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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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The Breeders / Sean Solomon (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, June 26, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Sean Solomon, The Breeders, The Fillmore Philadelphia on June 26, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 26, 2026] The Breeders / Sean Solomon

This was a show I was interested in as soon as it was announced.  I really liked The Breeders when they came out–Last Splash was lie a revelation to me.  But over the years I lost interest in them for one reason or another.  However, I had just seen Belly for the first time and while I liked Belly, I’m pretty sure I enjoyed The Breeders more.  But there was something about this show that I just couldn’t commit to.  Was it because they were playing The Fillmore (Belly was at Underground Arts)? Maybe.  Was it because I hadn’t listened to any of their new music?  I don’t know.

I mean, I love Kim Deal, and I’m bummed I didn’t get to see her with the reunited Pixies, but still…

I think it was because I was really invested in seeing Weird Nightmare that evening.  And that show was weird and fun, so I don’t really feel like I missed out all that much.

Turns out they play most of Last Splash and half of Pod, so they knew what people wanted.

How does one get to be the opener for a classic alt rock band?  No idea.  Who the heck is Sean Solomon?  How did the Breeders find him?

Solomon is a musician and animator from the San Fernando Valley.  His music moves seamlessly moves from bare-bones acoustic guitar to a Neutral Milk Hotel-esque cacophony of marching drums and horn blasts.  Solomon was in a band called Moaning who put out two albums on Sub Pop, so he’s not an unknown newbie (except to me).  I found his stuff kind of interesting, but it didn’t make me want to see this show instead of Weird Nightmare.

 

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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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Jinjer / Entheos / Crystal Lake (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, June 14, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Crystal Lake, Entheos, JInjer, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia, Ukraine on June 14, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 14, 2026] Jinjer / Entheos / Crystal Lake

Back in 2022, I saw Jinjer after blowing off all three opening bands.  I never do this kind of thing, but I had no interest in the openers.  I left my house pretty late and arrived just before they went on and it was great.

I thought about doing the same thing tonight, but with a twist.  I had tickets to see Vundabar across town.  I thought I could see Wunderbar and when their show was over, I could head over and catch most, if not all of Jinjer. I wasn’t going to buy a ticket for Jinjer, because that would be took reckless.  But then Ticketmaster offered a crazy cheap deal on tickets for this show (and other shows).  I also had a $20 gift from Live Nation, so I used the two together and bought a ticket for this show for $7.  That way if I didn’t make it, no big deal.

Something happened at home that had me running very late and feeling kind of beat.  So I wound up not even going to the Vundabar show.  I didn’t feel so bad about missing this one, as it seems like the Vundabar show ended at roughly the same time as Jinjer, so it wouldn’t have been worth trying to get across town anyhow.

Entheos are a progressive death metal band from Santa Cruz, California.  The band features ex-members of Animosity, Animals as Leaders, and The Faceless.  Musically they are interesting and compelling with lots of prog component.  And, despite being a death metal band, they’re not all that heavy.  But the death metal component (and the part I don’t care for) is the growly singer.  However, I’ve noticed a lot of interesting vocal sounds from the singer and it turns out that all of the vocals, including the melodica parts are done by Chaney Crabb.  She’s pretty impressive with her range (not as good as Jinjer’s but pretty close).  I would have enjoyed seeing them after all, I think.  I’ll keep aneye out for them in future.

Crystal Lake are a Japanese melodic metalcore band that incorporates heavy prog elements and even nu-metal.  It’s fascinating hearing a Japanese singer screaming in English.  Although I see now that they have had an American singer for the last few years.  Indeed, lots of line up changes for this band.  They have some cool melodic elements that I like.

But this would probably have been a really long loud night had I gone to the whole thing.

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Tash Sultana / Daisy the Great (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, June 5, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Australia, Daisy the Great, Philadelphia, PA, Tash Sultana, The Fillmore Philadelphia on June 5, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 5, 202] Tash Sultana / Daisy the Great

I saw Tash Sultana in 2017.  She had just bubbled up on my radar from NPR.  When I learned that she plays every single sound of her songs herself and she does it live using looping pedals that I became really interested in her.  When I finally saw her, I couldn’t believe she played for nearly 2 hours–all by herself, bouncing around the stage nonstop–and kept the crowd watching her every move the whole time.

She was really a great performer.

And then I lost track of her completely.  When her name popped up her, I did think, what has she been up to all this time.

According to the setlist, she played a few songs with a full band, and then a few songs solo (like Jungle, the first one I’d heard by her).  Then the full band came back out and played together some more.  She also has at least four albums out now.   Realistically I wasn’t going to go  to this show, but I’m happy for her that she’s going strong and headlining the Fillmore.

I could have seen Daisy the Great in 2022 when they opened for Half.Alive.  But I didn’t go to that show.  Daisy the Great is a band, not a person.  Led by singer-songwriters Kelley Dugan and Mina Walker, their 2017 debut single “The Record Player Song” was a hit.  Later, a remix of “Record Player” was released with production by AJR.  I listened to the song and it’s possible I’ve heard it.  It starts with an a capella intro which is pretty interesting.  Then it turns into a kind of indie folk pop.  The remix adds a kind of dance beat to it (with extra vocals–changes the song quite a bit actually).  I’m interested but not hugely interested.

 

 

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Ben Folds and a Piano / Lindsey Kraft (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, May 31, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Ben Folds, Lindsey Kraft, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia on May 31, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 31, 2026] Ben Folds and a Piano / Lindsey Kraft

Time was that if Ben Folds played a show, we would go.  His shows are always fun and rocking.  But the last time we went we were annoyed by the crowd and felt like he might have been annoyed by them as well.  Then he started becoming more and more of a composer (which is not a bad thing in itself) and we didn’t enjoy his music as much.

This show, which may have been a request show, I’m not sure, had a really fun setlist.  Four songs from Rockin’ the Suburbs.  Four from Songs for Silverman.  A few older songs and only three from his most recent album–the one I don’t know.

I think we may have to check back in with Ben the next time he comes around.  It’s also possible that the next time he comes around it will be with the Ben Folds Five.  And I would go to that in a second.

Lindsey Kraft is an actress (in things I have not seen) and a singer.  She plays piano (and I assume used the same piano as Ben).  Her voice sounds very musical to me, as in Broadway musical.  Or maybe Disney musical.  Not bad, just of a particular style.  Her songs are also pretty spare, so of the couple songs I listened to, they weren’t especially gripping.  Although they were amusing.

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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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