Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Union Transfer’ Category

[POSTPONED: May 1, 2020] Andy Shauf / Faye Webster [moved to December 17, 2020]

indexAndy Shauf is a Canadian singer songwriter.  He sings quiet, introspective songs.  He was playing at Union Transfer at the beginning of Mat 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 sings 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

Read Full Post »

[POSTPONED: August 27, 2020] Joywave

indexI don’t know all that much about Joywave, but Union Transfer hyped this show a lot, which made me very curious about them.

For some reason I thought they were European, but they are from Rochester, New York.

They’ve been around since 2010 and apparently have had some buzz around them.  Their music is kind of alt-rock with a lot of synth.  I’m not sure I would have gone (so many other shows that night) but this postponement gives me more time to check them out.

Read Full Post »

[POSTPONED: CANCELLED: April 22, 2020] Real Estate / Palm

indexI saw Real Estate open for Belle and Sebastian five years ago.  I enjoyed their mellow set and found them very pleasant.

Seeing as how they are from Ridgewood, NJ (about five minutes from where I grew up), I feel like I should like them so much more.

Mostly I like their sound in small doses–it’s a little too mellow for me.  But i do enjoy them.

Mostly, though, I was going to go to this show for openers Palm.  I have seen Palm twice, both times in small venues.  I would have liked to see them on a larger stage (although I can’t imagine a less comparable band for them to play with than Real Estate.

Whereas Real Estate plays pretty songs, Palm plays chaotic, untethered, truly original songs.  They are magnificent and I love watching them play their bizarre songs.

There aren’t too many bands where I’ve thought “I need to see them a lot more,” but Palm is one of those bands.

This show was postponed, although I am really not sure if Palm will be with then when it gets rescheduled.  We’ll see.

UPDATE: On May 19 the band formally cancelled the show/tour

With all of the uncertainty about when we’ll be able to play live shows again, we have no choice but to formally cancel all of our announced headline shows including the previously postponed dates.

Please know that this is devastating for us on every level, but we have no doubt that it is the right decision to make.

Stay strong everyone, we will be back!

Read Full Post »

[CANCELLED: April 19, 2020] Jens Lekman

indexI have really enjoyed Jens Lekman over the years. His Tiny Desk Concert is tremendous.  He was even the subject of a request in an episode of Every Little Thing, a podcast that S and I really like.  (A caller could not get a fragment of a song out of his head and it was one of Lekman’s).

I have been wanting to see him live for years (he last came around in 2017, but I missed it).  But this night is a special person’s birthday so there was no way I was going to go out.

Lekman has cancelled his entire tour, but I have to assume he’ll be back soon.  And I hope it won’t be on another birthday.

Read Full Post »

[POSTPONED: April 14, 2020] Waxahatchee / OHMME [moved to October 5]

indexI’ve seen Waxahatchee twice–once with a full band and once solo.  I like her, although I wasn’t sure I wanted to see her again.  She has a new album out and I’ve heard it’s much more mellow than her last couple, so that doesn’t really appeal to me.

However, Ohmme is phenomenal live.  I saw them open for Jeff Tweedy and I have wanted to see them again.  I’d prefer a headlining show (but I seem to keep missing out on those).  However, this would have been a solid double bill.

wxa

Read Full Post »

[POSTPONED: April 6, 2020] Caspian / Pianos Become the Teeth / Maserati

indexMy friends Liz and Eleanor have told me that Caspian was one of the best shows that they had seen.  I have been planning to see them ever since.  Because of the trip scheduled for this weekend, I’m not sure I would have been up for going, but I would have loved to.

I thought I knew who Pianos Become the Teeth were, but I was thinking of Roomful of Teeth an apparently very different band.  Given Pianos become the teeth’s comparisons to Explosions in the Sky and Mogwai, I think I’d like them.

Maserati has been around since 2000 and also get compared to EITS and Mogwai.  I’ll be I would have loved this whole night.  I hope the show gets rescheduled as is on a night I can go.

maserati

index

Read Full Post »

[POSTPONED: April 4, 2020] Deafheaven / Inter Arma / Greet Death

indexI liked Deafheaven’s Sunbather album for its fascianting mix of death metal and shoegaze. I haven’t heard anything from their two new albums, although I have heard very good things about them.

I wasn’t sure if I’d want to go to this show as it might be too intense.  But I had it on my radar.

However, I already had tickets to see Parquet Courts this evening, so it was unlikely I was going to this show.

I had read some really positive reviews about Inter Arma which had me interested in seeing them live.  I mean, if you write “proggy organic doom fields while expanding further the on the psych-folk strain” that sounds pretty awesome, but when I listened to whatever their latest record was, I didn’t really like it.  It just seemed extreme with no subtlety.

Greet Death I assume is named after the Mogwai song, which is promising.  This glowing review of their new album New Hell certainly makes me want to check them out

Greet Death’s shoegazey slowcore resembles a number of pleasing touchstones — Red House Painters, Nothing, Hum, Pedro The Lion, Dinosaur Jr., Thunder Dreamer; a few of Sam Boyhtari’s vocal runs even remind me of Dan Bejar — yet in practice they are entirely their own thing, and that thing is extremely good. These nine songs are mostly mammoth waves of sonic sludge, thick with musical texture and brimming with an energy that belies the measured pace. At its best, as one the nine-minute epic “You’re Gonna Hate What You’ve Done,” their music feels like being crushed by an avalanche while simultaneously soaring across the skyline.

Maybe this would have been the better show that night?

deafh

Read Full Post »

[POSTPONED: CANCELLED: April 2, 2020] Pussy Riot / Deli Girls

indexPussy Riot are legendary for getting arrested for singing feminist punk in Russia.

Pussy Riot’s membership is a revolving door of anonymous women, so who knows who was going to appear on stage.  And, yes, I don’t really know all that much about their music.  I just figured it was going to be a fun show.  I hope they can come back around.

I’ve never heard of Deli Girls but a review from Fader makes them sound pretty exciting

At shows, the crowd gathers around Danny Orlowski as they strut and thrash around the room, displaying their rage and vulnerability with an ugly, commanding sincerity. Tommi Kelly, meanwhile, crouches in the background over drum machines and sequencers, turning vocal samples, barking dogs, and a grab-bag of other percussive noises into a feedback-scorched blend of industrial, hardcore, and pop. It feels both brand new and ecstatically familiar, as if the ’98 Family Values Tour just crash-landed in the basement of your local punk house.

Yeah, I’d see that.  Hope they get paired up when the tour comes back.

UPDATE: On May 19, the band announced the cancellation of their tour

So sad to announce that the 2020 Pussy Riot North American tour will be canceled.  With so much uncertainty right now, it would be impossible to perform while also ensuring the health and safety of you beautiful people.  That is my number one priority.  I wanted more than anythingggg to bring everyone together to rage and rally.  But I am hopeful we will do so again.

WE WILL BE BACK IN 2021!!

riot

Read Full Post »

[POSTPONED: March 31, 2020] Soccer Mommy / Tomberlin

indexI was supposed to see Soccer Mommy open for Phoebe Bridgers a few years back.  I felt sick on the way down to the show so I wound up coming home instead.

I loved the name that Sophie Allison had chosen for her project.  Soccer Mommy had released a bunch of songs on bandcamp between 2015-2017. She put out her first “real” album just before I was supposed to see her.  She has since released Color Theory, which is getting rave reviews.  I am genuinely surprised she was able to headline Union Transfer, though.

NPR loves Soccer Mommy.  They also love Tomberlin, who is Sarah Beth Tomberlin.  I saw her Tiny Desk Concert, and thought she was okay.  I gather that her Tiny Desk Concert doesn’t really show what her live show would be like.

I was torn between this show and Vagabon on the same night. I suspect that I’d have picked Johnny Brenda’s over Union Transfer, but it’s also possible I would have just stayed home.  This was the eighteenth show I was interested in seeing in March.  Wow, what a jam-packed month.

EQrcSfvUYAA9oHq

 

Read Full Post »

[POSTPONED: March 20, 2020] Best Coast / Mannequin Pussy [moved to September 16]: SEPTEMBER DATE CANCELLED as of May 12.

indexMarch was going to be a very busy concert month for me.

After a few shows earlier this week, I was actually planning another one today.  Primarily I was excited to be seeing Mannequin Pussy, a Philly band who I saw open for Japandroids back in 2018.  They were amazing live and I’ve been wanting to see them again ever since. I missed a chance last year, but I was all psyched for this one.

I was also pretty excited for Best Coast, a band I’ve enjoyed–and really like the new single.  I have been seeing a lot of duos play live and it’s always fun to watch bands like that play with just two members (I don’t know if they play as a duo live).  At any rate, I assumed it would be a really fun set full of catchy pop punk.

I hope when they reschedule that Mannequin Pussy is back on board.

This is out to be the sixth 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.

UPDATE: On May 12, Best Coast cancelled the entire tour.

best coast

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »