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Archive for the ‘Venues’ Category

Lucius: A History Worth Repeating: Songs and Stories (McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ, March 27, 2026)

Posted in Bon Iver, Joni Mitchell, Lucius, McCarter Theatre, Pink Floyd, Princeton, NJ, Roger Waters, Wilco on March 27, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 27, 2026] Lucius

My wife and I saw Lucius 10 months ago and we really enjoyed the set (she didn’t really know them and became an instant fan after the show).  When they announced a show in Princeton, I grabbed a ticket immediately.  Even if it was going to be the same show,  I wanted to experience it again.

Bu it turned out that this was an entirely different show–a retrospective of songs and stories.  Just like Taylor Swift, or more in my orbit, just like Guster.  When Guster did their We Have Eras Too tour, they created a narrative, telling stories between the songs and acting out little skits.  Lucius did basically the same thing (with no skits and a bit more melancholy).

The stage was spare but interesting.  There were three sections–a couch, a piano and a microphone and behind the instruments was a series of (I assume) the various costumes that the woman wore over the years on mannequins.

The lights went dark and Holly and Jess began talking.  I assumed it was a recording because there were no lights but I was pretty sure I saw them walk to the piano.  The narration was done as diary entries (we wondered if they were the actual dairies or a cotemporary edited version (not that it matters)).  They told us about how they met (Berklee) and how they got the band name (Jess’ dog was called Lucius–which leaves out why the dog was name Lucius, of course).

They told about how a friend suggested they sing at the same time (their signature sound) and how they wrote an early EP called Songs from Bromley House.  They sang a song called Shenandoah (Not the traditional one) and played piano.  It was spare and lovely.

Then they introduced the two guys who would be playing with them that night.  Guitarist Peter Lalish and bassist Solomon Dorsey (that’s right, no drums).  They sat at a couch and played the Bon Iver song “Skinny Love” and talked about the apartment they were living in in NYC.  (more…)

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Tigers Jaw / Hot Flash Heat Wave / Creeks (solo) (The Arrow, Allentown, PA, March 27, 2026/Crossroads, Garwood, NJ, April 5, 2026/Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, April 16, 2026)

Posted in Allentown PA, Creeks, Crossroads, Garwood, NJ, Grist Mil, Philadelphia, PA, The Arrow, Tigers Jaw, Union Transfer on March 27, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: March 27, April 5 & April 16, 2026] Tigers Jaw / Hot Flash Heat Wave / Creeks (solo)

About five years ago, I had seen Tigers Jaw two times in about a year.  I enjoyed both shows quite a lot but haven’t felt compelled to see them again for whatever reason.  Looking back I definitely enjoyed both shows,  But I guess there are just bands that I like better.

Checking out their tour dates, I am fascinated by the fact that, if I had wanted to, I could have seen them three times spaced apart far enough that it wouldn’t have been like seeing them three nights in a row.  They started in NY, then played Allentown.  They went up the coast to Maine and CT and then New York City and a week after Allentown they popped into Garwood.  Then they went down the east coast to Florida and back and played their second to last date in Philly.  Three area shows in 20 days!

Hot Flash Heat Wave are a  California based power pop band with a pleasant mix of post-punk and smooth emo.  The review from Troy, NY says

the group had a new-wave rock vibe to them, reminding me of a lighter-hearted version of The Smiths. The energy got heavier later on, with one of the vocalists jumping into the tight crowd in a way that was akin to a hardcore performance.

They have a retro synthy vibe and are definitely fun.  I see their older stuff is more guitar based.  So who knows what this set was like

WXPN says Hot Flash Heat Wave’s music contains surf rock staples, new wave vocal patterns, and a touch of grunge on top of them being seriously unserious on stage. Arguably, they’ve created a new subgenre of hyper pop perfect for the Tigers Jaw millennials that like to dance.

Creeks is the solo project of Jon Simmons from Balance & Composure (who are broken up, I guess).  Creeks is a band, but he was solo for these shows.

Turns out Grist Mil stepped up to fill the first slot, last minute in Allentown.  I hadn’t heard of them, but this review from Hashtag says

Grist Mil has created the perfect chill record to soundtrack the start of summer. Waves of haze and distortion move across guitars, crossing paths with bright synthesizers and emotionally packed lyrics. Fresh off shows supporting Balance and Composure and Oso Oso, fans of both bands will find appeal in the music of Grist Mil, also striking similarities to indie-electronic acts like M83, and blips of shoegaze and more pop-forward elements. The EP is written in concept, following through the main character’s tumultuous journey.

I listened to a couple songs–catchy but lo fi.  Nice.

The Crossroads show was an album release show for Tigers Jaw.

If I had thought about it more I might have tried to get to one of these shows, but at the very least Union Trasnfer sold out, so they didn’t miss me.

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The Teeth / Lindsey Noel (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, March 27, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Johnny Brenda's, Lindsey Noel, Philadelphia, PA, The Teeth on March 27, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: March 27, 2026] The Teeth / Lindsey Noel

It was nearly two years ago that I first heard of The Teeth when they played Johnny Brenda’s and sold out before I even knew who they were.  But this year I managed to score a ticket for their second of two nights.  For this show that I didn’t go to, they had Lindsey Noel opening for them again.

Here’s what I wrote in 2024.

I had never heard of The Teeth before I saw that they had sold out three nights at Johnny Brenda’s months and months before these shows happened.

So who were they?

The Teeth was an indie rock band from Philadelphia consisting of twin brothers Aaron MoDavis on rhythm guitar and Peter MoDavis on bass.

After abruptly breaking up 15 years ago The Teeth are reuniting for a pair of special shows at Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia. Twin brothers Peter MoDavis (Bass) and Aaron MoDavis (guitar) will reassemble with Jonas Oesterle (drums) and Brian Ashby (guitar) on their favorite stage in the City of Brotherly Love.

Opening for this show was magician Lindsey Noel.  I watched a clip of her performing in front of Penn and Teller and it was quite good.  But what a weird opening act!

Here’s some more about The Teeth: (more…)

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Wanda Sykes (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, March 27, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia, Wanda Sykes on March 27, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: March 27, 2026] Wanda Sykes

Whenever I think about comedians that I like, they’re usually British.  Because I receive ads for comedy clubs, I feel like there are hundreds of American comedians and I don’t know any of them. So I forget that there are quite a few American comedians who I really like.  And Wanda Sykes is one of them.  I don’t know much about her standup, but she cracks me up whenever I see her.  I didn’t hear about this show until recently and we had had tickets to Lucius for quite a while already.

When I looked at the tour poster I saw that she was only doing six dates!  And Philly was one of them.  That makes me think she doesn’t tour very often and I’ll have to keep an eye out in case she comes back any time soon.

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Orcutt Shelley Miller (Solar Myth, Philadelphia PA, March 23, 2026)

Posted in Orcutt Shelley Miller, Philadelphia, PA, Solar Myth, What is New on March 24, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 23, 2026] Orcutt Shelley Miller

When I saw Thurston Moore about a decade ago, Steve Shelley was drumming for him.  I thought it would be fun to see each of the Sonic Youth members since I never got to see the band.  Then I saw Kim Gordon a few years ago.  And while I saw Lee Ranaldo decades ago, that doesn’t feel like it counts for various reasons.  But heck, an opportunity to see Steve Shelley again is not to be missed.

I didn’t know who Bill Orcutt was (and shame on me, I guess–he is best known for being in the band Harry Pussy).  I thought I didn’t know who Ethan Miller was, but then I realized I had seen him with Heron Oblivion about 8 years ago and I loved that set and I loved watching him.  But yes, the main draw of this trio for me was Steve Shelley.  Then I listened to their album and I loved it.

Bill Orcutt plays a loose, but great-sounding guitar.  It was fascinating to see that he has literally one pedal in front of him.  A small box which he stepped on from time to time.  I couldn’t really tell what the difference was after he stepped on it (maybe more distortion?), but overall the sound was great.  He played some wild solos–some seemingly on the verge of just nonsensical noise and yet he never let the sound get away from him.  But he also held back when there was a chance for Miller to play some soloing stuff.

