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Archive for the ‘Venues’ Category

Metric: All the Feelings Tour (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 28, 2026)

Posted in Broken Social Scene, Metric, Philadelphia, PA, Stars, The Met Philadelphia on July 30, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 28, 2026] Metric

When this tour (dubbed All the Feelings) was announced, I knew I was going immediately.  Stars, Broken Social Scene and Metric?  Three great Canadian bands who have all played with each other?  It sounded wonderful.

I saw Metric back in 2022 and thought their show was fantastic.  Their album Fantasties was one of my favorite albums of 2009.  I hadn’t listened to their subsequent albums as much, but I really enjoyed that show.  And I was excited for this one.  Their new album is much more synth poppy, which I didn’t love.  But I figured it sounded like a great opportunity for a live show.

I was somewhat taken aback when the stage setup was revealed for Metric.  In hindsight it didn’t look very different from the last time–dark and spare with lots of room for walking around.  But it was such a stark difference from the warm, crowded stage for Stars and Broken Social Scene.

The drums were straight back on a riser.  On either side of the riser were electronic gadgets.  Full sized gear that was lit up with colorful lights.  In the center of the stage was a small table with a keyboard and a light.  It was perfectly symmetrical.

The band came out and, holy cow, they had banks of lights al around the stage, including right at the front and those lights shone right at the people in the front row.  I felt like the family in front of me was really unhappy about that.  At any rate, they left about half way through the set for whatever reason.

I was front and center for this show so, I was right in front of Emily Haines.  Joules Scott-Key on drums in the back–but so dark that I could barely see him for most of the show.  Joshua Winstead was on to my right.  He often went back to that bank of electronica to do whatever he had to do.  I always enjoyed watching him play bass because he seemed to play very hard–even if sometimes the electronics drowned him out.  On the left was James Shaw playing guitar and also doing whatever to the wall of dials and gears he had back there.

They opened with their new single Victim of Luck, a song I love.  It sounded great.  I enjoyed that Emily would move her table of gear around the stage–sometimes parking it up front, other times pushing it out of the way to give her more room to more around.  Up next was Formentera, with a thumping bass and ringing guitars.

Youth Without Youth is another new song with some jagged guitars and a propulsive beat.  I wondered how some of the sounds were being generated.  Sometimes Emily played the keyboard, but other times, I’m guessing that James had manipulated the sounds so that his guitar sounded more like a synth.  I also enjoyed the Go Go Go Go part.

Then they played two songs from their second album. The bouncy Monster Hospital and the more moody Poster of a Girl.  (more…)

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Pollyanna / Little Hag / father’s daughter (Baronet Rooftop at the Asbury Hotel, Asbury Park, NJ, July 30, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, Baronet Rooftop at the Asbury Hotel, father's daughter, Little Hag, Pollyanna on July 30, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: July 30, 2026] Pollyanna / Little Hag / father’s daughter

Two years ago, Pollyanna played a show at this very venue.  But our vacation wound up being this week.  So no Pollyanna, yet again.  This was actually the 6th time that I’d failed to see them. I was planning on going out the following night and then we were off to vacation, so it felt like a bad idea to head out to Asbury Park on a July night.

Fortunately, they are playing a show in October.  I hope I still like them by then.

Little Hag is a from Asbury Park.  They opened for Blvck Hippie back in May and I wished that I havd been abe to get to that show for all of the bands, but especially Little Hag.  They formed in 2016 in the suburbs of central Jersey by Avery Mandeville, guitarist Matt “Fern” Fernicola and drummer Owen Flanagan; joined in recent years by bassist Mitchell Warren-Devlin and keyboardist/vocalist Cara Introcaso.   Narc Magazine says “fans of opinionated, unflinchingly explicit, female-led punk rock should jump straight into this one.”  Musically they’re a bit softer than one might expect with more synth than feedback.  But the lyrics to Show Me Your Head alone make them worth checking out

Remind rich men that they’re ugly
Remind rich men that they will always be ugly
Remind rich men that we hate them
Remind rich men that we can and will kiss them

Mark, show me your head
Elon, show me your head
Jeff, show me your head
I want to put a hole in it
Donald, show me your head
JD, show me your head
Ben, show me your head
I want to put a hole in it

father’s daughter lists themselves as “your dad’s new favorite band.”  I can’t find much out about them, but they are from New Jersey and have two songs out.  Kind of a shoegazey/heavy vibe with restrained vocals that I really like.  I hope they play around the area, I’d like to check them out.

