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Archive for the ‘White Eagle Hall’ Category

[ATTENDED: February 22, 2024] Indigo De Souza

This was the seventh time since Jan 2022 that I might have seen Indigo De Souza.

She had a show scheduled for Union Transfer which was postponed twice.  She was scheduled to open for Lucy Dacus–a show I didn’t get a ticket for because I was seeing Indigo headline (cancelled).  She finally played her Union Transfer show but I couldn’t make it.  Then she was supposed to open for Rainbow Kitten Surprise and that whole tour was cancelled.

I wasn’t even really sure I still wanted to see her after all this time, but the show was nowhere near sold out, so I grabbed a ticket.

There were a lot of die-hard fans there which is hit or miss.  This crowd was very respectful of her, which I liked.  There was some singing along but it was mostly quiet until it called for loud sing alongs.

I was honestly surprised at how subdued she was during the set.  I’ve never seen her before, but all of her promotional material makes her seem like a wild performer.  And she was absolutely not that tonight.

But her voice was beautiful and she was very sweet and engaging.  She played about an hour and the crowd was enraptured.

She opened with the mellow “Be My Love,” and I was so happy that the crowd was silent as she sang the quiet, sad song.

Her guitarist Maddie Shuler played a lap steel that I couldn’t even tell what the instrument was at first, it was small, plastic and portable.  It looked like a keyboard, but was clearly a guitar. (more…)

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[ATTENDED: February 22, 2024] Truth Club

I used to really like White Eagle Hall.  I still think it’s a great venue with fantastic sound, but the people who go to show thee have really ruined it for me.

A guy preceded me into the bathroom and was enthusiastic about the show, which was cool “Bro, are you fucking stoked?”  But he brought that enthusiasm out to the floor and was shouting “rock and roll” and just being really loud (and tall). I assume he was drunk, but who knows.

Then in front of me there was a group of ten or so people who were definitely there for Indigo but who talked throughout the opening band which sucked because Truth Club was fantastic,

Any band who has a My Bloody Valentine song in their setlist is going to be interesting.  I would have love to have heard their cover of “Cupid Come,” but they didn’t play it.

From North Carolina, Truth Club is a foursome who play quiet loud really well.  Catchy melodies and big walls of sound meld into a great picture overall. (more…)

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[DID NOT ATTEND: January 20, 2024] The Salt Collective / Sneakers

I had not heard of The Salt Collective, but I felt like White Eagle Hall really promoted this show.  So when I clicked on  the link, I read that The Salt Collective is a

Supergroup featuring Matthew Caws (Nada Surf), Mitch Easter (Let’s Active), Chris Stamey & Gene Holder (The dB’s), Lynn Blakey (Tres Chicas), & Rob Ladd (The Connells)

Now, in fairness, Nada Surf is the only band of these that I really know.  The rest I am aware of.  But I love Matthew Caws and believe he puts a good spin on everything.  So I did seriously consider going (especially after listening to the record).

But that was the day we dropped off my son at college, and it just seemed like a good night to stay home.

Sneakers was the band that came before all of these bands:

Before The dB’s and Let’s Active, there was Sneakers! Chris Stamey, an icon of indie pop, and friend Mitch Easter began to explore recording techniques in Winston-Salem, NC, during their youth. In 1976, Chris and his band, Sneakers (including drummer Will Rigby, with appearances from Easter), released a single on Stamey’s own Carnivorous Records. The sessions were engineered by Don Dixon, who would eventually produce bands like R.E.M. (with Easter) and The Smithereens.

They apparently put out a single and then in 2015, an expanded reissue of 9 songs came out.  Sounds like a fun night for jangle pop.

 

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[CANCELLED: November 18, 2023] GZA / Fishbone / Beau Young Prince / Crazy and the Brains

This About a month ago I saw a message that Fishbone was playing White Eagle Hall.  I had seen them earlier this summer for the first time and absolutely wanted to see them again–headlining!

But this show was scheduled for a day that we had family plans.  So I knew I couldn’t go.

When I looked up the show recently, I saw that it was cancelled.  I also saw that maybe this show was opening for GZA?  Weird that the WEH page mentioned Fishbone and not GZA.

And of course GZA is part of the Wu-Tang Clan although I don’t know much about him individually.

But it turns out that this leg of the tour has just been cancelled.

Most apologetically, due to unavoidable circumstances, we are forced to postpone the upcoming GZA/Fishbone Truth and Swords shows to Spring 2024.
Rest assured tickets purchased will be honored for the rescheduled date. If you would like to receive a refund, you will be able to do so at place of purchase.
We apologize for doing this at the 11th hour with the tour beginning
in Silver Spring, MD Monday.
Both GZA and Fishbone only want to bring the best show to all of you
and plan on doing so in Spring 2024.

