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Archive for the ‘The Fillmore Philadelphia’ Category

[ATTENDED: July 26, 2021] Bacchae [postponed from July 21, 2022]

I was excited to take my daughter to see The Linda Lindas since she is the same age as they are.  She didn’t really know their music (I heard about them when they played at a library in LA), but I thought she’d enjoy the show and the venue.

But when the show was postponed (it was pretty cool that it was only postponed five days), the new date was on a night that she has a 4H commitment.  So she couldn’t go.

So, I went since I wanted to see them while they were still buzzed about.

The opening band I hadn’t heard of.  They are called Bacchae (a good start for a intellectual show, right?).  They are a Washington D.C. based punk band with really smart lyrics.

They released their last album just in time for the pandemic. (more…)

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[POSTPONED: July 21, 2021] The Linda Lindas / Bacchae [moved to July 26, 2022]

I was excited to take my daughter to see The Linda Lindas since she is the same age as they are.  She didn’t really know their music (I heard about them when they played at a library in LA), but I thought she’d enjoy the show and the venue.

We drove all the way to Philly.  We parked.  We walked to the venue.  And discovered that the show had been postponed!

In fairness to the world, apparently it was known on July 19th, that these shows were being postponed because of a case of COVID in the touring party.  BrooklynVegan posted on the 19th (more…)

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[DID NOT ATTEND: June 19, 2022] Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls / Avail / The Bronx / Pet Needs

I had been wanting to see him for a long time because I’d heard his live shows were amazing.  I saw him last year in a solo (more or less) performance.  And it was great.  So next, I wanted to see him with his band because I’ve heard the band version is even wilder with a more punk aesthetic and I do love a fun punk show.

I grabbed a ticket to this immediately, not realizing that it was Father’s Day.  It’s not a very Fatherly way to spend the day by being away from your family for hours.  So I didn’t go.  I probably wouldn’t  have gone to all the bands (four is so many!), but still, it’s nice to be home with the family.

Avail is a melodic hardcore band that has been around since 1987.  There would be a LOT of slam dancing for this set.

The Bronx is a punk band from (amusingly) Los Angeles.  They’ve been around since 2022, but I’d never heard of them (clearly I’m not up on my punk bands).  Slam dancing here as well, although their newer stuff is less punk and a bit more metal.  Interestingly, the band also released several mariachi albums under the name Mariachi El Bronx.  I wonder if they play any of that in these shows.  Probably not.

Pet Needs is a punk band from England formed by brothers Johnny and George Marriott. Their debut album: ‘Fractured Party Music‘, was mixed and mastered by Frank Turner.  They have a good punk sound but they mix it up with slower parts in their songs, too.

 

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[DID NOT ATTEND: May 24, 2022] Turnstile / Citizen / Ceremony / Ekulu / Truth Cult

The new Turnstile record is fun and wild.  And I’ve heard that a Turnstile live show was absolutely bonkers.  I wanted to go to this show, although the prospect of five bands in one night is exhausting.

Plus I had tickets to see Sondre Lerche (they couldn’t be more different options)–which we wound up not going to anyhow.

Citizen are a rocking band who embrace a lot of styles.  I hear some post punk and some shoegaze wrapped in an emo blanket.  I rather dig their stuff.

Ceremony were a hardcore band who have expanded their palette a bit.  Indeed, one of their newest songs has a female vocalist singing gently in the middle of the song.

Ekulu, are a crossover hardcore band with lots of screaming metal solos.

Truth Cult throws in a bunch of influences.  There’ a lot of 70s rock in their delivery (those backing vocals and riffs) but the lead vocals are firmly in the punk realm.  There’s a hint of Fucked Up on their overall sound, as well.

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[DID NOT ATTEND: May 7, 2022] Rina Sawayama / Hana

Rina Sawayama is a fascinating pop star.  She is British-Japanese and has an amazing voice.  She is also comfortable embracing all genres.

At the time of this show her second album has not been released yet, but her first album Sawayama embraced all kinds of genres in each song.  There’s aggressively pop singing with incredible hooks and then some hugely metal guitars.  “STFU!” was massively metal with a swooping pop center.

It was fun to imagine that her live show would be a riot.

As one reviewer wrote:

As Sawayama kept up with multiple outfit changes, an onstage thunderstorm and memorable choreography, her voice remained a beacon of light.

This show sold out at the TLA long before I had even heard of her.  It was moved to the Fillmore where it also sold out. (more…)

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[ATTENDED: May 4, 2022] Spoon [rescheduled from April 15, 2022]

This was possibly the shortest time between a postponed show and a rescheduled show.  Nineteen days!  It’s pretty remarkable that the venues were able to accommodate Spoon with such short notice.

So I’ve never been a huge fan of Spoon, but I like a lot if not most of their songs.  In fact, I like them more and more with each record and with each live show.  It’s like the live experience really shows what they’re doing to its best example.

So this was my third time seeing them.  And it was great.

They opened with “Held” a Smog song that they have covered a lot in the past (and which is on their new album).  As soon as Britt Daniel started singing, someone behind me loudly screamed along “first time in my life!” (more…)

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[ATTENDED: May 4, 2022] Margaret Glaspy [rescheduled from April 15, 2022]

This was possibly the shortest time between a postponed show and a rescheduled show.  Nineteen days!  It’s pretty remarkable that the venues were able to accommodate Spoon with such short notice.  It also worked out really well for me because that week in April was really chaotic.

But here we were in May.  

I had been wanting to see Margaret Glaspy for a pretty long time.  She last played Philadelphia in 2016, about two months before I heard her album.  (Well, actually, she played Philly when opening for Ruston Kelly, but there was no freaking way I was going  to see that country music hack).  She was supposed to headline a tour back in 2020, but that show was postponed, so it’s not all her fault that it took six years for me to see her.

I really enjoyed her album Emotions and Math.  I loved the guitar and kind of weirdly lurching and aggressive sound and vocal style (Margaret clearly was taking no shit).  Her newer album departed from that style a bit–there’s a bit more synth, but it’s still solid.  (more…)

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[ATTENDED: April 16, 2022] Motionless in White

As soon as I heard that Motionless in White was from Scranton (and they called Philly home), I understood why they were the headliners.  Apparently they always sell out in Philly as well.

After Ice Nine Kills, there was a major shift in the audience.  Whether they were leaving or just getting drinks, it allowed me to get very close to the stage.  So when Motionless in White came out I really got to experience them pretty well.

I was a little puzzled by lead singer Chris Motionless who may have had white face paint on.  He was also wearing what looked like an army flak jacket (with no shirt underneath–ouch.

I also think there was no bassist for the band (I see that it was announced in Buffalo that he was expecting a new baby, so that’s sweet).  I’m not sue how they compensated or maybe they didn’t bother.  (more…)

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[ATTENDED: April 16, 2022] Ice Nine Kills

Ice Nine Kills put on a wonderfully theatrical show.  There’s costume changes, props and murder victims.  Their songs are often very catchy and they are frequently about horror movies (hence the murder victims).

After seeing them back in 2019, I knew I’d want to see them again.  I’ve tried to see them with my son a few times, but he winds up getting invited by a friend and they go together (last time they scored VIP which I don’t even bother trying to do).  So I was pretty excited to go to this show.

And I was consequently a little bummed that their set was only going to  be about 50 minutes.  (more…)

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[ATTENDED: April 16, 2022] Black Veil Brides

When I grabbed tickets for this tour, I wound up getting them via a Black Veil Brides Presale, because I never got the INK presale to work.

I had never heard of the Black Veil Brides, but that didn’t matter, because I could still get the tickets, right?  Even my son and his friend were a little surprised the three bands were together because they said that BVB and Motionless in White peaked like ten years ago.

I also had no idea that this was a triple headline bill.  I mean, yes I can see it was advertised as such, but since I hadn’t heard of the other two bands I assumed that the other bands were listed, but it was an INK show.

Then the day before, when I went to check what time INK went on, I saw that the three bands were rotating who went first and that we would not know who was playing first until we got there.  Woah, no wonder it was so packed so early. (more…)

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