Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Venues’ Category

Kim Gordon and the Collective (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, June 14, 2024)

Posted in Bill Nace, Kim Gordon, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on June 15, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 14, 2024] Kim Gordon 

I could have seen Kim Gordon a couple of years ago but didn’t get a ticket (and then we went out to something else that night anyway),

I’m not sure what that show was like and I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect for this show either.

I hadn’t really listened to her new album and I’m not entirely sure that I needed to, because I feel like her live band transcended the beats-n-effects of the album.

Kim’s band was fantastic.  They all looked like they could have been teenagers (they’re not) and they made an exquisite noise that was not like Sonic Youth in any way but spirit.  And yet, it was noisy and delicious, with guitars that didn’t sound like guitars, snyths that spanned the gamut of sounds and a drummer who bashed and bashed.

I loved watching guitarist Sarah Register (who was in my sight line while I looked at Kim) play…everything.  She played chords of course, but also played shapes and sounds and scrapes and everything.  It wasn’t like watching Thurston and Lee, it was far more controlled.  But it was awesome.

Bassist Camilla Charlesworth doubled occasionally on electronics (apparently, she was responsible for the the nagging John Carpenter-like synth stabs on “Bye Bye”, although it was impossible to know who was playing what half of the time.  She played a great fuzzy almost electronic sounding low end, both on the bass and on the synths

And drummer Madi Vogt , whom I was closest to, was a machine, pummeling the drums and then pulling back when the songs got quiet.

I’m focusing on the band because I went there to see Kim and was amazed at how much I was impressed by the band.  Kim herself was pure Kim–very cool, very much in control.

She played occasional guitar and mostly recited lyrics (that I think she had written on the book in front of her).  It’s a testament to Kim that she was the least interested person on stage and yet I couldn’t take my eyes off of her, she has that much charisma.

Given Kim’s diverse recording history and tendency towards out-there avant garde, I wasn’t really sure what I’d be getting at this show.  This set was nothing that I was expecting and was far better than anything I had hoped for.  And I have since followed everyone of her backing band to see what else they get up to.

  1. BYE BYE ©
  2. The Candy House ©
  3. I Don’t Miss My Mind ©
  4. I’m a Man ©
  5. Trophies ©
  6. It’s Dark Inside ©
  7. Psychedelic Orgasm ©
  8. Tree House ©
  9. Shelf Warmer ©
  10. The Believers ©
  11. Dream Dollar ©
    Encore:
  12. Air BnB Ø
  13. Paprika Pony Ø
  14. Cookie Butter Ø
  15. Hungry Baby Ø
  16. Grass Jeans §
  17. BYE BYE ©

© The Collective (2024)
Ø No Home Record (2019)
§ Single (2021)

Read Full Post »

Lower Wolves / Coca Leaves & Pearls (Kung Fu Necktie, Philadelphia, PA, June 14, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Kung Fu Necktie, Philadelphia, PA on June 14, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 14, 2022] Lower Wolves / Coca Leaves & Pearls

Again, I don’t care much for cover bands, but this one looked kind of interesting, mostly because Chris Forsyth is in Coca Leaves & Pearls.

But the two bands together were probably a good time.  It was a slim chance that I was goingto go to this and when Kim Gordon was announced for the same night, I knew I wouldn’t be going.

But that is my favorite R.E.M. period as well.

Lower Wolves
Focusing on R.E.M.’s early period as a beloved college/alternative live act, Lower Wolves perform R.E.M. covers from the years 1982-1987. A typical set includes album tracks, singles and obscurities delivered with the energy and intensity that characterized R.E.M.’s live shows in the 1980s.

Coca Leaves & Pearls
Featuring guitarist Chris Forsyth and members of Florry and Radar Honey, Coca Leaves & Pearls is a tribute to the spirit and vibe of 1970s Neil Young and Crazy Horse, particularly offering a guided tour of Neil’s mid-1970s years in “the ditch.”

Read Full Post »

The Musical Box (Keswick Theatre, Glenside, PA, June 14, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Genesis, Glenside, PA, Keswick Theatre, The Musical Box on June 14, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 14, 2024] The Musical Box

I’ve said many times that I don’t go to see cover bands.  But this cover band who plays early, prog Genesis, was an exception.

I saw them earlier this year (my first show of the new year) and loved it.

As I said,

I’m so glad I went to this show.  And I would absolutely see them again.  It’s crazy to think that they have been together for 30 years.  A cover band that is older than most other bands!

I didn’t go to this show for two reasons.  The first was that I don’t really love Keswick Theatre.  It’s also really inconvenient to get to.  The second, later reason, is that Kim Gordon played the same night, and I wasn’t going to miss her.