Except that GZA is supposed to play Underground Arts in a week or so (which isn’t on the poster) and the opening band is Rebelmatic, who I’d not heard of, but apparently I should have: (more…)

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[DID NOT ATTEND: November 10, 2023] Ty Segall / Charles Moothouse

Last year, about a Ty Segall show that I missed, I wrote:

I have become a fan of Ty Segall in the last few years.  He releases far too much music to keep tabs on him, but I’ve wanted to see his fuzzed out live show for a while now.

When I finally do get to see Ty Segall, I want it to be with a big noisy fuzzy band, not as an acoustic performer.

So, I opted to give this one a miss.  Wonder if I’ll regret it someday.

Well, it’s a year or so later and he’s back with a solo show in New Jersey and I feel the same way.  Luckily, I’m going to see him (I assume with a band) in April in Philly.

I went to high school with someone named Mike Donovan.  When I saw that this Mike Donovan was roughly the same age as me I wondered if it could be him.  But this one is from San Francisco.   He is “best known” as the guitarist and singer of Sic Alps (2004-2013).

He has a few solo albums that are kind of sloppy anti-folk.  Probably okay live but I’ll never listen to him on purpose.

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[DID NOT ATTEND: November 6, 2023] Spiritualized [moved from September 23, 2022]

I had forgotten that Spiritualized was supposed to play our area last year, but they cancelled the show last minute for a medical emergency.

I wasn’t planning on going to this show (White Eagle Hall has really fallen off my radar lately).  But I feel like it must not have been very well attended as a week before the show, White Eagle Hall was giving $10 off per ticket.

I decided to go see Tortoise instead.  Interesting that both bands are from the same era.

But I really enjoyed Tortoise, so no regrets.

 

 

 

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[CANCELLED: October 24, 2023] Thurston Moore reading Sonic Life

This summer, Thurston Moore announced that he would be touring to read his new book Sonic Life:

Thurston Moore has a new memoir on the way, Sonic Life, which he describes as telling “the story of my childhood and teenage years as I fell in love with music (for the most part unbridled rock ’n’ roll) and how it drove me to New York City, where I would co-found Sonic Youth.”

A couple of weeks ago, he cancelled the tour.  I wasn’t planning on going, but it still sucks that he feel so crappy.

To all my dear Sonic friends and family,
It utterly bereaves me to pass on the news that I have been advised by my medical team here in the UK to cancel my upcoming USA book tour. For years I have been dealing with a longstanding health condition, though it has never seriously stopped me from touring and recording. Regardless it’s always been an underlying issue and as I reach my mid-60s this year it has become rather, and consistently, debilitating. After a recent consultation, my doctors have strongly advised against me flying anywhere under any circumstance until they get it all sorted out.

(more…)

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[CANCELLED: May 9, 2023] Belle and Sebastian 

Last year we had to miss the Belle and Sebastian show because of my daughter’s graduation.

I didn’t expect them to announce another tour so quickly (or to release another album so quickly).

But the chance to see them in a relatively small space like White Eagle Hall was pretty exciting.

Then on January 24, we got this message

Unfortunately Belle and Sebastian’s show at White Eagle Hall has been canceled. Tickets will be refunded as soon as possible, please see below for a statement from the band: (more…)

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[ATTENDED: April 6, 2023] Guster

It was only a few months ago that we saw Guster in Montclair.  And yet here they were back again in New Jersey!

They’re playing Philly tomorrow night and it was be incredible to see them two night in a row, but the second night is the same as night as the five-times rescheduled Bikini Kill show. so, you know, priorities.

Karina Rykman’s set was so much fun but we had no idea how good this night’s set was going to be.

This is my tenth time seeing Guster and my wife’s ninth (she couldn’t make the Free at Noon that I went to).  So we pretty much know what to expect at a show by now.

But the guys really mixed it up quite a lot for this one.

In addition to their super fun set design (desk lights suspended from the ceiling all set up with LEDs to glow different colors), they also played a setlist that was totally killer. (more…)

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[ATTENDED: April 6, 2023] Guster

I’ve seen Karina Rykman play with Marco Benevento three times.  She is an amazing bass player with a great sound, great instincts and great jamming skills.

I was supposed to see her a few times, but the shows were cancelled for one reason or another.

So how awesome was it that she was going to open for Guster?

I didn’t really have a good sense of what her live show would be like.  Her recorded solo stuff is rather synthy and kind of discoey, which I really didn’t expect.  So who knew what we were going to get.

Well, her band, Chris Corsica on drums and Adam November on guitar were outstanding.  The songs had a kind of disco feel (especially from the guitar playing from November) and the occasional very disco bass line that Karina threw in.  But they felt modern as well.

The songs grooved and were groovy, taking the most fun aspects of disco and marrying them to a heaviness and thumping sound that worked really well.

I hadn’t really heard Rykman sing before and her voice is quiet and somewhat angelic.  She must have some kind of processors on her mic because it sounded like there were harmonies a lot of the time. (more…)

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