Clairo’s Sling tour with Arlo Parks was supposed to happen at the Fillmore on February 26 2022. It had been sold out for a long time. I had actually been interested in going just to see Arlo Parks. But by the time my daughter said she wanted to go to see Clairo, it was long sold out.
I followed along because something happened to the show the night before. And then the Philly show was was postponed on that day with almost no warning.
Apparently it was a COVID scare, but the communication was terrible and people didn’t hear until minutes before the show was supposed to start. However, the rescheduled date was a gain for me because tickets immediately went on sale and I snatched up 2 at 7PM that evening.
My daughter has the misfortune (or good taste, I guess) to like popular people. So this show was sold out and packed. (more…)
[DID NOT ATTEND: July 12, 2022] Barenaked Ladies / Toad the Wet Sprocket / Gin Blossoms [rescheduled from July 14, 2020 and July 13, 2021]
I haven’t seen Barenaked Ladies in a while. They always put on a good show, although i feel like I’ve enjoyed the last few a little bit less than the previous ones.
I always consider going to their Last Summer on Earth tours, but i typically dislike the other bands that are playing with them–usually 90s bands that I assumed were broken up. Which doesn’t really speak all that well of BNL (unless it speaks well of them trying to boost old bands).
I never liked Gin Blossoms.
I liked Toad the Wet Sprocket for their name (which comes from Monty Python) but couldn’t tell you a single song they sang.
So, it was very unlikley that I was going to this one. And I didn’t.
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As recent as mid-May this concert was still listed as happening in 2021, but when you clicked to buy tickets, the ticket pages said 2022.
I know that the whole “Last Summer on Earth” thing is a joke, but it’s getting a little creepy now.
I was kind of hoping they’d switch opening bands by now but, instead of this show, I think I’ll be seeing them at the Festival of Ballooning on July 24th instead.
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I have seen Barenaked Ladies almost more than any other band. I’ve seen them from way back in the early days to a few times in the last few years. They are reliably solid live (if not a bit predictable with their setlists).
We didn’t see them for last year’s “Last Summer on Earth” tour. They have been using that name for the last several years, it may be time to think of a new name, especially given the current state of the world. I wasn’t planning on going to this show mostly because I don’t really like the opening acts. And, honestly, unless the show was something special and different, it would entirely depend on the opening acts whether I went or not. Maybe they’ll mix them up for next year.
Toad the Wet Sprocket got their name from a Monty Python skit which immediately made me like them. I think I ha a cassette of their first album, maybe. I haven’t really thought of them in years and remember them being kind of inoffensive. Oh, wait, they had a pretty big hit with “All I Want,” a sweet slightly alt folk rock song. I’ll bet there would be lots of lighters up for that song.
I really hated Gin Blossoms back in the 90s. They were so overplayed and hardly qualified as alternative or college rock, but they were lumped in that category. They had a number of songs that I probably know all the words to even though I never listened to them on purpose.
With a lineup change I’d consider seeing them next summer, especially if they changed the name of the tour.
[ATTENDED: June 18, 2022] Kraftwerk 3-D [rescheduled after July 30, 2020 cancellation]
Kraftwerk are one of the most influential bands of all time–and most people don’t know them. They created electronic music and have been sampled hundreds of times.
I never even considered that I would see them live. And then they announced this 3-D tour celebrating their 50th anniversary!
My understanding of their live shows was that the four members would stand on stage in front of these tint platforms and play their electronic music and that was pretty much it. So the 3-D component sounded like an interesting addition.
Normally I wouldn’t want to see a band that wasn’t full of original members. Kraftwerk really only has one–Ralf Hütter is the only guy still in the band from the beginning. Of the other three, Fritz Hilpert has been on board since 1987, Henning Schmitz since 1991 and Falk Grieffenhagen since 2012. Florian Schneider another co-founder just died in 2020, but he had left the band twelve years ago. So while they aren’t original guys, the four have been together long enough to count as Kraftwerk for sure.
I was bummed when the whole tour was cancelled for COVID. But here it was, two years later (52nd anniversary) rescheduled and ready to go–no doubt unchanged in any way. (more…)
Few bands are as amazing live as Sigur Rós. I can’t believe it has been five years since I’ve last seen them.
My wife and I were looking forward to this show so much.
And that’s when we learned that you can never schedule anything in June if you have kids. Our daughter won an award and it was scheduled for this evening.
What timing. Obviously, there was no chance for going to this show.
[DID NOT ATTEND: May 24 & 25, 2022] Nine Inch Nails / 100 gecs
I saw Nine Inch Nails open for Skinny Puppy on Halloween in 1988 at Irving Plaza in New York City. My memory is hazy, but I recall Trent Reznor playing all of his music on a giant reel to reel player and no one else on stage. No idea if that’s correct. I recall not thinking much of him/them. “Head Like a Hole” wouldn’t come out for another year and a half.
Obviously, things went pretty well for him.
I don’t really think I would have gone to this show even if it hadn’t sold out. I have nothing against the new version of NIN, I’m just not all that interested. Plus its fun to have my memory.
100 gecs are a crazy band who apparently put on a wild show (and sell out pretty quickly).
My son played us “Stupid Horse” a while ago and I thought it was crazy–funny, catchy, irritating–a perfectly weird pop song. When they announced a tour, I asked him if he wanted to go and he laughed and said no.
I looked up a concert review to see what their show was like and people said they played their entire catalog, which was like 30 minutes. And that was it. (Turns out they played for 50 minutes at their headline show in Philly).
There were some interesting openers on this tour. More power to Trent:
Yves Tumor, Boy Harsher and a little band called Ministry.
I just found out that someone ha a recording of that 1988 show
T. was really into Beach Bunny when we saw her back in November of 2021. I was pretty surprised that she was going to tour again in May of 2022 (in fairness, the 2021 tour had been rescheduled twice and I think she was ready to play new stuff, but she had all the gear from the old tour so….). Plus, this new tour moved her from the 1500 capacity Union Transfer to the 2500 capacity Fillmore.
I had really enjoyed her at Union Transfer and was looking forward to what she’s do at this show.
Last time the stage was filled with old video game cabinets. This time it had old small TV screens.
Lili Trifilio came out with bunny ears on and jumped right in with “Oxygen.” The crowd seemed very young to me (which, I guess to me they were very young, but I believe the Fillmore was designed for a largely under 21 crowd).
My daughter seemed a little overwhelmed by the crowd and the show and decided to hang nearer to the back. She felt like she could see better, which may have been true). But i always feel disconnected from the show when I’m too far back. (more…)
[ATTENDED: May 18, 2022] Ky Vöss [Wednesday cancelled]
T. was really into Beach Bunny when we saw her back in November of 2021. I was pretty surprised that she was going to tour again in May of 2022 (in fairness, the 2021 tour had been rescheduled twice and I think she was ready to play new stuff, but she had all the gear from the old tour so….). Plus, this new tour moved her from the 1500 capacity Union Transfer to the 2500 capacity Fillmore.
Of course I got her a ticket!
It also happened to be the same night as my rescheduled (three or four times) Deftones show which I was incredibly excited to go to. Which my son really wanted to go to having recently gotten into the Deftones.
I tried so many different ways to make this night happen for all of us.
Perhaps I could get a ticket for him for Deftones and we could go together. Mine was GA, but GA was upselling for like $300 (NO!). I could get him a seat in the balcony–that would suck) and even that was upselling for like $175 (NO!). (more…)
[DID NOT ATTEND: May 18, 2022] Deftones / Gojira / VOWWS [rescheduled from August 22, 2020 and August 27, 2021]
I was pretty excited to see this Deftones show. But I was even more excited when my son said he wanted to go to the show with me. Well, it had sold out a long time ago and I couldn’t get a Pit ticket for a reasonable price. I didn’t want my son to be in the balcony while I was in the pit. But I also didn’t want the reverse.
But then, what happened was that I got a ticket to see Beach Bunny across town on the same night. And so, my daughter and I went to the Beach Bunny show and I gave my son the Deftones ticket. Yes, he would be by himself in the pit.
The timing actually worked out just fine, because while Wednesday bailed on our show, VOWWS bailed on their show. This meant I had to do some mathematical time keeping to see if I’d have to leave Beach Bunny early to get him so he wasn’t hanging around on the streets of Philadelphia.
But it turned out that his show ended almost exactly the same time as our show. Since our show was only ten minutes away, there was still plenty of foot traffic when I went to go get him.
He said the show was great. And Markit Aneight kindly recorded the entire Deftones set.
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I was pretty excited to see this show this summer. It turned out, however, that the show was the night that we returned home from vacation. Ie, it would have been a pretty exhausting day. So, the fact that Deftones decided to postponed until May was fine with me.
