Sofar Sounds Philadelphia - June 2014 with Justin Pellecchia of Satellite Hearts, The Gallerist, and Little Comets
Sofar Sounds is based on the idea "Songs for a Room". A "room": meaning not a warehouse, not an amphitheater, not a club. These intimate shows are built around fans having a premier experience
without the normal trappings of lines, cover charges, overly loud P.A.
systems, and uncomfortable venues. Instead you have bands intermingled
with fans in comfortable homes and unique places. In the case of the June '14 Sofar Sounds: Philadelphia the room is "The Rivals House" aka Nomad Recording Studios aka, home of SwiftLessons. Whatever you want to call it, it's a cozy place to listen to live music.
In fact, it's comfortable enough that we find ourselves back at The Rivals House for the third time in the last year. Coincidentally enough each time at the Rivals house, the show has involved the Satellite Hearts. They played the show in September '13 with The Unlikely Candidates, Penrose, and Murchant. Lead singer Justin Pellecchia emceed the second anniversary show in November '13. June took an interesting twist with Justin Pellecchia billed solo to open the show.
Justin started off the afternoon show by himself on acoustic guitar. New song, "Peacock Blue" was the first unveiled. Singing lyrics "...up, down, turn it around", Justin took us for a ride somewhere between real and fantasy with this song's protagonist. For the rest of the set, Justin was joined by bandmate Lucas Rinz on bass and Satellite Hearts producer/The Lawsuits guitarist Joe Bisirri on electric guitar. New songs were the focus, and soon to be hit "Meet the Greens", a witty ode to a disgusting couple, was the highlight for most fans!!
It was a treat hearing Satellite Hearts stripped down, as they are typically a powerhouse on stage. Whether as themselves or backing other Philly area all-stars such as Ali Wadsworth and Dean Ween they are an absolute force on stage. Either way, stripped or full force, I'm hoping the new album will come with a lyric sheet, as Justin some tongue twisters mixed in, especially on "Smoke & Mirrors"
Justin Pellecchia (Satellite Hearts) - Meet the Greens | Sofar Philadelphia (#844)
Justin Pellecchia/Satellite Hearts - June, 2014
song title album
1. Peacock Blue unreleased original
2. Juxtapose unreleased original
3. Meet The Greens unreleased original
4. Smoke & Mirrors unreleased original
5. Whisper On The Breeze unreleased original
The Gallerist was also familiar to the Sofar Sounds crowd this June. Playing the June show as just a two piece, Mike Collins and Kai Carter played with drummer John Holback as part of the normal trio in January '13 for their Sofar debut. For some serious music fans, it was the second time seeing them that day. Over at Church of Kong, a curated brunch at Nodding Head Brewery, Mike had already played a set before rushing over to meet his banjo at the Rivals House.
Clearly at home in Philly, the irony was not lost when playing the first song "There Anywhere" a song about how going back home, just isn't what it used to be. "Yesterday's Old News" was soft and sincere capturing the attention of the crowd now starting to sweat a little from the June heat.
Kai, who seemed to be the only person who hadn't broken a sweat, was as cool as can be as a bass player should be with his hair back, shades up, khaki shorts and sandals, and killer beard. Mike showed off his "cool" by laying down a sweet groove on banjo at the end of "Helium".
Capping a set of four brand new tunes from the now released Twine, "Blame" was soft, sweet, & sincere as Mike Collins explained through song "... seeing the world will change you"
The Gallerist - Blame | Sofar Philadelphia (#844)
The Gallerist - June, 2014
song title album
1. There Anywhere Twine (released 7-15-14)
2. Yesterday’s Old News Twine (released 7-15-14)
3. Helium Twine (released 7-15-14)
4. Blame Twine (released 7-15-14)
Holy shit, Little Comets was next! Playing a show later in the night at North Star Bar, the UK trio stopped in to give a taste of their upcoming EP Salt and Its Gentle Corollary (released in the U.S. on June 16th). Showing off incredible harmonies; combining the blood harmony of brothers Robert & Michael Coles with Matthew Hall, the band amazed the crowd from the first song. They took their radio hits and put them back in their natural habitat, stripped and acoustic. Robert explained it was a "nice welcome back to their start" playing how they played like in the beginning. For already fans, it was nice to hear the songs in a different way.
Little Comets took fans through a tour of their songs. The popular "Jennifer" started things off. They dug deeper into their catalog for "Adultery" before taking a spin through the upcoming EP. Despite this being some fans first exposure to Little Comets, they didn't shy away from less than cheery songs. "Salt" they said was "a really sad song" while "The Blur, The Line and the thickness of the Onion" is a political song asking for expecting social change.
Being it a summer afternoon, Little Comets did bring the mood back up with upbeat "Little Italy" and "Worry". Hands down the best part of their set was not just stripping down the songs by instrumentation, but bringing out every syllable of the lyrics to really showcase the songs completely; lyric and all.
Little Comets - The Blur, The Line and The Thickest of Onions | Sofar Philadelphia (#844)
Little Comets - June, 2014
song title album
1. Jennifer Life Is Elsewhere
2. Adultery In Search of Elusive Little Comets
3. Salt Salt and Its Gentle Corollary
4. The Blur, The Line and the thickness of the Onions Salt and Its Gentle Corollary
5. Little Italy Salt and Its Gentle Corollary
6. Worry Life Is Elsewhere
In fact, it's comfortable enough that we find ourselves back at The Rivals House for the third time in the last year. Coincidentally enough each time at the Rivals house, the show has involved the Satellite Hearts. They played the show in September '13 with The Unlikely Candidates, Penrose, and Murchant. Lead singer Justin Pellecchia emceed the second anniversary show in November '13. June took an interesting twist with Justin Pellecchia billed solo to open the show.
Justin started off the afternoon show by himself on acoustic guitar. New song, "Peacock Blue" was the first unveiled. Singing lyrics "...up, down, turn it around", Justin took us for a ride somewhere between real and fantasy with this song's protagonist. For the rest of the set, Justin was joined by bandmate Lucas Rinz on bass and Satellite Hearts producer/The Lawsuits guitarist Joe Bisirri on electric guitar. New songs were the focus, and soon to be hit "Meet the Greens", a witty ode to a disgusting couple, was the highlight for most fans!! It was a treat hearing Satellite Hearts stripped down, as they are typically a powerhouse on stage. Whether as themselves or backing other Philly area all-stars such as Ali Wadsworth and Dean Ween they are an absolute force on stage. Either way, stripped or full force, I'm hoping the new album will come with a lyric sheet, as Justin some tongue twisters mixed in, especially on "Smoke & Mirrors"
Justin Pellecchia (Satellite Hearts) - Meet the Greens | Sofar Philadelphia (#844)
Justin Pellecchia/Satellite Hearts - June, 2014
song title album
1. Peacock Blue unreleased original
2. Juxtapose unreleased original
3. Meet The Greens unreleased original
4. Smoke & Mirrors unreleased original
5. Whisper On The Breeze unreleased original
 |
| Photo by Lindsey Borgman |
Clearly at home in Philly, the irony was not lost when playing the first song "There Anywhere" a song about how going back home, just isn't what it used to be. "Yesterday's Old News" was soft and sincere capturing the attention of the crowd now starting to sweat a little from the June heat.
Kai, who seemed to be the only person who hadn't broken a sweat, was as cool as can be as a bass player should be with his hair back, shades up, khaki shorts and sandals, and killer beard. Mike showed off his "cool" by laying down a sweet groove on banjo at the end of "Helium".
Capping a set of four brand new tunes from the now released Twine, "Blame" was soft, sweet, & sincere as Mike Collins explained through song "... seeing the world will change you"
The Gallerist - Blame | Sofar Philadelphia (#844)
The Gallerist - June, 2014
song title album
1. There Anywhere Twine (released 7-15-14)
2. Yesterday’s Old News Twine (released 7-15-14)
3. Helium Twine (released 7-15-14)
4. Blame Twine (released 7-15-14)
Holy shit, Little Comets was next! Playing a show later in the night at North Star Bar, the UK trio stopped in to give a taste of their upcoming EP Salt and Its Gentle Corollary (released in the U.S. on June 16th). Showing off incredible harmonies; combining the blood harmony of brothers Robert & Michael Coles with Matthew Hall, the band amazed the crowd from the first song. They took their radio hits and put them back in their natural habitat, stripped and acoustic. Robert explained it was a "nice welcome back to their start" playing how they played like in the beginning. For already fans, it was nice to hear the songs in a different way.
Being it a summer afternoon, Little Comets did bring the mood back up with upbeat "Little Italy" and "Worry". Hands down the best part of their set was not just stripping down the songs by instrumentation, but bringing out every syllable of the lyrics to really showcase the songs completely; lyric and all.
Little Comets - The Blur, The Line and The Thickest of Onions | Sofar Philadelphia (#844)
Little Comets - June, 2014
song title album
1. Jennifer Life Is Elsewhere
2. Adultery In Search of Elusive Little Comets
3. Salt Salt and Its Gentle Corollary
4. The Blur, The Line and the thickness of the Onions Salt and Its Gentle Corollary
5. Little Italy Salt and Its Gentle Corollary
6. Worry Life Is Elsewhere
Comments
Post a Comment