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Archive for the ‘Underground Arts’ Category

An Evening with Sloan (Boot and Saddle, Philadelphia, PA, May 9, 2018)

Posted in Boot & Saddle, Canadian Music, Philadelphia, PA, Sloan, Underground Arts on May 9, 2018| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 9, 2018] Sloan

I have been a fan of Sloan for years.  I had never seen them live until about a year and a half ago.  And it was an excellent show.

So how great was it that they were coming back so soon and with a brand new (and fantastic) album called 12.

This time Sarah said she wanted to come with me, which was super fun. She had never been to Boot & Saddle before and she loved it as much as I do.

There was some construction on the highway so we wound up arriving just a few minutes before the band went on, but it was enough time to get a secure spot not too far back.

At the previous show, I was in front of Jay Ferguson (guitar, vocals and sometimes bass).  This time we were in front of Patrick Pentland (Guitars and vocals).  As last time, Chris Murphy (bass, vocals and drums) was front and center and Andrew Scott was on drums in the back and vocals and guitar (in the front).

The last show was a 20th anniversary of One Chord to Another, but this show was all about the new album (they played 10 of 12 songs) with 26 songs in total spread across two sets. (more…)

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Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O.: “Electric Dream Ecstasy Tour in US & Canada” (The Black Box, Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, April 21, 2018)

Posted in Acid Mothers Temple, Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O., Can, Canadian Music, Japanese Music, Ministry, Philadelphia, PA, The Black Box, Underground Arts, Yoo Doo Right on April 21, 2018| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 21, 2018] Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O.

Several months ago I purchased a ticket for Ministry in Morristown, NJ.  I’d loved Ministry’s brand of industrial noise in the early 90s, although I pretty much stopped listening to them altogether before Y2K.

But I saw that they were touring and that they were playing some older songs so I thought it might be a cathartic experience.

Then I found out that Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. were playing at a small club the same night.  Acid Mothers Temple is one of my friend Lar’s favorite live acts and it was fairly easy for me to decide to get a ticket to them and sell my Ministry one.  (I decided I’d rather be pummeled by psychedelia than vitriol and anger).

It was the right decision because Acid Mothers Temple was amazing. (more…)

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Yoo Doo Right (The Black Box, Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, April 21, 2018) [ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE]

Posted in Acid Mothers Temple, Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O., Can, Canadian Music, Philadelphia, PA, The Black Box, Underground Arts, Yoo Doo Right on April 21, 2018| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 21, 2018] Yoo Doo Right

I hadn’t heard of Montreal’s Yoo Doo Right when I saw they were touring with Acid Mothers Temple.  But I may have been the only person there who hadn’t.

Before the band even started to set up, a guy with (reasonably) professional looking audio equipment set up his microphones right up on stage.  And another guy with a camcorder propped himself up near the side of the stage to record the whole set.

The band got their name from a Can song and they play a kind of psychedelic Krautrock-inspired indie rock.  It was a really great set and I totally got into it.

The band came out and set up their gear (poor John Talbot on drums needed a bigger cinder block as his drums kept sliding forward).  Charles Masson on bass stood center stage anchoring the flights of noise and melody from Justin Cober on guitar/keyboard/vocals.

Off to the left somewhat was Charles Bourassa on keys.  At first it didn’t seem like he was an integral part of the show, but I gather that after letting the other guys get the noise out of their system he was there to anchor the songs with synth melodies and more noise.  He was also lead vocals on a few songs.

I loved the noisy guitars that Cober played.  And how he switched back and forth between guitar and keys.  Between him and Bourassa, I’m not sure who was making what sounds.

There were some great sections of droning guitars and walls of sounds.  And they often has great moments when the bass and drums came in to anchor the song.

But when all was said and done they were just there to rock.

I chatted with the band after the show and they were super friendly.  They have two EPS out on bandcamp right now.

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Gondola (The Black Box, Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, April 21, 2018) [ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE]

Posted in Gondola, Philadelphia, PA, The Black Box, Underground Arts on April 21, 2018| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 21, 2018] Gondola

I hadn’t heard of Gondola, the first of three bands this evening in The Black Box. They are a local Philly band with (apparently) a large following.  They are the first opening band I have ever seen called back for an encore.  They are also, subsequently the only band I’ve seen called back for an encore who was not allowed to play the encore because they ran out of time (apparently).

Gondola was fantastic.

They play a kind of psychedelic stoner metal, with heavy crunching guitars, awesome low end bass and some surprisingly catchy riffs.  I detected a serious 80s SST Records vibe from the sound of the guitar (solos especially) and the way the bass played off of it. (more…)

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The night when no live shows would be seen

Posted in Adult Mom, Ardmore Music Hall, Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band, Diarrhea Planet, Fire is Motion, Forth Wanderers, Madison Square Garden, Petal, PhilaMOCA, Phish, Pinegrove, Starland Ballroom, Television, The Superweaks, Underground Arts, Yankee Bluff on December 29, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[NO SHOWS: December 29, 2017]

December 29, 2017 was a night of many many shows that I was interested in.  I thought it would be fun to end my season of many concerts near the year end (but not on New Year’s Eve, because I have a family, after all–even though Phish beckoned).

So the first option was Phish at Madison Square Garden.  They were playing three nights for New Years.  I tried to get tickets to any of the three, because sure I Would have absolutely gone on New Years Eve, who am I kidding).  But in the band’s lottery I did not get any GA tickets.  I have seen them twice before but I really only wanted to see them up close.  So when no GA were forthcoming, I basically decided I wouldn’t go. Even though I love CashorTrade, I wasn’t willing to fight for them.  Plus, there were other possibilities. (more…)

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Elephant Stone (The Black Box, Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, December 12, 2017)

Posted in Canadian Music, Elephant Stone, Groovy Movies, Philadelphia, PA, The Black Box, Underground Arts on December 12, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 12, 2017] Elephant Stone

I heard Elephant Stone on NPR and loved their alt rock/shoegaze sound mixed with some awesome sitar,

Lead singer/bassist Rishi Dhir is a masterful sitar player and, as I read somewhere, if you’ve heard a sitar in an alt-rock song, it was Dhir.

Elephant Stone are a trio based in Montreal with Dhir, Jean-Gabriel Lambert on guitar and Miles Dupire-Gagnon on drums.   For this show they had an additional player on keyboards and backing guitar but I never got his name.  Amusingly, the lightning in The Black Box was pretty dark and this extra guy was almost perpetually in the dark, so photos were pretty hard. (more…)

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Groovy Movies (The Black Box, Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, December 12, 2017) [ELEPHANT STONE]

Posted in Canadian Music, Elephant Stone, Groovy Movies, Love, Philadelphia, PA, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Byrds, The Monkees, Underground Arts on December 12, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 12, 2017] Groovy Movies

I had never been to The Black Box before. It is a smaller club inside the already small club Underground Arts (the main room is cordoned off).  The setting is intimate and cozy with couches and a tiny bar.

When I got there, there were seven people waiting for the show to start.

I felt bad about that.  I love a show to be not too crowded, but that was uncomfortably empty.

Groovy Movies, a Philly band, came out and did their opening set.  And they were terrific.  Dressed all in white, they played the greatest not-exactly-Beatles music I’ve ever heard. (more…)

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X: 40th Anniversary Tour (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, September 22, 2017)

Posted in Billy Zoom, D.J. Bonebreak, Exene Cervenka, Philadelphia, PA, Ray Manzarek, Skating Polly, The Doors, Underground Arts, X on September 22, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 22, 2017] X

The very first CD I ever bought was by X (More Fun in the New World).  My college friend Anita was a big fan (I’d never heard of them).  When I got my first CD player, rather than buying music I already had on vinyl (why would anyone do that?), I bought this band that I really liked.  That was in 1987.

So, while X was celebrating their 40th Anniversary, for me it was a 30 year anniversary.

Either way, I was really excited that all four original members were playing: John Doe, Exene Cervenka, Billy Zoom, and D.J. Bonebreak.

My friend Kelli told me about this show and I was instantly intrigued about going.  And boy am I glad I did.  The band sounded great.  The crowd was really into it and I got to hear a bunch of songs that I really love.

(more…)

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Skating Polly (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, September 22, 2017) [X]

Posted in Exene Cervenka, Philadelphia, PA, Skating Polly, Underground Arts, X on September 22, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 22, 2017] Skating Polly

Skating Polly are now a trio (until recently a duo) with a great origin story.

The band was founded by multi-instrumentalist step-siblings Kelli Mayo and Peyton Bighorse who were just 9 and 14 years old when the band formed.  The band’s first setup consisted of Peyton on drums and Kelli playing a basitar (Kelli’s father made her a basitar after she complained that a traditional six-string guitar hurt her fingers.)  Shortly before their debut album Taking Over the World was released on Nice People Records in November 2010, Kelli and Peyton met Exene Cervenka after a show in Oklahoma City. Exene was surprised by the girls’ extensive knowledge of punk and began corresponding with the girls and discussing them in numerous interviews.  In 2017 the girls’ brother Kurtis Mayo joined the band.

So that’s all pretty interesting but how did they sound?

Well, after being cocky about not having any trouble getting to shows on time, I hit yet another snag on my way to Philly–a big section of 95 which is always under construction was particularly bad in one spot.  I think I missed one or two songs.

But the rest were really good.  Rocking and punky with great lead vocals from both singers and some really cool harmonies as well.   (more…)

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Thurston Moore Group (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, July 22, 2017)

Posted in My Bloody Valentine, Philadelphia, PA, Sonic Youth, The Writhing Squares, Thurston Moore, Thurston Moore Group, Underground Arts on July 22, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 22, 2017] Thurston Moore Group

I’ve loved Sonic Youth since the late 1980s.  And yet in all of those years I never saw them live.  Never!  So to make up for that, I quickly snatched up tickets for Thurston Moore’s show at Underground Arts (such a great intimate venue).  Inexplicably, I don’t  think the show sold out.

For this show his band consisted of Thurston on guitar and vocals, Steve Shelley on drums (1/2 of Sonic Youth right there), My Bloody Valentine bassist Debbie Googe (!) and maniac guitarist James Sedwards.

I had the impression that they would play most if not all of their new (fantastic) album Rock n Roll Consciousness.  And that was fine with me.  They did play the whole album, but not in order.

I was talking to the fans around me and we marveled at the lo-tech way their gear was set up–the bass was propped on the bass drum case, guitar amps were stacked on chairs.  And, everyone (except Thurston) came out to prep their own gear.

There were a couple lunatic bozos nearby who just screamed and shouted through the set, but it’s hard to overpower Thurston and Co.  One of these bozos took off his short and threw it on stage–it actually landed on Deb’s bass which I could see pissed her off.  After the song she threw it back into the crowd–it sailed right over my head. (more…)

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