Antony & The Johnsons at the Keswick Theater

Monday night, we went to the Keswick Theater NW of Philly to see Antony & The Johnsons play. Suprisingly, the show was not completely filled. Despite that, the concert was amazing.
Antony's voice was beautiful. He said he felt like he had lemons on his fingers as he was playing piano, but the the support of the Johnsons, the music was great. He did a fun cover of Beyonce's "Crazy In Love" as well as songs from all his records.

Santogold at the TLA, Philly

I was lucky to catch Santogold in Philly at the TLA a few weeks ago. She puts on a great show. Accompanied by two dancers and a laptop, she sang nearly all the songs from her record, and she did a few of the songs from her mixtape with Diplo.
I particularly liked it when she did "The Guns of Brixton" cover song. The crowd was pretty wild for her music.

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings at TLA

This past weekend, we went up to Philly to the TLA for a Daptone Records showcase of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings. Opening up were label mates, the Budos Band. They played African jazz like the stuff from the Ethiopiques series. Groovy and fun for about 3 songs. The band reminded me of a bunch of band geeks, but they knew how to play.
See Sharon Jones onstage was amazing. She was small, about 5 foot tall, but so much energy. Her voice was spectacular, and boy did she dance on stage. Her style is so retro without any preludes towards kitsch. It was a fun night.

Flip Flop Summer Tour at Lincoln Financial Field

Well, this past weekend was pretty interesting for me. I went to the Flip Flop Summer Tour concert in Philadelphia at the Lincoln Financial Field, the stadium where the Eagles play.
This concert, headlined by country superstar Kenny Chesney was completely sold out- over 50,000 people!
I have never been to what I would call a "New" Country concert before, but this was pretty incredible to see. When we showed up, we walked through a tailgate that must have been a 1/2 mile outwards from the venue. Booze and BBQ! A lot of female fans as well. Unlike the indie music scene I frequent, this crowd included whole families from children to grandparents. I also appreciated that they were unpretentious- no one was there to be cool; they were there for a good time.
I had never really heard the music by any of the acts on the bill. I really enjoyed opened Pat Green. I was lucky to be on the stage at the side during his set. He did a pretty awesome cover of Springsteen's "Atlantic City".
My friend, Brandon, who plays keyboard for Sugarland, told us he was a huge star in the Texas country scene, which is almost like another world to itself. It's where Joe Ely, a country musician I'm a huge fan of, is a huge act, but he has not quite crossed over to the mainstream Nashville scene.
I was also lucky to be right up to see the band Sugarland during their set. They had a lot of energy, and lead singer Jennifer Nettles was beautiful and brassy. It was pretty cool seeing my friend, Brandon on stage with the band. I played in one-shot experimental band with him in college! Crazy!
I guess Kenny Chesney is like a Jimmy Buffett for the country crowd, and clearly everyone was at the show to see him. When he came out, he popped up out of a stage in the center of the field, and everyone went nuts. This is the response I've only seen with shows like the Rolling Stones, and I felt odd because, I didn't know any of his songs.
New Country is a lot more like pop-rock than people outside of the scene are willing to admit. Sure there's a little more of an accent, maybe a fiddle or two, but the music at it's heart is rock and roll. While I still prefer singer-songwriter types like Willie Nelson, Townes Van Zandt, and Gillian Welch, I have to admit, you have to respect this scene that fills stadiums. Indie music needs to have multiple stages with 40 acts to do the same.

The Pogues at the Electric Factory

Despite terrible traffic due to sleet and freezing rain that slowed the way up 95 to Philadelphia to about 35mph, I went to see the Pogues with Shane MacGowan play at the Electric Factory last night. Heck, Shane came out on stage and performed in a wheelchair despite tearing ligaments in his knee a few nights before, I figured it was worth the trek.
Fougoo and Redneckhunter met up with me, and we were lucky enough to position ourselves right up front for the show. We had to bear the very young openers, Starving Goliath, who felt it was kitchsy to sing Elton John's awful Lion King song. Needless to say, the older crowd was not amused.
The Pogues were, like last time in DC, great.
Before they came out, the PA played The Clash's "Straight to Hell", and then the band came out followed out by Shane in a wheelchair.
It was definitely a different set from the other show I saw with them. It was cool to hear some songs performed I had not heard previously.
My favorite songs of the night were "Body of an American", "Rainy Night in Soho", "Dirty Old Town", "A Pair of Brown Eyes", and "Fiesta" (especially watching Spider hit his head with a metal tray).

The Walkmen at Johnny Brenda's

I went up to Philly yesterday for a friend's Christmas party, but I managed to also get tickets to a special holiday show put on by one of my favorite bands, The Walkmen, at a small club called Johnny Brenda's in Fishtown.
Opening up was a local Pa. musician, Brother JT. He had a blues rock sound and his voice reminded me of a less hoarse M. Ward. It was ok - a lot of energy, but the guitar playing in the solos was kind of sloppy.

As ever, The Walkmen were pretty amazing live. The venue was really nice and intimate, and the crowd was really feeling the love for the band. I saw them play in Philly in May at TLA, but last night's show was way better. The sound was also much improved from the other venue. This show was apparently set up by the now disbanded Mazarin, who are friends with The Walkmen.
The band played a great set of songs from their last couple records (no Pussycats stuff though) and I think some new tunes that sounded nice. This time, they had 3 ladies on horns through several songs (instead of just "Louisiana").
I was also really happy they played their holiday single, "Christmas Party" with one of the guys from Mazarin reading the spoken part of the song off paper plates. They also did a rocked out version of "White Christmas".

Scritti Politti at the North Star Bar

Last night, I went up to Philly to the North Star Bar to see Scritti Politti on their first US tour ever. Prior to this year, the Welsh band had not played live since 1980!
The main reason is that they just released a brand new record called "White Bread, Black Beer" which is really worth checking out.
Lead singer Green Gartside still sounds great- his high voice still holds up after all these years. Also, compared to the aging New Wave people in the crowd, he looks pretty good for his age- the guy is 50!
The backup band consisted mostly of younger musicians and a particularly lovely bassist Alyssa. What was cool was that when he played his older hits like "Wood Beez (Pray like Aretha Franklin)" and "The Sweetest Girl", he played them faithfully to the original sound, even having the drummer move to a synth drum kit.
I also had no idea he as such a hip hop fan as well; he did a cover of Jeru the Damaja's "Come Clean". My favorite songs were from the most recent record though- in particular "Snow in the Sun", "The Boom Boom Bap", and "Dr. Abernathy".

Art Brut and The Spinto Band at Starlight Ballroom

Last night I went up to Philadelphia to see the Art Brut and The Spinto Band play at the Starlight Ballroom, a medium sized club in North Philly. It was a nice space in a slightly sketchy neighborhood.
I've been hearing a lot of good things about The Spinto Band from Wilmington, Delaware, and they truly lived up to the hype. These guys have a hell of a lot of energy- definitely a geek rock-dance punk sound. Really rocking.
Their fan base was rather young and consisted of a lot of girls.
When I saw Art Brut earlier this year at the Ottobar, it was easily one of the best shows I've seen this year.
They were pretty amazing last night as well, and the new songs they played from their upcoming new album were pretty damn good.
Lead singer Eddie Argos was still hilarious onstage- he had this great self deprecating take on music and pop culture. Alas, Argos shaved his awesome mustache.
I love how the audience could singalong to a lot of the songs like "Modern Art", "My Little Brother", "Formed a Band", and "Bang Bang Rock N Roll".

Here's the Art Brut setlist. I liked new songs "St. Pauli" and "Post Soothing Out".

How to Speak, What to Say

My friend, artist Andrew Lampert, presented a performance piece at University of Pennsylvania Thursday night. He was invited as part of a creative writing class which was pretty interesting.
The performance consisted of two film projectors with adjustable speeds, a record used to train parrots to speak played in a record player for the deaf, an IR sensitive toy bird that sang, several colored gels on clotheslines, crutches, and me!
Art!

