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Archive for the ‘The Foundry’ Category

Muscle Tough (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, December 13, 2024) [KARINA RYKMAN]

Posted in Karina Rykman, Kylie Minogue, Philadelphia, PA, The Foundry on December 13, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 13, 2024] Muscle Tough

I had never heard of Muscle Tough and I admit I was a little concerned about a band with this name.  I mean, were they jock rock?

When we arrived, they had their name and two cutouts of muscular arms flanking the stage (pretty funny).

And it turns out I should have trusted Karina, because Muscle Tough were amazing.  They play rocking jamming instrumentals that are proggy and jazzy and show off the incredible chops of all three musicians, Ross Bellenoit (guitar), Jonathan Colman (bass) and Joe Baldacci (drums).

They have a pretty fascinating backstory.  Bellenoit was in a couple of different bands, but he wanted to start a band just for jamming and goofing around.  And Muscle Tough has been around longer and has had more success than any of his other more “Serious” projects.

Bellenoit is a phenomenal guitarist–he plays tasteful solos but also shreds like a fiend.  He also had a massive arrive of effects so he can create just about any sound.  Colman is an amazing bassist, playing really fast riffs and imrovs with ease. (more…)

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Vundabar / Courting (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, November 17, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Courting, Philadelphia, PA, The Foundry, Vundabar on November 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 17, 2024] Vundabar / Courting

I saw Vundabar last summer with my daughter at All Things Go.  I really enjoyed their set and thought it would be fun to see them again.  This show wound up being on a Sunday night during a really busy week so we decided not to go.  I imagine they’ll be back again next year and we’ll check them out then.

Courting is a British band and their latest album is quite good.  They have a pretty varied style, although this review from Bring the Noise UK notes that their music was mostly

sardonic, post-punk festival bangers, which immediately got anybody between the ages of 16 and 24 within the nearby vicinity going feral in a mosh-pit.

although their new album changes things a but

Using glitching 808s, autotune as a design choice and an unending onslaught of pop culture references, Courting create catchy pop-punk-meets-hyperpop earworms

I imagine this would have been a really fun bill.  And I’d like to see them if they open for anyone else.

 

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The Go! Team / La Sécurité (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, November 2, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in La Sécurité, Philadelphia, PA, The Foundry, The Go! Team on November 2, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 2, 2024] The Go! Team / La Sécurité

I remember when The Go! Team came out with Thunder, Lightning, Strike and how the album was kind of revolutionary for its mix of sounds and for everything being louder than everything else.

It was kind of over whelming at the time and now it’s a blueprint for dozens of other bands.

I never liked the album enough to want to go to this show, plus we were going to see Touche Amore that night. (more…)

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Dehd / This is Lorelei (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, October 22, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Dehd, My Idea, Nate Amos, Philadelphia, PA, The Foundry, This is Lorelei on October 22, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 22, 2024] Dehd / This is Lorelei

I saw Dehd open for Sylvan Esso last year.  I rather enjoyed them and concluded

I enjoyed their whole set–short, simple, dancey rock songs.  And as I was listening to them I realized that they were exactly the kind of band that I like live but would probably never listen to on record.  The songs are too simplistic for me to really enjoy unless they band is playing them in front of me.  Or something.

Since then they’ve had one or two more songs out that I’ve really enjoyed too.  But I didn’t get tickets as I was trying not to overload my calendar with shows this month.

This is Lorelei is just one band that features Nate Amos.  He is also in Water from Your Eyes who I don’t know and He’s one half of My Idea with Lily Konisberg from Palberta who I know. (more…)

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Scary Kids Scaring Kids / Oxymorrons (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, July 21, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Oxymorrons, Philadelphia, PA, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, The Foundry on July 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTENDED: July 21, 2024] Scary Kids Scaring Kids / Oxymorrons

I saw an announcement that Oxymorrons were playing The Foundry and I immediately went to get a ticket.  My son and I saw them there about a year and a half ago and it was a ton of fun.

Then I saw that Oxymorrons were OPENING for band that I’d never heard of.

What a bummer.  I certainly wasn’t going to do out of my way for this show.

I’m still not sure what to make of Scary Kids Scaring Kids.   Apparently they put out two albums then broke up.  They put out a new album in 2002 (which was generally regarded as terrible) and now they are playing their self-titled (second) album, which people seem to like.

The descriptions of the album that I’ve read haven’t given me any insight into t he music and I don’t care enough to find out.   But it sounds like their music isn’t scary and maybe they aren’t either.

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Sir Chloe (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, June 2, 2024)

Posted in Deux Visages, Philadelphia, PA, Sir Chloe, The Foundry on June 3, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 2, 2024] Sir Chloe 

My daughter was excite to see Sir Chloe.  We saw them back in April.  I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to go for various reasons, so I snagged a ticket to this leg of the tour just in case.

She actually didn’t love the April show as much as I did, and I wasn’t sure if she’d want to go, but she did.  And we’re both glad we went.

Because she was on crutches, and I had my cane, they put is in a handicapped spot which was next to the sound board and roped off from everyone else, but still plenty close to the action.

Last time, there were people talking a lot through the set.  This happened tonight as well–a group of guys mostly standing at the back (in front of our area) and just ignoring everything.  Fortunately, since they were in front of us, we couldn’t really hear them, they were just annoying.

I felt like Sir Chloe were more into this show than the Philly show.  Or maybe it was just easier to focus on this show (the Foundry show had a lot of distractions).  I swore that they played more songs for us than in Philly, but that was not true.  The one nice feature of  the show though was it was Asbury Park’s Pride Day, and the band made a special point of talking about it and how they were honored to be playing that evening.

So the setlist was the same, but perhaps it’s because I knew the show , that I enjoyed it more?

Like last time, when she came out, she had an oddly disaffected appearance.  She seemed quite aloof, but i am certain this time it was part of the act, because between songs she was very friendly.

I really enjoyed her new album quite a lot.  The songs are a bit more dramatic and push the envelope from the first album a little bit.  Songs like “Salivate” and “Hooves” are weird and intense, with loud guitars.

The earlier songs, though are also pretty cool.  “July” is a little more delicate on the edges, but with a nice fuzzy sound and Sir Chloe’s poppy vocal style.  “Animal” is a pretty dark song (her delivery is great) and it plays with the loud/soft vibe really well.

I realize that Sir Chloe is more or less a TikTok creation and so her audience is pretty young, but I think she could easily bust out of that pigeonhole.  In fact the audience was pretty varied.

The end of the set was when she played the big crowd pleasers.  I really really liked “Sedona.”  Her delivery is deadpan, but really catchy.  She followed that with “Michelle” the massive hit that was the only song I knew.  The crowd went nuts and the song was really fun (Michelle, you are a monster from hell).

Turs out that even though that is her big hit–the one that made her famous, I don’t like it nearly as much as her other songs.

I was surprised that that wasn’t the final song, but I guess it was more fun to end on the far more dancey “Feel Again.”

“Easy on You” was a fast tempo rocker from her first album.  Then she busted out an unreleased song (in the old days, I feel like the encore was meant for real crowd pleasers, but it seems like more and more it’s now the place to throw in one more brand new song).  It’s got a catchy, bratty “aha aha” that really sticks with you.

Then she ended with “Too Close.”  Which is her third biggest hit (according to Spotify) and the crowd was suitably excited to hear it.  Everyone enjoyed singing “I think it’s time for you to go.”

My daughter knew two people at the show (one she knew was there, the other was a surprise) so that was fun too.

And, like last time, the show was fairly short (75 minutes) which meant we got home fairly early, too!  I don’t know if I/we will see her again any time soon, but I’m very curious what the next record will be like.

 

Asbury Lanes, June 2024 The Foundry, April 2024
Should I Õ Should I Õ
Salivate Õ Salivate Õ
Center Õ Center Õ
Know Better Õ Know Better Õ
Mercy ∇ Mercy ∇
July ¶ July ¶
Untie You ¶ Untie You ¶
Animal ¶ Animal ¶
Company ∇ Company ∇
Hooves Õ Hooves Õ
Seventeen π Seventeen π
Obsession Õ Obsession Õ
Over Again π Over Again π
I Am the Dog Õ I Am the Dog Õ
Sedona ¶ Sedona ¶
Michelle ¶ Michelle ¶
Feel Again Õ Feel Again Õ
encore encore
Easy on You ¶ Easy on You ¶
Forgiving [new] Forgiving [new]
Too Close ¶ Too Close ¶

π Single (2024)
Õ I am the Dog (2023)
∇ Single (2022)
¶ Party Favors (2020)

 

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Deux Visages (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, June 2, 2024) [SIR CHLOE]

Posted in Deux Visages, Philadelphia, PA, Sir Chloe, The Foundry on June 2, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 2, 2024] Deux Visages

I hadn’t heard of Deux Visages when they were scheduled to open for Sir Chloe.  They are from Miami and at the time of the show had only released three singles!

Since then they have released an EP from which most of the songs that night came. The band is a four piece fronted by Daphney Homono.  The rest of the band includes Antoine Lappin on drums, Jack Chiu on guitar, and Tony Jouvin on bass.

They play a really enjoyable mic of shoegaze, garage, and surf rock with a healthy dose of fuzz.  There’s some diversity within the style with Excuses being a bit heavier with chanted moments.  And Go Away has short verse lines that lead to a big fluid chorus.

Their first single Cheetah (the second song they played) is a killer tune–super catchy and fun. (more…)

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Sir Chloe (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, April 18, 2024)

Posted in Daffo, Philadelphia, PA, Sir Chloe, The Foundry on April 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 18, 2024] Sir Chloe 

My daughter was really excited to see Sir Chloe.  I wound up buying resale tickets to this show (which thankfully weren’t crazy overpriced).

We arrived a little early (last time we went to a show that she wanted to go to I was very surprised to see how early everyone else had gotten there).   I had assumed we’d get really close (I always seem to get pretty close at The Foundry, which just proves that her bands are more popular than mine).  The close up area was already full, so we got some merch and then we found a spot.  My daughter doesn’t like to be touched by other so we hung back.  The Foundry is small enough that we could see fine (but man pictures there are really tough to get).

We were in a weird (for me) spot–on the right side close to the wall, where the secret entrance to backstage is.  Which meant that kegs were going by from time to time.  Had I realized where we wound up I would have suggested the other side, near the entrance where people tend to not congregate, but whatever.

Before this show I really only knew  the one or two Sir Chloe songs that she had played me.  So, to get ready I listened to the new album a bunch and some of the more popular songs on Spotify.  I found I really liked her quite a lot–she’s a little slow for my tastes, but I enjoyed the tone and style of the music.  And the lyrics were pretty great too.

When she came out, she had an oddly disaffected appearance.  She seemed quite aloof and almost like she didn’t want to be there. And yet, I assume it was all part of the act, because she sang great and didn’t seem like she not giving her all.

It was quite a change from the warm and friendly stage presence of Girl in Red the night before. (more…)

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Daffo (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, April 18, 2024) [SIR CHLOE]

Posted in Daffo, Philadelphia, PA, Sir Chloe, The Foundry on April 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 18, 2024] Sir Chloe / Daffo

Daffo is a Philadelphia-ish musician (they are from the area but have also lived in NJ and other places, but they said this was a homecoming show).

Daffo’s voice is interesting for someone from the east coast as they have a bit of a twang–although not on every song.  But there’s some good bite in the lyrics: “I’m a shame collector, I’m a hoarder.”

They played two unreleased songs and then a few from the new(ish) EP Pest.

The songs are mostly mellow, at least a lot of them have slow introductions or first verses and then the band kicked in.  But I liked the way that “Collector” started slow, got a little bigger and then got huge for the chorus before settling down again.

“Runner’s High” rocked a bit harder to start with and then got quieter.

I really enjoyed the new song “Go Fetch” which seemed simple but had a lot going on it.

The lyrics to “Seed” were quite good too. (more…)

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The Rural Alberta Advantage (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, March 27, 2024)

Posted in Julianna Riolino, Philadelphia, PA, The Foundry, The Rural Alberta Advantage on March 28, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 27, 2024] The Rural Alberta Advantage

I saw a video of The Rural Alberta Advantage at Massey Hall in 2018 (it was from 2014).  This was the first real exposure I had to the band and the first time I saw how intense they were live.

Since then, they have played Philly three times.  I don’t think the first one registered.  But the second time I was ready to see them. But I already had  tickets to a different show that night.  I decided, however, that I’d rather see RAA, but when I went to get a ticket, it was sold out! (good for them).

But this time, there was no way I was missing them.  I arrived early, got on the barrier and marveled at the stage set up.  Keys, guitar and drums, with the drums on the right side and the drummer facing the other two.

The came out of the mystery door at the side of the stage and immediately started playing FSHG as they walked into the crowd.   Nils Edenloff walked around and sang while Amy Cole sang backing vocals.  I’m not sure if Paul Banwatt played any percussion as I couldn’t really see him.  But soon enough they were marching the song up to the stage. (more…)

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