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Car Seat Headrest (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, April 1, 2022)

April 2, 2022 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: April 1, 2022] Car Seat Headrest

I saw Car Seat Headrest four years ago at Union Transfer and it was one of the least pleasant shows I’d been to.  The music was great, but the crowd was uniformly terrible–especially near me.  

I wasn’t sure if I’d want to see them again, but then my son got really turned on to them (I had nothing to do with it) and he really wanted to see them live.  I couldn’t pass that up, and I assumed the crowd would be a little different in this much bigger venue.

And, yes, the crowd was much better–although it felt really crowded in there!

The crazy thing is that the doors opens at 7:30.  We arrived at 7:25 to an enormous line.  And we didn’t get in the venue until after 8.  I asked my son if he wanted to get up front or get merch.  He chose merch–I think getting close will win out next time.  I would have loved to have been closer for sure.

The fascinating thing about Car Seat Headrest now is that lead singer and main Headrest Will Toledo wears a modified gasmask for the entire set.  It’s pretty neat as it has a microphone in it and the eyes light up to display emotions (cute eyes, angry eyes, heart and swirly lines).  The good thing is that Toledo sounds fine through this odd system. Continue Reading »

Posted in Bartees Strange, Car Seat Headrest, Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, Toy Bastard | Leave a Comment »

Bartees Strange (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, April 1, 2022)

April 1, 2022 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: April 1, 2022] Bartees Strange

I saw Bartees Strange open for Lucy Dacus back in October.   I was delighted by how well he was received by the Car Seat Headrest crowd.

His set was very similar to that last one.  He exchanged out a couple of songs for newer ones, but the general vibe was the same.

He came out by himself, wearing a bright year rain slicker and started with a quiet opening of “Far.”  After a couple of minutes, the rest of the band came out and rocked out the rest of the song.

I’m not sure if he had the same band playing with him–I assume so.  He got the crowd moving with one of his faster songs, “Mustang.”  And, like last time, he followed it with the rap of “Kelly Rowland” with the memorable refrain: “Broke ass nigga but I got Versace dreams.”

Mixing it up some more, he followed that with the bouncing “Weights.”  He looked up at the audience and chuckled, “Oh, my mom’s here.”

Then he introduced the new song “Hold the Line.”  He wrote the song for George Floyd’s daughter, and it was quite a powerful moment.

He followed that with a cover of Lemonworld by The National.  I thought last time that it was kind of mellow but the chorus rocked pretty hard.

He introduced the “jazz standard” called “Boomer” and ripped the song through the venue with everyone dancing and singing along.

He ended the set with another new song, his new single “Heavy Hearts.”  It’s a bit more mellow, and I probably would have ended with Boomer, but the set was really solid regardless.

Bartees is a great performer and I’m glad to see him getting some attention.  His merch was also really cool.

2022 2021
Far £ Far £
Mustang £ Mustang £
Kelly Rowland £ Kelly Rowland £
Weights £ Weights £
Hold the Line € 17 ∞
Lemonworld (The National cover) Flagey God £
Boomer £ Lemonworld (The National cover)
Heavy Heart € Stone Meadows £
Boomer £

∞ Horror (2025)
€ Farm to Table (2022)
£ Live Forever (2020)

Posted in Bartees Strange, Car Seat Headrest, Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, The National | Leave a Comment »

Andy Shauf / Helena Deland (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, March 31, 2022) [rescheduled date, rescheduled again and again] [DID NOT ATTEND]

March 31, 2022 by Paul Debraski

[POSTPONED: March 31, 2022] Andy Shauf / Helena Deland [rescheduled from May 1 2020, December 17, 2020 and September 12, 2021]

This show was postponed several times but when it finally rolled around I had two other shows earlier in the week, one of which was in New York City which turned out to be an absurdly late evening.  So I had to take a pass on Andy.  Who I’m not 100% sure I really want to see anyway.

Faye Webster was supposed to open for this show, but she has been replaced by Helena Deland.

Deland is a Canadian singer-songwriter with several EPs out. Her inspirations are Jessica Pratt, Joni Mitchell, and Sea Oleena.   Her music is quiet and gentle and her voice is high and soft.  Its quite lovely and was a good pairing.  I preferred her song “Someone New” which is a little more upbeat.

~~~~~~

This show appeared and then disappeared.  In May, Andy’s own website it was still an active date until you clicked on it and the ticket sales said March 2022.

Maybe in 2022 Andy will come back around.  He was supposed to play a show in NJ as well, but there was none listed in May.  We’ll see.

Postponing shows until December seemed like a safe bet.  My calendar was pretty free and I was hoping to see shows by now.  I’m not sure if I’d rather have gone to Philly or Asbury Park, though.  Well, next year will held me decide, I’m sure.

~~~~~

Andy Shauf is a Canadian singer songwriter.  He sings quiet, introspective songs.  He was playing at Union Transfer at the beginning of May and then in New Jersey in the middle of May.

I was introduced to his music from a Tiny Desk Concert in which he never really moves.  He has very long hair which also never moves.  His songs are really very pretty and well constructed.

It’s his voice that I find utterly fascinating.  He enunciates in such an unusual way.  The way he emphasizes certain vowels defies his Saskatchewan upbringing.  He sings not unlike Margaret Glaspy and other newer singers who stress their vowels in an unusual to me way.

I really enjoyed his Tiny Desk and I enjoyed reading about the album The Party which sounds like the worst party ever.

Since then he has cut all of his hair and looks totally different–I wasn’t even sure it was the same guy.

Faye Webster is a singer from Georgia who actually has a similar singing style to Andy, which is fascinating.  She sings low key torchy ballads and would be a perfect opening act for him.  I’m going to have to listen to a bit more from her.

He’s the kind of musician that I would think about going to but probably wouldn’t, and then I’d wish I had.  Well, now I have two more chances.

His initial itinerary fascinated me:

Boston, Brooklyn, Philly, D.C., North Carolina, Atlanta, New Orleans, Alabama, Indiana, Pittsburgh, New Jersey, upstate New York.

The rescheduled shows keep the same basic set up except that now Philly is the day before NJ–I wonder what changed that plan.

shuaf

Posted in Andy Shauf, Asbury Park, NJ, Faye Webster, Helena Deland, House of Independents, Margaret Glaspy, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Sparks (The Town Hall, New York, NY, March 29, 2022)

March 30, 2022 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: March 29, 2022] Sparks

Sparks is, without question, a weird band.  I got into them back in 1997 when they released an album of re-recorded versions of their best songs and called it Plagiarism.  Since then they have released eight albums.  Before  that the had release sixteen albums dating all the way back to 1971.  And yet despite the occasional hit, they remained largely unknown in the States.  They are from the States even though many people assume they are from Europe.  Sparks are Russel Mael (vocals) and Ron Mael (everything else).

And they remained at a certain level of obscurity until 2021 when a documentary called The Sparks Brothers was released (and did very well) and when they created a musical movie called Annette which won the Cannes Soundtrack award.

The time seemed ripe to do a (limited) tour of the States.  Sparks last played toured American back in 2013, they played at Le Poisson Rouge in 2017, but that was just two shows in New York and two in California–not much of a tour.  Normally I hate going into New York and will only do it for special occasions. Continue Reading »

Posted in Annette, New York City, The Sparks Brothers, The Town Hall | Leave a Comment »

LCD Soundsystem (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, March 28, 2022)

March 29, 2022 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: March 28, 2022] LCD Soundystem

Usually I like to give a separate post for an opening act.  But the opening act for this show was a DJ named Dave P. who does a show called Making Time.  Or Making Time is a show and he is one of the DJs.  Or something.  I didn’t quite get it.

So Dave P. spun music before LCD Soundsystem came on.  It was kind of funny because they always play music before a band comes on.  So instead of a playlist, it was an actual person spinning songs.  But he wasn’t on stage–he was up above in the balcony.  And he never spoke.  So it almost didn’t make a difference.  The tunes were pretty good though (but waaay too loud–much louder than the band was).

The biggest gripe I had was that he played until 9:30  (I had arrived at  around 7:30).  So I basically stood there for two hours.  Why didn’t LCD Soundsystem come on at 9 or something?  The show could have ended at a more reasonable time as well.

So the band came out at 9:30.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this show.   I like a bunch of LCD songs, but they’re all kind of monotonous dance songs.  So what was a live show going to be like. Continue Reading »

Posted in DJ Dave P.--Making Time, Franklin Music Hall, LCD Soundsystem, Philadelphia, PA | Leave a Comment »

grandson (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, March 26, 2022)

March 28, 2022 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: March 26, 2022] grandson

My son got me into grandson a couple of years ago.  I really like his debut album, death of an optimist.  I promised that if grandson toured, I’d grab tickets.  I bought the tickets for this show a while ago and had no idea that in the interim, grandson had become (in relative terms) really popular.

He wrote the theme song to Suicide Squad which had apparently upped his profile and, he was also opened for Imagine Dragons which is pretty massive exposure.  So good for him.

It also meant that this show was much more crowded than I thought it would be.  We arrived pretty earlier, but the merch line was crazy long.  By the time we got into the show it was pretty crowded, but I know Union Transfer, and I know where there’s a good spot to get you closer to the action. Continue Reading »

Posted in grandson, Imagine Dragons, Oxymorrons, Philadelphia, PA, Royal & the Serpent, Suicide Squad, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Royal & the Serpent (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, March 26, 2022) [GRANDSON]

March 27, 2022 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: March 26, 2022] Oxymorrons

I hadn’t heard of Royal & the Serpent.  When I looked them [her] up, I saw something that suggested that she had maybe worked with grandson–that he had produced something for her?  But I haven’t been able to find it since.  Whatever.

When I listened to her before the show (singer Ryan Santiago IS Royal & the Serpent–they are both parts of her personality), I thought she sounded an awful lot like grandson sonically.

When they started, first her drummer came out on stage.  She crouched by the drums waiting.  Then her guitarist,  Brent Burdett, came out, his hair was died blue and pink and he seemed very tall.  Especially compared to Royal who came bouncing out to their 2021 song “I Can’t Get High.” Continue Reading »

Posted in grandson, Oxymorrons, Philadelphia, PA, Royal & the Serpent, Slush Puppy, The Killers, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Cavetown / Tessa Violet / Addison Grace (The Fillmore, Philadelphia, PA, March 26, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

March 26, 2022 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: March 25, 2022] Cavetown / Tessa Violet / Addison Grace

Cavetown has a song called “Lemon Boy” which my daughter introduced me to.  She listened to it a lot, so when Cavetown announced a tour I grabbed a ticket for us in Philly.  I was actually surprised that someone I thought was fairly unknown was playing the Fillmore and not the Foundry, but it turned out that the show sold out in the big venue

Then a few weeks later Grandson announced a show in Philly for the same night.  I knew that my son really wanted to see Grandson.  So I checked and saw that Cavetown was also playing the in New York the night before.  So I grabbed us tickets for that show.

Later I found out that my daughter was going to a party that night.  So we opted not to go.  I was able to sell the tickets for both nights.  I’m curious what the show was like, but I’m sure he’ll be back.

Tessa Violet Williams, previously known as Meekakitty, is an American singer-songwriter, video blogger, actress, music video director, and former model.  She seems to write minimalist, simple catchy pop songs.  A perfect companion to Cavetown I think.

Addison Grace has a similar vibe and, in an interview it says they were inspired by Cavetown.  So that makes sense.

Posted in Addison Grace, Cavetown, Philadelphia, PA, Tessa Violet, The Fillmore Philadelphia | Leave a Comment »

Oxymorrons (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, March 26, 2022) [GRANDSON]

March 26, 2022 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: March 26, 2022] Oxymorrons

My son C. has been a big fan of grandson for a while now.  I knew that we’d be seeing him whenever he came to town.  This was also his first exposure to Union Transfer, so I thought it would be super fun for both of us.  And it was, but it wasn’t as I expected.

After getting forced to the back for girl in red, I thought we’d want to arrive earlier.  But I also knew that this show hadn’t sold out  so I imagined we could stroll in at 7:30 and get right up front (there were two opening bands after all).  But when we walked in, the merch line was ENORMOUS (and slow) and the room was already a little full.

Well, we waited for mech (good decision) and heard Oxymorrons start their set.  We walked in during “Think Big” and, even though it was crowded all the way to the back, I found my favorite spot stage right was open, so we slunk our way to that corner and were within a reasonably close distance from the stage.  Sweet.

Meanwhile, Oxymorrons were on stage ripping it up. Continue Reading »

Posted in grandson, Oxymorrons, Philadelphia, PA, Royal & the Serpent, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Vundabar / M.A.G.S. (First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA, March 25, 2022) [POSTPONED]

March 25, 2022 by Paul Debraski

[POSTPONED: June 23, 2022] Vundabar / M.A.G.S. [postponed until June 23, 2022, moved to The Foundry]

I’m not even sure if I knew who Vundabar was in March 2022.  My daughter had put their song on a playlist, and I loved it, but I never registered the band name.

I wouldn’t have gone to this show anyway, since I don’t go to The Church.  But the postponement means I didn’t actually miss it.

Last fall, Vundabar’s 2013 song “Alien Blues” became a viral hit via TikTok. They’ve now re-recorded the song and have brought in Indigo De Souza to sing on it. (Listen below.) They’ve also just rescheduled their tour. “With the rise of Omicron we’re option to move our February and March tour dates to May and June of 2022,” says singer/guitarist Brandon Hagen. “With the recent spikes in cases and general difficulty of safely navigating live events it feels like the best option.”

M.A.G.S. is the solo moniker for Buffalo-bred, Los Angeles-based artist Elliott Douglas. His style seamlessly glides between genres ─ from funky garage to minty alt-pop ─ and hooks you in almost immediately (according to Take This to Heart).

But I tend to agree with this statement.  His songs are bright and cheerful sounding. Catchy and bouncy.  Or as one more review puts it, the album is an “indie rock affair rife with intimate energy and electric overdrive.”

I really enjoyed his stuff and will have to listen to some more.

 

 

Posted in First Unitarian Church, M.A.G.S., Philadelphia, PA, Vundabar | Leave a Comment »

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