On Stage: Pope Francis’ visit shakes up concert schedules

But shows still happening, including Ghost, Fidlar and more

By Denny Dyroff, Staff Writer, The Times

Back in the mid-1980s during MTV’s heyday, “Frankie Goes to Hollywood” was a band that drew thousands of fans at every appearance. This weekend, “Frankie Goes to Philadelphia” will draw millions when it comes to this area.

On September 26 and 27, Philadelphia will be inundated with visitors who have made a pilgrimage for the opportunity of being in the presence of Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

Pope Francis will be in Philadelphia on Saturday and Sunday to celebrate the final two days of a week of activities by the World Meeting of Families Congress, an event that was created by former Pope St. John Paul II in 1994 in Rome to explore the role family plays in society.

This event means that normal life in Philadelphia will be suspended.

Major highways into and out of Philadelphia are being closed. The Ben Franklin Bridge, a major bridge providing passage from the city to New Jersey, will be closed to vehicular traffic. Schools and universities are being closed. Rail service will be eliminated or severely restricted.

The center city section of Philadelphia is being shut down and residents have been told to move their vehicles from restricted areas or risk having the vehicles being towed. The State of New Jersey is declaring a State of Emergency. Pennsylvania is mobilizing the National Guard.

Another side effect of the Papal visit will be the cancelling and rescheduling of many of the city’s music events — especially acts who were set to play Philly clubs on Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

Ghost, a Swedish quintet featuring “Papa Emeritus III and his Nameless Ghouls,” is one of those acts. According to its Facebook page, “Ghost records and performs pop hymns that glorify and glamorize the disgusting and sacrilegious.”

The doom metal band from Linköping was slated to perform September 26 at Union Transfer (1026 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia, 215-232-2100, www.utphilly.com). But, after assessing the situation, the band shifted its Philly show to September 29 at the same venue.

“Frankie was bigger than Papa Emeritus III so we decided not to try to play in the city that weekend,” said one of the Nameless Ghouls, during a trans-Atlantic phone interview last week from his home in Stockholm, Sweden.

“There definitely were a few words back-and-forth. We offered to co-headline the show with the Pope but they wouldn’t have it.”

In an official announcement, Ghost wrote, “We wish to inform you that due to Frankie’s visit next month in Philadelphia, we received a letter informing us that Ghost fans would not be able to use public transportation or park their cars next Union Transfer.

“In hopes to ensure that each and every Ghost fan can attend this show, we have decided to move the Philadelphia concert at Union Transfer to Tuesday, September 29th.”

Ghost will be in North America for its seven-week “Black to the Future Tour” in support of its new album. “Meliora,” the third “sacred psalm from Ghost,” has debuted in the Top 10 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart. Currently on the chart at No. 8, the album sold over 29,000 copies in its first week alone, marking one of the strongest metal debuts of the year.

“In talking about the album’s theme, the word we used was ‘futuristuc’,” said the Nameless Ghoul. “It was supposed to have an air of futurism. Our last two albums were more Gothic — more looking back.

“Before we went in the studio to make ‘Meliora,’ we spent a lot of time doing pre-production. We did a few sessions last summer. Since October 1, we’ve been in one studio or another constantly. We finished recording in February and remixed it in March. Five months in the studio — it took a lot of time. The longest studio times were in Sweden and in L.A. We used six studio altogether. This record really cost a lot of money to make.”

A lot of the album was made in Sweden with Klas Åhlund as the producer. The album also marked the debut of the band’s third lead singer — Papa Emeritus III. The band’s original vocalist Papa Emeritus was with the group from 2008-2012 and Papa Emeritus II was the frontman from 2012 until last year.

“Papa Emeritus III has been in the band for almost a year,” said the Nameless Ghoul. “He was appointed to us this time last year. The band is two guitars, one keyboard, bass and drums — and a vocalist/kazoo master.”

Video link for Ghost — https://youtu.be/6A-IoOEPbUs.

The show at Union Transfer will get underway at 8 p.m. Tickets are $32.60.

You can beat the crowd to Philly and catch a show at Union Transfer tonight. The downtown venue will present a show featuring FIDLAR on September 24. It will be an all-ages show.