 

Read Full Post »

Bill Nace (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, June 14, 2024) [KIM GORDON]

Posted in Bill Nace, Kim Gordon, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on June 14, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 14, 2024] Bill Nace

Kim and Bill Nace toured in 2022.  Bill was also in the band Body/Head with Kim.  I saw him play in a jam session with Chris Forsyth in which he played the Suzuki Ran–an Electric Taishogoto.  When he played with Forsyth I worte

It sounded like a bunch of noise, honestly—there were some loud and wild effects on it.  It also drowned out Forsyth’s guitar.

For this show, Nace came out with this same instrument.  It has keys that you press and strings that you strum or bow.  Nace used a bow and turned the distortion and effects up to max and then played noise for about fifteen minutes.  Then he put the bow down, turned the Ran so it was more like a piano and played the same note–tapping the same key–for about 8 minutes.

I did not enjoy the set at all.  Which is a little odd since I do enjoy experimental music.  But this seemed to be more of a joke or a punishment than anything else.

Read Full Post »

Pixies / Modest Mouse / Cat Power (TD Pavillion @ The Mann Center, Philadelphia, PA, June 12, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Cat Power, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Modest Mouse, Philadelphia, PA, Pixies on June 12, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 12, 2024] Pixies / Modest Mouse / Cat Power

This is the same tour that was going on last summer.  I was vaguely interested in it, but knew I wouldn’t go.   Here’s the same thing I wrote last summer.

I saw Pixies for the first time in 28 years at The Stone Pony Summer Stage and it was glorious.  I’ve since seen them two more times and I don’t feel the need to ever see them again.  Even though each show has been very good, and there is some mixing up of songs, I feel like I’ve seen everything they’re going to show me.

I would see Modest Mouse every time they came around.  The shows are totally different and each one feels like a new version of the band.

I have never really liked Cat Power (blasphemy!).  She just doesn’t do anything for me.

With this line up, the nays overrode the yeas.

 

Read Full Post »

Melt-Banana (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, June 6, 2024)

Posted in babybaby_explores, Melt-Banana, Philadelphia, PA, The Flying Luttenbachers, Tomato Flower, Underground Arts on June 9, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 6, 2024] Melt-Banana

I’ve known about Melt-Banana for years.  I knew they were loud and fast and were from Japan.  But I didn’t know much beyond that.  Turns out they’ve never had a permanent drummer.  They like the freedom of a drum machine.  For over twenty years they had a bass player (Rika Hamamoto) but when they decided to tour again recently, they decided to go just as as duo Yasuko Onuki – vocals and Ichiro Agata – guitars, effects.

I saw them nine months ago when they opened for Igorrr.  I knew they toured a lot but I didn’t think they’d be back again as a headline act.

This show was really really packed and I was on the side of the stage so I didn’t really see all that much, but since there’s only two of them, it was actually not a bad place to stand.

The set wasn’t radically different from the last time I saw them.  I wrote:

After getting all of their gear set up, Yasuko calmly stood with a colorful videogame controller looking device in her hand.  A wall of amps and a laptop behind her.  Off to her left a few feet was Ichiro, with a guitar, a huge array of pedals and his own wall of amps.

He played fast and he looped his sounds and did a million things most of which I can’t even fathom.  Yasuko had her device and from time to time, she would wave her hand and presumably push a button on the gadget and the drums and bass blasted out of the speakers.  And these drums sounded great–they sounded real and not like a preprogrammed device.  I actually wondered if they were somehow triggering the drumset that was set up behind them (they weren’t).

Yasuko sings very high, very fast and sounds kind of angry.  But she never looked angry.  And she never broke a sweat (while Ichiro was a sweaty mess).

They played a whole bunch of songs, I can’t even imagine how anyone could tell them apart.  But someone did, as the setlist below is from the NY show but I believe it is the same (or roughly so) of ours–comparing my clips to what the songs are, it seems like the setlist was the same each night.

(more…)

Read Full Post »

The Flying Luttenbachers (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, June 6, 2024) [MELT-BANANA]

Posted in babybaby_explores, Melt-Banana, Philadelphia, PA, The Flying Luttenbachers, Tomato Flower, Underground Arts on June 8, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 6, 2024] The Flying Luttenbachers

The Flying Luttenbachers are an American instrumental unit led by multi-instrumentalist, composer, improviser and producer Weasel Walter. They focus on noise and dissonance, but surprisingly composed and controlled, almost like jazz punk.   And I see that they have been around since 1992!

I wish I was in a better place for this band–I was too far off to the side to see Weasel Walter doing his thing and drummer was obscured from time to time.  But I had a great view of bassist who was a maniac seemingly doing his own thing but always perfectly n synch with the other when needed.

They opened the show with a wall of noise.  Thunderous drumming from James Paul Nadien, rumbling bass from Luke Polipnick and screaming guitars. (more…)

Read Full Post »

TAGABOW / Hotline TNT / Fib / Menu (Ukie Club, Philadelphia, PA, June 8, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Fib, Hotline TNT, Johnny Brenda's, Menu, Philadelphia, PA, Tagabow on June 8, 2024|

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 8, 2024] TAGABOW / Hotline TNT / Fib / Menu

This was my third missed show at the Ukie Club in a month.  Each one is a show I really wanted to go to.  Although as it turns out, this one was probably the least most interesting one of the three.  I was mostly interested in seeing Hotline TNT who I’ve really been enjoying over the last few months.

