Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Union Transfer’ Category

Geese / Gwenifer Raymond / Cold Court (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, November 7 & 8, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Cold Court, Geese, Gwenifer Raymond, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on November 7, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 7 & 8, 2026] Geese / Gwenifer Raymond / Cold Court

My wife and I saw Geese open for Vampire Weekend back in May of 2025.  It was about a month before they really blew up.  They had a couple of singles that I’d heard and I loved Cowboy Nudes.  Soon after that show they released Getting Killed and became the most popular band in America.

I missed when they played Union Transfer and wrote that I probably should have gone to that show because I’m sure the next time they play Philly it will be at a much bigger venue.  So not a HUGE venue but two night at the Fillmore is pretty impressive.  Especially two nights that sold out before I even heard about the show.

Gwenifer Raymond is a Welsh guitarist.   She recently did a Tiny Desk and it is a marvel.  She plays acoustic guitar, with a fingerpicking style that includes dramatic and fast chord playing as well.

As the Tiny Desk says,

There’s an understated charm about the Welsh guitarist’s limited banter behind the Desk, but little prepares you for what howls from her instrument. Raymond’s fingerstyle guitar drones with a haunted quality, but her flurry of bends, slides and chord clusters rip open the firmament. Steeped in pre-war blues, but picking up on the acoustic innovations of John Fahey and Jack Rose, Raymond started releasing records a little less than a decade ago. But it’s on Last Night I Heard the Dog Star Bark, one of NPR Music’s best albums of 2025, where the Cardiff-born and now Brighton-based guitarist forged an unmistakably distinct sound: a controlled recklessness that conjures spells with six strings. Exhilarating, but also terrifying. After the dizzying shred of “Jack Parsons Blues” and the scenic storytelling of “Bliws Afon Tâf,” Raymond comes up for air, suddenly aware of the audience in awe. It’s just her back there, after all, with an acoustic guitar — we’re lost in the trance, too. And then, as if on cue, she takes us to hell.

She’s an intense marvel and a perfect odd but intense choice to open for Geese.  Maybe she’ll play at McCarter next year.

I saw Cold Court open for Black Midi and they blew me away.  I can’t find much about them, but back then I wrote

How best to describe them?  I’ve never seen a band with a viola player inspire a mosh pit before.  The mosh pit was pretty much non-stop.  Not bad for an opening band.

I was not terribly upset that I couldn’t get tickets to this show, but once these opening acts were announced, I am now pretty bummed to have missed it.

Read Full Post »

Fruit Bats / Sarah Klang (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 5, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Fruit Bats, Philadelphia, PA, Sarah Klang, Union Transfer on November 5, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 5, 2026] Fruit Bats / Sarah Klang

Back in 2022, Fruit Bats released a song at the beginning of the year and my wife really liked it.  They announced a concert right around her birthday, so I spontaneously grabbed us tickets.  We joked how we never listened to any other songs by them and wouldn’t know anything at the show.  As the show grew closer, things were kind of crazy and we ultimately decided not to go.  So we’ll never know if we like more than that one song.

They came back again a year later but we hadn’t learned anything more about them, so we didn’t go.  Now, they are sort of a joke to us, which isn’t fair as we would probably like their other songs too.  In fact, when this show was announced, I made a mental note to listen to more to see if we wanted to go see them.  But then we scheduled a trip to Sweden so it was moot.

Sarah Klang is a Swedish singer and songwriter whose full name is Sarah Linnea Nova Klang. Coincidence that we were in Sweden when she was here.  She describes her own music as pop with influences of Americana music and country, which I don’t especially like.  But her voice is quite lovely.

Read Full Post »

The Damned / Flaming Groovies / The Courettes (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 24, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Flamin' Groovies, Philadelphia, PA, The Courettes, The Damned, Union Transfer on October 24, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 24, 2026] The Damned / Flaming Groovies / The Courettes

I saw the Damned at Coney Island High with my friend Garry on Feb 6, 1998.  I don’t really remember all that much about it.  I wasn’t a huge fan at the time, but I do think it’s cool I got to see them.  I hadn’t really considered seeing them again, but I decided to see them last year and they were great!  The tour was a kind of complete retrospective (including some of the new songs too).

And, it featured three of the four original members: singer Dave Vanian, guitarist Captain Sensible and drummer Rat Scabies.  [There’s no point in trying to talk about when who was or wasn’t in the band as it was a revolving door for a while].  But Paul Gray on bass has been with them since 1980 and Monty Oxymoron has played keyboards with them since 1996 so he’s not exactly a newbie.

