.don giovanni goodness @ the church

Five bands. Four hours of standing. This was totally worth it. I'm familiar with some of the bands on the Don Giovanni label and this was a great night to experience even more bands live. The first band was Bad Moves from Washington DC. I liked that each of their songs sounded different and had a different vibe. It was funny because they were explaining they wrote their song "Shitty Tomorrow" a long time back and now it doesn't seem so bad compared to the post-election. 

The next band was Worriers. I liked that the lead singer Lauren was wearing a Cayetana tee-shirt. They are a punk band out of Brooklyn who sing about issues like coming out and politics. I thought it was cool their 3-song 7" was titled "Sinead O'Rebellion" because Empire Records is life.

Outer Spaces are from Baltimore. I saw them open for All Dogs back in the fall of 2016. The fact that Cara has a song about her cat is amazing. Their latest album called "A Shedding Snake" dropped in May of 2016. It's an album about leaving the past behind and moving on. They sold cool magnets at the merch table!

Sammus in full gear

Sammus was OFF THE CHARTS!! I'm pissed because I left early when she came to PhilaMoca and missed her performance. Her songs were so powerful. Some of the topics were about getting therapy when it was needed, how black girls need role models too, internet trolls, how African Americans are viewed as 3/5ths of a person. What blew my mind was her talk about Metroid (how she got the name Sammus) and during her one songs she sampled the beats from the game and had a faux Metroid arm. Hi! I'm a video game nerd from the 80s. Can I die right now?! Since I moved back from the stage before her set, I am mad jealous of all the people who had the privilege to shake her hand in the front row. When the show was over I bought her album "Pieces in Space." She gave me a sticker and a free Don Giovanni compilation sampler of Moor Mother, P.S. Eliot, Alice Bag, Sex Stains, and more! I'm smacking myself because I was so overwhelmed by her powerful performance I couldn't even muster the words "Good luck with your PHD!" before I left.

Marissa doing what she does best

Screaming Females were of course amazing. Marissa Paternoster is just amazing. When I watch her masterfully play guitar my jaw is almost on the floor the entire time. Don't ever underestimate the power of her voice. You get this tiny, adorable voice and when she starts to sing it's a powerhouse that you don't want to fuck with. My favorite thing is when she screams into the mic and puts the entire mic in her open mouth. But really! The whole band are so tight and this sonic fireball of energy. They really brought the house down. Marissa had a donations jar for people that were arrested for protesting the inauguration. What made me sad was when she said our joy and happiness cannot be taken away from us. Hopefully no one will take away our rock and roll.

I'm noticing that all of the concerts I have attended recently have been for important causes or artists are using it as a platform (some of the ticket costs have been donated to sanctuaries, LGBT homeless shelters, etc). I think that is SO IMPORTANT in times like these. Artists should speak up. Anyone that says differently doesn't know their head from their ass and needs to have a seat. 

.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.