TAGABOW I hadn’t heard of until the Slide Away Festival in Aptil–their set was really good (having seen the video).

The other two bands I hadn’t heard of at all.  They are new(ish) indie bands from Philly.

The night’s tickets went to Palestinian Relief, so I didn’t mind getting a ticket since the money went to a good cause.

On the night of I just decided I didn’t really want to go to a full night of bands, even if I would have liked it.  And, watching the videos below, I think I would have.

TAGABOW (They Are Gutting a Body of Water) is a Philly-based shoegaze band that I’ve never heard of.  They seem to be on the noisier side of shoegaze–heavier guitars, more wild distortion, extra noises.   Wikipedia says that genres besides shoegaze that have influenced the band include drum and bass, breakcore, jungle, and reggaeton, which could certainly explain some of the noisier components.

Hotline TNT plays what I can only describe as classic shoegaze, which is definitely having a moment again.  Unlike a lot of their contemporaries, they don’t really mess with the classic shoegaze vibe all that much–not adding elements at all.  Their music warms my heart and I’d love to see them live.

Fib Philadelphia rock band. Logan, charlie, gage, and Damien.  They play noisy, somewhat abrasive rock, with vocals!

I didn’t know Menu at all(they are rather hard to search for online as well).  I enjoyed their set (from the video below) which is the kind of lurching, somewhat off-kilter indie rock that makes me happy.  The first four songs are instrumental, but the fifth does have a few screamed words.

Rampaging post punk from Philadelphia, PA.  Fast guitars like shooting laser blasters. Tracked at home.  This most memorable Rock Band burns bright, quickly leaving you to wonder where it’s gone. We love T.V., just like we’re supposed to

And here’s videos of all four sets from Wallace, Watches!

TAGABOW full set from Wallace, Watches!

0:00 – Intro 0:32 – lude 1 2:24 – 63 skies 6:50 – lude 2 9:40 – texas instruments 11:40 – lude 3 13:49 – eightball 16:35 – lude 4 18:33 – violence I 22:15 – a wasp appears 24:15 – lude 5 27:00 – behind the waterfall 32:20 – closing

Hotline TNT full set from Wallace, Watches!
0:00 – Intro 1:00 – Protocol 7:30 – Son In Law 10:33 – I Thought You’d Change 13:40 – Candle (Unreleased) 18:00 – Stampede 22:10 – “Philadelphia…” 22:40 – Trinity 28:05 – Are You Faded? 33:00 – History Channel 38:10 – Had 2 Try
Fib full set from Wallace, Watches!
0:00 – Outro 3:53 – Taking the Piss 5:49 – Bedside 7:30 – Dotted Line 10:07 – Jam 11:26 – We’re Only in it For the Money 15:36 – Heavy Lifting 19:01 – Real Heat 22:50 – Unknown 1
Menu full set from Wallace, Watches!
0:00 – Intro 0:55 – Song 1 3:35 – Song 2 6:12 – Song 3 9:42 – Song 4 11:04 – Song 5 12:22 – Song 6 15:01 – Peter 17:40 – Sorcery

Read Full Post »

An Intimate Evening With… The Antlers + Okkervil River (Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, June 7, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, Okkervil River, The Antlers on June 7, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 7, 2024] An Intimate Evening With… The Antlers + Okkervil River

I have been interested in seeing Okkervil River, but not aggressively so.  Will Sheff plays in the area a bunch, both as a solo artist and as Okkervil, but I’ve never been fully motivated to go.

The Antlers have been around for awhile and their 2009 album received some buzz.  But when I discovered that main composer Peter Silberman described ‘Hospice’ as the story of an emotionally abusive relationship, told through the analogy of a hospice worker and a terminally-ill patient, I stayed far away from that depressing saga.   Ever since I’ve just assumed their music is sad and depressing and I’m not willing to investigate further.

So this show was a no-go for me. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Say She She / Carly Moffa (Concerts Under the Stars series Upper Merion Township Building Park, King of Prussia, PA, June 7, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Concerts Under the Stars series, Kendra Morris, King of Prussia PA, Philadelphia, PA, Say She She, Upper Merion Township Building Park on June 7, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 7, 2024] Say She She / Kendra Morris

My wife has been really enjoying Say She She as of late.  I was a little surprised that they hadn’t done a show in Philly in a little while and then it was announced that they were playing the Summer Concert Series in Camden County. I had been to this location once two years ago and really liked it.

We didn’t make that show (rain).  But two days later they were playing at another outdoor event.  This one was not free and we decided that King of Prussia was a little too far away.  So we missed this one as well.

Kendra Morris is a New York based songwriter.  She compares nicely to the soulful side of Say She She.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »