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Archive for the ‘The Fillmore Philadelphia’ Category

POPPY (The Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 9, 2026)

Posted in LANDMVRKS, Philadelphia, PA, Poppy, The Fillmore Philadelphia, Thousand Below on July 10, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 9, 2026] Poppy

When Poppy announced this show, I managed to get a ticket for $20 off, which was great.  I hadn’t realized that this would be my third time seeing her in less than a year and a half.

But each show has been different in one way or another.  Tonight’s show featured the giant cubes that were in use for Landmvrks.  But these were special for Poppy.  Each cube had a platform on top of it, so when the show started, Poppy was on top of one  and the drums were setup on top of the other–easily fifteen feet high.  And on the stage were three masked musicians.

A recording of Constantly Nowhere played and then Poppy appeared on top of the cubes and sang have you had enough (which I see she has opened the show with all three times that I’ve seen her).

I’m so intrugued by Poppy because she started as a seriously Pop pop singer and just a few years later, she is beloved by the metal community.  And why not?  Her songs are heavy as anything and she screams with serious intensity.

She mixed up the rest of the set.  Climbing down to the stage, she sang The Cost of Giving Up.  This song has serious pop chops and is really catchy, although the middle section has some of her most intense screaming.

As I mentioned for Landmvrks, the place was packed.  And, I hate to say it, I’m not sure how I feel about Poppy fans.  A trio in front of me was pogoing and bouncing into everyone even though there were several circle pits in the area.  And that’s not cool to crash into others but to be afraid of the circle pit.

I was really surprised she played Concrete third.  I love this song, it is so bizarre, with that weird guitar lick and then the insane J-pop section that shifts into a rocking section and then shifts again into a more or less sixties pop song.  All within 90 seconds.  And then what a riff!  It’s an insane and great song–straight out of the Babymetal playbook.  Any question about her metal bonafides are put to rest with the new song Bruised Sky–heavy and noisy with great screams.

Her band was a little different this time around.  Actually the lead guitarist might be the same, but for this show one of the masked guitarists was a woman.  This worked really well, when the guitarist sang backing vocals or even an occasional lead part.  The masks were really different this time too–scary Japanese theater type masks. (more…)

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LANDMVRKS (The Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 9, 2026) [POPPY]

Posted in LANDMVRKS, Philadelphia, PA, Poppy, The Fillmore Philadelphia, Thousand Below on July 9, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 9, 2026] LANDMVRKS

When Poppy announced this show, I managed to get a ticket for $20 off, which was great.  I hadn’t realized that this would be my third time seeing her in less than a year and a half.

I didn’t care about the opening act, Thousand Below, a post-hardcore band from San Diego.  I mean, I’m kind of done with post-hardcore at this point.  They do have interesting vocals, but I didn’t really care if I saw them.

After a stressful day, in which my wife bore the brunt of the tasks, I wasn’t sure if I should go out, but she was going to chill, so I went, but left a little later than usual.  And, as happens when I’m not in a hurry, I made it to the Fillmore in plenty of time.

There was no line, so I assumed I’d saunter up near the front and listen to the two openers before enjoying Poppy.

Well, I walked in and it was PACKED.  I couldn’t believe so many people wanted to see Thousand Below.  I found an okay spot and then lights dimmed and a guy ran on stage and as they started, it was clearly LANDMVRKS.  Evidently Thousand Below went on at 7.  Oops.

The stage had two large cubes with video screens on them.  The image for LANDMVRKS was their name and a collection of statues.  Music sounded from backstage and then Florent Salfati ran out on stage wearing an Eminem shirt and rapping in French!  His flow was fast (although I think French might lend itself to fast rapping).  And then the rest of the band came out and they played a blast of a chord and they were off.

LANDMVRKS are from Marseille and have been around since 2014 (first album 2016).  Their later albums are heavier and have some rap elements and serious growling.

The three guys on stage were so mobile, they were almost exhausting.  I’m not sure which guitarist was which, but whether it was Nicolas Exposito (a founding member) or Paul Cordebard (joined in 2017) he kicked really high, ran in place and was always in motion.  He also had a great low growl and surprisingly good harmony vocals when needed.  Bassist Rudy Purkart was similarly active, going back and forth around the stage and singing too.  And Kévin D’Agostino on drums was a beast, but he was tucked in between the boxes and was kind of hard to see, but his drumming was fast and intense.

