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Archive for the ‘Union Transfer’ Category

The Linda Lindas / Pinkshift (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, April 21, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Pinkshift, The Linda Lindas, Union Transfer on April 21, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 21, 2025] The Linda Lindas / Pinkshift

When I saw this lineup, I assumed that The Linda Lindas were opening for Pinkshift.  But of course it makes a lot more sense that The Linda Lindas would be headlining since they are well known and opened for The Rolling Stones.

I got to see The Linda Lindas when they played The Foundry.  It was fun, they were fun, and I had a great time.  I wasn’t sure if I’d need to see them again so when they played Union Transfer (a huge jump) that was a good test for if I needed to see them again and the answer was not really.

Nothing against them and I wish them much success but I got to see it once and that was good enough for me.

I’ve seen Pinkshift three or four times now and I enjoy their energy and politics.  The last time I saw them I didn’t have quite as much fun for some reason so even they didn’t make me want to go to this show.

I’ll bet it rocked though.

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Ani DiFranco: Unprecedented Shit! / Wryn (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, April 15, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Ani DiFranco, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, Wryn on April 15, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 15, 2025] Ani DiFranco / Wryn

Back in the day I loved Ani DiFranco.  I loved her independent spirit and that she released her own albums on her own label.  I loved her acoustic albums, I loved her more rocking albums. I saw her a few times and she was incredible live.  And then at some point she changed her sound.  She added horns and started to sound a bit more like Prince.  These aren’t necessarily bad things but I didn’t like the new stuff at all and so I completely lost touch with her.

I didn’t even realize she was still putting out records. Her most recent was Unprecedented Sh!t  and here she was touring it.  I had no plans to go but I am pleased she sold out Union Transfer.

Wryn plays acoustic guitar music that rocks once in a while.  They have a good voice and a good sense of melody.  The album is out on Righteous Babe, and there’s an early Ani feel. I might have to dive in a bit more.

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The Spirit of the Beehive (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, March 5, 2025)

Posted in Kassie Krut, Palm, Philadelphia, PA, Polo Perks <3<3<3, The Spirit of the Beehive, Union Transfer on March 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 5, 2025] The Spirit of the Beehive [rescheduled from November 9, 2024]

I saw The Spirit of the Beehive seven years ago and they were outstanding live.  Here it was all this time later and I was able to see them again.

I enjoyed them–they were weird and fun to watch.  I wasn’t sure I ever needed to see the again, but I figured I’d see what they’d been up to for the last 7 years.

Their set was wild and chaotic.  Again, I was right at the barrier, so I’m sure I missed a lot.  Like last time, I couldn’t tell if the songs were really short or much longer.  The first song I thought might have been three different ones.  It was made even mor confusing because the musicians would switch instruments in the middle.  Their third guitarist Phil Warner, switched from electric to acoustic and back again in one song.

I also really enjoyed watching drummer Sean Hallock keep time to all of the different changes and styles of music (often in one song).

Zack Schwartz was on the far side from me and I felt like I heard his vocals the least, although his guitar was clear.  Bassist (mostly) Rivka Ravede has a fantastic bass sound–I loved when you could hear it over the rest of the music. She also sings on nearly every song, which is great–it adds so much dimension to the songs to have two (or three) lead vocalists in one song.

I was right in front of Corey Wichlin who sang a lot of lead parts in very different vocal styles–it was often hard to know who was singing.  He also played guitars and keys and the occasional triangle. (more…)

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Kassie Krut (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, March 5, 2025) [THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE]

Posted in Kassie Krut, Palm, Philadelphia, PA, Polo Perks <3<3<3, The Spirit of the Beehive, Union Transfer on March 6, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 5, 2025] Kassie Krut [rescheduled from November 9, 2024]

I saw The Spirit of the Beehive seven years ago and they were outstanding live.  Here it was all this time later and I was able to see them again.  The opening band was Kassie Krut who I’d never heard of. I looked them up and found out that Kassie Krut was formed from Palm!

The band was formed by Kasra Kurt, guitarist, who wanted to explore more electronic music and Eve Alpert (both of who are phenomenal guitarists but who play no guitars on the album).  They were joined by Matt Anderegg on drums.

Their EP is loud and dancey and fun, but very noisy.  And live they were noisy, noisy and more noisy.  As with Polo Perks, this may have been because I was so close to the stage.  But I believe that all of the sounds were coming from the overhead speakers (there were no guitar amps to have sound coming from the stage).  Whatever the case I absolutely could not hear Eve singing (except the quieter bits of Reckless) and I couldn’t hear Kasra at all when he took to the mic.

Matt was on my right playing an electronic drum kit,  It was fun to watch because the bass pedal was literally a pedal hitting a small pad, slightly larger than the pedal itself, but it was cavernously loud.  The rest of the pads that he played generated all kinds of percussive sounds. (more…)

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Polo Perks <3<3<3 (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, March 5, 2025) [THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE]

Posted in Kassie Krut, Palm, Philadelphia, PA, Polo Perks <3<3<3, The Spirit of the Beehive, Union Transfer on March 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 5, 2025] Polo Perks ❤ ❤ ❤ [rescheduled from November 9, 2024]

I saw The Spirit of the Beehive seven years ago and they were outstanding live.  Here it was all this time later and I was able to see them again.

Originally, the opening band was Kassie Krut, but sometime more recently they added Polo Perks ❤ ❤ ❤ to the roster.

I’d never heard of him and didn’t know if the ❤ was part of his name (it is) or if it’s supposed to be three asses or what (I still don’t).  Apparently, he is a NYC drill pioneer.

His DJ came out first, set up a folding table, laid down a laptop and a mic and started a beat.  Then Polo Perks came out on stage.  His DJ tried to get everyone really hyped up.  I was at the barrier and couldn’t see who was behind me.  But the guy next to me knew a lot of the words. (more…)

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Alcest (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, February 20, 2025)

Posted in Alcest, Kaelan Mikla, Kælan Mikla, Mono, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on February 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 20, 2025] Alcest 

I hadn’t heard of Alcest before this tour.  I was mostly excited when I saw that Mono was playing Union Transfer.  But when I listened to Alcest, I rather liked them.  Especially their latest album Les Chants de l’aurore, which is the album they were touring.

So Alcest has been around for almost 20 years, although their first album came out in 2007.  After some lineup changes, the band was solely the work of Stéphane “Neige” Paut who played everything.  In 2009, drummer Winterhalter from Les Discrets joined Alcest, after eight years with Neige as its sole full-time member.  Neige still plays everything except drums on the records.

Since 2010, the live shows include Pierre “Zero” Corson on second guitar and backing vocals and Indria Saray on bass.

I was really pleased with my spot near the stage when, with moments to go before the band came out, two women pushed their way up next to me taking up more room than there was between us.  And when the band started she proceeded to either really get into it or was just messing with me as she kept putting her hands through her hair and then raising her arms high and wide for minutes at a time.  I’ve literally never had one person ruin a show as much as this sociopath did.

Fortunately she (presumably) got sick after four songs.  She was clearly very drunk, and then after a couple of songs she seemed to just stop and stare straight ahead of her and then after the fourth song she bolted for the back of the room (to which a guy behind me said, thank god).  Her friend (who was very short) then proceeded to take up enough space for both of them, headbanging in a way that ensured you didn’t want to stand behind her.  A song or two later, she received a text and then headed to the back of the room.  In my mind, the tall one got drunk and nauseous and them ruined the second half of the show for herself and her friend after she ruined the first part of the show for me and everyone around me. (more…)

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Mono (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, February 20, 2025) [ALCEST]

Posted in Alcest, Kaelan Mikla, Kælan Mikla, Mono, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on February 21, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 20, 2025] Mono

I saw Mono back in 2019 and I was blown away by their show.  I haven’t been able to see them since, and I was mildly bummed that they were opening instead of headlining this show.  But any chance to see them is a good one.  And, it introduced me to Alcest!

The crowd was really really into Mono.  In fact a couple of people up front left after their set.

They played mostly new songs.  All of their songs are instrumental and sound vaguely similar, so I can’t tell them apart.  That’s not an insult, they play seven to ten minute epic tracks that build to varying degrees of intensity and I could listen to them all night.

I was in front of guitarist Hideki “Yoda” Suematsu who is described as a rhythm guitarist but who does a lot more than that.   Bassist Tamaki Kunishi was in the middle (except for the one song she played keys on).   And Takaakira “Taka” Goto was on the far side of the stage (and hard to see on the mostly dark atmosphere).

Their drummer Dahm Majuri Cipolla was tucked in behind a rack of amps, and it was hard to see him.  He also had a gong!  And I was a little bummed that I could only see a part of it, but it was cool to see him smack it on two different songs. (more…)

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Kælan Mikla (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, February 20, 2025) [ALCEST]

Posted in Alcest, Kaelan Mikla, Kælan Mikla, Mono, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on February 20, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 20, 2025] Kælan Mikla

I had never heard of Kælan Mikla before this show was announced.  And, since I love music from afar  Was instantly intrigued by this is Icelandic band whose name means (according to Google) The Great Chill or (according to Wikipedia) Lady of the Cold.

They are a trio of Laufey Soffía on lead vocals, Margrét Rósa Dóru-Harrýsdóttir on bass and Sólveig Matthildur Kristjánsdóttir. on keys and more (although only keys for this show).

They came out on stage in dark and spooky lighting (later when I saw them at the merch table, I saw that they had interesting cracked and cobwebby makeup under their eyes.  And Soffia was dressed in an all black gown (seemingly made of toile) with super long fingernails.  It was like a goth flashback and I loved it.

So I guess this music is darkwave, a genre I don’t really know.  I feel like the few darkwave songs I’ve heard I didn’t like.  But maybe seeing it live is a different story, because the whole gothy presentation was fantastic.  I couldn’t really hear Soffia’s vocals (in part because they were in Icelandic, but mostly because of where I was standing), but she sang in variants of quiet, almost whispery singing and screams.  But it combined perfectly to generate a really retro spooky feel with cool modern feminist trappings.  (more…)

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Lauren Mayberry (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, February 17, 2025)

Posted in Chvrches, Cult of Venus, Lauren Mayberry, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on February 18, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 17, 2025] Lauren Mayberry

I was a fan of Chvrches when their first album came out.  Then I kind of lost track of them.  But in that time my wife became a fan.  We missed their last tour in Philly (back in 2021 (!)).  When Lauren Mayberry released a solo album, we both loved the single “Something in the Air” and  thought it would be neat to see her live.

The show didn’t sell very well, which was surprising I thought, since Chvrches has sold out Franklin Music Hall, a much bigger venue.  But it meant that we had a really intimate show, which was awesome.

Overall I liked most of the album Vicious Creature, although there were a few songs that I wasn’t that excited by.  But wow, these songs were fantastic live!  

She had two band members on stage and, I think, a guy on the side with a bank of Apple laptops (I joked that it looked like an Apple store–there were about five!).  The two members on stage were Marian Li-Pino on drums and Heather Nation doing guitar or bass depending on the song.  Later in the set, Heather played piano and Marian played guitar for a song, too.

Heather Nation was ferocious on guitar–generating great sounds.  And Marian Li-Pino was a beast on the drums.  They had a cool cymbal that was bent and made a great metallic, non-cymbal sound.  And Lauren Mayberry was an excellent front woman–she knows how to perform a show.   And what a voice!  I mean, it was amazing.

She played the entire album.  The bangers were amazing–bigger and louder than I expected.  The quieter songs were pretty, a little too mellow for my enjoyment, but hey, you need to vary the mood.  (more…)

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Cult of Venus (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, February 17, 2025) [LAUREN MAYBERRY]

Posted in Chvrches, Cult of Venus, Lauren Mayberry, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on February 17, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 17, 2025] Cult of Venus

It was a cold windy night when we headed out to this show.  Luckily, we managed to get really close parking (Monday night shows are good for that).  Which meant we were plenty early to see the opening act, Cult of Venus.

Cult of Venus has had a lot of mystery surrounding her.  I’m sure her identity is known (I didn’t look too hard to find it), but the two main articles I saw gave this info:

Forgoing any photos to remain completely anonymous and undefined, Cult of Venus have given themself the perfect platform from which to build and long and exciting career. ][They make] music that illustrates and illuminates the dystopian world today, challenging the patriarchy and resonating with the “divine feminine.” Her on-the-ground activist work includes support for incarcerated women and environmental protest movements. Her mysterious presentation is often shrouded in darkness, with her identity and face in the shadows. Her secretive appearance aligns her poetic soundscape in a way that not only drives more curiosity to her audience but is calming in a world so focused on desperate self-promotion.  With shows in all-female prisons and detention centres in the books already, as well as a show as part of New York City’s Women’s March, Cult of Venus have a big year planned while being rooted in reform.

They opened the show with a prerecorded message about strength in the face of oppression.  And then she came out, picked up her guitar and stood in front of the keyboard.  

The only problem to me was the fairly lengthy (I mean, it was probably less than a minute, but it was SO QUIET) pause before the first song started.  I feel like she could have timed that a little more smoothly.  But whatever.

She generated some beats and some synths and proved to have a fantastic voice.  When she played guitar, she clearly had it patched into an effects box because it didn’t sound like a guitar–it was very cool. (more…)

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