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Broken Social Scene (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 28, 2026) [METRIC]

Posted in Broken Social Scene, Metric, Philadelphia, PA, Stars, The Met Philadelphia on July 29, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 28, 2026] Broken Social Scene

When You Forgot It in People came out back in 2002, I listened to it quite a lot, but then Broken Social Scene fell of my radar.  I knew about a couple of projects over the years, but had no idea that they were still a going concern.  Earlier this year WXPN started playing a new song by them.  Indeed, the band put a new album out this year.

Two years ago, Broken Social Scene toured You Forgot It in People.  I grabbed a ticket and then lost some interest as the show drew closer.  I had a show lined up for the following two nights.  So I blew off the show.  Reviews made me realize I missed something fun and interesting.  Indeed, the family in front of me at this show said they have seen Broken Social Scene some 25 times.  So I was glad to finally get to experience them live.  And wow, what a fun spectacle.

Broken Social Scene is a loose collective of musicians who come and go.  For this show, the fewest number of people on stage at any given time was 7.  With it maxing out at around 15.  The main components of the band are Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning and drummer Justin Peroff.  We learned midway through the set that earlier this summer, Justin was injured in Vancouver.  They had cancelled some shows, but Justin fully recovered and was playing with them tonight.  Two other guys have been with the band since almost the beginning, Andrew Whiteman who was on the far side of the stage.  I couldn’t see him too well, but he sang lead a few times and did some solos. Right in front of me, and most intriguing to me was Charles Spearin who played a double neck guitar/ bass.  I’d never seen one quite like this.  It was really small, but Spearin jumped back and forth between bass and guitar throughout the set.  Sam Goldberg also played guitar but switched off to bass once in a while.  During the first song, Cuase= Time, all three–Goldberg, Spearin and Whiteman all played the solo together.  Brendan Canning mostly played bass, but occasionally played guitar and keys.

Kevin Drew was center stage wearing a baseball at that said Captain, which I found amusing.   He was definitely the captain, introducing new people and telling stories between songs.  He also sang most of the songs, but not all of them. (more…)

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Tomahawk (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, July 27, 2026)

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, The Melvins, Tomahawk, Union Transfer on July 29, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 28, 2026] Tomahawk

I’ve seen Mike Patton with two bands: Dead Cross and Mr. Bungle. I enjoy anything he does and am always happy to see what he comes up with (Although I didn;t like the Avett Brothers/Patton country sound all that much).  St this point, there’s realistically only two other bands I’d like to see him front live, Fantômas (which I doubt will happen) and Faith No More (which could happen).  I’d also like to see Mr. Bungle again, since the show I saw was their debut album only, but whatever.  Tomahawk is a Patton-fronted project that I was into for a bit and then it just felt like there were too many Patton related bands to keep track of at the time (Lovage, Peeping Tom, Fantômas, Faith No More, Mr. Bungle) so I stopped following them.  Which is a shame because their music is quite diverse (I mean, all Patton music is diverse, often within the same song, but…oh forget it).

So anyhow, Tomahawk put out an album in during the pandemic but hadn’t toured it.  Then, a few months ago, they announced this tour with the Melvins: a huge waste of your time and money (hilarious).

Even though I wasn’t a huge fan, I knew I had to see them.  In addition to Patton, the band featured Duane Denison (Jesus Lizard, Firewater) on guitar John Stanier (Helmet, Battles) on drums and Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle, tons of other things) on bass.  A great lineup.

The lights came up and the stage was fairly sparse. Drums in the back (with Stanier’s outrageously tall cymbals), a table of some sort out front for Patton and amps on either side. Because of the table, I couldn’t see Trevor Dunn very much (he hung back) until he came up to sing backing vocals.  But I had a great view of Denison and it was amazing watching him play.  He’s not flashy at all, but he does al kinds of interesting things to generate interesting sounds.

In fact, the whole show was not flashy at all.  There were no fancy lights or projections (just the band’s logo on a curtain in the back).  In fact, half way through the set I realized that the setlist was taped to Patton’s table.

They opened with the first song on their first album.  Rather appropriate, I think. The squeaking sound of some kind of effect opened the set as Patton whispered the lyrics to Flashback and the crowd went berserk.  The song took off and the mosh pit started.  Tomahawk is a hard band to mosh to, because their songs go at varying tempos and intensity.  But people managed it.

Tomahawk never toured that 2021 album, so they finally had a chance to play it live.  I suppose old school fans wanted to hear their earlier stuff (although, I mean this album is 5 years old, it’s not exactly new), but I really enjoyed this new stuff.   And the played 9 of the ten songs from it.

SHHH! has lots of vocal parts and I really enjoyed at the end of the song when Patton whispers the title.  It seemed like he was trying to get everyone to stop yelling things (which they did during the quiet parts), but I realized it was part of the song.  Predators and Scavengers has a cool riff and simple chugging guitar parts.  It was fun being in front of Duane Denison for this one.  I loved turning my head from Patton to see what he was doing and he was inevitably calmly playing some cool thing or other.

I had listened to the setlist before the show since I didn’t really know the songs that well (if at all) and one of my favorites was Business Casual.  It was really fun watching Mike and Trevor scream the lyrics and then whisper “bad cholesterol, business casual.”  Dension made interesting quiet guitar sounds while Dunn’s bass rumbled along.  I liked that Doomsday Fatigue had quiet moments–because Patton’s (and the whole band’s) range is tremendous and it’s fun to see them really show off what they can do. (more…)

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Rush (Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY, July 28 & 30 & August 1 & 3, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Madison Square Garden, New York City, Rush on July 28, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: July 28 & 30 & August 1 & 3, 2026] Rush

In high school and some of college, Rush was my favorite band.  No questions asked. My best college friend and I bonded over the band.  I didn’t go to enough shows during college–why didn’t I drive to Binghamton with him?

Since college I have listened to them a lot less, although i did really enjoy all of the albums they put out.  And I was super psyched to see their final tour before Neil died.

Geddy and Alex said they would never be Rush again and it sounded like they were both content to play music with other people and do their hobbies.  And then this was announced.  I wasn’t upset (it’s not like The Who or Slayer who have farewell tours all the time).  And I Was really excited that they had replaced Neil with Anika Nilles–if only because it upset so many people that there was a “girl drummer.”

When the shows were first announced I didn’t intend to go.  I didn’t feel it was necessary even if it had been over a decade since that last show.

And then I saw the prices.  Jaysus.  I have local friends who are much bigger Rush fans than me and they were jumping in paying $500/$600 a ticket, which is crazy–but was nowhere near the high end of prices.  As the dates grew closer and I heard great things about the shows, I kept my eyes on tickets.  Despite the immediate crush of sales, I don’t think all of the nights sold out.  And I’d also heard that dynamic pricing tends to get cheaper the day of the show.  Of course, that would still mean driving all the way into New York for a pain in the ass trip to MSG.

Ultimately, I decided not even investigate tickets.

And let’s see.  The 28th, I had a ticket to see Metric.
The 30th, I could have gone, but we were going on vacation two days later and that felt like a huge time commitment–this was the only day I seriously considered though.
And Aug 1 & 3 were were on vacation.

Back in the day, a Rush show was exactly the same night after night.  Possibly even note for note.  But this tour, they have been mixing up setlists like crazy and, while I’m not mad that I missed all the shows, I would have been really bummed if I went to one of the nights and the setlist was better on a different night.  I mean, let’s be honest, any Rush setlist is a good one, but …  The 30th featured all of 2112, which was pretty cool.

Plus, I’ll BET they release a show or two on DVD.

 

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Stars (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 28, 2026) [METRIC]

Posted in Broken Social Scene, Metric, Philadelphia, PA, Stars, The Met Philadelphia on July 28, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 28, 2026] Stars

When this tour (dubbed All the Feelings) was announced, I knew I was going immediately.  Stars, Broken Social Scene and Metric?  Three great Canadian bands who have all played with each other?  It sounded wonderful.

Stars is a fantastic band and it took me far too long to see them live.  But now that I have, I’ve seen them every two years since that first time.  I was a little bummed that they weren’t the middle band for this show, but, as it turned out, they spent a lot of time on stage with Broken Social Scene, so it was no big deal.

The actual big deal, though, was that the show started at 7 instead of 8.  I probably could have gone home after work and been home for a second and then headed down to Philly, but I decided to go directly from work (which was a very smart idea).  I arrived way too early so I went to Federal Donuts to get a chicken sandwich only to find out that this location’s grill was off.  I also found out that Federal Donuts has closed a lot of their locations (No!).  So I’m not sure if this location (on 7th) no loner serves chicken (is the grill closed permanently?).  Devastating.

So, with no dinner, but a six pack of donuts, I headed over to The Met, got to my secret free parking spot, and listened to my audio book.  But there was threat of thunderstorms.  I didn’t want to get into the venue too early, but I also didn’t want to get soaked, so I headed in around 6:15.  Merch was okay, but I didn’t get anything.  I moseyed down to the pit and happily stood behind the front row of people (a nice short woman in front of me).  This family was very nice and had seen BSS many times.

Right on time, Stars came out and, as usual, Torq was his funny engaging and charismatic self.  Amy Millan looked wonderful and seemed to be having a great time as well.  And their onstage rapport is always amazing together.  Torq talked about how great it was to be able to do something with your best friend.

The rest of the band has remained the same for 20+ years.  Last tour I learned that bassist Evan Cranley and guitarist Chris Seligman are the main composers of Stars’ music while Torq Campbell and Amy Millan write lyrics.  Drummer Pat McGee and lead guitarist Chris McCarron keep everything going.  And Torq played melodica a bunch. (more…)

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Melvins (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, July 27 2026) [TOMAHAWK]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, The Melvins, Tomahawk, Union Transfer on July 27, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 27, 2026] Melvins

Despite everything in the world indicating that I should be a Melvins fan, for whatever reason, I just never followed them.

And I’d never wanted to see them live.  Then in 2023, they did a coheadlining tour with Boris (which I wasn’t going to miss).  During that show, Dale Crover had an injury so Coady Willis played drums.   But this time, Dale was back and BOTH drummers were up on stage.

Recent bassist (they have had many bassists) Steven Shane McDonald (who was one of the main dudes in Redd Kross, a band I have never gotten into) was on bass and is a lot of fun.  Despite Melvins being a heavy punk band, McDonald acts like a massive hippie.  He has long hair, was wearing a jump suit with eyes all over it and is very chill (except when he’s screaming).   He also plays his bass in a great way–lots of reverb and pedals and often playing high on the neck creating a sound that doesn’t seem to fit what I think of the Melvins’ sound, but which worked really well.

And then there is Buzz Osbourne (King Buzzo).  Last time he was on the far side of the stage, but this time i Was right in front of him.  Like last time he was wearing a caftan with a giant eyeball on it and of course, his legendary hair.  I didn’t realize he was a “good” guitar player.  I assumed the band played sludgy slow songs with just a few chords.  I kind of assumed that they didn’t care about the music.  But that’s wrong.  Buzz played solos and clearly does give a shit.

Last time, it took a couple of songs to win me over, but tonight I was fully into it.  As were most of the audience (I deliberately arrived earl than I normally would because I knew people weren’t going to blow off the opening band).  Indeed, after fifteen minutes a mosh pit started (not bad for an opening band).

As I said I always assumed Melvins songs were slow and sludgy, but most of the earlier songs in the set were pretty fast tempo.