They had a really heavy sound, but they also had some very pretty moments as well.   I was really impressed with Salfati’s voice which was at times really lovely and delicate and could also descend into a crazy guttural growl.   I couldn’t detect an accent in his voice at all.  Even when he spoke to us (saying how excited they were to be in the U.S.), his accent was barely noticeable.

There was a guy in front of me who was clearly a huge fan.  He knew the beats and filmed the whole thing. (more…)

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Spoon (The Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, June 24, 2026)

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Spoon, Squirrel Flower, The Beths, The Fillmore Philadelphia on June 25, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 24, 2026] Spoon 

This was my fourth time seeing Spoon, a band I’ve never been a huge fan of.  That sounds worse than I mean.  I’ve liked them for years and I like many many of their songs, they were just not one of the bands that I got really into.  And yet, I will see them all the time when they play because their live show is so good.

I can’t believe it’s been four years since they last came to Philly.  That time, they cancelled and rescheduled a concert in 19 days (and even had new T-shirts printed with the new dates!).

My wife came along with me for The Beths (which she loved) and was indifferent to Spoon.  She had seen them with me at the PNC Bank Center in Holmdel when they opened for Beck seven years ago.  I told her that they would be better and more fun in this setting and she agreed they were (at PNC they played when it was still light out).

Spoon was headlining, but they still played a shortened set.

I assumed that this tour was an opportunity to play the two new songs that they’d released not too long ago (and which WXPN loves).  But amazingly, they didn’t play either one!

Chateau Blues and Guess I’m Fallin In Love are great songs and would have been so much fun to hear live.  But instead, they opened with a song from their debut album, one I hadn’t heard yet.  If I thought The Beths’ crowd was excited, they had nothing on the Spoon fans, who went crazy for this old song.

We were nearest to Alex Fischel, who is so much fun to watch.  So much so, that singer Britt Daniel spends a lot of time watching him too.  It’s odd that Britt introduced Alex and drummer Jim Eno but not bassist Ben Trokan or multi-player Gerardo Larios.

I told my wife that she’d know a few of the songs because they do get a bit of airplay.  She knew (and really enjoyed) The Hardest Cut.

Spoon songs soun distinctly Spoon so even if you don’t know a song you’ll feel comfortable with it.   But my wife recognized I Turn My Camera On.  And I was psyched to hear My Mathematical Mind and The Way We Get By (the woman behind me–who screamed a lot–was also happy to hear that one and sang along for a bit, but not too much, thankfully).

Then they played two songs I hadn’t seen them play before–2 deep cuts from their second album.  They followed that with the amazing The Underdog.  Such a fun song.  It’s got horns on the record but the live version doesn’t miss them.

Britt is a really fun frontman–he points and smiles at people, he really engages with the audience.  I’ve no idea if he’s a nice guy or a cocky jerk, but he definitely enjoys himself on stage.  It’s pretty amazing that this is my fourth time seeing them and they played five (older) songs that I hadn’t seen them play before. And one brand new song Lose Control that hasn’t been released as a single yet. (more…)

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The Beths (The Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, June 23, 2026) [SPOON]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Spoon, Squirrel Flower, The Beths, The Fillmore Philadelphia on June 24, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 23, 2026] The Beths

I love The Beths and I’m thrilled that my wife does too.  This was her third (my fourth) time seeing them.  And the previous time was only six months ago (do they ever go back to New Zealand?)

This was a double headline show, which I tend to think sucks for everyone.  The bands don’t play a full 90 minutes (or more) and the fans don’t get a full show from either of the bands that they like.  But sometimes it works out okay.  We were hoping the show wouldn;t run too late as we were both pretty tired.  So, the fact that Spoon kept it pretty short was ok.

But honestly we would have loved a bit more of The Beths!

After Squirrel Flower, we moved up fairly close to the stage.  Then a nice tall man (from Matawan) told us to go in front of him. Which was so thoughtful.  Although if he did that for everyone, he’s be in the back row.

The couple in front of us was interesting.  She was a huge Beths fan and he…stood sideways for the whole show.  He faced he partner.  I looked at his shoes and indeed they were pointing to the side.  And he turned his neck for the entire show to see the band.  Why would anyone do that?

The tall guy next to me was totally into it, drumming along, make hand motions and singing (quietly) everything.  This was a pretty dedicated fan base–surely everyone there saw them in December too.

Because they weren’t full headlining, they kept things relatively tightly paced.  The show started like the last one with the fantastic Straight Line was a Lie which got everyone bouncing.  They followed it with the really fun No Joy which is especially fun because at two points song the song, Jonathan Pearce on guitar and Benjamin Sinclair on bass stomp on a little stomp rocket thing and penny whistles fly into the arm which the catch an proceed to play.

It was interesting that they played some songs that they didn’t play six months ago.  Like they played Knees Deep from Expert…  It’s a fun bouncy song (because they all are, right?).  Then they jumped back to Future Me, one of many songs that have wonderful backing vocals from Jonathan, Benjamin and drummer Tristan Deck.

Things shifted gears dramatically when Liz said she was going to sing the next song by herself.  She told us it was about her relationship with her mother, so it was clearly Mother, Pray for Me.  The thing I didn’t know about the song (or her) was that her mother is a devout Catholic Indonesian woman.  Liz was born in Jakarta and moved to Auckland at age four.  That made some of the lyrics even more meaningful.  This song is a surprise because it’s not poppy and punky, it is slow and beautiful.  And I am really surprised that she played it during this shortened set.  It stops all 0f the energy and, thankfully, the crowd is rapt.  It must be a very meaningful song for her to bare herself like this.

When it was over and she thanked everyone for being quiet (except two people who whooped?), Jonathan told us about a club in New Zealand that is right across from their studio and it’s about to close that very night.  They were trying to raise money for it and said that all profits from merch would go to the venue.  But they needed $150,000 by midnight.  And holy shit, they raised it (well, the club did, not The Beths alone–but “Auckland indie band The Beths were one of the almost 3000 donors, sending $9633.38 from the band and “the people of Philadelphia””.)  It was a pretty lengthy chat which meant that they didn’t get to do their usually fun introductory banter.  Although TRistan did give a plug for Ben’s wonderful blog breakfast and travel updates.com.

They touched on their previous album a couple of times with Best Left (not to be confused with Best Laid Plans) with that echoing pulsing guitar intro (some things are best left….to rot).  And then only one song from Jump Rope Gazers (the wonderful title track)–this is why a double headline show isn’t as much fun, only ten songs?

I was delighted that they played Metal, the recently ubiquitous single that is so much fun.  The melancholy Til My Heart Stops was followed by the similarly melancholy (but somehow bouncy and poppy) Little Death.

They ended the set with Expert in a Dying Field, another super fun and catchy song.  I felt that they had enough time to squeeze in the amazing I’m Not Getting Excited (it’s only like 2 minutes long) but they were done (and Ben says they removed all of their gear in 9 minutes).  It was a great set, marred only by the fact that I wished it was 45 minutes longer.

2025 2025 2023 2022
Straight Line Was a Lie ⇒ [2] Straight Line Was a Lie ⇒ Future Me Hates Me ¶ [2] I’m Not Getting Excited Ω
No Joy ⇒ [2]  No Joy ⇒ Knees Deep ⊗ Not Running  ¶
Knees Deep ⊗ [2] Silence is Golden ⊗ [2] Out of Sight Ω [2] Great No One 
Happy Unhappy  ¶ [2] Future Me Hates Me ¶ [3] A Passing Rain ⊗ A Real Thing [new]
Mother, Pray for Me ⇒ [2] Metal ⇒ Not Running ¶ [2] Happy Unhappy 
Best Left ⊗ [2] Til My Heart Stops ⇒ Best Left ⊗ Out of Sight Ω
Jump Rope Gazers Ω [4] Mother, Pray for Me ⇒ Dying to Believe Ω [2] Acrid Ω
Metal ⇒ [2] Your Side ⊗ I Want to Listen ⊗  Jump Rope Gazers Ω
Til My Heart Stops ⇒ [2] Uptown Girl  ¶ [2] Head in the Clouds ⊗ Uptown Girl 
Little Death  ¶ [4] Mosquitoes ⇒ Jump Rope Gazers Ω [2] When You Know You Know ¢/⊗
Expert in a Dying Field ⊗ [3] Ark of the Covenant ⇒ I Told You That I Was Afraid ⊗ Mars, the God of War Ω
Jump Rope Gazers Ω [3] When You Know You Know ⊗ [2] Whatever  ¶
Best Laid Plans ⇒ I’m Not Getting Excited Ω [2] Little Death 
Little Death  ¶ [3] You Wouldn’t Like Me ¶ Future Me Hates Me 
I’m Not Getting Excited Ω [3] Silence is Golden ⊗ River Run: Lvl 1 
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Hugh Martin cover) Expert in a Dying Field ⊗ Dying to Believe Ω
Expert in a Dying Field ⊗ [2] encore
encore You Are a Beam of Light Ω
Roundabout ⇒ [Roundabout replaced Take since roundabouts / traffic circles came up earlier in the show.  First time as closer.] Little Death ¶ [2]

⇒ Straight Line Was a Lie (2025) (played everything from it except Take)
⊗ Expert in a Dying Field (2022)
Ω Jump Rope Gazers (2020)
¶ Future Me Hates Me (2018)
¢ Demos 2014-2020

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Squirrel Flower (The Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, June 23, 2026) [SPOON]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Spoon, Squirrel Flower, The Beths, The Fillmore Philadelphia on June 23, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 23, 2026] Squirrel Flower

I saw Squirrel Flower open for Soccer Mommy back in 2021.  At the time I wrote that I found her solo stuff kind of dull, but then she brought a band out for the second half of her set and I liked the songs a lot more.

About mid way through I felt like they sounded like a slightly grungier version of Cowboy Junkies.  It was still a little slow for me but I enjoyed a few songs.

Despite enjoying a couple of songs, I didn’t feel compelled to see her again, especially since she was going on at 7.  So we left a little earlier than I would for an 8PM show and we arrived with Squirrel Flower starting her final song.  It was, like the others, very slow.  Here’s one thing I noted last time:

In an interview, she says that “Hurt a Fly” is her first ever Squirrel Flower song with key changes (!).

I believe it.  She did change her vocal note at some point in the song but it was mostly forgettable.  So I’m glad we didnt stand through 40 minutes of her.

 

(more…)

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Courtney Barnett (The Fillmore, Philadelphia, PA, May 12, 2026)

Posted in Courtney Barnett, Kurt Vile, Momma, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia, Truman Sinclair on May 14, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 12, 2026] Courtney Barnett

Before Courtney started, a woman near us was talking to someone who had not seen her before and she said to be ready because she rocks a lot harder that you may think.  And she totally does.  For a trio, her band totally ripped. And when she soloed, it never felt like a bass player playing behind one guitar.

I can’t remember what the audience was like for her last time, but this time I found them really awful.  There were some metal dudes to the side of us who were headbanging and almost moshing.  But it was only the few of them and they did not sit well with the other people around us.  There was a guy who was very chatty with everyone around him throughout the set and the poor woman in front of me really could never see well no matter how she arranged herself until she finally moved elsewhere about half way through the set.  I think once she moved I felt better too.  But my poor wife was behind a woman with very long white hair, which we initially thought would be a safe place, but she proved to be a writhing, arm waving irritant, who never moved up into the ample space in front her.  So yea, even though Courtney was great, the show was annoying.

But you can’t blame Courtney for her fans,

She came out on stage and launched right into Stay in Your Lane, the ubiquitous single from her new album.  The song is fun, but it’s even more fun when she gets to do her live guitar work around it.

I’m intrigued to see that eight years later, her second and third songs of her set were the same: City Looks Pretty and Avant Gardner (which the crowd went berserk for). (more…)

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Momma (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, May 12, 2026) [COURTNEY BARNETT]

Posted in Courtney Barnett, Momma, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia on May 13, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 12, 2026] Momma

This was my third time seeing Momma.  I was super excited to see them the first time and looked forward to seeing them headline a little bit later.

I bought tickets to this show not even caring who the openers were.  But I was pretty happy to see that Momma would be one of them.

Momma have been playing live for a while now and their set is pretty smooth.  After the last time I saw them, they posted online a complaint about 40 year old men with no kids standing in front of the young girls who can’t see.  I get the sentiment but it came across really nasty.  And it made me feel like they don’t really enjoy themselves on stage.

And I felt that way through the whole set.

Bands don’t have to be cheerful and smiling–many bands aren’t-but I get a feeling of almost disdain from the band.  Which is only weird because their songs are so warm and welcoming.  Or maybe it was the audience who gave me the weird vibe for the show.  I was kind of puzzled by the audience during Courtney’s set as well, but something just felt off to me. (more…)

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Truman Sinclair (The Fillmore, Philadelphia, PA, May 12, 2026) [COURTNEY BARNETT]

Posted in Courtney Barnett, Kurt Vile, Momma, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia, Truman Sinclair on May 12, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 12, 2026] Truman Sinclair

My wife does not care for opening acts.  I always make her sit through them (and sometimes she admits she likes them).  But this show happened to be on a night that she had something to do right up until we were about to leave.  So, I said I didn’t care if we missed this first opener Truman Sinclair, but I did want to see Momma.

So we left probably 30 minutes later than I normally like to leave.  And we hit ZERO traffic.  And parking was easy and there was no line yet so we wound up seeing all of Truman Sinclair’s set.

I’d never heard of the guy, but he had a youthful charm (he’s 23) and a really good sense of melody.  He’s from Chicago but lives in L.A

His second song sounded a lot like a Neil Young song (the chords and harmonica are similar to Heart of Gold).  Although his voice sounds nothing like Neil’s

His songs were mostly slower (Sit By the Fire–I’m not very fond of lines like “I’ve got you you you you you,” but whatever. (more…)

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Dave / DJ Diamond Kuts (Fillmore Philly, Philadelphia, PA, April 17, 2016) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in DAVE, DJ Diamond Kuts, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia on April 17, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 17, 2016] Dave / DJ Diamond Kuts

Back in 2022, I could have seen DAVE at TLA.  Now, four years later. he’s back and headlining The Fillmore.  Which makes sense, since back in 2022, he had to add three nights to his NYC shows.  But I had no idea that anyone here knew of him.

I know of DAVE from a Tiny Desk Concert.  And I wondered, how does a British rapper succeed in the U.S. when he is called DAVE?

I really like his DAVE’s tone (and his accent is neat).  But this show proved to be on a night that I was triple booked.

I had already gotten a ticket to se Touche Amore a Brooklyn Bowl (which I was able to sell).  As soon as DAVE announced this show a the Fillmore, I grabbed a ticket.  And THEN the John Malkovich performance was announced in Princeton and I couldn’t pass that up.

I guess the next time DAVE comes to the States, he’ll be playing Franklin Music Hall?  Well, if he’s still at the Fillmore, I will try to make it.

Does he really play the harp?

DJ Diamond Kuts is a DJ and Producer from Philly.  It sounds like she is in huge demand.  And her instagram shows her spinning at lots of big name events.  I wonder what she played before DAVE.

 

 

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Snail Mail / Swirlies / Sharp Pins (Fillmore Philly, Philadelphia, PA, April 16, 2016) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Lifeguard, Philadelphia, PA, Sharp Pins, Snail Mail, Swirlies, The Fillmore Philadelphia on April 16, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 16, 2016] Snail Mail / Swirlies / Sharp Pins

I have been wanting to catch Snail Mail since 2018, when I missed her opening for Alvvays at Union Transfer.  You don’t always get to see a singer progress so clearly up the ranks of popularity.

In 2018 she was opening for someone at Union Transfer and now 8 years later she was headlining The Fillmore.

I haven’t actually listened to her in a few years so I don’t know if I even like her music anymore, but I’ve enjoyed watching her succeed.

Swirlies are a band that I knew back in the late 90s.  I have their first album (they are a Boston band and I was living in Boston at the time).  I don’t really know why I got the record in the first place, although it’s kind of in my wheelhouse–noisy, not exactly shoegaze, very weird.  Not a chance of making it big.  And yet, they persisted.  Well, Damon Tutunjian persisted.  He’s the only person to have remained in the band from 1990 on.  And the sound is much different on their more recent recordings.  Seana Carmody was in the band in the early days and she went on to form Syrup USA who I had also forgotten about but have a fond memory of.   Although it turns out they play mostly stuff from their earlier days, so I probably would have enjoyed this.

I didn’t realize I knew anything about Sharp Pins, but it turns out I have seen the mastermind of this band, Kai Slater, in his other band, Lifeguard (who I loved) and I had singled out Slater as a great guitar player.  Imagine my surprise to find out he is the driving force (and sole member, I think) of Sharp Pins.  And, in fact, I love one of their songs that I hear on the radio a lot, I Don’t Have the Heart.  It has a retro pop feel and is a totally tasty pop song.  Indeed, Kai writes a lot of wonderful retro pop songs.  Although I did find that a full album was too much for me, I’ll bet seeing him live would be great.

So I think overall this would have been a really enjoyable show, but I had been to two shows in a row the nights before and had another event for the following night.  Maybe some day I’ll get to see them all.

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