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Archive for the ‘The Met Philadelphia’ Category

Suki Waterhouse (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, September 21, 2026)

Posted in Charlotte Lawrence, Emmma, Philadelphia, PA, Suki Waterhouse, The Met Philadelphia on September 23, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 21, 2026] Suki Waterhouse

My daughter and I saw Suki Waterhouse at All Things Go.  She hadn’t released Memoir of a Sparklemuffin yet, although she did play two songs from it (but not ones I really liked).  My takeaway from her set (not having heard her before) was that I liked her, although I found her songs a little slow, but my overall impression was really positive.  Although I honestly couldn’t really remember her songs.

Since then she has released three songs that WXPN has played a bunch which I love.  I regretted not going to see her last time she was in town, so I was pretty psyched when my wife said she’d love to see her as well.

By the time her set was to start, the young girls had al moved into place in front of us.  Since most of her fans are tiny, I was pretty pleased, until the tiny girls in front of us waved their tall friends over.  The really tall one was off to the side, but the shorter one was a major camera user.  Which was pretty annoying except that she put the camera up high enough that I could see clearly through her arms.   Interestingly. the  guy in the hat who filmed all of Charlotte, didn’t film any of Suki.  Go figure.

The lights dimmed and all of Somewhere Over the Rainbow played.  I do enjoy a walk on song, but it had been pretty long since Charlotte went off and this song is pretty long…  But all was forgiven when the band came out and the lights illuminated the giant heart shaped mirror ball that was on stage.

And then Suki came out and simply owned the stage.  I’ve seen a lot of shows and a lot of shows in this venue and I don’t know if it was the lighting or just her amazing star power, but she seemed enormous up there–like she glowed and it was perfectly easy to see every move she made.  But before she even came down the (mirrored) stairs, she stood on the platform in a Blondie cut off shirt, a shoulder shrug, sparkly shorts and tall boots.  She posed like a model and then the music started. (more…)

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Laura Ramoso (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, September 23, 2026)

Posted in Laura Ramoso, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on September 23, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 23, 2026] Laura Ramoso

This tour was announced in March and then, in April, Laura told us that she was moving the Philly show up to November.  I had assumed all of the shows were moved, but it was only the Philly show.  And, looking at the dates below, why did they schedule Philly at that original date anyhow?  Weird.

Laura Ramoso is a comedian that my wife knew from Instagram who never came across my radar.  And, to make this point even funnier, when Laura came out on stage she welcomed everyone, including the husbands and boyfriends who had no idea who she was.

My wife told me about her and showed me a clip, but I decided to go in blind, so I didn’t watch any other clips of her stuff and that was an interesting way to experience a comedian.  It means that there were catch phrases and things that made the crowd laugh and I didn’t know why.  And that’s fine too, because most of the rest of the show did make me laugh a lot.

I assume I am correct in saying that she is most known for portraying her parents.  Laura is half German, half Italian.  Her German mother is very stiff and formal and her Italian father is very emotional and is often cooking.  Laura’s accents and characterizations are great and she moves between the two with amazing ease. (more…)

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Charlotte Lawrence (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, September 21, 2026) [SUKI WATERHOUSE]

Posted in Charlotte Lawrence, Emmma, Philadelphia, PA, Suki Waterhouse, The Met Philadelphia on September 22, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 21, 2026] Charlotte Lawrence

I hadn’t heard of Charlotte Lawrence before this show.  I listened to a few songs and liked her.  It turns out that, like Suki Waterhouse, she is an actress (in the show Bad Monkey which I hadn’t heard of), model and singer.

She came out on stage with her band and, I was pleased to her, rocked harder than her records.  Her records had a bit more pop sheen, but live, her band rocked (her guitar player even opened the show by running a beer bottle up and down the neck of his guitar generating interesting sounds–although they were all dressed so preppy, it was hard to take them seriously as rockers).  But that’s okay because they were great.  

Less great was the guy in the baseball hat who held his phone up very high (and was standing right in front of us) for each song and during her talking bits as well.  It was rather much.

I enjoyed Charlotte’s voice immediately–powerful and soaring high.  And the songs were catchy, too.

Before the second song, she said it was written about an asshole and anyone who could relate to that should dance along.  So that was pretty funny.  As was her intro to the third song which was also about an asshole (everyone say fuck you johnny).

I laughed a but when she bemoaned that she missed be young and wild and free (she’s 26), but who knows what her life is like.  And then before the next song, she started crying and said that she lost someone yesterday but she really wanted to keep on with the show.  (I see on previous setlists that at this time she was going to sing a song called Bodybag which, jeez, that’s rough.  It’s a piano ballad and they had unveiled Suki’s piano for this set.  I assume she was supposed to play the piano for this song.  But, damn, how could she play a song like that right now?

She pulled through and sang her bouncier song Fear of Falling and then asked if we’d like to hear a new song.  She started Like a Girl but had to quit after verse or two.  Fortunately, the crowd was really supportive of her and sent their best vibes her way.  I couldn’t help but think about how at a normal job when this happens, you would take a few days off, but I can’t imagine trying to be emotive on stage during this. (more…)

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Danny Elfman (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, September 16, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on September 16, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 16, 2026] Danny Elfman

I felt like this concert was announced suddenly and with no warning (which is how Danny likes it, I’m sure).  I was super interested in going, but it was on the same night as Angine de Poitrine and there was no way I was missing that, even if this was Danny’s first tour in 30 years.

I remember Danny from his Oingo Boingo days and obviously everyone knows his from his hundreds of fantastic scores.  Since I had no plans to go  to this I didn’t give a lot of thought to what the show would be like.  so I’m fascinated by this review from Loudhailer magazine:

Danny Elfman has done a few one-off festival performances in recent years, but his stop at The Fox Theatre was only the second show of his first actual tour with a band since 1995 – and it absolutely rocked. How could it not, given an all-star backing that included guitarists Nili Brosh from Dethklok, Robin Finck of Nine Inch Nails, A Perfect Circle bassist Matt McJunkins, and Josh Freese, who has drummed with everyone from Devo and Guns N Roses to Foo Fighters. Putting a supergroup like this together meant that Elfman was never going to just replay nostalgic Oingo Boingo hits or film scores. That would have been a waste of the overwhelming talent on stage. Instead, songs from the ’80s new-wave era were rebuilt in a more industrial metal style. 

 The sonic reinterpretation ran throughout the night, with Oingo tracks like “Ain’t This The Life” and “On The Outside” trading their new wave brightness for a much heavier grind. Most of the show fluctuated between Oingo classics and tracks from Elfman’s 2021 solo record Big Mess, which didn’t need the same makeover since they were written with exactly this sound in mind.  Another standout of the night was the one and only piece of Elfman’s film work that made the set: a metal version of “This Is Halloween,” which Elfman played in a Jack Skellington-style jacket.

The 80-minute, 20-song set closed with Boingo classics “Only a Lad” and “No One Lives Forever,” followed by an encore of “Who Do You Want to Be.” Thirty years after Elfman last toured for a living, the songs didn’t sound preserved and replayed. They were rebuilt and renewed.

So how about that

Danny Elfman at Fox Theatre in Detroit, MI

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Modest Mouse (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, August 19, 2026)

Posted in Califone, Modest Mouse, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on August 20, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 19, 2026] Modest Mouse 

I saw Modest Mouse open for The Flaming Lips last year.  I was right up front and really enjoyed the intensity of the show.  I asked my wife if she’d like to see them since she never had (this would be my 9th time).  The last 3 times I’d seen them were album tours (Lonesome Crowded West and Good News For People Who Love Bad News) and the opening set with the Lips.  So this would be the first time seeing them in a while when they were just doing new stuff.

And it was a LOT of new stuff.  This makes sense as this was a tour for their new album.  They played 8 songs from the album.

But they played a nice mix of newer and older songs.  In between nearly every song there was an older one.  Some were popular (Fly Trapped in a Jar) and some were deep cuts (Broke, from a 1996 EP).  What was fun about these older songs is that the band dropped from a large 7 piece band to a trio, like on those early albums.

I’m always fascinated by the Modest Mouse crowd because the people around me seemed to know the words to all of the older songs.   And I feel like Modest Mouse is pretty abrasive, so I am always surprised at the amount of fans that they have.  But they do have some really catchy songs (radio friendly ones) like Ocean Breathes Salty–this was only the second time I’ve seen them play it!  And it was the first song of the night that my wife recognized.

There was a dude next to me who seemed to know a lit of the new album as well.  Although I think we all recognized Picking Dragons Pockets since its getting a bunch of airplay.

The crowd went nuts when they played Bury Me With It (as they should) and I was super excited when they played 3rd Planet (the opening track from The Moon and Antarctica–a song I cannot believe I’ve never seen them play live before).

One of the songs my wife wanted to hear was Float On (of course).  I warned her that they may not play it (they did play it the last two times I saw them).  Indeed, the previous show started with 4 “hits.”  But Modest Mouse mixes up their setlists quite a bit, and there were few hits to be had tonight. (more…)

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Califone (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, August 19, 2026) [MODEST MOUSE]

Posted in Califone, Modest Mouse, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on August 19, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 19, 2026] Califone

Modest Mouse has very diverse bands opening for them.  Sometimes they’re so odd that I don’t care if I see them.  Other times, its a band I’ve heard of.  Like tonight. I’d heard of Califone–they’ve been around for years.  But I had no idea what they sounded like (or really anything about them).  

