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Archive for the ‘The Met Philadelphia’ Category

Modest Mouse (The Met Philadelphia, PA, August 5, 2021)

Posted in Modest Mouse, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on August 6, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 5, 2021] Modest Mouse        [pictures to come]

I wasn’t planning on Modest Mouse being my first show back after 500+ pandemic days.  In fact, I didn’t even think they were my first show back (Japanese Breakfast on Saturday was first, I thought). I bought tickets for this show but forgot to write it on the calendar.  Thankfully, a reminder email got me totally psyched to be back.

This was my fifth time seeing Modest Mouse.  I laughed when I saw that last time I wrote:

I don’t ever plan to see Modest Mouse, they just sort of appear and they worm their way into my calendar.  And frankly … I’ll definitely go again if I can.

Obviously that was true as well this time.

I wish that there was a vaccination and mask mandate in place at The Met, because regardless of how vaccinated everybody may have been, there were a lot of unmasked faces in the pit with my masked one.

After a year and a half it was almost comforting to se that all of the irritating people came out for the show as well.  But I was in a good space, so I acknowledged their irritations bit didn’t get irritated.  I was fairly close to the stage, but there were some last minute pushers who forced me a little back.  I also tried my best to leave some distance between me and the others (but that was nigh impossible).  There were the requisite tall boys right in front of the stage and (I had forgotten about this behavior) a short girl (woman? it was hard to tell) who barreled her way right in front of me, dragging her boyfriend (father?) with her.  She also later tried to start a mosh pit but no one was biting.  And of course, by the end of the night there was the very sloppy drunk woman who was falling all over herself (and her boyfriend) who had to leave early.

After a 30 minute wait between bands, Modest Mouse came out.   And the crowd went nuts.

I noted last time that

The main draw for me at a Modest Mouse show is the thought that I’ll hear songs I haven’t heard live before.  I didn’t know if that was possible on my now fourth show but amazingly, they played 8 songs that I hadn’t heard live before.  They have over 100 songs officially released, so I don’t imagine hearing all of them, but I have heard 55 songs at four shows, which again, is amazing

That was not an issue for me this time.  I just wanted to hear live music.  They did play seven songs I hadn’t hear live before.  But six of them were from the new album The Golden Casket.  One was from the Interstate 8 EP.

(more…)

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The Districts (The Met Philadelphia, PA, August 5, 2021) [MODEST MOUSE]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, The Districts, The Met Philadelphia on August 5, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 5, 2021] The Districts

I was supposed to see The Districts play at Union Transfer on March 12.  COVID-19 had just found its way into New Jersey and Pennsylvania and I was being very cautious so I decided to skip the show.  It was a safe decision, but one that I now regret as it would have been a pretty great final show of the year.  Shows pretty much completely stopped after that.

I was able to watch The Districts play at (virtual) Philly Music Fest which was fun (but not the real thing).

So I was pretty excited to hear that they were announced as the opening act for Modest Mouse.  They would be the first live band I’d seen and the symmetry made me pleased.

They sounded great, but I was a little bummed that their set was only 6 songs in 30 minutes.  I didn’t keep track of the songs, assuming someone out there would have updated the setlist page, so I only know four of the six songs played.  And the shows around it have slightly different setlists, so I guess I’ll never know.

They opened with “If Before I Wake” and introduced their new drummer (who was really good).  I feel like the crowd was a little subdued for these Philly favorites. (more…)

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Barenaked Ladies / Toad the Wet Sprocket / Gin Blossoms (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 13, 2021) [rescheduled date]

Posted in Barenaked Ladies, Coronavirus, Gin Blossoms, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, The Met Philadelphia, Toad the Wet Sprocket on July 13, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: July 13, 2021] Barenaked Ladies / Toad the Wet Sprocket / Gin Blossoms [rescheduled from July 14, 2020]

indexAs 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.

~~~~

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.

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Primus: A Tribute to Kings / Wolfmother / The Sword (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 10, 2021) [rescheduled date]

Posted in Coronavirus, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Primus, Quarantine, Rush, The Met Philadelphia, Wolfmother on July 10, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: July 10, 2021] Primus / Wolfmother / The Sword [rescheduled from June 19, 2020; moved to October 1, 2021]

indexOn April 27, Primus gave us some hope by pushing back this tour just a few months:

Finally, the clouds are parting, the planets are aligning, the dough is rising…whatever metaphor floats your preverbal boat, PRIMUS is going on tour again. We were poised and ready for a massive, bent-rock extravaganza when the gremlins of covid came and yanked the rug out from under us all. I personally have been climbing the walls like a shit-house rat and, after my first season off in 30 some odd years, I’m very anxious and excited to stand in front of the microphone with my four string piece of furniture and belt out some girthy ditties to sweaty throngs of punters.
C’mon Down,
Les Claypool

I’ll be there

~~

I’ve been a fan of Primus since their first album.  And yet I never saw them live once they started to make it big.  I’m not keen on the frat boy fanbase they inexplicably developed, but what can you do.

I’ve wanted to see them for a long time and I’ve had a few shows snatched out of my hands.

I did get to see them recently, although it was for a new EP, so they didn’t play a lot of the old stuff like I’d wanted to hear.

Of course, when they announced this tour: A Tribute to Kings, in which they’d be playing all of Rush’s A Farewell to Kings (possibly my favorite Rush album, depending on the day), I knew I’d have to go.  Since that album is relatively short, I assumed they be playing some good old Primus songs too.

Wolfmother is a band I didn’t know.  I listened to a couple of songs and they sound like a pretty classic late 80s metal band with a loud, high-pitched vocalist.  I would have loved this band back then, and while I wouldn’t go out of my way to see them, it would be fun to relive a band like this live.  The band is from Australia and has an utterly fascinating history of in-fighting and replacements (Wikipedia has a page devoted just to Wolfmother band members).

The Sword is another retro-metal band, sounding an awful lot like Black Sabbath and other classic old school metal groups.  Once again, I would have loved them back in the day, and would no doubt enjoy rocking out to them live.

I hope that the rescheduled date is not too far off, but I’ve waited forever to see them, so I can wait a little longer.  It would be fine if the opening bands stayed with them, but if not, that’s okay too.

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Dead Can Dance / Agnes Obel (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, April 23, 2021) [rescheduled date, rescheduled again]

Posted in Agnes Obel, Coronavirus, Dead Can Dance, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, The Met Philadelphia on April 23, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: April 23, 2021] Dead Can Dance / Agnes Obel [rescheduled from April 17, 2020; moved to October 12, 2021]

indexAs April came closer and closer I was sure that Dead Can Dance was going to cancel this tour for good–so many other bands have done so.  But I’m happy they didn’t–even if I don’t have fantastic seats for this show.  This just feels like one of those shows that I’m going to be really happy to experience and I can wait a few more months.

I really enjoyed Dead Can Dance’s mix of cultural touchstones on their earlier albums. I have a bunch of their releases up until they broke up.

Somehow I missed their reunion entirely.  I also missed their subsequent reunion and new albums.

They haven’t played in this area for 8 years and I was pretty pleased to finally experience them live.  I bought a ticket for this show and then a few days later it was announced that they would be playing the State Theatre in New Brunswick.  Since that venue is about three times closer to me, I snatched up a great seat for that show and figured I could sell the Philly ticket.

Then a couple months ago the Theatre announced that the New Brunswick show was unexpectedly cancelled. No reason was given.  I don’t think it was sales as it looked like they sold well.  So that sucked, but I was glad I still had this ticket.

Agnes Obel is a Danish born singer who plays quirky atmospheric chamber pop.  I have heard great things about her for many years but never really investigated her music.  I was looking forward to learning about her in this setting.

She was actually scheduled to open for The The on their 2018 tour.  However, the three New York area shows had different openers, so I didn’t get to see her then.

I hope they all come back around together.

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Tenacious D / Wynchester: The Purple Nurple Tour…Twisting Hard To The Left! (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, October 7, 2020) [CANCELLED]

Posted in Cancelled, Coronavirus, Philadelphia, PA, Quarantine, Tenacious D, The Met Philadelphia, Wynchester on October 7, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[CANCELLED: October 7, 2020] Tenacious D / Wynchester

indexS and I saw Tenacious D and Wynchester together a couple of years ago and it was great.

Tenacious D sound amazing and are funny as hell.

Wynchester is some of the guys from The D with a different singer.  They are countryish but still rock out.

The crowd was mixed for me.  Tall and frankly obnoxious, but fun when they needed to be.  I thought it would be fun to see them again, so i was pretty happy to hear about this tour.  And to see that they were in a better venue–The Met Philly will be great for a band with a big visual component.

