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Archive for the ‘Union Transfer’ Category

Godspeed You! Black Emperor / Myriam Gendron (White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, NJ, April 22, 2022 and Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, April 23, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Godspeed You Black Emperor, Jersey City, NJ, Myriam Gendron, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, White Eagle Hall on April 22, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 22 & 23, 2022] Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Back in 2000, I saw Godspeed You Black Emperor at Maxwell’s in Hoboken.  My friend Lar was in from Ireland and he went to the show with me, which was pretty awesome.

I waited 18 years to see them again, but the last time I saw them, the show was marred by the crowd.  Or perhaps I was just always in the wrong place.  I couldn’t see well from where I was so I moved–something I never do.  I tried a few spots and none felt right and a couple were near some genuinely unpleasant people to be standing near.  So I never enjoyed myself, even though the music was good.

So I thought I’d try a redo.  I was excited to see them in Jersey City, but then the Fontaines D.C. sow came up.  I figured I’d go see them the next night, but we wound up having a big birthday party that day and it seemed rather crass to go out later that night.  So, I missed them. And that’s ok.

Myriam Gendron is a Quebec musician I hadn’t heard of, but this review makes me want to check out her records.  This is for her latest album:

Delving deep into traditional music from Quebec, France, and the United States, she rewired segments of songs to emphasize evocative lyrics and tossed out others that she found abhorrent. Singing in French and English … these historic songs become universal, while her tender voice maintains the soft power to raise the hairs on the back of your neck.

Woah.

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Fruit Bats / Johanna Samuels (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, April 19, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Fruit Bats, Johanna Samuels, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on April 19, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 19, 2022] Fruit Bats / Johanna Samuels

Fruit Bats released a song at the beginning of the year and S. really liked it.  Then 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.

I hadn’t heard of Johanna Samuels but I see she is described as “A student of classic songwriting with a certain nod to the current in-vogue Blood On The Tracks-era Dylan” which sounds pretty good.

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The Districts / Francis of Delirium / Vanillaroma (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, April 16, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Francis of Delirium, Philadelphia, PA, The Districts, Union Transfer, Vanillaroma on April 16, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 16, 2022] The Districts / Francis of Delirium / Vanillaroma

I grabbed a ticket for this dhow from The Districts as soon as they went on sale–even though I had recently seen them in Asbury Park.  A Philly show is always a good time for The Districts.

Then the Ice Nine Kills show was announced for the same day and I knew that my son and his friends would want to go to that.  So I blew off The Districts, which is fine since i had recently seen them.

Francis of Delirium I had heard of and have since listened to their music.  It’s really good–rocking, noisy, but catchy as well.

Vanillaroma has a retro vibe with all of the sweet spots of retro sounds.

This was a really good bill.

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Yumi Zouma / NoSo (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, April 12, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in NoSo, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, Yumi Zouma on April 12, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 11 & 12, 2022] Yumi Zouma / NoSo

This show had been rescheduled four or five times. The final time was after the tour had been successful so far.  But at the last minute, they had to postpone the final two Philadelphia shows.

I vaguely recalled when Yumi Zouma came out because their name is so fun to say (this was back in 2014).  I didn’t realize they were from New Zealand.

I couldn’t even remember what their music sounded like or if I’d even liked it.  I wasn’t planning on going to this show since it was a such a busy week, but I was delighted to hear the name again.  And if they turne dout to be good, I would have gone if we weren’t in D.C.

NoSo was unknown to me.  Apparently they are an LA-based artist and guitar virtuoso who seems to write delicate pop songs.

 

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Waxahatchee / Madi Diaz (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, April 11 & 12, 2022) [rescheduled again and again, finally happened] [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Cancelled, Coronavirus, Katy Kirby, Madi Diaz, OHMME, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Quarantine, Union Transfer, Waxahatchee on April 11, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 11 & 12, 2022] Waxahatchee / OHMME [rescheduled from April 14 and October 5, 2020 and May 16, 2021 and October 15, 2021]

This show had been rescheduled four or five times. The final time was after the tour had been successful so far.  But at the last minute, they had to postpone the final two Philadelphia shows.

I don’t recall what was going on in my life at the the time, but I was happy about the postponement and wrote

This one worked in my favor.  And I’m looking forward to that rescheduled show next year.

Of course, the Fuzz show was scheduled for the same day and I hadn’t seen Fuzz before so I was planning on going to that show instead.

But then we went on vacation, so the whole debate was moot.

Originally support was from OHMME, then Katy Kirby.  This time it was from Madi Diaz who is a folk singer I know of, but not very well.

 

wxa

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Snail Mail / Joy Again (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, April 5, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Joy Again, Philadelphia, PA, Snail Mail, Union Transfer on April 5, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 5, 2022] Snail Mail / Joy Again

I wanted to see Snail Mail back in 2018 and couldn’t make the show.  I really liked her debut album.

I hadn’t enjoyed songs from her new one a much, so even though I bought a ticket as soon as this show was announced, I decided not to go.

I didn’t realize at the time that my daughter had a Joy Again song on her playlist.  “Looking out for You” is a bouncy song with lots of banjo, although it doesn’t sound folky at all.  I wonder if she would have enjoyed going to this show with me.

 

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Andy Shauf / Helena Deland (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, March 31, 2022) [rescheduled date, rescheduled again and again] [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Andy Shauf, Asbury Park, NJ, Faye Webster, Helena Deland, House of Independents, Margaret Glaspy, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Union Transfer on March 31, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: March 31, 2022] Andy Shauf / Helena Deland [rescheduled from May 1 2020, December 17, 2020 and September 12, 2021]

This show was postponed several times but when it finally rolled around I had two other shows earlier in the week, one of which was in New York City which turned out to be an absurdly late evening.  So I had to take a pass on Andy.  Who I’m not 100% sure I really want to see anyway.

Faye Webster was supposed to open for this show, but she has been replaced by Helena Deland.

Deland is a Canadian singer-songwriter with several EPs out. Her inspirations are Jessica Pratt, Joni Mitchell, and Sea Oleena.   Her music is quiet and gentle and her voice is high and soft.  Its quite lovely and was a good pairing.  I preferred her song “Someone New” which is a little more upbeat.

~~~~~~

This show appeared and then disappeared.  In May, Andy’s own website it was still an active date until you clicked on it and the ticket sales said March 2022.

Maybe in 2022 Andy will come back around.  He was supposed to play a show in NJ as well, but there was none listed in May.  We’ll see.

Postponing shows until December seemed like a safe bet.  My calendar was pretty free and I was hoping to see shows by now.  I’m not sure if I’d rather have gone to Philly or Asbury Park, though.  Well, next year will held me decide, I’m sure.

~~~~~

Andy Shauf is a Canadian singer songwriter.  He sings quiet, introspective songs.  He was playing at Union Transfer at the beginning of May and then in New Jersey in the middle of May.

I was introduced to his music from a Tiny Desk Concert in which he never really moves.  He has very long hair which also never moves.  His songs are really very pretty and well constructed.

It’s his voice that I find utterly fascinating.  He enunciates in such an unusual way.  The way he emphasizes certain vowels defies his Saskatchewan upbringing.  He sings not unlike Margaret Glaspy and other newer singers who stress their vowels in an unusual to me way.

I really enjoyed his Tiny Desk and I enjoyed reading about the album The Party which sounds like the worst party ever.

Since then he has cut all of his hair and looks totally different–I wasn’t even sure it was the same guy.

Faye Webster is a singer from Georgia who actually has a similar singing style to Andy, which is fascinating.  She sings low key torchy ballads and would be a perfect opening act for him.  I’m going to have to listen to a bit more from her.

He’s the kind of musician that I would think about going to but probably wouldn’t, and then I’d wish I had.  Well, now I have two more chances.

His initial itinerary fascinated me:

Boston, Brooklyn, Philly, D.C., North Carolina, Atlanta, New Orleans, Alabama, Indiana, Pittsburgh, New Jersey, upstate New York.

The rescheduled shows keep the same basic set up except that now Philly is the day before NJ–I wonder what changed that plan.

shuaf

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grandson (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, March 26, 2022)

Posted in grandson, Imagine Dragons, Oxymorrons, Philadelphia, PA, Royal & the Serpent, Suicide Squad, Union Transfer on March 28, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 26, 2022] grandson

My son got me into grandson a couple of years ago.  I really like his debut album, death of an optimist.  I promised that if grandson toured, I’d grab tickets.  I bought the tickets for this show a while ago and had no idea that in the interim, grandson had become (in relative terms) really popular.

He wrote the theme song to Suicide Squad which had apparently upped his profile and, he was also opened for Imagine Dragons which is pretty massive exposure.  So good for him.

It also meant that this show was much more crowded than I thought it would be.  We arrived pretty earlier, but the merch line was crazy long.  By the time we got into the show it was pretty crowded, but I know Union Transfer, and I know where there’s a good spot to get you closer to the action. (more…)

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Royal & the Serpent (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, March 26, 2022) [GRANDSON]

Posted in grandson, Oxymorrons, Philadelphia, PA, Royal & the Serpent, Slush Puppy, The Killers, Union Transfer on March 27, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 26, 2022] Oxymorrons

I hadn’t heard of Royal & the Serpent.  When I looked them [her] up, I saw something that suggested that she had maybe worked with grandson–that he had produced something for her?  But I haven’t been able to find it since.  Whatever.

When I listened to her before the show (singer Ryan Santiago IS Royal & the Serpent–they are both parts of her personality), I thought she sounded an awful lot like grandson sonically.

When they started, first her drummer came out on stage.  She crouched by the drums waiting.  Then her guitarist,  Brent Burdett, came out, his hair was died blue and pink and he seemed very tall.  Especially compared to Royal who came bouncing out to their 2021 song “I Can’t Get High.” (more…)

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Oxymorrons (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, March 26, 2022) [GRANDSON]

Posted in grandson, Oxymorrons, Philadelphia, PA, Royal & the Serpent, Union Transfer on March 26, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 26, 2022] Oxymorrons

My son C. has been a big fan of grandson for a while now.  I knew that we’d be seeing him whenever he came to town.  This was also his first exposure to Union Transfer, so I thought it would be super fun for both of us.  And it was, but it wasn’t as I expected.

After getting forced to the back for girl in red, I thought we’d want to arrive earlier.  But I also knew that this show hadn’t sold out  so I imagined we could stroll in at 7:30 and get right up front (there were two opening bands after all).  But when we walked in, the merch line was ENORMOUS (and slow) and the room was already a little full.

Well, we waited for mech (good decision) and heard Oxymorrons start their set.  We walked in during “Think Big” and, even though it was crowded all the way to the back, I found my favorite spot stage right was open, so we slunk our way to that corner and were within a reasonably close distance from the stage.  Sweet.

Meanwhile, Oxymorrons were on stage ripping it up. (more…)

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