I’m going to admit, though, that the most fun part of the show was the two drummers.  I’ve seen a few bands with two drummers and it’s always neat.  You kind of think they can’t possibly stay in sync, but come one, they are drummers of course they can.  What was really fun about this pair was that Dale is right handed and Coady is left handed so they mirrored each other.  Mostly they played the same thing but from time to time, one of them would add extra fills or wood blocks or something.  I loved at the end of the first song the both held their sticks over the heads in a X shape while they prepped to start song 2. (more…)

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Muse (PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ, July 23, 2026)

Posted in Bloc Party, Ennio Morricone, Holmdel, NJ, Muse, PNC Bank Center, The Temper Trap on July 25, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 23, 2026] Muse

I can’t believe that it has been seven years since I’ve seen Muse.  Mostly because I remember their two shows (the earlier one was ten years ago) so vividly because they were fantastic.

I blew off their last tour to the States in 2023 because the tickets were so expensive.  Then I read a review and realized that the price was worth it for the show.  This time around the tickets were once again WAY too expensive, but they were at the PNC Bank Arts Center.  Where you can get lawn seats for around $40.  And, if the pavilion seats aren’t sold out, you can upgrade for $25.  And that’s what my son and I did.  We got Row Q which was the best location I’ve had for a Muse show.  And holy cow was it amazing to see them so close.

I realize that I haven’t enjoyed Muse’s newer stuff as much as their older stuff (I know everyone says that) but it doesn’t mean I think the new stuff is bad.  I just need to listen more, I think.  But new music mostly means a new tour and new technology for them to play around with.  And that’s pretty awesome.

When I saw them last time, it involved gigantic creatures all around the stage.  This show was slightly more subdued, but no less technologically marvelous.  Although at the start, the stage was remarkably minimalist.  One amp behind Matt Bellamy–I assume it was not plugged in and was just a prop).  Dominic Howard on drums on a riser in the middle (later, the amp was replaced with a small standing kit that he used for a song or two while they were no doubt doing something interesting to his main kit.  In the back right was touring musician Dan Lancaster who plays keys and guitar and other things.  And then there was bassist Chris Wolstenholme with his red-light-on-frets bass guitar.  He and Bellamy walk all over the stage, untethered to anything.

I assumed that they would be playing most of the new album and would certainly start with a new song.  But, instead, after a Chvrches song played over the speakers, they came out (to thunderous applause) and launched into Interlude.  Which is an amusing title to star a show with but it segued into the outstanding Hysteria which go the crowd totally rowdy. (more…)

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Seratones (ArtYard, Frenchtown, NJ, July 25, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in ArtYard, Frenchtown NJ, Seratones on July 25, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: July 25, 2026] Seratones

There have now been at four events at ArtYard in Frenchtown that I have wanted to go to, but for one reason or another, I did not make it.

I saw Seratones play at Johnny Brenda’s six years ago and they were fantastic.  Such energy, such excitement!  I couldn’t believe they were playing in Frenchtown and I wanted to get a ticket to encourage other bands to play here.

They are now apparently a trip instead of a five piece and when I listened to some of their newer songs, they weren’t quite the same.  It’s a bit more R&B and a bit less punky.  I’m sure they were still great live–AJ Haynes is really a an amazing front woman, but we were heading out on vacation in a few nights and we had a lot going on to sacrifice a Saturday night.  Even if it was in Frenchtown.

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Wunderhorse / Been Stellar (Union Transfer, Philadelphia PA, July 24, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Been Stellar, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, Wunderhorse on July 24, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: July 24, 2026] Wunderhorse / Been Stellar

Wunderhorse is a band whose name sounds like a lot of other bands that I like (or at least hat I know).  I know WXPN liked them, although when I played the song tha they had been playing a lot, I didn’t recognize it.  And I didn’t really like it.  I have nothing against the band but nothing about the songs grabbed me at all.

So, yea, I wasn’t going to see them.

I have enjoyed the band name Been Stellar for a little while now.  I’m not even sure if I knew their music, but their name gave me a chuckle.  They have opened for two bands that I was interested in seeing, but I didn’t go to either show.  Last time, when they opened for Fontaines D.C. I said I listened to a few clips and didn’t really get much of a feeling from them–fuzzy alt rock.  They’re kind of a buzz band, but I’d need to hear more.  When I first listened to them in 2023, though I really liked them.  I guess tastes change.

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