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Archive for the ‘The Fillmore Philadelphia’ Category

The Claypool Lennon Delirium (The Fillmore, Philadelphia, August 31, 2016)

Posted in Dean Ween, Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, King Crimson, Les Claypool, Marco Benevento, Philadelphia, PA, Pink Floyd, Pokémon Go, Sean Lennon, The Claypool Lennon Delirium, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Les Claypool Frog Brigade, Ween, Yes on September 1, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 31, 2016] The Claypool Lennon Delirium

2016-08-31 22.23.17I saw Primus back in 1990 or so.  I’ve been a fan ever since but I’ve never seen them live again.  In 2015, Primus was touring with Sean Lennon’s band Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger (who are really good, too) but my schedule conflicted so I couldn’t go.  When I heard that The Claypool Lennon Delirium were playing in Philly, I snapped up tickets.

During the above tour, Les Claypool and Sean Lennon got together to make a song and they enjoyed playing so much that they made a whole album.  And it’s as trippy and weird, as you might expect.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from them live.  I mean, it seemed like it would be an insane spectacle (Primus had recently toured Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory which was a real spectacle).  In comparison to what I imagined the show would be like, it was pretty subdued.  The backdrop was three (non-changing) banners, and aside from switching guitars and basses a few times, there wasn’t a lot of shenanigans.  In fact, the usually loquacious Les barely said more than a few words the whole night.  When he first came out he said Hello Philly and commented that we were all staring at him.  And that was pretty much it.

Because it was all about the music.  And the music was really freaking good.  There was a ton of jamming–with each guy showing off.  Les was Les and Sean really wailed on his guitar and effects.  From the picture you can see what appear to be tablets in front of them.  Were they for lyrics or chords or were they playing Pokémon Go?  Who knows. (more…)

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Marco Benevento (The Fillmore, Philadelphia, August 31, 2016) [THE CLAYPOOL LENNON DELIRIUM]

Posted in Dan Deacon, Karina Rykman, Marco Benevento, Philadelphia, PA, Sonic Youth, The Fall, The Fillmore Philadelphia, Ween on September 1, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 31, 2016] Marco Benevento

2016-08-31 20.40.39I’d never heard of Marco Benevento before this show.  I looked him up before the show and listened to one song and thought it sounded okay.  Because of a tight security force (understandable in light of recent events), I missed the opening few minutes of his set, but he played for nearly an hour, so I got a full taste of Marco’s music.

And Marco is a performer. Sitting at a modified piano in a black and white striped suit, he conducted his trio through long, groovy songs.  Andre Borger played drums.  And I was struck as soon as I walked in at how great and wild the drums were.  Many songs had a click track of some sort (I think more just electronic noises on repeat), but Borger dominated the rhythm–playing great fills and smashing the hell out of everything in sight.

But the real star of the show was bassist Karina Rykman. (more…)

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Guster (The Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, June 16, 2016 )

Posted in Guster, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Shelters on June 17, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 16, 2016] Guster        

2016-06-16 21.10.07For the third time in 14 months Sarah and I went to a Guster show.  This was a show that was originally scheduled for January (which we couldn’t go to), but a freak snowstorm kept them away.  So they rescheduled to June and we were free to indulge in one of our favorite live bands.

Guster never fails to put on a supremely fun show.   Between favorite songs, unexpected rarities, frontman Ryan Miller’s banter and general sense of good will and each guy’s ability to play just about anything, each show is a blast.  This venue was much bigger than the previous two and we were actually a little further back but we managed to get close enough to really enjoy the fun.  And the sound was amazing.

The Shelters ended and the stage was set.  It always seems to take so long for a band to come out.  And just as Sarah said they should be out by now, there they were.  They opened with “What You Wish For” a song they hadn’t played to us before–a great start!

