every Guster show is a good time.  Although the last time we saw Guster at the Fillmore, we didn’t love the crowd so much (we were also close to the bar…boo).  But this time we landed squarely in the middle of  the floor and had a great view (for the most part) and the crowd around us was cool (for the most part).

The show was like last time, a that there would be a narrator telling us what was going on with the band.  Dave Butler (who also plays drums with Marco Benevento and has played live with Guster since 2015) was the evening’s narrator. [This also means I’ve seen Dave Butler play 13 times].

The sets and “Acts” were the same, possibly a little smoother and, as they said on Instagram–there were laughs in different spots.

They opened the show with a chalk board showing a dorm room at Tufts.  Ryan and Adam met at Tufts.  They each played in bands in high school  (Adam from outside of Morristown, NJ!).  (Ryan’s band was called The Silents, Adam’s was Royal Flush).  They didn’t have bands in common, so they wrote their own song: “Parachute.”  Then they needed a name.  How about Gus?  Sounds good.  They were all set to be the Indigo Boys, two guys with great harmonies and acoustic guitars.  Then a goofy guy, Brian, who carried bongos showed up (his early band was called Toejamb) and soon they were a trio busking in Harvard Square.

Then came two songs that were different from last time [Happy Frappy instead of Fall in Two and X-Ray Eyes (the first time we’ve seen them play it) instead of Demons].  Although I was happy to hear songs for the first time, this was also something of a greatest hist show, so of course it was great to hear Airport Song and Barrel of a Gun (again).

Their story is more interesting than just a band progressing.  They went from acoustic guitars and bongos to a full on band with drumsticks and bass.  They were approached by Steve Lillywhite to produce an album.

Then Luke Reynolds came out with a giant head of Joe Pisapia and a name tag that said JOE.  He was a multitalented multi-instrumentalist and wrote “Jesus on the Radio” (which Luke and Ryan sang together).  Then Joe joined the band for real (played by Luke). (more…)

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English Teacher / Fernette (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, June 14, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in English Teacher, Fernette, Philadelphia, PA, The Foundry on January 23, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 14, 2024] English Teacher / Fernette

I’m writing this later in the year because I recently found out about English Teacher and wish that I had seen them when they came around this past summer.  It’s entirely possible that I didn’t know who they were when this show came around, AND I had a ticket to see Kim Gordon that night so I wasn’t going to make this show anyway.  But I always hate missing a band that I later discover would have been great to see in a small place.

I’m kind of surprised to discover that English Teacher was formed in 2020, as I just heard about them this year.  They released their debut album in April of this year, so that might explain why I didn’t know them.  I feel like I may have heard a song on Sirius XM, but I’m not sure.  However, I recently watches a video of them and they were terrific.

Pitchfork says the band

can’t leave a song alone: Not a track goes by without a twist or complication, whether a time-signature change, an instrumental flourish, or a sudden wall of sound.

Which is exactly what I liked about when I heard them. (more…)

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Speedy Ortiz / Grass is Green/ Ovlov / Goshupon (First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA, January 19, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in First Unitarian Church, Goshupon, Grass is Green, Ovlov, Philadelphia, PA, Speedy Ortiz on January 19, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: January 19, 2025] Speedy Ortiz / Grass is Green/ Ovlov / Goshupon

This show was vaguely on my radar because of the band Ovlov, who I’ve known about but didn’t know.  I’ve always gotten a kick out of their name and whenever I se a Volvo I think of them.

Listening to them now I think I should have been a fan all along.  They have gentle indie rock guitars with wailing guitar walls over the top.  It’s fantastic.   Their albums are short and they’ve only put out three since 2009.  Which is either awesome for getting into them, or frustrating at their lack of productivity.  Either way, I’d love to see  them live, but I suspect I’ve missed their only local appearance for a while.

I’d never heard of Grass is Green who are a Boston based experimental rock/post-punk band.  They’ve been around since 2010 playing a a discordant and angular blend of punk and indie. I’ve listened to a few song and I love them–noisy and weird without being unpleasant.

Now that I’ve listened to these bands more, I would have loved  to have gone to this show.  But of course, it was at the Church and I don’t go there.

Back in October this show was announced as (more…)

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Bruce McCullough: Takes of Bravery and Stupidity (City Winery Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, January 18, 2025)

Posted in Bruce McCullough, City Winery Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, The Kids in the Hall on January 19, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 18, 2025] Bruce McCullough

I went to City Winery last year to see Scott Thompson and said I’d never go back because it’s a pain in the ass to get to.  But then Bruce McCullough announced a show there and I relented.  It was also right around our anniversary so we made it a night of delicious food and dark comedy.

Now that I know about the Convention Center parking I’m less opposed to the area in general.  But we spent 30 minutes looking for a parking space as hundreds of people were walking around and driving around doing the same thing.  But we found the parking lot and managed to get to our seat about 30 minutes before the show.