I’m bummed that Poppy is no longer part of the tour because I’d really like to see her. But she is now headlining her own tour–which I don’t really want to see. I’m not sure a full show of hers would be that much fun. But hey, maybe she’ll be back on board
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I saw Deftones at a lousy location (Sands Bethlehem hall), but it was one of my favorite shows that year. The crowd was pushy and shovey, but Chino came within five feet of me and the energy was amazing.
Plus at the end of the show, when a roadie threw out a drumstick, I actually got it.
I knew I’d want to see them at least one more time, but wow was I surprised to see that they were going to play The Met in Philly, which I think of as a more “delicate” hall. I’d be slightly afraid for the seats at a Deftones show.
The opening acts were really intriguing as well.
Gojira area French heavy metal band whose 2012 album I loved. Heavy and very technical I’d imagine they put on a great show.
Poppy is an absolute mystery. She’s an internet creation whose every song is is a different genre. Her latest album was really really heavy but with that fake internet sheen on it (in a Babymetal kind of way but less sincere, if that’s possible). I’ve been intrigued by here since I first heard about her, but I wouldn’t want to see her show if she was headlining. This seemed like a great way to experience her weirdness. I hope that she is still on the bill next year and that she is still into metal, otherwise it could be kind of awkward.
I really thought that this show at the end of August might go on but on May 19, they sent this note.
Due to the current regulations, and uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, we must reschedule our North American summer tour dates with special guests, Gojira and Poppy. We’re currently rescheduling the dates for 2021, and you’ll be the first to know once they are confirmed. All tickets will be honored or refunded upon our next announcement regarding the tour.
I’m glad they are promising to come back And by then, their new album (due in September) will be familiar to all of us.
I last saw Tori Amos over 20 years ago. I was a die-hard looney fan back in the 90s. That has since passed. I saw her a lot of times in the span of five years and then I was kind of over her. I still enjoyed her music but the fanbase was getting too intense for me.
I wasn’t even sure if I’d be able to get tickets to this show, I though it would have sold out immediately. But when the presale was announced, I was able to score third row. When I was a huge fan, I was never anywhere closer than half way back. So this was sort of a last hurrah for seeing her. If I had gotten these tickets twenty-five years ago I would have ben beside myself.
Turns out that the intense fanbase is still there and they may have been unhappy that I was in that third row seat because there was a coordinated effort by the folks in the first three rows to control the audience. Not in a “you must do this” way but in a “this is how it’s done” way. It almost felt like church–which is very funny given Tori’s upbringing.
Tori’s band (bassist Jon Evans and drummer Ash Soan) came out and did a little jamming before Tori walked out in a lovely flowing kimono type thing and the highest spikiest heels that one might ever see on a pianist.
She opened with “Juárez” from To Venus and Back. Not my favorite song from the album (I would have loved to hear “Bliss”), but a promising start to the idea that she was going to be playing from all over her career. Plus, the all sounded great–the band was excellent and Tori’s voice sounded in good form. She also made a lot of eye contact and gestures to the folks in the front row–just like the old days, but I could actually see them.
After playing a song I didn’t know (I have American Doll Posse, but couldn’t tell you when I last listened to it), she jumped all the way back to play “Little Earthquakes.” The crowd went berserk (as they should) and then we sat back and enjoyed it. Because this was part of the coordination from the front row, as soon as the second song was done, they turned around and motioned for everyone to sit, like they knew the next song was going to be a slow one and we should sit now so we didn’t sit during the song. It was weird (although not unappreciated). (more…)
I last saw Tori Amos over 20 years ago. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see her again and then this tour was announced. I liked the new song from the new album and since it was the met and I was able to get presale tickets, I figured I’d give it a shot.
It wasn’t clear to me who would be opening for her, if anyone. But as the show drew closer the date was listed as Tori Amos and Companion. Which was confusing to be sure. I’d never heard of a band called Companion. Was this a suggestion that Tori would have a companion on stage?
Well, it soon became clear that Companion is a band. A duo, actually. As their site explains:
Companion is the Fort Collins, CO-based duo of identical twin sisters Sophia and Jo Babb. The pair’s music presents immaculate harmonies, delicate folk melodies, and a nuanced approach to songwriting that feels at once lighthearted and weighted with palpable empathy.
The duo came out in spectacular outfits. Sophia in a yellow, wildly patterned 70s era pantsuit (and straight hair) and Jo in a floral shirt and jeans (and curly hair). (more…)
Clairo’s Sling tour with Arlo Parks was supposed to happen at the Fillmore on February 26 2022. It had been sold out for a long time. I had actually been interested in going just to see Arlo Parks. But by the time my daughter said she wanted to go to see Clairo, it was long sold out. 
