Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘PhilaMOCA’ Category

Speedy Ortiz (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, July 18, 2018)

Posted in Jessica Lea Mayfield, Mal Blum and the Blums, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, Speedy Ortiz on July 18, 2018| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 18, 2018] Speedy Ortiz

I really enjoyed Speedy Ortiz’ Foil Deer.  Sadie Dupuis has a great sense of melody (in a delightful alt-90s rock package) combined with excellent lyrics.  Check out this great blurb about Dupuis’ lyrics:

It’s very strange (“Or not strange at all! Hi!” says feminism) that most of the music we funnel into little girls’ ears——even music written by former little girls——is about how women are petty, pretty garbage whose only valuable function is to hold perfectly still in men’s boudoirs and wait for intercourse. “I wanted to make songs that were the opposite of ‘Genie in A Bottle’ or ‘The Boy Is Mine,’” Sadie Dupuis says of Slugger, her new solo album under the name Sad13. “Songs that put affirmative consent at the heart of the subject matter and emphasize friendship among women and try to deescalate the toxic jealousy and ownership that are often centered in romantic pop songs.” What!? Songs for women that actually champion women’s autonomy, reflect women’s desires, listen to women when they talk, and let women be funny and normal and cool, like women actually are?   – Lindy West

When Speedy Ortiz released their new album, they did a mini tour of…ice cram parlors.

As The Key noted:

It was a little suspicious, previously, that Speedy Ortiz’s only tour appearance in Philly would be at Little Baby’s Ice Cream in West Philly to scoop a new flavor, “Twerp Verse Dessert Burst Sundae,” and not to perform.

Then they announced a proper tour, which included a headlining spot at PhilaMOCA.  Amazingly, four days after our show, they were going to open for Dinosaur Jr and Foo Fighters at Fenway Park!  I don’t know how many people arrived early enough to see them, but I have to assume thy were seen by more than the 150 capacity crowd at PhilaMOCA.  And yet Sadie said she was more excited about our show than that one.  And it seemed like it.

Before the shows even began, Sadie was hanging out at the merch table.  We chatted, she sold me a copy of Twerp Verse and even signed it for me.  She was super nice.   (more…)

Read Full Post »

Two Inch Astronaut (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, July 18, 2018) [SPEEDY ORTIZ]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, Two Inch Astronaut on July 18, 2018| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 18, 2018] Two Inch Astronaut

I had heard Two Inch Astronaut on NPR and loved them.  I put them on my list of bands to check out.  So I was really excited that they were opening for Speedy Ortiz.  I got there early and wound up right in front of the stage where I was able to watch Sam Rosenberg play amazing and complicated riffs right in front of me.

Matt Gatwood was also great on drums–he hit really hard but in sophisticated rhythms that really worked with the jagged and noisy guitar that Rosenberg played.  On my right was Andy Chervenak on bass.  He was all over the fretboard, playing low and high notes to complement and contradict everything else that was going on.  It was a terrific package of music.

Until about four songs in when Rosenberg explained that this was their final tour.  They were breaking up after the next show.  It was an amicable breakup, “Nothing dramatic — still get along and love playing, but we’ve been doing some form of this band for almost ten (!?) years and it’s time to shake things up a bit,”

But still. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Old Maybe (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, July 18, 2018) [SPEEDY ORTIZ]

Posted in Old Maybe, Palberta, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA on July 18, 2018| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 18, 2018] Old Maybe

I had never heard of Old Maybe before this show, although I understand that they have been playing together for a while. (Their earliest demos are from 2014).

The band consists of Jazz Adam (guitar and vocals), Ricardo Balmaseda (bass and vocals) and Nina Ryser (drums).

The only person I knew in the band was Nina Ryser whom I had seen on this very stage when she played with Palberta a year or so ago.

But this band belongs to Jazz Adam on vocals and guitar.  She invited anyone of color or non-cis to the front of the audience before the show began.

I didn’t know much about her, so I have learned that

in 2015 Adam began playing solo shows, performing most songs a capella, creating vocal layers with looping and effects pedals.  Adam attributes her lack of stage fright to her background in theater and stand up comedy. “I am able to be myself onstage,” she says. “And I am aggressive.” [Quote from The Spark).

