Freakishly small bar / pub in Philly - check. Lackluster crowd filled with hipsteratti - check. Headlining and opening bands who deserved more than the banal setting of last night's show - check.
Don't get me wrong. I am thrilled to be able to take advantage of situations such as the one noted above when bands whom I really dig come to town promoting albums I am currently in love with. No shoving morons. Easy access to front of stage placement. Room to dance my ass off and the list goes on. However, it begs the question as to what sort of "scene" there truly is in Killadelphia when two bands of this caliber can barely pull 100 people into a room with a ticket price under $20. I mean, REALLY?? Enough with the negativity, now for the goodness.
It was my third time having the pleasure of seeing A Place To Bury Strangers live. The Brooklyn trio always delivers in terms of sonics and trippy light eye-candy. These noisecore vets. create screamingly good walls of feedback-drenched esoterica perfect for dancing one's eyes out. It's part shoegaze M. B. Valentine headfuck mixed with an off-key melodic sensibility that really translates both in concert as well as on disc. Check their self-titled debut and 2009 release "Exploding Head". Your brain will thank you later.
Comprised of Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell, The Big Pink has slowly been making in-roads here in the States via their extraordinary debut "A Brief History of Love" via 4AD. Lead single "Dominos" and follow-up "Velvet" should be all over the place by now instead of the alterna-ghetto they now reside in here in the USA. Front to back this album is pure pop sadness / goodness with hints of the JM Chains and a smattering of V. Underground thrown in for good measure. Easily one of the best albums of the last year. Live, the band perfectly captures the distorted spirit of their output to date with a rousing stage show backed by a really tight rhythm section seamlessly recreating the addled soundscapes found on their album. The bitchy NME set has already embraced it with open arms. It's our turn dammit!
Notes: Ran up on Milo after the show (if you by chance read this M., thanks for putting up with my drunken ramblings). Highlights include excitement about upcoming Coachella show, working on new music, coming back to the US for a possible fall tour, and a bunch of other stuff I can't recall at the moment. Also please look up BP's covers of Beyonce's "Sweet Dreams" and the Cure's "Love Song" online. You won't be disappointed, promise!
Setlist:
Too Young To Love
At War With The Sun
Frisk
Velvet
Crystal Visions
A Brief History of Love
New Song?
These Arms Are Mine
Dominos
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