House of Vans Pop-Up @ House of Vans, Philadelphia, PA
Photos and review courtesy of Carolyn Lederach | October 11, 2019
House of Vans saw it's latest pop-up in Philadelphia October 10-13. Transforming an seemingly abandoned warehouse, right outside of the Northern Liberties section of the city, into a destination for music, art, skating, and more. Whether you're there to soak in the skate culture or not there was plenty of cool things to see a do. Including a great line-up from Philly favs Tierra Whack, Hop Along, Orion Sun as well as other acts such as Phantogram, Y La Bamba, and the amazing Channel Tres. Never a dull moment of bringing Off The Wall moments to life with an amazing skate photo retrospective and well as workshops for zines and more. There's just one thing I wish would have happened is for House of Vans to stay in Philly forever.
Channel Tres
Phantogram
Y La Bamba
Half Moon Run @ The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA
Photos courtesy of Carolyn Lederach | October 14th 2019
Catfish and the Bottlemen with July Talk @ The National, Richmond, VA
Photos courtesy of Gabby Ames | October 1, 2019
Kate Tempest with Akinyemi @ Elsewhere, Brooklyn, NY
Photos and review courtesy of Edwina Hay | October 1 2019
British multihyphenate Kate Tempest (spoken word artist, rapper, poet, novelist, and playwright) announced four US shows along the west coast and one taking place on the east coast in Brooklyn, NY. The brief tour was done in support of her third record, The Book Of Traps & Lessons.
The sold-out concert in Brooklyn on Tuesday night began with an opening set by a young, energetic local rapper from Queens, Akinyemi. He spent much of his set running across the stage and engaging the audience in call & response. Despite most of the audience not being familiar with his music beforehand, he easily won the room over as it was quite difficult to not enjoy his enthusiasm and sense of humor (after knocking down a microphone stand, he quickly joked to Elsewhere that he valued their equipment).
Kate Tempest took the stage promptly at 10PM, joined by Clare Uchima.
Tempest began her set with songs from her first two albums Everybody Down and Let Them Eat Chaos such as “Marshall Law,” “We Die,” “Europe Is Lost,” “Circles,” and “The Beigeness,” before performing Traps & Lessons in its entirety. All of her songs were delivered with such passion, to be heightened by Uchima’s live synths and mixing plus the impressive lighting design; during “Brown Eyed Man,” the lights went out quickly, only to return to a deep red during a dramatic part of the song while “Circles,” the spotlights on stage naturally went around in circles.
I last saw Tempest perform live in 2015 after the release of her first album, “Everybody Down” at the intimate Mercury Lounge and as I made my way home just before midnight, I couldn’t help but wonder when I’d be able to see her perform these songs again.
The Band Camino @ 9:30 Club, Washington DC
Photos courtesy of Carolyn Lederach | September 13, 2019
Hot Chip with Holy Fuck, Brooklyn Steel, Brooklyn, NY
Photos & review courtesy of Edwina Hay | September 3, 2019
On Tuesday, September 3, 2019, Hot Chip kicked off their North American tour in support of their newest record, A Bath Full of Ecstasy, in Brooklyn, NY. The show, which took place the day after Labor Day, began their three night stand at Brooklyn Steel. Holy Fuck, of Toronto, began the show at 8:30PM and performed a new song which featured vocals by Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor. Hot Chip had many in the audience dancing until the very end of their set. Although the band planned on ending the night with second encore (a cover of “Sabotage” by the Beastie Boys), it sadly didn’t happen because they exceeded the venue’s 11PM curfew.
Hot Chip
Holy Fuck
Breaking Benjamin @ PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ
Breaking Benjamin with Chevelle, Three Days Grace and Dorothy
Photos & review courtesy of Ana Santos | July 31 2019
Currently on tour in support of Ember, Breaking Benjamin swept through NJ’s PNC Bank Arts Center on Wednesday, July 31st. With a tour ticket stacked with incredible supporting bands – Diamante, Dorothy, Three Days Grace and Chevelle – it is no wonder that energy was high and voices loud throughout the night.
From Dorothy’s soaring blues vocals, to Three Days Grace’s raucous rock n’ roll energy and Chevelle’s flawless alternative edge, Breaking Benjamin easily absorbed the audience’s fervor and shot it back with unwavering showmanship. Kicking things off with “Red Cold River,” “I Will Not Bow” and “Never Again,” the band took a short breather to invite a number of young rock n’ roll initiates on stage. When the number of children almost outnumbered the number of VIP pass holders on stage, the band continued with a bombastic 17-track set including a badass medley featuring everything from Star Wars to Nirvana to Metallica.
It’s been my experience over recent years that a Breaking Benjamin show is consistently solid and once again they did not disappoint. This tour’s outstandingly strong support made the long night that much more worth it.
Chevelle
Three Days Grace
Dorothy
