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Archive for the ‘Venues’ Category

The Beths (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 6, 2025)

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Phoebe Rings, The Beths, Union Transfer on December 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 6, 2025] The Beths

This is my third time seeing The Beths, a New Zealand band that’s taking the U.S. by storm.  Las time they played here they sold out Union Transfer.  This time, they sold out TWO NIGHTS at Union Transfer.

We immediately got tickets to night one and for the first time, saw them from a chair off to the side (thanks ADA seating).  Although they interact so nicely with the front, that it’s kind of a bummer to not be in on the action.

But the sound was great (I know it always sounds better further back, but I like being close).

So The Beths are a four piece: Elizabeth Stokes, singer and guitarist.  Jonathan Pearce who plays lead guitar. Benjamin Sinclair on bass and Tristan Deck on drums.  They are delightful and funny and play fantastic songs.  Liz is a great songwriter and the boys make divine harmonies.

Last time they played nearly all of their then new album.   This time they played nine out of ten songs from their newest album.  And they opened with the title track a bouncy song that had everyone delightedly singing along.

After the even punchier No Joy they played two older songs one from Expert and one from Future Me Hates Me.

Then they moved back to the new album with the super fun first single Metal.

At one point during these songs, Benjamin did something that made a tin whistle fly into the air which he caught and started playing.  Later both Benjamin and Jonathan activated the tin whistle cannon and we were delighted to see them snatch the instruments out of the air and start playing.  The also have some shakers in their songs.  Liz uses a banana shaped one.  If you go to Benjamin’s review of the following night, you can read about the amusing trick they played on Liz and her banana. (more…)

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Sir Chloe / Suzy Clue (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, December 7, 2025) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Sir Chloe, Suzy Clue, The Foundry on December 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: December 7, 2025] Sir Chloe / Suzy Clue [moved to April 22, 2026]

I’ve seen Sir Chloe twice because my daughter really liked her.  But I think I cam away from both shows enjoying them more than she did.  When she announced another show in Philly, I grabbed tickets.

This show was postponed because of a common medical problem

After two trips to the emergency room I discovered I had appendicitis and had to get surgery. I need to postpone the first week of shows to recover.

As of right now, shows in Albany, Boston, Philadelphia, and NYC will be rescheduled and an announcement will be made with the new dates as soon as possible.

The show has been rescheduled to April and we have that night free.  So I assume we’ll be going then.

I had not heard of Suzy Clue, but the rest of the world seems to have.  According to OfficeMagazine:

Suzy Clue is the internet’s newest “hot emo girl.” Her music is angsty but not overly precious, breathing fresh life into traditional shoegaze sound palettes. As a self-taught musician, Suzy is reminding the music industry what it’s like to start from scratch. She’s gone from not knowing what a bassline is to writing and producing a song that thrashes and shatters your heart over and over again.

I wouldn’t call this shoegaze at all, but that name seems to have been taken to mean just about anything these days.  She has a whispery voice and songs that alternate between quiet and heavy–almost nu-metal heavy.  As of June she had only released 3 singles.  I guess that’s what buzz is all about.  I don’t know if she’ll be opening in April.

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The Beths / Phoebe Rings (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 7, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Phoebe Rings, The Beths, Union Transfer on December 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 7, 2025] The Beths / Phoebe Rings

When The Beths announced that they were playing Union Transfer, I grabbed us two tickets immediately.  My wife and I huge fans.  The show sold out pretty quickly and they announced this second night.

It’s very rare that I would see a band two nights in a row, unless  they really mix up their setlist.  But The Beths don’t.  So I had no reason to get tickets for this show too.

I enjoyed Phoebe Rings and it sounds like maybe they had a little more fun on their second night?

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Liv.E (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 3, 2025) [EARL SWEATSHIRT]

Posted in Cletus Strap, Earl Sweatshirt, Liv.E, Niontay, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, ZeLooperz on December 6, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 3, 2025] Liv.E

After seeing Tyler the Creator earlier this year, I thought my daughter might also enjoy seeing Earl Sweatshirt, his former partner in Odd Future.

After ZeLooperz, Liv.E (pronounced liv) came out.  She spoke to the audience a bunch, said she had lost her voice in Vegas (Chris Angel took it).

Then the beats started and she changed things up by singing instead of rapping.  She has a kind of quiet voice but she can scream as needed (even if she lost her voice).

I didn’t know any of her songs either, but some of them were quite pretty.  Overall the set was back to the mellow vibe.  I enjoyed it when she started singing the Schoolhouse Rock 12 song. (more…)

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Phoebe Rings (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 6, 2025) [THE BETHS]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Phoebe Rings, The Beths, Union Transfer on December 6, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 6, 2025] Phoebe Rings

I hadn’t heard of Phoebe Rings and then I found out that she (I now know that Phoebe Rings is a band name and no one in the band is named that) was opening for The Beths on Saturday and Sunday and opening for Speedy Ortiz on Monday.

The Beths and Phoebe Rings are from New Zealand and, it turns out that Phoebe Rings and Speedy Ortiz are on the same record label.

Phoebe Rings began as the solo project of musician Crystal Choi, and is now a four-piece made of jazz students (guitarist Simeon Kavanagh-Vincent, bassist Benjamin Locke and drummer Alex Freer).

We arrived and had ADA seats.  Then we laughed as the tallest person in the room stood in front of us.  We could still see just fine, but it was hilarious how much taller he was than everyone else.

Phoebe Rings was delightful.  They are described as dream pop but they were a bit more like jazz pop.  I’d even go so far as to say they were like lounge music.  There was an early Stereolab vibe musically (not lyrically). (more…)

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Portugal. The Man (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 4, 2025)

Posted in La Luz, Philadelphia, PA, Portugal The Man, Snacktime, Union Transfer on December 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 4, 2025] Portugal. The Man

I saw Portugal. The Man last year in Asbury Park.  It was an overcrowded show and I found it pretty unpleasant to be there (not a fan of The Stone Pony).  Although the band was so much fun and played great songs, I came away from the show not knowing if I’d want to see them again.  But a year passed and I realized the problem was the crowd not the band.  So when they announced this show at Union Transfer, I decided to get a ticket.  And an ADA seat.

The seat was a good choice because I had lots of room, but I feel like I missed out on some interesting on stage interactions because I was pretty far back.

In the past, the band has had a Native speaker introduce the band.  They would talk about the land we were on and, in Asbury, they did a traditional song.  I expected the same tonight, but instead, they played a short film that was very powerful.  It was about The Living Fire–people, detatched from nature and the evil spirits are coming in.  Avoid the dark forces of anti-reality.

Then the band came out–something between seven and ten people (I wasn’t that close and some people seemed to come and go).

Denali a really heavy song with a classic heavy metal sound in the guitars, although the vocals are pure PTM.  Pittman is pure hardcore, with screamed vocals. The singer was David Marion (from the band Fear Before) whose intense screams set this song apart.  I’m not even sure if he did anything else–he was very tall and seemed to come out of nowhere.  The thing about the visuals was that they projected images on a screen behind them which mean they were in shadow or silhouette most of the night. (more…)

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ZeLooperz (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 3, 2025) [EARL SWEATSHIRT]

Posted in Alexey Ekimyan, Cletus Strap, Earl Sweatshirt, Liv.E, Niontay, Philadelphia, PA, Quadie Diesel, Union Transfer, ZeLooperz on December 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 3, 2025] ZeLooperz 

After seeing Tyler the Creator earlier this year, I thought my daughter might also enjoy seeing Earl Sweatshirt, his former partner in Odd Future.

It had been about 50 minutes and the third act was bouncing on stage.  ZeLooperz brought some much needed energy to the stage.

He was fast and funny–loud and interactive.  He has some great song titles (not sure if he played them or not though): JayJay-Z, Bustin Jieber.

He immediately shouted a Hands Up!  Which most people did.  It was during his set that I realized how short most of the songs have been.  Most are around the 2 minute mark.