Califone is basically the project of Tim Rutili who was a founder of the band Red Red Meat (I also don’t know anything about them either).

For this show, he had a guitarist and bassist and two drummers (one was more percussion).  It’s possible they shared a member of two with Modest Mouse, but I can’t be sure.  Turns out Tim Rutili was part of Isaac Brock’s Ugly Casanova project.

The first two songs were slow and kind of country like.  Tim was seated and on an acoustic guitar.  The first song was a Red Red Meat cover and was quite short.  Before introducing the second song, someone on the crowd shouted Freebird and Tim was so disgusted he said, Did you just shout Freebird, god, anyone who shouts that just shows they are a dick.  They show that they are a cunt–this is Philadelphia I can say that).  Wow, I was so happy to hear it said out loud (Freebird is not funny anymore) and I’m so curious what happened to that guy from his friends.  I also thought it was a massively bold move for an opening band.  But Tim has been doing this since the 90s so he’s heard it all. (more…)

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Tori Amos / Bartees Strange (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, August 1, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Bartees Strange, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia, Tori Amos on August 1, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: August 1, 2026] Tori Amos / Bartees Strange

Back in the 90s, I was a die-hard Tori Amos fan.  Over the years I’ve moved on.  But I did see her four years ag (I can’t believe it has been that long).

I enjoyed that show, but I complained that she hardly played anything I new (yes, she has a like a dozen albums out but still).  And for my show she only played 17 songs.  For this one it was only 15!  After the last show I said “t was like seeing a friend who I had grown apart from.  We had a few things in common, but there were far more differences.”

So I had no intention of going to this show.  Looking at the setlist, she played these songs that I know

A Sorta Fairytale [really like this one]
Bliss [forgot about this one, but it rocks]
Putting the Damage On [she didn’t play anything from this, my favorite Tori album, last time]
Little Earthquakes [of course]
Spring Haze [she played it last time too]
Pretty Good Year [that would have been great to hear]

Fascinatingly, she didn’t play Precious Things.  And she did play Streets of Philadelphia [like last time]–next time, how about Philadelphia Freedom.  So, that’s 6 out of 15.  Not a great ratio.  

Bartees Strange opened up. I saw him 3 times in 3 and a half years and really didn’t need to see him again.  I really liked his earlier stuff, but the newer stuff I got sick of.  I realize I saw him last just over a year ago, so it’s not like the early stuff was super long ago.

 

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Metric: All the Feelings Tour (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 28, 2026)

Posted in Broken Social Scene, Metric, Philadelphia, PA, Stars, The Met Philadelphia on July 30, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 28, 2026] Metric

When this tour (dubbed All the Feelings) was announced, I knew I was going immediately.  Stars, Broken Social Scene and Metric?  Three great Canadian bands who have all played with each other?  It sounded wonderful.

I saw Metric back in 2022 and thought their show was fantastic.  Their album Fantasties was one of my favorite albums of 2009.  I hadn’t listened to their subsequent albums as much, but I really enjoyed that show.  And I was excited for this one.  Their new album is much more synth poppy, which I didn’t love.  But I figured it sounded like a great opportunity for a live show.

I was somewhat taken aback when the stage setup was revealed for Metric.  In hindsight it didn’t look very different from the last time–dark and spare with lots of room for walking around.  But it was such a stark difference from the warm, crowded stage for Stars and Broken Social Scene.

The drums were straight back on a riser.  On either side of the riser were electronic gadgets.  Full sized gear that was lit up with colorful lights.  In the center of the stage was a small table with a keyboard and a light.  It was perfectly symmetrical.

The band came out and, holy cow, they had banks of lights al around the stage, including right at the front and those lights shone right at the people in the front row.  I felt like the family in front of me was really unhappy about that.  At any rate, they left about half way through the set for whatever reason.

I was front and center for this show so, I was right in front of Emily Haines.  Joules Scott-Key on drums in the back–but so dark that I could barely see him for most of the show.  Joshua Winstead was on to my right.  He often went back to that bank of electronica to do whatever he had to do.  I always enjoyed watching him play bass because he seemed to play very hard–even if sometimes the electronics drowned him out.  On the left was James Shaw playing guitar and also doing whatever to the wall of dials and gears he had back there.

They opened with their new single Victim of Luck, a song I love.  It sounded great.  I enjoyed that Emily would move her table of gear around the stage–sometimes parking it up front, other times pushing it out of the way to give her more room to more around.  Up next was Formentera, with a thumping bass and ringing guitars.

Youth Without Youth is another new song with some jagged guitars and a propulsive beat.  I wondered how some of the sounds were being generated.  Sometimes Emily played the keyboard, but other times, I’m guessing that James had manipulated the sounds so that his guitar sounded more like a synth.  I also enjoyed the Go Go Go Go part.

Then they played two songs from their second album. The bouncy Monster Hospital and the more moody Poster of a Girl.  (more…)

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Broken Social Scene (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 28, 2026) [METRIC]

Posted in Broken Social Scene, Metric, Philadelphia, PA, Stars, The Met Philadelphia on July 29, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 28, 2026] Broken Social Scene

When You Forgot It in People came out back in 2002, I listened to it quite a lot, but then Broken Social Scene fell of my radar.  I knew about a couple of projects over the years, but had no idea that they were still a going concern.  Earlier this year WXPN started playing a new song by them.  Indeed, the band put a new album out this year.

Two years ago, Broken Social Scene toured You Forgot It in People.  I grabbed a ticket and then lost some interest as the show drew closer.  I had a show lined up for the following two nights.  So I blew off the show.  Reviews made me realize I missed something fun and interesting.  Indeed, the family in front of me at this show said they have seen Broken Social Scene some 25 times.  So I was glad to finally get to experience them live.  And wow, what a fun spectacle.

Broken Social Scene is a loose collective of musicians who come and go.  For this show, the fewest number of people on stage at any given time was 7.  With it maxing out at around 15.  The main components of the band are Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning and drummer Justin Peroff.  We learned midway through the set that earlier this summer, Justin was injured in Vancouver.  They had cancelled some shows, but Justin fully recovered and was playing with them tonight.  Two other guys have been with the band since almost the beginning, Andrew Whiteman who was on the far side of the stage.  I couldn’t see him too well, but he sang lead a few times and did some solos. Right in front of me, and most intriguing to me was Charles Spearin who played a double neck guitar/ bass.  I’d never seen one quite like this.  It was really small, but Spearin jumped back and forth between bass and guitar throughout the set.  Sam Goldberg also played guitar but switched off to bass once in a while.  During the first song, Cuase= Time, all three–Goldberg, Spearin and Whiteman all played the solo together.  Brendan Canning mostly played bass, but occasionally played guitar and keys.

Kevin Drew was center stage wearing a baseball at that said Captain, which I found amusing.   He was definitely the captain, introducing new people and telling stories between songs.  He also sang most of the songs, but not all of them. (more…)

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Stars (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 28, 2026) [METRIC]

Posted in Broken Social Scene, Metric, Philadelphia, PA, Stars, The Met Philadelphia on July 28, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 28, 2026] Stars

When this tour (dubbed All the Feelings) was announced, I knew I was going immediately.  Stars, Broken Social Scene and Metric?  Three great Canadian bands who have all played with each other?  It sounded wonderful.

Stars is a fantastic band and it took me far too long to see them live.  But now that I have, I’ve seen them every two years since that first time.  I was a little bummed that they weren’t the middle band for this show, but, as it turned out, they spent a lot of time on stage with Broken Social Scene, so it was no big deal.

The actual big deal, though, was that the show started at 7 instead of 8.  I probably could have gone home after work and been home for a second and then headed down to Philly, but I decided to go directly from work (which was a very smart idea).  I arrived way too early so I went to Federal Donuts to get a chicken sandwich only to find out that this location’s grill was off.  I also found out that Federal Donuts has closed a lot of their locations (No!).  So I’m not sure if this location (on 7th) no loner serves chicken (is the grill closed permanently?).  Devastating.

So, with no dinner, but a six pack of donuts, I headed over to The Met, got to my secret free parking spot, and listened to my audio book.  But there was threat of thunderstorms.  I didn’t want to get into the venue too early, but I also didn’t want to get soaked, so I headed in around 6:15.  Merch was okay, but I didn’t get anything.  I moseyed down to the pit and happily stood behind the front row of people (a nice short woman in front of me).  This family was very nice and had seen BSS many times.

Right on time, Stars came out and, as usual, Torq was his funny engaging and charismatic self.  Amy Millan looked wonderful and seemed to be having a great time as well.  And their onstage rapport is always amazing together.  Torq talked about how great it was to be able to do something with your best friend.

The rest of the band has remained the same for 20+ years.  Last tour I learned that bassist Evan Cranley and guitarist Chris Seligman are the main composers of Stars’ music while Torq Campbell and Amy Millan write lyrics.  Drummer Pat McGee and lead guitarist Chris McCarron keep everything going.  And Torq played melodica a bunch. (more…)

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