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Archive for the ‘Venues’ Category

Crown Lands (Theatre of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia, PA, November 13, 2019) [THE HU]

Posted in Crown Lands, First Nations, Geddy Lee, Kurt Vile, Mi’qmaw, Philadelphia, PA, Rock duo, Rush, The HU, Theatre of Living Arts on November 13, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 13, 2019] Crown Lands

Crown Lands are a duo from Canada.  As with a lot of rocking duos, they play riff-heavy rock.  But they change things around a bit.  In their bio they say they are huge fans of Rush, and while they don’t do anything as complex as Rush, you can hear the Rush influence all over their songs.  The size of Cody Bowles’ drum set, the little high hat fills, and some of the percussion.  And Guitarist Kevin Comeau plays a doubleneck Rickenbacker and some of the chord progressions are distinctly Rush-ian.  And yet you would never hear them and think you were listening to Rush.

Comeau plays guitar and bass pedals which add a really full sound to their live show.  Bowles has a really powerful voice with a truly remarkable range.  He can do Robert Plant/Geddy Lee high screams, he also has a lower register for the body of most songs.  And their stage presence is pretty great too.

The have two EPS out and are planning a finishing up a full length now.  Most of the songs from this set came from their unreleased record, and these songs are great. (more…)

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Mattiel / Temples (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 10, 2019) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Mattiel, Philadelphia, PA, Temples, The Foundry, Union Transfer on November 10, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[NOT ATTENDED: November 10, 2019] Mattiel/Temples [moved to January 24, 2020 at The Foundry]

I don’t know how often bands postpone their shows/tours.  I know sometimes visa problems keep bands out of the country.

Back in September I received this email about this show

Temples have postponed their fall tour and have moved their Philadelphia date to January 24th 2020. The show will no longer be taking place at Union Transfer but at The Foundry (29 E Allen St).

It seems really unusual that they would trade venues for a show. Especially since (I’ve learned a bit about venue politics) it is going from an independent venue to one owned by Live Nation. (more…)

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The New Pornographers (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 8, 2019)

Posted in Beat Club, Cub, Destroyer, Immaculate Machine, Limblifter, Maow, Neko Case, Philadelphia, PA, Suffrajett, Superconductor, The Evaporators, The New Pornographers, Union Transfer, Zumpano on November 8, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 8, 2019] The New Pornographers

Back in 2000, The New Pornographers sprang out of Vancouver and I didn’t know anything about them.  Especially that the band was made up of all manner of Canadian musicians from other groups.  I only knew that the first single “Letter From an Occupant” was awesome and I listened to it all the time.

Over the last twenty years, The New Pornographers have released reliably excellent albums.  It often seemed like out of the blue, suddenly there was another amazingly catchy song from the band.  I’m not really sure why I never thought to see them live before.  I think missing the Neko Case show in January was an impetus to get me to the show if only to see her.  (Sometimes Neko doesn’t tour with them, so I’m pretty psyched she was here on this tour).

As often happens, when a band tours they have a new album out.  Somehow I had missed this new one entirely.  Of course, I needn’t have worried that it would be good, because of course it was.  I was just worried that I wouldn’t be familiar enough with the songs when they played them.

The lineup has remained remarkably consistent for a band made up of people who all have other bands that tour.  They’ve had a couple of drummers, but otherwise, no changes.  Except for one rather large one.  Dan Bejar, the fantastic lyricist and singer of the band Destroyer more or less officially left the band a couple of years ago. Although he is currently described as a former and possibly future member of the band. So no hard feelings. (more…)

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Lady Lamb (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 8, 2019) [THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS]

Posted in Jeni Magana, Katie Von Schleicher, Lady Lamb, Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, Mitski, Neko Case, South X Lullaby, The New Pornographers, Union Transfer on November 8, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 8, 2019] Lady Lamb

I didn’t know anything about Lady Lamb before this show.  Normally I look up a band before seeing them, but for some reason, I didn’t really investigate her at all.

Lady Lamb is the stage name of Aly Spaltro, (it was formerly Lady Lamb the Beekeeper).  She is a musician from Maine.

I really enjoyed her set a lot.  Her vocal style is direct and powerful (she can reach the back of a room with no problem) and yet the backing vocals added all kinds of interesting layers to her songs.

What I loved about her music was how unexpected it was.  I mean, yes, it was drums, guitar, keys and bass, but there were so many times when the music would briefly get loud or change directions for a few bars and then move on to something else.  As if her indy rock was battling a dose of prog. (more…)

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Steven Page Trio (Levitt Pavilion Steelstacks (Musikfest Cafe), Bethlehem PA, November 6, 2019)

Posted in Aerosmith, Barenaked Ladies, Bethlehem, PA, Craig Northey, Kevin Fox, Musikfest Cafe, Odds, Steven Page, World Cafe Live on November 6, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 6, 2019] Steve Page Trio

I saw the Steven Page Trio about a year ago in Philadelphia.  When he announced that he was touring some more and coming to Bethlehem, I grabbed tickets for me and S. right away.

S. doesn’t really know his solo stuff at all, but she is a fan of BNL and has always said how much she liked his voice, so I thought it would be a fun, relaxing, seated event.

We were so close, we were literally right next to the stage.  When you’re standing, its a coveted spot, but when you’re seated, it’s terrible!  Luckily, they moved Dean Friedman’s giant monitor out of my way so I could actually see them all.  But in hindsight, sitting a few seats back would have been far preferable.

The weirdest thing is every time he picked up or put down his water bottle I thought he was going to talk to me (he didn’t).

I love being up close, the angles were just all wrong.  Any pictures I took were going to be of Steven’s crotch (!).   Fortunately, the vocals sounded fine.

I have learned from past experiences that seeing an artist a few months apart often means the same or a similar setlist.  And that’s what happened here.  Although when I look at other recent shows I see that he seems to have a kind of rotating setlist of some of the songs.  I saw that the night a few nights before us was amazing with “Alternative Girlfriend” (the song I really wanted to hear!) and “Someone Who’s Cool” an Odds cover!  They also played “Manchild,” my favorite new song of his and “Break Your Heart” both of which I have heart before but, come on, they are awesome.  Incidentally Odds opened for Steven Page in Canada.  Once again I wish I was above thee border not for political reasons. (more…)

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Dean Friedman (Levitt Pavilion Steelstacks (Musikfest Cafe), Bethlehem PA, November 6, 2019) [STEVEN PAGE TRIO]

Posted in Barenaked Ladies, Bethlehem, PA, Dean Friedman, Loudon Wainwright III, Musikfest Cafe, Paramus, NJ, Steelstacks on November 6, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 6, 2019] Dean Friedman

I was really excited to see that Steven Page was going to play in Bethlehem.  I grabbed seats immediately.  And when I saw the set up of the room, I grabbed seats right in the front.

In my head, this room was going to be set up with a short stage (maybe a foot high) and a series of tables around it.  Instead, what we had was a full-sized stage (four feet tall) and a series of tables that went right up to the stage.  So, in fact, I could rest my arm on the stage if I wanted to.

It was also unexpected that you could order food at these tables–with waitstaff service!  Evidently you could have arrived at 6 and ordered a proper dinner.  We arrived at 7:15 and had (rather yummy) Parmesan fries.  It was also awkward having strangers sitting across from us.  They really didn’t seem like people we wanted to talk to either.

When the usher seated us he told me I did a great job getting seats.  But he was wrong.  We were actually too close!  And the way that Friedman had his gear setup, his monitor was literally blocking my view .  I couldn’t see him at all when he played the piano and I could really only see his face and guitar when he played guitar. (more…)

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Kishi Bashi (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 4, 2019)

Posted in Cicada Rhythm, Guster, Ian Anderson, Kishi Bashi, Philadelphia, PA, Pip the Pansy, Talking Heads, Tall Tall Trees, Union Transfer on November 4, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 4, 2019] Kishi Bashi

This is now the fourth time we’ve seen Kishi Bashi.  The first time was magical–he was solo doing his amazing looping and violin playing.  The second time he opened for Guster and even played with them, which was thrilling.  The third time was at Union Transfer with a small band.  The sound was bigger and really fun.  And K crowd surfed.

This was the fourth time and his band was even bigger.  He had stage decor (what looked like grass and a giant crane in the background).  And his latest album is full of all kinds of instrumentation beyond the violin.  K. played guitar and keys as well as violin.

It also happened to be K’s birthday!  He had posted a few days earlier that it was his birthday at our show.  I contemplated bringing him something, but that seemed silly.

The band came out on stage with frequent collaborator Mike Savino (known as Tall Tall Trees) on bass, Ryan Oslance on drums, Dave Kirslis from Cicada Rhythm on guitar and the most wonderfully dressed musician on flute.  It took me a few songs before I learned that Pip the Pansy was the stunning flautist who kept her flute in a quiver on her back.  She was so much fun to watch and made incredible music.

Then K. came out.  K. always looks nice in a jacket with a bow tie.

He then proceeded to play “Marigolds” from the new album.  I listened to the new album a lot and really like it.  But somehow, I didn’t recognize this song until almost half way through it.  I don’t know if its because the band made it sound so much bigger or that I was so overwhelmed by everything happening, but I actually thought it was a new song until the chorus came back around.  (more…)

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Cicada Rhythm (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 4, 2019) [KISHI BASHI]

Posted in Cicada Rhythm, Kishi Bashi, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on November 4, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 4, 2019] Cicada Rhythm 

The last time we saw Kishi Bashi at Union Transfer, his opening act was Twain.  We hated Twain.  Probably more in retrospect now that we’ve joked about him so often.  But Kishi Bashi talked about how much he loved Twain.  So we were a little concerned about who might be opening for this tour.

The band proved to be a duo called Cicada Rhythm.

They were a delightful couple, recently married.  Andrea DeMarcus plays upright bass (she is Julliard-trained) and and Dave Kirslis plays guitar (electric and acoustic).

They were sweet and adorable and very very sincere. (more…)

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Angel Olsen / Vagabon (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, October 30, 2019) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Angel Olsen, Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, Vagabon on October 30, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 30, 2019] Angel Olsen / Vagabon 

I thought about going to this show because I have really wanted to see Vagabon.  Although I don’t really like Angel Olsen.

Angel Olsen is one of those singers who is making music that is right on the verge of what I like but which turns out to be actually exactly what I don’t like.  She’s almost indie rock but she lean too hard into country.

So I didn’t get a ticket.  Plus, it turned out to be a great night to carve pumpkins with the kids.

I really enjoyed Vagabon’s debut album.  It had a great indie rock quality, but the fact that Lætitia Tamko is originally from Cameroon gives her music a unique quality that makes it stand out.  I haven’t heard much of the new album, but I have heard she puts on an excellent show.

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Jay Som (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, October 29, 2019)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Japanese Breakfast, Jay Som, Mitski, Philadelphia, PA, Sum 41, The Foundry on October 29, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 29, 2019] Jay Som

A few years ago, I listened to a podcast on All Songs Considered, in which they talked about Jay Som, Japanese Breakfast and Mitski as being similarly-minded songwriters.

I made a point to try to see all three of them and Jay Som was my third.  I feel like her songs might be the most commercial-sounding (I mean, “Superbike” is awesome!) and yet she played in the smallest venue of the three.  But the fans were really into the show!

Jay Som is the creation of Melina Duterte.  She came out last after her band set up and checked out to make sure everything was cool.  When she came out on stage there was much applause and she thanked us for coming to her show while Sum 41 was playing downstairs.  he said that she and the band checked out a few songs before their set started.  Actually their set was so short, they could have easily gone down afterward and heard more.

Up on stage with her were Oliver Pinnell on guitar, Zachary Elsasser on drums and Dylan Allard on bass and keys.  There was also a fifth person on stage.  A woman.  And that’s all I really know about her.  I’m sure she was introduced, but I never caught her name.  And, because of the position of the keyboard rack, I literally never saw her face.  She played keys and bass.  When she stood in front of the keys, the upper keyboard blocked her face and when Dylan played keys, he totally blocked her.  So, apologies, unknown band member. (more…)

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