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Archive for the ‘Venues’ Category

Dilly Dally (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, March 23, 2019)

Posted in Chastity, Dilly Dally, Guster, Hole, Philadelphia, PA, Pixies, The Foundry on March 23, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 23, 2019] Dilly Dally

I can’t believe it was actually two and a half years since I last saw Dilly Dally.  I was rather looking forward to seeing them again–their new album is great–an evolution but not a reinvention.

Then our Guster show was cancelled and placed on  this very night.  Coincidentally, in the same building!  Guster was going to play the large venue of the Fillmore while Dilly Dally was scheduled to play upstairs in the Foundry.

The Guster show was great, but since Dilly Dally started an hour later, I thought I’d see if they were still playing as we walked out.  The bouncer guy was rather surprised that I had a ticket for both shows.  But I showed him my ticket and with S’s blessing, I went upstairs to see a song or two (I was bummed and a little surprised they wouldn’t let her up since the show was more or less over).  The bouncer guy said they had the room until 11:15.  It was barely after ten when I went upstairs (S. said she didn’t mind waiting for ten minutes, but understandably, not an hour).

There was no way to see opener Chastity:

Brandon Williams makes resonant songs that capture isolation and resilience. As the songwriter behind Chastity, the Whitby Ontario musician has made three unrelentingly perceptive albums

When I walked upstairs I could hear the unmistakable voice and guitar work of Dilly Dally. Dilly Dally are from Toronto and they were described to me as being like the Pixies meets Hole.  I can certainly hear that although they transcend their influences.  They play loud aggressive alternative rock that’s headed by Katie Monks’ snarling singing voice and Liz Bell’s sharp and catchy lead guitar work.  Bassist Jimmy Tony (in a striking silver sparkling short skirt) and drummer Benjamin Reinhartz lay down a low end that keeps the sound grounded. It was a drastic change from Guster.  As was the size of the crowd.  The Guster show was packed uncomfortably tight, but this show was more open and I was able to walk around.

They finished the excellent “Bad Biology” and I wondered how long I could push my luck–how many songs could I make S wait for.  And then Katie Monks told us that the next song was the last song.  Disappointing but very convenient. (more…)

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Guster (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, March 23, 2019)

Posted in Guster, Late Night with Seth Meyers, Philadelphia, PA, Prince, The Fillmore Philadelphia, Van Morrison on March 23, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 23, 2019] Guster [rescheduled from January 17]

Back in January, Guster postponed their Philadelphia concert because they were going to be on Late Night with Seth Myers.  They rescheduled it for mid-March and decided that it would be a 20th Anniversary celebration of their 1999 album Lost and Gone Forever.  So although the date change sucked at the time, the new show promised to be freakin amazing.

And, as it turned out, this was the best and the worst Guster concert that S. and I have seen together (number 7 for both of us).

Why the worst?  The worst because we arrived later than we intended and wound up further back than we wanted to.  Which is not the end of the world.  But, when you’re in the back in the Fillmore, you are near the bar and all the people talking.  A lot.  Even people who claimed to love the band, even people who commented on how good they sounded (they did), even people who would sing along loudly to parts of songs, all of these people also talked through huge swaths of the show.

One woman shouted to her friends during a quiet part and I had to say something.  It was really dreadful.  I though that during the intermission, people would pile out to get drinks and we could move closer, but nope, it was jam packed.

So aside from the worst crowd I’ve ever experienced, the show was great.  The band was in amazing form, they sounded great–and the venue helped them to sound great.  It was definitely one of the best sounding shows I’ve seen from them. (more…)

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Lucy Dacus [White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, NJ, March 20, 2019]

Posted in Alex G, Boygenius, Edith Piaf, Jersey City, NJ, Lucy Dacus, Mal Blum, White Eagle Hall on March 20, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 20, 2019] Lucy Dacus

Less than a year ago I saw Lucy Dacus at Johnny Brenda’s.  In that time, she has been in boygenius and has catapulted to a slightly higher level of recognition.

Last time when I saw her, she played two shows that night.  (She was already popular enough to sell out two shows on the same night).  I saw the first show, which was one song shorter than the later show.  (Boo).  But she was great and very personable.

Tonight’s show was quite different.   I’m not sure what it was.  Last time, perhaps because she dressed a bit more casually (she wore glasses and no lipstick–see bottom of post), or maybe because it was an early show, it felt a bit more mellow.

But this show felt like it was important (whatever that means).  She had coordinated the whole tour–dates, support acts, hotels, eveyrthing.  She also said she was pretty excited to play New Jersey (and we were happy to have her).  She even wore her now characteristic red lipstick.

What really impressed me was during the final song she stood up on stage with no guitar, facing the crowd.  She stood there confidently as her guitarist swelled music around her.  It wasn’t an act of defiance, it was an act of acceptance and the power she exuded standing up there.  She didn’t move, she didn’t sway, she didn’t speak, she didn’t fidget.  She knew we were there to see her and she was there to be seen.  And she defined our gaze.  It was stunning.

And that doesn’t even talk about the music. (more…)

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Mal Blum (White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, NJ, March 20, 2019) [LUCY DACUS]

Posted in Jersey City, NJ, Mal Blum, Mal Blum and the Blums, White Eagle Hall on March 20, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 8, 2018] Mal Blum

I saw Mal Blum and the Blums back in March of last year.  They were great and so much fun.  I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a band laugh so much, both with each other and with the audience.

They opened for Jessica Lea Mayfield.  I got the impression that the band is now called simply Mal Blum (no more Blums).

Since that performance I have followed Mal’s transgender surgery and recovery on Instagram.  I thought it was really cool that they posted as much as they did to show anyone in need what the process was like.

And now Mal is back.  Mal said they love coming to Jersey (they are based in NYC, although two of the guys are from NJ).  And they joked that they were channeling their inner Springsteen. (more…)

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Fenne Lily [White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, NJ, March 20, 2019] [LUCY DACUS]

Posted in Fenne Lily, Jersey City, NJ, Lucy Dacus, Mal Blum, Mal Blum and the Blums, White Eagle Hall on March 20, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 20, 2019] Fenne Lily

I was unfamiliar with Fenne Lily before this show.  I looked her up and found that she was a British singer-songwriter who wrote some pointed lyrics.  And frankly, I found out very little else.  Even after the show.  I’m not even sure if Fenne Lily is her real name.  But it’s all irrelevant, because she was a delight.

She came out onstage with a guitar and a co-conspirator named Joe.  Joe played leads to Fenne Lily’s chords (she had all kinds of interesting tunings on her guitar, which, although time-consuming, was certainly appreciated as it left lots of time for amusing stories.  And Fenne Lily had lots of them.

She told us that she has self-released her album last year. She had done everything by herself.  It was like her baby.  And now, after some time she is sick of it, just like a real child.  I’m very excited to hear what her next album will sound like as the new songs were terrific.

 

(more…)

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Teenage Fanclub (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, March 15, 2019)

Posted in Euros Childs, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Philadelphia, PA, Teenage Fanclub, Union Transfer on March 15, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 15, 2019] Teenage Fanclub

I’ve been a fan of Teenage Fanclub since I heard “The Concept” back in 1991.  The band has changed (and mellowed) a lot since then (they had long hair, they had hair, and they could have been teenagers, maybe), but they still write gorgeous harmony-filled, pop-rock songs.  I had never seen them live (I’d heard that in their early days their live shows were tempestuous and insane).

Last year when bassist Gerald Love retired (amicably) from the band, I assumed they were done.  Love wrote a little more than 1/3 of the songs (Norman Blake wrote a lot and Raymond McGinley wrote a bit less) and he wrote some of their catchiest songs.

So I was surprised and delighted that they announced an American tour and they were coming into Philly to Union Transfer.  I knew they wouldn’t play any of Love’s songs, but I also knew that they had a whole bunch of songs that the other two guys wrote that I really loved. (more…)

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The Love Language (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, March 15, 2019) [TEENAGE FANCLUB]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Teenage Fanclub, The Love Language, Union Transfer on March 15, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 15, 2019] The Love Language

I had not heard of North Carolina’s The Love Language before this show, despite the fact that they’ve been playing together for nine years.

Their drum head had the band’s name written in a big, puffy, hippie, sixties style, so I expected some serious psychedelia.  Which I did not get.  In fact they rocked pretty hard

They are a four piece centered around guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Stuart McLamb (they’ve been a band for about ten years and the Wikipedia page lists 20 former members).  The current lineup (according to their Facebook page) consists of Thomas Simpson, Andy Holmes, Eddie Sanchez, Jordan McLamb and Stuart McLamb.  Clearly one of those guys wasn’t in Philly. (more…)

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Pinegrove (House of Independents, Asbury Park, NJ, March 11, 2019)

Posted in Asbury Park, NJ, Half Waif, House of Independents, Pinegrove on March 11, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 11, 2019] Pinegrove

Back in 2017, I saw Pinegrove at the hot, sweaty First Unitarian Church.  The buzz around them had hit fever pitch and the crowd was insane.  In fact the whole night was a crazy sweatbox.  I couldn’t see very much so I was excited to get tickets for two more shows near the end of 2017.  Then their scandal broke and they cancelled their shows.

They have come back out of hiding for a few shows around the neighborhood.  I couldn’t get tickets to their very first shows.  Then came this trio of shows in Asbury Park.  I had actually somehow scored a ticket to Saturday night’s initial only show before realizing that we were going to Aurora that night.  I didn’t see that they’d added a show on Sunday until it was sold out.  But when they added a Monday show, I was there and managed to get a ticket.

Conventional wisdom says that the final show is always the best one.  I’m not sure if that’s true since former Pinegrove vocalist and full time Half Waif vocalist Nandi Rose Plunkett joined them on stage for a song on the first night.  But newly shorn Evan Stephens Hall (he went from shoulder length to buzzcut) promised that since it was the last night of their tour, they would be loose but still tight.  And that seems pretty apt. (more…)

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Poppies (House of Independents, Asbury Park, NJ, March 11, 2019) [PINEGROVE]

Posted in Asbury Park, NJ, House of Independents, Pinegrove, Poppies, Set in New Jersey! on March 11, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 11, 2019] Poppies

I was supposed to see Pinegrove twice at the end of 2017.  Then their scandal broke and they cancelled their shows.  They have come back out of hiding for a few shows around the neighborhood.  I couldn’t get tickets to their very first shows.  Then came this trio of shows in Asbury Park.  I had actually somehow scored a ticket to Saturday night’s show before realizing that we were going to Aurora that night.  I didn’t see that they’d added a show on Sunday until it was sold out.  But when they added a Monday show, I was there and managed to get a ticket.

Poppies opened all three nights.

They are a four piece with May on lead vocals (primarily) and guitar and Ian on lead guitar and some lead vocals.  The thing that stood out for me about them was their utterly deadpan demeanor onstage.  In between songs the banter was nonexistent or really really dry.  “Hi, we’re Poppies.”  “This is a new song.”

They play a fascinatingly diverse style(s) of music.  Some of their songs were quiet with gentle guitars and May’s quieter vocals.  But some of the songs totally rocked out with some of Ian’s wilder guitar noises.  Some songs did both.

The set opened with a slightly discordant guitar and May’s whispered vocals.  I liked that she had on a blazer for the opening (and wide weft cords!) and then revealed her bright yellow shirt a few songs in.

I was concerned that an opening set of this kind of music would be rather tedious.  But then they opened it up with some good rocking guitar and May’s louder vocals. I especially loved the noises that Ian made on his guitar in the beginning of this song.

My favorite song of their set came as either the last or second to last of the night.  May said that  these next few songs were so new they didn’t have names yet.  They were the most enjoyable of the bunch to me.

That bodes well for future releases from them.

 

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Trace Mountains (House of Independents, Asbury Park, NJ, March 11, 2019) [PINEGROVE]

Posted in Another Michael, Asbury Park, NJ, Brother Bird, House of Independents, LVL UP, Pinegrove, Set in New Jersey!, Trace Mountains on March 11, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 11, 2019] Trace Mountains

Pinegrove played three nights at House of Independents.  Each night featured Poppies opening and then a second band in the middle slot.  Saturday was Another Michael, Sunday was Brother Bird and Monday was Trace Mountains.  Interestingly, I was supposed to see Brother Bird open for Lily & Madeleine a few weeks earlier, so I have now missed Brother Bird twice.

I hadn’t heard any of them, so that didn’t have any impact on which night I wanted to go.  Originally it would have been Another Michael.  But since I switched dates to Monday, I got to see Trace Mountains.

I also had no idea that I had recently seen the lead singer and guitarist of Trace Mountains, for he is Dave Benton of LVL UP.  I was trying to remember whose songs I liked best when I saw LVL UP.  All three singers sang and I enjoyed Benton’s more deadpan style of singing.  It’s interesting that Trace Mountains was supposed to be a somewhat quieter side project and yet in my experience all of these songs were more rocking than his LVL UP songs.

Trace Mountains is (was?) his solo project.  For this show the band was a four piece with a great lead guitarist and a solid rhythm section.

I can’t find the names of any of the players, but I really enjoyed the guitarist in the ocher cardigan who stood in front of me.  He also plays keys.  At one point he and Benton shares soloing duties which sounded pretty great.

Indeed, all of the songs were enjoyable.  And there was a good variety in the songs.  I didn’t catch song title, but while there were some real Stomping cuts they also changed up their delivery style with slower rockers like this one. I was also intrigued by Benton’s voice, because it sounded quite different depending on the song.  And yet it never sounded quite as deadpan as he did with LVL UP.

Benton was an entertaining frontman as well.  He joked (or maybe not) that he was happy to be there except that he was missing The Bachelor.  There was also a funny moment in the middle of their set when someone started chanting “one more song” like they do for encores.  But mid-set it came across as very funny and Benton was certainly in on the joke, “Sorry to disappoint you….”

I enjoyed their set quite a bit.

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