Adam has been pushing that belief in Philadelphia via All Mutable, a booking collective she started with Nicki Duval and Robin Meeker-Cummings. The mission of the collective is to “diversify lineups sonically and racially,” she says. “Our focus is to book lineups that represent and attract those who are under-represented in this music scene, including (but not limited to) POC, queer identified, trans identified, and those who identify as non-binary. We also hope to sonically diversify lineups, and represent genres that are not often recognized in this culturally homogenized city.”

(more…)

Read Full Post »

Spoon (Theatre of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia, PA, March 6, 2018)

Posted in Black Flag, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, Sneaks, Spoon, Theatre of Living Arts, Wire on March 6, 2018| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 6, 2018] Spoon

I have been a fan of Spoon for years.  I’ve never seen them before, including when they played at XPN Fest a few years ago.  Since the song “Hot Thoughts” from the new album is so damn catchy, it seemed like a great time to see them live (especially at TLA).

It took the band quite a while to get going after Sneaks went off.  And I gather they were having technical problems throughout the night.  But it sounded fantastic out by us.  Brit Daniel said he’d tell us the story later in the show.

They played a great mix of new songs and old songs.  Daniel’s voice sounded perfect and he was full of energy–interacting with the audience–high fiving, making faces–and jumping all around the stage.

On my side of the stage I was just a few feet from bassist Rob Pope.  I enjoyed the way Pope came really close to the edge of the stage a number of times, practically leaning out above us.   Just behind him was drummer Jim Eno.

The other side of the stage, obscured by fog for the first half of the show was Gerardo Larios on keys and guitar and Alex Fischel on guitar and keys and all manner of sounds.  He opened the show with some interesting noises while shrouded in fog.  As the blue lights zoomed around the rest of the band came out and they started “Do I Have to Talk You Into It.” (more…)

Read Full Post »

Sneaks (Theatre of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia, PA, March 6, 2018) [SPOON]

Posted in Black Flag, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, Sneaks, Spoon, Theatre of Living Arts on March 6, 2018| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 6, 2018] Sneaks

I’m fascinated by how opening acts get chosen for shows.  Sneaks was an opener for Palm last summer.  So I have now seen Sneaks more than bands I’ve actually wanted to see.

This Spoon show was not advertised with an opening act, so I was surprised (and a little disappointed) that there was one.  I had enjoyed Sneaks as an opener for Palm. I assume it was because it was a smaller venue (PhilaMOCA fits 250, TLA fits 1,000) and we were more intimate, that the Sneaks vibe worked well.  Spoon is quite a lot bigger than Palm, so I guess that’s a step up, but it brings perils.

About the PhilaMOCA show I wrote:

She has a great raw punk bass sound–it reminds me of the sound of Black Flag… Her riffs were cool, and while repeated a lot, they were certainly interesting enough to keep a song going.

She was also accompanied by a DJ. whose name I didn’t catch.  He kept some good beats and threw in some interesting sound effects.  It gave the show a bit more spontaneity than I was expecting from a drum machine based show.

Sneaks played a whole bunch of songs (most of them are quite short about 2 minutes or so).  Each song had a cool or interesting bass riff, she sang (deadpan) around it for 2 minutes and that was it.  She also did a couple of songs with no bass, just a freestyle rap over the drum machine.  And after 35 or so minutes she was done.

 

(more…)

Read Full Post »

The night when no live shows would be seen

Posted in Adult Mom, Ardmore Music Hall, Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band, Diarrhea Planet, Fire is Motion, Forth Wanderers, Madison Square Garden, Petal, PhilaMOCA, Phish, Pinegrove, Starland Ballroom, Television, The Superweaks, Underground Arts, Yankee Bluff on December 29, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[NO SHOWS: December 29, 2017]

December 29, 2017 was a night of many many shows that I was interested in.  I thought it would be fun to end my season of many concerts near the year end (but not on New Year’s Eve, because I have a family, after all–even though Phish beckoned).

So the first option was Phish at Madison Square Garden.  They were playing three nights for New Years.  I tried to get tickets to any of the three, because sure I Would have absolutely gone on New Years Eve, who am I kidding).  But in the band’s lottery I did not get any GA tickets.  I have seen them twice before but I really only wanted to see them up close.  So when no GA were forthcoming, I basically decided I wouldn’t go. Even though I love CashorTrade, I wasn’t willing to fight for them.  Plus, there were other possibilities. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Palm (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, June 24, 2017)

Posted in Palberta, Palm, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, Suffer Dragon on June 24, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 24, 2017] Palm

I saw Palm open for Dilly Dally last year and I enjoyed their set a lot.  I instantly found their bandcamp site and downloaded Trading Basics (Ostrich Vacation is a bit more out there).  This show at PhilaMOCA was ostensibly an album release party for their new EP, Shadow Expert.  But when I asked the bassist if that meant the were going to throw confetti he just laughed.  Later Eve Alpert said she was really blown away that so many people came (it was sold out).  So it was cool to be at that show.

I was really excited to see them in such a small place and I planted myself right up front to watch what they were doing (those chords!).  After about four songs someone came thundering in from who knows where and started slam dancing (she was the only one), and I wound up pretty far back after that, which sucked.  It was also really really stupid hot in there, but Palm transcended the scene and played an awesome set.

They played most (but I don’t think all) of the new EP.  It even sounded like they may have thrown in some brand new songs too, but I’m not sure.  They started with “Walkie Talkie” and the opening strange chords and notes of the EP–it’s so interesting to watch them play this stuff.  And the fact that they are perfectly in sync and never miss a beat is just outstanding. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Palberta (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, June 24, 2017) [PALM]

Posted in Palberta, Palm, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, Suffer Dragon on June 24, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 24, 2017] Palberta

For Palberta, I came down from the balcony because the room had cleared out some–it was really hot so people headed outside for a mew minutes.  I grabbed a spot pretty close and then just before the band went on a tall fellow with artificial flowers (that seemed like he was going to give to the band but never did) stood on front of me.

I’d only heard of Palberta after seeing that they were going to open for Palm.  They have gotten some write ups in some pretty major publications (in Feb they were mention in Rolling Stone as 1 of 10 new bands to get to know).  In that article, Rolling Stone says

sing disjointed playground punk that embraces both dissonance and innocence, trading instruments as quickly as they change ideas: A good 80 percent of the songs poke and scurry off before two minutes are up. “At this point writing short songs feels more intuitive for us than intentional – it’s the natural way,” says Nina Ryser. “It kind of reflects the song writing process itself: frenzied, fast, kind of jumbled.”

And that’s a pretty apt description of the band (I’m fairly surprised that they were mentioned there at all).

And the band says: (more…)

Read Full Post »

Suffer Dragon (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, June 24, 2017) [PALM]

Posted in Palm, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, Suffer Dragon on June 24, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 24, 2017] Suffer Dragon

Two trips to PhilaMOCA in three days.  This time to see a local band that I really like, Palm.

I arrived in the middle of Suffer Dragon set and immediately went upstairs where no one was (it as incredibly hot once again).  I enjoyed that angle quite a bit.  It was very close to the stage and you could really see what both guys were doing.

For Suffer Dragon is a duo–guitar (Adam Babar) and one drum (Daniel Betts).  I didn’t know any of their songs until I looked them up online–there was basically one live video that I watched.  I gather they might be pretty locally famous.  Indeed, back in May, Palm opened for Suffer Dragon.

What made this duo different from many other duos is that Betts also played keyboards (drumstick in right hand, left on the keys) and the Babar’s guitar was hooked up to some crazy effects pedals that made many things he played sound very un-guitar-like.  He was the singer as well. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Chastity Belt (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, June 22, 2017)

Posted in Chastity Belt, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA on June 22, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 22, 2017] Chastity Belt

 I first heard of Chastity Belt from All Songs Considered.  They’d played their really great song, “Black Sail.”  And they also brought attention to their amusing/appalling band photo (see below).  The album No Regerts [sic] had some fun/funny punky feminist songs.  Since then the band has released two albums (and their new one is really really good) and changed their band promo photo style (see below also).  They’re still writing feminist songs but they’re slightly less abrasive (and not called things like “Giant Vagina” or “Nip Slip”).

In fact, despite their name and that particular photo below, their music is really chill.  Julia Shapiro plays nicely jangly almost shoegazy guitar while Lydia Lund plays some simple but really catchy guitar lines that emphasize or counterpoint the melody.  Annie Truscott keeps everything grounded with her bass and Gretchen Grimm plays some really interesting drum parts.  It was particularly notable live since the drums were louder, that Gretchen wasn’t just playing snare/bass, but was playing complex patterns on her toms.  It really made for a cool sound.

I also got a kick out of Shapiro handing out the setlist to everyone on what looked like little tiny pieces of paper (wonder if they were handwritten). (more…)

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »