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Archive for the ‘Union Transfer’ Category

Blondshell / Daffo (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, June 21, 2025) DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Blondshell, Daffo, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on June 21, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 21, 2025] Blondshell / Daffo

I really like Blondshell.  I saw her do a Free at Noon, but I couldn’t make her show that night at PhilaMOCA.  Good for her that her next Philly show was at Union Transfer. I was really looking forward to this show.  I had gotten my daughter a ticket because I thought she’d enjoy it and she likes Daffo.  But the night of she was really busy so we both wound up staying home.

We saw Daffo open for Sir Chloe and really enjoyed her set.  At the end of the night my daughter bought a shirt from her and chatted with her.  I was sure she’d want to see her again, but I guess not.

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Sleigh Bells / Sophie Hunter (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, June 3, 2025) DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Sleigh Bells, Sophie Hunter, Union Transfer on June 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 3, 2025] Sleigh Bells / Sophie Hunter

I saw Sleigh Bells open for Pixies a few years ago.  I had remembered when they first came out and they were very noisy.  Several years later and they looked different but they were still noisy.  I had written

For this show the band consisted of two guitarists who flanked Alexis Krauss.  The drums and every other noise was handles by a woman offstage.  The two guitars were probably overkill as they both did the same thing pretty much all the time.  But the stage belonged to Krauss.  She jumped around, she sang (beautifully).  Despite her attitude, the show was a little monotonous.  The guys didn’t do much, and she can only keep the crowd rolling for so long.  It was a fun opening set, but probably would have been more fun in a small dark club.

So this was in a small dark club, but I didn’t want to see them as a headline act.

Sophie Hunter is a delightfully weird musician who kinda raps over unusual beats.  Feel the throb describes her perfectly

Those red curls and that Natasha Lyonne-esque voice deadpan-rapping while she walks the streets of NYC. Since 2021, the New Haven native has been steadily building buzz with singles like Cvnt and Fight!  Hunter grabs you by the eardrums and doesn’t let go. Her self-described “pop+rap” style is less a fusion and more a full-on collision of genres, with shrapnel flying in all directions. It’s messy, it’s loud, and it’s glorious. However, don’t let the cacophony fool you – there’s method to this madness. Hunter’s lyrics are a masterclass in wordplay, with more double entendres than a late-night comedy show. She weaves tales of the female experience with the dexterity of a verbal contortionist, leaving you reaching for the replay button to catch what you missed the first time around.

I’m going to keep an eye on her–she’s probably a blast live.

But Tito Santana recorded the whole show

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Momma (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 30, 2025)

Posted in Momma, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, Wishy on May 31, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 30, 2025] Momma

Just over a year ago, I saw Momma open for Girl in Red.  I had been wanting to see them for a while and an opening set is a fine way to see them.  But I was really excited when they announced this headline tour and that they were playing Union Transfer.

I was off to t he side a bit–near Allegra Weingarten but with a great view of Etta Friedman.  Last time it wasn’t entirely clear if the band was just the tow of them (as photos showed) or all four, but the two guys are still with them so I’m guessing they are part of the band now–Aron Kobayashi Ritch on bass and Preston Fulks on drums.

The set was largely songs from their new album, which was to be expected.  Although I was really surprised that they played I Want You (Fever) (which I think is a huge hit) second!  The crowd went nuts for it of course.

In fact I feel like they stacked the front of the show with the songs I wanted to hear because they followed Fever with Medicine and Ohio All the Time. (more…)

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Wishy (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 30, 2025) [MOMMA]

Posted in Momma, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, Wishy on May 30, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 22, 2025] Wishy

I Was happy that Wishy opened for Momma.  I knew one or two songs by them and really liked them.

The band came out–a five piece, with the two singer/guitarists Kevin Krauter and Nina Pitchkites.  They harmonize perfectly with each other–both vocally and on guitar.  There’s something very appealing about the two singers going Ah ah ah in harmony on Planet Popstar.  There’s a few different parts in this song so I actually wasn’t sure if they were playing different songs or one long one (it’s only 4 minutes, but is pretty complicated)

Wishy released an EP this year and they played half of it.  That left five songs from last year’s Triple Seven, which is the album t hat I first heard them from.  The (very simple ) guitar riff in Persuasion is wonderful–and when the harmony guitar came in–fantastic.

Love on the Outside is mostly Kevin on guitar, but after a verse, the band kicks in and the harmonies are terrific.  The rest of the band is guitarist Dimitri Morris , bassist Mitch Collins, and drummer Conner Host.  It almost seems like overkill to have three guitarists in the band, but all three do different things to make the sound enormous. (more…)

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Lucius (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 22, 2025)

Posted in Lucius, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, Victoria Canal on May 23, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 22, 2025] Lucius

I saw Lucius last year when they played the anniversary of their debut album.  I enjoyed the show and their performance so much that I knew I’d want to see them again.  And I knew my wife would really enjoy it as well.

But I had no idea she’s enjoy it as much as she did.  She said it was her favorite concert of the year [UPDATE: at year’s end she maintains that belief].

