September 11th, 2012
There Are A Few Shows At The Tower In September That You Should Probably Just Go Ahead And Get Some Tickets To
Well, last month we were buying some discs at AKA in Old City when a kindly checkout clerk tossed me a couple free Bloc Party tickets for this coming Saturday’s show and it made our day. And running into Miss Stacie George last week, she hinted that the BP show wasn’t doing so well. WHAT’S WRONG WITH PEOPLE!? Shows like Owl City or Death Cab For Cutie will sell out in a heartbeat. But uniquely-talented and complex rock bands from Europe with teeth get ignored wholesale in Philadelphia (or cities other than New York, for that matter). What’s the hold up? Maybe it’s just exposure. They’re not a band that’s everywhere – they don’t have million-viewed videos or songs used for commercials.
Well, they’re here on Saturday, and then the next night, Sunday night, sees a visit from Jill Scott’s friend Anthony Hamilton with a VERY special guest – ESTELLE. She’s the best. Even though her follow-up to the absolutely stellar Shine (2008), All of Me, wasn’t really all that, she’s one of the most bright and shining talents (see what happened there?) in the R&B game. Maybe Anthony will play her “American Boy.”
THEN, Metric and David Byrne & St. Vincent close out September. Metric’s continued to put out decent-to-great records for the past ten years. After the life-changing Old World Undeground, Where Are You Now? (2003) they stumbled a touch. They put out a couple bland records. But these days it seems like they’ve had a renewal – Fantasies was great, and the new one, Synthetica, is strong in its own, unique way. We saw em’ once, way back in the day in NYC at the Wonderland Ballroom and they put on a killer show – Emily was ON FIRE! So their show on Saturday, September 22nd should be an excellent one.
Finally, one of the most fascinating shows of the fall might just be the David Byrne and Annie Clark collaboration; a record they made called Love This Giant. It’s a horns and funk-filled affair and the Talking Headsiness is palpable. What’s strange is, St. Vincent is THE SHIT. Literally, she is one of the baddest rock bitches in the game. She can shred. She’s mousey but vicious. She’s got style, grace, wit and charisma. And she does it all, seemingly, from a place of genuine inspiration and creative drive. Problem is: she’s a little lost on this album. It feels more like a David Byrne album with Annie poking her head out from behind his giant, oversized and boxy suit (”Stop Making Sense,” anyone?). That being said, the album still rips despite this damn Pitchfork review. And the set they put on should be grandiose, loud and fun. It’s on Thursday, September 27th and you should probably get some tickets before it’s too late.
