Short-lived instrumental indie-rock trio Pantless came together one last time on this day in 2009 at The Starr House in Phoenixville, then home of future world renowned sword swallower Mackenzie Molotov. Over the course of the year before, the Birchrunville ensemble rose from experiments in the Upattinas School music shed to a lively run including the Spring’s “Drug Free MF RV Tour” of North PA and the monumental Webfest in June, alongside contemporaries such as When Cars Ascend, Rasputin’s Secret Police, I Miss America, Meat Rainbow, The Psychedelicates, and many others. Before guitarist Emmett Moskowitz left for the fall semester, Pantless dropped their sole full length, Pony Tales from Horseshoe Trail at a Chaplin’s Show in Spring City and copies going around at the Starr House show came in these vibrantly colorful hand drawn sleeves it’d be great to have a picture of. The warmth and energy of the new year radiated off the living room crowd as they launched into a set including seven tunes from the album and four otherwise unheard new songs. It might not have been clear at the time that this would be it for Pantless, but there couldn’t have been a more appropriate scene for their finale regardless. Also on the bill was BeeTheeTree, a psychedelic solo vehicle of the late Jake Wagar. For this show he was backed up by Pantless’ Pat Higgins and Elliot Wilson and displayed a more guitar-driven sound than heard on his then-recent “Sounds from A Dark Forest” album. Pittsburgh americana-folk revival troupe Ursa Major came to town with hearty choruses that brought a campsite atmosphere foreshadowing their Webfest ’09 appearance. There was also this acoustic duo on the show and I’ve wished since that day I caught the name. They had this one original about carpooling and naivety and covered some standards like King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1 and Third Planet. Any showgoers are welcome to head to that there Contact section to fill in the blanks here. Though Pantless never reassembled after the Starr House show, its members went on to a variety of interesting stops on their musical paths. At the time Pat was drumming for short-lived Philly post-punk quartet Down Boy, led by former Meat Rainbow frontman Dan Timlin. Since then, he’s been seen and heard with Big Wheel, Caboder, Boy Lawyer, and most recently, the collaborative project BAMP. Elliot further joined forces with Jake from BeeTheeTree, forming the also short-lived trio Dr. Waimea, which continued the guitar-driven psych direction BeeTheeTree was headed in, and releasing two chillout electronica albums over the next year as duo Sexy Science. Eventually he joined Philly dreampop outfit The Morelings, playing alongside the likes of Mahogany, The Silence Kit, and Dead Leaf Echo, before their climax at 2017’s Excursions In Light. Emmett’s star rose throughout the 2010’s as well, touring and recording as Froggy’s Groovies to some acclaim. So much has changed since Pantless disappeared and no future reunion show could recapture the atmosphere of the Starr House that January evening in 2009, but hopefully the video of their last set does something toward that. Taken on a run of the mill pre-smartphone camera, the sound quality isn’t all there and the image is much darker than it really was. Kinda unfortunate, the sick lighting of the room is barely noticeable, but whatever. Let the music stay with you.
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7/26/2022 09:57:51 pm
Jake Wagar is my son. He passed February 4 2016 I want to see all his music videos. What was he playing for pantless?
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Jake played this show with his own project Bee Thee Tree, though 2/3 of Pantless were backing him up for the set. I don't think I have video of him performing at this show, but maybe a few of a subsequent band. His 2008 album Songs From a Dark Forest is in the Sounds section here,, but what he was playing at the time of this show was going in a different direction. Wish it had a track listing but what I really wish is that I could still just ask him
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