FIDLAR, a skate punk band from L.A. featuring Zac Carper, Brandon Schwartzel, Elvis Kuehn and Max Kuehn, is touring in support of an album that is “hot off the presses.” The band’s new disc “Too” was released on September 4 on the Mom+Pop Music label.

“We recorded ‘Too’ last December,” said Carper, during a phone interview last week from a tour stop in Denver. “We cut the album in Nashville. It was good to get out of L.A. — to get away from distractions. Plus, our producer Jay Joyce has a sick studio in Nashville called St. Charles.

“He’s a guitar player so there are a lot of guitars there — a lot of amps and a lot of big speakers. We each had our own room and we made the album in 12 days. We recorded all the basic tracks live. There were some guitar overdubs but not many.”

The album is FIDLAR’s sophomore album. The debut LP was “FIDLAR,” which came out on Mom+Pop in 2013.

“The first album was actually recorded in a more professional manner — scratch tracks and all,” said Carper. “This one we wanted to do live. I wrote eight of the 12 songs. All were written right before we went in.

“Our first record was so party band. It would have been easy for us to make a similar record and our fans would have loved it. But, I wanted to make a different record — a real record.

“I was trying to not drink or use any drugs so a lot of the songs were about dealing with emotional stuff. I had been really into speed and heroin and, a lot of times, drinking and drugs cover the emotions. This time, the emotions were right up front.”

Video link for FIDLAR — https://youtu.be/YhZy3Srs5HU.

The show at Union Transfer tonight will start at 8:30 p.m. with the opening act Dune Rats. Tickets are $15.

Other shows at Union Transfer over the next week are Godspeed You! Black Emperor along with Xylouris White on September 28 and Twin Shadow and Lolawolf on September 30.

If you’re looking to hear live music by national acts in Philadelphia this weekend, you’re going to have to look really hard.

The long list of venues that have opted not to have live shows includes the Electric Factory, Bourbon and Branch, The Voltage Lounge, Boot and Saddle, the Trocadero, the Tower Theater, MilkBoy Philly, Hard Rock Café, Melodies Café, PhilaMOCA, the Fire, the Tin Angel, North Star Bar, District N9ne, and the Theatre of the Living Arts.

The Theatre of the Living Arts (334 South Street, Philadelphia, 215-222-1011, http://www.lnphilly.com) will have a hot show when Wavves takes the stage on September 30.

Wavves was put together in 2008 in San Diego, California in 2008 by singer-songwriter Nathan Williams. The veteran noise pop band also features Alex Gates (guitar, backing vocals), Stephen Pope (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Brian Hill (drums).

Inspired by their personal experiences with agoraphobia, sleepwalking, teeth grinding, time wasting, night terrors, toxic relationships, Web MD, and screwing up while trying to be better people, the members of Wavves ventured into more mature hopeful territory when making their fifth album “V.”

Featuring the previously released “Way Too Much” and “Flamezesz”, the 11-track album was recorded in Los Angeles with the help of Woody Jackson as producer. Jackson took the band’s trademark distorted no-fi into crisper, even more visceral territory while still remaining true to the band’s 90s-influenced roots.

“Right after our last tour, we took time off from each other,” said Gates, during a phone interview last week from his home in L.A. “Me and Stephen and Nathan all came up with a bunch of demos. I write on guitar — or just in my head.

“We had 25 songs to choose from. We recorded live in the studio. The songs were all pretty fresh. Some were written just hours before the recording. We had a few months in the studio so we were pretty concerned with not overproducing the songs.

“We were focusing on tone and texture more than tons of parts. Most of the songs came together pretty well. But, there were one or two that we struggled with. We used all the songs we recorded.”

“V” officially hits stores October 2 via Ghost Ramp/Warner Bros., and will be supported with a North American tour.

“On this tour, we’ll be playing four or five tracks from the new record,” said Gates. “We’re trying to do some more from our first album (‘Wavves’) — maybe three altogether. The rest is pretty evenly split between our last three records. The first single is ‘Way Too Much.’ The video for it is coming out in the next few weeks.”

Video link for Wavves — https://youtu.be/gPdx7Il9DrM.

The show, which also features Twin Peaks and Steep Leans, will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $18.

Johnny Brenda’s (1201 North Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, 215-739-9684, www.johnnybrendas.com) will be open as normal during the Papal visit with El Ten Eleven and Sego on September 26 and Mikal Cronin, The Cairo Gang and The Tough Shits on September 27. The club will also have Superhumanoids, Rush Midnight and Bondage & Discipline on September 29.

Festival Pier at Penn’s Landing (601 North Columbus Boulevard at Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia, 215- 629-3200, www.festivalpierphilly.com) will brave the invasion of the pilgrims and host a show by alt-J, an indie rock band from Leeds, England, on September 25 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $37.50.

Underground Arts (1200 Callowhill Street, Philadelphia, http://undergroundarts.org) will be dark for a few days but will spring back to life with a power-packed show on September 30 featuring headliner Pentagram along with Satan’s Satyrs, Electric Citizen and Righteous Bloom.

Pentagram, like Ghost, is a doom metal band known for the darker elements in its music. The quartet features Bobby Liebling (vocals), Victor Griffin (guitar), Greg Turley (bass) and Pete Campbell (drums).

 “The band seems to be stabilized now but there have been a lot of changes over the years,” said Griffin, during a recent phone interview from his home in Knoxville, Tennessee. “The band started back in the 1970s and Bobby is the only original member left.”

Pentagram had a large number of musicians pass through the band in the early days but had no recordings at the end of its first decade. In the early 1980s, the band moved up to a new level.

“I started a band called Death Row here in Knoxville in 1981 and then moved up to D.C.,” said Griffin. “We got Bobby to join as the lead singer. The band was Death Row until 1985 when the ‘Pentagram’ album came out.

“The early band’s sound was cleaner and more psychedelic. By 1981, it was a heavier sound and the doom element came into play. It’s been pretty much the same since 1981 outside tech things. My guitar tone is in the same frequency range as it was back then.

“The current line-up has been the same since 2010 — except for Pete. We went through a couple drummers. Sean Saley was the drummer for a couple years right up until we started making the new album.”

Pentagram’s new album “Curious Volume” came out August 28 on Peaceville Records. It was recorded with Swedish producer Mattias Nilsson at studios located in Maryland and Virginia. Additional recording took place in Tennessee with Grammy-nominated producer Travis Wyrick (who also produced Pentagram’s previous album “Last Rites.”)

“We were actually in the studio and had laid down tracks with Sean on drums,” said Griffin. “We had to go in and change the drum tracks. We recorded the drums and vocals at Mad Pie in Baltimore. We did the guitars at Lakeside Studio in Knoxville. Greg did his bass parts at his home studio in northern Virginia. It took us about six weeks to finish the recording. We finished it at the end of spring and it came out in August.

“We share in the songwriting but I wrote about 75 per cent of the songs on ‘Curious Volume.’ There is still a lot of collaboration. And, Billy usually has a few songs that he contributes.

“We have eight studio albums and a couple live albums. In our live shows, we try to include at least one song from every album. ‘Sign of the Wolf,’ ‘Relentless’ and ‘Be Forewarned’ are some of our ‘must play’ songs.”

Video link for Pentagram — https://youtu.be/8elSgO3Sw9s.

The four-band show will get underway at 8 p.m. Tickets are priced at $20.

Kung Fu Necktie (1250 N Front St, Philadelphia, 215-291-4919, www.kungfunecktie.com) will have D.O.A. on September 25, Cruel Intentions on September 26, Blood Sound on September 27, Dead Flowers and The Go Set on September 28, The Extra Dark on September 29 and GGOOLLDD on September 30.

The show on September 28 will mark the Philadelphia debut of Dead Flowers, a band from Texas featuring Ed Chaney (Drums), Evan Winston Johnson (Bass), Vince Tuley (Guitar/vocals) and Corey Howe (Guitar/Vocals).

Amazingly, the hard-rocking group from Dallas has been around for six years, has toured all over the country a lot and yet is only now having its first show in Philly.

“We were supposed to play Kung Fu Necktie back in the spring but the schedule got changed and we missed Philadelphia,” said Howe, during a phone interview last week from his Texas home.

 “We’ve been together as Dead Flowers for four years. “Me and Vince played together when we went to college together in Chicago. I moved back to Dallas and met Ed and Evan through mutual friend. We had four or five songs so we out a band together. Our first album was ‘For You’ in 2011. Then, we released ‘His Blues’ in 2014.”

New music is on the way.

“We just released a single and a video,” said Howe. “”It’s called ‘Dying in the Streets.’ We recorded it at an all-analog studio. It was the first time we recorded something without a computer in the room.

“Fortunately, we were able to get in the studio right after our last tour. We wanted something that sounded completely live and really organic. We’re going back to the same studio after this tour to do another single.

“We want to do the whole next album that way. We’re shooting to record the album in November. We’re on to our third album in three years so we’re not going to put something out in a hurry just to put something out.

“When we’re not on tour, we still get together every Wednesday to rehearse. After we write songs, we get excited. We want to play them. Even on this tour, we’re playing songs we haven’t recorded yet.

“I’m about 9-10 songs into the next album and we have three songs from the last tour that we haven’t recorded yet. With the new material, some parts are more aggressive and some are very melodic.”

Video link for Dead Flowers — https://youtu.be/B1iphOCY_OM.

The show at Kung Fu Necktie, which also features The Mad Splatter, will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $6.

The Ardmore Music Hall (23 East Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore, 610-649-8389, www.ardmoremusic.com) will have Dead Fish Orchestra on September 26 and Scot Sax and Suzie Brown in September 30.

Sax and Brown are a married couple as well as a musical couple and the arrangement has worked out very well.

“We met in 2010 and got married in 2011,” said Sax, during a phone interview this week from a stop in Boston.

Sax was a veteran musician who had fronted the band Wanderlust and later worked as a songwriter with a number of publishing deals.

Brown moved to Philadelphia a few years ago to get her masters’ degree in cardiology from the University of Pennsylvania.

“I got my pre-med degree from Dartmouth and then went to Harvard for medical school,” said Brown, during a prior phone interview. “I also went to Berklee College of Music for a little while. Then, I came to Penn on a cardiology fellowship.

“I started going to hear music four or five nights a week and met all these great Philadelphia musicians. I decided then that making music made me happier than anything else. I started writing songs in summer 2008 and did my first solo show a few months later. I recorded my first EP in spring 2009.”

It took a long time for the couple to get around to making music together.

“I wasn’t involved in any of her records,” said Sax. “Commonly, people start as a musical duo first. We were the opposite.

“This was a romantic relationship first. I don’t think we would have gotten together initially just for the music. Then, when Suzie was going on tour, it was a drag not to be with her. We really love each other — and I really like her.”

Today (September 25), the duo released their first album together — a tasty collection of songs titled “Our Album Doesn’t Like You Either.”

“When we played together live, we’d do songs from Suzie’s album and songs from mine,” said Sax, who grew up in Plymouth Meeting and graduated from Plymouth Whitemarsh High.

“So, we decided to make an album together. Our music reflects what our life together is. I provide the comic relief to hers and she adds the serious side to mine.

“I grew up on every kind of music from my parents’ Frank Sinatra records to the Beatles to my Dylan records. Suzie rally grew up on folk music. Her parents were Canadian liberal, folk music-loving doctors. She brought that to my music and I brought the lively rhythms.”

In addition to being parents, a devoted couple and working musicians, Sax and Brown keep other irons in the fire.

Sax’s documentary “Platinum Rush,” which focused on the creative drive of songwriters, premiered at the New Hope Film Festival. Brown was selected to speak at the TEDMED annual conference this fall along with the Surgeon General and other leaders in the medical community.

Video link for Scot Sax and Suzie Brown — https://youtu.be/72MBXc1iTy0.

The show in Ardmore will start at 7:30 p.m. with opening act Jesse Terry. Tickets are $15 in advance and $18 day of show.

Ben Katzman’s DeGreaser is getting ready to release its sophomore album in a few weeks. The new disc “Venus in Pisces,” which is coming out on Katzman’s own BUFU Records, is set for release on October 30.

Undaunted by the expected mass of humanity in the city, Katzman and his band is bringing its “All Out Of Bubblegum 2015 Tour” to Philly on September 15 for a show at Sound Hole (43rd Street and Osage Avenue, Philadelphia, https://roundtown.com).

The undeniably fun Boston “basement glam” rockers have been making a name for themselves in the garage rock community over the past couple years, bouncing between Boston and the band’s home-away-from-home Miami, bringing their signature “chillin’ hard” attitude with them everywhere they go.

