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Archive for the ‘Theatre of Living Arts’ Category

Biffy Clyro (Theatre of Living Arts [TLA], Philadelphia, PA, May 7, 2026)

Posted in Biffy Clyro, Philadelphia, PA, Raue, Theatre of Living Arts on May 8, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 7, 2026] Biffy Clyro

Four years ago I saw Biffy Clyro at Union Transfer.  They were great.  And I couldn’t get over how back home in Scotland they typically headline festivals of thousands of people.  They recently had a film made about the: Biffy Clyro: Cultural Sons of Scotland in which they played a concert for some 50,000 people.  And yet here they were playing 1,000 person clubs.  But they put on a show as if they were playing for 50,000.  It was awesome.

They had initially announced the tour for December 2025 and there was no Philly date.  But they had visa issues:

“Some [expletive] genius put the wrong start date into our work visa, so when we received our visas in the last couple of days, we realised it doesn’t begin until after our tour is meant to finish,” he said in an Instagram video, adding: “We are so angry about this.”

But their problem is my luck because the newly scheduled dates now included a Philly show.  Whoo hoo!

Last time, they were the trio that they have always been.  But for this tour, bassist James Johnston was seeking treatment for addiction issues and wasn’t able to tour.  In his place was  Naomi Macleod, who has plays bass with Empire State Bastard, Simon Neil’s side project with Dave Lombardo–wish I had gotten to see that!  They also brought out touring guitarist Mike Vennart (who is also in ESB).

As always, the other two guys were shirtless from the get go.  I was in front of singer/guitarist Simon Neil, who puts everything he has into a live show.   His vocal cords must be totally shredded by the end of the night.  Naomi was in  the middle and her bass was excellent.  I couldn’t really see Mike that well, but it was clear when he was adding extra parts to the song (especially when one of them had an acoustic and the other had the electric). (more…)

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Raue (Theatre of Living Arts [TLA], Philadelphia, PA, May 7, 2026) [BIFFY CLYRO]

Posted in Biffy Clyro, Philadelphia, PA, Raue, Theatre of Living Arts on May 7, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 7, 2026] Raue 

I had never heard of Raue and assumed they were a young band from Scotland that Biffy Clyro were bringing along with them.  Well, it turns out that Raue (pronounced Roo-aye [German for Rough] is a duo from California.

When they two came out on stage, literally everyone in the room had the same thought: “how old are these two?”  I mean, they couldn’t be more than 16, right?  (Paige Kalenian (guitar vocals is 21, Jax Huckle drums, is 20).  And the thing was that while we were wondering how old they were, they were blowing everybody away.

They are a duo and Paige plays some serious guitar.  The songs are simple, but it never sounds like one guitar.  Somehow she make a full sound even when fingerpicking.  But that’s nothing compared to the wild drumming that Jax does.  I was right in front of him and holy cow he blew me away.  He has incredible speed, he throws in terrific fills and he;s really creative–it’s possible they sound so huge because of all the drums that Jax is playing.

Paige is just full of energy–she jumps all around the stage when she’s not singing.  They set the two of them pretty far apart, and Paige was all over the stage, bouncing from the drums back to the mic.  And their look was amusing too–Paige with dyed purple hair and sleeveless concert T while Jax was wearing an open Oxford shirt over a white Tshirt.

I liked Paige’s voice, but the only negative about the show is that she sang similarly on all of the songs–it’s a good sound for the grungy music they play, but I think it would be better if she had more range.  Having said that, it was kind of hard to hear her in the mix, so maybe she has more diversity than I realized. (more…)

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Bloodywood (Theatre of Living Arts [TLA], Philadelphia, PA, May 5, 2026)

Posted in Ankor, Bloodywood, Ladrones, Philadelphia, PA, The Pretty Wild, Theatre of Living Arts on May 5, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 5, 2026] Bloodywood

My wife and I saw Bloodywood open for Babymetal about a year ago.  We loved everything about them–their intensity, their positivity and just how heavy they were.  So when they announced a headline tour I grabbed a ticket for myself, my wife and my son.  My son had a final exam the next morning so he opted not to come.  (Smart kid).   So that left my wife and I.  Normally I love seeing opening bands–some of my favorite live bands are band I first saw when they were an opener.

But I looked at this lineup and saw three openers–bands that I have never heard of–and told my wife that we could skip them all.  She had something to do until around 6:45, so we left a little around 7.  I figured we’d get into Philly with a bunch of extra time and then stroll in around 9 right after the third band finished.

Well, we didn’t realize it was Cinco de Mayo and had no idea that South Street was blocked off in a number of places because of some kind of free taco festival.  And we got caught in the middle of it.  We drove about a mile in 45 minutes, finally escaped the chaos and found a parking garage.  When we walked to South Street, there were crazily drunken people everywhere and police on every corner.  We negotiated the cops and entered the venue at around 9:15.  My wife later told me she thought they were going on at 9 so she was panicky and didn’t understand why I wasn’t.  Well, there was no merch line, so I bought a shirt and we headed into the packed room.

I don’t really like being so far back, but TLA is fairly small, so even being n the back isn’t so bad.  Aside from the guy who inexplicably felt the need to put both his hands over he head for most of the songs, I could see fine and the sound was great.

So Bloodywood is a metal band from New Dehli who started out as a band making heavy metal parodies of Bollywood songs.  In 2016, Katiyar quit his job as a corporate lawyer and together with Jayant Bhadula formed a two-piece band with the intention of “destroying pop songs”.

Now, live, the band is a six-piece.  Katiyar plays guitars and flute!  Bhadula sings and growls.  Raoul Kerr officially joined in 2019 and does rap vocals.  The touring band since 2019 includes Vishesh Singh on drums, Roshan Roy on bass and Sarthak Pahwa plays the dhol (an Indian drum that sounds amazing). (more…)

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Circle Jerks / Gorilla Biscuits / Negative Approach (Archer Music Hall, Allentown, PA. March 31, 2026 // Theatre of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia, PA, April 3 & 4, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Circle Jerks, Gigi Perez, Gorilla Biscuits, Negative Approach, Nikole, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts on April 5, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: March 31, April 3, April 4, 2026] Circle Jerks / Gorilla Biscuits / Negative Approach

I liked a lot of 80s punks, but I was never really into Circle Jerks.  I mean, they were legends of course, but for whatever reason I never got their music.  When these shows were announced I was actually surprised that Circle Jerks were still a thing.  Actually, I guess they are once again a thing.  They tend to reunite and then stop and reunite and stop.  They’ve been touring now since 2019 (but haven’t released any new music since 1995).  I Really did consider going to this show. I mean, it’s the Circle Jerks after all.  And they were playing THREE dates.  But I was completely shut out on all of these dates.

The March 31 date was the same night as The Teeth who I didn’t want to miss.  April 3 I had tickets to Puscifer and April 4th I had tickets to Nothing.  And then we wound up going to  Minnesota the first few days of April, so I wouldn’t have been able to go anyway.

I’m not sure what an old school punk show like this would be like–is it all old punks in a pit or is it all young kids in a pit an old guys standing around.  I mean I do love seeing that they played 31 songs in roughly an hour–nice old school punk.  And since they played two dates in Philly, they probably won’t come back around any time soon.  Oh well.  Not a bucket list band, but it would have been fun.

All I know about Gorilla Biscuits is that I bought their Start Today CD in college and it had 99 tracks, which was a really fun at the time.  I hadn’t really thought about them much since then, and was kind of surprised to see that they were touring (which I guess they have been doing since 2005?).  They have released no new music since Start Today (1988).  So I guess their shows aren’t very different each night.  I’m not sure I would have recognized many of the songs but it would have been fun to see them too.  They played about 40 minutes (not bad since they released about 30 minutes of music)

Negative Approach is yet another hardcore band who is still around but who hasn’t out out new music since their debut album Tied Down (1983).  I’m aware of the band but really know very little about them.  Unlike the other three bands, when they started playing again in 2006, only the singer remained–everyone else was new.  But it’s the same guys since 2006 which is longer than the original incarnation lasted (1981-1984).  They played for about 30 minutes)

It sounds like a fun night of old school punk and I wish I’d been able to go.

