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Archive for the ‘Venues’ Category

Isenmor (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, June 21, 2024) [ISILIEL]

Posted in Isenmor, Isiliel, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA on June 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 21, 2024] Isenmor

I hadn’t heard of Isenmor before this show.  They are

a dual-violin-fronted Gewyrdelic Folc Metal. Isenmor fuses the heart of the Old World with the spirit of those who sought out new shores.

They were good fun, dressed in vaguely period and vaguely authentic-looking costumes (not in the picture on the right), the two lead violins (Nick Schneider & Mark Williams) were great fun.  They both played lead, but there was also Pete Lesko on lead guitar who played solo or in harmony with the violins.  There were two lead singers.  Schneider was also the main lead singer and Tim Regan the second guitarist also sang a few songs.  David Spencer was on drums.  Folk metal has lots of stylistic changes and the drums have to match up–slow and quiet or some hefty double bass action.  (Keyboardist Jon Lyon was absent).

There were a surprising number of technical issues.  From the start, bassist Mike Wilson told us that he broke his bass just before the show!  So he was playing a guitar (although I thought his bass sound was still really good).  There were also a few glitches with the drums.  But they dealt with the problems very well and during one pause Schneider played a ripping jog that got the crowd clapping along. (more…)

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Folly / Paulson / Teenage Halloween / The Best of the Worst / Silk Sheets (Crossroads, Garwood, NJ, June 21, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Crossroads, Folly, Garwood, NJ, Paulson, Silk Sheets, Teenage Halloween, The Best of the Worst on June 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 21, 2024] Folly / Paulson / Teenage Halloween / The Best of the Worst / Silk Sheets

I heard about this show because I saw Teenage Halloween open for THICK and really liked them.  I assumed they were headlining, but as more details came to light, they were in the middle of five bands I knew I wasn’t going to go.

Folly are a screaming punk band.

Hailing from northern NJ, Folly’s eclectic sound fuses the fury of hardcore, chaos of metal, urgency of punk rock, and jubilation of ska/reggae. They are known for their energized and immersive live shows,

Paulson was from Midland Park which is near where I grew up.  They apparently broke up many years ago and this is  their first show in 12 years.

The Best of the Worst are a new Jersey ska-core band.  So it’s screaming punk, with horns!

Silk Sheets are another Jersey band that are the loudest and most cathartic of the lineup.

Teenage Halloween definitely rocks, but they don;t seem to be quite heavy enough for this show.  This would have been exhausting.

 

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Airiel / Blushing / Bodywash (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, June 19, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Airiel, Blushing, Bodywash, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA on June 19, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 19, 2024] Airiel / Blushing / Bodywash

I saw Blushing open for Ringo Deathstarr and I really liked them a lot.  That was five years ago and I was ready to see them again.  Even if they were second on the bill.

I hadn’t heard of Airiel even though they’d been around for over twenty years.  They had been pretty dormant for much of it. so I guess its not too surprising.  I listened to some of their songs and really liked them. And then I felt as though I liked them a little less each time I listened again.

They describe their music as “It’s loud, it’s pretty and you can dance to it”

I was intrigued, but ultimately decided to stay home because I had gone out the two nights before and was going out the two nights after.

Bodywash play a shoegaze style (with synths) and two singers Chris Steward and Rosie Long Decter.  They are from Montreal. (more…)

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Kathleen Edwards / Ken Yates (Concerts Under the Stars series Upper Merion Township Building Park, King of Prussia, PA, June 19, 2024) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Concerts Under the Stars series, Kathleen Edwards, Ken Yates, King of Prussia PA, Philadelphia, PA, Upper Merion Township Building Park on June 19, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: June 19, 2024] Kathleen Edwards / Ken Yates [moved to July 24]

I once thought that I would never get to see Kathleen Edwards.  And then she resurfaced from her coffee shop and I saw her three times in a year.

I would have liked to see her at this show (I saw her at an outdoor show two years ago) but King of Prussia is really far.  And then the whole tour was postponed because she and her band ran into Visa issues (for the first time ever).

