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Archive for the ‘Union Transfer’ Category

Strand of Oaks (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, March 10, 2017)

Posted in Baroness, Eliza Hardy Jones, Jason Anderson, John Baizley, Philadelphia, PA, Strand of Oaks, Tim Showalter, Twin Limb, Union Transfer on March 10, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 10, 2017] Strand of Oaks

Back in December I saw Strand of Oaks at Boot and Saddle.  It was just Tim Showalter and Jason Anderson and they were great.  It was very intimate, it was the third night of a three night stint and everyone was loose and having fun.

At the show, they were selling tickets this March appearance at Union Transfer–which was going to be the whole band.  So I decided to get a ticket that night, for a good comparison.

While waiting for the band to come on, I wound up talking to a bunch of people who were huge fans.  I found out that his previous keyboardist was Eliza Hardy Jones who has since gone solo rather successfully–she was evidently at XPNFest last year, when we were there.  One lady told me that the last time she saw Strand of Oaks, Showalter stage dove right where she was standing (which is where I was standing).  The guy she was with said that last time he saw them, they opened with “Cinnamon Girl,” and they talked about how this was a hometown show and he would go all out–especially since the venue was far more filled than the previous time. (more…)

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Twin Limb (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, March 10, 2017) [STRAND OF OAKS]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Strand of Oaks, Twin Limb, Union Transfer on March 10, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 10, 2017] Twin Limb

I had never heard of Twin Limb when they opened for Strand of Oaks.  So I was pretty surprised to walk in on them setting up and to notice a giant accordion on the left side of the stage.

And then on the right side of the stage, facing the accordion was the drumset.  In between was a guy with a guitar.

Twin Limb is the creation of Maryliz Bender (drums, vocals) and Lacey Guthrie (accordion, vocals).  I’m not sure exactly what they sounded like initially.  But a year or so after they formed, they teamed up with Kevin Ratterman (sampled sounds, guitar) and their sound evidently changed pretty dramatically.

I don’t know what it was before, but it was fantastic when I saw them. (more…)

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Japandroids (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, February 25, 2017)

Posted in Canadian Music, Craig Finn, Japandroids, Philadelphia, PA, Rock duo, The Saints, Union Transfer on February 25, 2017| Leave a Comment »

2017-02-25-23-47-33[ATTENDED: February 25, 2017] Japandroids

I was mostly excited to see Japandroids because in addition to liking their music, I wanted to see how two guys could be so powerful live.  I’d also heard that their live shows were a ton of fun.  And was it ever.

Interestingly, I had tickets for the Friday night show, which sold out.  But then something more important came up–a father daughter dance.  I was able to get my ticket to someone I work with and he enjoyed Friday night and I was still able to get a ticket for Saturday night.  So everybody won.  There was also some joking from Brian King the guitarist/singer that Friday night was a better crowd–until the Saturday night crowd decided to prove him wrong.  They were also filming on our night, so I wonder if anything will ever come of that.

But back to the show.  When the crew set up their gear, I was surprised to see them putting the drum set literally right in front of me, sideways–facing the guitar.  I knew that he faced that way but didn’t think they put him right a the front of the stage. (more…)

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Craig Finn (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, February 25, 2017) [JAPANDROIDS]

Posted in Bruce Springsteen, Craig Finn, Japandroids, Lifter Puller, My Morning Jacket, Philadelphia, PA, The Hold Steady, Union Transfer on February 25, 2017| Leave a Comment »

2017-02-25-21-21-28[ATTENDED: January 31, 2017] Craig Finn

The universe has insisted that I see Craig Finn perform.  Last year he opened for My Morning Jacket, but my friend Jay and I arrived late and missed his whole set.  Well, here was a second chance.

Back then I had assumed that Craig Finn was one of the Finns from Crowded House.  It wasn’t until that MMJ concert that I discovered he was the guy from The Hold Steady, a band I’d never listened to.  I didn’t know much about him beyond that except that his delivery was kind of spoken/sung and there were comparisons to Bruce Springsteen.

I had gotten up pretty close to the stage, and I was surrounded by diehard Finn fans, so I felt like a bit of an imposter.  But he didn’t seem to mind and he played a really enjoyable set.

Given how raucous the Japandroids were he seemed like a bit of an odd match, but he certainly has a punk vibe, even if his songs are not very loud. (more…)

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Parquet Courts (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, January 31, 2017)

Posted in Beck, Dave Matthews Band, Matchbox 20, Napoleon Dynamite, Parkay Quarts, Parquet Courts, Philadelphia, PA, Smashing Pumpkins, The Rolling Stones, Toadies, Union Transfer on January 31, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 31, 2017] Parquet Courts

2017-01-31-21-54-46I was under the impression that Parquet Courts had been around for a while (they have 4 LPs and 3 EPS out), but they formed in 2010 and their first album to gain notice was released in 2012.  They’re just really prolific.

When I heard they were playing Philly I grabbed tickets right away assuming it would sell out.  I don’t think it did, but that didn’t stop it from being a really enjoyable, if brief, first concert of 2017.

I thought of Parquet Courts as a pretty  punky band–some of their songs are quite noisy and fast (and short).  But just the other night I watched them play, “Human Performance” on TV and I was quite surprised to see how kinda dorky they all looked–Oxford shirts and sweaters and the like–not stereotypical punks at all.  Which was cool.

I had arrived plenty early and was only one person from the stage when they started (not always great for sound but great for pictures).  (more…)

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Mary Lattimore (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, January 31, 2017) [PARQUET COURTS]

Posted in Hop Along, Jarvis Cocker, Jeff Zeigler, Kurt Vile, Mary Lattimore, Parkay Quarts, Parquet Courts, Philadelphia, PA, Quilt, Sharon Van Etten, Thurston Moore, Union Transfer on January 31, 2017| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 31, 2017] Mary Lattimore

2017-01-31-20-21-17I wasn’t sure who would be opening for Parquet Courts.  I was surprised and delighted to see that the opening act was going to be a harpist.   I had never heard of Mary Lattimore before, although on looking her up it seems quite likely that I have heard her before–she seems to be a go-to harpist for a lot of bands [a shortened list includes these records: Thurston Moore – Demolished Thoughts ; Jarvis Cocker – Further Complications ; Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo & Wakin on a Pretty Daze ; Sharon Van Etten – Are We There? ; Quilt – Plaza ; Hop Along – Painted Shut].

When I arrived her harp was onstage–lit up and gorgeous–and I was really excited to hear her show.

She came out while we were waiting and made some final adjustments.  And then a few minutes later she sat down at the harp, quietly thanked us for coming and began playing. (more…)

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Mike Gordon (Union Transfer, Philadelphia PA, November 28, 2016)

Posted in Beck, Fiona Apple, Marco Benevento, Max Creek, Mike Gordon, Philadelphia, PA, Phish, Robert Palmer, Union Transfer on November 28, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 28, 2016] Mike Gordon

mgfall_insta-768x567I saw Phish for the first time this summer.  But I’ve been a fan of the band (especially their live stuff) for years. And while Trey Anastasio is the defacto leader of the band, I’ve always loved Mike–his bass playing is funky, his songs are a catchy and he seems like  a generally fun guy.

2016-11-28-23-38-12So when I saw that he was playing a small club tour, I grabbed tickets right away.  With Phish I could never get anywhere near the stage, but here at Union Transfer I could have been literally up against the stage.  I was frankly surprised at how uncrowded the show was–where were all the Phish-heads?

I really like Mike’s album Overstep (from 2014), and was happy to see he’d be playing songs from that album as well as covers and new songs.

But aside from that I didn’t really know exactly what to expect.  I wasn’t sure if the point of this band was to be different from Phish–short structured songs–or just a chance to play with different people or what. (more…)

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Dinosaur Jr. (Union Transfer, Philadelphia PA, November 26, 2016)

Posted in Dinosaur Jr., J. Mascis, Jane's Addiction, Lou Barlow, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on November 26, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 26, 2016] Dinosaur Jr.

