Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘The Fillmore Philadelphia’ Category

Royal Blood / Bad Nerves (The Fillmore, Philadelphia, PA, September 30, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Bad Nerves, Philadelphia, PA, Royal Blood, The Fillmore Philadelphia on September 30, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 30, 2023] Royal Blood / Bad Nerves

I have been interested in Royal Blood for a few years.  I don’t really remember when they first hit my radar, but I think it was their debut album.

I had heard that their live show (for just two guys) was really impressive.

Apparently everyone else thinks so too as they have played a few different Philly festivals over the last few years.  I wasn’t interested in seeing them at an all day festival, and this was their first time playing a club in Philly since 2017.

At the time I was really intrigued by them being a duo and rocking out.  But since then, there have been so many duos who absolutely kick ass, that the novelty isn’t that great anymore.  I never really listened to much of their music anyway, so it’s no big deal that I’m not going because this show is the same weekend that my daughter and I are going to the All Things Go.

Bad Nerves is new to me, but they seem like a fun pop punk band from England.  They have one album of frenetic punk that reminds me of The Dickies.  Sounds fun.

Read Full Post »

Movements / Mannequin Pussy / Softcult / Heart to Gold (The Fillmore, Philadelphia, PA, September 23, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Heart to Gold, Mannequin Pussy, Philadelphia, PA, Softcult, The Fillmore Philadelphia on September 23, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 20, 2023] Movements / Mannequin Pussy / Softcult / Heart to Gold

I actually didn’t know about Movements until Mannequin Pussy announced that they were opening for them on this tour.   I love Mannequin Pussy and am excited to hear their newer songs live.  So I grabbed a ticket–even though I knew I had a ticket to the sold out Death Grips show the same night.

I figured there was a pretty good chance that Death Grips wouldn’t play (they tend to be flaky about tours, but apparently not this one), and maybe I’d get to go to this show which seemed likely to sell out (it hasn’t yet).

Then I discovered that Death Grips doesn’t have an opener and their shows are fairly short (90 minutes or so).  And I realized there was a chance I could still see some of this show (the venues are less than ten minutes apart).  So it all depends on how long Death Grips play for and how late they start.

Then a few days before the show, I decided that I didn’t want to see Death Grips anymore.  After a couple of rough, pushing a shoving shows, I realized that I didn’t want to spend 90 minutes in a crowd at Franklin Music Hall with abrasion and aggression non-stop for 90 minutes while the crowd slam danced all around me and the stage was bathed in red.  Maybe had I not seen Igorrr and Boris this week, I would have been more up for it, but it just felt not fun.

So then I thought maybe I’d go to this show.  But then things were going on at home and I realized that based on when Mannequin Pussy said they were going on (8:55) that Softcult, who I really wanted to see, wouldn’t be playing for very long.  And I didn’t think MP would get a very long set either.  So I just said meh to the whole thing and stayed home. (more…)

Read Full Post »

The Breeders: 30th Anniversary Tour / Screaming Females (The Fillmore, Philadelphia, PA, September 20, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Pixies, Screaming Females, The Breeders, The Fillmore Philadelphia on September 20, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 20, 2023] The Breeders / Screaming Females

When The Breeders released “Cannonball” 30 years ago (!), I fell in love with the song (and the video).  It had so much Pixies in it and Kim Deal sounded great.

I believed that I loved the whole album, but it’s possible that I only really liked a couple of songs.

When I saw that they were doing a 30th anniversary tour, I thought that I had to go to it since I’ve seen Pixies without Kim a few times now.  But this show turned out to be the same night that Igorrr and I’ve had tickets for that show since December and there was no way I was going to miss it.

I guess realized I liked The Breeders a bit more in memory than in reality.

Screaming Females opened the show.  I really liked them a few years ago.  I bought most of their records and saw them live twice. But recently, for reasons that are completely unclear to me, I’ve gone cold on them.

Oh well, no biggie.

Read Full Post »

Mr. Bungle (Fillmore Philly, Philadelphia, PA, September 6, 2023)

Posted in Battles, Helmet, Mr. Bungle, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia, Tomahawk on September 9, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 6, 2023] Mr. Bungle

Back in 1991 when the self-titled Mr. Bungle album came out, it was the perfect release for the era of weirdo music.

Sure, Mike Patton was the singer from Faith No More and they had a couple of huge hits, but he was a weird dude to be sure and Mr. Bungle is where he came from.

I enjoyed that self-titled album a ton and really liked their follow ups as well.  Each album was weird and genre-bounding.

Then in 2020, they “reunited” for a re-release of one of their early demos, The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny.  This “Demo” version was a reworking of that album (and other songs) and featured Scott Ian (Anthrax) on rhythm guitar and Dave Lombardo (Slayer) on drums!

I was pretty excited for it.  And then when I heard it I was a bit let down because it was pretty much all hardcore and speed metal without much of the genre hopping that I loved about the band.   True, there were some great tracks on it, and it rocked really hard, but it wasn’t what I was expecting.

When Mr. Bungle announced that they were going to tour, it turned out to be a tour of this album.  I was torn about whether I wanted to go.  But it didn’t matter because the tour was only in Brooklyn and California, so the heck with that.

But recently, they announced they were running through some of these lesser East Coast cities and Philly was a stop (as is Montclair, NJ!).  I was torn between being really excited–any opportunity to see Mike Patton is a good one.  Plus Dave Lombardo is a master.  I have never seen Anthrax and seeing Scott Ian live would be pretty awesome.  Finally, Trey Spruance is a weird, amazing guitar player.  Sorry Trevor Dunn, I had no thoughts about you. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Battles (Fillmore Philly, Philadelphia, PA, September 6, 2023) [MR. BUNGLE]

Posted in Battles, Helmet, Mr. Bungle, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia, Tomahawk on September 8, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 6, 2023] Battles

Back in 2007 my friend Lar told me that he saw Battles in concert.  I was really impressed by the video he sent and really liked their unusual sounds.  The band was originally a four-piece.

Sixteen years later and I have finally seen Battles live.  I had kind of forgotten about them, even though I did really like their first few records.  But seeing them as the opening act made me even more excited to go to this Mr. Bungle show.

Battles is the working of two guys.  In my opinion, it is drummer John Stanier who is the star of the show.  Even though Ian Williams is the guy making most of the actual music, Stanier is right up at  the front of the stage with Williams and he is incredible to watch as he smashes his drums with everything he’s got.

Basically, Stanier (who used to play with Helmet and Tomahawk, so you know he has heavy bonafides) sits to our left with his small Tama kit.  He’s got an electronic pad that adds all kinds of good stuff.  And one cymbal which is insanely high up in the air.  It’s almost comically out of the way.  Why?  In 2011 he said (more…)

Read Full Post »

The Flaming Lips (Fillmore Philly, Philadelphia, PA, August 6, 2023)

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Rainbows, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Flaming Lips on August 7, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 6, 2023] The Flaming Lips

I have now seen The Flaming Lips seven times.  I’ve wanted to bring my kids to a show because there’s really nothing like a Flaming show. Last year, their set was on my daughter’s birthday and she didn’t want to spend her birthday seeing a band she didn’t really know (fair enough).

So this year, the show was in the middle of the summer with no other commitments around us  And, it was the anniversary show of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots–a catchy album with a song (“Do You Realize??”) that they knew.  My daughter’s friend also wanted to go, so I wound up getting five tickets for us.

Since there was no opening band I wanted us to get there fairly early so we could be in the confetti blast zone.  My daughter (who typically doesn’t like to be up close) and her friend wound up really close (they were at the barrier by the end), although they were off to the side quite a lot.

The rest of us got right in the middle (behind some tall people, sadly) and could see as the giant pink robots (all FOUR of them) inflated and the test began …  NOW!

It was great to hear “Fight Test.”  And then to hear the song segue into the rest of the album.  That mellow song morphed into “Yoshimi Pt.1” which I’ve heard five time and never get tired of.

By the way, the confetti included pink robots, which was a chef’s kiss touch on the Lips’ usual fun nonsense.  I was pretty excited to hear Yoshimi Pt. 2, a weird instrumental in which lots more confetti came out.  Wayne grabbed his tiny confetti tubes and shot them at everyone–there’s still streamers in the rafters I’m sure (they must pay extra for cleanup). (more…)

Read Full Post »

ALT 104.5 Fishtown FestivALT Block Party (July 29, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in ALT 104.5 Fishtown FestivALT Block Party, Brooklyn Bowl, Cafuné, David Kushner, DJ Reed Streets, Grouplove, Max Davey, Philadelphia, PA, Portugal The Man, Snacktime, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Foundry, Voilà on July 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: July 29, 2023] ALT 104.5 Fishtown FestivALT Block Party

I received a notification that Portugal. The Man were going to be playing at The Fillmore.  They are a band who are high on my “wanna see” list.  So I grabbed a ticket even though I had a ticket for another show that night.

Then I learned a short time later that the Portugal. The Man show was part of this ALT 104.5 Fishtown FestivALT Block Party.  It’s an all-day affair in three locations.  Much of it is free, although the Portugal. show is not.  Well, then it turned out that we were picking up my daughter from camp that day–so that knocked out going into town early.  And then we got invited to a farewell party for a friend who was leaving the area.  So there went the evening show.  I tried to resell my tickets but I guess Portugal. The Man is not on the top of everyone’s “must see” list.

As for the free bands, it’s amazing how much TikTok is making new bands into favorites.

There are three venues involved. (more…)

Read Full Post »

The Struts / Mac Saturn (The Fillmore, Philadelphia, PA, July 22, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Mac Saturn, Philadelphia, PA, Steely Dan, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Struts on July 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: July 22, 2023] The Struts / Mac Saturn

The Struts opened for Foo Fighters when my wife and I saw them.  Sadly, we missed their entire set.

They have a retro look and feel and I like the way Louder Than War describes their:

knack for writing and performing unapologetically direct, catchy, feel-good original songs that somehow sound like long-lost rock classics. It also shows the singer’s ability to connect with crowds.

Moving with all the grace and poise of someone who, as a child, imitated Michael Jackson in front of a mirror, he fully commits to one tried-and-tested rockstar move after another. It works. His repertoire — above-the-head clapping, raised jazz hands, reaching out with microphone in palm, cupping hand to ear, come hither gestures, running hands over torso, and stationary hands-on-hips poses — forms a direct, almost primal, connection with the audience. With just the flick of a wrist he can get 2,000 people to sing louder, cheer harder, clap faster, or jump higher than they already are.

Luke Skinner sang a song with Foo Fighters and I can attest to his charisma.

This would probably have been a fun show, honestly, but I wasn’t all that inspired. Plus, I had a show the night before, so it seemed like too much.

According to Michigan Daily,

Detroit’s Mac Saturn is best known for its explosive rock ‘n’ roll shows, filled with ’70s rock mystique and flair. The six-piece is made up of frontman Carson Macc, drummer Angelo Coppola, guitarists Mike Moody and Nick Barone, bassist Jive Moses and pianist Evan Mercer on the keys. Mac Saturn became a staple of the Michigan music scene in 2020 and has since released 2022 single “Diamonds,” funk rock EP Until the Money Runs Out and “Plain Clothes Gentleman (Live)” — an electrifying start to a promising career.

I’m getting a funky Steely Dan vibe from them.   In fact, now that I’ve listened to a few of their songs, if you told me the songs were lost Steely San songs I’d believe you.

Read Full Post »

First Aid Kit (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 15, 2023)

Posted in First Aid Kit, Fleetwood Mac, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Weather Station, Willie Nelson on July 16, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 15, 2023] First Aid Kit 

My wife and I saw First Aid Kit twice in seven months.  First at Union Transfer and then, when they came back through Philly, at the much larger Fillmore.

Both shows were great and we were happy to see them twice so soon apart.

Especially since it took five years for them to come back to town!

The seven month separation between shows led me to observe:

In a nutshell, it felt like a very different show even though it was more or less the same show.

But five years is a long time.  They put out a new album (and reissued it with extra songs the other day).  So this promised to be a very different show.

Although the set up was similar, the backing band was different this time.  Last time: Steve Moore on keys and trombone, Scott Simpson on drums and Melvin Duffy on pedal steel.  This time: Freja “Freja the Dragon” Drakenberg on keyboards, Gabriel Runemark on drums and Johannes Runemark (a.k.a. Kasino) on guitar and mandolin.

Klara and Johanna came out a few moments later looking fabulous–they have really embraced their look with Klara in a hot pink pantsuit and Johanna in a short flowy one piece that was mesmerizing in its pattern.

The new album is great and it is doing well and they opened with two songs from it.

I knew they’d be playing a lot of new stuff, but they did a great job interweaving it since after the  two new tracks, including the first single “Angel,” they played previous big hit “It’s a Shame.”  There was no pedal steel guitar on this tour, although Johannes could play those pedal steel lines on his guitar quite easily.

And there was some delightful banter with the crowd  (Hello Philleeeeeee!). (more…)

Read Full Post »

The Weather Station (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 15, 2023) [FIRST AID KIT]

Posted in First Aid Kit, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Weather Station on July 15, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 15, 2023] The Weather Station 

I saw The Weather Station open for Mitski last year.  Well, I saw a couple of songs from their set because we were on the merch line for most of their set.

After that set, I wrote

I’ve heard a few of their songs on record and thought they were okay–jazzy and a little slow.  But live their songs really came to life with an energy and vibrancy that I didn’t hear on record.

They ended the set with “The Robber” the one song I knew pretty well and it was great live.  I’m glad they ended with that one.

Well, the weather was crazy and the traffic was nuts so we walked in a few minutes before The Weather Station went on.  And of course, I was on the merch line for half of their set once again. (more…)

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »