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Archive for the ‘Union Transfer’ Category

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 6, 2022] Neko Case / Sean Rowe

I had wanted to see Neko Case for a while.  But then a few years ago I got to see her with The New Pornographers, which was like double the fun.

When she announced this new solo tour, I thought it would be cool to see her again (even though she posted a kind of nasty message about people taking pictures at her shows).  However, this show wound up being the same night as the Arlo Parks show.  I had wanted to see Arlo Parks at the Foundry, but I thought the show was sold out (I understand tickets were available at the door).  So I opted to go to Arlo instead.

Sean Rowe is an alternative folk singer-songwriter and musician.  An avid naturalist, Rowe often speaks of his fascination with the woods and his connection to the land.

I hadn’t heard of him but he sound like a good fit with Neko.  However, when I listened to his song online, I hated his deep, slow vocal style.

 

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[DID NOT ATTEND: September 1, 2022] Boris / Nothing

I came to the Boris part way too late.  They’ve been melting faces for over 25 years and I really only found them about five years ago.  They were on the verge of breaking up, in fact, when they were inspired to make some new music and to keep touring.

I so wanted to get to this show (which would have been my third). But, it was scheduled for the same night as a Kurtis Conner show that my daughter wanted to go to.

I have to assume that Boris will be back at least one more time (since there’s a new album in the works already).

Nothing is a shoegaze band from Philadelphia.

I was a little surprised that Boris would have a shoegaze band open for them since in the past, they’ve had some pretty heavy rockers open up.  But I listened and Nothing is quite heavy.

I’m a little puzzled when shoegaze became associated with heavy metal.  I know there are many metal bands who successfully use shoegaze elements, but I would never have had a blanket association with metal given its origins.   My Bloody Valentine is certainly loud, but not really heavy.

Either way, this would have been a great show.

 

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[DID NOT ATTEND: August 27, 2022] Los Campesinos! / Proper

I have been a fan of Los Campesinos! (who are actually Welsh) since their debut album.

But I have never seen them live.

I was really surprised to see that they were playing Philly, but I see that they have come to Philly in 2017 and 2018.  So I hope they will come in 2023 or 2024 (even if they haven’t put out a record since 2017).

I had never heard of Proper. But they sound amazing.

“Our bio says, ‘Just three n**gas making prog rock, don’t overthink it.’ It’s been changing with our sound,” frontman Erik Garlington laughs. Originally named the Great White, Proper. are a collective accustomed to change. And as the trio – completed by Natasha Johnson and Elijah Watson – have continued to pave their way in the alternative scene, they’ve become even more forthright. After being told they “talk white… like, real proper”, the band switched up their name and ran with it. Now, in their latest polemic American epic, Proper. ditch their off-hand humour and embark on unravelling the emotional weight behind everyday Black American identity.

Having played emo, pop-punk, hardcore and everything in-between, Proper. are continuing to carve their own sonic stamp. [like on] their recent, Bartees Strange-produced record, The Great American Novel.

I couldn’t believe that the Ben Folds show was rescheduled to this night.  (And it wasn’t all that great because the audience was terrible).

So, now I want to see both bands tour again soon.

 

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[DID NOT ATTEND: August 26, 2022] Peter Hook & the Light / El Ten Eleven

This was a show I hated to miss.  Since I had blown off Pet Shop Boys & New Order earlier in the year, I figured at least I’d get to see Peter Hook do the songs (although this tour was largely Joy Division).

Plus I really wanted to see El Ten Eleven, a duo who plays amazingly complex songs using all kinds of pedals and other gadgets.  In videos they are impressive to watch.  I have really wanted to see them live.

This double bill was amazing.  And I had gotten tickets for my wife and I as soon as they went on sale.

Then The Decemberists announced a show on the day before this.  And Ben Folds rescheduled his show to the date after this.  And my wife would rather see those two (both seated, thank you very much).  And she wouldn’t do three nights out in a row.  She probably wouldn’t have liked El Ten Eleven anyhow.

I’m not sure if Peter Hook will tour again, but I really want to see El Ten Eleven.

