.pj harvey @ the fillmore

And there she is again

Barely getting any sleep, to put a damper on things my train was delayed almost an hour getting back home from New York! Felt like I was waiting at Penn Station forever. I literally drove home from Hamilton Station, bought 2 donuts and an iced tea from DD, showered, and slept until it was time to go to The Fillmore. A concert friend from Virginia was driving up and was kind enough to hold me a spot in line. She was second in line and got to the venue around 3:00. I didn't get to the Fillmore until closer to 6:30-ish where I met up with my other friends too. It was nice having a group of people at this one. Inside they always have two lines of people by the doors entering the actual room where the stage is. We nabbed front spots towards the center. Perfection. Polly was literally in front of us all night. 

This time I tried to get a video of the entire band but it wouldn't come out that great when uploading it on Instagram. Since all the band members are in different positions on the stage, some of their heads got cut off in the video edit. Bummer. The fans in the audience were so great though. The one woman near us said this was her first time seeing Peej,that she's been a fan for twenty some years. I love when people see her for the first time. It makes me happy. 

As for the set list, it was pretty much the same. As for the encore I felt we got the better songs of "Highway '61" (yaaaas Rid of Me!) and "The Last Living Rose" (which always chokes me up). The concert went by so quickly but again stellar performances. A shout out to Terry Edwards on sax. That dude is killer. There was a moment where Polly and others started laughing on stage playing their instruments as he was wailing away. And playing two saxophones at one time? That is some hardcore Tori Amos playing two pianos shit! You go Terry!

SET LIST:
CHAIN OF KEYS
MINISTRY OF DEFENSE
COMMUNITY OF HOPE
ORANGE MONKEY
A LINE IN THE SAND
LET ENGLAND SHAKE
THE WORDS THAT MAKETH MURDER
THE GLORIOUS LAND
MEDICINALS
WHEN UNDER ETHER
DOLLAR DOLLAR
THE DEVIL
THE WHEEL
THE MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS
50FT QUEENIE
DOWN BY THE WATER
TO BRING YOU MY LOVE
RIVER ANACOSTIA
---------------------
HIGHWAY '61 REVISITED
THE LAST LIVING ROSE

After the show we got to hang around since we had backstage wristbands. I saw Mick Harvey but he was talking to Kurt Vile most of the time. I wanted to ask him about his cat haha! Then Kenrick came out and he was super nice and polite. As much as we were excited to talk to him and ask him questions about the album and Polly he really wanted to know a lot about us! Asked us where we were all from, if we played any instruments (I claimed my Fender is collecting dust for 2 years in the corner of my room, he laughed). I told him I liked the picture of him and Nick Cave on Instagram and told him I will see Nick Cave in June. We asked about the process of making HD6P and he told us some interesting facts about Polly. The first word he used to describe her was "extremely creative" and how she changes up the songs when they play them live compared to the album. I also found it interesting that she felt isolated from the rest of the band since she's up front and wanted to have points where she was in the background jamming out with them. Kenrick mentioned the band did not have downtime to explore Philly because we talked about all the interesting places around the venue the band could seek out (they would've loved the Barcade!). Before Kenrick left I said I might see the band one last time in Central Park and he gave me a look like "Maybe? You better come!" He was so nice he gladly obliged to get in a picture with all of us. All of my friends were ranting and raving how amazing the experience was. Best night ever! 

.bloc party

This was my second time seeing Bloc Party in concert. I believe the first time was in 2007 or 2008. The band just released A Weekend in the City. I guess my fandom goes back to their first album Silent Alarm with killer tracks like "This Modern Love" and "Banquet." Being an avid concert-goer the friend who accompanied me was not. We had spots dead center of the stage. When things started to get a tad rowdy (just fans jumping about) she immediately wanted to move further back. Since it was a sold-out show we had to stand on the stairs of the balcony. Thankfully I at least got to see the first set of songs up front.
 

It was great to see the new line-up of band members, especially Louise. I love when women play drums. Opening for Bloc Party was Oscar. He was really super and something different. His voice is very sexy and all of us enjoyed his jacket of cartoon characters. I felt he had better merchandise compared to the other bands. I'm a bit mad at myself for not buying his album on the way out. Ms Mr were okay in my opinion. I wasn't blown away with their songs but I loved their energy. Especially the synth / keyboard player. He had all of the moves. Then Bloc Party came out. The most annoying thing of the night was the girl on my left hand side. Her and her girlfriend moved up front last minute (seatbelters ugh) and just went ape-shit crazy almost the entire show. Every video I took you can hear her annoying voice belting out the lyrics. Her hair whipped me in the eyes at least 3 times that evening while she was headbanging. She kept shouting "Oh my fucking god!!! Are you serious?!" *sigh* I was glad to be next to her instead of my friend K who would've been really annoyed. At least her energy wasn't rampant the entire show.

SETLIST:
ONLY HE CAN HEAL ME
HUNTING FOR WITCHES
POSITIVE TENSION
MERCURY
VIRTUE
SONG FOR CLAY
BANQUET
DIFFERENT DRUGS
SO REAL
OCTOPUS
SO HE BEGINS TO LIE
THE LOVE WITHIN

ENCORE:
EVIL JAKE
FLUX
HELICOPTER
RATCHET

The highlight of the night for me was hearing "Mercury" because that is my current favorite Bloc Party song of the moment. The way Kele loops his voice and the repetitious chorus is just infectious. No "Modern Love" but it's okay. I heard it the first time I saw them. It was a great show nonetheless and K's first time at The Fillmore (she loved the venue)!

.explosions in the sky

This was my first time seeing Explosions in the Sky. I had no idea they hailed from Austin, Texas. My brother informed me (newbie Texan) they played many times in that area as he saw them at one of the festivals. One of my favorite Sleater-Kinney fans was celebrating her birthday this evening and what a way to celebrate than spending it at a concert. It was really amazing! The sounds coming out of their instruments sounded like something incapable to be produced by humans as her friend Mike claimed. Most people would kind of shun the idea of no singing and all instrumental but it was worth every penny. They were connecting with the audience clearly solely through sound and it was a beautiful thing. The thing I did not like were all of the side conversations going on during the show. I think my friend said something like "People need to shut up and stop talking!" They heard her and I believed it worked. Oddly enough my cousins were at this show all the way towards the back! I didn't notice until they uploaded photos on their Instagram the following day. They also said the same thing, it was the most amazing show ever and how blown away they were. The girl not too far from where we were standing nabbed the set list. Holding it out so we could take a  picture of it, she claimed she was still shaking from their performance. I own their new album and will definitely look into their previous albums. So, Explosions in the Sky, you have a new fan. :)

 

.metric

I honestly thought I would not make this entire show because of feeling crizappy earlier but so happy I made it through! Woo! This was my first time visiting the Fillmore in Philly and I liked the venue. It's massive and modern. The crowd was excellent with a great mix of people who just enjoyed the performances and were stoked to be there. Opening band was Joywave. They hail from Rochester, NY. The lead singer was extremely funny and cracked jokes in between songs. When Metric first came out on stage I was taken back to the early 2000s of my college years. Of course they didn't play much of their older songs but I still had a good time nonetheless. Emily was really great and very charismatic with the audience. She had a small choir on stage at one point and pulled a few of the younger girls up front to sing with her. They were elated and so grateful. Towards the end of the show she jumped down in and ran in front of the barrier. I was in the second row and managed to stick my hand out along the rail with the tons of others. She ran down and touched each of our hands smiling at us. The reaction of the girl next to me was priceless when this happened. Here is the set list....
 

IOU
HELP I'M ALIVE
YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH
TWILIGHT GALAXY
CASCADES
RAW SUGAR
TOO BAD, SO SAD
ARTIFICIAL NOCTURNE
DREAMS SO REAL
BLIND VALENTINE
SICK MUSE
COLLECT CALL
OTHER SIDE
BLACK SHEEP
SYNTHETICA
COMBAT BABY
GOLD GUNS GIRLS

ENCORE:
EMPTY
CELEBRATE
GIMME SYMPATHY
BREATHING UNDERWATER 

I tried to contain myself and restrain from posting 10 million pictures on Instagram. Here are some I did not post. I am amazed with all of the cape changes! Of course I bought a tee and a copy of Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?