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Archive for the ‘Venues’ Category

Starset (Theatre of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia, PA, October 24, 2019)

Posted in AC/DC, Cheesesteaks, Hyde, Ice Nine Kills, Led Zeppelin, Philadelphia, PA, Starset, Theatre of Living Arts on October 24, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 24, 2019] Starset

I had taken C. to a couple of live shows before and he had been to see Ice Nine Kills with his friends.  But this was my first time taking him to see a club concert.

This was going to be a long night too.  Four bands!  With the opening band going on at 7 and Starset ending around 11 (and it was a school night!).

C. has been a fan of Starset since their first album came out.  I had not heard of them and I’m not sure where he came upon them, but he really liked their debut Transmissions.

And I can say that now that I know more about them, they would have been a band that I would absolutely loved and been utterly obsessed with back in high school as well.  Their back story and concept is pretty intricate, so I won’t bother trying to do justice to it here.  Suffice it to say their albums are concept albums.

I also love that he didn’t like the second album, Vessels, as much because it was too poppy (not his words, but I think that’s what he meant).  When I had talked about getting tickets to them the last time (I think we’d just missed them come to the area, he said it was okay as he didn’t like that album that much).  But that the third album was back to the cool stuff again so he was pretty excited when I told him I’d gotten us tickets.

He wanted his friend to come along, but it being a school night and us not getting home until 12:30 made it impossible for his friend to come.  So it was just us. (more…)

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Palisades (Theatre of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia, PA, October 24, 2019) [STARSET]

Posted in Hyde, Linkin Park, Palisades, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts on October 24, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 24, 2019] Palisades

I had taken C. to a couple of live shows before and he had been to see Ice Nine Kills with his friends.  But this was my first time taking him to see a club concert.

This was going to be a long night too.  Four bands!  With the opening band going on at 7 and Starset ending around 11 (and it was a school night!).

Palisades was the biggest of the three supporting bands.  They had also toured with Starset on Starset’s last leg of the tour.  There were definitely a lot of fans there for them. A few of them in front of us left after their set. (more…)

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Hyde (Theatre of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia, PA, October 24, 2019) [STARSET]

Posted in A Brilliant Lie, Duran Duran, Hyde, Japanese Music, L'Arc-en-Ciel, Philadelphia, PA, Queensrÿche, Starset, Theatre of Living Arts on October 24, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 24, 2019] Hyde

I had taken C. to a couple of live shows before and he had been to see Ice Nine Kills with his friends.  But this was my first time taking him to see a club concert.

This was going to be a long night too.  Four bands!  With the opening band going on at 7 and Starset ending around 11 (and it was a school night!).

After A Brilliant Lie, some people moved around and we were right in the middle for Hyde.

When I looked up this concert I saw that  lot of people were more excited about Hyde than anyone else.  Someone even suggested that Hype might play solo–just him and his guitar.

I had no idea who Hyde was, but based on that (erroneous) information I assumed he might be a metal guy doing some mellower songs.

Boy was I wrong. (more…)

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A Brilliant Lie (Theatre of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia, PA, October 24, 2019) [STARSET]

Posted in A Brilliant Lie, C., Hyde, Nickelback, Palisades, Philadelphia, PA, Starset, Theatre of Living Arts, Toto, Weezer on October 24, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 24, 2019] A Brilliant Lie

I had taken C. to a couple of live shows before and he had been to see Ice Nine Kills with his friends.  But this was my first time taking him to see a club concert.

This was going to be a long night too.  Four bands!  With the opening band going on at 7 and Starset ending around 11 (and it was a school night!).

Despite leaving pretty early, between traffic, getting pizza on the way there and parking (dad was trying to be cheap and find street parking, but eventually had to give in and pay), we walked in about 2 songs into A Brilliant Lie’s set.

It was certainly a surprise to walk in and hear a band playing “Africa.”  It was even more of a surprise to hear them later say “Weezer can go away now, because, surely they were only playing this because Weezer re-popularized it, right?”  However, A Brilliant Lie’s version was pretty great–heavier and less exactly like the original.  They even did a “everybody get down” middle section and encouraged everyone to sing along (for better or worse). (more…)

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Swervedriver (Milkboy, Philadelphia, PA, October 21, 2019)

Posted in Asbury Park, NJ, Milkboy, Milly, Philadelphia, PA, Swervedriver on October 21, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 21, 2019] Swervedriver

Back in the 1990s, Swervedriver’s “Son of Mustang Ford” was one of my favorite songs.  I consistently put it on mix CDs at the time.  I still love it and it was the thought of hearing Swervedriver play it live that inspired me to check out this show (which I literally just found out about a few days ago).

The show was at Milkboy in Philadelphia.  I had never been to Milkboy before and really didn’t know much about it–except that it was pretty small.  It’s got a capacity of about 200.  The venue is upstairs from a bar, which looked quite nice.

I arrived early because I didn’t have a ticket (the ticket fee was over $8 for a $25 ticket!).  I arrived just after 7:30 and found a parking space right across the street from the venue (and did my worst driver’s side parallel parking job ever).  I actually couldn’t find the place at first and when I did, I wasn’t even sure which was the entrance.  So I wound up going in the wrong entrance and then having to ask where the band was (I could hear them upstairs).

The nice bartender pointed me the way and said they were running late.  It was actually Swervedriver still doing a soundcheck.  And the stairway to the venue was blocked by a chain.  The bartender said it wasn’t near sold out so not to worry about the ticket.

When the soundcheck was done, they opened the doors at a little after 8 and I went upstairs and was the first one in the venue… (!) [So much for an 8PM start time]. (more…)

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Milly (Milkboy, Philadelphia, PA, October 21, 2019) [SWERVEDRIVER]

Posted in Milkboy, Milly, Philadelphia, PA, Swervedriver on October 21, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 21, 2019] Milly

It turns out that there are two bands named Milly that are currently active.

One Milly is the musical project from Seth Milberger and Johnny Grushecky. (The Composure, The I Drive).  The two formed Milly in 2014 in Pittsburgh, PA. After a few years of crafting their songs and cutting their teeth on stage, [they released] their debut album Place In My Mind in 2018.

Milberger describes the band: “Milly is a little more simple and pop-driven with overlays of some oldies meshed with a fresh, modern, familiar sound.”

This is their logo on the left.

The second Milly is from Los Angeles.  This Milly is the lo-fi slowcore project of Brendan Dyer, and they’ve released two singles via Dangerbird Records with a new EP out in November.  (That’s the EP up on the right).

It was this second Milly that opened for Swervedriver, and they were an excellent choice (not the least of which was because the rhythm guitarist was wearing a Swervedriver shirt. (more…)

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Idles (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 15, 2019)

Posted in Bob Boilen, Bruce Springsteen, Grease, Idles, Paula Cole, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on October 15, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 15, 2019] Idles

I learned about Idles through NPR (of course).  I can recall Bob Boilen talking about their live show (I think at SXSW) and how amazing it was.  He said that they were very high on his must-see list.  And since then I have wanted to see them.  When they announced the show at Union Transfer I bought a ticket immediately.

I never really understand how bands become popular over here.  Most people I know have not heard of Idles.  And yet this show sold out very quickly.  I don’t understand why, given how many other bands that I think are bigger don’t sell out.  Maybe Philly just loves punk.

I know that Philly loves a mosh pit.  And boy did they ever get one.  Well, technically it wasn’t so much a mosh pit as a pogoing, bouncing, swarming mass of bodies.  And lots of crowd surfing–including from the band!

I knew a couple of Idles songs pretty well, but I didn’t know a lot of their songs.  However, I knew their basic style: lead vocalist Joe Talbot kind of speak/sings/screams lyrics of disaffection and the band alternates between quiet sections and full-on mayhem. (more…)

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Preoccupations (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 15, 2019) [IDLES]

Posted in Canadian Music, Idles, Philadelphia, PA, Preoccupations, The Foundry, Union Transfer on October 15, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 15, 2019] Preoccupations

I saw Preoccupations open for Protomartyr about a year ago.  At the time I wrote:

Preoccupations is a band from Calgary Alberta Canada.  They were originally called Viet Cong. They put out a stunning album called Viet Cong and then met all kinds of grief for the name (shows cancelled, etc), so they changed it to Preoccupations.  It’s amazing that a band as minor and indie as them would get so much grief, but whatever.

I thought their show was fantastic.  I loved the sound of their music and the energy that the band brought.

This show was similarly good–although perhaps the smaller venue of the Foundry made the band seem more dynamic.

I see that the setlist was largely the same for both shows (they haven’t put out new material since New Material in 2018).  I find it fascinating that much of the setlist comes from their first album Viet Cong.  I wonder why that is.

I also feel like for this show the band was considerably quieter than last time.  I realize that at the last show I was in front of speakers, and this one I was a little further back and therefore muffled.  But it seems like the overall wall of sound was somewhat lessened. (more…)

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Explosions in the Sky (Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ, October 12, 2019)

Posted in Explosions in the Sky, FACS, Sayreville, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, Starland Ballroom on October 12, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 12, 2019] Explosions in the Sky

I saw Explosions in the Sky three years ago. It stands as one of the most memorable shows I’ve seen and I knew that I wanted to see them again whenever I had the chance.

I don’t know if the band doesn’t tour all that much or if they just didn’t come my way, but after three years, when I saw they were playing at the Starland Ballroom on their 20th Anniversary Tour (part 1), I got tickets right away.

It took about 20 minutes for EITS to come out on stage.  It was nice to not have those horrible red lights that flooded FACS.

Before they actually started, the lights were natural, so I made sure to snap a few pictures before the colored lights came onto the stage.

All five guys came out and guitarist Munaf Rayani (the only guy to talk) said they were Explosions in the Sky from Texas–looks like some of you know us.  That’s good.”  And until he said good night that was the only voice for 90 some minutes. (more…)

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FACS (Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ, October 12, 2019) [EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY]

Posted in Disappears, Explosions in the Sky, FACS, Sayreville, NJ, Starland Ballroom on October 12, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 12, 2019] FACS

I saw Explosions in the Sky back in 2016 and the show blew me away.  I knew I’d be seeing them again some time.

For that show, the opening band was Disappears.

I really enjoyed Disappears and wound up buying their records.  For this show, the opening band was FACS.  I had never heard of FACS at all.  When I looked them up I discovered that FACS is (technically was)… three-fourths of Disappears!

According to the Chicago Tribune, Disappears:

broke up in 2016 with the departure of bassist Damon Carruesco, and holdovers [bassist] Brian Case, guitarist Jonathan Van Herik and drummer Noah Leger reinvented themselves as Facs, which explored a more abstract but no less fascinating – and sometimes downright spooky – sound.

Then Van Herik quit, and Facs had to regroup yet again, this time with Case switching back to guitar and newcomer Alianna Kalaba on bass, joining Leger in the rhythm section. There was only one catch: Kalaba had never played bass before. She was previously the drummer in We Ragazzi and the Dishes, but Leger already held that job in Facs.

“In Disappears, we had strict ideas about repetition and minimalism that are still ingrained in us,” Case says. “But with Facs, we took everything out of that comfort zone until we found something we liked and honed into it.

I didn’t really remember much of this going into this show.  I just remembered that they were probably going to be very cool.

And indeed they were.

(more…)

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