Jelani Aryeh @ The Fillmore - Philadelphia, PA
VALLEY @ The Foundry - Philadelphia, PA
Words & Photos courtesy of Carolyn Lederach | February 19th 2022
To say that the Valley show was one of the most fun shows I’ve been to in a while would be an understatement. After having Valley on repeat for most of the pandemic, it was super exciting to finally catch them live. Their thoughtful and fun songwriting gives their music a sad but fun feel. The four-piece give their live show an extra something special since all four members are super interactive throughout the show, sometimes switching out who is playing, singing, it really is a way to keep you on your toes when watching the show. The Foundry always gives a bit of restriction to performance range for most bands, but Valley really found a way to make the most of the space available. With the span of their career thus far they have really continued to get better with every release and I’m super excited to see how this band continues to grow, they deserve it all.
Bad Suns @ Union Transfer - Philadelphia, PA
Words & Photos courtesy of Carolyn Lederach | February 20th 2022
Like most bands, it’s been a minute since we’ve seen Bad Suns out on tour. A band that is no stranger to touring their four albums. The latest is their newest album, Apocolypse Whenever. I’ve been following Bad Suns since the release of Language & Perspective in 2014 and this was somehow the first time I was able to actually make it to a show and they did not disappoint! You can tell Bad Suns are a band that are no strangers to the stage, with every move perfectly planned. The setlist was the perfect combo of the new album as well as the old gems.
Opening the show were the equally great Little Image and Kid Bloom who both brought the fun in preparation for Bad Suns set.
Kid Bloom & Little Image:
Kacey Musgraves @ Wells Fargo Center - Philadelphia, PA
Words & Photos courtesy of Carolyn Lederach | January 26th 2022
Queen Kacey made her triumphant appearance in Philadelphia this past week at Wells Fargo Center, the fifth stop on her Star-Crossed Tour. Bringing along with her a stellar opening line-up including MUNA (yes they played ‘Silk Chiffon’, duh) and King Princess.
Kacey donned an amazing all-white jumpsuit, scattered with a tiny sword pattern. Just like the rest of her wardrobe on tour, it was nothing short of amazing. Oh, and of course, she was barefoot. The set included a great heart-shaped production, including little cute surprises along with the way like pink confetti for ‘Cherry Blossom’, and a money gun for ‘Breadwinner’, just to name a few. However, there seems to be a fail on the giant fire heart during ‘Star-Crossed’, which seemed to be a letdown for some. But the excitement of the rest of the show easily made that a forgettable issue.
The set consisted of songs that would appeal to old and new Kacey fans alike. Starting off with the first five tracks from Star-Crossed, then a nice selection of the hits from Golden Hour, with not a lot of looking back to releases before then. Another fan highlight was the cover song toward the end, where Kacey covered Dolly Parton’s iconic hit, ‘9 to 5’. Overall, a great night, filled with many flashy cowboy hats.
King Princess & MUNA:
The Fiery Furnaces & Fred Armisen @ Brooklyn Steel - Brooklyn, NY
Photos courtesy of Edwina Hay | November 13th 2021
Fred Armisen:
In May 2011, The Fiery Furnaces performed during the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, Spain, and the group featuring siblings Eleanor and Matthew Friedberger would go on hiatus shortly after that performance. Fast forward to ten years later, they would reform and conduct their first live set in a decade at the Pitchfork Music Festival in September 2021 and go on a brief tour which would take the band to Brooklyn, NY to Brooklyn Steel, Chicago IL’s Thalia Hall, and Los Angeles, CA to El Rey Theatre in mid-November.
Their concert at Brooklyn Steel on Saturday, November 13th began with comedian/musician Fred Armisen starting at 8 PM. He did jokes involving music such as not knowing how to dance or move when listening to songs in unusual time signatures (Slint’s “Nosferatu Man” was used as an example of this), or illustrating the history of punk via the drums starting in the 1970s through 2000s, and demonstrating how it seems like the drummer who played on Diana Ross’ “I’m Coming Out” didn’t know the song he was playing on.
The Fiery Furnaces, now expanded to a six-piece band, took the stage at Brooklyn Steel at 9 PM. Eleanor and Matthew Friedberger were joined by bassist Brian Betancourt, keyboardist Emily Lee, and drummers Noah Hecht and Cameron Wisch. The group performed songs spanning their catalog and executed them in different arrangements than their records. Eleanor thanked the audience for joining them in person for the show while understanding that not everyone who wanted to attend could due to the pandemic. Some fans traveled from out of state to attend the show and they were appreciative of them being there. The evening ended with “Chris Michaels” from their 2004 album Blueberry Boat, with Eleanor throwing her setlist into the crowd after the song was over.
Fiery Furnaces:
Alexander 23 @ The Foundry - Philadelphia, PA
Photos courtesy of Carolyn Lederach | October 9th
It’s been an interesting few years for Alexander 23. I for one was super excited to finally catch one of his live shows. If his internet presence is any indication of what his shows might be like, it’s bound to be a good time.
About this time last year, we saw the rise of his lockdown love song “IDK You Yet”, which is now up to about 300 million streams. He’s also been busy not only working on his own sad bops, but also working with artists like Olivia Rodrigo, Quinn XCII, and Jeremy Zucker.
You can tell from the joy on all the fans’ faces everyone else was also beyond excited to see Alexander live. With neon sign in tow the show in the small Foundry walls became a fun sing-a-long that makes me look forward to seeing Alexander live in larger rooms in the near future.
Lewis Del Mar @ The Foundry - Philadelphia, PA
LANY @ The Met - Philadelphia, PA
Photos courtesy of Carolyn Lederach | October 8th
It goes without saying that LANY has been extremely busy during the COVID times with releasing not just one but two albums. Personally, mama’s boy was one of my favorite albums from 2020 so I was super excited to see some of those songs live, and Malibu Nights remains a solid pop album I still listen to frequently. Along with the new bops on gg bb xx, there were plenty of LANY classics scattered throughout the night partnered with some great graphics displays.
Philadelphia was one of the first stops on LANY’s current GG BB XX US Tour. The show certainly presented its challenges, mostly with the venue fire alarms going off not once, but seven times due to the haze machines. Despite multiple cut-offs mid-song, the crowd didn’t let it stop the songs from continuing, frequently picking up the lyrics from where the house sound got cut off, it really created some magical moments.