When they announced this new tour I definitely wanted to go again, but I already had tickets to see Friko and then I wound up getting tickets to see Cradle of Filth, so there was no way this was going to happen.  Apparently, this is their last tour, so I guess I’ll never see them again.  But I’m glad I saw them last year.

When I saw that the opening band was The Flaming Groovies, I did a double take.  I recognized the name, but couldn’t really place them.  That’s because they formed in 1965 (years before I was born).  Their debut has been described as proto-punk with one critic suggesting that the Ramones probably wore out copies of the album.  I suppose that’s true, kind of, but they are really more of a blues band.  And then, they also wrote Shake Some Action–the Cracker version is better because of the way the Groovies’ album was recorded (as if under a thick blanket).  They’re not as punk as that reviewer made it seem, but there’s some cool garage flair.  I wonder how they sound (checks calendar) 61 years after their debut!.

The Courettes are from Denmark and are the duo of Flavia Couri (from Brazil) and Martin Couri (a native Dane) [they are married, it’s not a Ramones type name].  They play old school rock n roll/girl group/garage stuff.  Their recordings sound like they are from the 60s, which is a little annoying.

Read Full Post »

Mike D / Angelnumber 8 (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 19, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Angelnumber 8, Mike D., Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on October 19, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 19, 2026] Mike D / Angelnumber 8

When Mike D announced this album and tour I assumed it would sell out in a second.  But I don’t think it sold out at all.

I had listened to one song from the album and didn’t think that much of it, so I didn’t bother getting a ticket.  I’ve never seen the Beastie Boys, and decided I didn’t want to go this way.

But I may have been a bit harsh.   A review from MidBrow Philly says

the most glaring absence from Thank You — the intricate vocal interplay that defined the Beastie Boys — is evident. Despite this, the record’s fun, kitchen sink approach of arrangement and production takes your mind off of what’s not there. Ultimately, Thank You is a busy, fearless record that doesn’t contend with the legacy of Diamond’s old band as much as it adds to his own.

Diamond’s vocals throughout the set were processed through an unrelenting wall of distortion and delay, giving the songs a rough but otherworldly texture.

According to the setlist, he did a couple of Beastie Boys (Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun) songs and the set was about an hour.

Angelnumber 8 opened the show. There’s very little about him online. He has a few songs on Tidal and yet there’s an article about him that dates back to 2021–which talks about how it is to find out about him online.  Tidal shows a new EP this year with 5 songs each about 2 minutes long. The songs are kind of chill raps.  hard to imagine what he’s like live.

And here’s the Mike D show from UT thanks to Jim Powers.

 

Read Full Post »

Plini / Night Verses / Portraits (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 17, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Night Verses, Philadelphia, PA, Plini, Portraits, Union Transfer on October 17, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 17, 2026] Plini / Night Verses / Portraits

I saw Plini open for Animals as Leaders a couple of years ago,  It was a night of technical guitar brilliance and impressive guitar showoffery.

Plini is Plini Roessler-Holgate, an Australian guitarist who has been recognized by all of the famous guitar gods [for instance: Steve Vai described him as “the future of exceptional guitar playing.”]  It was an amazing display of skill and speed.   Instrumental guitar songs full of incredible fingerwork.  The impressive thing was how smooth and easily he played his blistering solos–as if his fingers were longer than anybody else’s.

I completely didn’t register this show when it was announced and only realized that this was that guy a few days ago.  There was no way I was going to the show as I had a lot of other things going on, but I’m a little bummed I missed it.  Just a little.

I hadn’t heard of Night Verses (I don’t really follow the amazing-guitarists line of music anymore], but apparently they are one of those bands.  And their story is kind of interesting too

In 2017, the post-rock outfit Night Verses collectively decided it was time for a radical change. After five years and two critically acclaimed full-length albums, singer Douglas Robinson was going to leave the fold and the remaining members would forge ahead as a three-piece instrumental unit.

Having listened to them before and after, they made the right choice–they are so much better as an instrumental outfit.

Portraits are “a progressive instrumental (for the most part) band featuring guitarists Joshua De La Victoria & Joseph Anidjar.”  More technical mastery.  Rather less interesting than some, but still impressive.

Read Full Post »

Show Me the Body / Lip Critic / Combust (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 14, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Combust, Lip Critic, Philadelphia, PA, Show Me the Body, Union Transfer on October 14, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 12, 2026] Show Me the Body / Lip Critic / Combust

Despite my enjoyment of noisy. abrasive bands, I am turned off by certain band names. Show Me the Body is one I don’t care for–I just assume with a band name like that your songs are all about murder.  But I don’t know anything about their music.

Turns out they are a post hardcore band whose music includes a banjo.  They play a kind of murky, punk-industrial vibe, mixes brimming with thorny and clangorous textures.  And the banjo is often distorted and wild.  And with lyrics like “Radical love compels me to fight” they clearly aren’t singing about committing murder anyhow.  It’s kind of interesting although I didn’t love it.

I was mostly interested in this show for Lip Critic. I saw Lip Critic last year and the blew me away.  I’d never want to listen to their records, but live, they were incredible.  Noisy and chaotic with two drummers and a guy who plays keys/samples/something.  And a singer who commands the room.  I definitely want to see them again, but not as the middle band between two others I didn’t know.

Combust is a pretty much straight up old school hardcore band (nice not to see the “post” before hardcore).  I’m glad to know there are still new hardcore bands coming up.

 

Read Full Post »

Sugar: Love You Even Still 2026 Tour (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 13, 2026)

Posted in Bob Mould, J. Robbins, Jawbox, Philadelphia, PA, Sugar, Union Transfer on October 14, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 13, 2026] Sugar 

Sugar hasn’t toured in some 30 years.  For some reason I thought I had seen them back the first time, but I’d actually seen Bob Mould doing a solo tour (with a band) and they played Sugar songs.

I’ve seen Bob several times, both by himself and with a band, but I was really excited to see Sugar and, while it wasn’t THAT different from when he plays a solo show (with a band) it was all Sugar and there were several songs sung by David Barbe, the legend from Athens.  And Malcolm Travis (I had no idea his history) was on drums.

There was a MASSIVE banner that read SUGAR behind them and, aside from lighting changes, there wasn’t much more spectacle.  Because this (as with most things Bob does) was all about the music.

After an opening tape of The Beatles’ She Said She Said (which I joked was played at the loudest volume I’ve ever heard The Beatles played) the band came out.  Malcolm sat at the drums, David grabbed his bass and Bob headed to the guitar.  For the whole show, nobody changed instruments, they just played 23 songs in 90 minutes and left us exhausted and elated.

Bob was his usual antsy self, stomping around the stage like a boxer warming up. He was dripping sweat by the end of the first song.  They opened with the first three songs from Copper Blue.  I have seen Bob and I’ve seen him play a few Sugar songs in recent years, but as soon as David sang the backing vocals on The Act We Act, it was a real Sugar show.

I deliberately didn’t listen to any of the albums before the show for fear that I’d be upset if they didn’t play the song I wanted to hear and I was pretty thrilled by how much all of this music that I’d listened to so much came back to me.

Hearing the opening bass line of A Good Idea (a very Pixies like song) was wonderful and watching Bob play that rising guitar note was just as cool .  We all sang along to “that’s a good idea, she said she said.”  There was an older woman in front of my wife.  She was short with long gray hair and for the first couple of songs, she was completely consumed by the music–raising her arm (something I particularly hate) and dancing and moving and backing into my wife–she took up way too much space.  She settled down after the opening salvo of songs, but it was fascinating.  We were annoyed by her, but also appreciative of how into it she was.

I loved hearing Changes, and probably would have happily had them play the entire album straight through (but they had to save a few songs for the end).  They  sprinkled songs from File Under: Easy Listening throughout the set.  So up next came the David Barbe sung Company Man.  I didn’t recognize it at first–David’s mic seemed a little quiet and/or he was singing a little too quietly.  His backing vocals (which were usually higher) sounded great.  But he was a little muffled on lead.   I hadn’t thought of Company Man in a long time and it was cool to hear it–Bob’s screams at the end gave it even more punch. (more…)

Read Full Post »

J. Robbins (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 13, 2026) [SUGAR]

Posted in Bob Mould, J. Robbins, Jawbox, Lungfish, Philadelphia, PA, Sugar, Union Transfer on October 13, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 13, 2026] J. Robbins

I could have seen J. Robbins open for Bob Mould last year.  But I wound up not going to that show.  I have one Jawbox album but I didn’t really remember all that much about it.  So I wasn’t that excited for this solo show.  In the past he has played with backing musicians, but for this show it was just him and his acoustic guitar.

And it was fantastic.

