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Archive for the ‘Union Transfer’ Category

They Might Be Giants: 30th Anniversary Flood Show (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, March 13, 2020) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Coronavirus, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, They Might Be Giants, Union Transfer on March 13, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: March 13, 2020] They Might Be Giants [moved to September 8]

indexMarch 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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The Districts / And the Kids / Sixteen Jackies (Union Transfer, Philadelphia PA, March 12, 2020) [NOT POSTPONED/DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in And the Kids, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Sixteen Jackies, The Districts, Union Transfer on March 12, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[NOT POSTPONED: March 12, 2020] The Districts / And the Kids / Sixteen Jackies

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

I thought that I would be starting a bunch of shows in a row with this one. Then it turned out that an event for my son that I thought was scheduled for March 19 was actually on March 12.  So that meant I would not be going to this show.

I had seen The Districts back in 2017 and enjoyed the show, but I clearly didn’t enjoy it as much as everyone else in the room who knew every word to every song.  I was much more prepared for this show, even if there was a new album about to come out for this show as well.

I was also really excited to see And the Kids, a band I have really enjoyed twice and who I can’t wait to see again.  But they had a personal tragedy affect them and they had to cancel their opening slot of the tour.  That was a major bummer.

I didn’t know Sixteen Jackies, but I had read good things about them.

Once the coronavirus started shutting down shows, I wasn’t sure if this show would get shut down.  It didn’t and it turns out it would have been my last show for quite a while if I had gone.

Sounds like it was great, but I had more important things to do.

However, I hope that when they reschedule the tour that they tack on an extra Philly day so that we can enjoy them again without the fear of contagion hanging over our heads.

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Soulwax (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, February 29, 2020) [POSTPONED]

Posted in 2manydjs, Cancelled, Philadelphia, PA, Soulwax, Union Transfer on February 29, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: February 29, 2020] Soulwax [moved to October 8]

soulwax

I haven’t thought about the Belgian band Soulwax in about 15 years.  I bought their 1998 album Much Against Everyone’s Advice and then really enjoyed brothers David and Stephen Dewaele’s side project 2ManyDJs (whose release As Heard on Radio Soulwax Pt. 2) was an amazing mash-up album).

I really had no idea they were still making muisic (and apparently putting on incredible shows).

Brooklyn Vegan said:

If you’re never seen Soulwax live, David and Stephen Dewaele treat a live band show like a DJ set, with songs flowing into one another, and builds and drops. (Their 2006 show at long-gone Brooklyn club Studio B was one of the best shows I saw that decade.) You can get a feel for what to expect on their 2017 album, From Deewee which is a seamless one-hour set they recorded live in their Deewee studio in one take.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to go to this show, but then the show was inexplicably postponed.

As Brooklyn Vegan put it:

Dammit! Soulwax were to have started their first U.S. tour in forever beginning in February but they’ve just announced that it’s been postponed. It’s not visa issues, for once, but production design for the group’s new stage set:

We are always committed to delivering the best show we can and have designed a brand new set up which sadly just won’t be ready in time for March. We are working on new dates – please look out for an announcement very soon.⁣

We would like to thank everyone who bought tickets for these shows and look forward to seeing everyone later this year.

I’m more interested than I have been in a decade.

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Temples (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, January 24, 2020)

Posted in Mew, Philadelphia, PA, Temples, The Foundry, Union Transfer on January 24, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 24, 2020] Temples [rescheduled from November 10, 2019]

2020-01-24 22.38.08_previewTemples were supposed to play Union Transfer back in November.  For some reason, their show was moved to this month and moved from Union Transfer to The Foundry (this is quite surprising considering one venue is a Live Nation property and the other isn’t).  In fact even though my Union Transfer ticket was honored, I had to go through a rather laborious process to get it switched to an official Live Nation ticket (glad I got there early).

I’m still not sure why the show was moved or why it was downgraded to a much smaller venue because Temples was fantastic and the fans were totally into it.

I loved Temples’ first album and hadn’t quite realized that they’d put out two albums since that one.  Their new sound is a bit more keyboardy/dancey instead of the big retro sound of the first album.  But the overall vibe (and excellent riffmaking) hasn’t changed from album to album. (more…)

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Mattiel / Temples (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 10, 2019) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Mattiel, Philadelphia, PA, Temples, The Foundry, Union Transfer on November 10, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[NOT ATTENDED: November 10, 2019] Mattiel/Temples [moved to January 24, 2020 at The Foundry]

I don’t know how often bands postpone their shows/tours.  I know sometimes visa problems keep bands out of the country.

Back in September I received this email about this show

Temples have postponed their fall tour and have moved their Philadelphia date to January 24th 2020. The show will no longer be taking place at Union Transfer but at The Foundry (29 E Allen St).

It seems really unusual that they would trade venues for a show. Especially since (I’ve learned a bit about venue politics) it is going from an independent venue to one owned by Live Nation. (more…)

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The New Pornographers (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 8, 2019)

Posted in Beat Club, Cub, Destroyer, Immaculate Machine, Limblifter, Maow, Neko Case, Philadelphia, PA, Suffrajett, Superconductor, The Evaporators, The New Pornographers, Union Transfer, Zumpano on November 8, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 8, 2019] The New Pornographers

Back in 2000, The New Pornographers sprang out of Vancouver and I didn’t know anything about them.  Especially that the band was made up of all manner of Canadian musicians from other groups.  I only knew that the first single “Letter From an Occupant” was awesome and I listened to it all the time.

Over the last twenty years, The New Pornographers have released reliably excellent albums.  It often seemed like out of the blue, suddenly there was another amazingly catchy song from the band.  I’m not really sure why I never thought to see them live before.  I think missing the Neko Case show in January was an impetus to get me to the show if only to see her.  (Sometimes Neko doesn’t tour with them, so I’m pretty psyched she was here on this tour).

As often happens, when a band tours they have a new album out.  Somehow I had missed this new one entirely.  Of course, I needn’t have worried that it would be good, because of course it was.  I was just worried that I wouldn’t be familiar enough with the songs when they played them.

The lineup has remained remarkably consistent for a band made up of people who all have other bands that tour.  They’ve had a couple of drummers, but otherwise, no changes.  Except for one rather large one.  Dan Bejar, the fantastic lyricist and singer of the band Destroyer more or less officially left the band a couple of years ago. Although he is currently described as a former and possibly future member of the band. So no hard feelings. (more…)

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Lady Lamb (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 8, 2019) [THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS]

Posted in Jeni Magana, Katie Von Schleicher, Lady Lamb, Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, Mitski, Neko Case, South X Lullaby, The New Pornographers, Union Transfer on November 8, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 8, 2019] Lady Lamb

I didn’t know anything about Lady Lamb before this show.  Normally I look up a band before seeing them, but for some reason, I didn’t really investigate her at all.

Lady Lamb is the stage name of Aly Spaltro, (it was formerly Lady Lamb the Beekeeper).  She is a musician from Maine.

I really enjoyed her set a lot.  Her vocal style is direct and powerful (she can reach the back of a room with no problem) and yet the backing vocals added all kinds of interesting layers to her songs.

What I loved about her music was how unexpected it was.  I mean, yes, it was drums, guitar, keys and bass, but there were so many times when the music would briefly get loud or change directions for a few bars and then move on to something else.  As if her indy rock was battling a dose of prog. (more…)

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Kishi Bashi (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 4, 2019)

Posted in Cicada Rhythm, Guster, Ian Anderson, Kishi Bashi, Philadelphia, PA, Pip the Pansy, Talking Heads, Tall Tall Trees, Union Transfer on November 4, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 4, 2019] Kishi Bashi

This is now the fourth time we’ve seen Kishi Bashi.  The first time was magical–he was solo doing his amazing looping and violin playing.  The second time he opened for Guster and even played with them, which was thrilling.  The third time was at Union Transfer with a small band.  The sound was bigger and really fun.  And K crowd surfed.

This was the fourth time and his band was even bigger.  He had stage decor (what looked like grass and a giant crane in the background).  And his latest album is full of all kinds of instrumentation beyond the violin.  K. played guitar and keys as well as violin.

It also happened to be K’s birthday!  He had posted a few days earlier that it was his birthday at our show.  I contemplated bringing him something, but that seemed silly.

The band came out on stage with frequent collaborator Mike Savino (known as Tall Tall Trees) on bass, Ryan Oslance on drums, Dave Kirslis from Cicada Rhythm on guitar and the most wonderfully dressed musician on flute.  It took me a few songs before I learned that Pip the Pansy was the stunning flautist who kept her flute in a quiver on her back.  She was so much fun to watch and made incredible music.

Then K. came out.  K. always looks nice in a jacket with a bow tie.

He then proceeded to play “Marigolds” from the new album.  I listened to the new album a lot and really like it.  But somehow, I didn’t recognize this song until almost half way through it.  I don’t know if its because the band made it sound so much bigger or that I was so overwhelmed by everything happening, but I actually thought it was a new song until the chorus came back around.  (more…)

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Cicada Rhythm (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 4, 2019) [KISHI BASHI]

Posted in Cicada Rhythm, Kishi Bashi, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on November 4, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 4, 2019] Cicada Rhythm 

The last time we saw Kishi Bashi at Union Transfer, his opening act was Twain.  We hated Twain.  Probably more in retrospect now that we’ve joked about him so often.  But Kishi Bashi talked about how much he loved Twain.  So we were a little concerned about who might be opening for this tour.

The band proved to be a duo called Cicada Rhythm.

They were a delightful couple, recently married.  Andrea DeMarcus plays upright bass (she is Julliard-trained) and and Dave Kirslis plays guitar (electric and acoustic).

They were sweet and adorable and very very sincere. (more…)

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Idles (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 15, 2019)

Posted in Bob Boilen, Bruce Springsteen, Grease, Idles, Paula Cole, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on October 15, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 15, 2019] Idles

I learned about Idles through NPR (of course).  I can recall Bob Boilen talking about their live show (I think at SXSW) and how amazing it was.  He said that they were very high on his must-see list.  And since then I have wanted to see them.  When they announced the show at Union Transfer I bought a ticket immediately.

I never really understand how bands become popular over here.  Most people I know have not heard of Idles.  And yet this show sold out very quickly.  I don’t understand why, given how many other bands that I think are bigger don’t sell out.  Maybe Philly just loves punk.

I know that Philly loves a mosh pit.  And boy did they ever get one.  Well, technically it wasn’t so much a mosh pit as a pogoing, bouncing, swarming mass of bodies.  And lots of crowd surfing–including from the band!

I knew a couple of Idles songs pretty well, but I didn’t know a lot of their songs.  However, I knew their basic style: lead vocalist Joe Talbot kind of speak/sings/screams lyrics of disaffection and the band alternates between quiet sections and full-on mayhem. (more…)

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