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Archive for the ‘The Met Philadelphia’ Category

Danny Gonzalez (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, November 9, 2025) [KURTIS CONNER]

Posted in Danny Gonzalez, Kurtis Conner, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on November 9, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 9, 2025] Danny Gonzalez

My daughter and I saw Kurtis Conner three years ago.  I didn’t know his stuff at all but I thought he was really funny.  So when he announced another show in the same venue I grabbed us tickets.  My son is also a fan and he wanted to go to this show too, so it was a fun night out with the kids.

We had seats in the balcony but they allowed us to sit in the ADA section.  It didn’t seem like it sold very well, which I was surprised by since last time I think it was sold out.  But we enjoyed the spaciousness of the ADA section to be sure.

Before the show started, we didn’t know if there would be an opening act.  And then Kurtis announced that his special guest would be Danny Gonzales.  The crowd went crazy, although I had no idea who he was. I see that for the last show I wrote that my daughter told me

the Holy Trinity is Kurtis Conner, Danny Gonzalez and Drew Gooden.

So, it was cool to see one third of the trinity.

Danny was very funny.  He seemed a little nervous to be doing stand up, and suggested that it was either his first time or his first time in a long while.  But he was very warmly received–that’s an understatement.  My daughter says it was very exciting to see him live.  And the one vide I can find of his introduction practically blew out the speakers of my phone (more…)

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Lola Young (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, November 4, 2025) [CANCELLED]

Posted in Cancelled, Lola Young, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on November 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[CANCELLED: November 8, 2025] Lola Young

Lola Young’s Messy has ben one of my favorite songs this year.  I listened to some more of her record and didn’t like it nearly as much as Messy.  I wasn’t sure if I was going to get a ticket for this show.  But Lola was supposed to play at All Things Go.  However, she collapsed on stage in New York.

On September 27, Lola Young collapsed while performing during All Things Go Music Festival at New York’s Forest Hills Stadium. Now, the British pop singer-songwriter has announced she’s taking a break to prioritize her health. “I’m going away for a while,” she wrote in a statement on social media. “It pains me to say I have to cancel everything for the foreseeable future.”

“Thank you for all the love and support,” Young continued. “I’m so sorry to let anyone down who has bought a ticket to see me, it hurts me more than you know. Obviously you will be entitled to a full refund. I really hope you’ll give me a second chance once I’ve had some time to work on myself and come back stronger. Love you all, Lola x.”

I feel bad for Lola but I think when she comes back she’ll be even better.

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Of Monsters and Men / Árný Margrét (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, November 4, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Árný Margrét, Iceland, Of Monsters and Men, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on November 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 4, 2025] Of Monsters and Men / Árný Margrét

We saw Of Monsters and Men her back in 2019.  I was really impressed with the show–the performance and the overall spectacle was great.  This was their first time back since that show, but we had tickets to see Romesh Ranganathan tonight.

It also turns out that OMAM released a new album that I hadn’t heard–and they played the whole thing that night.  So, no big deal missing them. I have fond memories of the last show.

Árný Margrét is an Icelandic folk singer with a lovely voice.  She plays quiet acoustic guitar and has a delightfully Icelandic-sounding voice.  It makes it seem like the night would have been more mellow than I would have guessed.  But of course I could be wrong about that.  She opened for John Grant in April.  It’s funny to think I could have seen her twice in a year if I went to both of these shows.

For ease of searching, I include: Arny Margret

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Cage the Elephant / Hey, Nothing (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, October 25, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Cage the Elephant, Hey, Nothing, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on October 27, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 25, 2025] Cage the Elephant / Hey, Nothing

We saw Cage the Elephant open for Beck six years ago–I can’t believe it was that long ago.   They blew me away and I knew I wanted to see them again.

This show got lost amid a million things going on at the end of October, including Cirque du Soleil, and three other shows later that week.  Sometimes you have to give up shows that you want to see….

Hey, Nothing is a folkie duo who my daughter and I missed at All Things Go.  They seem cool and I’m sure I would have enjoyed them.

 

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My Morning Jacket (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, October 11, 2025, Night 2 of 2)

Posted in Balthvs, My Morning Jacket, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on October 13, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 11, 2025] My Morning Jacket

After such a great night last night, we wound up leaving a little bit later (figuring there was no Friday night traffic) and arrived a few minutes later than last night.  But when I walked up to the merch line there was literally one person in front of me–moments later when I looked again, the line was huge, going up the stairs.  Then we headed down to the pit.  It was a little more crowded than last night.  We were going to try to get in front of Jim, but that’s what everyone else wanted, too.  So we camped out more or less where we were the night before, in front of Carl.  We were two people back from where we were, which isn’t bad at all.

So yes, last night as pretty tiring and we’d had a busy day, but we were psyched for a second night of My Morning Jacket.  And I was super psyched when they opened with Highly Suspicious, a totally ripping song from Evil Urges and one that I’d forgotten about–it was also the first time I’d seen it live.  This was also when I learned that Carl Broemel can do so many great backing voices (including the deep, angry chanting of “highly suspicious”).  They followed it with Off the Record, one of the poppier songs off of Z.

Then Carl Broemel moved over to the pedal steel guitar and they played the short but fun Climbing the Ladder.   It was interesting that last night Carl played the saxophone on a few songs but didn’t play it at all tonight. And last night he didn’t play the pedal steel at all but he played it about three times tonight.

And it was pretty clear that if last night’s show was all about jamming, tonight show was shorter, more rocking songs.  And the guys in the front who were headbanging last night had much more cause to do so tonight.

Speaking of the pit.  Tonight’s crowd was fascinating.  There was a guy who kept walking around the pit area hugging and fist bumping people.  He switched places with people and let other be on the barrier.  In fact, one of the long-haired headbangers let some of the shorter folks switch places with him for a song or two.  It was an incredibly generous and, dare I say it, loving thing to do.  Appropriate for the next song Love Love Love, the only song they played from their previous self-titled album.  The lighting at the shows was fairly simply but effective.  They had five panels mounted behind them.  All of the panels had lights that moved and spun and changed colors. But during Love Love Love, they spelled out Love! which was pretty nice.

Up next was Wordless Chorus, one of the great MMJ songs.  The crowd went nuts and we all sang the wordless chorus over and over as Jim walked around the stage, coming over by us at last. (more…)

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Balthvs (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, October 11, 2025, Night 2 of 2) [MY MORNING JACKET]

Posted in Balthvs, My Morning Jacket, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on October 11, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 10, 2025] Balthvs

We saw Balthvs last night and really enjoyed them.  So much so that my wife and I were both looking forward to seeing them again.  I wouldn’t have minded hearing the same set again because it was so enjoyable.  But, I assume since they knew that MMJ would be playing a different set tonight, Balthvs played an entirely new set tonight as well.

Tonight, with the audience more familiar with them, they received a huge response when they came out and the guys in the front row were 100% in–jumping and headbandging and clapping.  It had to be a great reception for them.  And they continued to impress with a whole bunch of new (to us) songs.

The opening Sun Colored Eyes was a bit more mellow and groovy, but still sounded great.  All is One continued in the mellower vein with vocals from Vanessa.  She sang in a dreamy voice that made this song even more psychedelic.  There were a few transitions where the song had a five note beat that grounded the song nicely.

As soon as Balthazar played the opening riff to Bird Song, the crowd went nuts.  I didn’t know the song but I have since learned that it’s a Jerry Garcia/Grateful Dead song, so that checks.

Apparently in the middle of the song they segued into a 2 minute original, Famagusta Port and then cycled back to finish up Bird Song.

Balthazar said that they had recently been to Turkey and took some of the scene their with them, which resulted in Turkish Coffee, a song that was perfectly in keeping with their sound, but had definite Turkish influences.  Then he joked that Philadelphia wasn’t too far from the ocean and they launched into what they call Surf Medley, a three part song of surf guitar instrumentals, starting with The Chantays “Pipeline,” segueing into Dick Dale’s “Misirlou” and finally Reverend Horton Heat’s “Marijuana.”  It was fantastic–Balthazar is an incredible guitarist and they captured the surf vibe perfectly.

Up next was an older song Siente which had a little bass solo section for Vanessa to show off her chops.  (more…)

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My Morning Jacket (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, October 10, 2025, Night 1 of 2)

Posted in Balthvs, My Morning Jacket, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on October 11, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 10, 2025] My Morning Jacket

A couple of years ago we saw My Morning Jacket at the Met.  They played two nights in a row but we only went to one.  I’m not going to say the second night was better, but they played a lot of great songs that second night as well.  So when they announced two nights again, I grabbed GA tickets (to finally get up close to the band) for both nights.

We greatly enjoyed Balthvs and the fact that we were one person away from the barrier for most of the show.

The lights dimmed and the band came out and they were off, playing Steam Engine.  The song is 7 minutes on record and they stretched that thing out with some lengthy soloing and jamming.  It went over 15 minutes and the band sounded in great form.

I had thought that they might play all of Z (since they have been touring the album), but they didn’t (which is fine).  For this show they played three songs off of it.  One of them was It Beats 4U which, amazingly, I had not seen live before.

When we saw them last time, they didn’t play anything from The Waterfall.  Tonight they played two songs, the delightful In Its Infancy and, later on, Spring (Among the Living).

My two favorite MMJ albums are Evil Urges and Circuital, so I’m always excited to hear songs from them.  They played Circuital, which made me quite happy.  I don’t really know their first few records all that well–they’re a little too slow and not very catchy.  But the crowd seems to love when they play a deep cut like X-Mas Curtain (this is one of their older songs that I really do like, so I enjoyed hearing it).

Speaking of the crowd… we were in the pit and most of the people around us were VIP purchasers and other die-hards.  The guys in the front on the barrier all had long hair and proceeded to headbang through the whole show.  It was pretty funny and they made the front of MMJ’s Instagram page the following day.

And we were right in from of Carl Broemel and it was amazing watching him do…everything.  He played amazing solos, he played saxophone, he even sang fantastic backing vocals.  But it was so cool when he stepped up to the edge of the stage, about 6 feet from us and just wailed on that guitar.  (more…)

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Balthvs (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, October 10, 2025, Night 1 of 2) [MY MORNING JACKET]

Posted in Balthvs, My Morning Jacket, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on October 10, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 10, 2025] Balthvs

A couple of years ago we saw My Morning Jacket at the Met.  They played two nights in a row but we only went to one.  I’m not going to say the second night was better, but they played a lot of great songs that second night as well.  So when they announced two nights again, I grabbed GA tickets (to finally get up close to the band).

For both nights, the opener was BALTHVS, a band I didn’t know.

They are from Colombia and when I first heard a song, I lazily said they reminded me of Khruangbin.  I see that online people compare them to Khruangbin a lot, which seems to be unfair.  I don’t know Khruangbin all that well, but both bands have a similar vibe.  However, on further listen, BALTHVS has got its own thing down quite well.  But it’s fair to say they’re in the same general area of “World psychedelic funk.”

BALTHVS is a trio from Bogotá Colombia.  Balthazar Aguirre plays guitar and sings, Vanessa Muñoz a plays 5 string bass and sings and Santiago Lizcano plays drums.  The band came out and jumped into some amazing songs.  [Founding bassist Johanna Mercurian recently had a baby and obviously didn’t tour this time]

Year of the Snake is a cool slinky instrumental and it really showed off Balthazar’s guitar chops.  I also loved that Vanessa’s bass was complex–making great use of the five string.  And Santiago was a beast behind the kit. (more…)

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Queens of the Stone Age: Catacombs Tour / Paris Jackson (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, October 7, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Paris Jackson, Philadelphia, PA, Queens of the Stone Age, The Met Philadelphia on October 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 7, 2025] Queens of the Stone Age: Catacombs Tour / Paris Jackson

Queens of the Stone Age is a band who has two albums that I love to death and a couple albums that I think are pretty good.  I’ve wanted to see them live for a while, but they never play venues I want to go to.  Until now.  They played the Met, a fun venue with a good pit.

But this tour was the Catacombs tour: “one-night-only evenings” at historic theaters featuring all-new musical arrangements of their catalog.

Which is exactly what I did not want.  Since I’ve never seen them live, the last thing I wanted to see was them playing gentle versions of their rocking songs.  So I said no thanks.

I’d never heard of Paris Jackson.  Turns out that she is a model and singer.  I heard an acoustic song that was quite pretty, but she also rocks out in a catchy sort of way.  I also just learned that she is the daughter of Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe.  Woah.  She hasn’t put out new music since 2020, so that’s an unusual choice for an opening act.

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Neko Case (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, October 4, 2025)

Posted in Des Demonas, Neko Case, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on October 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 4, 2025] Neko Case

I have thought about seeing Neko Case since around 2022.  I even had tickets to see her in Jersey City, but wound up doing something else that night.

She had played Ardmore Music Hall in 2024, but I felt the tickets were really expensive.  And this show was the night after my son and I went to see Deltron 3030.  But my wife won tickets to this show at XPNFest.  And boy that was hard to pass up.

The biggest surprise was how undersold the show was.  We have been to The Met a lot and this was the first time that I can recall that they had the back seats curtained off.  Presumably anyone who had seats in the back were given seats closer to the stage.  I never looked after the show started, but before Neko went on there were a lot of empty seats.

In fairness, White Eagle Hall holds 800 people and Union Transfer is around 1200.  So The Met seating (and it was all seated) at roughly 3500 people was reaching way too far for her.  But still that’s got to suck to see a half empty place.

And it felt like Neko was kind of mad for the show.  Now, I follow her on Instagram and she seems (justifiably) mad most of the time.  So I don’t know if that’s just what she’s like on stage or if she was in a particularly bad mood.  I have only seen her one other time with the New Pornographers and she was only one of about 8 people on stage, so it was hard to judge her.  Although after that show she had a lengthy rant about people filming her.

The most memorable moment of this show was when she yelled at someone in the balcony for having their phone light on while filming.  She pointed at them directly an told them to turn their fucking light off.  After the following song, she admitted that the light that was bothering her was actually from the aisle lights.  I’m not sure if she apologized exactly but everyone laughed about it.

So yeah.

There’s a ton of Neko Case songs that I like.  But there’s also a joke from a show that I can’t recall in which when a couple breaks up, she says to her ex that she hopes the next concert he goes to they play all new songs.  It’s a great curse and it’s pretty much what happened here. (more…)

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