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Archive for the ‘The Foundry’ Category

Astronoid (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, June 26, 2019)

Posted in Astronoid, Bad Books, Frost Giant, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Foundry on June 26, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 26, 2019] Astronoid

I had not heard of Astronoid until I saw that Frost Giant was playing this show with them.  I actually had tickets to Bad Books this same evening and I posted a poll to see who I should check out live.  Of the 5 replies (including one from someone in Astronoid), 4 said Astronoid.  Sorry Bad Books.

Astronoid are from Boston and they play what has been described as “a buoyant mix of metal, thrash, punk, prog-rock and shoegaze.”  They cite as influences the Norwegian black metal band Emperor and the Danish band Mew (two very different bands indeed).

And all of that is evident in their music and their set.

They played every song from their new album (not in order) and a few from their debut from 2016.  The crowd around me was definitely more excited by the older stuff, but the guy next to me seemed to know every drum part to every song. (more…)

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Infinity Shred (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, June 26, 2019) [ASTRONOID]

Posted in Astronoid, Frost Giant, Infinity Shred, Philadelphia, PA, Starscream, The Foundry on June 26, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 26, 2019] Infinity Shred

I had not heard of Infinity Shred before this show although it seemed like many people were very excited they were opening.

If you look up Infinity Shred you will find a few genres associated with them: electronic, dance, post-rock.  I saw synthwave and chiptune as describers as well.

I don’t know the last two, but I think they all do a good job of describing this band (although synthwave is pretty amorphous, honestly).

Basically the band is a trio from New York.  Clara Warnaar plays drums.  I was standing in front of guitarist Nathan Ritholz and on the other side of the stage was keyboardist Damon Hardjowirogo.

In addition to their instruments, they also had three bright LED panels.  These panels were synchronized to flash red white or blue.  They each lit up a member of the band (with the drummer’s inside her bass drum.  I assumed they were programmed along with some of the sounds?

Damon introduced the band but his mic wasn’t working so he just shouted.  The band began, the lights started flashing and off they went. (more…)

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Frost Giant (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, June 26, 2019) [ASTRONOID]

Posted in Arkona, Astronoid, Frost Giant, Korpiklaani, Philadelphia, PA, The Foundry on June 26, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 26, 2019] Frost Giant

Can you be epic in a tiny space?

If you are Philadelphia’s Frost Giant, the answer is hell yes!

I was supposed to see Frost Giant play with Arkona and Korpiklaani at the TLA, but the promoters put Frost Giant on before the start time of 8PM (!) and I missed their set entirely.

I have wanted to check them out, so when they were listed as playing the Foundry with Astronoid, I figured I’d go.  Even though I didn’t yet know Astronoid.

So I arrived early (just in case) and took my place in front of the stage when the band came out.

I was delighted by Armen Koroghlian’s intense drum kit and Matti Frost’s look.  And then I was impressed by their power.

The band played four songs, starting with the almost lead off track from their new album The Harlot Star. (more…)

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Emily Reo / Charly Bliss (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, June 6, 2019) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Charly Bliss, Emily Reo, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Foundry on June 6, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[NOT ATTENDED: June 6, 2019] Emily Reo/Charly Bliss [moved to November 14th]

Just a few days ago the Distillers show was postponed because of an injury.   And now this Charly Bliss show was also postponed.  At least for this one we received notice ahead of time.

On May 23, we were sent this message

Due to scheduling conflict at The Foundry, Charly Bliss‘ 6/6 show at The Foundry has been postponed to November 14th.

I’m not sure what kind of scheduling conflict happens a few weeks before a concert that’s been scheduled since March, but whatever. (more…)

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Dilly Dally (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, March 23, 2019)

Posted in Chastity, Dilly Dally, Guster, Hole, Philadelphia, PA, Pixies, The Foundry on March 23, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 23, 2019] Dilly Dally

I can’t believe it was actually two and a half years since I last saw Dilly Dally.  I was rather looking forward to seeing them again–their new album is great–an evolution but not a reinvention.

Then our Guster show was cancelled and placed on  this very night.  Coincidentally, in the same building!  Guster was going to play the large venue of the Fillmore while Dilly Dally was scheduled to play upstairs in the Foundry.

The Guster show was great, but since Dilly Dally started an hour later, I thought I’d see if they were still playing as we walked out.  The bouncer guy was rather surprised that I had a ticket for both shows.  But I showed him my ticket and with S’s blessing, I went upstairs to see a song or two (I was bummed and a little surprised they wouldn’t let her up since the show was more or less over).  The bouncer guy said they had the room until 11:15.  It was barely after ten when I went upstairs (S. said she didn’t mind waiting for ten minutes, but understandably, not an hour).

There was no way to see opener Chastity:

Brandon Williams makes resonant songs that capture isolation and resilience. As the songwriter behind Chastity, the Whitby Ontario musician has made three unrelentingly perceptive albums

When I walked upstairs I could hear the unmistakable voice and guitar work of Dilly Dally. Dilly Dally are from Toronto and they were described to me as being like the Pixies meets Hole.  I can certainly hear that although they transcend their influences.  They play loud aggressive alternative rock that’s headed by Katie Monks’ snarling singing voice and Liz Bell’s sharp and catchy lead guitar work.  Bassist Jimmy Tony (in a striking silver sparkling short skirt) and drummer Benjamin Reinhartz lay down a low end that keeps the sound grounded. It was a drastic change from Guster.  As was the size of the crowd.  The Guster show was packed uncomfortably tight, but this show was more open and I was able to walk around.

They finished the excellent “Bad Biology” and I wondered how long I could push my luck–how many songs could I make S wait for.  And then Katie Monks told us that the next song was the last song.  Disappointing but very convenient. (more…)

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Protomartyr (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, November 30, 2018)

Posted in Fists, Kogumaza, Philadelphia, PA, Preoccupations, Protomartyr, Rattle, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Foundry on November 30, 2018| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 30, 2018] Protomartyr

Protomartyr’s second album Under Color of Official Right was one of my favorite records of 2014.  I loved the noisy music that the band made while singer Joe Casey yelled his abrasive ideas at us.

They had an interesting look too, with the band looking like, as I heard described, three kids who called up their old hard-ass teacher to jam with them.

Casey looks not unlike some random drunk guy who felt compelled to get up on stage and just yell at people.  He always had a beer in his hand and had at least one in his coat pocket.  He stared us down, but also made a couple of funny jokes.

The crowd was absolutely devoted though and the slam dancing was fast and furious (despite the sign at the entrance which said there was to be none of that). (more…)

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Preoccupations (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, November 30, 2018) [PROTOMARTYR]

Posted in Canadian Music, Philadelphia, PA, Preoccupations, Protomartyr, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Foundry on November 30, 2018| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 30, 2018] Preoccupations

Preoccupations is a band from Calgary Alberta Canada.  They were originally called Viet Cong. They put out a stunning album called Viet Cong and then met all kinds of grief for the name (shows cancelled, etc), so they changed it to Preoccupations.  It’s amazing that a band as minor and indie as them would get so much grief, but whatever.

The name is different but the sound is mostly the same–abrasive angular guitars, washes of synths and/or feedback and what I will describe as lead drums, because the power and rhythm of Mike Wallace often distinguishes the songs from each other.

But despite the abrasiveness, they are not just a band of noise.  There is melodicism in many parts (interspersed with great unusual sounds from both guitars).  Plus the lyrics are really good as well. (more…)

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Rattle (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, November 30, 2018) [PROTOMARTYR]

Posted in Fists, Kogumaza, Philadelphia, PA, Preoccupations, Protomartyr, Rattle, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Foundry on November 30, 2018| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 30, 2018] Rattle

When I got my ticket for Protomartyr, I had not heard of opening band Rattle, a duo from Nottingham England.

When I got to the stage I saw that there were three drums kits up there.  I assumed that there would be minimal time between bands playing, which was true.  One thing I didn’t realize right away is that the drumset that was set up closest to me actually had two stools, one on either side of the bass drum.

It turns out that Rattle is a duo that plays exclusively drums and percussion.  And they share the drum kit and cymbals.  It was mesmerizing and fascinating.  I especially loved near the end when each drummer hit the same cymbal. (more…)

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Graham Coxon (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, September 27, 2018)

Posted in Blind Faith, Elizabeth Cotten, Graham Coxon, Philadelphia, PA, The End of the F***ing World, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Foundry on September 27, 2018| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 27, 2018] Graham Coxon

I’ve been a fan of Blur since the beginning (I always picked them over Oasis).  I have never seen them live and it seems like I never will.  And while I enjoy Gorillaz I’m not going to see them live either.  So Graham Coxon solo was a wonderful draw for me.

My big attraction to Blur is Damon Albarn’s voice, but the music, especially Coxon’s guitar, is really fantastic too.

Coxon has released a bunch of solo albums.  I bought the first two.  The second one, The Golden D was an experimental noise fest (for the most part) and I didn’t listen to anymore after that.  Well, from what I gather, the rest of his solo albums were folk songwriting with some fantastic finger-picking guitar work. (more…)

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Rosali (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, September 27, 2018) [GRAHAM COXON]

Posted in Aimee Mann, Graham Coxon, Philadelphia, PA, Rosali, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Foundry on September 27, 2018| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 27, 2018] Rosali

Rosali opened for Graham Coxon.  She is a Philadelphia-based singer songwriter with two albums out (her last album got some pretty glowing reviews).

She has a lovely voice which reminded me of Aimee Mann.  In fact, a number of times I thought that she might be singing an Aimee Mann song.  But the problem was that there were no hooks in her songs.  There was nothing to hold on to.

She also had very little stage presence.  She stated as much, confessing that stage banter wasn’t her thing.  No kidding.  One time she asked if anyone watched the news today, after some mild boos, she didn’t follow it up.  Every other time that she tuned, she was basically quiet.  In fact, she never said her name, the most basic thing you do when tuning your guitar.  (I arrived a few minutes late because of the incompetent staff, so maybe she had introduced herself before I got there, but I’m not entirely sure it was her). (more…)

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