2016-11-26-22-33-27I saw Dinosaur Jr. open up for Jane’s Addiction this summer.  I enjoyed their set (in fact, I was really going mostly to see them although I did like Jane’s as well).  But after it was over, I realized that I didn’t want to see them as an opening act. I needed a full show.

So even though it had been just a few months, when I saw that they were doing a headlining tour, I decided to check them out again.  And I’m really glad I did.  They played twice as many songs and were on more than twice as long.

The guys were able to stretch their songs out more and to pick from a really diverse set of songs.  2016-11-26-23-15-04Of course, being the headliners didn’t mean anything fancy–their stage set up (amps and more amps) was exactly the same as this summer.  And it’s possible that J. Mascis talked even less.  They were there simply to rock.

2016-11-26-22-59-14The only time that bassist Lou Barlow spoke was to berate people for complaining that they couldn’t hear the vocals.  The same thing happened at the summer show as well.  Barlow seemed pretty angry as he told us that we were standing in front of the guitar amps and that the vocals were coming through the house speakers.  So if we wanted to hear the vocals we needed to move to the back of the club.  “It’s Fucking Physics!”  I didn’t move back (the show was pretty crowded and I had a good spot), but I was able to hear the vocals much better than at the Summer Stage show.  I had planned that I would stand nearer the back to see if it was true, but I had a hard time passing up the chance to be so close. (more…)

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Easy Action (Union Transfer, Philadelphia PA, November 26, 2016) [DINOSAUR JR.]

Posted in Dinosaur Jr., Easy Action, Laughing Hyenas, Negative Approach, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on November 26, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 26, 2016] Easy Action

2016-11-26-20-44-16I had never heard of Easy Action when I saw that they were opening for Dinosaur Jr.  When I looked them up online I was taken to a Swedish glam metal band.  I was fairly surprised.

Then somehow I figured out it wasn’t that Easy Action.  Rather, this Easy Action is the creation of singer John Brannon.  Brannon is apparently notorious (or at least well-known), although I had never heard of him. He was in the punk band Negative Approach who I had heard of but didn’t know (they only released an Ep and an album).  And then later Laughing Hyenas who I also don’t know.  He formed Easy Action in 2001 and they released a second album in 2005.  And not much since then.

During the show, Brannon said it had been a couple of years since they’d played together and he thanked J. for getting them all back on stage.

About the only thing that Easy Action had in common with Dinosaur Jr. was that they were loud.  I arrived a few minutes into their set and I could hear them outside the building.  When I walked in the room, it was so loud that I had to stuff the earplugs in my ears as I ran to the bathroom. (more…)

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Shellac (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 25, 2016)

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Shellac, Union Transfer on October 26, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 26, 2016] Shellac

2016-10-25-22-32-01My friend Andrew asked me if I wanted to go to see Shellac.  They were a band I liked in the 1990s and had kind of forgotten about, although I did get and enjoy their album from last year, Dude Incredible.  And I thought that they would be a fun band to see live.

Shellac is known as Steve Albini’s band.  Albini is a famous record producer and famously cantankerous dude.  But people love the clarity and crispness of the sounds he gets.  On the Shellac albums, the guitars are so sharp and piercing that they feel textural.  But he also doesn’t mix things super loud, so nothing is overloaded.  Things are sharp and crisp.  And that is the same for the drums.  Drummer Todd Trainer’s snare drum really pops and the rest of his kit is just as sharp sounding.

On the other end is bassist Bob Weston.  Weston has one of the best bass sounds I’ve ever heard.  Deep and resonant, clean but not pretty.  While the guitar may be the most notable thing about Shellac, it’s the bass that sounds so impressive on those records.  And the three together make loud aggressive sorta punk, with Albini’s spoken/screamed lyrics.  This was definitely a show to bring earplugs to.

The sound of Shellac is quite minimal and, appropriate, so was the stage show.  Before the show Andrew and I joked that the blue gels covering the lights would be too much embellishment for the band.  And indeed, when they came on stage, there were eight white spotlights that lit them from the back.  And that was it.  It was all about the sound. (more…)

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