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Archive for the ‘PhilaMOCA’ Category

Hello Mary / Bruiser and Bicycle (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, December 7, 2023) [CANCELLED]

Posted in Bruiser and Bicycle, Cancelled, Hello Mary, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA on December 7, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[CANCELLED: December 7, 2023] Hello Mary / Bruiser and Bicycle

I could have seen Hello Mary back in the spring when they opened for Blondshell.  I didn’t go to that show because I had other plans, although I did see Blondshell at the Free at Noon earlier in the day

Hello Mary opened for Blondshell and I wrote

I have since listened to the album and I love it.  I sure hope they tour soon, maybe as a headliner.

And then they announced the (admittedly short) headline tour.

But on November 29, they posted on Instagram

We are sad to announce we are postponing our east coast shows in early December 😦 refunds are available wherever you purchased your tix. Buuut we are excited to be hitting Albany and DC in March instead with @sspu see you there 🐶

Bummer.  I like the album even more now.

Bruiser and Bicycle (which I thought was two different bands) are a weirdo band who draw comparisons to Animal Collective.   As Picthfork wrote:

With their debut, Woods Come Find Me, the Animal Collective comparisons were inevitable. Though unsuspecting and humble in nature, their lo-fi sound tapped into similar vocal hijinks and manic acoustic arrangements as Sung Tongs, prompting a pavlovian response for anyone who ever bookmarked Said the Gramophone on Internet Explorer. Founded by multi-instrumentalists Nick Whittemore and Keegan Graziane, Bruiser and Bicycle spent four years perfecting their follow-up, Holy Red Wagon, and honing their identity away from their freak-folk touchstones. While the comparisons are still easy to draw, the band embarks on its own winding adventures with the help of drummer Joe Taurone. What sounds at first like free-spirited chaos settles into a strange rhythm, like three different heartbeats that just happen to intertwine snugly.

I feel like seeing them live would be the best first way to experience them.  Maybe someday.

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Isiliel (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, November 7, 2023)

Posted in Coaltar of the Deepers, Isiliel, Necronomidol, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA on November 10, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 7, 2023] Isiliel

This was my fourth show in four nights and I was surpirsed how little it had caught up with me.  I was fortunate in that most of the shows were fairly short.  And this one promised to be super short.

There was no opening act, so despite a 15 minute soundcheck and setup delay, the show still ended by 9:30, which was perfect.

So, who is Isiliel?  She is Himari Tsukishiro who is the main singer in the Japanese band Necronomidol.  As her site puts it

Isiliel is a solo dance/vocal project by Himari Tsukishiro (NECRONOMIDOL).
Mixing genres as diverse as folk, blackgaze and city pop via a worldwide team of veteran songwriters such as King Dude and NARASAKI of COALTAR OF THE DEEPERS, through Isiliel Himari will express hitherto unexplored depths of pathos and beauty on stage.

As Isiliel, she has one album out.  It is, as implied, a heavy metal sounding album, with heavy guitars and a lot of double bass.  But she does not sing like a heavy metal singer.  Her delivery is quiet and slow (and it’s in Japanese).

I hadn’t heard of either her or her main band until about a week before this show was announced.  But when I saw what Necronomidol looked like, I wanted to go to this show too.  It turned out she has some real fans in Philly.  The audience was probably about 30 people, but the show had about a week’s notice.  And several of these fans brought identical small red lanterns which they waved in time to the beat (I asked the merch guy if he was selling them and he said no–they brought them in!) (more…)

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Blondshell / Hello Mary (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, July 21, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Blondshell, Hello Mary, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA on July 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 21, 2023] Blondshell / Hello Mary

Blondshell is a new buzz band.  The creation of Sabrina Teitelbaum, who had been making pop music as BAUM, she debuted Blondshell right around the pandemic.

I’ve liked what I heard from her so far and I was looking forward to seeing her at PhilaMOCA before she really took off in the next year or so.  She’s got that retro 90s female singer thing that I likes so much down perfectly.

I’m a little bummed that the non-musical event that I really want to go to is the same night.  As I’ll never see her again at such a small intimate show.

I’m actually more bummed that I’m missing opener Hello Mary who I like even more.

The New York trio’s self-titled full-length debut, out March 3, is a blast of distorted chords, sunny harmonies, and all-consuming angst that will renew your faith in the hopelessly dated and/or timelessly classic sounds of alternative rock. Hello Mary is an instant contender for 2023’s most bracing entrance to the stage, sharp and self-assured. Oh yeah, and the band’s two founders — singer-guitarist Helena Straight and bass player Mikaela Oppenheimer, both 18 — just graduated from high school this summer.

I have since listened to the album and I love it.  I sure hope they tour soon, maybe as a headliner.

 

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Acid Dad / Wine Lips / Wax Jaw (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, April 21, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Acid Dad, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, Wax Jaw, Wine Lips on April 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 21, 2023] Acid Dad / Wine Lips / Wax Jaw

I saw Acid Dad back in October and really liked them.  I knew I wanted to see them again, so when they announced this show on the same night that I had a ticket for M83, I was torn.

I decided to grab a ticket because they were really cheap.

And then the day of the show, I wound up not going out at all.  We had been doing things around then house and it felt kind of weird to leave a guest at home.  So I bailed on all of the shows.

Wine Lips is a band I didn’t know.  They are a trio of Cam Hilborn on Guitar and Vocals with Aurora Evans on Drums and Charlie Weare on Bass.

Their music seemed to fit well with Acid Dad as this review says:

“Fuzzy, loud and fast, Wine Lips are a garage/ punk/ psychedelic band whose music feels like a shot of adrenaline to the heart. A no holds barred kind of rock n roll that’ll make you want to buy a motorcycle, just to crash it.” – Sled Island

Wax Jaw must have been added at the last minute because I didn’t even know they were supposed to be there.  They are a Philly five piece who describe their music as “philly dirty surf rock” which fits the bill.

But Markit Aneight has a video of their show (I assume ones of Acid Dad and Wine Lips are coming) and I really liked them.

I missed a good night.

Interestingly, Wax Jaw had their debut live show at PhilaMoCA just a couple of months earlier.  And here’s that show.

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Crawlers / Kelsy Karter (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, February 28, 2023) [CANCELLED]

Posted in Crawlers, Kelsy Karter, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, T. on February 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[CANCELLED: February 28, 2023] Crawlers / Kelsy Karter

Last year my daughter and I really enjoyed the Crawlers show that we went to.

When they announced that they were going to come back to the U.S., I grabbed a ticket for us immediately.  I knew The Foundry wouldn’t be quite as intimate as PhilaMOCA, but I knew she’d still love the venue.

But then near the end of January, Crawlers informed us that they were cancelling the entire U.S. tour.

hi creepy crawlies ❤

we hate to have to do this to you, but we have the made the difficult decision to cancel our USA & Toronto dates in March. </3 please know we are just as upset as you are to have to do this, we hate to let our fans down as you guys really are making our dreams come true. we are so thankful we got to see u all last year & have fun together, and look forward to doing that with you soon when the time is right. making our album the best it can be for you is our biggest priority in the coming months. combining this with the cost of touring has brought us to this difficult decision. </3. for now, we must give our time to writing the best album that you deserve, because this one really is for you and we can’t wait to share new music. Sorry crawlers family, we will make it up to you next time and it will be more special than ever before.

for those who purchased tickets, we are offering a full refund for your ticket.

we love u and we will see you soon.

crawlers x

(more…)

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Diane Coffee / Foyer Red (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, June 12, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Diane Coffee, Foyer Red, Kim Possible, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA on June 12, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 20, 2022] Diane Coffee / Foyer Red

I’ve been intrigued by Diane Coffee for about six years.

Diane Coffee is the brainchild of Shaun Fleming.  He used to be the drummer in Foxygen, which tips off somewhat to his aesthetic.

Fleming also does voice acting between 2002 and 2006, he played the twin brothers Jim and Tim Possible on Kim Possible.

He has released four albums all in various styles.  (As Bust puts it for his 2022 album)

Once again Fleming shifts musical gears from his previous album, Internet Arms’ soulful Synth Pop sound to a jangly Folk Rock, Dream Pop vibe with a touch of Glam Rock.

I think the touch of Glam Rock is consistent, as his live show is supposed to be amazing.

This review from Westworld makes his show sound incredible.

The band wore matching suits with bolo ties, while Fleming presented himself in a well-fitted women’s suit. First off, Fleming’s stage presence is astonishing. At one time he was a Disney voice actor, and that ability transfers to his very animated live sets.  He captures all of his emotion in body movements and facial gestures. Watching Fleming perform, you can tell that he has conducted thorough research and perfected some of the most iconic bandleader movements, resulting in a mash-up of Dr. Frank-N-Furter and James Brown, exerting high levels of energy, trying to escape the imprisonment of this little man’s body.

I almost got to see him at XPNFest in2016, but we arrived just as he had finished.

This is the third time I’ve missed one of his shows (one had a good excuse, this night I just didn’t feel like going out).  But the next time Diane Coffee comes t otown, I need to read this live review above to remind myself how much I want to see him live.

Foyer Red has crazy sounds, weirdo words and multiple singers.  And somehow despite all the weirdness (their 2021 album is called Zigzag Wombat), the songs are catchy

Post-Trash says

Foyer Red is a Brooklyn five-piece that makes sweetly sung, charmingly zany art rock. In 2022 they hit the ground running with several great singles — “Pollen City,” “Pickles,” and “Flipper.” In December, the band celebrated signing to Carpark Records by releasing the delightfully spontaneous single, “Etc.”

That first line is enough to make me want to see them.

I’ve listened to a few songs by them now and I really like them a lot.  And now more than ever I wish I’d gone to this show.

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Crawlers (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, June 4, 2022)

Posted in Crawlers, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, T., Thus Love on June 6, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 4, 2022] Crawlers

Out of the blue one day my daughter begged me to get her tickets to see a band I had never heard of.  They were called Crawlers from the UK.  They were touring the US for the first time and could she please please please go to a club called PhilaMOCA.

So Crawlers, it turns out are an alt-rock/punk band who are pretty darn cool.

We were in front of guitarist Amy Woodall and on the far side was bassist Liv Kettle who had the best look going on–great eye liner and huge kick ass boots.

Lead singer Holly Minto was up front engaging with everyone.  She was fun and warm and welcoming and was just a delight.  And in the back was Harry Breen smashing up the drum set.  They’ve been playing together for a few years now and Minto and Kettle have been friends forever.  They have a great stage rapport.

Crawlers had made some waves via TikTok and it was clear that their fan base was young, and they were especially speaking to young women.  I tried my best to get out of the way to let the young women have the font, but I also didn’t want to leave me daughter by herself, so we kind of hung out near the front, but not too near.  (more…)

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Thus Love (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, June 4, 2022) [CRAWLERS]

Posted in Crawlers, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, Thus Love on June 5, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 4, 2022] Thus Love

Out of the blue one day my daughter begged me to get her tickets to see a band I had never heard of.  They were called Crawlers from the UK.  They were touring the US for the first time and could she please please please go to a club called PhilaMOCA.

Now I happened to love PhilaMOCA.  When they needed fundraising I supported them and looked forward to them reopening their doors.  I hadn’t been back since they reopened, so I was pretty interested to see the place again.  But I was even more interested to check out this band and see what had my daughter so interested.

PhilaMOCA has a supersmall capacity so I grabbed tickets for us immediately assuming the show would sell out.

But when we arrived (the renovations look great, even if it means the capacity is even smaller now), there was hardly anyone there.  (more…)

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Scott Thompson and Paul Bellini: An Evening with Mouth Congress (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, May 21, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Paul Bellini, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, Scott Thompson, The Kids in the Hall on May 21, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 21, 2022] Scott Thompson and Paul Bellini: An Evening with Mouth Congress

I love PhilaMOCA and can’t believe how many of their shows I’ve had to miss since they reopened.

Of course this one I wouldn’t have missed ina million years.  Except I didn’t even HEAR about it until it was long sold out.  [Plus, we went to Music Man on Broadway so I wasn’t around].

So what the hell was this?  And are you telling me that for an extra $15 I could have met a Kid in the Hall?

PhilaMOCA is excited to host The Kids in the Hall’s Scott Thompson and KITH writer Paul Bellini for a documentary screening and reunion performance of their 1980s gay punk band Mouth Congress! This is not a tour, this is a one-off just for Philly proudly organized in-house by PhilaMOCA!

The event will feature a screening of the pseudo-documentary MOUTH CONGRESS followed by a live performance, sketches, and a Q&A with Thompson and Bellini.

About Mouth Congress:
Mouth Congress was formed in a basement in November of 1984 when Paul Bellini rented a beatbox from an audio store. He wanted to experiment with sounds and try his hand at songwriting with his sister’s boyfriend, guitarist Rob Rowatt, and her high school buddy, bassist Gord Disley. Their cacophony immediately drew the attention of Scott Thompson, who at the time was on the cusp of joining a local comedy troupe called The Kids in the Hall. Since they only had the beatbox for a month, they recorded dozens of sketches for songs. Then, about ten months later, they made their stage debut with Brian Hiltz’s band I Want functioning as back-up. From start to finish, Bellini either tape-recorded or video-taped everything the band ever did, from jam sessions to costume fittings to lyric-writing sessions to live shows. This dragged on for about 4 years, so you can imagine how much media he accumulated. But by 1991, both Thompson and Bellini were so preoccupied with their work on The Kids in the Hall television series that they quietly put all the Mouth Congress media into a deep, dark hallway closet. They didn’t forget about it, though. For years, Bellini pondered the idea of making a film about the band. Then, in 2011, he dug all this stuff out of the closet, showed it to Thompson, and the two men set about trying to shape it all into something.

Synopsis:
It’s a cold, snowy night in Toronto. Melancholy, an 8-year old girl, is spending the night at her Uncle Kevin’s place. Uncle Kevin is Kevin McDonald of The Kids in the Hall. After a day of Josef von Sternberg cosplay (he dons an ape suit like Marlene Dietrich in Blonde Venus), Uncle Kevin sets Melancholy up in his den to watch a DVD of a movie he was in called Lilo & Stitch.

But Melancholy isn’t interested in Lilo & Stitch. Instead, she finds an old VHS tape labelled Mouth Congress and her curiosity gets the best of her. As she watches the first five minutes of this bizarre rock band on stage, she is captivated. Kevin catches her in the act and admonishes her for snooping, but she is hooked. For a bedtime story, she insists on being told the history of Mouth Congress.

NOTE: There will no longer be a 10:00 PM performance (no controversy, the performers just want to put their all into a single performance).
Admission is $40, Admission + post-show Meet & Greet is $55

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Pom Pom Squad / Chloe Lilac (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, May 20, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Chloe Lilac, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, Pom Pom Squad on May 20, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 20, 2022] Pom Pom Squad / Chloe Lilac

I was really interested in seeing Pom Pom Squad–their album Death of a Cheerlader was really good retro-grungy pop fun.

Then I saw them (unexpectedly) open for Nada Surf and they were fantastic.

That was about six month ago and I thought they’d be even better in a headline show.

But I’d already had a ticket for another show this night (which I wound up not gong to anyway).  I was feeling some seasonal concert burnout by the end of May for sure.

Chloe Lilac is a young Brooklyn singer.  It seems like her earlier stuff is a little more synthy but her newest stuff has a bit more grunge (with lots of f-bombs) and would work well with Pom Pom Squad.

Clout says

Chloe Lilac is an artist that has been growing exponentially as of late.   All it felt like she needed to solidify this was a full body of work to represent this step up, which is now here in the form of her latest extended play DOUCHEBAG.

The EP is packed full of huge tunes, from its unapologetic and brass title track, to the confrontational ‘WHO IS EMILY?’, to the more calculated and thoughtful closer ‘JANSPORT’. Chloe Lilac has shown that she is an artist that can do it all, and do it all in the context of her razor-sharp indie pop sound.

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