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So what happened here?

June 10, 2022 by Paul Debraski

For nearly fourteen years I was able to keep up this daily blog of books and music.

About a year ago I got a promotion and that changed everything.  I no longer had the time to post everything I wanted to.  Heck, I didn’t even seem to have the time to read all the short stories I wanted to.  Amusingly (or not), just before this new position, I had gotten a print subscription to the New Yorker.  This now means that I (like many others) have a two-foot stack of New Yorker magazines that I haven’t even looked at yet.

For a few weeks I was limiting myself to only the concerts that I went to because that was a little easier to write about.  Although back in the good old days, I used to include photo and links, and I pretty much have neither now. And I’m several shows behind as well.

So I’m still reading books and I think I may try to post some thoughts about them from time to time.  I’d also like to think I have time to write about my concerts, but even those are proving to be challenging.

So let’s consider the blog on hiatus more or less, with occasional posts about things I’ve read or listened to.

The good thing is that I like the new position and wouldn’t change it for the world. I guess I never realized how much down time my old position gave me!

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Suki Waterhouse (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, September 21, 2026)

September 23, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 21, 2026] Suki Waterhouse

My daughter and I saw Suki Waterhouse at All Things Go.  She hadn’t released Memoir of a Sparklemuffin yet, although she did play two songs from it (but not ones I really liked).  My takeaway from her set (not having heard her before) was that I liked her, although I found her songs a little slow, but my overall impression was really positive.  Although I honestly couldn’t really remember her songs.

Since then she has released three songs that WXPN has played a bunch which I love.  I regretted not going to see her last time she was in town, so I was pretty psyched when my wife said she’d love to see her as well.

By the time her set was to start, the young girls had al moved into place in front of us.  Since most of her fans are tiny, I was pretty pleased, until the tiny girls in front of us waved their tall friends over.  The really tall one was off to the side, but the shorter one was a major camera user.  Which was pretty annoying except that she put the camera up high enough that I could see clearly through her arms.   Interestingly. the  guy in the hat who filmed all of Charlotte, didn’t film any of Suki.  Go figure.

The lights dimmed and all of Somewhere Over the Rainbow played.  I do enjoy a walk on song, but it had been pretty long since Charlotte went off and this song is pretty long…  But all was forgiven when the band came out and the lights illuminated the giant heart shaped mirror ball that was on stage.

And then Suki came out and simply owned the stage.  I’ve seen a lot of shows and a lot of shows in this venue and I don’t know if it was the lighting or just her amazing star power, but she seemed enormous up there–like she glowed and it was perfectly easy to see every move she made.  But before she even came down the (mirrored) stairs, she stood on the platform in a Blondie cut off shirt, a shoulder shrug, sparkly shorts and tall boots.  She posed like a model and then the music started. Continue Reading »

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The Charlatans (UK) / Frankie Rose (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, September 23, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

September 23, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 23, 2026] The Charlatans (UK) / Frankie Rose

I have the first three Charlatans records (but actually didn’t even realize they had been making music since then).  I was supposed to see them in 2024 when they toured with Ride.  That would have been a great show, but a snowstorm kept me away.

I don’t listen to The Charlatans enough since their early stuff is so good. Their newer stuff sounds a bit like Oasis (or does Oasis sound like  them?)  Listening now, I think this would have been a really fun show.  Their sound has remained largely consistent over the years.

But we had tickets to see a comedian, Lauren Ramoso which was originally schedule for November but inexplicably moved to tonight.  Which meant I didn’t have to decide whether or not to go to this show.

Frankie Rose is evidently a legendary musician who has played with everyone like Vivian Girls and Dum Dum Girls.  Although her solo stuff is very synthy and unlike those other bands.   It would work well with the Charlatans, I think.

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Laura Ramoso (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, September 23, 2026)

September 23, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 23, 2026] Laura Ramoso

The tour was announced in March and then in April Laura told us that she was moving the Philly show up to November.  I had assumed all of the shows were moved, but it was only the Philly show.  And, looking at the dates below, why did they schedule Philly at that original date anyhow?  Weird.

Laura Ramoso is a comedian that my wife knew from Instagram who never came across my radar.  And, to make this point even funnier, when Laura came out on stage she welcomed everyone, including the husbands and boyfriends who had no idea who she was.

When My wife told me about her, she sounded funny, but I decided to go in blind, so I didn’t watch any clips of her stuff and that was an interesting way to experience a comedian.  It means that there were catch phrases and thing that made the crowd laugh and I didn’t know why.  And that’s fine too, because most of the rest of these how did make me laugh a lot.