He was great right from the start.  He asked who was there the night before (“Me too!”).  He played a slightly different set for us than for night 1 saying that having the two nights together meant that he could play songs he didn’t usually get to play.

He started playing and the sound of his guitar was great–loud but clear.  And his voice was also clear–powerful and unflinching.  And the words were wonderful.  Not just the topic, but the way with words.  I loved the lyric Shield from me the words I struggle to find.

He played one Jawbox song (I didn’t know it but the crowd went nuts for it).

The first five songs were in an interesting open tuning.  Interesting enough that a nerdy guy behind me asked what tuning he was using (it was a very quiet room for him).  He demurred and just said an unusual one.

He switched tuning for the next few songs.  The first was a Burning Airlines song.  That’s a band I’d never heard of and (obviously) didn’t know he was in.  After one more song he introduced a song saying it was his favorite song in the world by a weirdo Baltimore band that he loved called Lungfish.  I’d never heard of them either.

The final two songs were just as good as the rest.  I see he typically opens with Anodyne.  And after Abandoned Mansion, he thanked us and left.

A solid 30 minutes of great acoustic guitar playing.  He was compelling and his voice sounded fantastic.  I’m now going back to see what else I’ve missed by him.

  1. (Unknown)
    (“nothing behind. Shield from me the words I struggle to find”)
  2. Exquisite Corpse ♣
  3. Winter Sun §
  4. Soldier On ⊗
  5. Static (Jawbox song)
  6. Outside the Aviary (Burning Airlines song)
  7. Old Soul ♣
  8. Love Is Love (Lungfish cover)
  9. Anodyne ⊗
  10. Abandoned Mansions ⊗


♣ Basilisk (2024)
⊗ Un-becoming (2019)
§ single (2019)

Read Full Post »

Sugar: Love You Even Still 2026 Tour / J. Robbins (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 12, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Bob Mould, J. Robbins, Jawbox, Philadelphia, PA, Sugar, Union Transfer on October 12, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 12, 2026] Sugar / J. Robbins

Sugar hasn’t toured in some 30 years.  For some reason I thought I had seen them back the first time, but I’d actually see Bob Mould doing a solo tour (with a band) and they played Sugar songs.

Sugar is Bob’s poppiest band and every song is a delight.  I was so excited when they announced a reunion tour.  The first few dates were NYC only and I considered going.  But it seemed likely they’d add more dates and here they were with two nights at Union Transfer.  I deliberately got night two, so I didn’t go to this first night.

But I’m super psyched for tomorrow.

I have one album from Jawbox, their last.  J. Robbins was the singer and main dude behind the band.  I’m not sure what got me to buy it (that was back in 1996 after all).  I may have been the Tori Amos cover.  They were a post-hardcore band before that was a thing.  I probably would like it now if I listened to it.  Maybe I’ll give it a listen before the show (but I see he’s not playing any songs from it so…)

Read Full Post »

Daði Freyr: Too Much Not Enough Tour (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 9, 2026)

Posted in Atomic Kitten, BRÍET, Daði Freyr, Iceland, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on October 9, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 9, 2026] Daði Freyr 

Daði Freyr has played Philadelphia 3 times and I’ve seen them all.  My wife and I enjoyed him enough last time, that I knew I’d have to grab tickets for this tour as well.

Once again, I felt a little bad for not knowing all of the words to his songs because EVERYBODY else seemed to know every word.  But that’s ok, because we were there for the undeniable Eurodance that Daði creates

The previous two times, he had other musicians with him (Ylva Øyen on drums and keys and Pétur Karl on guitars and synth), but this time it was just him.  He had two banks of keys.  Behind him was a guitar and a bass.  Mostly he triggered the songs on his keyboards and he sang along.  He played solos on the keys and manipulated the sounds from time to time.

The tech was much more sophisticated this time.  There were four panels in the back which were connected by horizontal lights.

The theme of this show was Planet Daði.  A planet that exists where everyone is Daði.  Then a spaceship landed and out came a Daði.  And soon they were interbreeding (hilarious pictures of hands with eyes flying around or looking like giraffes).  The screens were filled with videos for each song–mostly Daði in the same white robe that he wore on stage–see it is a cult!–singing along or playing instruments.

And then he came out on stage in that white robe and started singing Somebody Else Now, not even a new song!  The crowd was. in the lyrics of P.E.R.F.E.C.T., “Fabulous, Wonderful, Super nice, Magical, Excellent, Fantastic, Such a snack.”  They sang and danced and responded to everything Daði did. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »