Sadgiqacea (sad-juh-kay-sha)

Sadgiqacea live at the Level Room
Philadelphia, PA  4/21/12

I think the most significant music is a reflection of the time it is produced in. Sadgiqacea was formed in 2010. Think about the turmoil in the world in the last few years. War. Financial Ruin. Violence. Natural Disasters. Energy Crisis. Strange Weather Patterns. Recession...

Sadgiqacea mirrors that turmoil. They are a thunderous wave crashing on the shores of your mind. A pounding underground metal two-piece - guitar and drums with vocals that howl like a tortured soul crying out while teetering on the edge of the abyss. Long movements of music; dense, textured, cinematic, veering from melodic to thrashing.

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How would I describe their sound conventionally? A little of: Mastodon, Slayer, a sludgier Black Sabbath (think peak Ozzy years - Sabotage and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath), Ride the Lightning-era Metallica and the works of H.P. Lovecraft all thrown in a cauldron and boiled to create something new and different.

I was impressed with their recordings, but live they are even more of a beast than on record. They are like two horsemen riding into town, frantically trying to warn you of the Apocalypse but knowing they are too late to save you. They will be on tour across the U.S. this summer, see them.

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Check them out here or on Facebook

Sadgiqacea are on Anthropic Records

Welcome Back, My Friends, to the Show That Never Ends...

Greg Lake Live at the Keswick Theatre
Glenside, PA 4/19/12

Greg Lake is an important figure in the history of rock music. He was part of
the genesis of the mysterious, powerful King Crimson, then starred as a member
of the hugely popular supergroup Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP for short) and
then went on to solo success in subsequent years.

Lake is about to release his autobiography and was on a solo storytelling tour called
"Songs of a Lifetime" when I caught his show in the beautiful Keswick Theatre in
Glenside, PA

Lake was a veritable one man band, playing bass, acoustic and electric guitar or keyboards depending on what instrument was needed to bring each song to life the best. He spent a lot of time talking to the crowd between songs about what influenced their creation.

He played a first set, heavy on material from the first King Crimson album, then had a Question and Answer session taking random questions from the audience, then finishing off with a second set heavy on ELP material.


I won't spoil all the surprises in case you get to see the show in person. But I will tell you the highlight of the first set was an epic medley of "Epitaph/In the Court of the Crimson King", Lake's rendition of these two songs from 1969's In the Court of the Crimson King is truly stunning and worth the price of admission alone. The highlight of the second set was a beautiful "C'est La Vie",  as years of life and experience brought a gravity to the song changing it forever - no longer a young man's shrug but now an older man's lament.

The Question and Answer segment was fascinating, Lake took questions from the audience for about 20 minutes, covering every part of his career. The discussion was funny, touching and informative and helped make the event unique; no night's questions would be the same, so those present might be the only one to hear certain stories or answers.

Besides his own music, the night was also a history of rock and roll. Lake talked about some of the universal influences - Elvis, The Beatles, Hendrix - covering a song by each of them and explaining how he had crossed paths with them during his life or career.

Lake was the ultimate host; humorous, sharing, open. He seemed to truly love connecting with the audience in a small and intimate place and the crowd hung on his every word. I hope he continues this tour in some form and that if you are a fan of his music or rock in general you get to see it.

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Check out Greg Lake's site and merchandise

Buy his solo music here, ELP here, In the Court of the Crimson King here

Check out the historic Keswick Theatre

"everything you love will burn up in the light"

-The Pretty Reckless. The Medicine Tour. 

  Live at the TLA, Philadelphia, PA 4/12/12

The Pretty Reckless' 18 year old singer Taylor Momsen turned her back on an acting career to follow her heart and focus her energy on making music and touring. She made a good decision.

Momsen and her band hit the stage on Philadelphia hard and loud,  launching with the stomping-throwback-dinosaur riffage of "Hit Me Like a Man" and blitzing through a dozen songs in an hour, closing with an acoustic/electric version of "Nothing Left to Lose" sending the crowd home sweaty, partially deaf and smiling.

The Pretty Reckless' music is hard rock all the way, influenced equally by 70's riff rock and 80's and 90's alternative and metal with the occasional ballad. The band is solid live, cranking out riffs and finding a very loud groove and riding it.

Momsen is the center of attention though; a prowling, strutting, shimmying force of nature who is frequently a blur of gangly limbs and and flailing blond hair. Momsen possesses an amazing voice seemingly born from a lot of late nights, cigarettes and alcohol, able to switch from throaty purr to angry growl depending on the story she is telling in each song. 

The performance was tight and energetic, just long enough to satisfy but still leave you wanting more on their next visit. Momsen and her mates bear watching, they have released one album last year and an EP before this tour and hopefully more in the near future.

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setlist - Hit Me Like a Man / Since You're Gone / Zombie / Miss Nothing / 

Just Tonight / Goin' Down / Cold Blooded / Aerials (System of a Down cover) / 

My Medicine/ Makes Me Wanna Die / Factory Girl - (encore) Nothing Left to Lose 

"sound is the blood between me and you"

Wild Flag at the Trocadero, Philadelphia, PA 4/3/12

(Mary Timony)

Wild Flag are a group of respected alt/indie rock all-stars who combined have thirty plus albums to their credits. The group is comprised of former members of Helium, The Minders and Sleater-Kinney, among others.

I could spend paragraphs delving into their past. But what is most important is what they are doing now.

(Mary Timony and Carrie Brownstein)

Wild Flag features the twin guitar attack of Mary Timony and Carrie Brownstein, Rebecca cole on keyboards and Janet Weiss on drums. Yeah, no bass, but they don't need it.

Their music stirs together elements of psychedelia, new wave and punk ending up in a sound reminiscent of Television's Marquee Moon and White Light/White Heat era Velvet Underground but still forging a unique style and sound all it's own. 

Their debut album, Wild Flag, came out last year and is strong from start to finish. Standout tracks - "Romance", "Boom", "Short Version", "Future Crimes"

(Janet Weiss)

Live, Wild Flag soars. Timony and Brownstein sing and duel on guitar, Cole adds depth and a swirling psychedelic tinge on keyboards and Weiss powers the engine - one of the best and perhaps most overlooked drummers in rock music, she can go from jazzy 

rock to Bonham-esque thunder in a split second.

(Rebecca Cole)

Pick up the album and go see them if you get the chance, you will not be sorry.

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Wild Flag is on Merge Records

See them on Facebook

Sample and buy their stuff on Amazon