We had duck tacos and rice balls and french fries and the food was really yummy.

Brucio came out just as we were finishing our food and he danced around while some music played and he started the show with a series of actual jokes.  They were dark and funny one-liners and then it settled into him telling some stories.  Never go up to a blind man with rippled chips and say “here, read this.”

There was a running joke that the last time he was in Pennsylvania, he was in Scranton (the meth and muffler capital of the state) and the reviewer panned the show and said it had a narrative that not even Frank Zappa could understand.  There’s no record of him having played Scranton, but the joke is great (and is exactly the kind of weird review someone in Scranton or the like would say).  The article also included a pie chart of The Kids in the Hall and Bruce was the dark purple one. (more…)

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Kurt Vile (solo acoustic) / Mike Polizze (solo acoustic) (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, January 18, 2025) early and late shows [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Johnny Brenda's, Kurt Vile, Mike Polizze, Philadelphia, PA, Purling Hiss on January 18, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: January 18, 2025] Kurt Vile / Mike Polizze

I asked my wife if she wanted to see Kurt Vile (whom she loves) but we kind of both felt that we didn’t really want to see him play solo acoustic.  And that’s fine.  We had seen him not too long ago, and honestly I enjoyed his electric sound a lot more.

And then it sold out in a minute anyhow.  Later I managed to get tickets for Bruce McCullough on the same night.  But I hadn’t realized that they’d announced an early show (5:30) that night as well.  We could possibly have done both!

Mike Polizze is the main guy behind Purling Hiss, a band I’ve seen once and really liked.  I don’t think I even knew that he was an opening act for this show until I started to write this. (more…)

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Zeta (Foto Club, Philadelphia, PA, January 16, 2025)

Posted in Foto Club, Lobby Boxer, Philadelphia, PA, Skullpresser, Zeta on January 18, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 16, 2025] Zeta

I saw Zeta open for Sparta in 2023 and I as blown away by them.  I knew I’d want to see them again and since my son was home, I dragged him along to see a band he’d never heard of.

Before the first band came on, Zeta was setting up the merch and we had a long chat with drummer Chino Sandoval, who was super friendly and excited to show off the new merch.

We waited on the main floor for Zeta to come on, but when I looked to see what was happening, there was a massive wall of tall people standing in front of the stage already!  (including Bear from mannequin Pussy and GG from Soul Glo!).

It sucked that I couldn’t see them very well, but the sound was great.

Unlike the two previous bands, all four members crowded onto the little stage.

Zeta opened the song with two songs from their fantastic album Because I don’t speak great Spanish and couldn’t really hear the words that well, I assumed they played the whole record (which is about 20 minutes long). (more…)

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Lobby Boxer (Foto Club, Philadelphia, PA, January 16, 2025) [ZETA]

Posted in Foto Club, Lobby Boxer, Philadelphia, PA, Skullpresser, Zeta on January 17, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 16, 2025] Zeta

I had never heard of Lobby Boxer (which is now one of my favorite band names to say) and I was surprised to find that they’d been around for ten years.

Like for Skullpresser, lead singer and amazing guitarist Zach Fendelman was in the floor with us, while the rest of the band was a few feet back on the “stage” (which may be elevated a couple of inches, if that).

The band was originally a trio with drummer Max Sandza and bassist Andrew Gurney (who is not afraid to play some cool basslines).  In 2020, they added second guitarist Jack Catalanotto who also plays wicked guitar lines.

As they opened, Fendelman played a quiet guitar while Catalanotto played a lead.  Fendelman sang quietly but after about a minute, the band blasted off and Fendelman sang in a great soaring emo style.  This was when I noticed that Gurney’s bass wasn’t simply following the chord pattern (which I love).  But after about two minutes the song took a kind of metal twist (Fendelman and Sandza’s first band was a metal band) and then switched back to the way the song started–but it ended with some serious guitar solo shredding.

So, in one song they threw in several different styles.  And they kept it up throughout the night–mixing all kinds of styles into one song, all held together by Fendelman’s excellent voice. (more…)

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The Vaccines / Thus Love (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, January 16, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, The Vaccines, Thus Love, Union Transfer on January 16, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: January 16, 2025] The Vaccines / Thus Love

When this show was announced, I thought it would be a great first show of the year for me and the kids.

A couple of summers ago, my son listened to one of The Vaccines’ records almost constantly.  And My daughter and I saw Thus Love open for Crawlers back in 2022.  We really liked them and they were super friendly.

But it turns out my son only liked the one album by The Vaccines (their debut) and didn’t care for the rest.  I’m still amazed that I’d never heard of them (they had like six singles from the debut album).  And my daughter wasn’t really interested in going either. (more…)

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