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Archive for the ‘Underground Arts’ Category

Lowertown (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, March 12, 2022)

Posted in lowertown, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts, Wet Leg on March 13, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 12, 2022] Lowertown

I had a great plan for this evening  I would drive into Philly early–this show was at 6:30!  I’d stop in at Federal Donuts for treats for the family.

Then I would park near Underground Arts on the street.  I would see Lowertown and Wet Leg, then I would hop in my car and drive to Union Transfer–just a few blocks away, and see Daughter of Swords and The Tallest Man on Earth–a double header!

And then it snowed.

I wasn’t even sure if I could make it.  But it stopped snowing with enough time for me to get to the venue and do my plan without the donuts.  But when I got to Underground Arts, it was packed.  There was a huge line out the door and nowhere to park! (more…)

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Gang of Four / Guitar Army / DJ EBG III (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, March 8, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in DJ EBG III, Gang of Four, Guitar Army, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on March 8, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: March 8, 2022] Gang of Four / Guitar Army / DJ EBG III

I am not a huge fan of Gang of Four.  But I like some of their records quite a lot and I would have really enjoyed seeing them.  Especially since they seemed to be playing a lot of their Entertainment album.    But I already had tickets to see Tigers Jaw, a band I’ve been interested in for a little while.  UPDATE CIRCA 2025: Gang of Four has not come back and when they did return in 2025, they skipped Philly entirely.  Hmmph.

Guitar Army has a promising name, but their bio says that they are “a rock n’ roll band that hasn’t forgotten its roots. Formed in Windsor with strong dose of Detroit rock, rhythm and blues, Guitar Army has been kickin’ out the jams in the Windsor/Detroit circuit for more than 25 years.”  And indeed, they sound like a rock and roll band that’s been around for 25 years.  Possibly fun live, but not that great on record.

I can’t find anything about DJ EBG III except that he he also spun records for a David Bowie tribute night.  He’s clearly Philly based and that’s all I know.

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The Beths (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, February 24, 2022)

Posted in National Treasure, New Zealand, Philadelphia, PA, The Beths, Underground Arts on February 25, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 24, 2022] The Beths

The Beths are from New Zealand.

I really enjoyed hearing them talk between songs–super cool accents.

They only have two albums out but they have a pretty rabid fan base–if the guys who sang along loudly to everything were anything to go by.

The Beths were originally supposed to play King Fu Necktie in April 2020.  The show was moved to World Cafe Live, but was ultimately cancelled because of COVID.  They scheduled a new date at Underground Arts for January, but that got pushed back a month as COVID cases rose again.

And then, finally, they were here! (more…)

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Lunar Vacation (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, February 24, 2022)

Posted in Lunar Vacation, Philadelphia, PA, Pivoting, The Beths, Underground Arts on February 24, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 24, 2022] Lunar Vacation

The Beths were supposed to play shows in 2020 at World Cafe Live.  First in April, then in August.  Then that was all scrapped and then rescheduled for January 2022.  That was then pushed back until February.

Weakened Friends were slotted to open for them over these shows.  But the new show had Lunar Vacation signed up for them.

And they were delightful.

They are from Atlanta, and I had to laugh when singer Grace Repasky asked if anyone did the Wordle yet.  When we acknowledged that we had, she commented that it was a very British word (Bloke). (more…)

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Fucked Up / Empath (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, January 23, 2021) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Coronavirus, Empath, Fucked Up, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, Underground Arts on January 23, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: January 23, 2021] Fucked Up / Empath [moved to July 17, 2022]

indexI’ve known Fucked Up for a few years and thought that they’d be a wild band to see.  They last played in Philly in 2018, and they’ve only gotten better since then.

Shows had been getting postponed, but this one was pretty hushed until only a few days ago when it was officially postponed.

I’m okay with it getting moved to July–I much prefer going out to shows in the warm weather than the frigid cold of January anyway.

Empath are a Philly band that play a kind of noise punk.  Rolling Stone says “They sound like four people who sat in a room flexing their own freaky styles until — before they realized their interests might be wholly incompatible — the chaos created its own logic.”  They sound pretty great. (more…)

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The Joy Formidable / Cuffed Up (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, December 16, 2021) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Coronavirus, Cuffed Up, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, The Joy Formidable, Underground Arts on December 16, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: December 16, 2021] The Joy Formidable / Cuffed Up [moved to October 27, 2022]

indexThings were looking up, shows were back, we had a vaccine.  And then shitty people refused to get the vaccine and it mutated and now we’re back where we were a year ago with shows getting postponed.

I was really looking forward to this show.  It would have been a great show to end the year on (I would have gone to this one if they had been in town).

The Joy Formidable are from Wales.  The trio Ritzy Bryan, Rhydian Dafydd and Matt Thomas play diverse sounds, but tend towards guitar based rock in various formats).  They even sing in Welsh sometimes.  Their newest album into the blue brings back some of the noisier sounds that the band used on early albums and explored their way away from for a time.

Cuffed Up is an L.A. based band who is getting a lot of buzz.  They play rocking songs with a great dual vocal set up between Sapphire Jewell and Ralph Torrefranca.  I was glad to have heard of them when this tour was announced and I look forward to experiencing them live.

I’m really looking forward to when this is rescheduled.

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Bully / Graham Hunt Band / Slomo Sapiens (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, December 12, 2021) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Baroness, Bully, Control Top, Dusk, Graham Hunt Band, Midwives, Mike Krol, Philadelphia, PA, Reruns, Slomo Sapiens, Sundial Mottos, The Spirit of the Beehive, Underground Arts, World Cafe Live on December 12, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 12, 2021] Bully / Graham Hunt Band / Slomo Sapiens

Look at this, yet another great show at Underground Arts that I didn’t go to. That place has really got my number–we just need to get our calendars to synch up better.

Bully is basically Alicia Bognanno and whoever she chooses to play with.  She writes great songs and has a unique and cool voice.  I really enjoyed Bully’s first album, Feels Like, but when it was announced that she was touring a new album (and playing Philly with Spirit of the Beehive AND Control Top!) well, I checked that album out right away. And it is very good.

I was pleased when it was announced that she’d be playing Underground Arts instead.  World Cafe Live is a better venue, but UA is much easier for me to get to.  Sadly the opening bands were not the same, but that’s okay.

And then…. Baroness announced they would be playing three nights at Kung Fu Necktie.  I couldn’t make the Saturday one (holiday party), so my only choice was Sunday.  Later they added another date for Monday, but I had already purchased my ticket and it seemed like way too much of a hassle to try to change it.  So Bully had to miss me.  Drat.  Come back again Alicia!

I’d never heard of Graham Hunt although apparently he is been in a lot of bands.  According to this write up

Hunt’s solo work continues to be an oddball amalgam of the best traits of his other projects: Midwives’ exacting focus, Reruns’ strong songwriting structures, and Sundial Mottos’ winsome, relaxed aesthetic all are apparent throughout the excellent new solo album Painting Over Mold. Even the distinct imprints of Dusk and Mike Krol, both acts Hunt has appeared with as a touring member, find cohesion across the record.

Slomo Sapiens continues the tradition of great band names from Philadelphia.  I didn’t know much about them, but they are described as a psychedelic “sludge rock” trio, which sounds pretty good to me.  Their newest album is called Cabin Fever Dreams.

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Cave In / Cleric (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, December 3, 2021) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Cave In, Cleric, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on December 3, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 3, 2021] Cave In / Cleric

Back in 1998 I really like the Cave In album Until Your Heart Stops.  Then I pretty much forgot about them.

They came back on my radar when one of the band members died in a car accident a few years ago.  He sang lead (but was not the only lead vocalist) and I assumed that was the end of the band.

But they did not break up.  Indeed, they have a new album coming out next year.

I wasn’t planning on going to this show without looking into what they’ve done this century, and I never got around to that, so I didn’t go.

I didn’t know who Cleric was.  Their Wikipedia write up is interesting, but this could go in a direction I don’t like

Cleric is an American avant-garde metal band based out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The band is known for their experimental approach to grindcore, doom and avant-garde metal

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Surfbort / Smirk / Dog Date / Pure Adult (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, December 2, 2021) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Full show video, Philadelphia, PA, Pure Adult, Smirk, Surfbort, Underground Arts on December 2, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 2, 2021] Surfbort / Smirk / Dog Date / Pure Adult

Here’s another great show from Underground Arts that I didn’t get to.

I had not heard of Surfbort until a few days ago.  They sound like an insanely fun band.  I mean, look at the picture of them.

They also seem to be all kinds of boundaries pushing.

Here’s what their blurb says about them

Channeling inspiration from the 80’s punk scene to produce rousing, explosive music, their feedback strafed, guitar-shredding music says no to a digital age full of intolerance; they radiate love and friendship. All are welcome in the SURFBORT FREAK FAMILY!

That’s right up my alley.  It’s a shame I found out about this show too late.

Smirk and Pure Adult were unknown to me.

Smirk is the solo project from Nick Vicario (who I don’t know).  The music is wiry, well-crafted punk with heaps of hooks.

Pure Adult has this as a write up

Pure Adult is pure experimental punk shit.

You will listen to this noisy goodness and you will love it.

(although, if you’re only looking for catchy bops, you might hate it)

That sounds pretty great to me.  And according to the videos below the longest set was 40 minutes.

Markit Aneight was there and recorded all four shows:

Pure Adult

Dog Date

Smirk

Surfbort

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The Menzingers / Dirty Nil / Kayleigh Goldsworthy (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, November 27 & 28, 2021) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Canadian Music, Kayleigh Goldsworthy, Philadelphia, PA, The Dirty Nil, The Menzingers, Underground Arts on November 27, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 27 & 28, 2021] The Menzingers / Dirty Nil / Kayleigh Goldsworthy

I saw The Menzingers during Philly Music Fest.  I really enjoyed the set but I was in a terribly location and the sound was dreadful.  I told myself I wanted to see them again.  And there it was, just a month later at Underground Arts!

I couldn’t go on Saturday night because I had tickets to see The Districts, but then they added a 2nd show on Sunday.

But I had just gone to a show on Saturday and the previous week was just chock full of shows.  I couldn’t bring myself to go out again.  Especially since I had just seen them.

I do hope they come back again soon.  And it would be amazing of they could play a small club like that again. (more…)

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