Photos

Mr. Dream – First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia PA

Photos, Article and Review in Haiku by Ady | Interview by Shan

Most of the time I seek out my music, but I am intrigued and delighted when it seeks me. Friday night at the Unitarian Church of Philadelphia Mr. Dream did just that. Between a myriad of personal and profession obligations I still found myself at the altar of some raw punk rock n roll at the end of my day.

The band’s name Mr. Dream, which lends itself to speculation and extrapolation for their listeners was something on the forefront of my thoughts while I was photographing the set.

The Adam was kind enough to answer a few questions and take a few photos for Two Sisters. If they come through your town check them out, you’ll be happy you did. ~ Ady

Shan: You recently finished a bunch of shows at the CMJ Music Fest. How was that, and what is one memorable event that stands out, either onstage or off?

Mr. Dream: CMJ was a blast, we felt like the Beatles in Hamburg. The one event that stuck out was meeting Matt Pinfield. He has this superhuman enthusiasm for music, it’s really disarming.

Shan: What are some things that influence your music writing and lyrics that are specifically non-music related?

Mr. Dream: We’re all really into books. In fact, we have a tour book club that you can follow on the website.

Shan: Your name, how did it originate? And on that topic…dreams…what are they?

Mr. Dream: There’s not a lot to the name’s origin, it just stuck out on a list of band names. We felt like there was a dearth of bands with “Mr.” in their name. Now, three years later, there are probably too many.

I think we liked “dream” in the sense of “American Dream” or “my dream is to one day own a cajun-themed restaurant chain” rather than the rapid eye movement stuff.

Shan: You’re currently touring with another Mister…Mister Heavenly, on what I’ve seen referred to as the Mr. Mister tour. That’s a whole lotta Misters! What about us girls? What female artists are you into? If you covered one song written by a female, what would it be? (and would you change the lyrics or sing them faithfully?)

Mr. Dream: Honestly, at the moment I think we’ve been listening to more female artists (or at least female singers) than male. We’re big fans of Siouxsie Sioux, Kim Deal, Karen O, PJ Harvey, Elizabeth Fraser (of Cocteau Twins), Bjork and countless others.

We are thinking of getting inexcusably drunk at some point during the tour and covering “Into the Light” by Siouxsie & the Banshees.

Shan: If you were a super hero, what would your super hero name be, and what super power would you have?

Mr. Dream: That’s easy. Our super hero name would be Mr. Dream and our power would be convincing indie fans that rock music is still awesome.
~

View the full photo set of Mr. Dream First Uni Church, Philly PA via Flickr.

Wild Flag live at the Grog Shop, Cleveland in photos

Glossy snarls throw

fast, clear power hits our face

Moonlit snowball fight

View the full Wild Flag at the Grog Shop in Cleveland photo set via Flickr (photos by Shan and Two Sisters cohort/adopted sister, Renee). I’d seen them twice during Bright Eyes’ tour back in March, so I was really looking forward to seeing them again. But this time was up close and personal in the intimate space of the Grog shop. Yes, the show was every bit as good as it looks…Wild Flag took the stage and a wall of wonderful sound engulfed us and shook us hard.

(Special thanks to Renee for the review in haiku)

The Felice Brothers at Union Transfer (Philadelphia, PA 9-27-2011)

James Felice of The Felice Brothers at Union Transfer

tequila snapshots,
dancing to running chickens
boot stomping with sis

square dance slam dance hall
ruckus in the train station
bass quake engines fast

This was the last show Ady and I were able to attend of the current Celebration, Tourida world tour (if they’re coming near you, GO SEE THEM!), this one at the brand new (and very, very cool) venue, Union Transfer in Philadelphia. Bitter sweet evening, as it was the only one that Ady and I were able to attend together this run (this time around we attended as Two Sisters a Professor and a Show), so we made sure to have an extra fantastic night (read: dancing our hearts out), which of course was easy to do with The Felice Brothers playing.

Ady stopped here and there to take some photos, you can view the full Felice Brothers at Union Transfer photo set on our Flickr account.

“double” haiku review by Ady/Shan

(Thanks are in order to the Brothers for the gut-punch inducing beautiful music, and the crazy good times Ady and I have at the shows we’ve been able to catch along the way!)

The Felice Brothers at The Grog Shop (Cleveland Heights, Ohio 9-23-2011)

stories told through song,
ushered in autumn’s first night
few words were spoken

For the rest of the short and sweet set of photos I snapped, click on the image above or follow this link to the Flickr gallery. Black and white images to reflect the misty, rainy-grey Cleveland evening.

Two Sisters cohort Cindy was with me, and we shared a great dinner at Tommy’s restaurant, followed by great conversation and a few drinks in my old neighborhood prior to entering the venue. The Felice Brothers came on with tornadic energy and blew the roof off the Grog Shop that night. They played loud, fast and wild. Truly a great show.

Haiku review by Cindy

The Felice Brothers at Mr. Smalls Theater (Pittsburgh, PA 9-21-2011)

Here is the photo set from last night’s show at Mr. Smalls Funhouse in Millvale, PA. A camera fail left me with only a camera phone for these. That combined with the lighting made for some pretty interesting outcomes.

Two Sis’ adopted sister Renee was with me for an evening of tamales, beer and tequila and her first Felice Brother show as we celebrated her birthday. The guys sounded great, “Loser Takes All” was unleashed (loving that track as well as the rest from the Poughkeepsie Princess EP so much!), we were treated to a beautiful arrangement of “Boy From Lawrence County” and a crazy fun “Run Chicken Run” to name a few. Looking forward to a couple more shows we’ll be catching during this tour (which kicked off last night), one of which Ady and I will attend together.