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Archive for the ‘Venues’ Category

Thundercat (The Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, November 4, 2021)

Posted in Coronavirus, KNOWER, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, The Fillmore Philadelphia, Thundercat, Yasuke on November 6, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 22, 2020] Thundercat [moved from March 22, 2020]

Thundercat is an amazing bass player (He plays a six string bass).  He also writes some really catchy songs.

His style veers a little too much into R&B for me at times, but there’s something about his overall vibes that surpasses anything.

I really wanted to experience his playing live.  I was bummed that I wound up as far away from the stage as I was because I wanted to see those fingers dominate the bass.

I wasn’t prepared for how amazing his band would be.  They were a trio, with Thundercat in the center of the stage with his giant bass.  On his right was keyboardist Dennis Haam and on his left was drummer Justin Brown.  It wasn’t always clear what Haam was playing and what Thundercat was playing–which just proved how impressive they both were.  But it was totally clear what Brown was playing–dominating the drum kit and most of the stage.

Sometimes I feel that Thundercat’s albums are too poppy for me.  But boy howdy was this concert anything but.  It was like a jazzy, jamming night of excess.  And it was wonderful. (more…)

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Tinariwen (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, November 5, 2021) [CANCELLED]

Posted in Cancelled, Coronavirus, Philadelphia, PA, Quarantine, Tinariwen, Underground Arts on November 5, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[CANCELLED: November 5, 2021] Tinariwen

indexTinariwen is a “Desert blues” band of Tuareg musicians from the Sahara Desert region of northern Mali. The band formed in 1979 in Tamanrasset, Algeria, but returned to Mali after a peace accord between 1990 and 1995.  They gained interbational attention with their album Aman Iman in 2007.

I’ve heard they put on an amazing show.

When I saw they were playing Underground Arts I wanted to snatch up tickets but this weekend proved to be very busy with me going to a show on Thursday and Sunday.

But then on September 30, the tour was cancelled: (more…)

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Red Fang / Starcrawler / Warish (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, November 3, 2021) [CANCELLED]

Posted in ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, Cancelled, Coronavirus, Philadelphia, PA, Quarantine, Red Fang, Starcrawler, The Distillers, Underground Arts, Warish on November 4, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[CANCELLED: November 4, 2021] Red Fang / Starcrawler/ Warish

indexI have wanted to see Starcrawler for several years now.  I missed them when they came around the fist time.  Then they were supposed to open for The Distillers.  The only reason I bought a ticket to the show was for Starcrawler.  Then the show was postponed (in pre-COVID days) and when it was rescheduled, Starcrawler was no longer on the bill.  [Distillers were great by the way].

Then Starcrawler was announced as the opening band for Red Fang.  And they were going to be at Underground Arts, a perfect venue for them.  I’d never heard of Red Fang (I’ve looked them up and they seem fun).  I bought the tickets in June.

Then on September 8, Red Fang cancelled their whole Fall tour.

Band Statement: 

Unfortunately, our cautious optimism has turned into stark realism and we have decided to cancel our appearance at the Louder Than Life festival and our upcoming Fall US tour in the interest of public safety.  We feel it’s not realistic to play shows in a safe/responsible manner and the best thing to do is hang back and wait until the situation improves. Until then, take care of each other.  Love, Red Fang.

So that sucked.  But what sucked even more was that Starcrawler didn’t reschedule anything on the East Coast. (more…)

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Beabadoobee (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 2, 2021)

Posted in Beabadoobee, BLACKSTARKIDS, Christian Leave, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on November 4, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 2, 2021] Beabadoobee

Beabadoobee had a couple of hits that I really liked.  Her song “Care” was a perfect 90s reclamation–so fun and catchy.

When she announced a tour I figured it would be fun to see her.  I had no idea how popular she actually was.  The crowd was intense and surprisingly devoted.

She releases music in a way that’s hard for an old like me to comprehend–just random singles whenever she feels like it.  So even though she was touring for her album Fake It Flowers, she had since released an new EP and maybe even another single.

So I can’t keep up with that but everyone else sure did. (more…)

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Christian Leave (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 2, 2021) [BEABADOOBEE]

Posted in Beabadoobee, BLACKSTARKIDS, Christian Leave, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on November 3, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 2, 2021] Christian Leave

The weird thing about seeing an artist who is new and very young is that her opening bands need to be (relatively) newer and younger.  And so, when seeing an artist like Beabadoobie who has one album out and who was born in you’re going to get openers who are gasp, probably teenagers.

Being an old has never diminished my enjoyment of concerts, even from performers that I’m more than twice as old as.  But the way young people find music these days has really messed with my head.

I had never heard of Christian Leave only to find out that he has like 3,00,000 online listeners.

I gather that Leave is something of a minor celebrity, with people possibly going a little crazy for him.  It was hard to tell from where I was but he seemed a but of a teeny bop star–he certainly had charisma, but not a lot of stage presence (how is that possible?  I don’t know). (more…)

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BLACKSTARKIDS (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 2, 2021) [BEABADOOBEE]

Posted in Beabadoobee, BLACKSTARKIDS, Christian Leave, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on November 2, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 2, 2021] BLACKSTARKIDS

The weird thing about seeing an artist who is new and very young is that her opening bands need to be (relatively) newer and younger.  And so, when seeing an artist like Beabadoobie who has one album out and who was born in you’re going to get openers who are gasp, probably teenagers.

I don’t know why it bugs me so much to be late for a show…especially when I don’t know the opening act.  I just like to arrive early, pick the spot I want and get psyched for he show.  For some reason, I was running late for this show and I wound up walking in after BLACKSTARKIDS had started.

There were five members on stage, but the core of the band is TyFaizon and The Babe Gabe–the main songwriters–and Deiondre acting as producer.  They all rap and sing leads (there was also a keyboardist and a drummer).

Their music is genre defying, being equally inspired by indie rock, hip hop and pop culture.  So a song like “PALS” has rapped verses (from all three of them, I think) and then a super catchy chorus with lovely backing ahhs. (more…)

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Mannequin Pussy (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 29, 2021)

Posted in Angel Du$t, Mannequin Pussy, Philadelphia, PA, Pinkshift, Union Transfer on October 31, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 29, 2021] Mannequin Pussy

I had just seen Mannequin Pussy open or Japanese Breakfast back in August.  And they were great.  But there’s nothing like seeing a band as the headliner.

The unthinkable happened a few days before our show–all of the bands gear and merch were stolen while they were in Ohio.

Mannequin Pussy has a pretty unique sound, so I’m sure they’ve customized a lot of their gear.  But they decided to carry on.  The opening bands loaned them so gear and Mannequin Pussy thrived.  The crowd also helped with a few “Fuck Ohio” chants.

They broadcast Meek Mill’s “Dreams and Nightmares (Intro)” as a tension-building set up for their performance.

The set was similar to their opening set with Japanese Breakfast, but it was longer and there were a couple of substitutions.

It was a great mix of the raging and the chill.  The band really knows how to get a crowd going, often playing a few blistering punk tracks in a row to get the crowd into a frenzy and then calming things down, all the better to get the crowd going again. (more…)

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Angel Du$t (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 29, 2021) [MANNEQUIN PUSSY]

Posted in Angel Du$t, Bad Brains, Lemonheads, Mannequin Pussy, Philadelphia, PA, Pinkshift, Union Transfer on October 30, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 29, 2021] Angel Du$t

Angel Du$t is considered a supergroup (according to Wikipedia).  At the time, I hadn’t heard of either of the bands that the members came from (Turnstile and Trapped Under Ice).  Since then, Turnstile has absolutely blown up all over the place.

I’ve been wanting to see Turnstile, but I guess I’ve already seen 3/5 of them [Daniel Fang — drums ; Brendan Yates – rhythm guitar ; Pat McCrory – lead guitar].  The two guys from Trapped Under Ice were Justice Tripp – lead vocals and Jeff Caffey bass.

I didn’t know anything about the band and even the write about up them said that they defied expectations of their other bands. (more…)

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Garcia Peoples / Ryan Sawyer (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, October 30, 2021) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Garcia Peoples, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Ryan Sawyer on October 30, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 30, 2021] Garcia Peoples

I discovered Garcia Peoples by accident a couple of years ago.  They were opening for Heron Oblivion and I’d never heard of them.  But their show was outstanding.

So when they played a small headline tour I saw them again.  And I’ve seen them a couple more times at weird events (like a free show after a Phish concert in Atlantic City).

I kind of made it a mission to see them as often as I could.  But sometimes things just get in the way.

I would really have loved to see them at Johnny Brenda’s this night, but I had neem out the night before and the next night was Halloween.  It was just too much going on. (more…)

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Lotus Land (Steel Stacks, Bethlehem, PA, October 30, 2021) [rescheduled date] [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Bethlehem, PA, Coronavirus, Lotus Land, Postponed, Quarantine, Rush, Steelstacks on October 30, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 30, 2021] Lotus Land [rescheduled from April 20; and October 30, 2020]

I really had intended on seeing this band once they finally settled on a date.  But October 30 is just too close to Halloween to be taken seriously as a concert night out.  Especially for a cover band.

I’m sure they’ll be back. Or better yet, maybe they’ll play somewhere even closer to me.

~~~

It seemed like as things started to open up that smaller venues like this might have shows.  of course, the concern was–is a smaller venue better since you’ll be so much closer to everyone.  I thought maybe they could have this outside–even in October.  I guess not.

I have no interest in seeing tribute bands.  If I can’t get the real thing, then I won’t get it at all.

However, this Rush tribute band intrigues me because in the pictures they both use doubleneck instruments and their ads say they play mostly late 70 and early 80s Rush.  This is a period I’ve never seen live and I think it might be fun.  Plus they are very highly praised in their reviews.

I put this on my calendar as a show to see if there weren’t much else going on at the time. Well, it turned out to be a hugely busy concert month so I probably wouldn’t have gone.

However, Lotus Land seem to tour up and down the East Coast pretty much constantly, including this rescheduled show in October.  I suspect I’ll be able to see them some time in the not too distant future.

 

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