Ethan Miller plays a small violin-shaped bass (a Höfner 500/1 Violin Bass) and the sound he gets from it is fantastic.  Unlike Orcutt, he has a bunch if gear.  He’s got some pedals that he messed around with and, in a moment of technological genius, I saw him turn on his phone and hold up a photo of his amp so he could set the dials to the exact specifications.  Miller is the only person who spoke (it must be 9 o’clock) and he seemed to having a really good time.

But not as good a time as Steve Shelley.  He smiles through the whole set, just seemingly thrilled to be playing drums.  It was such a treat to watch him.  And while his kit is pretty sparse, he really conveys a lot.

It was cool to watch Bill check in with Steve with a nod or glance that it was time to change tempo or end the songs. (more…)

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Gogol Bordello / Puzzled Panther / Boris and the Joy (Union Transfer, Philadelphia PA, March 24, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Boris and the Joy, Gogol Bordello, Philadelphia, PA, Punks, Puzzled Panther, Union Transfer on March 24, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: March 24, 2026] Gogol Bordello

I saw Gogol Bordello at Union Transfer almost exactly ten years ago.  I re-read my post about it and I said that I had a ton of fun, but my memory of it was that it was chaotic and crazy.  I haven’t really wanted to see them again even though I have a lot of respect for the band and I know that they live shows are amazing.

It was kind of a busy concert week so I didn’t even think about going.  It sounds like this show was all about their brand new album which I hadn’t listened to.  But I really should try to see them again one of these tours.

Puzzled Panther are from New York City.  Their debut EP was produced by Eugene Hütz.  The band is Led by Gen Z rockers Victoria Espinoza and Kay Bontempo, and often play as a duo (not sure if they were a fuller band for this tour).  Their bio says they are

generating a new wave of infectious blissed-out psychedelic mix of Madchester with the danceable frantic attack of New York post-punk

I don’t really hear that–they seem more of a simple punk sound.  It doesn’t really grab me, but maybe they’re more fun live.

Boris and the Joy is Boris Pelekh guitarist from Gogol Bordello who has a side project of indie-folk-electro-pop band Boris and the Joy.

Boris, the Ukrainian/Russian singer, composer and guitar player has toured the world as the guitarist of gypsy-punk band Gogol Bordello for a decade and fronting his own unit Hey Guy. His life’s journey and the philosophy of joy are the fibers of the emotionally colorful Boris & the Joy.

It’s pretty mellow–a stark change but probably a nice warm up.

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Hanabie (Theatre of Living Arts [TLA], Philadelphia, PA, March 21, 2026)

Posted in Enterprise Earth, 花冷え。, Hanabie, Nekrogoblikon, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts on March 23, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 21, 2026] Hanabie

I saw Hanabie [花冷え。] a year and a half ago when they opened for Jinjer.  They were great and they blew me away with their heaviness and with their mixture of heavy growls and J-Pop moments.

Hanabie [花冷え。] cpmbines loud and heavy music with Harajuku aesthetics in a style self-described as “Harajuku-core.”  They have been around since 2015 (when they started as a Maximum The Hormone cover band).  They have clean vocals and unclean vocals and the most fascinating thing is that singer Yukina does both!  She can sing in an incredibly high pitched voice and then shifts to a growl that would impress anyone.

Guitarist Matsuri also sings–and has a lovely voice.  She often sings super catchy chorus and bridge parts while Yukina adds to them.  Bassist Hettsu sings too and she has a lovely clean vocal style.  The three of them together are a dynamic force.  Drummer Chika is the newest member (they’ve had several drummers over the years).

Last time I wrote: Their fashion sense was pretty great too.  They were a great opening act and I would absolutely see them again–I hope as a headliner.