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[DID NOT ATTEND: April 21, 2023] Camp Cope / Petal

UPDATE: Camp Cope broke up in Feb. 2023, so I’ll never see them.

Camp Cope is an Australian punk band whose music is described as ‘rough, minimal rock [with] a punk edge’, and whose lyrics ‘articulate human entanglements with a lack of sentimentality that belies how much [McDonald] cares.’

So, basically, they’re a really earnest punk band.  They have a huge following although I haven’t fully gotten into them yet.  I’d heard their live show were great so I was looking forward to seeing them.

However, this show was on the same night as Beach House which all four of us were going to see, so there was no way this was happening.

I’ve seen Petal twice.  Here’s what I said last time:

Petal is the creation of Kiley Lotz from Scranton, PA.  She has released a few albums and an EP (all on bandcamp).  Her recorded output has a somewhat heavier alternapop sound–there’s some great bass on her records.

I really enjoyed her solo set–her voice was beautiful and her songcraft was really great.  But having listened to her records, i imagined she’d be even more fun with a band.

And she certainly was.  She rocked harder for sure and I really liked the drummer’s backing vocals.

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[DID NOT ATTEND: June 27, 2022] Purity Ring / Dawn Richard [postponed from May 13, 2020 and April 21, 2021 and November 12, 2021] 

This show came and went.  I never got tickets and never wound up going.

I heard really good things about the show.  And I have put them on my list of bands to see when they come around again. 

I’m not sure what kept me away–sometimes, you just don’t feel like going outside.

It’s a cool poster though.

(more…)

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[DID NOT ATTEND: November 5, 2022] Ty Segall & Freedom Band / Shannon Lay [rescheduled from October 2, 2020 and June 24, 2022]

I have become a fan of Ty Segall in the last few years.  He releases far too much music to keep tabs on him, but I’ve wanted to see his fuzzed out live show for a while now.

He has had a bunch of shows in Philly, both with Freedom Band and with his other band Fuzz get postponed over and over again.

Back in April the Fuzz show was finally rescheduled and I was really excited to see them.  But we wound up going on vacation that week instead.

Now came this show, which I didn’t realize would be as amazing as it is (if this KEXP live performance is any indicator).

But my son was leaving for a trip to Europe in a couple of days and I wanted to spend time with the family.  So I blew off this show.

Now, since he puts out new music all the time, I have to assume he’ll be back next year (and I hope with this kick ass band).

Shannon Lay is a former punk and now folk singer.  Her songs are quite lovely but 100% unlike Ty Segall & Freedom Band.

However, Ty Segall also plays acoustic shows–he has one coming up in Philly in November (so that’s three shows in Philly in one year).  and I wonder if she has played with him in these solo settings.

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[DID NOT ATTEND: June 18, 2022] tUnE-yArDs / Anjimile

I saw tUnE-yArDs in 2018 and enjoyed the show. There’s questions about her appropriation of African culture into her music which makes me think, rather than enjoy, her music.

So I wasn’t likely to go to this show even if it hadn’t been right up against Kraftwerk, which there was no way I was missing.

Anjimile Chithambo is a folk singer from Boston, Massachusetts.  Her music is pretty, but I don’t care for her singing style at all, which is kind of slow and deliberate and, to me, a little tedious.

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[DID NOT ATTEND: June 17, 2022] Strand of Oaks / The Still Tide

I have seen Strand of Oaks a number of times–although mostly as a solo venture.

I kind of forget that he plays with a full band (and they rock).  This would have been a fun show to see, but it was scheduled for the same night as Belle and Sebastian which we’d already gotten tickets for.  Plus, the night turned out to be the same as my daughter’s graduation.  So, this one was never going to happen.  I hope that he comes back to Philly again soon.

The Still Tide are from Brooklyn but are now based in Colorado.

I’ve listened to a couple of songs and they remind me of Lone Justice–rock with a countryish kind of feel.  They actually seem like a good fit for Strand of Oaks.

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[POSTPONED: June 16, 2022] They Might Be Giants [rescheduled from March 13, 2020, September 8, 2020, April 15, 2021 and March 22, 2022 moved to January 12, 2023]

COVID is over, right?  Let’s rock, right?  What could go wrong?

Never, ever, tempt fate:

Hello –
We have some unfortunate news to share, John F from TMBG was in a serious car accident after their show last evening. The upcoming Philly show (and next two months of their tour) is now *postponed* to some time later in 2022.
Unreal, right?  Things were finally looking up for our intrepid warriors.  And then this.
Greetings from the hospital. I am writing to you with my glasses a crumpled memory, while under a thick cloud of pain medication. In spite of that, I wanted to write to all of you to explain what exactly happened to me.

Last night in a car service on the way my to my apartment after the magnificent Bowery Ballroom show, I was in a rather dramatic car accident. Crossing into an intersection, our car was t-boned by a vehicle going at a very fast speed. The force of the impact actually flipped our car over to its side. While the driver and I oriented ourselves to our new sideways, broken glass and airbag-filled reality, we sensed the ominous smell of motor oil and smoke. Remarkably, just a moment later it seemed, a dozen NYC firemen arrived and set their minds on finding a way to liberate us. To them and the fantastically efficient EMS who whisked us to a trauma center, I will be forever grateful.

While sitting in the CT scan machine, I was working out how much more time I would need to get to DC for the next show in my diminished state. When I explained my plan to the doctor, he explained I had broken seven ribs (a majority of the ribs on my right side) and some of them in multiple places, and I wasn’t going to be anywhere but in a bed for the foreseeable future.

While the pain in my side has only gotten worse since, it is my heart that is really breaking over these events. The entire band and crew have been working so hard to create a new show worthy of your interest and your endurance over these miserable COVID years. Last night was such a victory, and with unplayed new songs in the works and rearrangements of older material with the horn section, it was all feeling like a new beginning. But today I am in the hospital. I would understand anyone thinking we are just a band born under a bad sign and giving up hope, but I also know someday we will rock again —and for me, that day couldn’t come soon enough.

Until then I will be watching reruns of Sex in the City until I am strong enough to reach the remote. Wish me luck. I’m going to need it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fifth time’s the charm?

After what seemed like a wholly sensible rescheduled date of March 22, 2022, the virus reared its head again, and TMBG decided to push things back one more time.  This time they broke their tour into small chunks to avoid having to cancel a huge tour in the future.

Hello everyone. We have rescheduled all of our Spring 2022 shows. The new batch of shows begin in June and run all the way to May 2023 (proving that 2020 is the first year to last for three!).

And the venue has added

Hello! Thank you for purchasing tickets to see They Might Be Giants. We know that this has been a journey and after two+ years their long awaited tour will finally happen! The Philly show scheduled for March 10 has been moved to June 16 2022.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This show was originally scheduled for March 2020 and it now being rescheduled to March 2022.  It’s hard to believe that it will be two years.

So, with no opening date in sight, this is where we ask you for a big favor. Without a doubt our biggest expense has been refunding tickets for shows with new safe dates in 2021/2022.  The They Might Be Giants show has been officially moved to March 10 2022! With a date this far out, it ensures there will be no issues with TMBG touring and most important – we are near guaranteed to have a safe and normal show (finally!)

This was one of the first shows that was postponed because of the coronavirus.  The new date was scheduled very quickly and, as it turns out, too soon.

Now, like most shows, it is being pushed back about a year from its original date.  Boy I hope it holds out.

I am still very much looking forward to it.  Don’t give up on us yet, Johns!

March was going to be a very busy concert month for me.  This was to be the first of four shows in five nights.  This show was going to be for me and S.–a night of They Might Be Giants performing Flood!

It turned out to be the first of dozens of shows cancelled or postponed by the coronavirus.

Obviously, my main concern is for everyone’s safety, including the bands!

My selfish concern though is that once the shows are rescheduled that all of these shows will be scheduled on the same day!

Let’s hope the rescheduled dates also do some social distancing.

tmbg

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