The album’s first single, “You Shred (But You’re Really Just Playing Me) Baby” (which features guest shredding from Guerilla Toss’ Arian Shafiee) sets the tone for the album, described by Katzman as the transitional tale of “Sad Boy to Bad Boy.”

“I started writing it about a year ago,” said Katzman, during a phone interview last week. “I finished the last song about a week before I went into the studio. I write the songs in my head. Over the course of a year, I wrote two albums. The other was ‘Rok and Rol Community College.’

“I recorded ‘Venus in Pisces’ in my hometown, which is Miami Beach. It probably took about four days. I knew what I was going for. ‘Rok and Rol Community College’ was done live in the studio. ‘Venus’ was track by track. This one was so serious. I did the other one for fun.

“I took this semester off from school. I’m a professional music major at Berklee College of Music in Boston. I don’t like Berklee. It’s not an art school. They don’t teach you how to be creative. Teachers I’ve had never really engage.

“But, I love the weather in Boston — especially winter. It’s so brutal. It’s like a heavy metal record. I grew up in Miami Beach a couple blocks from the ocean. I was in a metal band in high school.

“As a joke, I applied to Berklee. To my surprise, I got accepted. Actually, the business courses have helped me with my label. The only thing you really need is a distributor. We do everything else on our own. We press the records and make the tapes — and sell out of everything.”

The line-up of Degreaser is far from stable.

“My band is constantly evolving,” said Katzman. “It’s a solo project with an ever-changing line-up. Right now, we’re a power trio. In the studio, it’s mostly me and whoever is playing drums. I play guitar, bass, drums, piano, sax, upright bass and Segovia guitar.”

Katzman’s love of astrology is evident in the new album — and not just with the title.

As for the album’s name, Katzman describes it as “in astrology terms.”

“I drop a lot of astrology on the new record,” said Katzman. “When it comes to signs, ‘Venus’ is the planet that rules your love life. ‘Pisces’ is the ultimate ‘Sad Boy’ sign. These songs are all about being dumped.

“I’m really into astrology. My mom used to go to an astrologer. She had our entire family’s star charts done. I’m a ‘Scorpio Rising’ so I’m always analyzing everything around me.”

Video link for Ben Katzman’s Degreaser — https://youtu.be/aV1L1Yvd3cE

The show at the Sound Hole will start at 8 p.m. The concert will also feature Tall Juan, blue smiley and Krispy Kareem.

 

World Café Live at the Queen (500 North Market Street, Wilmington, 302- 994-1400, www.queen.worldcafelive.com) will have shows as usual over the weekend and into the next week. The Downstairs Stage will have the Marshall Tucker Band on September 25 and the “Save the Valley Music Fest” on September 26.

The Upstairs Stage will feature Bobby Long on September 25 and Angela Sheik on September 26.

Long is a talented young singer-songwriter-guitarist from England who arrived in the states six years ago. Initially, he gained international recognition based on a song he wrote called “Let Me Sign”.

The song was sung by his friend Robert Pattinson, who stars in the hit movie “Twilight” and was included on the film soundtrack – an album that debuted at number one on the Billboard Top 200 and has remained on the chart for over six months.

Fans first discovered Bobby’s music via the film, YouTube and his MySpace page. Long’s early musical influences were artists such as Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Gram Parsons and Neil Young.

Over the last six years, Long has recorded eight albums. The most recent is “Ode to Thinking,” which came out on Compass Records on August 9.

“I just signed a new world-wide deal with Compass,” said Long, during a phone interview last week from his home in New York. “I never had that before. This is my first record that came out in Europe. With my earlier albums, we always focused on America and Australia.

“I started working on the album at the end of 2013. I was getting the songs ready. I did a lot of touring last year and I played the songs a lot. I did a pledge campaign to fund the record and then went into the studio just over a year ago.

“The musical side is actually pretty simple. Everything else is a delicate process with the album release, tours, publicity and all those other things. With my music, I know what I want from my writing. Socially, I’m more aware.”

Long is a true road warrior.

“I did just under 100 dates last year,” said Long. “No long tours — just a week here and there in different places. It was a worthwhile experience because I got to play all the songs before I recorded them. I felt very lucky to be able to do that. It was great.

“I made the album with producer Mark Hallman, who has worked with acts such as Oasis and Ani DiFranco. We did it at Congress House in Austin, which is the oldest studio in Texas. It’s a real songwriters’ studio because Mark can play almost every instrument.

“We were looking for something quite specific. We didn’t want to take a band into the studio. He works fast which is the way I like to do it. It just felt right. We had 14 songs finished in 10 days. I like recording live a lot. A lot of the songs were done on one or two takes.

“The album is more about the songs than about me. I played guitar and did all the vocals and Mark played everything else. We were a really good team.”

The result of their efforts was a really good album.

Video link for Bobby Long — https://youtu.be/uHm1r-ppAL0.

The show will start at 8 p.m. with opening act Brian Dunne. Tickets are $15 in advance and $17 at the door.

 

Another show outside Philadelphia will take place on September 24 when Jenni Alpert performs at the New Leaf Club (1225 Montrose Avenue, Bryn Mawr, 610-525-1711, www.newleafclub.org) as the featured artist for Open Mic Night.

Alpert’s haunting, powerful, and sultry voice has gained the respect of fans and music tastemakers worldwide. Her emotionally-driven songs fuse modern pop influences with favorites such as Ella Fitzgerald, Julie London, Patsy Cline, Bonnie Riatt and Carole King.

Equally inspired by the vocal delivery and songs from male soul singers, Alpert’s music is a blend best described as “eclectic Soul-Americana Pop.” She is currently touring in support of her new album “Until Then.”

“I recorded ‘Until Then’ by happenstance back in February,” said Alpert, during a recent phone interview from her home in Los Angeles. “It wasn’t meant to be a record to be released.

“I did four or five months of concentrated writing. It was a different mindset — playing cities every night and writing every day. I had recorded a couple songs live in L.A. with a band. It was leaning more toward a folksy Americana album.

“So, I put my tent in my car and headed to Nashville. What was expected to be three weeks turned into five months. At the same time, I was invited to record for a record company in New York. While I was in recording in New York expecting a fully-produced studio album, I was also in Nashville recording songs live in the studio with Guthrie Trapp.

“I did three weeks in Nashville/three weeks in New York for five months. In Nashville, I did two or three takes of every song live with Guthrie. Then, Rob Matson mixed it and made us comfortable.”

Alpert loves touring around the country performing for her fans.

“I try to be on the road as much as possible,” said Alpert. “I want to perform as often as I can.

“As musicians, if our songs inspire someone’s life or changes their mood, it’s our moral responsibility to follow through with our skills and take the music to the people.”

Video link for Jenni Alpert — https://youtu.be/gmnFurtMnHc.

The music will start at 8 p.m. tonight at the New Leaf Club. The show is free and open to the public.

 

On September 25, pianist Andy Milne and Dapp Theory will premiere his new suite “The Seasons of Being” at Millersville University’s Ware Center (42 North Prince Street, Lancaster, 717-871-7600, http://www.artsmu.com).

“The Seasons of Being” is a collection of musical compositions that reflect Milne’s positive personal experiences with classical homeopathic healing. This ambitious project utilizes Milne’s model for identifying human behavioral patterns (pathologies) through understanding how one’s subconscious preferences for music or sound are connected to their pathology.

The ambitious musical project was awarded Chamber Music America’s New Jazz Works Commission and is funded by The Doris Duke Foundation. The September 25 performance will also be recorded for Yamaha Piano’s Diskclavier TV series.

“The Seasons of Being” is a 60-minute suite. Composed for 10 musicians, it is set around Milne’s genre-bending quintet, Dapp Theory, which occupies the crossroads between lyrical jazz piano, funkified polyrhythmic exploration, and spoken word poeticism. This project is a significant new direction for the band, representing its first large-scale collaboration with multiple improvisers.

Dapp Theory is augmented with five diverse, top-notch improvisers from the New York creative music scene — Ralph Alessi (trumpet), Ben Monder (guitar), La Tanya Hall (vocals and narration), Michael Attias (baritone saxophone) and Christopher Hoffman (cello).

“I started working on this music over a year ago,” said Milne, during a phone interview last week from his home in New York. “I take a look at some of the experiences I had with homeopathic healing.

“I looked at how I might channel the diagnostic insights of homeopathy into music. Homeopathy has a lot of powers. But, there are still a lot of things we don’t understand about the human body — like how music interacts with people.

“I did a series of studies — non-musicians and then musicians — asking then to respond to a short segment of music to conjure different emotional responses. There are these patterns you might not understand without homeopathy.”

While Milne is a student of homeopathy, he is also a teacher. He teaches music at New School University in New York as well as at New York University and Columbia University.

“This is a 10-piece project,” said Milne, who was born in Ontario, Canada. “The core group is five people — Dapp Theory. That’s this band that I’ve had together for more than five years. And, there are five guests who have collaborated with me before.

“There will be premiers of ‘The Seasons of Being’ in September in three Northeast cities — Lancaster, Baltimore and New York. Then, we’ll be recording it the week after in New York. It’s sort of a suite with eight or nine parts in specific sequence. La Tanya Hall, who is my fiancé, is the vocalist who will also be telling stories.”

Video link for Andy Milne — https://youtu.be/VHJ1LbyKnMA.

Milne’s show at Millersville University will get underway at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15.

 

The Sellersville Theater (24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville, 215-257-5808, www.st94.com) will host the Annie Moses Band on September 24, Nalani & Sarina and Ceramic Animal on September 25, Dead on Live on September 26, The Happenings and Steve & Steve on September 27, Mediaeval Baebes on September 29 and Elliott Yamin and Christina Holmes on September 30.

 

The Flash (102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square, 484-732-8295, http://www.kennettflash.org) will present “An Evening of Singer Songwriters” with Ben Smith, Jimmy Brett, Gina Degnars, Wild North and Michael Rudolph Cummings on September  25, and Angelee along with Lori Citro on September 26;.

 

The Steel City Coffee House (203 Bridge Street, Phoenixville, 610-933-4043, www.steelcitycoffeehouse.com) will host Ansdrew Savage, Eric Reavey and Bacton Hill on September 24, Aztec Two-Step on September 25 and The Death of Saul with Voila along with Nathan Earl & Rachel Joy.

 

Chaplin’s (66 North Main Street, Spring City, 610-792-4110, http://chaplinslive.com) will present Caroline Reese, Native Harrow and Kristina D’Amico on September 26.

 

Burlap & Bean Coffeehouse (204 South Newtown Street Road, Newtown Square, 484-427-4547, www.burlapandbean.com) will present Nathan Bell and Craig Bickhardt on September 25, Mary Fahl on September 26, and Slaid Cleaves on September 29.

 

The Keswick Theater (291 N. Keswick Avenue, Glenside, 215-572-7650, www.keswicktheatre.com) presents An Acoustic Evening with Yo La Tengo on September 24, Kashmir on September 25, The Airborne Toxic Event and Dreamers on September 26, Passenger and Gregory Alan Isakov on September 27, and Bo Burnham on September 29 and 30.

 

Chameleon Club (223 North Water Street, Lancaster, 717-299-9684, http://www.chameleonclub.net) will have The Stonewall Vessels, Moonstriker, Night Idea, Divided Heaven, Glass Eyed Ghost on September 25; and The Hackensaw Boys and American Hollar on September 26.

 

Reverb (1402 North Ninth Street, Reading, 610-743-3069, www.reverbconcerts.com) will have Floor Show, Arsenic Barbecue

Already Dead, Navigating The Decline, Olde Tigers, Back To Life, xSluggernautx and Dot Your Eye on September 24, and Madball, Doyle, Walls Of Jericho, Crown of Thornz, Death Threat, Murphy’s Law, Indecision, The Eddie Leeway Show, Penntera, Cruel Hand, Dementor, For The Love Of…, Rude Awakening, Objection, Dead on the Streets and Sicker Than Most on September 26.

 

Now through November 1, the Candlelight Theater (2208 Millers Road, Arden, Delaware, 302- 475-2313, www.nctstage.org) is presenting “Sweeney Todd,” a play that won eight Tony Awards and nine Drama Desk awards. Tickets, which include a tasty buffet dinner, are $59 for adults and $33 for children (ages 4-12).

 

The Rainbow Comedy Playhouse (3065 Lincoln Highway East, Paradise, 800-292-4301, www.RainbowDinnerTheatre.com) is presenting “Over the River & Through the Woods” now through October 24.  Ticket prices range from $30-$55.