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Archive for the ‘The Foundry’ Category

Meet Me @ the Altar / Young Culture / Daisy Grenade (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, March 3, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Daisy Grenade, Meet Me @ The Altar, Philadelphia, PA, The Foundry, Young Culture on March 3, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 17, 2021] Meet Me @ the Altar / Young Culture / Daisy Grenade

I used to listen to the NPR All Songs Considered podcast religiously.  It was where I heard all about new bands and new releases.  And then sometime at the end of last year I was just done with it.  I think a lot of it is because I really liked the dynamic between Bob and Robin and how they tried to outdo each other with better music.  Plus, they had a very similar taste to mine.

During the pandemic, the two split up and created new shows.  And now Robin is with the youth and they talk almost exclusively about bands I don’t care about–a lot more R&B and rap.  And Bob has drifted a little more into his own thing, which is a little more delicate.  So while I’m sure they still talk about music I like, I just got tired of hearing about stuff I didn’t like.

One of the last new bands they introduced me to was Meet Me @ The Altar.  I wasn’t planning on getting their music, but I thought they’d be fun to see live–youthful energetic modern punk is a lot of fun to see live.  So when they announced their show I snatched up a ticket pretty quickly.  I didn’t realize that it was the same night as The Beths.  Obviously, there was no contest–I was going to see The Beths.  But i didn’t sell my ticket just in case The Beths had to postpone or something.  But they didn’t and now I won’t ever being seeing any of these three bands. (more…)

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Oxymorrons “Melanated Punk Mini Tour” (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, January 20, 2023)

Posted in N.E.R.D., Oxymorrons, Philadelphia, PA, The Foundry, The OBGMs on January 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 20, 2023] Oxymorrons

My son and I saw Oxymorrons open for grandson about a year ago.  No opening band has made such an impact o me. They were intense and fun and catchy and crazy and just all around wonderful.

So when they announced this mini tour and that it would hit the Foundry, I knew that he and I would have to check them out again.  But I was sure the tint Foundry stage wouldn’t be big enough to keep them in.

I was also sure that the show would sell out and we’d be in for a massive thrashing mosh pit.  That’s why we stayed to the side the whole night (he wasn’t in the mood for slam dancing).

This meant we were right next to guitarist Jafe Paulino.  I suggested that the stage was too small for them and he laughed and said he’d be hopping over those guardrails in no time.

When they came out, drummer Matty Mayz, (I had forgotten how much fun he was) had his laptop set up and he got the intro pumping as the frontmen, Demi “Deee” and his brother Kami “KI” came bouncing up on stage.

Deee and KI were great at engaging the audience.  They are excellent at getting everyone hyped up. (more…)

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Pinkshift “Melanated Punk Mini Tour” (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, January 20, 2023) [OXYMORRONS]

Posted in Oxymorrons, Philadelphia, PA, Pinkshift, The Foundry, The OBGMs on January 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 20, 2023] Pinkshift

I was really excited for the show–the Melanated Punk Mini Tour featuring Oxymorrons and The OBGMs.  At the last minute, Pinkshift was added to the bill, which made things even better!

I’ve seen Pinkshift three times.  Each show is really intense, because this band does not hold back.

This set felt a little different.  First because they were playing songs mostly from their new album.  I hadn’t heard the new album yet but it turns out I’d heard many of the songs live before.

Pinkshift is officially a trio now.  Although they do have a bassist of tour with them, the main trio was made up with pretty cool eye makeup.

This was the closest I’d been to the band so I really got to see drummer Myron Houngbedji in action.  He was, frankly, amazing.  In fact, a few times, someone in the audience shouted something like My man on the drums is really bringing it! (more…)

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The OBGMs “Melanated Punk Mini Tour” (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, January 20, 2023) [OXYMORRONS]

Posted in Crash and the Boys, Oxymorrons, Philadelphia, PA, Pinkshift, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, The Foundry, The OBGMs on January 20, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 20, 2023] THE OBGMs

I was really excited for the show–the Melanated Punk Mini Tour featuring Oxymorrons and The OBGMs (who I didn’t know but after listening to them, I realized how good they were.  At the last minute, Pinkshift was added to the bill, which made things even better!

The show was listed as starting at 7:30 (which on a Friday night usually means a lot of traffic).  Bu then Pinkshift said the fun started at 7, so my son and I left stupidly early to avoid traffic and arrived earlier than ever only to find out that the show did not start at 7.

And that’s fine.  It’s nice to be early.  Also, that Pinkshift wasn’t the first band.

The OBGMs (The oOohh Baby Gimme Mores) are from Toronto.  They came out and proceeded to tear the roof off of the place.

After playing a weird riff that sounded like a wild version of Black Sabbath, the whole band started bashing out “Cash” from their new album The Ends.

Dreadlocked lead singer Densil McFarlane also played guitar as he pogoed and screamed the lyrics.  (more…)

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Stars (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, December 3, 2022)

Posted in Christine Bougie, Lydia Persaud, Philadelphia, PA, Stars, The Foundry on December 4, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 3, 2022] Stars

I have been a fan of Stars since about 2004.  I have wanted to see them for a really long time.  I thought I’d be able to see them last year on their Christmas Together Tour.  It was at LPR in New York (which is just too much of a pain to get to) and at World Cafe Live.  But it happened to be on the same night as our holiday party, so I couldn’t swing it.  I never guessed they’d do another one.  So this year I made sure to get tickets and schedule our party around this show.