She managed to rescheduled the dates (I guess there’s a good reason to do short two week tours, they are much easier to reschedule).  (more…)

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Los Campesinos! (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, June 17, 2024)

Posted in Los Campesinos!, Philadelphia, PA, Short Fictions, Union Transfer on June 18, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 17. 2024] Los Campesinos!

I have been a fan of Los Campesinos! (who are actually Welsh) since their debut album.  But I have never seen them live.  I missed the 2022 show because our postponed Ben Folds concert was rescheduled to this evening.  Bummer.

I didn’t really follow them much after their first couple of albums, but their overall vibe hasn’t changed dramatically over the years.  They write funny, literate songs about loss disguised as really catchy scream along type anthems.

Singer Gareth David Paisey has a yelling kind of voice that is really fun to get behind.  (Util this year all of the band members used Campesinos as their last name, but now they acknowledge their actual names.

I had always thought they were a totally under the radar band.  But I was shocked to see how many people were at this show, in particular how many younger people were at this show. I mean, where do you hear about Los Campesinos! in 2024?  But everyone there knew all the words and shouted along.  It’s also fun to realize that most of the band has been with them since the beginning and the newer people are all in the band over ten years by this point.  Pitchfork describes their fan base

emo-curious indie adults, indie-curious emo kids, DIY scenesters and Genius annotators, avid consumers of hard cider and hard-left politics, obsessives of European football and American Football alike.

The new album All Hell is just as good if not better than their others.  The lyrics are still wordy and verbose with words like selenograph and phrases like “a cavalcade through antemortem, terminal suburban boredom.”  If these words appeal and you can imagine more or less screaming them over catchy melodies, then this is the band for you. (more…)

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Trans-Canada Highwaymen (World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA, June 18, 2024)

Posted in Barenaked Ladies, New Odds, Odds, Philadelphia, PA, Sloan, Steven Page, The New Odds, The Pursuit of Happiness, Trans-Canada Highwaymen, World Cafe Live, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on June 18, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 18, 2024] Trans-Canada Highwaymen

I was pretty thrilled when the “supergroup” of Trans-Canada Highwaymen formed.  I put that word in quotes because it’s likely that some (mostly non-Canadian) people don’t know half of the band.  But I was thrilled to have a guy from four terrific bands pooling themselves together.  And the fact that they were basically covering 70s AM radio hits was just a weird bonus.

I assumed they’d never tour the States.  But when they announced a show in Philly, I grabbed a ticket immediately.  I had no idea if it would sell well (it didn’t, really), but it there was a decent crowd and the people who were there were psyched (some a little too psyched).

There was no opening act.

We had seats in the third row (there were open eats in front of us).  But the row right in front of us was filled with about eight real keen Canadians who were crazy drunk and very loud.   It’s possible only we were bothered by them but I found them more annoying than fun.

But that’s fine, because the music was fantastic.

I’ve said before that I could listen to Steven Page sing anything.  So, having him start with an old BNL song was really fun.  It started with Steven and Craig Northey (from Odds) on guitar Moe Berg (from The Pursuit of Happiness) on bass and Chris Murphy (from Sloan) on drums.

By the end of the night everyone had played drums for at least two songs. (more…)

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Short Fictions (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, June 17, 2024) [LOS CAMPESIONS!]

Posted in Los Campesinos!, Philadelphia, PA, Short Fictions, Union Transfer on June 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 17. 2024] Short Fictions

I didn’t know Short Fictions before this show.

They have a similar vibe to Los Campesinos!  A kind of delightful chaos that resolves into really catchy songs.  With a trombone!  Anda  xylophone!

The band rocked in a kind of bouncy ramshackle way, singing songs with titles like “Living in Places Like These Can Be Bad for Your Health (Can’t Live Here Anymore)”

They were fun and funny, introducing “I’m Going to Kill Myself with a Gun” by saying that the singer’s mom begged them not  to play that horrible song. But what she doesn’t realize is that it’s about unfair wages and economic inequality!