On July 8 The D posted:

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This concert was paired with 46 for 46.  What’s that?

With the Democratic campaign to unseat *** already well underway, a pair of music industry veterans-turned-activists are announcing a new initiative entitled 46 for 46, described as a “strategically planned series of 46 unique concerts in 46 different cities in the states that matter most during the lead up to the 2020 election.” The goal: to help launch the Democratic presidential nominee into the White House using the inspirational power of music.

This was supposed to be a big time anti-**ump concert.  One hopes that when the D come back around it will be a moot point and **ump will just be in jail.

ten d

 

 

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Coheed and Cambria–Neverender: NWFT / Chon (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, September 20, 2020) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Chon, Coheed & Cambria, Coronavirus, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, The Met Philadelphia on September 20, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: September 20, 2020] Coheed and Cambria / Chon

indexI missed out on the origins of Coheed and Cambria.  I have one of their albums and I quite like it.  I’ve always wanted to listen to more of them (progressive metal!), but I always feel like I need to devote a lot more time than I have to complicated music.

They tour quite a bit and I thought it would be fun to see them live even if I don’t know their music all that well.

The confusing name of this tour is Neverender: NWFT.  Claudio Sanchez says “Neverender is a special chance for us to celebrate the milestones that have made us Coheed and Cambria,”  NWFT means that they are playing all of their 2007 album Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume Two: No World for Tomorrow. 

The album I have is Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness (2006).

Now with the show pushed back a year, it gives me time to explore that album a bit and maybe go see them.

At some point about five years ago I seemed to be seeing ads for Chon everywhere I went.  I hadn’t heard of them before, but when I looked them up they sounded really interesting.  They play a progressive/math rock and I love it.  I have wanted to see them live now for about a year, so this seemed like a great double bill.

I would also happily see them headline.  One of these days!

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Marshmello: Joytime: Into the Melloverse (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, September 2, 2020) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Coronavirus, Marshmello, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, The Met Philadelphia on September 2, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: September 2, 2020] Marshmello

indexI really don’t know anything about Marshmello except that he wears a giant marshmellow thing over his head and that he’s a DJ.

I only happened to notice he was playing at The Met when I was looking up another show. I only really know about him because my daughter mentioned him.  When I told her about this show, she said she only knows of him because he was a guest on someone else’s song.  So, he sings?  He’s not just a dance music maker?  What could his live show possibly be like?

The odds of me going to this show were pretty much nil, but the more I learn about him without actually looking anything official up, the more fascinated I am by him.

Do I dare watch a video of him live?

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Deftones / Gojira / Poppy (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, August 22, 2020) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Coronavirus, Deftones, Gojira, Philadelphia, PA, Poppy, Postponed, Quarantine, The Met Philadelphia on August 22, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: August 22, 2020] Deftones / Gojira / Poppy [moved to August 27, 2021]

index

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.

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The Decemberists: 20 Years Before the Mast: 20th Anniversary Tour (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, August 18, 2020) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Coronavirus, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, The Decemberists, The Met Philadelphia on August 18, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: August 18, 2020] The Decemberists: 20 Years Before the Mast [moved to August 17, 2021]

indexI’ve been a fan of The Decemberists for years and I am surprised by how few times I’ve seen them.  We were supposed to see them two years ago and then Colin Meloy’s voice went out just in time for our show, so that was cancelled.

I was surprised that this tour didn’t include a stop in Red Bank, but a show at the Met in Philly is almost as good.

I was really really hoping that this show wouldn’t be postponed–it seemed like a milestone date somehow.  Plus, I had AMAZING seats.  Fortunately, the show was postponed to exactly a year minus a day away (as many shows tend to be) and my amazing seats are still good.

Here’s their official word on the postponement from May 27:

Adored Mailing List Recipients,

As you might remember from previous emails, there was some discussion over whether or not 2020 was *in fact* the 20th Anniversary of The Decemberists. Did the band start out in 2000? Or was 2001 our proper debut? There are recollections of Decemberists shows happening in 2000 in some form, and yet our first website and logo proclaimed us “Est. 2001” — for reasons lost to time. Well, we’re happy to report that that controversy is settled once and for all, and it only took a global pandemic to do so.

And so: Twenty Years Before the Mast, The Decemberists’ 20th Anniversary Tour will be coming to your town in the summer of 2021, not this summer.

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