Asobi Seksu at the Khyber

Went up to Philadelphia last night to see Asobi Seksu, a band from Brooklyn. Their sound is a mix of shoegazer britpop and j-pop- they are fronted by Yuki, a tiny Japanese-American woman- it looks like she doesn't reach 5 ft.
The crowd at the Khyber was tiny- only about 20 people. I thought the band was awesome- they rocked and Yuki's voice was beautiful.
They ended with a great cover of "Then He Kissed Me."

CocoRosie w/ Spleen and Nomi at Vox Populi

Went with my cousin to see CocoRosie, Spleen, and Nomi at the Vox Populi in Philadelphia. It was on the 4th floor of a building near Chinatown in the back section of an art gallery- reminded me of Floristree but with no couches. Big turnout.
Opening was Nomi, who describes herself as "a union between Wu-Tang Clan’s The RZA on beats and Sade on vocals". She was accompanied by a gentleman on theremin who looked like Klaus Nomi oddly enough. Spleen and Sierra Casady came out to accompany her for some songs. It was alright. I think Nomi wasn't always a woman though.
Following was a French hip hop group led by a guy named Spleen. Spleen was accompanied by a guitarist and a human beatbox who was really good. The beatbox managed to create multiple tone with his nose and throat. I liked Spleen's rap when he mixed it with a scat style, but he was a little too Wyclef when he was on his guitar singing slow songs to seduce the girls.

I last saw CocoRosie at the 1st Unitarian Chruch, but this venue was more intimate. We managed to get right up front, so I was lucky to get such good pictures.
It was funny, since the band uses a projector for images, before they went on, the stage crew set up a light stage left. I was sitting when this happened, but when I stood up, I pretty much blocked the whole light, casting my giant shadow over the stage.
CocoRosie sounded great in this smaller venue. Sierra Casady, who is classically trained, came out in an Indian headress and a creepy mask singing operatically. Her sister, Bianca, sported a drawn on moustache.
Spleen and his human beatbox played in the band, and Nomi came out to sing backup with them for a few songs. Bianca even got all hot and heavy dancing with Spleen onstage. Possibly due to my giant shadow, I wished the band played less in the dark though. They also need to update their projector reel. Still loved seeing them again, especially so close up.

The Walkmen with Mazarin and The Cobbs at the Theatre for the Living Arts

I was in Philly last night at the Theatre for the Living Arts on South St. to see the Walkmen play in support of their latest record, A Hundred Miles Off. Nice venue, not very crowded, but the Philly crowd was a little sedate. Opening was a duo, The Cobbs. They both played guitar, and were accompanied by a dvd of the drummer who was projected behind them, a nice touch. I liked them some- a lot of energy, reminded me some of FIlm School the night before, but their songs seemed to sound the same by the end of the set.
Next up was Mazarin, a Philly band. Their music is psychedelic tinged rock- I liked them a lot- good songs and loud. I didn't realize that their song "Another One Goes By" is covered by the Walkmen on the new album. I liked their version better possibly.
Mazarin - "Another One Goes By"

The Walkmen have been one of my favorite bands to see live since I saw them at the Casbah in San Diego a few years ago. I love how intense the lead singer is on stage- reminding me of punk rock. His screaming on "The Rat" is amazing, and I wonder how his voice holds up for a show. The first two times I saw them, they opened with this song and he finished the show with no problems.
My cousin also reminded me how most lead singers nowadays are very effeminate and she said she liked how Hamilton Leithauser had a manly presence. I have only heard the new record a couple times, but the new songs were great live. For "Louisiana", they invited two young ladies to play trumpet onstage. These guys remain one of my favorite new bands out there now. Great show.

Download their 9:30 Club show at the NPR site.

Philly Cheesesteak

Before the Walkmen show in Philly last night, went to the famous Jim's Steaks (since 1937) for a delicious cheesesteak hoagie. I loved how the line cook was rude and insisted the passive whiteys to speak up and be clear when ordering. Mine was a cheesesteak with cheese whiz, mushrooms, onions, and hot peppers- surprisingly not greasy or oily at all. The whiz is the best part.