Alkaline Trio headlined at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia on Sunday August 19th. The band was playing as part of their North American tour in support of their new album “Is This Thing Cursed?”. It was pretty crowded for a Sunday night, but the fans were energized.
As I made my way through the crowd I could barely move. It was my third time photographing a show here and I was quite amazed at the turnout. I saw people lined up at the coffee station which was pretty cool, I never really saw a coffee stand at a big music venue. One of these days I will have to try it! I was saving my appetite for some food at the venue. Between sets, I walked over to the snack bar and ordered their famous All beef Hot Dog from the venue which I would highly recommend!
The opening bands were Together Pangea and Ogikubo Station. The first band was Ogikubo Station which I’ve never seen before, I caught a few of their songs as I entered the venue. They are releasing a debut full length album this month titled, “We Can Pretend Like”. Their song “ Take a Piece Of All That’s Good” is a fast paced song that seems to have a catchy tune.
I didn’t see the second band before but they seemed pretty good. They were a band called Together Pangea from Los Angeles, California. Their third full length album titled, “Badillac”, MTV described it as one of the most anticipated indie releases of 2014 according to Wikipedia. Since then, they have released their more current album “Bulls and Roosters” (2017).
Alkaline Trio kicked off the show with “We’ve Had Enough” off their first album “Good Mourning”, a track that made it’s debut back in 2003 charting high on the US charts. It was the perfect song to begin the show with and definitely got everyone pumped up for more. Stage production was phenomenal as Alkaline Trio performed in front of a large curtain as a backdrop displaying their signature heart and skull logo, simple yet elegant. About three songs in, the curtain dropped, revealing another banner with a red rotary telephone and their logo on it., the phone featured on the cover of their new album which will be released on August 31st of this year. They encored the show with “Fine” which is one of their older songs off the album “The Addiction.”
I was excited to see Alkaline Trio for the first time since I have been a punk rock fan for many years. Featuring current members Dan Andriano (bass,vocals), Derek Grant (drums, backing vocals) and Matt Skiba who is also in the band Blink 182 which he joined in 2015, filling in for vocalist Tom DeLonge, the band have nine albums in their back catalogue and with the release of their lead single “Blackbird”, Alkaline Trio will be continuing their tour through the fall with their last stop being in Santa Cruz, California on October 18th. But in the meantime, Philly got a chance to see the band in all it’s love glory.
Whenever I visit the Electric Factory I always seem to have a good time, the delicious food and variety of music never seems to disappoint and they have a lot of touring acts that come through each month. A personal highlight for the night was catching an Alkaline Trio guitar pick at the end of the show which made my night, I’ve been collecting guitar picks over the years and was excited to add it to my collection. After the show, I stopped at the Alkaline Trio After Party that was being held at the Voltage Lounge next door, that along with the show made tonight a fun night that I will never forget! I can’t wait to hear Alkaline Trio’s new album when it’s released at the end of the month as I’ve heard that it is the best one yet but after tonight, I definitely hope to catch another Alkaline Trio show in the near future.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Kimberly Ann of Garden State Band Connection
