Mayer Hawthorne, Live @ Union Transfer

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concert video, indie music, live music, live philly concerts, Los Angeles, Mayer Hawthorne, Mayer Hawthorne & the County, Mayer Hawthorne and the County, Mayer Hawthorne live, R5 Productions, Spotify link, Stones Throw, Union Transfer

Once Upon a time, Mayer Hawthorne was the DJ for the hip-hop group, Athletic Mic League and was known as DJ Haircut.  Evolving from this professional start, Andrew Mayer Cohen has honed his chops into the current neo-soul format.  Seen, heard and signed by Peanut Butter Wolf of the Stones Throw imprint in 2008, Mayer Hawthorne has developed a full live band format for tours and a few recorded pieces called The County.  Together they delivered a crowd moving multi-dimensional performance.

++ Mayer Hawthorne on Spotify ++

Mayer Hawthorne and The County’s April 18th set at Union Transfer in Philadelphia was indicative of their typically intimate design.  Crooning from a lush retro-stage setup replete with leather study chair, 50’s-esque lounge decor and illuminated MH and heart logos affixed against the stage back, Mayer Hawthorne brought the crowd into his performance.  The County did the same.  The Mayer Hawthorne compliments consisted of bassist, guitarist, electric pianist and drummer.  All dressed to the nines, The County provided a great soundtrack to the vocal and guitar prowess of Hawthorne.

Highlights of the evening were an audience member using an iPad at the stage front and being called out for it (we caught that on video below), crowd photo opps provided by the band, hearing most every song in the MH catalog, and Hawthorne’s red shoes.

We videoed a few songs at the begning of the set and have those for you below.  Enjoy:

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The Sea Around Us, Live @ Johnny Brenda’s

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bands to watch, concert video, johnny brendas, live music, live philly concerts, Local Philly Band, Strawberry Mansion, The Sea Around Us, The Sea Around Us band

No better metaphor exists for the band than that of it’s own name.  The Sea Around Us attempts and succeeds in breeding a rare musical flavor, tucked in between genres; and yet concurrently defining.  Rallying from home, the Philly-based 4-piece of Seth Auster-Rosen, Brendan Evans, Sean Gallagher, Ricardo Lagomasino are no shoegazers.  Drawing on diverse influences, The Sea Around Us is a Strawberry Mansion effort that, like it’s area, deserves to do big things.

On January 5th, 2012 at JB’s in Philly, The Sea Around Us headlined the show in strong fashion.  A fun show and one that you should really just go to.  Seriously.  Check out the guitar work.  Sick stuff.  Vocals are unique and powerful.  Drummer’s crescendos are dramatic and exciting.  Bass line supports it all.  Go see em.  We will start on the video series below with the set-opener:

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Son Step, Live @ Johnny Brenda’s

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concert video, johnny brendas, live music, live philly concerts, Local Philly Band, Son Step, Son Step band

Playing Johnny Brenda’s on January 5th 2012 was a magically eclectic sounding Son Step from our own Philly.  Infusing elements of funk, garage, folk, soul and more, Son Step played an inspiring set.  The four piece is comprised of jon coyle on vocals, little drums, electrics, pat lamborn on vocals, guitar, chris coyle on bass and matt scarano on big drums.  Check out their bandcamp and website for some of their recorded work.

Like nuclear evolution Son Step’s sound morphed on stage moving the listener in and out of chord and tempo changes and delivering an awesome experimental type sound. We enjoyed many things about the Son Step set; but perhaps most was the originality of their compositions.  Check them out when you have a chance and take a peek at our video from the evening below:

Buffalo Stance, Live @ Kung Fu Necktie

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bands to watch, Buffalo Stance, Buffalo Stance band, concert video, indie music, kung fu necktie, live music, live philly concerts, Local Philly Band

Buffalo Stance is another one of Philadelphia’s hidden (or perhaps not to hidden to you) gems of a band.  Comprised of Jamey Robinson, Russell Higbee, Matt Gibson, and Evan Smoker, Buffalo Stance play  (in their own words) a funkdanceathonextreme brand of auditory treasure.  Not to surprising given that Jamey and Matt are in Man Man.  Their music is so textured it’s tantamount to wallpapering tile and painting over that – not it a literal way though.  In practice their set is beautiful and entertaining and altogether mesmerizing,  From funk to psych to electronic to poetic prose to jazz and back again the sound switches in an array of music unlike any other.

Buffalo Stance: 12.23.11 KFN Gig Poster

We thoroughly enjoyed Buffalo Stance   Their show at PhilaMOCA on January 8th is a must attend.  Here are two videos we shot at their December 23rd show at KFN in Philly:

Zechs Marquise, Live @ Kung Fu Necktie

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bands to watch, concert video, indie music, kung fu necktie, live music, live philly concerts, Zechs Marquise, Zechs Marquise band

Zechs Marquise, like the Mobile Suit Gundam Wing character it’s named after, strikes fast and without warning. Their devastatingly good brand of progressive space funk moved like a tidal wave over the Kung Fu Necktie audience on November 21st. Wailing guitars, out of this world drumming and a keyboardist whose fingers moved at the speed of light amazed the crowded room.

The band hails from El Paso, Texas and is made up of Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez, Marfred Rodriguez-Lopez, Marcos Smith, Matthew Wilkson and Rikardo Rodriguez-Lopez. Their August 2011 release, GETTING PAID. is a study in the future of funk and needs to be heard:

The band provides a nice bio that we will borrow instead of attempting a re-write:

Zechs Marquise formed in El Paso, Texas during the spring of 2003 when brothers Marfred and Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez came together with childhood friends Matthew Wilkson and Marcos Smith. The group soon named itself after a popular Japanese anime character and hit the studio to record its first album during the late summer months of 2004. That studio effort was later scrapped and in June 2006 the band instead released 34:26, a live improved set that showed its great range of talents and influences. By fall of 2006, Zechs was touring the west coast consistently, sharing the stage with such eclectic acts as Daedelus, Busdriver, The Album Leaf, (DJ) Nobody, Daddy Kev, The Gaslamp Killer, and Totimoshi. July 2007 saw the band return to the recording studio. Having learned from the difficulties of their first attempt, the quartet decided to keep all of the recording in house, purchasing a mixing board, microphones, and Pro Tools in order to track all of the recordings themselves. After a few days in their studios, dubbed Castle Greyskull and El Morro, the members realized they had enough material for a full length album. The record, Our Delicate Stranded Nightmare, was completed in February 2008. Zechs Marquise then spent time on the road, auspiciously touring with Free Moral Agents & Blank Blue. In March 2009, the band made its first adventure overseas to Europe, opening for the Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group, in which Marcel — then performing double duty — is also a player. During the overseas tour, Our Delicate Stranded Nightmare was released in Europe by RLP/Willie Anderson Recordings on CD as well as the first pressing of the album on vinyl. In May 2009, Zechs Marquise signed on to the prestigious management roster at Sargent House and will release Our Delicate Stranded Nightmare in the U.S. on vinyl and CD on August 25th through Rodriguez Lopez Productions.

The skills manifested on stage at this show were not lost on the crowd who were all very into the music – so much so, in fact, that this is one of the few times ever we have seen a set roll so far into an evening when a DJ was scheduled to attend (over 30 minutes into it). This band is amazing and the videos we have for you below do not do them justice. They must be heard live to be believed. Please, go out and catch these guys if you find it possible.

Nomad Tam, Live @ Kung Fu Necktie

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concert video, indie music, Jam Band, kung fu necktie, live music, live philly concerts, Local Philly Band, nomad tam, nomad tam band, nomad tam philly, Nomad Ttam

You have not heard Nomad Tam you say?  Well that’s just crazy.  We hope that you will in time.  These guys are a brand-new 5 piece from the outskirts of Philly consisting of  piano and synth players, Jared and Jon Pfancook, guitarist Mike Vigilante, bassist Nate Matulus, And percussionist Tommy Seman.

Nomad Tam can rock out, hard.  They play original material.  Their sound is upbeat jam band and they can bring down the house.  Infusing Funk, Rock, and Trance sounds it’s hard to compare them to anyone in the scene today.  We really enjoyed these guys and were overjoyed to see them come on for an encore performance and a whole second set later in the evening on September 22nd.

Truly a local act to catch, be sure to go out and support them when you can.  You will not be disappointed.   Check out some video’s of Nomad Tam below while you wait: