On Stage: Part II

By DENNY DYROFF, Staff Writer, The Times

 

It’s always a good trait to have the ability to laugh at yourself.

This weekend, Philadelphia will have the opportunity to laugh at itself when Chicago’s legendary sketch and improv comedy theater Second City performs three shows on November 13 and 14  the Kimmel Center  (Broad and Spruce streets, Philadelphia, 215-731-3333, www.kimmelcenter.org).

The show, which is titled “The Second City Hits Home,” is a new show featuring hilarious sketches, songs and improvisation about Philadelphia, as well as material from the famed Second City archives.

The Second City finds humor in everything from Philadelphia’s history, events, and hot issues and mixes these with a healthy dose of classic Chicago-style sketch and improv created by some of Second City’s most celebrated alumni (including Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Gilda Radner and Bill Murray).

“We’ve done a number of these types of shows this year,” said Second City performer Maria Randazzo, during a phone interview Monday from Hampton, Virginia.

“The show changes all the time. It depends on the city we’re playing. We do a lot of scenes built around that city. Part of it is done in advance of each show. There are scenes that we use and adapt to each city.

“We have people go to the town to talk to people and to do internet searches. And, when we get on tour, we do our own research. It’s fun doing this type of research and learning things about different parts of the country.”

Touring the country with funny shows is serious business for Second City.

“We have three companies out on the road right now,” said Randazzo, who was born and raised in Chicago. “There are the Red, Blue and Green companies. We’re the Blue Company.

“A good amount of our show is improve — maybe 30 per cent. A lot of the show is scripted. But, every scene can change because each audience is different and audiences react in different ways. In comedy, no shows are ever exactly alike.

“With this show, there are some scenes written specifically for the tour and then we adapt the script to the city. We read the scripts and then rehearse them in advance of the show. Then, we go on the internet and research independently — things like landmarks and historical facts.

“The show is 90 minutes long and has two acts. Then, we usually do an improve set after the two acts. There is always a lot of interaction with the audience. We even ask for suggestions.”

Video link for Second City — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO-4utdX5tY&feature=player_profilepage.  Performances at the Kimmel Center are scheduled for 8 p.m. on November 13 and 4 and 8:30 p.m. on November 14. Tickets are $49 and $59.

 

Here’s the capsule story of the band The Goodnight Darlings, which is in the area for a free show at Fergie’s Pub (1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, 215- 928-8118, www.fergies.com) on November 13. Girl sees boy play guitar. Girl loves the guitar sounds (and the guitarist’s biceps). Girl asks boy a question. Boy and girl talk. Boy and girl fall in love and get married. Boy and girl form a band and forge a career making music together.

Wilson Jaramillo was the boy. Kat Auster was the girl. The indie-rock duo The Goodnight Darlings is the band.

“I saw Wilson play guitar with his previous band Bon Bomb,” said Auster, during a phone interview Wednesday. “It was in the spring of 2005 at a rock club in New York.

“I thought he was the best guitarist I ever heard. So, I talked to him and asked him about guitar pedals. We got to know each other and fell in love. Then, we got married.

“We were partners romantically before we were partners musically. Actually, it all happened around the same tine about five years ago. We were jamming with Nina Simone songs and writing our own songs. Then, we had a very odd musical wedding in Manhattan.

“We had a musical parade down Fifth Avenue with live music by the Hungry March Band, a really good punk, hip-hop Latin marching band from Brooklyn. We got married at St. Patrick’s Cathedral by Msgr. William Belford.

“He’s a priest who looks a lot like the Clash’s Mick Jones. Wilson and I are both really big Clash fans so we knew that was a good sign that our marriage would work really well. Wilson also looks like Mick Jones — actually, a cross between Mick Jones and Joer Strummer.”

On their Facebook site, the two musicians offer this description of their project — “The Goodnight Darlings fuse Kat Auster’s pop-rock vocals with Wilson Jaramillo’s world-music, hip-hop flavored beats and new wave guitars. Auster is also a Juilliard Theater grad which reflects in her provocative visceral live shows and in her poetic storytelling style lyrics.

Wilson has extensive touring experience with The Fugees and Wyclef Jean in arenas around the world. He uses 11 different effect pedals and is nicknamed “The Scientist” because of his experimentation with soundscapes. Together they create ‘dance-punk electricity.’ The songs are sultry, sexy and hauntingly danceable. Genre is Indie Pop, Rock and Post-Punk.”

The duo’s new EP “All I Ever Wanted” will be released on November 19. They released a dark and powerful video already for one of the EP’s main songs — “Empire Vampire.” The video, which features impressive vampire-inspired choreography, is cinematographically elegant and, at the same time, foreboding.

“With this video, we wanted to introduce ourselves with a big bang,” said Auster. “We recorded the EP back in July. We’re our own label so we wanted to invest in the best possible experience.

“We made our first EP ‘Doldrums’ back in 2012. It was our first effort together and it was D.I.Y. We made it in our apartment in New York. It’s rough around the edges but I’m proud of it.

“Right now, we already have enough new songs to do a full-length. When we play live, we program the beats beforehand. Onstage, it’s me on vocals — and occasionally music box — and Wilson with his guitar and all his pedals. He really orchestrates with his guitar.”

Video link for The Goodnight Darlings — https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dHv46rNQnFE.

The show at Fergie’s will start at 10 p.m. Tickets are free.

 

Almost any music fan over 30 and most fans of classic rock under 30 know that a “land down under” is “where women glow and men plunder.” They know because Colin Hay told them so.

Hay, who will headline a solo show at the Keswick Theater (291 N. Keswick Avenue, Glenside, 215-572-7650, www.keswicktheatre.com) on November 14, was the lead singer of the Australian band Men at Work. In the early 1980s, the band had major worldwide hits with a trio of songs — “Who Can It Be Now?,” “Overkill,” and “Down Under.”

“I still do those three songs in my solo show,” said Hay, during a mid-tour phone interview this week. ‘Obviously, they’ll be a little different from how they’d be played with a band. I play the essence of the songs.”

Hay, who was born in Scotland and moved to Australia as a teenager, embarked on a solo career after Men at Work disbanded in 1985. He recorded 12 solo discs from 1987-2015 including “Next Year People,” which came out earlier this year.

“I recorded the album in the second half of last year and it came out this February,” said Hay, who has lived in Los Angeles for the last 25 years.

“I recorded it in my own studio. Sometimes, I’ll be home for a week-or-two and I’ll work on a song-or-two. I record them and then I have to leave again. Other times, I say — I really have to do a record and I’ll focus just on that.

“This album was a combination of both. I had three or four songs already done before I sat down to make the album. My songwriting is pretty haphazard. Sometimes, it starts with a melody while other times it could start with a lyric.

“With the new album, each song came on its own. When I’m working on a song, that’s all I think about. I just concentrate on the job at hand.”

Hay knows that survival in the music business these days involves taking the music to the people — and that means a lot of touring.

“There are three things you do as a musician — write songs, record them and play them live,” said Hay. “My album came out in February and I’ve been on the road since then in different parts of the world.

“I play rooms that I can do. Every year seems to get a little better. I used to play smaller places like the Tin Angel and the World Café Live. Now, I’m playing the Keswick Theater.”

Both Hay and his fans would like to see a new album soon — but it doesn’t seem likely.

“Making albums is a very old-fashioned thing to do,” said Hay. “I’m not sure if it’s the best way to go but I enjoy making them. But, I haven’t had time to record because of all the touring. I’ll be on the road until May next year.”

Video link for Colin Hay — https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EwfDXCcoavo. The show at the Keswick Theater will start at 8 p.m. Ticket prices range from $29.50-$40.

The Keswick Theater will also host Steve Hackett and his band on November 20.

This month, it might seem like the legendary British guitarist who provided the backbone to the Genesis’ music is an omnipresent force in the area. Hackett will perform at the Grand Opera House (818 North Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware, 302-652-5577, www.thegrandwilmington.org) on November 18 and play a show at the Scottish Rites Theatre (315 White Horse Pike, Collingswood, N.J., http://www.collingswood.com/entertainment/theater-and-ballroom) on November 21.

Genesis was one of the best progressive rock bands ever — one of the genre’s trailblazers. The band broke up quite awhile ago and prospects of any type of reunion arenon-existent. Fortunately, the band’s guitarist Steve Hackett is keeping the timeless music of Genesis alive.

Hackett played North America this time a year ago on the final portion of his highly successful “Genesis Extended Tour.”  The format this time is a bit different.

Hackett has returned to North America with his band — Nad Sylvan (vocals), Roger King (keyboards), Nick Beggs (bass), Gary O’Toole (drums, percussion and vocals) and Rob Townsend (sax, flute and percussion) — for the “From Acolyte to Wolflight Tour 2015.”

In celebration of his latest solo album “Wolflight” and the 40th anniversary of the release of his first solo album “Voyage of the Acolyte,” this tour will feature a unique blend of Hackett solo material and Genesis classics, including as-of-yet unperformed Genesis material.

The first half of the show will focus on Hackett’s solo material, while the second half will highlight Genesis songs.  Along with performing such classic pieces as “Ace Of Wands,” “Spectral Mornings” and songs from “Wolflight, “ Hackett will conclude his two-and-a-half hour show with Genesis material that was not part of his recent tours — songs such as “Lamb Lies Down On Broadway,” The Cinema Show,” “Can-Utility,” “Hairless Heart” and “The Musical Box.”

“This two-part show is what I’ve been doing in Europe,” said Hackett, during a trans-Atlantic phone interview last week. “It’s a long show — coming in at just around three hours. It can be physically challenging at times.

“My legs are getting thinner and my Fernandes Guitar weighs a ton. It’s the enthusiasm of the crowd that takes me to the next level. It’s a great validation of both ends of my career. We do it in surround-sound and that makes a big difference.”

Hackett has found a format that works extremely well.

“I love playing live,” said Hackett. “The first half is my solo material. In the second half, we do a lot of Genesis songs that haven’t been played in a long time — some not for 43 years. I do get a thrill out of doing it. We do ‘Lamb Lies Down on Broadway’ and two songs from ‘Foxtrot.’

“When I do Genesis stuff, it’s opening doors wide to the museum. But, the new stuff is important too. I’m not just an archivist. I’m very happy to bring people’s dreams to life but there are so many things with my Genesis afterlife.”

In 2010, Hackett was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame at The 25th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony alongside his Genesis bandmates from the classic line-up — Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford.  For more than three decades, Steve Hackett has been known for his innovative tone and extraordinary versatility as a guitarist and composer.

“I’ve always been a risk-taker — and a radical,” said Hackett. “There are quite a bit of things I’ll touch but most people won’t. I think it’s great to change people’s perspectives of what they like.”

Genesis was a band with a lot of talented musicians — and a lot of diverse opinions all along. That’s one reason a reunion falls into the “almost impossible” category.

“I’ve always said that I would be up for a reunion tour,” said Hackett. “I’m an extremely reasonable person. I know that fans want it and that it would be a huge success. But, I also think it’s highly unlikely.

“There are a ton of agendas at work. It would be tricky in 2015 to put together people who worked together from 1971-1977.  From my standpoint, if they think they’d get the same character back from then, they’d be mistaken.”

Video link for Steve Hackett –https://www.youtube.com/watchfeature=player_detailpage&v=FhhwZLVCIo0.  Tickets for the 8 p.m. show at the Grand are $45 and $59. Tickets for the 8 p.m. show at the Scottish Rites range from $45-$75. Tickets for the 8 p.m. show at the Keswick range from $45-$75.

 

Pangea is out on the road again. The veteran garage rock band is touring in support of its new EP “The Phage,” which was produced by Tommy Stinson of The Replacements and released on October 16 via Burger Records.

The tour will bring the trio — William Keegan, guitar, vocals; Danny Bengston, bass;  Erik Jimenez, drums  — to the area for a show on November 17 at PhilaMOCA (531 North 12th Street, Philadelphia, 267-519-9651, www.philamoca.org).

According to the band’s bio, “‘The Phage’ is essentially cabin fever, whether it be a cabin or a tour van that you’re trapped in for months.”

But, there was nothing stressful for the band when it came to making the record.

“We just started writing,” said Bengston, during a phone interview last week as the tour van headed from Houston to New Orleans. “”Two songs were B-sides from our last album ‘Badillac.’ We did the whole thing live in the studio back in April. The rest of the songs were all freshly-written.

“We did two days in the studio. One day was band tracking and the second day was vocal tracking. It was the quickest recording we’ve ever done. We were working with Tommy Stinson and that was his project. Tommy put it on the fast track so that’s how we did it. It was really low stress.

“On the other hand, ‘Badillac’ took us almost a year to make because we had so much time and freedom. We just kept changing things. With the new EP, for the most part, mixing wasn’t a big process. The tracks sounded good so there wasn’t a lot of fooling around with them.”

Pangea has had two constant members ever since its formation in Southern California in 2005.

“It’s always been Danny and I,” said Bengston. “We’ve been playing together since we’ve been teenagers and we’ve had drummers drop in-and-out. We all grew up in Santa Clarita and the band incubated at an art studio at CalArts (California Institute of the Arts in Valencia).”

Video link for Pangea — https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=hTJt-CNyco8

The show at PhilaMOCA will start at 8 p.m. with opening act White Reaper. Tickets are $10.