Upcoming/Recent Shows

[Rip_City]

Armand Hammer bringing the heat in Portland.

Milc and friends

Yeah he still blows. Some of Milc's buddies were decent enough. Carryover from the Boldy James show from last October.




Armand Hammer

They played all of Haram and a few from Shrines. Setlist (no encore) went for ~65min.

The combination of Billy Woods and Elucid is crazy. Woods carries this calm, intelligent aura about him when simply speaking or waiting to drop a verse but harnesses impactful, debonair delivery in the pockets of time he is given. Elucid is great too, but Woods stole the spotlight for me quite often.



I snuck in a partial clip of "Falling Out the Sky." Woods's delivery in a live setting is palpably striking. There are some irksome grunts from the obnoxious kid next to me at around the 1min mark:



Post-show

Merch line snaked around for the length of almost one hour, no joke. They had a repress of Haram in a few limited variants of the cover, including a repress of the OG artwork with Japanese OBI imported from Japan. They were all $50 for any LPs, but I was able to convince myself to snag one considering that I didn't get to the merch table until midnight (yes, you read that right) which signaled me having completed my "no-buy March" successfully. Also sold a record for $60 less than two days ago, so basically an equal tradeoff.
Got this inked of course. Thought about a T-shirt/long sleeve, but the signed LP was plenty enough. Wanted a photo with them, but the line was still long. The duo was also actively involved with the other merch ladies at the venue in taking payment from other concertgoers to help expedite the line so I didn't want to slow it down out of courtesy.

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EDIT: Grammar correction.

 

[djdavedk]

Looking at Roxy Music presale tix. Ugh!

Two lower level tickets for Philadelphia run $600.

Two upper level are $139 with fees.

And I don't even like arena shows.

 

[yukbon]

interesting discussion point from the owner of DNA Lounge in SF: Wherein Musicians Are Begging Fans to Mask Up at Concerts

 

[waruv]

interesting discussion point from the owner of DNA Lounge in SF: Wherein Musicians Are Begging Fans to Mask Up at Concerts

I can only speak to personal experience., but I’ve been to two “postdemic” shows in the past couple days. Both had vaccine checks and, ostensibly, mask requirements at one. Both were GA shows were a tight floor pit and spread out upper level and both were high energy shows with lots of 20 and 30 something’s (Bleachers and Girl Talk). Masking couldn’t have been over 10% inside, probably closer to 5%. Girl Talk had probably 20 people on stage maskless surrounding him and Bleachers were face to face with many crowd members.

I cannot envy their position at all in this. I definitely…hung back at both shows masked up out of caution

 

[SpintheBlackcircle]

K T Tunstall opening up for Stereophonics on the last date of their tour of U.K.

 

[TheThinWhiteDuke]

LOW in Birmingham. They got caught by the infamous Avondale forever train

 

[imtheocean]

Watkins Family Hour at the Belly Up Solana Beach 4/3. (@Sonicpharmacist including a picture of the shark above the bar just to bring back some memories for you!)

Excellent show from Sara and Sean Watkins. Songs covered the range of their career, from Nickel Creek to Watkins Family Hour, with plenty of covers too. Sara has a gorgeous voice and both their playing was impeccable. They called out for requests at the end, and picked my request - Nottingham (from the Disney version of Robin Hood). Everyone loves a song about overtaxed sad rabbits and turtles, right?

 

[threesunrises]

Went to see Jerry Cantrell on Sunday. Amazing show!

 

[Rip_City]

Checked off a bucket list show now having seen Grouper on Tuesday night at Polaris Hall in Portland.

The entire show segued song to song, with absolutely no audience interaction from Liz Harris (Grouper) or even a "thank you" from her at the concert's finish. Much of the soundscapes featured in her live performance were repeated guitar strums so overwhelmingly saturated in reverb + delay that it sounded akin to being underwater. There were several moments where the music approached a dreamlike state that I had difficulty staying awake, allowing myself to shut my eyes for a few minutes, heightening the euphoria. Was almost hallucinogenic.



Didn't take many photos at all considering the venue was seated, me being a few rows back, and I did not wish to interrupt the atmosphere with photos during mid-performance of an ambient/drone/ethereal show.

I did get my records of hers signed after walking up to the stage after waiting ~5min for her to reappear after she left the stage and to the privacy doors. Her signature for these was not her name but rather a symbol, unique to each album.

For A I A: Dream Loss, an "eye" near the top of the artwork, and "xo" written in the lower-right corner:



For A I A: Alien Observer, a "star" in the space of the white galaxy pictured the middle of the artwork:

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For Ruins, a "web" in the upper-left of the window/panel:

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Would love to see her perform again. She hadn't performed in Portland in over three years, prior to last night.

 

[wokeupnew]

LFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Poly-Rythmo]

I saw Lucy Dacus last night in Oslo. Great but a little louder than I expected. Decent support act from Fenne Lily, almost more like I was expecting Dacus to be. Also thanks to her asking for saw more face masks in Oslo than I've almost ever seen before.

 

[My Neighbor Brotoro]

I saw Sigrid twice in the span of like 14 hours. Covered last night's show for my friend's music blog after not having shot a show in a looooong while. This morning, just as a fan, I saw her perform an acoustic set in the Empire State Building, of all places.

 

[yukbon]

Be still my little black heart:



truly a wonderful live act

 

[Rip_City]

Had a blast seeing Amber Mark last night in Portland!

She performed a set time for around ~1hr 40min with a setlist of just over 20 songs, although she had to cut it slightly short due to being over for time and almost ~15 min to closing time. She had more throwback cuts from years past than I anticipated (roughly half the set), and with me being a newer fan, I was quite surprised.

Completely out of breath by the end and sweaty all the while. I'd do it all over again. There's no way someone of her stature (125k+ followers on IG) is playing a 300 cap venue in Portland again, though.


"FOMO" :



Got Three Dimensions Deep signed by concert's end after waiting around near the front of the stage after ~5min after encore's end. About 15 people also waited around to have a setlist/tour poster signed by Amber. Her merch table was disappointing; just hats with an uninteresting graphic. While waiting in the small line, I had a conversation with another concertgoer who spent near $100 on a resale ticket just because she had no idea Amber was coming to Portland until two months of the show date (well after it sold out).
When it came to my opportunity, Amber was elated to see the record jacket and had already asked for my name. She promptly signed, we gave each other a hug, and we wished each other safe travels. I wanted to get a photo with her, but considering one of the Doug Fir Lounge crew had announced curfew within 5min, and with at least eight other people waiting for an opportunity, I didn't want to possibly deny them due to time constraints. So thankful for her staying after even if just for a few minutes.



Three Dimensions Deep is still being underrated by y'all. Just saying.

EDIT: Deleted repeated words and changed a few sentences for clarity.

 

[DrainedPatience]

Well after chickening out back in February with a ticket in my cart I signed up for another chance for NIN tickets in Raleigh. Managed to get in and grab a couple at (still absurdly priced) face value.

It'll be my first show since 2018 and first time seeing NIN since 2013. Hurry up April 28th.

 

[tvham]

Glen Phillips in a backyard - Pleasanton, California.

For the second year in a row Glen Phillips from Toad the Wet Sprocket is doing a series of backyard concerts up and down California. Glen's humor and songwriting and humanity never disappoints and I make sure to catch him (and Toad) whenever possible. Here are a few pics, I didn't want to go crazy in such an intimate setting.

 

[Rip_City]

Sons of Kemet (and anything Shabaka Hutchings is involved in) are not to be missed in a live setting. Electric.

greaterkind

Local jazz fusion/jazz-funk from Portland, Oregon! Cool, groovy set. Seems like the jazz openers lean towards higher quality than other genres, which holds true here. Wouldn't mind seeing them again on a cheaper bill as a headliner in the future.




Sons of Kemet

Truly amazing and captivating. Danceable, energy never relented, and each member brought a unique element to the equation (yes, each of the two drummers had subtle differences in their contributions). In particular, Theon Cross (tuba) was the most impressive to me with his breath control and his ability to play two notes at the same time (multiphonic technique) with emphatic authority.
My second time seeing a Shabaka-led band, and I almost wasn't able to go. Relieved I didn't miss out; this was incredible. Definitely a can't miss band if you are even mildly intrigued, the energy is indescribable.



Now that I've seen more shows than in '19 and '20 combined in just this year, I'll have to make a concert tier list at year's end. Sons of Kemet are top-echelon, to be sure.

EDIT: Misspelled word.

 

[Tillman]

went with a couple of friends to see Animals As Leaders last night... they love them, I've only checked them out here and there but have never listened through any of their albums, but figured that they would be incredible live and holy hell were they incredible.

each if these guys are so amazing on their instruments it's pretty mind-blowing, but even more mind-blowing to me was how enjoyable it was to listen to rather than it feeling like 3 guys showing off for 90 minutes.

can't speak too much about the set since I'm not familiar with their music, but the crowd was going nuts and I couldn't stop smiling so I'm sure it was a solid collection of their new album and old favorites.

I'd most definitely check these guys play live again!

 

[cul8er]

Metal night!

My favorite local venue had four bands for only $10!!! I've never heard of any of them, but they were all awesome! Each band had tons of gear, and it was fun to see it all piled up along the side (I should have took a pic of that, but alas).

Guerilla Red is a local band here in Louisville. They killted it!




The second band, Devil Be My Judge kicked ass, too!



The third band The Lonely Ones, had the look of aerosmith, but had the sound of megadeath.



The headliner September Mourning, should have made the ticket price way more than $10. They put on a full production, video screens showing off her anime skills, cosplay, laser show and an overall excellent performance. I highly recommend seeing them if you get the chance!







Only sad part was none of them had any vinyl to sell, I'll have to settle for digital downloads somewhere. Otherwise they all are awesome!

 

[imtheocean]

Caught King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard last night on the US tour kickoff. Couldn't have asked for a better show. Solid from beginning to end, and just mind-blowing how good every single one of these guys are, and how effortless they make such complex songs seem. The venue isn't typically my favorite since it's almost always cramped seats and they have an early curfew - they were on from 8:45-10:15, but this being GA made it a whole lot better. It's right on a harbor, and a people will paddle up in kayaks for shows, going to have to try that sometime. Awesome poster too!