Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Radiator Hospital, Union Transfer on June 3, 2018| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: June 3, 2018] Radiator Hospital
Radiator Hospital is a Philly band led by Sam Cook-Parrott.
They write short, punky songs with Cook-Parrott singing most of them.
In an interview he said
Usually, I write simple songs so we can learn them quickly and then play shows. But then six months after we recorded it, we will look back at the recorded version and think we play [those songs] much better now after playing at shows all the time.
Posted in Fascinator, Ian Anderson, Philadelphia, PA, Pond, Tame Impala, The Flaming Lips, The Sydney Morning Herald, Union Transfer on May 29, 2018| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: May 29, 2018] Pond [rescheduled from January 12]
Pond was supposed to play here back in January. But because of our corrupt leader’s immigration policies, they couldn’t get visas in time. They had to postpone the tour. Luckily they made it back in May and the opener, Fascinator, remained the same.
I didn’t really know Pond all that well, but I knew they were connected to Tame Impala and that was a good thing. So I listened to a few songs, decided they were pretty good and decided to see them live.
Well, apparently they have a massive fan base because the crowd behind me (I was pretty close to the stage) was berserk for the band, especially singer Nick Allbrook who was a bundle of energy.
When they came out the crowd freaked out and there was much shrieking and yelling behind me. Nonplussed by the yells, the band started with “30,000 Megatons” the outstanding first track off of their new album The Weather. (more…)
Posted in Fascinator, Philadelphia, PA, Pond, The Sydney Morning Herald, Union Transfer on May 29, 2018| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: May 29, 2018] Fascinator [rescheduled from January 12]
Fascinator is Australia’s Johnny Mackay he was the frontman of Children Collide, an alt-rock outfit, but he was always experimenting with electronic music so he created Fascinator as a side project. Then he moved to New York and Fascinator became his main project.
I have to admit that when I first looked up Fascaintor, and read stories like this: he’s turned Fascinator live shows into something wild, whimsical, and theatrical, employing masks, costumes and a rotating cast of backing performers (from The Sydney Morning Herald), I had high hopes for a wild show.
I mean, here’s a quote from the man himself:
“There’s this character I’ve created, this cosmic shaman from space, Lord Fascinator, who comes down and visits Earth and shows people the magical melodies he’s created,” Mackay says. “I often perform behind a mask, and sometimes I’ll have 13 people on stage, all wearing matching masks and kaftans.”
Well, Fascinator wasn’t all that wild. Lord Fascinator came out with long blond hair and sunglasses wearing a white kaftan, cloth pants (a 
very different all-white from Andrew W.k.) and interesting shoes.
He has also said
“For a while I had an ‘air instruments only’ policy. I’d be making all the music, but I’d have an air guitarist, air drummer, air whatever. We played this show at the Bowery Ballroom, supporting Pond. And there was this guy in the audience cracking the shits about it. He was yelling out ‘You’re not even playing real instruments!’ It was like ‘um, yeah, we know’.
For our show Lord Fascinator had one accompanist, Lord Decorator. Lord Decorator did not play air instruments, he played oud and hand drums and violin. He dd not wear a mask although he did wear a kaftan.
Fascinator came out with his white guitar and a little electronic contraption. He started a beat, manipulated the pitch, created some kind of sounds (I don’t know if everything eh made was live or not), played some cool trippy guitar and sang.
Essentially that’s what he did for 45 minutes. There were many tempo changes and presumably many different songs. Lord Decorator changed instruments constantly and it was clear that one song was ending and a new one was starting–Lord Fascinator often changed the drum beat to a new tempo, but he never stopped the flow of th emusic while changing things up.
What was quite fun was when he brought out his old Casio DG-20 which he played for almost all of the rest of the set. I had never seen one in the wild before so that was really fun. The sounds weren’t quite as crazy as I assumed they’d be, but I i did see him change the programming bunch of chimes (lift the guitar into the light to see what the buttons are, push something, move on).
Basically the set was about 45 minute of psychedelically, vaguely Middle Eastern music. It was largely dancey–the guys behind me were a pool of sweat from dancing so much–but with some really cool sounds and effects and accompaniment.
So it wasn’t the wild mask-covered air guitar show that I imagined, but it was certainly an enjoyable set. He has a new album out, i wonder if as a headliner he tends to go all out with the costumery.
Posted in Andrew WK, Destroy Build Destroy, Philadelphia, PA, Pizza, Union Transfer on May 21, 2018| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: May 21, 2018] Andrew W.K.
When Andrew W.K. first came on the scene, I enjoyed what I thought of as his dopey party music. It seemed a little one note, but it was sure fun.
Then I learned more and more about the guy and decided I really liked him, even if I didn’t get into any more of his music.
Then he put out a record of piano music (he is a long-trained pianist) It was all instrumental and improvised and he did a Tiny Desk Concert piano improv (which was interesting if not a little disappointing).
Then some kind of strange legal things happened and he stopped making music (more or less) and did motivational speaking and went into TV. He made the terrific show Destroy Build Destroy and my kids became fans of him (although not his music). (more…)
Posted in Andrew WK, David Fantasy & Adult Content, Philadelphia, PA, Sex, Union Transfer, West Philadelphia Orchestra on May 21, 2018| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: May 21, 2018] David Fantasy & Adult Content
When I saw that David Fantasy & Adult Content were opening for Andrew W.K., I had to do some research to see what they were all about.
Somehow, it led me to this page from the West Philadelphia Orchestra, a band David Fishkin joined a few years ago:
Shortly after joining, I had a conversation with my mother about the special connection that WPO has with people who dance to our music. My mother said, “David, why don’t you start a dance band?” I thought to myself, “Indeed, why not?” But I don’t think my mother could have imagined the band that I was inspired to create: David Fantasy & Adult Content. We are a party band, dedicated to making bodies move in rhythm. As my alter ego, singer David Fantasy, I have been known to implore audiences to “get up and shake their asses.”
As a music educator, I am a member of the faculty of the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts, as well as a woodwind teaching artist through the youth program of Symphony In C. I also teach private lessons in saxophone, flute and clarinet.
This show was all-ages. Some of Andrew W.K.’s fans are little (as evidenced by the guy at the merch table who bought a bobble-head for his nine-year-old girl. Why didn’t you bring her? The merch guy asked).
Given this piece of information, I assumed that David Fantasy & Adult Content would be a kind of double entendre band, with David Fantasy (not a stereotypical hunk) playing up the funny. (more…)
Posted in Courtney Barnett, Jen Cloher, Kurt Vile, Palehound, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on May 16, 2018| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: May 16, 2018] Courtney Barnett
I’ve enjoyed Courtney Barnett since I first heard her a few years ago. I had also heard that her lives shows were fantastic and put her high on my list of artists to see.
So when she and Kurt Vile did a tour together Sarah and I were right there.
But that was a different thing altogether. The Kurt and Courtney show was pretty laid back and folkie. Whereas Courtney’s solo music tends to be loud and confrontational.
So when she set out to tour for her upcoming album (which came out two days after we saw her), I grabbed tickets right away (they sold out by the end of the day). (more…)
Posted in Courtney Barnett, Johnny Brenda's, Palehound, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on May 16, 2018| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: May 16, 2018] Palehound
I saw Palehound three months ago at Johnny Brenda’s. This may be the shortest span between concerts for any band that I’ve seen.
Last time they were opening for Weaves. For this show Palehound was opening of Courtney Barnett.
I was very excited to see them again because I enjoyed their last set so much.
Guitarist/songwriter Ellen Kempner, is a great front woman–she blasts the guitar and is really great at her solos.
The set was similar to what they played last time, with a different slow song and no “My Pet Carrot.” But it was full of raging rockers that got us pumped for Courtney. (more…)
Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Tiny Desk Concert, tUnE-yArDs, Union Transfer, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on May 10, 2018| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: May 10, 2018] tUnE-yArDs
W
hen I first saw tUnE-yArDs on a Tiny Desk I was really impressed by Merrill Garbus’ set up. I loved that she looped things so much–she may have been my first real exposure to that much looping.
I also loved that she played a kind of modified ukulele. And I really liked her voice which was so unexpected for someone who looked like she does. When I first heard them I assumed she was African American.
I loved the album w h o k i l l, but hadn’t really heard that much from them since. There’s a new song that WXPN has been playing “Look at Your Hands” which I liked, but I didn’t hear anything else from the album.
So based on the Tiny Desk, tUnE-yArDs had been very high on my list of bands to see. But that was many years earlier. I still had high expectations and I found myself not exactly disappointed but like something of an outsider at the show. Because while I didn’t know that much of her new music, the rest of the crowd knew everything and danced accordingly.
I had hoped to get tickets to see her club show at Boot & Saddle. I don’t know how different that small show was but this show was simultaneously large and small.
I had heard that there were previously saxophones, background vocalists and percussionists on stage with her. For this show there was only Hamir Atwal on drums and her musical partner Nate Brenner.
The stage set up was sparse: a big white backdrop and Garbus on a raised platform. The drums on her right, the bass on her left.
Garbus still loops with abandon. Indeed, Shara Nova made a comment about Garbus’ feet. The key to Garbus looping (and there was plenty), is that she does a lot of the work with her feet. However, there was a monitor in front of her feet so you couldn’t watch what she was doing up there. That kinda stunk.
But she had a ton of energy. She played a small drum pad a modified ukulele and those loop pedals. She danced around on her platform and occasionally, briefly came down to the audience and danced a bit before heading back to her station.
Garbus and crew recreated three songs from the new album. And everyone around me sang along.
I thought that Nate Brenner’s bass was too loud in the mix, but when he played a high riff it sounded great.
I loved hearing “Look At Your Hands” live where the dynamic was seven more dramatic than on record.
She played only one song from Nicki Nack, the catchy and pointed (like nearly every other songs) “Water Fountain.”
And then it was on to the songs from Who Kill that I was really excited to hear: “Es-So ” and “Powa.”
I had heard a lot about her new album which explores the nature of her relationship to African culture. I’d always wondered about her voice and her intonations, just how African it sounds. So in a recent interview in GQ she says:
When I was in college I studied Kiswahili, translating plays from Swahili into English and taking lots of African Studies classes and African American literature classes. I went to Kenya and was just so disgusted by the role of white people in colonial history—and, most importantly, present day postcolonial dynamics—that I just shut down. For years I felt like, “There’s no way I can make the music that I want to, which is all influenced by black music.” Bird-Brains, the first tUnE-yArDs album, was almost called White Guilt. So from the beginning of tUnE-yArDs, I have been grappling really awkwardly with that. The song “Jamaican,” a lot of it was me talking to myself: What’s going on here? Do you have a right [to make this]? Why is this music coming out of me? What will people think?
S
he grapples with serious issues of white guilt and colonization (like the song “Colonizer”). These songs are powerful and thoughtful. And yet for the most part they are incredibly dancey.
In that interview she said:
I want people to dance. Really. That seems so simplistic an answer, but I really value the ceremony of bringing people together into a specific space and not thinking so much. [laughs] Ironically. I know there’s a lot to think about with this music, but when essentials of music take over… seeing people be literally on the same wavelength? It’s super powerful. I felt like making people dance was the right thing.
The audience enjoyed the show tremendously and there was ample dancing. and I enjoyed hearing her make the music, but I never quite felt on the same wavelength as everyone else. Her appropriations of African culture (even how she danced) made me unconformable. I knew what she was trying to address, but the music was more in my head than in my body.,
Knowing that she has bona-fides in the area makes things better, but can’t change the way I felt about the show.
Having said that, the encore of “Bizness” was totally killer.
This is a setlist from a few shows earlier, but I think it’s pretty spot on.
Posted in My Brightest Diamond, Philadelphia, PA, The Decemberists, Union Transfer on May 10, 2018| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: May 10, 2018] My Brightest Diamond
I only knew about My Brightest Diamond because Shara Worden sang on The Decemberists’ Hazard of Love album. She sings some pretty intense stuff on it, so I looked her up. Well, it turns out that Shara has changed her name to Shara Nova. But nothing has changed about her voice.
She is dramatic and operatic with amazing power.
I didn’t really know much about the band’s music, so when the lights went down and Aaron Steel sat at the drumkit, I waited for the rest of the band to show up on stage.
Then some synths started and I heard Shara singing. But she wasn’t on stage. I was still trying to figure out how close I wanted to get to the stage (experimenting with how close you had to be before the voice started getting lost) when I turned around and there she was singing in the middle of the floor. (more…)
Posted in Allison Crutchfield, Feminism, Katie Crutchfield, Kevin Morby, Philadelphia, PA, Superchunk, Swearin', Union Transfer, Waxahatchee on April 16, 2018| Leave a Comment »
[ATTENDED: April 16, 2018] Waxahatchee
I really enjoyed the newest Waxahatchee album and I was keen on seeing them/her. Waxahatchee is more or less the work of Katie Crutchfield.
It amused me that I had purchased a ticket for this show and then a few weeks later I got a ticket for Superchunk and their opening band was Swearin’. One of the lead singers in Swearin’ is Allison Crutchfield, Katie’s sister. So I’d be seeing both Crutchfield sisters in less than a month.
I also learned recently that Allison usually performs with Katie in Waxahatchee when they tour. And she did. So I have seen and heard Allison Crutchfield quite a lot in the last month or so.
They played for an hour and ten minutes. How do I know this? Because the guy in front of me filmed the entire show on his phone and I could see the timer at the top. And not just standing still and filming, he was swooping and angling, zooming in and trying to get every scene. It was a little creepy to be behind him, I must admit.
Both Katie and Allison called Philadelphia home for a while, so this was a homecoming for them. Katie said that she wrote most of the new album while in Philly. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 