The stage was set up with two large cacti flanking the keyboard set up of Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig.  I love that they dress alike (down to the wigs they are wearing).  They wore red, beautifully decorated ponchos, and it’s amazing that they face each other and more or less mimic each others movements–they’re not a tightly choreographed ship, which is good.  They are more like a loose duo who can allow the moment to overtake perfect choreography.  And they’re all the better for it,

But mostly, Lucius are instantly recognizable because of the gorgeous vocals of Wolfe and Laessig,  And it gives you goosebumps to see them perform live.

There’s a several Lucius songs that I absolutely love.  There’s also some that I’m iffy about (but the hits greatly outweigh the misses for me).  And I really like the vibe of the new album a lot.  I’m sure that has a lot to do with Adam Granduciel of The War on Drugs who produced the album (his fingerprints are all over it).  The opening song Final Days doesn’t sound like The War on Drugs, but it does sound like Lucius covering a War on Drugs song.

They followed up with Gold Rush, which I was surprised to hear so early as its the big hit from the album.  They wound up playing five new songs in a row.  Trespassers Will Be Shot uploaded several songs from our show (see below).  Things had mellowed, but when Stranger Danger came on and the guitars went crazy and Jess and Holly came to the front of the stage–it was electrifying.

The band had a simple set up.  Jess and Holly in the center.  On our right side was drummer Dan Molad and on our left was multi-instrumentalist (but mostly, an amazing guitarist–the sounds he generates are amazing) Peter Lalish.

They played the quieter 24 and then moved to Wildewoman for the amazing Tempest.  Since they had just toured the album last year I didn’t think they’d play too much from it, so it was cool to hear this one.

Then for the really fun Joy Ride, they put on matching hats and sat stage right in a couple of folding chairs.  We got a kick out of them snapping their heads left and right to the beat.

They jumped back to Wildewoman again for the awesome (and even more awesome live Nothing Ordinary) and the fantastic Genevieve, which was delightfully percussion heavy (Jess and Holly playing cowbells) and full of cool lighting. (more…)

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Victoria Canal (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 22, 2025) [LUCIUS]

Posted in Lucius, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, Victoria Canal on May 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 22, 2025] Victoria Canal

I had not heard of Victoria Canal before this show.

She has a fascinating backstory.  She was born in Germany but is of Spanish American heritage and was raised mostly in Spain.  And yet when she spoke she had no trace of an accent.

Canal was born without her right forearm.  What’s fascinating is that although she does not try to hide it at all, we didn’t notice for the first couple of songs.

Victoria played acoustic guitar and keyboards.  She also had really nice boots on.  Between songs she told delightful stories that really fleshed out songs like the new (and wonderful) Pseudo Zen Buddhist: A Screenplay.  Which she introduced by saying the song was about her ex boyfriend’s next girlfriend murdering him (she works in movies, hence the screenplay part).  It was great.

There was also a really funny intro to Yes Man, a song she write when on a songwriting retreat with Chris Martin of Coldplay.

Canal’s voice is soft and gentle with a really nice timbre.  And she can mix in some falsettos on a song like Totally Fucking Fine. (more…)

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Deafheaven / Gatekeeper / Trauma Ray (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 12, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Deafheaven, Gatecreeper, Philadelphia, PA, Trauma Ray, Union Transfer on May 12, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 12,2025] Deafheaven / Gatekeeper / Trauma Ray

This was the most embarrassing reason I’ve ever had for missing a show.  I thought it was the 13th, but it was actually the 12th.  I just wrote down the wrong date in my calendar.  WTF!

I had missed Deafheaven last year when they came around (scheduling conflict) so I was all about going to this one.  I only found out because I couldn’t get a ticket for my son online so I wrote the venue and they said sales were closed because the show was the previous night.  Holy crap.

Gatecreeper are an old-school death metal band from Arizona who formed in 2013.  They are loud and growly.  I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed them for the entire set.  But I would have enjoyed the first opener.

Trauma Ray opened for Panchiko last year and after listening to them I really wanted to see them

Among the current wave of shoegaze revivalists, Fort Worth’s trauma ray rank as high as any at capturing its complexity, intensity, and expressive devastation.   One of trauma ray’s greatest gifts is their ability to make doomy, sledgehammer heaviness sound like an ear-worm, without production tricks or gimmicks: “Riff, verse, chorus, three guitar parts – that’s all you need.

Once again, Deafheaven picks two diverse opening bands that each match their sound in their own way.

 

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Napalm Death / The Melvins / Weedeater / Dark Sky Burial / Titan to Tachyons (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 5, 2025/ Archer Music Hall, Allentown, PA, May 6, 2025)) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Allentown PA, Archer Music Hall, Dark Sky Burial, Napalm Death, Philadelphia, PA, The Melvins, Titan to Tachyons, Union Transfer, Weedeater on May 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 5 & 6, 2025] Napalm Death / The Melvins / Weedeater / Dark Sky Burial / Titan to Tachyons

I saw Napalm Death in 2022 and enjoyed the hell out of them.  They were fast and furious and lead singer Barney Greenway was awesome.

