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Archive for the ‘The Met Philadelphia’ Category

Beach House (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 23, 2022)

Posted in Beach House, Mary Lattimore, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on July 24, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 23, 2022] Beach House

I’ve been a fan of Beach House for a long time. I wasn’t sure if they were a band I wanted to see live, but then it turned out that everyone in my family was enjoying them independently of me.

Both of my kids had been listening to a few of their songs and I knew that S. liked the songs she’d heard too.  So I thought it would be fun for us all to go see them live.

I got us GA tickets because the closest seated tickets were kind of crappy.  I suppose seated would have been fine because the Beach House show was pretty much designed for you to not really see the stage very well.

The lighting was such that it had a presence in the room.  You could practically feel the weight of the colors as they fell from the stage.  The three band members were placed in a row across the stage.  with Alex Scally on the left playing guitar, Victoria Legrand in the center on keys and James Barone on drums on the right.  The band was backlit for the entire show so that they were in shadow and silhouette.  I am fairly certain I never saw any of their three faces all nights.

Whether it was white lights shining down from the ceiling, a wall of stars on a deep blue background, or waving searchlights through dense fog, the atmosphere changed with every song.  The details were different but the overall vibe remained one of a kind of smothering warmth almost like a weighted blanket.  (more…)

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Mary Lattimore (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 23, 2022) [BEACH HOUSE]

Posted in Beach House, Kurt Vile, Mary Lattimore, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on July 23, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 23, 2022] Mary Lattimore

I’ve been a fan of Beach House for a long time.  When  they announced the opening bands, I was pretty psyched that we were getting Mary Lattimore (I don’t know any of the other artists).

I saw Mary Lattimore open for Parquet Courts about four years ago and I was blown away by her amazing harp playing.

Mary Lattimore is kind of the go-to harpist for rock albums.  She has played on all kinds of albums including two from Philly local Kurt Vile (Smoke Ring For My Halo & Wakin on a Pretty Daze).

The show wasn’t very crowded yet and I told my family that I wanted to get pretty close to the stage for this set.  So I moved in and had a really nice view of Mary’s hands as she played.

Mary’s songs are instrumental and they are beautiful, but also sad and thoughtful.  She had videos projected behind her (they were weird and looping and grainy).

She played about five songs, giving a brief introduction to each one.  She told us that she wrote “For Scott Kelly, Returned to Earth” for astronaut Scott Kelly and even sent him a copy, which he listened to in space, which is pretty wild.

One thing I love about Mary is that she plays all parts of her harp.  She taps the side and makes percussive sounds.  She also has an effects pedal and is able to morph and loop the sounds that she makes.  Plus, she uses all of the notes.  Even the tiny high notes.  And the low low notes (those were remarkably deep).

After several songs she announced a guest.  A young girl named Delphine came out.  She sat at her small harp with incredible form.  Then she and Mary played a duet of Mary’s “Wawa by the Ocean.”  It was lovely and adorable.  And once you got over how adorable it was you realized how good Delphine was.

Then Mary said that Delphine’s father was going to come out and do a song with her.  And Delphine’s father was Kurt Vile!

What a surprise.  I mean, maybe not 100% surprise as Kurt does tend to make a random appearance from time to time, but we never seem to get anything like that at our shows.  So he sat there with his guitar and they played “Ghost Town” the Kurt Vile song.

We had just seen Kurt so this was like a really delayed encore and that was a lot of fun too.

Overall, I feel like the audience could have been a little more respectful of the harp, but whatever, the harp is a hard sell for a rock crowd.

I’m just glad I got to see her again.

(sort of setlist)

  1. The Warm Shoulder
  2. For Scott Kelly, Returned to Earth
  3. Otis Walks Into the Woods
  4. It Feels Like Floating
  5. Wawa by the Ocean (with Delphine Vile)
  6. Ghost Town (with Kurt Vile}

 

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Jonah Yano (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 22, 2022) [CLAIRO]

Posted in Arlo Parks, Clairo, Jonah Yano, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on July 22, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 22, 2022] Jonah Yano

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.

There were comments on Facebook like 

If my daughter hadn’t looked at IG we wouldn’t have known. We were ready to hit the road. Why are we not receiving communication via email/ticketmaster

And on reddit:

So sad i drove 6 hours to philly and have been waiting

Yikes.

Apparently it was a COVID scare, but the communication was terrible.  However, the rescheduled date was a gain for me because tickets immediately went on sale and I snatched up 2 at 7PM that evening.

Sadly for me, Arlo Parks would not be joining her.  The new opening act was Jonah Yano whom I had never heard of. (more…)

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Clairo (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 22, 2022)

Posted in Arlo Parks, Clairo, Jonah Yano, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on July 22, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 22, 2022] Clairo

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…)

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Barenaked Ladies / Toad the Wet Sprocket / Gin Blossoms (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 12, 2022) [rescheduled date] [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Barenaked Ladies, Coronavirus, Gin Blossoms, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, The Met Philadelphia, Toad the Wet Sprocket on July 12, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[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.

~~~~~~

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.

~~~~

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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Kraftwerk 3-D (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, June 18, 2022)

Posted in Kraftwerk, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on June 18, 2022| 1 Comment »

[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…)

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Sigur Rós (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, June 7, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Sigur Rós, The Met Philadelphia on June 7, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 7, 2022] Sigur Rós

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.

 

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Nine Inch Nails / 100 gecs / (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, May 24 & 25, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in 100 gecs, Nine Inch Nails, Philadelphia, PA, Skinny Puppy, The Met Philadelphia on May 24, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[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

 

And here’s a poster for the 1988 show

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Beach Bunny (The Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, May 18, 2022)

Posted in Beach Bunny, C., Deftones, Ky Vöss, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia, Union Transfer, Wednesday on May 19, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 18, 2022] Beach Bunny

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…)

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Ky Vöss (The Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, May 18, 2022) [BEACH BUNNY]

Posted in Beach Bunny, C., Deftones, Ky Vöss, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia, Union Transfer, Wednesday on May 18, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[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…)

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