The show came around and it was cold and I didn’t really feel like going out, but oh I wanted to see them.  So I drove out to Philly.

Turned out there was a wedding in the Fillmore main floor so parking was free (yes!).  I even wound up talking to some nice people around me and we had an enjoyable time waiting for the band.  There was a little girl (maybe ten) who was bouncing with excitement over seeing Amy Millan.  She couldn’t wait to meet her and get her autograph. I was so curious about this!  How did this little girl get excited about this (relatively) obscure band from Montreal that sings about relationships and breakups? (I’ll never know). (more…)

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Lydia Persaud & Christine Bougie (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, December 3, 2022) [STARS]

Posted in Bahamas, Christine Bougie, Lydia Persaud, Philadelphia, PA, The Foundry, The Weather Station on December 3, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 3, 2022] Lydia Persaud & Christine Bougie

I have been a fan of Stars since about 2004.  I have wanted to see them for a really long time.  I thought I’d be able to see them last year on their Christmas Together Tour.  It was at LPR in New York (which is just too much of a pain to get to) and at World Cafe Live.  But it happened to be on the same night as our holiday party, so I couldn’t swing it.  I never guessed they’d do another one.  So this year I made sure to get tickets and schedule our party around this show.

I didn’t know who would be opening.  technically, the opening act was just Lydia Persaud, but since it was just Lydia and her guitarist Christine Bougie, (and I’d never heard of either before) I’m listing them both here.

Lydia was speaking for herself, but I believe that they both play together in a lot of things.  Lydia has been a member of The Soul Motivators, The O’Pears and Dwayne Gretzky and she and Christine are part of the the Queer Songbook Orchestra.  

They played a jazzy set of remarkably sad music. (more…)

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Let’s Eat Grandma (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, November 2, 2022)

Posted in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, Julien Chang, Let's Eat Grandma, Philadelphia, PA, The Foundry on November 4, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 2, 2022] Let’s Eat Grandma

I first heard about Let’s Eat Grandma back in 2016 from NPR music.  They had put out an album, I, Gemini that was weird and quirky, the creation of two weird and quirky girls–Rosa Walton (r, on the poster) and Jenny Hollingworth.  The album was really bizarre–strange music and spoken/shouted lyrics in thick Norwich accents.

I really wanted to see this concoction live, but they were quite young at the time and didn’t come over to the States until 2018.  Their 2018 album, I’m All Ears had a very different sound (more synthy and dancey, but still quirky).  The song “Hot Pink” from that album is about as weird as a catchy pop song can be.

Then in 2022 they put out Two Ribbons.  They had a series of personal crises in this time and it feels like a lot of the quirkiness was bashed out of them.  This makes the new album poppier and a lot mre accessible but to me a bit less interesting.

I read a review of their live show to make sure I still want to go, and it did make me want to go.  But I couldn’t help feel that there was something a little flat about the whole thing. (more…)

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Julien Chang (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, November 2, 2022) [LET’S EAT GRANDMA]

Posted in Julien Chang, Let's Eat Grandma, Philadelphia, PA, The Foundry on November 3, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 2, 2022] Julien Chang

I hadn’t heard of Julien Chang (pronounced “Chong” according to him) before this show.  He has an album out and a new one out on November 4.

I had listened to a couple of songs beforehand and found them to be nice enough.  I was in no way prepared for the band that he brought with him.

His lead guitarist Utah Miller was really fantastic.  They looked really young, but there was some serious shredding going on.  Julien’s bassist (whose name I didn’t catch played some great riffs and a few sliding bass-like sounds.  He also played guitar on a couple of songs (for a three guitar attack!).  But his most impressive bandmate was drummer Maya Stepansky.  She was all over the kit but in a very controlled manner.  With a small drum kit, she played some really impressive and timely fills.  She had a lot of subtle moments of the cymbals and was just a stellar accompanist.

Then there was Chang himself.  He wrote and played all of the songs on the record (with a couple of exceptions) and his songwriting skills is really quite accomplished.  I found some of his arrangements to be really complex and wonderful.  He has a jazz composer’s technique, with time changes and major rhythmic shifts in the songs.  And obviously allowing Miller to shred and Stepansky to riff shows a complex song structure.

I’m not even sure how to best describe his music.  It felt jazzy and poppy.  There were some prog rock elements (in the time shifts) and musically I really enjoyed what I heard.

I haven’t heard any of the studio recording of these songs, but I feel like they will simply be a lot better live.

  1. Heart Holiday
  2. Snakebit
  3. Butterflies in Morocco
  5. Marmalade

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The Linda Lindas (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, July 26, 2021) [rescheduled]

Posted in Bacchae, Bikini Kill, Philadelphia, PA, The Blue Hearts, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Foundry, The Go-Go's, The Linda Lindas on July 27, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 26, 2021] The Linda Lindas [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.  If you know them at all, you know that they are four teenaged girls who made a great punk song called “Racist Sexist Boy” about their experiences with a racist sexist classmate.  They did a pandemic-era show at the L.A. library and made huge news.

The foursome are great musicians, they write rocking, relevant (to them) punk songs and, most important, they have a ton of fun.  At the time of our show, the drummer, Mila de la Garza, was possibly not yet 12.  She played a solid drum, sang her heart out, drew a cat under her nose like a mustache and had a great time. (more…)

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Bacchae (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, July 26, 2021) [THE LINDA LINDAS] [rescheduled]

Posted in Bacchae, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Foundry, The Linda Lindas on July 26, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[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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