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Hanabie (Theatre of Living Arts [TLA], Philadelphia, PA, March 21, 2026)

Posted in Enterprise Earth, 花冷え。, Hanabie, Nekrogoblikon, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts on March 23, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 21, 2026] Hanabie

I saw Hanabie [花冷え。] a year and a half ago when they opened for Jinjer.  They were great and they blew me away with their heaviness and with their mixture of heavy growls and J-Pop moments.

Hanabie [花冷え。] cpmbines loud and heavy music with Harajuku aesthetics in a style self-described as “Harajuku-core.”  They have been around since 2015 (when they started as a Maximum The Hormone cover band).  They have clean vocals and unclean vocals and the most fascinating thing is that singer Yukina does both!  She can sing in an incredibly high pitched voice and then shifts to a growl that would impress anyone.

Guitarist Matsuri also sings–and has a lovely voice.  She often sings super catchy chorus and bridge parts while Yukina adds to them.  Bassist Hettsu sings too and she has a lovely clean vocal style.  The three of them together are a dynamic force.  Drummer Chika is the newest member (they’ve had several drummers over the years).

Last time I wrote: Their fashion sense was pretty great too.  They were a great opening act and I would absolutely see them again–I hope as a headliner.

And here they were headlining.   They said it was their first time in Philadelphia, and Philadelphia was ready for them!  They had sold out the show and the crowd was 100% into it–pits and crowd surfing galore. (more…)

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Nekrogoblikon (Theatre of Living Arts [TLA], Philadelphia, PA, March 21, 2026) [HANABIE]

Posted in Enterprise Earth, Hanabie, Nekrogoblikon, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts on March 22, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 21, 2026] Nekrogoblikon

My son and his friend went to see Nekrogoblikon back in 2023.  I had wanted to see them, but opted not to tag along.  So I was pretty happy that the goblin band were opening this set.

I didn’t know much about them except that they had a goblin in the band.  And, indeed, they do.  They inflated a giant goblin head in the middle of the stage and after a few minutes the band came out.

I couldn’t see the keyboardist on the far side at all (because of the goblin head), but I was on the perfect side for seeing John Goblikon.  Evidently the band has changed over the years.  I assumed that John Goblikon was just a mascot or something.  But now he actually sings.  And the really surprising thing is that he sings clean vocals while the human singer sings insanely unclean vocals. And, actually that’s where the problem was for me.  Dickie Allen doesn’t growl or sing in a deep way.  Instead, his vocals are at the higher end of things and sound kind of strangled.  On record it’s weird and maybe a little funny.   But live, he sang so fast that I genuinely didn’t know if he was singing words or just making off-putting goblin sounds.

But when John Goblikon sang, he had a really good voice and his parts were surprisingly catchy.  In fact, most of the songs were pretty catchy. I just hated hearing the main singer sing.

Because John Goblikon was pretty funny–a convincing goblin mask and hands and he danced around and made rude gestures.  There was someone near me with a Nekrogoblikon hat (green with pointy ears), so there were definitely some fans.  (more…)

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Enterprise Earth (Theatre of Living Arts [TLA], Philadelphia, PA, March 21, 2026) [HANABIE]

Posted in Enterprise Earth, Hanabie, Nekrogoblikon, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts on March 21, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 21, 2026] Enterprise Earth

I was surprised that this show was scheduled to start at 7.  I made it to South St and realized I hadn’t been to a show on South St on a Saturday night in a really long time. On a weeknight it’s usually not too hard to get a decent spot, but on a Saturday night–yikes.  I was lucky to score the last ADA spot a few blocks away.

By the time I got to the venue it was like 6:45.  I had actually thought that if I missed Enterprise Earth it would be fine, but the place was PACKED, so I’m glad I got there so early–I was able to sneak up to near the stage on the side safely away from a potential mosh pit.

I didn’t know Enterprise Earth who are from Spokane WA.  They are a deathcore band and have been around since 2014.  Huh, interestingly, none of the original members are in the band anymore.  And their singer and bassist joined in 2021.  And their drummer joined in 2024.  Fascinating.  The longest tenured member joined in 2017.

They are very heavy with growled vocals, but a lot of high guitar riffs thrown into the overall heaviness.  The crowd was properly into them.

They were pretty great as an opening band because they did everything they could to get the crowd moving.  During every song singer Travis Worland, encouraged or demanded either horns up, or a circle pit or crowd surfing or whatever else he could demand of people. (more…)

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Tom Odell / Jade Bird (Theatre of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia, PA, Septmber 21, 2025) [CANCELLED]

Posted in Jade Bird, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts, Tom Odell on September 21, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 21, 2025] Tom Odell / Jade Bird

I had never heard of Tom Odell. The only reason this show was on my radar is because Jade Bird was opening.  How could Jade Bird, who gets massive airplay and love in Philly be opening for someone I’ve never heard of?

Of course, I heard  the name Tom Odell and though of Tom Bodett who is not the same in any way, but it still made me laugh.

Evidently he is very highly regarded and has been around since 2012. Just off my radar I guess.  But his whole tour was ultimately cancelled:

“Due to an unforeseen change in my schedule and the associated logistics, sadly we need to reschedule the upcoming May dates in the US. This has also affected some of the September US shows.

I assume this is why Jade Bird scheduled some headline shows in the area, since her tour was cancelled.

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Gigi Perez / Nikole (Theatre of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia, PA, May 5, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Gigi Perez, Nikole, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts on May 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 5, 2025] Gigi Perez / Nikole

My daughter and I saw Gigi Perez open for Girl in Red and I was really interested in seeing her as a headliner.  But this show was up against DEVO and I wasn’t going to pass one DEVO.

Since this show I’ve seen her two more times (in short sets, but still) so I don’t mind having missed this one.

Nikole is one of many artists who drive me crazy by going by their first name.  If you have an unusual name sure.  But hey, Nikole, even with a k is not unusual enough.  This person is very hard to search for.

If I have the right person she grew up in Florida and her mom is Venezuelan, and her dad is Lebanese.  She speaks Spanish but sings in English.  I’ve listened to a couple of songs.  She has a great voice and her songs are catchy with some cool guitar work on top.  But seriously, she needs a new stage name.

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Arch Enemy / Fit for an Autopsy / BAEST / Thrown Into Exile (Theatre of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia, PA, May 5, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Arch Enemy, Baest, Fit for an Autopsy, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts, Thrown into Exile on May 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 5, 2025] Arch Enemy / Fit for an Autopsy / BAEST / Thrown Into Exile

I saw Arch Enemy open for Behemoth back in 2022.  I didn’t really know them before hand, but I enjoyed their set quite a lot.  And I took a photo of singer Alissa White-Gluz that is one of my favorite concert photos ever.

I don’t think I really had any interest in the show, especially since I didn’t know any of the other three bands.  But the fact that they were playing at TLA held my interest for a little while at least.

Fit for an Autopsy is a band I’ve been aware of for a while, but I had never listened to them.  I hate to say they are another band with a growly singer, but they are.   The good thing is that you can actually understand what he says (it’s pretty dark, duh).  And they do have some really catchy parts in their songs.  They’d probably be enjoyable live.

I had not heard of Baest who is a Danish death metal band formed in 2015.  I like that their name was initially spelled Bæst, the Danish word for “beast” or “brute.”  That makes me happier than thinking  they just wanted to spell Beast weirdly.

They have a pretty classic European metal guitar sound with a really deep growly vocalist.  They’re more punishing than Fit for an Autopsy by my reckoning.

Thrown into Exile is a band from L.A.  They’ve been around forever, although I’d never heard of them.  The singer has a kind of barking style that I don’t really like.

This would have been an exhausting night of metal.

 

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