I saw The Melvins in 2023 when they toured with Boris.  I didn’t think I would like them for some reason, but they were fantastic live.

Even though I don’t really want to do a full night of metal anymore, this would have been a cool show to go to.  However, the first night was right after I’d been out two nights already that week and the second night was the night we had tickets to see Kishi Bashi. Coincidentally, the second night was in the same venue!  This show was downstairs in the huge room and our show was upstairs in the tiny venue.

For the first night, Weedeater and Dark Sky Burial opened.

I like the stoner metal sound of Weedeater but I don’t like the singer’s voice.  He sounds like a demon in a movie.  Weedeater have an instrumental song Wizard Fight that is pretty great though. They are a sludge/doom metal band from Wilmington, North Carolina, formed in 1998!

Dark Sky Burial have a heavy sound that’s very atmospheric–like a scary noir movie.  They really surprised me by including a saxophone on the wonderfully named Decay is the Matric of Fertility.  And Beware Your Subconscious Destroyer has dance beats! I didn’t realize that this is a side project of Napalm Death bassist Shane Embury.  This is his outlet for experimental music and retro horror/sci fi Movie vibes.

This might have bee a really fun show actually.

Titan to Tachyons is also unknown to me.  Turns out they are an experimental jazz-metal group led by New Zealand composer and guitarist Sally Gates, backed by the powerhouse rhythm section of Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle), Matt Hollenberg (Cleric), and Kenny Grohowski (Imperial Triumphant). The quartet instrumentally depicts the realms of Surrealism and science-fiction through eclectic and improvisational passages, juxtaposed by fluid grooves and metallic flurries.

That sounds amazing, frankly.  Well, here’s a bunch of new bands to check out.

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The BellRays (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 3, 2025) [THE DAMNED]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, The BellRays, The Damned, Union Transfer on May 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 3, 2025] The Damned

I saw the Damned at Coney Isalnd High with my friend Garry on Feb 6 1998

The BellRays are a band from California that describes itself as an original punk, rock and soul band.  I had never heard of them and assumed they were a young band.  But they have been together since 1990.  I guess if I hadn’t heard of them in 35 years, they weren’t really on my radar.

So they came out and demanded quite a lot from the audience.  Again, I thought they were a new band, so this surprised (and annoyed) me.  Knowing that they’ve been doing this for so long, I get where the on stage banter and attitude comes from.

They rocked pretty well, but it really wasn’t my thing.  Actually, that’s not true.  If they had opened for someone else–someone soulful and almost bluesy, I would have enjoyed them more. But there’s really nothing punk about them (except their attitude, I guess).

The songs were basic, good rockers, but lyrically, they were pretty meh.

Having said that, singer Lisa Kekaula has a fantastic voice–soulful and powerful–and she and guitarist Robert Vennum, the founders of the band) have great chemistry.  I was thinking that a comparison of her voice to Tina Turner’s was lazy; however, in their blurb they say they have been described as ‘Tina Turner fronting AC/DC.”  I wouldn’t go as heavy as AC/DC for the band, but the description works.  Actually, they sound a lot more like an L.A. metal band circa late 80’s.  Although their cover of Ball of Confusion was pretty great.

If I was in the right mood for them I probably would have loved them, but I found them just okay.

The Damned toured around here in 2023 and I couldn’t go.  But Fucked Up opened for them and I sure as hell would have enjoyed THAT double bill.

  1. On Top £
  2. I Fall Down ♠
  3. Hard Drive ♠
  4. Wolf’s Sun ♠
  5. Changing Colors ‰
  6. Living a Lie £
  7. Down On My Knees ♠
  8. One More Night ♠
  9. Voodoo Train €
  10. Black Lightning £
  11. Startime €

♠ Heavy Steady Go
£ Black Lightning
€ Red White and Black
‰ Let It Blast

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The Damned (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 3, 2025)

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, The BellRays, The Damned, Union Transfer on May 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 3, 2025] The Damned

I saw the Damned at Coney Island High with my friend Garry on Feb 6, 1998.  I don’t really remember all that much about it.  I wasn’t a huge fan at the time, but I do think it’s cool I got to see them.

I hadn’t really considered seeing them again, but when they toured in 2023 I came around to wanting to see them.  I missed that tour (which was for a then new album), and in retrospect I’m glad I did.  That tour was predominantly that new album (and of course a while bunch of older songs too), but this tour was more of a complete retrospective (including some of the new songs too).

And, it featured three of the four original members: singer Dave Vanian, guitarist Captain Sensible and drummer Rat Scabies.  [There’s no point in trying to talk about when who was or wasn’t in the band as it was a revolving door for a while].  But Paul Gray on bass has been with them since 1980 and Monty Oxymoron has played keyboards with them since 1996 so he’s not exactly a newbie.

So I don’t know a ton of songs by The Damned.  I have a few of their albums but the people around me knew everything they played.

Nevertheless, they played a fantastic selection of songs and it was so much fun to see Captain Sensible in his striped sweater and the ageless Dave Vanian looking great in his coat and puffy shirt.  And, most impressively–his voice sounded great. (more…)

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