Over the three shows we saw in the past 14 months, Guster played 40 different songs (not including two covers and an improv jam) out of 73 songs played. (more…)

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The Shelters (The Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, June 16, 2016) [GUSTER]

Posted in Guster, Philadelphia, PA, Sloan, Social Distortion, The Beatles, The Doors, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Shelters, The Smithereens, The Yardbirds on June 16, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 16, 2016] The Shelters

2016-06-16 20.11.09The Shelters opened for Guster.  I hadn’t heard of them before going to the show, so I really didn’t know what to expect from the band.  Sarah and I arrived as they were going on, so by the time we got situated we probably missed two or three songs.

The band paints an interesting visual picture.  On the left side is guitarist Chase Simpson.  He’s got long hair and plays interestingly shaped guitars.  In the middle is guitarist Josh Jove who has slicked back hair and tends to walk to the front of the stage to solo.  On the bass is Jacob Pillot (also slicked back hair) who sort of hangs back but keeps a great rhythm.  And then in the back is drummer Sebastian Harris with long hair (looking a bit like Kurt Cobain) who pounds the hell out of the drums.

Walking into the venue, I’m not sure what song they were playing but it struck me as sounding very L.A. rock (I don’t really know what that means, but I guessed it reminded me of some of the hard rock/metal bands from the 89s/90s).  The song was good and the band was solid, it just didn’t blow me away.  They played another song (both of these were sung by Jove, I believe) that was similarly rocking and enjoyable.

Then they played “Fortune Teller.”  Simpson sang this one and the whole tenor of the band changed.  The song was a bit trippier (whereas Jove has a rocker voice, Simpson has an almost folkie voice).  I loved the song immediately.  And every song after that was really great too. (more…)

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Explosions in the Sky (The Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, May 20, 2016)

Posted in Disappears, Explosions in the Sky, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia on May 22, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 20, 2016] Explosions in the Sky

2016-05-20 21.43.53I’ve been a fan of EITS for years.  Their brand of epic instrumental has always been symphonic and grand–building up intensity and then, yes, exploding.

The band was inexplicably pretty late getting on stage (and then had to come out and fix their gear themselves).  As they came out on stage I realized that I had no idea what the band members looked like.

I was excited that I was able to get so close to the stage (the show was sold out).  And, I was pleased to realize that EITS was a no mosh pit kind of band, so things were fairly mellow so close to the stage.

The band’s set up was that there was one microphone placed kind of far to the stage (there’d be no singing tonight).  When the band came out guitarist Munaf Rayani (the only guy to talk) apologized for them being so late.   He then said they were Explosions in the Sky from Texas.  And until he said good night that was the only voice for 90 minutes (except for a half dozen of idiots standing nearby talking way too loud and taking selfies). (more…)

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Disappears (The Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, May 20, 2016) [EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY]

Posted in Disappears, Explosions in the Sky, Philadelphia, PA, Sonic Youth, The Fall, The Fillmore Philadelphia on May 21, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 20, 2016] Disappears

2016-05-20 20.46.47 This was my first show at the relatively new Fillmore Philadelphia.  The venue is really nice.  There’s a balcony with bleacher seats and a very large floor area.  It’s also reasonably easy to get to (although kind of hard to leave–bottleneck city!).

I was there to see Explosions in the Sky, but I had given a listen to a few songs by this opening band and was certainly looking forward to seeing them.

I was intrigued that their sounds was described as a mix of shoegaze, krautrock and garage rock.  Three things which don’t really seem to go together.  The tracks I listened to were really rather dissonant, which I found interesting.  It also seems that each album is a little different, with the earlier stuff being a bit more garage-y.

I was also intrigued to read that Steve Shelley, drummer from Sonic Youth, played with them for an album and a couple of tours.  But he was not with them now, having been replaced by Noah Leger.  I’m not sure what Shelley did with the band, but Leger was really amazing to watch.  More on him later.

The rest of the band is Brian Case on guitar and lead vocals with second guitarist Jonathan Van Herik and bassist Damon Carruesco. (more…)

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