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Archive for the ‘Venues’ Category

The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses: Master Quest (Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, September 25, 2016)

Posted in C., Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, Pokémon Go, Pokemon, The Legend of Zelda on September 25, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 25, 2016] The Legend of Zelda

legendBack in the summer we took the kids to the Mann Center to see Symphonic Pokémon.  And it was pretty great.  Well, the Mann Center closed its season with a symphonic Legend of Zelda performance.  C. has been a big Zelda fan for a couple of years (he loves the soundtrack particularly), so it seemed like an obvious show to go to.

Our one regret is that it was on a Sunday night which meant we didn’t get home until 11, which is just too late for a school night (especially since earlier in the week we took the kids to see “Weird Al” and got home even later–terrible parents, yes, but pretty cool parents).  But that was the only regret we had.

The show was fantastic.  C. even wore his Zelda Halloween costume (and brought his home-made cardboard sword–which passed security thankfully).  And he was not the only one in costume–some people were very seriously dressed for this event. (more…)

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Band of Horses (The Fillmore, Philadelphia, PA, September 24, 2016)

Posted in Band of Horses, Beck, J. Mascis, Neil Young, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia on September 24, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 24, 2016] Band of Horses

2016-09-24-22-06-57This is our third time seeing Band of Horses in three years.  Sarah and I loved their first three albums a lot, so in 2004 when XPNFest announced they were opening for Beck, we knew it was an amazing pairing.  They were great and we decided we needed to see them as the headliners.  The following year, they came back although this time opening for Neil Young.  We were going to see Neil anyway, so it was even better that BoH was opening.  But that set was shorter than the first!  We needed the full experience.

One year later, the busiest weekend we’ve had in a long time, and BoH was squeezed right into the middle of it.

We love The Fillmore in Philly, it’s a great venue with really good sound (and nice parking).  So it was a great place to hear the soaring vocals of Ben Bridwell.and the rest of the band.

The show was an outstanding mix of songs from four of their albums (turns out that their previous album Mirage Rock has been largely dismissed by the band and they don’t play much from it anymore).  And that’s fine because the four albums are awesome. (more…)

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Restorations (The Fillmore, Philadelphia, PA, September 24, 2016) [BAND OF HORSES]

Posted in Band of Horses, Philadelphia, PA, Restorations, The Fillmore Philadelphia on September 24, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 24, 2016] Restorations

2016-09-24-20-25-47Restorations opened for Band of Horses.  They’re from Philadelphia, but I didn’t know them at all.  At the end of the set the singer said that they used to practice around the corner from the venue and that it was a real trip playing here.  So that was fun.

Before the show, I looked them up and saw them described as alternative, punk and post-hardcore. I was expecting a really heavy rocking band.  But somehow, when they opened for Band of Horses, they sounded a lot more like…Band of Horses.  I’ve been listening to their stuff on the site and I’d say there’s something about the guitars of “Misprint” that reminded me of BoH.

On their studio albums, lead singer Jon Loudon has a gravelly voice, but it didn’t quite sound that way live for some reason.  And the music had the soaring quality of Band of Horses’ more rocking songs.

And it was great.  They were definitely heavier than BoH, but the overall vibe worked perfectly.

The drummer in particular played some great rhythms and really bashed the hell out of the kit.  But the whole band played well off each other.  There were quite a few guitars, occasional keys and a small horn section.

Loudon said that the trumpeter and trombonist who were on stage were playing live with them for the first time.  They added a nice touch but were not mic’d so it wasn’t always easy to hear them.  But when they came through it was good.

I don’t know any of their songs, so I can’t give a setlist, but According to some recent shows, the songs they’ve been playing are:  New Old, The Plan, Separate Songs, West River, Misprint, D, A, Let’s Blow Up the Sun, The Future, Tiny Prayers and Documents.  Confirmation of lyrics shows I have a 20 second clip of “Tiny Prayers” here.

I’ve been listening to their stuff on their tumblr site (it tickles me that their albums are called Restorations, LP2 and LP3) and it’s really good.

They were a great complement to Band of Horses (Ben Bridwell also raved about them when he came on stage) and I’m excited to hear more from them.2016-09-24-20-17-01

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“Weird Al” Yankovic (Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Bethlehem, PA, September 20, 2016)

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Bethlehem, PA, C., Eminem, Funny (ha ha), Michael Stipe, Sands Bethlehem Event Center, T. on September 20, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 20, 2016] “WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC

2016-09-20-19-37-57Back on June 16, 2015, Sarah and I took the kids to this very venue to see “Weird Al” perform.  He is (amazingly) still touring the Mandatory Fun World Tour, and he made another stop in Bethlehem en route to Radio City Music Hall.  I wasn’t planning on going this time since I know that his shows from the same tour are identical.  But when I learned that my friend Matt and many members of his family were going to go, it sounded like a fun celebration.  So we bought some tickets (not 3rd row like last time, although 13th row isn’t too shabby, it turns out), and met our friends for a fun night.

The Sands is a casino, and we were going to eat in one of the fancier restaurants lining the casino.  Well, PA state law says that a security guard must accompany minors around the casino.  So we got an escort to the Chinese Food place.  Then we sat down, were shocked at the prices–seriously shocked. I mean, it’s a casino, but c’mon it’s Bethlehem, there’s no way any Chinese Food is worth $28 a plate.  So we walked out (a first for me) and got escorted back to the food court where we ate overpriced food court Chinese Food instead.

Then we went in and were pleased with our seats and our neighbors.  And then the show started. (more…)

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Ben Folds and a Piano (Mayo Performing Arts Center, Morristown, NJ, September 18, 2016)

Posted in Ben Folds, Mayo Performing Arts Center, Morristown, NJ on September 19, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 18, 2016] Ben Folds and a Piano

2016-09-18-22-37-01Back in July, we saw Ben Folds play with yMusic at Steel Stacks in Bethlehem.  We were about ten feet from the stage and it was terrific.  Before the show or perhaps just after, he announced that he’d be doing a solo tour in the fall.  And even though we were literally watching him, I decided to get us tickets for that show as well, because it was going to be just him and his piano.  What could be better?

For this show, at the lovely MayoPAC (the sound was amazing), our seats were much further away.  But unlike with yMusic, this time, he and his piano faced sideways.  And our seats were dead center, so we could watch him bang the hell out of that piano.  We could see every trill, every stomp and every riff. It was a perfect view.

Of course it being a dark theater, I was respectful of my neighbors and took only two pictures and only right after he sat down to start the second set.  Not to mention, a venue like that gives you crap photos anyway…witness the one below.

He started out playing a few rockers (watching him pound the piano keys is so cool since even when he is pounding with his fist (or his arm!), he’s always right in tune somehow).  He opened with “Annie Waits,” one of Sarah’s favorites by him, and one we’d never head before.  It was pretty great and set the tone for a fantastic set.

He complemented our ability to get the “clap” in the song solidly on time.  And because of that, he imagined we’d be up for a four-part harmony challenge.  So when he played “Bastard” he had us do the challenge–four vocals parts for people with different ranges.  It was really fun.  One thing I’ve always admired about Ben is how he really encourages his audience to sing along.  He seems to genuinely want people to sing (not just a cursory scream of the chorus), but like he’s trying to get people I who think the can’t sing to realize that maybe they can. (more…)

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The Claypool Lennon Delirium (The Fillmore, Philadelphia, August 31, 2016)

Posted in Dean Ween, Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, King Crimson, Les Claypool, Marco Benevento, Philadelphia, PA, Pink Floyd, Pokémon Go, Sean Lennon, The Claypool Lennon Delirium, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Les Claypool Frog Brigade, Ween, Yes on September 1, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 31, 2016] The Claypool Lennon Delirium

2016-08-31 22.23.17I saw Primus back in 1990 or so.  I’ve been a fan ever since but I’ve never seen them live again.  In 2015, Primus was touring with Sean Lennon’s band Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger (who are really good, too) but my schedule conflicted so I couldn’t go.  When I heard that The Claypool Lennon Delirium were playing in Philly, I snapped up tickets.

During the above tour, Les Claypool and Sean Lennon got together to make a song and they enjoyed playing so much that they made a whole album.  And it’s as trippy and weird, as you might expect.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from them live.  I mean, it seemed like it would be an insane spectacle (Primus had recently toured Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory which was a real spectacle).  In comparison to what I imagined the show would be like, it was pretty subdued.  The backdrop was three (non-changing) banners, and aside from switching guitars and basses a few times, there wasn’t a lot of shenanigans.  In fact, the usually loquacious Les barely said more than a few words the whole night.  When he first came out he said Hello Philly and commented that we were all staring at him.  And that was pretty much it.

Because it was all about the music.  And the music was really freaking good.  There was a ton of jamming–with each guy showing off.  Les was Les and Sean really wailed on his guitar and effects.  From the picture you can see what appear to be tablets in front of them.  Were they for lyrics or chords or were they playing Pokémon Go?  Who knows. (more…)

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Marco Benevento (The Fillmore, Philadelphia, August 31, 2016) [THE CLAYPOOL LENNON DELIRIUM]

Posted in Dan Deacon, Karina Rykman, Marco Benevento, Philadelphia, PA, Sonic Youth, The Fall, The Fillmore Philadelphia, Ween on September 1, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 31, 2016] Marco Benevento

2016-08-31 20.40.39I’d never heard of Marco Benevento before this show.  I looked him up before the show and listened to one song and thought it sounded okay.  Because of a tight security force (understandable in light of recent events), I missed the opening few minutes of his set, but he played for nearly an hour, so I got a full taste of Marco’s music.

And Marco is a performer. Sitting at a modified piano in a black and white striped suit, he conducted his trio through long, groovy songs.  Andre Borger played drums.  And I was struck as soon as I walked in at how great and wild the drums were.  Many songs had a click track of some sort (I think more just electronic noises on repeat), but Borger dominated the rhythm–playing great fills and smashing the hell out of everything in sight.

But the real star of the show was bassist Karina Rykman. (more…)

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Pearl Jam (Fenway Park, Boston, MA, August 7, 2016 & Ten Club Screening of August 5 show, House of Blues, Boston, MA, August 6, 2016)

Posted in Aerosmith, Boston, MA, Dinosaur Jr., Fenway Park, Happy Birthday, House of Blues, J. Mascis, Neil Young, Pearl Jam, Phish, Pink Floyd, Rocky, Sleater-Kinney, The Ramones, The Who, Tom Waits, Victoria Williams, Wells Fargo Center, WMMR 93.3 FM--Philadelphia, PA on August 7, 2016| 1 Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 7, 2016] Pearl Jam

2016-08-07 18.26.10After the excitement of seeing Pearl Jam at the Wells Fargo Center, we were psyched out of our minds to go to Fenway.  I didn’t realize that Fenway has a regular concert series.  I’d assumed that Pearl Jam were the first band to play there–they weren’t–but that didn’t detract in any way from the coolness of the venue.

Neither of us are baseball fans, although when I lived in Boston two decades ago, I did attend a couple of games at Fenway because it is a landmark (and when I was a kid I loved baseball, so duh).  But we knew that the venue would make the show even more special.

We’d have loved to have gone to both shows, but unlike some people, we couldn’t get tickets for both nights.  However, through a small piece of luck, I won tickets to a screening of Friday night’s show on Saturday night.  What?  Well, each night is filmed.  So the film crew filmed Friday night, then edited the footage together and had it ready on the next night as a really nicely edited package at the House of Blues (across the street from Fenway) on Saturday night.

It seemed kind of dumb to go to a music venue to watch a movie.  And Sarah and I were skeptical about going.  But we did and we had a  great time.  I’ve watched live DVDs and it’s always an okay thing to do–fun, but never like you were really there. But this was different. Having a group of some 600 people in a club–with bars and good lighting and excellent sound–it made it feel (almost) like a real concert.  And even though we laughed at the people who were clapping and cheering (as if the band were actually there), and taking videos of the screen (my battery died or I would have grabbed a few screen shots too), we were caught up in the excitement on several occasions as well. (more…)

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Deftones (Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Bethlehem, PA, August 2, 2016)

Posted in Bethlehem, PA, Deftones, Sands Bethlehem Event Center, The Smiths on August 3, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 2, 2016] Deftones

2016-08-02 23.24.33I tend to not go to metal shows all that often, but there have been a few bands that I’ve really wanted to see.  Mastodon was one and Deftones was the other.  I’ve loved just about everything Deftones have done since the super heavy “My Own Summer” and then the major turn they took into an almost shoegaze vibe on their later albums.  They are never afraid to experiment and their albums are always compelling.  Much of that is due to singer Chino Moreno’s voice.  He can whisper and sing beautifully and he can scream like nobody I’ve ever heard.  And all of that was on display last night.

Top it off with Chino being an incredibly charming and gracious frontman (who seemed to be more than enjoying himself) and you have an outstanding show.

The band sounded great.  I was right in front of guitarist Stephen Carpenter and it was amazing to watch the sounds he was making out of his eight string (8!) guitar.  I couldn’t really see bassist Sergio Vega all that well, although I was delighted that he was wearing a Smiths shirt and was singing great harmonies. (more…)

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Refused (Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Bethlehem, PA, August 2, 2016) [DEFTONES]

Posted in Bethlehem, PA, Deftones, Refused, Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Spotlights on August 2, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 2, 2016] Refused

2016-08-02 21.06.30I had never heard of Refused before this show.  I looked them up and saw that they are a Swedish punk band who supports pretty radical ideas.  The thing I missed though was that their most well known album, The Shape of Punk to Come, came out in 1998!

The band broke up right after that album (their 3rd).  They reunited in 2012 with much the same lineup (there had been some different band member in the original days as well).  Last year they put out a new album and here they were touring with Deftones.

From the little I’d read, it sounded like they were a hardcore band.  So I had very specific expectations.  But they were instantly dashed when I heard the very metal riffage that the guitarists produced. (more…)

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