Some of the songs, like “Wasting” rocked a little harder than other, but other songs are twitchy and weird but also somehow sing-along worthy.  And then a song like “Self Betterment in a Time of Loneliness” had a middle section where the band just went crazy with super fast drums and cymbals.  Jittery and punky and a lot of fun. (more…)

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Pallbearer / REZN / The Keening (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, June 16, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Pallbearer, Philadelphia, PA, REZN, The Keening, Underground Arts on June 16, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 16, 2024] Pallbearer / REZN / The Keening

I’m more or less done with going  to heavy metal shows.  There are still a few bands I’ll go to see, but overall, there’s not much left that I’m curious about.

Pallbearer are a doom metal band (a subgenre I find myself drawn to more than other subgenres), but they mix in elements of prog metal as well, which is a major draw for me.  I’ve never seen them, but I would very much like to.

I dithered about this show because I had a few other shows around it and wasn’t sure if I wanted to go out on a Sunday night.   Then about two weeks before the show I realized that this was Father’s Day, and I certainly wasn’t going to go to a metal show by myself on Father’s Day.

REZN is a band I didn’t know, but when I checked out a few songs I really liked them.  Angry Metal Guy describes

 an esoteric brand of psychedelic doom that finds unique ways to incorporate each member’s talents. Synth maestro Spencer Oulette boasts credits for piano, sax, and flute, and bassist Phil Cangelosi even busts out a rainstick to set the mood.

(more…)

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An evening with Lloyd Cole (World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA, Jun 15, 2024) [CANCELLED]

Posted in Lloyd Cole, Philadelphia, PA, World Cafe Live, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on June 15, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[CANCELLED: June 15, 2024] Lloyd Cole

I’ve never been a huge fan of Lloyd Cole, but I like a bunch of his songs.

My memory is really shaky on how I found out about him. I was certain that a friend of mine got me into him, but years later when I mentioned Lloyd Cole to her, she had no idea who he was.  Someone clearly introduced me to him, and I feel like I can picture the room that we listened to him in, but obviously I was wrong.

I haven’t really given Lloyd much thought over the last few years.  I wasn’t planning on going to this show (I mean, it was the same night as Man Man), but I was intrigued that he had cancelled the tour (as did Man Man–which made me briefly nervous that they knew something bad was happening).

But Lloyd’s reason were personal:

April 26, 2024

I’m taking some time away from music.I was sick on tour in Australia, I was sick on tour in Scandinavia, I’m sick again in Portugal. I have some kind of virus. This time my mental health has been impacted.I’m fine, for now, I’m on antibiotics. I have people to talk to. The plan is to get the seven Portuguese shows done. Then I’ll fly home early May.I need to address the root of the issue. I’d rather not go into details here. Honestly I don’t know exactly what’s going on but I’m pretty sure some major changes are needed in my lifestyle and work schedule. I’ll be consulting my MD and we’ll figure a plan. Most likely I’ll be in some kind of treatment facility for while, hopefully like The Magic Mountain.I’ve cancelled the US East Coast shows that were scheduled for June. I’m keeping May, June and July free to heal/recover. I look forward to some golf in Ireland in late August and then September solo shows in the Ireland and the UK. We’ll reschedule the cancelled US dates as quickly as we can.I’ll see you all in the Autumn.Sincerely,LC.

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Man Man (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, June 15, 2024) [TOUR CANCELLED]

Posted in Cancelled, Man Man, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on June 15, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[CANCELLED: June 15, 2024] Man Man

I was pretty thrilled to hear that Man Man had a new album out and that  they were touring it–June 15 at Underground Arts!

And then one day the show wasn’t listed anymore.  And when I went to Underground Arts for a different show, they told me it was cancelled.

It took a few days, but on May 23, they finally posted

Sorry to everyone who was looking forward to our upcoming US @manmanbandband tour. We’re gutted by the postponement. unforeseen circumstances took control of the wheel. Hopefully we’ll wrestle it back in the future. Our album still drops on June 7 & and we are so goddamn proud of it.”

So no explanation for the cancellation, but at least  thy acknowledged it and (one hopes) they will reschedule for next year.

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