About half way through he brought a guest on stage (Quadie Diesel) and he rapped a song while everyone on stage danced around.  And then he had a dance contest–he cleared the floor–but don’t worry this ain’t no mosh pit, this is for the ladies, this was “Skinny Dip.” (more…)

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Niontay (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 3, 2025) [EARL SWEATSHIRT]

Posted in Cletus Strap, Earl Sweatshirt, Liv.E, Niontay, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, ZeLooperz on December 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 3, 2025] Niontay

After seeing Tyler the Creator earlier this year, I thought my daughter might also enjoy seeing Earl Sweatshirt, his former partner in Odd Future.

After Cletus Strap, Niontay was up.  He came out in a huge puffer jacket and had excellent locs.  He is also a mumble rapper (he even has a song called mumbleman).  He too had a lot of people videoing him while walking around him on stage.

Pitchfork loved Niontay back in 2024:

His flow is all over the map: He can lay a stone-faced delivery over a hearty chipmunk-soul loop fit to soundtrack a downtown New York streetwear shop, or raise his pitch to Florida-fast-music levels–a relentless marathon of cold punchlines and flexes.

And that seemed right.  He had a lot more variety than Cletus, although overall the tone was similar.

At some point possibly during Cletus’ set, Earl Sweatshirt came up on stage too.  He stood behind the table with the DJ and may have done some DJ work too–it was hard to tell.  So by the middle of Niontay’s set there were nearly a dozen people on stage, mostly just hanging around while the person rapping took center stage. (more…)

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La Luz (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 4, 2025) [PORTUGAL. THE MAN]

Posted in La Luz, Philadelphia, PA, Portugal The Man, Union Transfer on December 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 28, 2026] La Luz

I grabbed tickets to the Portugal. The Man show and was really excited that La Luz was opening for them.

I know La Luz from a live Levitation recording that I really dig.  I don’t know a lot more about the band aside from the basic bio.  They are from Seattle and are known for their “surf noir” style, with layered vocal harmonies.  The blurb says their “energetic live shows often include Soul Train-inspired dance contests and crowd surfing.”

As and opening band it’s unlikely that you’ll elicit that kind of response, but the crowd did really enjoy them.

I had an ADA seat so I wasn’t worried about trying to get too close to the stage.  And since I had a few minutes I checked out the booths that PTM had in the lobby. There were some great causes including their own book publishing label.  I saw some excellent bandanas for sale with the money going to good causes, so I bought two.  But the guy selling them to me was so slow!  It felt like he needed to tell me the origin of each one and where the money was going to and, I don’t know, the serial number.  And while he was doing this La Luz started.  So I missed the beginning and some of I Wanna Be Alone.  I could hear through the doors, but boy was I annoyed.

So La Luz has been around since 2012.  They were founded by Shana Cleveland who sings and plays guitar.  She is a great front woman, clearly having a great deal of fun.  She does play a kind of surf guitar, but that is mostly due to the vibrato.  Some songs are clearly not surfy at all, like Poppies.  But the guitar has that classic vibrato sound.

Anyhow, I got to my seat as that first song was ending and they moved right on to Call Me in the Day, a slower statelier song with lots of keys from Maryam Qudus.  For even though there is kind of a punky edge to the band, they are all about harmonies and cool sounds.  Plus, during the keyboard solo, Shana and bass Lee Johnson did a spinning dance routine. (more…)

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Cletus Strap (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 3, 2025) [EARL SWEATSHIRT]

Posted in Cletus Strap, Earl Sweatshirt, Liv.E, Niontay, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, ZeLooperz on December 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 3, 2025] Cletus Strap

After seeing Tyler the Creator earlier this year, I thought my daughter might also enjoy seeing Earl Sweatshirt, his former partner in Odd Future.

What was fascinating was that Tyler’s show was MASSIVE.  He sold out Wells Fargo Center.  He had two stages, lots of lights, and a whole routine.  Earl’s show was at Union Transfer and didn’t even have a backdrop.  There was no light show, just the venue’s lights.  And all of that is totally fine, it was just such a contrast.

It was also interesting that there were FIVE artists on the bill and I hadn’t heard of any but Earl.

There was a table in the middle of  the stage.  There was a DJ (possibly unnamed).  He had a laptop or two.

Up first was Cletus Strap. (more…)

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