.sheer mag

The girls pulling a James Brown cloak moment on Marissa

I love Sheer Mag and I jumped on the chance to see them a second time. P and I were happy to complete our collection of Sheer Mag eps before the show. She bought I and I got I and II. Sheer Mag also had these amazing pins of their band name in gold. We bought those too. Securing a spot up front, we noticed Allison Crutchfield in the audience as Marissa Paternoster and her other band, Bad Canoes started to set up. It was hilarious. Apparently Marissa knew someone in the audience that graduated with a BA in Communications so the background on the screen was a graduation ceremony and she gave a shout out to him. Then she had a cat mask which was an inside joke of someone's cat named "Lenny Big Squish." She performed just about the entire show in the cat mask and came out into the audience. It was highly entertaining and I was cracking up the whole time. Bad Canoes was awesome. They sang songs about periods, the beach, and the mall. Dark Thoughts came out afterwards. It's funny because since I've been going to lots of shows and events I am constantly seeing members of Dark Thoughts at different venues and bars. One guy got out of hand during their set and slammed into me, sending me almost two feet backwards. I stood my ground and shook it off. We were mad because we had to move away from our front spots since he was causing such chaos. All of a sudden the band stopped their song, called him out, saying he was not the main focus of the show and that everyone should be able to enjoy their set. He eventually stood over towards the side. I thought that was really cool of the band. When DT's set was over, I think the guy apologized as the band packed up. 
 
Sheer Mag was fantastic as always. It didn't get too out of hand in terms of the crowd and everyone had a great time. My new favorite song of theirs is "Fan the Flame." Not only is Tina an amazing front-woman with total command, seeing the guys all play guitar together is a lot of fun. Recently they just made an appearance on Seth Meyers, so way to go Sheer Mag! I'm sure I will catch them many more times in Philly. 

.planned parenthood benefit

Friday I attended the Planned Parenthood event for southern PA at the First Unitarian Church. I was incredibly lucky finding a ticket last minute on Stub Hub since the show was sold out. When I entered the basement of the church I remembered seeing a Youtube video of Sleater-Kinney playing a show there back in 1996. So many punk / underground bands played there in the 90s. I missed out on a lot then again I was still too young. Anyway each band went on for about a half hour with 9-10 songs each. Amanda X came out first. They will be at the Union Transfer soon. I enjoyed their set.

 Then Littler came out. They are a four piece band and their bassist had a Black Flag shirt on that said "Bernie Sanders" which was pretty cool. They reminded me of the early days of riot grrrl. After Littler a 3-piece group called Dark Thoughts came out with a male lead singer. They reminded me a little of some old school punk bands.

Cayetana was the final band before Screaming Females. I enjoyed their vibe. The lead singer had cool blue hair. She said the band made vegan rice krispy treats and to make a donation to Planned Parenthood since they were not taking all of them home. The drummer had a really rad shirt that said, "Pro-cats, Pro-choice, Pro-feminism." I hope to see them again. They had a really fun set and could tell they were having a blast, especially the drummer.

The place was really packed towards the middle of the show. I luckily nabbed a spot up front but to the right of the stage. I'm kind of glad because all hell broke loose with moshing and pushing. Luckily I wasn't touched.

  
I was so happy to finally see Screaming Females. Marissa is so tiny but one hell of a guitar player. Skills beyond. I sent my dad a text today with video footage and was he like "She's really good!" Basically I just watched her in amazement the entire time. King Mike really killed it on bass. During her set I could tell her finger was bothering her because she had an Instagram post about it. Finally she just ripped the band-aid off of it but continued playing like nothing happened. Towards the end of the show I was nervous to talk to or meet her. Some fans encountered her while she put away her gear. I kind of hovered not knowing what to do. Finally I just went up and shook her hand, "Excellent set" and stupidly said "Thanks for coming to Philly!" She was like "It's no trouble at all since I live here!" Ugh I feel so dumb but she was nice about it and sweet. I know they hail from New Brunswick but why I thought she lived in Northern NJ or NY? I need to do better homework! She was at the merch table with all the other bands but I barely had any cash on me. I felt embarrassed asking how much the stickers were and not having enough (I only had $4 in my wallet). However, that didn't stop me. I went home and bought some merchandise on the website and along with that made a donation to Planned Parenthood of course. I was happy to see a lot of guys at the show too. Overall it was a really cool experience and I'm so happy I had the chance to witness it all.