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Archive for the ‘Union Transfer’ Category

Stars (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, September 21, 2024)

Posted in Christine Bougie, Lydia Persaud, Philadelphia, PA, Stars, Union Transfer on September 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 21, 2024] Stars

I have been a fan of Stars since about 2004.  I finally got to see them on their Christmas tour of 2022.  Singer Torq said that they would definitely be back for a Christmas tour the following year (they weren’t) and they didn’t do one in 2024 either.  But instead they did this: a 20th anniversary of Set Yourself on Fire, the album that introduced me to the band and which I love.  So yes, I was going to this one, too.

No surprises in the setlist then.

Instead it was a great band playing a great album

Amy Millan and Torquil Campbell sounded great and their onstage rapport is always amazing together–like (sometimes jilted) lovers (although they are not).

The rest of the band has remained the same for 20+ years.  Last tour I learned that bassist Evan Cranley and guitarist Chris Seligman are the main composers of Stars’ music. They repeat a riff or tune until something develops, and then Campbell and Amy Millan write lyrics.  (This according to Wikipedia).

Drummer Pat McGee and lead guitarist Chris McCarron were joined by a violin and sax player for some of the songs. (more…)

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Lydia Persaud & Christine Bougie (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, September 21, 2024) [STARS]

Posted in Christine Bougie, Lydia Persaud, Philadelphia, PA, Stars, Union Transfer on September 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 21, 2024] Lydia Persaud & Christine Bougie

Back in 2022, I saw Stars for the first time (on their Christmas tour) and loved them.  The opening act was Lydia Persaud (& Christine Bougie).

I believe that they both play together in a lot of things.  Lydia has been a member of The Soul Motivators, The O’Pears and Dwayne Gretzky and she and Christine are part of the the Queer Songbook Orchestra.  

They played a jazzy set of remarkably sad music.

When Stars announced this new tour for Set Yourself on Fire, I was super excited.  And, they announced some interesting opening acts along the way (including Dears, a band I could have seen before the pandemic but missed them and they haven’t been back since).  (more…)

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Peter Hook & The Light (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, September 4, 2024)

Posted in Joy Division, New Order, Peter Hook & The Light, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on September 4, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 4, 2024] Peter Hook & The Light

Back in 2022, Peter Hook & The Light toured Philly.  I grabbed tickets but we wound up not going.

This show was described as being all Substance–both the Joy Division and the New Order compilation albums.  I was pretty excited to see the show.  Last time El Ten Eleven opened and I had REALLY wanted to see them.  This time there was no opener, which was great in that it would be a pretty early night but bad because it mean there was no good parking nearby.

But that’s okay.  I arrived plenty early and got a decent spot near the stage (between two really tall guys one of whom didn’t smile for the whole show).

And after a show time, Peter & the Light came out on stage.  I hadn’t really given any thought to his band, which includes David Potts guitar (and lead vocals on a couple of New Order songs), Paul Kehoe drums (at first I wasn’t sure what he was doing since here were a lot of electronic drums, but when he kicked in it filled up the room) and Martin Rebelski keyboards and synthesizers (who frankly did most of the heavy listing in this show–playing bass lines and synth lines and drum lines).  Hook’s son Jack Bates plays bass, and guitar.  Indeed, when Hook wasn’t playing those super memorable bass lines, Bates played them.

I knew roughly what they were going to play (they told us, after all), but I didn’t realize that New Order would come first.

I also thought I knew Substance quite well, so I was puzzled how come I didn’t recognize the first couple of songs.  It turns out that each show they are playing a couple songs not on the album first (and they vary per show).

I thought I knew Substance really well, but it’s possible I haven’t listened to it in a really long time.  It wasn’t until Temptation that I started to fully recognize everything.  The early songs sounded great and sounded familiar, but it took me a while to really groove to it (unlike the guy in front of me who was literally dancing (and had a lot of room around him) from the time of the house music. (more…)

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Mdou Moctar / J.R.C.G. (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, June 28, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in J.R.C.G., Mdou Moctar, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on June 28, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 28, 2024] Mdou Moctar / J.R.C.G.

I saw Mdou Moctar at Ardmore Music Hall and it was pretty fantastic.  I wasn’t sure if I needed to see him again at a bigger venue, but this show was on my radar.

I didn’t buy a ticket because I assumed it wouldn’t sell out.  It was also squeezed right in between a few other shows I was going to and I am trying to limit the amount of shows I see in a week (honestly).  I was also assuming  that since I’d seen him fairly recently I wasn’t sure if I needed to see him again so soon.  Although it turns out he just announced an intimate semi-acoustic show in early July that I’m going to go to.

There are four Tuareg musicians who I’m interested in seeing.
Bombino, Imarhan, Mdou Moctar and Tinariwen.

I have seen Mdou Moctar.  I’ll be seeing Tinarwen in a few weeks.  We’ll see if the other two come my way. (more…)

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Ted Leo + Pharmacists (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, June 21, 2024)

Posted in Dead Best, Ekko Astral, Philadelphia, PA, Ted Leo, Ted Leo + Pharmacists, Union Transfer on June 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 21, 2024] Ted Leo + Pharmacists / Ekko Astral

I saw Ted Leo + Pharmacists back in 2019 and really enjoyed the show.  At the time IW rote

Even though I like Ted Leo I really don’t know a lot of his songs–I’ve been more of a casual fan.  So I was delighted by the variety of sounds and styles he played from throughout his career.

Over the last five years I’ve wanted to see him again but for one reason or another I didn’t.  So when he announced a show at Union Transfer I grabbed a ticket.  I didn’t really give much thought to the fact that he was playing Shake the Sheets because I don’t really know any of his albums per se.  So I didn’t really care about that (It turns out when I saw him last time he played a bunch of songs from that album).

When the Isiliel show was announced for the same night I was quite torn.  I thought that the Ted Leo show would be more fun, but I didn’t know if Isiliel would ever come back, so I opted for that one. It ended at 10:30 and I had seen that most of the Ted Leo shows were ending around 11:30.  Since Union Transfer is about four block from PhilMOCA I decided to pop in and catch the end of Ted Leo and I’m really glad that I did.

So I missed the entire set from openers Ekko Astral (whom Ted praised very very highly and made me wish I had seen them–if I could have seen them in stead of Isenmor, that would have been amazing).  I’s like to make sure I see them again someday.

Luckily for me (but I would have hated this is I was there), Ted and the band didn’t go on until 9:40.  I just found out though that there were actually TWO opening bands, which explains the delay for Ted.

The middle opening act was (more…)

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Los Campesinos! (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, June 17, 2024)

Posted in Los Campesinos!, Philadelphia, PA, Short Fictions, Union Transfer on June 18, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 17. 2024] Los Campesinos!

I have been a fan of Los Campesinos! (who are actually Welsh) since their debut album.  But I have never seen them live.  I missed the 2022 show because our postponed Ben Folds concert was rescheduled to this evening.  Bummer.

I didn’t really follow them much after their first couple of albums, but their overall vibe hasn’t changed dramatically over the years.  They write funny, literate songs about loss disguised as really catchy scream along type anthems.

Singer Gareth David Paisey has a yelling kind of voice that is really fun to get behind.  (Util this year all of the band members used Campesinos as their last name, but now they acknowledge their actual names.

I had always thought they were a totally under the radar band.  But I was shocked to see how many people were at this show, in particular how many younger people were at this show. I mean, where do you hear about Los Campesinos! in 2024?  But everyone there knew all the words and shouted along.  It’s also fun to realize that most of the band has been with them since the beginning and the newer people are all in the band over ten years by this point.  Pitchfork describes their fan base

emo-curious indie adults, indie-curious emo kids, DIY scenesters and Genius annotators, avid consumers of hard cider and hard-left politics, obsessives of European football and American Football alike.

The new album All Hell is just as good if not better than their others.  The lyrics are still wordy and verbose with words like selenograph and phrases like “a cavalcade through antemortem, terminal suburban boredom.”  If these words appeal and you can imagine more or less screaming them over catchy melodies, then this is the band for you. (more…)

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Short Fictions (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, June 17, 2024) [LOS CAMPESIONS!]

Posted in Los Campesinos!, Philadelphia, PA, Short Fictions, Union Transfer on June 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 17. 2024] Short Fictions

I didn’t know Short Fictions before this show.

They have a similar vibe to Los Campesinos!  A kind of delightful chaos that resolves into really catchy songs.  With a trombone!  Anda  xylophone!

The band rocked in a kind of bouncy ramshackle way, singing songs with titles like “Living in Places Like These Can Be Bad for Your Health (Can’t Live Here Anymore)”

They were fun and funny, introducing “I’m Going to Kill Myself with a Gun” by saying that the singer’s mom begged them not  to play that horrible song. But what she doesn’t realize is that it’s about unfair wages and economic inequality!

Some of the songs, like “Wasting” rocked a little harder than other, but other songs are twitchy and weird but also somehow sing-along worthy.  And then a song like “Self Betterment in a Time of Loneliness” had a middle section where the band just went crazy with super fast drums and cymbals.  Jittery and punky and a lot of fun. (more…)

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Kim Gordon and the Collective (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, June 14, 2024)

Posted in Bill Nace, Kim Gordon, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on June 15, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 14, 2024] Kim Gordon 

I could have seen Kim Gordon a couple of years ago but didn’t get a ticket (and then we went out to something else that night anyway),

I’m not sure what that show was like and I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect for this show either.

I hadn’t really listened to her new album and I’m not entirely sure that I needed to, because I feel like her live band transcended the beats-n-effects of the album.

Kim’s band was fantastic.  They all looked like they could have been teenagers (they’re not) and they made an exquisite noise that was not like Sonic Youth in any way but spirit.  And yet, it was noisy and delicious, with guitars that didn’t sound like guitars, snyths that spanned the gamut of sounds and a drummer who bashed and bashed.

I loved watching guitarist Sarah Register (who was in my sight line while I looked at Kim) play…everything.  She played chords of course, but also played shapes and sounds and scrapes and everything.  It wasn’t like watching Thurston and Lee, it was far more controlled.  But it was awesome.

Bassist Camilla Charlesworth doubled occasionally on electronics (apparently, she was responsible for the the nagging John Carpenter-like synth stabs on “Bye Bye”, although it was impossible to know who was playing what half of the time.  She played a great fuzzy almost electronic sounding low end, both on the bass and on the synths

And drummer Madi Vogt , whom I was closest to, was a machine, pummeling the drums and then pulling back when the songs got quiet.

I’m focusing on the band because I went there to see Kim and was amazed at how much I was impressed by the band.  Kim herself was pure Kim–very cool, very much in control.

She played occasional guitar and mostly recited lyrics (that I think she had written on the book in front of her).  It’s a testament to Kim that she was the least interested person on stage and yet I couldn’t take my eyes off of her, she has that much charisma.

Given Kim’s diverse recording history and tendency towards out-there avant garde, I wasn’t really sure what I’d be getting at this show.  This set was nothing that I was expecting and was far better than anything I had hoped for.  And I have since followed everyone of her backing band to see what else they get up to.

  1. BYE BYE ©
  2. The Candy House ©
  3. I Don’t Miss My Mind ©
  4. I’m a Man ©
  5. Trophies ©
  6. It’s Dark Inside ©
  7. Psychedelic Orgasm ©
  8. Tree House ©
  9. Shelf Warmer ©
  10. The Believers ©
  11. Dream Dollar ©
    Encore:
  12. Air BnB Ø
  13. Paprika Pony Ø
  14. Cookie Butter Ø
  15. Hungry Baby Ø
  16. Grass Jeans §
  17. BYE BYE ©

© The Collective (2024)
Ø No Home Record (2019)
§ Single (2021)

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Bill Nace (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, June 14, 2024) [KIM GORDON]

Posted in Bill Nace, Kim Gordon, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on June 14, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 14, 2024] Bill Nace

Kim and Bill Nace toured in 2022.  Bill was also in the band Body/Head with Kim.  I saw him play in a jam session with Chris Forsyth in which he played the Suzuki Ran–an Electric Taishogoto.  When he played with Forsyth I worte

It sounded like a bunch of noise, honestly—there were some loud and wild effects on it.  It also drowned out Forsyth’s guitar.

For this show, Nace came out with this same instrument.  It has keys that you press and strings that you strum or bow.  Nace used a bow and turned the distortion and effects up to max and then played noise for about fifteen minutes.  Then he put the bow down, turned the Ran so it was more like a piano and played the same note–tapping the same key–for about 8 minutes.

I did not enjoy the set at all.  Which is a little odd since I do enjoy experimental music.  But this seemed to be more of a joke or a punishment than anything else.

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Camera Obscura / Photo Ops (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 29, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Camera Obscura, Philadelphia, PA, Photo Ops, Union Transfer on May 29, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 29, 2024] Camera Obscura

When it was announced that Camera Obscura had released their first album in 11 years and were touring for the U.S. for the first time in longer, I got caught up in the hype.  I didn’t really know them, but felt like I sort of did.  But it turns out I didn’t know them at all.  Then I thought, ooh, their Scottish, I wonder if they are interesting and unusual.

I listened to the new album a few ties and I like it, just not enough to go out a second night in a row.  The same thing happened when they played a song on the radio this morning,  I thought it was pleasant, but when they said it was Camera Obscura, I didn’t think it was anything more than pleasant.

They more or less broke up in 2015 following the death of their keyboardist but reunited to play at a festival headed by Belle & Sebastian.

I really wanted to like them, but nothing i listened to really stuck. (more…)

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