And here they were headlining.   They said it was their first time in Philadelphia, and Philadelphia was ready for them!  They had sold out the show and the crowd was 100% into it–pits and crowd surfing galore. (more…)

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What is Now (Solar Myth, Philadelphia PA, March 23, 2026) [ORCUTT SHELLEY MILLER]

Posted in Orcutt Shelley Miller, Philadelphia, PA, Solar Myth, What is New on March 23, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 23, 2026] What is Now 

I was excited to see Orcutt/Shelley/Miller and was made even happier when Chris Forsyth was listed as the opening act.  I’ve seen Chris in various forms five times and I love that he is creative and virtuosic but also experimental and noisy.  This show was with another group that he has recently gotten together with.  They are called What is Now and it’s a trio with double bassist John Moran (Bark Culture, Daniel Villareal Trio) and drummer Joey Sullivan (Florry, Bark Culture).

Solar Myth is a small venue and I’ve seen some loid shows here.  But this trio proved to be pretty quiet.  The played two pieces which I think were entirely improvised.

The first was about 20 minutes.  I enjoyed watching Chris wrangle his guitar–occasionally making pretty sounds, but largely making interesting experimental noises.

Joey Sullivan was fun to watch because he had a whole selection of gear on the piano next to him.  These included metal pieces that he put on his drums, a kind of spring that he hit and which rattled, and various other things that he put on the drum heads.

I was a little bummed that John Moran faced the other two guys because I was standing sort of in front of him and I never got to see him doing anything–except from the side.  So I could see his bow going back and forth (at one point he made a really noisy scraping “solo” that seemed to introduce a new part of the song.

After about 20 minutes the song wrapped up.  Chris said they would do one more–a quickie.  He asked Bo the sound guy how much time they had and Bo said “enough.”

So they started up a new song.  It was much the same but very different.  I really enjoyed the way the double bass seemed to be the component that held everything together while the guitar and drums seemed to roam around.

Is this jazz?  Maybe.  It’s noisy, occasionally gorgeous and mostly really interesting to watch.

And it’s always fun to chat with Chris after the show–he’s such a nice guy.

 

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An Evening with Geordie Greep (Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, March 22, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, Geordie Greep on March 22, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: February 18, 2026] Geordie Greep

Geordie Greep was one of the vocalists in Black Midi (who are no more and I’m really glad I got to see them when they came to the States).  He’s a fascinating dude with a fascinating voice.  When I saw that he was doing a solo tour, last year, I was really intrigued, but the shows sold out before I found out about them.

When this show at Ardmore was announced, I assumed it would also sell out in a second, so I quickly grabbed a ticket.  And as the show got closer, I realized that it was part of 1 of 5 shows I had in 5 days.  And it was also the night my son was going back to school.  So, I sacrificed this show for the greater good.

On the bright side, he is going to be playing Asbury Lanes in May, so I’ll get to see him there instead.

 

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Nekrogoblikon (Theatre of Living Arts [TLA], Philadelphia, PA, March 21, 2026) [HANABIE]

Posted in Enterprise Earth, Hanabie, Nekrogoblikon, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts on March 22, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 21, 2026] Nekrogoblikon

My son and his friend went to see Nekrogoblikon back in 2023.  I had wanted to see them, but opted not to tag along.  So I was pretty happy that the goblin band were opening this set.

I didn’t know much about them except that they had a goblin in the band.  And, indeed, they do.  They inflated a giant goblin head in the middle of the stage and after a few minutes the band came out.

I couldn’t see the keyboardist on the far side at all (because of the goblin head), but I was on the perfect side for seeing John Goblikon.  Evidently the band has changed over the years.  I assumed that John Goblikon was just a mascot or something.  But now he actually sings.  And the really surprising thing is that he sings clean vocals while the human singer sings insanely unclean vocals. And, actually that’s where the problem was for me.  Dickie Allen doesn’t growl or sing in a deep way.  Instead, his vocals are at the higher end of things and sound kind of strangled.  On record it’s weird and maybe a little funny.   But live, he sang so fast that I genuinely didn’t know if he was singing words or just making off-putting goblin sounds.

But when John Goblikon sang, he had a really good voice and his parts were surprisingly catchy.  In fact, most of the songs were pretty catchy. I just hated hearing the main singer sing.

Because John Goblikon was pretty funny–a convincing goblin mask and hands and he danced around and made rude gestures.  There was someone near me with a Nekrogoblikon hat (green with pointy ears), so there were definitely some fans.  (more…)

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