Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Theatre of Living Arts’ Category

Avatar (Theatre of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia, PA, September 5, 2021)

Posted in Avatar, Magic Sword, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts on September 7, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 5, 2021] Avatar

When Avatar announced they were playing TLA I knew I wanted to see them again.  When they opened for Babymetal, I was blown away by what a show they put on–for an opening act.  I imagined that when they headlined, it would be even more amazing.

It wasn’t more amazing (I was actually more impressed by their lights last time) but it was certainly a lot of fun–an even more fun since the audience was there to see them.

Their gear was set up and then a small drumkit was brought to the front of the stage (which was pretty unusual).  Then the five of them walked out and stood in a tight v formation.  After a lengthy pause with all five of them staring at us, drummer John Alfredsson began hitting out a loud snare beat.  Then the guitars started playing and singer Johannes Eckerström–dressed like a ringmaster, his face covered in white paint with (scary) clown makeup on–began singing the fantastic growling anthem “Colossus.”  The band played the entire sing in that tight V shape and from my vantage point when both guitarists played the same solo it was like a multi-armed beast on stage.

They followed that up with “Let it Burn” and then the stage went black.  The crew removed the tiny drum set and the band left the stage briefly while Alfredsson climbed up on top of his full sized kit.  When the band came back out they utilized the full stage and when they started “Silence in the Age if Apes” (the actual first song on the new album) the full synchronized headbanging extravaganza was under way.

Both guitarists take some time to show off, although never for too long.  In fact, when they started soloing, it was usually over by the time I had the camera ready.  Jonas “Kungen” Jarlsby and Tim Öhrström (“he’s single, ladies”) both took turns at the front of the stage.  Although it was Jarlsby who stood up front to play the slow pretty intro of “Bloody Angel.” (more…)

Read Full Post »

Magic Sword (Theatre of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia, PA, September 5, 2021) [AVATAR]

Posted in Avatar, Magic Sword, Philadelphia, PA, Tallah, Theatre of Living Arts on September 6, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 5, 2021] Magic Sword

When Avatar announced they were playing TLA I knew I wanted to see them again.  When they opened for Babymetal, I was blown away by what a show they put on–especially for an opening act.  I imagined that when they headlined, it would be even more amazing.

I was pretty psyched that the opening band was going to be Magic Sword.  I had recently been getting into their brand of instrumental 80’s sci-fi/metal soundtrack kind of music (I don’t really know what else you’d call it) and I was pretty excited to see it live.

There are three members: The Keeper (red, keyboard, audio-visual), The Seer (blue, guitar), and The Weaver (yellow, drums).  Oh yes, they are all masked (and not COVID masked, but like a fencing mask with a glowing light (in the above color) for the eyes).  All of their songs are pretty heavy with a main riff (and bass) coming from the keys (and sometimes guitar) and really heavy drums.  And then The Seer plays some extended impressive and super catchy guitar solos.

Every song feels like the exultant triumph of a cheesy 80s sci fi movie.  Which is not to say that their music is cheesy (it really rocks) but that it would be placed in a cheesy movie–and would sound great. (more…)

Read Full Post »

The Fratellis (TLA, Philadelphia, PA, January 30, 2021) [rescheduled date CANCELLED]

Posted in Cancelled, Coronavirus, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, The Fratellis, Theatre of Living Arts on January 30, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED CANCELLED: January 30, 2021] The Fratellis [rescheduled from June 20, 2020]

index

Unsurprisingly, this show was cancelled as well.  The lastest news is that shows might resume in the fall.  I have a  lot of shows scheduled for the summer, so they better move that forward.

I really liked The Fratellis debut album Costello Music.  There was nothing super original about it, it was just bratty guitar rock from a UK band.  They are actually Scottish, which makes them slightly more interesting, right?

Their songs were fast and rocking and often had something interesting in them–unexpected speed up or lyrical twists.

I had more or less forgotten about them. I just read that they “broke up” for a short while and then reunited and have released two albums since then.  I hadn’t heard any of those two.

I might have considered going to see them and now that the show has been moved to January, maybe I’d be free to check them out.

 

Read Full Post »

The Fratellis (TLA, Philadelphia, PA, June 20, 2020) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Coronavirus, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, The Fratellis, Theatre of Living Arts on June 20, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: June 20, 2020] The Fratellis [moved to January 21, 2021]

index

I really liked The Fratellis debut album Costello Music.  There was nothing super original about it, it was just bratty guitar rock from a UK band.  They are actually Scottish, which makes them slightly more interesting, right?

Their songs were fast and rocking and often had something interesting in them–unexpected speed up or lyrical twists.

I had more or less forgotten about them. I just read that they “broke up” for a short while and then reunited and have released two albums since then.  I hadn’t heard any of those two.

I might have considered going to see them and now that the show has been moved to January, maybe I’d be free to check them out.

 

Read Full Post »

Hyukoh [혁오] / Hot Flash Heat Wave (TLA, Philadelphia, PA, June 7, 2020) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Cancelled, Coronavirus, Hot Flash Heat Wave, Hyukoh, 혁오, Philadelphia, PA, Quarantine, Theatre of Living Arts on June 7, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: June 7, 2020] Hyukoh / Hot Flash Heat Wave

index

Hyukoh (Korean: 혁오) is a South Korean indie band.  Oh Hyuk is a well regarded indie rocker and this

I don’t really know all that much about them, but I have really been enjoying the kind of music that South Korea has been exporting lately.

Listen to how great “Wanli万里” is.  Excellent guitars, a great bass and relentless drums.  He even sings in English on the more mellow “Ohio.”  They released a new album in January and were planning to tour it here in the States.

Here’s their official word:

We have made the difficult decision to cancel HYUKOH 2020 WORLD TOUR – NORTH AMERICA due to increasing uncertainty regarding safety and travel feasibility caused by coronavirus. We are devastated to share this disappointing news, but we are currently prioritizing the health and well-being of our fans and tour crew above all during this unprecedented time. Refunds will be available from point of purchase. We are grateful for your continued support. Thank you.

코로나19의 전 세계적인 확산으로 인해 혁오 2020 월드투어 – 북미 일정이 취소되었음을 알려드립니다. 관객과 밴드 및 스태프의 안전을 위해 신중히 고려하여 내린 판단임에 팬 여러분의 너른 양해 부탁 드립니다. 감사합니다.

I hope they come back after their summer tour of Asia.

Hot Flash Heat Wave are from California (so not a local band tacked onto this tour).  I’m not sure how they got paired up with Hyukoh, but good for them.  They have a kind of trippy psychedelic vibe which is always fun live.

 

Read Full Post »

Ice Nine Kills (Theatre of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia, PA, November 25, 2019)

Posted in A Nightmare on Elm Street, An American Werewolf in London, Awake At Last, Carrie, Edward Scissorhands, Falling In Reverse, Fit For A King, Five Finger Death Punch, Friday the 13th, From Ashes to New, George Orwell, Halloween, I Prevail, Ice Nine Kills, It, Jaws, Kurt Vonnegut, Light The Torch, Make Them Suffer, Michael Jackson, New Years Day, Papa Roach, Philadelphia, PA, Robert Louis Stevenson, Saw, Scream, Shevy Marie, Silent Night Deadly Night, Stephen King, The Crow, The Exorcist, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Theatre of Living Arts, Thomas Hardy, William Peter Blatty on November 25, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 25, 2019] Ice Nine Kills

I was unfamiliar with Ice Nine Kills until my son started talking about them.  Then his friend invited him to see a show at the Starland Ballroom on May 3 (Ice Nine Kills was not headlining–the lineup was Falling In Reverse, Ice Nine Kills, From Ashes to New and New Years Day).  So I was a little bummed that he didn’t go to his first club show with me, but it’s much cooler that he went with his friend.  He loved the show.

So when they announced that they were playing at TLA and headlining the Octane Accelerator Tour (a Sirius XM thing), I made sure we got tickets (even though it was a Monday night).

The show was (I’m exhausted just thinking about it) FIVE bands and started at 6PM (!).

The lineup was Ice Nine Kills, Fit For A King, Light The Torch, Make Them Suffer, & Awake At Last.

Since it was a Monday night, I knew it would be really hard to get there for the first band, so we decided we would assume we’d miss Awake at Last.  Then on November 5th, Make Them Suffer (who are Australian) announced:

Unfortunately we have had some serious setbacks with immigration, and were unable to secure the visas we needed in time for these shows.

TLA said the show would go on at the same time which was great for us since it meant we would get home about 30 minutes earlier.  I also figured I’d take my son for some good ol’ Philly cheese steaks before the show since Jim’s is just a few doors down.

We enjoyed out cheese steaks quite a lot and as we walked past the theater I asked the guy at the door which band was on.  He said the second band was on and since we had plenty of time, we decided to go to Atomic City Comics (which is a wonderful store).

We headed back to TLA figuring we’d be in the middle of Fit for a King.  But as we walked in, they were between bands.  The woman at the merch table said that ice Nine Kills was up in ten minutes!  We’d missed all of the opening bands! (more…)

Read Full Post »

The HU (Theatre of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia, PA, November 13, 2019)

Posted in From Ashes to New, Mongolia, Philadelphia, PA, The HU, Theatre of Living Arts, WMMR 93.3 FM--Philadelphia, PA on November 13, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 13, 2019] The HU

The HU are from Mongolia.  I first heard about them when their video for “Wolf Totem” was getting some buzz.  I loved their heavy sound and their gorgeous instruments.  I wish these pictures did justice to the intricate detail and coloring of these traditional(ish?) instruments, but the lighting was just awful the whole night.

There are technically four guys in the band, but for the tour they had four extra guys supporting them.  It’s hard to know how “necessary” the other four guys were, but honestly, the songs are so percussion-heavy, there’s no way that they could have made these songs without at least one drummer (two were even better).

The band has only one album out (so its pretty amazing that they headliners)  They played the whole album and jammed out some of the songs longer than on record.

The most surprising thing though was that the DJ from WMMR came out and introduced them saying that they played their songs on the station.  Is that possible?  That’s pretty amazing if they do.  He also made a pretty funny comment about talking to them all day (they speak almost no English), although they posted a picture showing that they took them axe-throwing which is pretty hilarious).

The four guys stood at the front of the stage. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Crown Lands (Theatre of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia, PA, November 13, 2019) [THE HU]

Posted in Crown Lands, First Nations, Geddy Lee, Kurt Vile, Mi’qmaw, Philadelphia, PA, Rock duo, Rush, The HU, Theatre of Living Arts on November 13, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 13, 2019] Crown Lands

Crown Lands are a duo from Canada.  As with a lot of rocking duos, they play riff-heavy rock.  But they change things around a bit.  In their bio they say they are huge fans of Rush, and while they don’t do anything as complex as Rush, you can hear the Rush influence all over their songs.  The size of Cody Bowles’ drum set, the little high hat fills, and some of the percussion.  And Guitarist Kevin Comeau plays a doubleneck Rickenbacker and some of the chord progressions are distinctly Rush-ian.  And yet you would never hear them and think you were listening to Rush.

Comeau plays guitar and bass pedals which add a really full sound to their live show.  Bowles has a really powerful voice with a truly remarkable range.  He can do Robert Plant/Geddy Lee high screams, he also has a lower register for the body of most songs.  And their stage presence is pretty great too.

The have two EPS out and are planning a finishing up a full length now.  Most of the songs from this set came from their unreleased record, and these songs are great. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Starset (Theatre of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia, PA, October 24, 2019)

Posted in AC/DC, Cheesesteaks, Hyde, Ice Nine Kills, Led Zeppelin, Philadelphia, PA, Starset, Theatre of Living Arts on October 24, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 24, 2019] Starset

I had taken C. to a couple of live shows before and he had been to see Ice Nine Kills with his friends.  But this was my first time taking him to see a club concert.

This was going to be a long night too.  Four bands!  With the opening band going on at 7 and Starset ending around 11 (and it was a school night!).

C. has been a fan of Starset since their first album came out.  I had not heard of them and I’m not sure where he came upon them, but he really liked their debut Transmissions.

And I can say that now that I know more about them, they would have been a band that I would absolutely loved and been utterly obsessed with back in high school as well.  Their back story and concept is pretty intricate, so I won’t bother trying to do justice to it here.  Suffice it to say their albums are concept albums.

I also love that he didn’t like the second album, Vessels, as much because it was too poppy (not his words, but I think that’s what he meant).  When I had talked about getting tickets to them the last time (I think we’d just missed them come to the area, he said it was okay as he didn’t like that album that much).  But that the third album was back to the cool stuff again so he was pretty excited when I told him I’d gotten us tickets.

He wanted his friend to come along, but it being a school night and us not getting home until 12:30 made it impossible for his friend to come.  So it was just us. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Palisades (Theatre of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia, PA, October 24, 2019) [STARSET]

Posted in Hyde, Linkin Park, Palisades, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts on October 24, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 24, 2019] Palisades

I had taken C. to a couple of live shows before and he had been to see Ice Nine Kills with his friends.  But this was my first time taking him to see a club concert.

This was going to be a long night too.  Four bands!  With the opening band going on at 7 and Starset ending around 11 (and it was a school night!).

Palisades was the biggest of the three supporting bands.  They had also toured with Starset on Starset’s last leg of the tour.  There were definitely a lot of fans there for them. A few of them in front of us left after their set. (more…)

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »