Against Me!

Laura Jane Grace of Against Me! by Pete Troshak

Ever since he was young Against Me! singer Tom Gabel had a secret: he suffered from gender dysphoria, meaning that while he was outwardly male, he self-identified as female (for more on this see here.) Gabel suffered through 15 years of living a dual life in Against Me!. By day he was a standard-bearer of punk cred in a macho and insular hardcore scene, performing upwards of 200 shows a year. By night, after the show back at the hotel room, lonely but free at last, he would cross dress. In 2012 Gabel made the courageous decision to transition in public from male to female via hormone therapy. Goodbye Tom Gabel, hello Laura Jane Grace, a change that triggered the defection of Against Me!’s rhythm section. Undaunted, Grace and a reconstituted Against Me! recorded and released the extraordinary Transgender Dysphoria Blues and hit the road.

Tuesday night at the Trocadero, Against Me! version 2.0 delivered a triumphant and emotion-packed 23-song blitz through the band’s history, kicking off with the self-flagellating “Fuckmylife666.” Amid a hail of jangling power chords and galloping drums the towering, tattooed and striking Grace delivered her mantra, singing “Don’t want to live without teeth/Don’t want to die without bite” and “No more troubled sleep/there’s a brave new world that’s raging inside of me.” Next Grace slashed out the opening notes of “Cliché Guevara” on her jet black Rickenbacker, bringing a seismic roar from the crowd that planted a huge, Cheshire Cat smile on Grace’s face that remained the rest of the show. That Against Me! classic ignited the crowd, turning the floor of the century old venue into a sweaty sea of pogo-ing bodies, each one seemingly singing along word-for-word. Grace was joined as always by her longtime friend and perpetual Against Me! member James Bowman. Bowman barked backup vocals and displayed some impressive guitar playing while the new rhythm section — ex-Rocket From The Crypt drummer Atom Willard and bassist/Dee Dee Ramone doppelganger Inge Johansson — provided a tight and powerful foundation.

Highlights from their current album included the dazzling Bowie-meets-The-Beatles power pop of “Unconditional Love” and Grace talking about “cutting assholes out” of her life before delivering a raging “Black Me Out.” The old stuff was spectacular too. Grace teased the crowd with some guitar work that sounded like it was from a spaghetti western and a snippet of “Stairway to Heaven” before delivering an apocalyptic “Miami” that shook the foundations of the venue. Against Me! closed their main set with “The Ocean” from New Wave, the closest that Grace as Gabel ever came to being true about her gender identity pre-transition. Live the song was pure exorcism — a taut, emotional four minutes with some stunning cathartic guitar work from both Grace and Bowman that drove away some of the old ghosts and pain. The band then left the stage, only to be lured back by the sound of 1,200 fans stomping their feet and screaming “Against Me!” over and over. They encored with a shambling and beautifully chaotic “Sink, Florida, Sink,” with the entire crowd screaming “You got to fuck it up!” in unison as empty plastic water bottles and crowd-surfing punks competed for available airspace. Fittingly, the night ended with another Against Me! standard, “We Laugh At Danger (And Break All the Rules).” Laura Jane Grace and Against Me! aren’t just breaking all the rules though, they are rewriting them with blood, sweat and the redemptive power of rock ‘n’ roll.– PETE TROSHAK

see more pics here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/petryfrompa/sets/72157644627547983/

see the original post on at - http://www.phawker.com/2014/05/07/being-there-against-me-the-troc/

Phantogram and Chvrches @ The Piazza

Sarah Barthel of Phantogram by Pete Troshak

On Saturday, Chvrches and Phantogram rocked a gigantic sun-drenched Piazza crowd that included a tsunami-like wave of crowd surfers, a wedding party and two-time Olympic gold medal winning snowboarder Shaun White. The crowd surfers landed safely, the wedding party rocked out on one side of the stage and White was there to catch some good music and to see his his girlfriend, Phantogram singer Sarah Barthel. Those that couldn’t fit in the square took in the show from adjacent building roofs or apartment balconies.

Scotland’s Chvrches took the stage first, kicking off their set of sweet-sounding-but-venomous 80′s-flavored synth-rock with a pulsating “We Sink.” The sun seemed to shine brighter after Chvrches arrived prompting lead singer Lauren Mayberry to crack wise that this was “the first time that the sun had come out for Scottish people.” Mayberry was a study in contrasts — button-cute, high-pitched singing voice, and rocking a leather jacket and convincingly singing the menacing “Gun” (“I have burned your bridges/I will be a gun/and it’s you I’ll come for.”) They closed with “The Mother We Share” which had the entire crowd waving their arms and singing along.

Phantogram played last, with Barthel taking the stage all dressed in black with a shirt that read KILL. And kill the band did, delivering a powerful hour of their skittering drum n’ bass-fueled guitar-rock. They kicked off with new song “Nothing But Trouble” from Voices, Phantogram’s excellent new album. The song featured femme fatale vocals from Barthel, beautifully chaotic samples crashing into each other and a sprawling acidic guitar solo from singer/guitarist Josh Carter. The band dipped into their back catalog for “Don’t Move” which featured a old school horn samples, thundering drums and ethereal vocals from Barthel. They ended their set with another old song “When I’m Small,” featuring 60’s spy movie-style jagged guitar and bass and Barthel’s seductive vocals. As the song drew near its close, Barthel climbed the barrier in front of the fans and leaned into the audience dispensing high fives, holding hands and letting them sing along. — PETE TROSHAK

see more pics here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/petryfrompa/sets/72157644100913738/

see original post here - http://www.phawker.com/2014/05/04/being-there-phantogram-the-piazza/

Charles Washington by Pete Troshak

The third Annual Center City Jazzfest was held on Saturday afternoon, pleasing a sellout crowd with sixteen genre-spanning jazz performances spread out over four locations in Center City Philadelphia. The four venues were Fergie’s Pub, MilkBoy,Chris’ Jazz Cafe and Time – all within a few blocks of each other and three of them on Samson Street. The festival offered remarkable value at $15 per ticket if you bought them ahead of time, so you were paying less than a dollar per artist. Your ticket purchase earned you a wristband that allowed you access to any of the four venues whenever you wanted. Events were running at each venue simultaneously, so like any festival, you had to pick and choose what you wanted to see and hear. I kept on the move and was able to catch partial sets and photograph ten artists on the bill, and at times I definitely wished I could clone myself and see more than one set at once. It was an afternoon full of memorable performances that reminded both the attendees and musicians of the togetherness and pure joy that music can create. 

The opening act of the fest, vocalist Rhenda Fearrington set the tone for the day. She and her four piece backing band gave a spirited and powerful performance that rocked the tiny upstairs at Fergie’s Pub. Another highlight of the sets at Fergie’s were the Jazz guitar stylings of Mike Kennedy, who was backed by a tight three piece keys, upright bass and drum trio. Of all the locations used for Jazzfest, Fergie’s best recreated the intimate, packed clubs that many Jazz greats cut their teeth in. The small upstairs room got more and more full as the day went along, and many fans seemed to set up shop there for the afternoon. 

The events held upstairs at Milkboy also got more and more crowded as the afternoon went on. This venue hosted impressive sets by Giovana Robinson and Justin Faulkner. Panama’s Robinson and her group pleased the mid-afternoon crowd with a set featuring her passionate vocals and distinctive style of music – a mix of pop, world music and Jazz elements. Late in the day Philadelphia native Faulkner’s thunderous drumming led a trio through an hour of groovy, prog-like space jazz to a packed and rapturous audience that included many of the other musicians from other bands on the bill. 

Chris’ Jazz Cafe’s dinner theater-like set up and large stage area were a perfect fit for the musicians who played there on Saturday. Early in the day the Cafe hosted a fourteen piece Jazz orchestra of youths from The Kimmel Center Creative Music Program for Jazz. Despite being young they proved to be old souls with a swinging, powerful ensemble performance that showed that Jazz has a bright future in Philly. Later in the day the stage was owned by Joanna Pascale and her band. Pascale delivered an well received set of torch songs and included a meditative and memorable Jazzy take on Carole King’s classic “Will You Love Me Tomorrow.” 

The Time restaurant hosted some of the best shows of the day in it’s large mirror and clock filled bar area. The bar area featured a lot of open standing room space, natural light and two large sliding windows behind the stage area that were usually open. The open windows allowed passersby and fans who couldn’t fit into the frequently packed venue to hear some of the music outside. Early on, trumpeter Charles Washington led a five piece backing band through an excellent set that evoked the spirit of the early Miles Davis combos. After them brassy Brooklyner Miss Ida Blue drew one of the largest, most enthusiastic crowds of the day. Her look was eye-catching: she aptly described herself as a “vamping dame” in one of her songs. Miss Blue and her clarinet/trombone/banjo and tuba backing band delivered a raucous set of her innuendo-laced Jazz that had the crowd roaring with laughter and appreciation for her singing and the group’s talent. Next up was Stacy Dillard who had the crowd smiling, bobbing their heads and exchanging “did you hear that” glances as he blasted out complicated runs of notes on his sax while leading his trio through an impressive and powerful hour of music. Last up at Time was Trio Up, composed of virtuoso performers Rick Tate on Sax, Ronnie Burrage on drums and Nimrod Speaks on bass. They showed their mastery of their instruments and their ability to create beautiful music together during a highlight-filled hour of muscular and complex Jazz that that thrilled the packed restaurant.

see more photos here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/petryfrompa/sets/72157644199745543/

see original post on WXPN's The Key here - http://thekey.xpn.org/2014/04/21/jazz-fest-lights-up-center-city-with-an-afternoon-of-eclectic-exciting-performances/

Charetta, Oxzana, Breakage Rising and Bodyface @ Mercury Lounger in NYC

Four distinctly different New York based bands rocked a strong weeknight crowd at the intimate concert space of the cozy Mercury Lounge in the Lower East Side of the city that never sleeps on Thursday night.

Up first was Bodyface, a power trio with a hammering precise Chevelle-like musical attack filled with the the angsty soul of 90’s rock. Playing mostly in the shadows of the wide dark stage, they delivered a half a dozen intense songs driven by their tight rhythm section and singer Jared Kerr’s growling vocals and jagged guitar riffs. They have a new album due out soon but check out their song “Sunrise” to get an idea of their sound.

Oxzana performed next bringing their fierce Ukraine-via-Brooklyn industrial hard rock to a crowd that surged forward when they took the stage. Singer Aksana Serjia’s  passionate vocals and emotional and energetic performance mixed with the intense riffs and grooves of the band to  fire up the crowd and bring the excitement level in the room up a couple of notches.They were joined for most of their set by violinist Cassandra Sotos, who added some searing violin while rocking a white electric violin that resembled a white Gibson Flying V guitar. Check out Oxzana’s very theatrical video for “Crimes of Love.”

Breakage Rising played next, pleasing the crowd with their aggressive but groovy hard rock. They were led by mic-stand swinging and fedora topped singer Hunter. His part soulful/part growling vocals soared over the hardcore foundation laid down by guitarist Klyph, bassist Chris and drummer Dan while lead guitarist Sonny delivered blazing solos mixed with some Van Halen-esque tapping. The band won the unofficial award for “best song title of the night” with a swaggering rap/metal ode to bro-dom called “Sumo Karate Chop.”

Headliners Charetta  took the stage a little after eleven PM and delivered a crushing set of metal to the eager crowd, kicking off with their set with a pounding “Lights Out.” Feisty singer Angelina DelCarmen stalked the stage headbanging and waving her green and black hair while leaning out over the crowd and unleashing her powerful sometimes-sweet/sometimes-anguished vocals. Behind her bass player Richard Mollo and drummer Adonis Sanchez locked into a loud powerful groove that drove the band. On opposite sides of the stage guitarist Chris Fullam slammed out riff after riff and lead guitarist Pablo LaFrossia fired off stinging laser-like leads. The group played all of last year’s excellent Kickstarter funded EP Apocalypse with one highlight being “This Is Your Fall” showcasing DelCarmen’s anguished wail and the bands staggering stop-and-go riffs. Late in the set came another highlight from Apocalypse when the band delivered the ballad “Not Made Of Stone,” which was a memorable moment of quiet beauty in what otherwise was a loud night. Their setlist included some older material too, including a thundering mid-set “Runs In The Blood” and encoring with a lightning fast blitz through “The Truth Is Out” when the crowd chanted for more. The band joked about not having an encore prepared because they are used to opening for other bands, they should be prepared to play lots of encores in the future given the quality of their live performance on this night.

Charetta Setlist:

Intro
Lights Out
I’m Not Your Bitch
Runs In The Blood
The Apocalypse Is Here
Love Your Lies
Not Made Of Stone
This Is Your Fall
Watch It Burn

Encore:

The Truth Is Out

see more Charetta photos here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/petryfrompa/sets/72157644199695935/

see Oxzana photos here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/petryfrompa/sets/72157644199846594/

see Breakage Rising photos here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/petryfrompa/sets/72157644186943331/

see Bodyface photos here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/petryfrompa/sets/72157644186321212/

Gary Numan @ The Trocadero Theatre, Philadelphia, PA

Gary Numan
Trocadero Theatre
Philadelphia, PA
March 23, 2014


Gary Numan will always be best known for his 1980 hit "Cars," but Sunday night at the Trocadero he proved he is no nostalgia act with a blazing nineteen song set of electronic rock heaviosity. Numan released one of his best works ever in late 2013, his twentieth album Splinter, and is on tour supporting it following a buzz-generating performance at the SXSW Festival. Numan and his four piece band fittingly took the stage to the strains of the instrumental "Resurrection" and launched into the stark industrial wasteland of new song "I Am Dust." Numan strapped on a Gibson Les Paul and churned out riffs alongside his guitar player while white strobe lights exploded behind him and a sea of industrial blips and bleeps sounded around them, setting the tone for the night. Numan spent most of the set slithering up and down his mic stand; hanging onto it was the only thing keeping him from being sucked into the black emotional void of his music. His backing band of a bass player, drummer, keyboard player and guitarist spent most of the night in the shadows but stood out by supporting Numan's powerful vocals with equally powerful riffs and rhythms. Half of the set consisted of songs from Splinter, which held their own against Numan's older songs. One standout new song was "The Calling," which featured a throbbing heartbeat-like beat that had the crowd grooving. Another was new song "Here In The Black," an anthemic blast of gothy metal goodness featuring eerie whispered vocals by Numan and the heaviest guitar riffs of the night. His two classic songs impressed live also with one featuring his best vocals of the night and another being paired with one of his new tunes to devastating emotional effect. First up was "Down In The Park" which featured Numan's loudest and most emotional singing of the night as his voice battled to rise over the glacial swelling and swirling keyboard riffs. Next, mournful blue lights strafed the crowd as Numan and Co. delivered the fragile but beautiful new paean to a love-gone-bad,"Lost." Numan's gentle bruised vocals combined with a sparse piano riff and sprays of frustration-filled notes from his guitar player to create a palpable feeling of despair. Seconds after the song ended the memorable keyboard riffs of the claustrophobic classic "Cars" sounded, bringing the crowd from their depths and raising the energy in the room. The song took on a new life live, with the guitar and bass dominating the keyboards and Numan dropping the detached icy vocals of the record. The man who was once sounded happy to be locked in that car now sings like a man who wants to break free from its confines. Numan has found the soul in the machine.

ZZ Ward @ The TLA

ZZ Ward by Pete Troshak

Zsuzsanna Eva Ward was born in Abington, PA, in the late eighties and spent her youth absorbing her dad’s blues records as well as her brother’s hip-hop albums. Fast forward to 2014 and that little girl has become ZZ Ward, a rising music star with a sound that combines the lyrical and sonic tropes of blues and soul as well as the rhythms of hip hop. Friday night Ward and her tight three-piece band packed the Theatre of Living Arts and thrilled a winter-weary hometown crowd on the opening night of her Last Love Tour. Ward took the stage wearing her trademark low-slung Fedora and a black fuzzy jacket, packing a harmonica, looking part gangster and part blue eyed soul princess. Her voice is a versatile weapon in a live setting, alternately sultry come hither croon and soul-baring blues at the drop of a hat. Ward’s band matched the intensity of her vocals, with extra props going to her bass player who laid down a river of rubbery baselines all set long.
The 15-song set list drew from both her major label debut Til The Casket Drops and Eleven Roses, the online-only demo/mixtape that preceded it. Highlights from the latter included the raw and haunting opening song “OVERdUe” and the thundering “Cinnamon Stix. But it was tracks from Til The Casket Drops that were the most persuaive and convincing. Early in the set, Ward and her band delivered a searing one two punch of piano and guitar fueled stompers “Til The Casket Drops” and “Put The Gun Down.” Later, Ward sounded like she was drowning in a sea of heartache during the rarely played bluesy piano ballad “Lil Darlin.” The highlight of the set was a stunning version of “Last Love Song” that showed why the tour is named after this song. Ward sat on a stool in the middle of the stage with an acoustic guitar on her lap. Her eyes were closed for part of the song as she delicately picked out the spectral guitar notes. Ward’s guitarist manned a keyboard and played the emotive piano notes while the drummer gently played shimmering flourishes on the cymbals with mallets. On top of that wall of sound Ward delivered the vocals –a last goodbye and gentle exorcism of a bad love. The song swelled to a beautiful bridge then rolled to an emotional finish and faded out, leaving the crowd drained but roaring their support. Ward might have had to extinguish that love, but her star is clearly shining bright. – PETE TROSHAK

see more pics from her Last Love Tour here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/petryfrompa/sets/72157642409912293/

see original post here - http://www.phawker.com/2014/03/02/being-there-zz-ward-the-tla/

Karmin @ TLA

The story of Karmin is one of the most interesting in music the last few years. Engaged pop duo Nick Noonan and Amy Heidemann started out covering hits by other artists in an attempt to show off their talents. They amassed millions of views on YouTube and fulfilled the dreams of every struggling musician by getting signed to a major label. They got backed by Questlove of the Roots here and here. They released an EP called Hello in 2012 that yielded a hit in the form of the inescapably catchy “Brokenhearted.” Everything seemed to be going their way, but then the ride got bumpy. The first full length album, Pulses, has been complete for over a year but in limbo due to disagreements between Karmin and Epic Records. The band is out on the road for their first tour as headliners despite the album not being for sale (it’s scheduled for release 5/25), and gave an impressive show at the Theatre Of Living Arts on Friday night on one of the first dates of their Pulses tour.

Bryce Vine by Pete Troshak

Early arrivers were treated to the first Philadelphia appearance by talented new artist Bryce Vine. He performed a short set of his smooth flowing, pop culture-referencing rap accompanied by just a DJ. Vine has a powerful stage presence and he quickly had the crowd giving him their full attention with his rap skills and personality. He did the cliche thing and asked if the crowd was ready for Karmin. When the crowd cheered loudly in response he faked disdain and said “How dare you, I still have more songs to play,” eliciting a huge laugh from the crowd. The highlight of his set was an impressive and amusing song he claimed he had just written called “I Just Wanna Be A Thug.” Over a sample from Green Day’s “Brain Stew,” Vine lyrically and humorously skewered the gangster culture that surrounds rap music. Vine has an album, Lazy Fair, due out later this year.

Karmin hit the stage soon after, backed by a guitarist, bassist and drummer. They opened with their new single “I Want It All” and delivered fourteen more songs in an energetic and crowd pleasing set. Amy was a ball of energy, bounding from one side of the stage to the other while displaying impressive rapping and singing skills. There were a bunch of new songs which showed off more of Nick’s singing than their older material. Besides singing, he played some mean slide trombone and jammed on a bank of keyboards in the middle of the stage. The best new song was title track “Pulses,” an urgent, throbbing number that rocked the crowd and showed some impressive singing by both of the duo. Amy warned that their new song “Neon Lights” was sad, then delivered a heartbreakingly beautiful version of the ballad. After that song, she talked about their frustration with the record being held up and discussed how touring was a happy escape from those problems. The last two songs of their main set showed the group veering more into rock ‘n’ roll territory with good results. New songs “Puppet” and “Hate to Love You” were louder and more guitar fueled than Karmin’s older songs but were both well received by the Philly crowd.

Karmin left the stage then, eliciting loud stomping and chanting by the crowd until the band returned a few minutes later. The first song of the encore was a cover of Chris Brown’s “Look At Me Now” with help from the an audience member identified as Shekar. He and Amy traded verses on the tune, with Shekar impressing Amy and the crowd with his skills. Next came the inevitable conclusion with their biggest song, “Brokenhearted.” The bouncy, bassline fueled song had the crowd moving, grooving and singing along loudly for four minutes of sweaty pop bliss to close out the night on a perfect note.

see more Karmin photos here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/petryfrompa/sets/72157640419429394/

see more Bryce Vine photos here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/petryfrompa/sets/72157640419743654/

see original article here - http://thekey.xpn.org/2014/02/03/karmin-kicked-off-its-pulses-tour-with-a-high-energy-tla-show/