Welcome back to Seven in Seven, where we’ll be taking a look at shows coming to the region over the next week. It’s been quite some time since the focus here has been solely on live events, but it’s high time we acknowledge the plethora of them occurring all over the place once again.
As always, whether your musical tastes are rock ’n’ roll, jazz, heavy metal, R&B, singer-songwriter or indie, there’ll always be something to check out.
Here are seven of the best on the docket for the week of March 25:
Langhorne Slim — Friday — Ardmore Music Hall
Langhorne Slim’s latest LP, “Strawberry Mansion,” is a collection of 18 songs written in March, April and May of 2020. The Langhorne (obviously) native recognized it as beginning of a new world and the unraveling of an old one. It was a wildly strange time where, like the rest of us, the singer-songwriter held his breath and focused on learning how best to exhale again. That time is here, and he wants to get on stage and share those songs about the area in Philly that was once a mythical place to Slim, where his grandfathers grew up.
Fit for a King — Friday — Reverb in Reading
While so many bands exploded onto the scene with supercharged hype, only to burn out and fade away just as quickly, Fit for a King steadily built a ferociously dedicated following through determination, classic metalcore breakdowns, lyrical courage and steadfast conviction. Considered by many to be the heaviest and catchiest extreme metal act from the Lone Star State since the original Cowboys From Hell, FFAK’s ascendance is demonstrated as much by the massive singalongs at their shows as their jaw-dropping online following. It’s about time some of that energy gets let out again in the live setting.
Sasami — Saturday — Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia
On her second album, “Squeeze,” Sasami explores her wide spectrum of moods, from raging at systemic violence to wrestling for control in her personal relationships. Throughout the album, the singer, songwriter and producer surveys the raw aggression of nu-metal, the tender, plainspoken world of country-pop and folk rock, and dramatic romanticism of classical music. As a classically trained composer, Sasami constructed the LP in the form of an opera or orchestral work with different “movements” that take the listener on an emotional journey. Compared to the introspective indie rock of her 2019 self-titled debut album, “Squeeze” is a full-throttled expansion.
Los Lobos — Sunday — Sellersville Theater 1894
For all the trailblazing musical acts who’ve emerged from Los Angeles, very few embody the city’s wildly eclectic spirit more wholeheartedly than Los Lobos. Over the last five decades, the East L.A. band has made an indelible mark on music history by exploring an enormous diversity of genres from rock ‘n’ roll and R&B, surf music and soul, mariachi and música norteña, punk rock and country and building a boldly unpredictable sound all their own. They remain a favorite on both coasts and all the spots in between.
Brian Jonestown Massacre — Sunday — Union Transfer in Philadelphia
Back in the mid-’90s, as Britpop was in full-swing and labels here and abroad were desperate to anoint the next great guitar band as flavor of the month, Anton Newcombe had an idea: “Say no.” As leader of the Brian Jonestown Massacre, he had already established himself as a visionary songwriter, a man to whom making music wasn’t a lifestyle choice or a hipster haircut but the very fabric of existence itself. Some lumped BJM in with the waning shoegaze movement, but there was something much more sonically sinister and substantive about the songs the outfit were putting out, which continues to this day. Their visceral, often confrontational psychedelic drone rock mixes with indie and good old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll in often unpredictable but always enthralling ways three decades after forming.
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis — Thursday through Tuesday — in New York City and Washington, D.C.
Like many other acts, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds were forced to cancel an entire tour in 2020, including a show that September at the Mann. Unfortunately, salt was rubbed into the wound of local fans when the legendary Australian baritone announced a Stateside run this year with longtime Bad Seed Warren Ellis, and Philly was left off the map. And while it’s not exactly a stone’s throw away, the pair are doing a four-night run up the road in New York City — with two shows in Brooklyn — before heading down I-95 to D.C. You never know when the next COVID variant may throw a wrench into nights out and keep Cave away for another lengthy spell, so don’t risk it and pick a direction to travel and see his always can’t miss performance.
The Young Guns Tour feat. Dirty Honey and Mammoth WVH — March 31 — The Fillmore in Philadelphia
It’s one thing to dispute the overstated claim that rock is dead. Turn up the guitars, let a howl or two loose and bash some drums and you’ve proven the doubters wrong. But it’s another thing entirely to get out on the road and grind it out night after night, on the festival circuit, opening for much larger bands and showing your mettle. And that’s exactly what upstarts Dirty Honey and Mammoth WVH have been doing for most of the past couple years. Even when the pandemic had live music looking bleak, these guys were out there rocking stages coast to coast, and now they’ve teamed up for a co-headlining tour. Dirty Honey went to No. 1 on the Mainstream and Hard Rock charts back in 2019 despite being unsigned. They’ve since opened for the Black Crowes and other rock luminaries, drawing major kudos from attendees. Mammoth WVH are led by Wolfgang Van Halen, who spent some time recently supporting Guns N’ Roses — no pressure there, right? — but delivered the goods to audiences each evening and was nominated for a Grammy. Now they’ve gotten together to laugh in the face of those who think there’s no place for rock on the current landscape.
Soundcheck
• Langhorne Slim: “Mighty Soul”
• Fit for a King: “The Path”
• Sasami: “Make It Right”
• Los Lobos: “Corazon”
• Brian Jonestown Massacre: “Anemone”
• Nick Cave and Warren Ellis: “Carnage”
• Dirty Honey: “Let’s Go Crazy”
• Mammoth WVH: “Mr. Ed”