I assume I am correct in saying that she is most known for portraying her parents.  Laura is half German, half Italian.  Her German mother is very stuff and formal and her Italian father is very emotional and is often cooking.  Laura’s accents and characterizations are great and she moves between the two with amazing ease. Continue Reading »

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Mastodon / Alcest / Deafheaven (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, September 22, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

September 22, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 22, 2026] Mastodon / Alcest / Deafheaven 

I saw Mastodon at this very venue (when it was called The Electric Factory) ten years ago.  I’ve seen Mastodon a total of three times and after the last show I felt like I didn’t need to see them again.  Nothing against them, but I felt like I had seen enough and was satisfied.  Then all kinds of trouble happened within the band and I felt it was just safest to stay away.

But this bill was stacked!  And I really wanted to go for the opening acts.  It turned out to be scheduled during a week when I had a lot else going on, so I ultimately couldn’t go anyhow.  But I would have really enjoyed seeing the openers again.

I saw Alcest last year and they were great.  They play a kind of heavy metal shoegaze.  Waves and waves of guitars with vocals that are sung in French, but are quiet enough in the mix (from where I was) that they might as well be simply ahh’s.  Corson’s backing vocals were, I think, just ooh and ahhs.  Occasionally, Niege’s vocals would get dark and kind of growly, but more of a low scream rather than a growl–certainly the most palatable scream I’ve encountered.  I would love to see them again.

I’ve seen Deafheaven twice but I’ve wanted to see them more.  There have been a couple of recent shows that I simply haven’t been able to get to.  Well, I’m sure they’ll be back again. And who wants to see them open, when they could clearly headline.

 

 

Posted in Alcest, Deafheaven, Franklin Music Hall, Mastodon, Philadelphia, PA, The Electric Factory | Leave a Comment »

Charlotte Lawrence (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, September 21, 2026) [SUKI WATERHOUSE]

September 22, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 21, 2026] Charlotte Lawrence

I hadn’t heard of Charlotte Lawrence before this show.  I listened to a few songs and liked her.  It turns out that, like Suki Waterhouse, she is an actress (in the show Bad Monkey which I hadn’t heard of), model and singer.

She came out on stage with her band and, I was pleased to her, rocked harder than her records.  Her records had a bit more pop sheen, but live, her band rocked (her guitar player even opened the show by running a beer bottle up and down the neck of his guitar generating interesting sounds–although they were all dressed so preppy, it was hard to take them seriously as rockers).  But that’s okay because they were great.  

Less great was the guy in the baseball hat who held his phone up very high (and was standing right in front of us) for each song and during her talking bits as well.  It was rather much.

I enjoyed Charlotte’s voice immediately–powerful and soaring high.  And the songs were catchy, too.

Before the second song, she said it was written about an asshole and anyone who could relate to that should dance along.  So that was pretty funny.  As was her intro to the third song which was also about an asshole (everyone say fuck you johnny).

I laughed a but when she bemoaned that she missed be young and wild and free (she’s 26), but who knows what her life is like.  And then before the next song, she started crying and said that she lost someone yesterday but she really wanted to keep on with the show.  (I see on previous setlists that at this time she was going to sing a song called Bodybag which, jeez, that’s rough.  It’s a piano ballad and they had unveiled Suki’s piano for this set.  I assume she was supposed to play the piano for this song.  But, damn, how could she play a song like that right now?

She pulled through and sang her bouncier song Fear of Falling and then asked if we’d like to hear a new song.  She started Like a Girl but had to quit after verse or two.  Fortunately, the crowd was really supportive of her and sent their best vibes her way.  I couldn’t help but think about how at a normal job when this happens, you would take a few days off, but I can’t imagine trying to be emotive on stage during this. Continue Reading »

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Militarie Gun / Softcult / Shady Nasty / Dazy (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, September 22, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

September 22, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 19, 2022] Militarie Gun / Softcult / Shady Nasty / Dazy

Back in 2022, I first heard of Militaire Gun, who are apparently a post-hardcore supergroup (made up of bands I’ve never heard of).  I got a kick out of this tour being 20 Songs for 20 Bucks and I did consider going.  But this was a crazy busy week for me and I didn’t really fancy going to a show with THREE openers who I’d never heard of. Normally I love a good opening band, but this night sounded exhausting, especially since I assumed they were all heavy/hardcore bands.

Since then they have been spoken of in really high terms by lots of bands that I like and their new single is really soft and catchy.  So unlike the noisy punk extravaganza and that I thought this night would be, it was actually a fairly diverse and far more quiet evening.  Although MG play a kind of heavy alt rock with vocals that are very punk.

I assumed I didn’t know Softcult (which looked less familiar when I saw it as Soft Cult). Turns out I have been interested in them for a little while, but had to miss them in 2026.

Softcult is a duo from Canada.  Their number one song on Spotify, “Love Song” is a soft woozy shoegaze song–it’s wonderful.  Their other songs play more with a hard/soft dynamic and grungy attitude.  The band comprises twin siblings Phoenix and Mercedes Arn-Horn who are also in the band Courage My Love (who are a bit more punk).  The three or four Softcult songs I heard were great.

Shady Nasty are from Sydney and mix hip hop, shoegaze and post punk.  Far more hip hop than anything else and I found it a little bland.

Dazy is a the work of James Goodson.  They put out a single with Militarie Gun and it’s great (Pressure Cooker).  Their songs have big hooks are are kind of unpolished (fuzz guitars) pop.

I’m sure this would have been a fun night.  Must keep Softcult and Dazy in mind for future shows.

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Eihwar (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, September 20, 2026)

September 21, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 20, 2026] Eihwar

I hadn’t heard of Eihwar before seeing the ad for this show, but when I saw the photo and learned that the singer of the band does, indeed, wear a giant animal head on her head, I had to investigate.  So Eihwar is a French tribal electronic neo-folk musical duo who go by the pseudonyms Asrunn and Mark.  They are originally from Toulouse and have been around since 2023. The band is distinguished by a style that it calls itself “Viking War Trance”, mixing tribal percussion, evocative songs and electronic rhythms inspired by Norse mythology.

So they look Nordic but are actually French.  But who cares, because they put on a hell of a show.

When I entered the venue there was a crowd around the stage–which doesn’t always happen.  But there were two guys wearing long robes with hoods with leather belts–one with a pelt attached to his belt.  Elsewhere in the room were men in corpse paint (which may have been for Frayle–indeed, the guys in robes may have been, too).  And when I left, there was a guy with an animal skull on his head.  For a band that never toured the States before, they certainly had a devoted crowd.

It’s just the two of them, Asrunn sings and plays a hand drum (I’m assuming a Sami) while Mark, dressed like a knight of templar or something, plays all of the electronic instruments (and an occasional acoustic guitar).  I actually assumed that Asrunn wasn’t singing words–that it was just cool ethereal sounds.  But their bandcamp page shows lyrics for all of the songs (on the new album), most in Icelandic, or at least that’s what the translation apps think.  Regardless, the point is, there are words, whether made up or not.

Typically, Asrunn sings at the mic stand and then when its just an instrumental, she picks up the drum and dances around the stage.  It’s pretty intense and when she leans her head forward and you can only see the skull, it’s downright creepy. Continue Reading »

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Frayle (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, September 20, 2026) [EIHWAR]

September 20, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 20, 2026] Frayle

I didn’t know Frayle, but I knew they had a following (and haters, of course).   They are a female fronted doom and witchrock band from Cleveland.   What does that mean?  Well, their influences are Sleep, Portishead, Björk, Kyuss, & Black Sabbath.  Which sounds impossible, but is true.  The heavy doomy Sleep and Sabbath with great witchy vocals of Portishead and Björk.  Evidently there are two permanent members of the band Gwyn Strang (vocals) and Sean Bilovecky (guitars and I assume more).

They had the stage adorned with candelabra and their logo on vertical banners (visually very satisfying).

I had just seen Angine De Poitrine, a masked band, and I was pretty excited to see Eihwar and Frayle for even more masked fun.

The band came out and the only person I could see was  their bassist who had corpsepaint makeup on and some chains across her face.  She played an intense low end which sounded great throughout the set.  Their drummer was behind her and it wasn’t until half way through the set that I realized he was wearing a black mask with a chain across the front.  Their guitarist had on a large cape with a hood and it was only when he looked up tat you could see he was wearing a similar mask to the drummer.  And then walked out.  She too had her face painted white and had a series of chains across her face as well as a black tiara atop her head.  She had blue eyes shadow on and wasn’t afraid to make eye contact with anyone.

Bright Eyes started the set with slow, heavy bass and guitar with haunting soft high pitched vocals floating over the top.  It was great.  The music was wonderfully heavy and slow but without the typical growled vocals. And the rest of their set was similarly heavy and grooving.  At some point during the set I saw that the guitarist (who was huge) had a pink camera phone and was aiming it at us in the audience.  Then I saw him hand it back to someone, so that was sweet.

I really enjoyed Heretic–a great riff and intense lyrics.  The chorus was interesting because underneath her voice was a deep male voice singing along with her (demonic possession?).  No one in the band seemed to sing along, so I assume it was pre-programmed or she had a very cool filter on her voice. Continue Reading »

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Liz Phair / Sleater-Kinney / Frankie Cosmos (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, September 20, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

September 20, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 20, 2026] Liz Phair / Sleater-Kinney / Frankie Cosmos

I have seen Sleater-Kinney five times.  The last time my wife came along and she loved it.  I would have liked to go to this show as well, but I wasn;t excited about it being at Franklin Music Hall and more importantly, I had tickets to see Eihwar and wasn’t going to give that up.  Plus it turns out that S-K were technically the second headliner so they went on first and only played for an hour.

Three years ago when Liz Phair was last at Franklin Music Hall, I was rather bitchy about her.  I guess it was 30 years ago that I really got into Liz Phair.  I loved Exile in Guyville.  And the two follow-ups.  Three years ago I followed this with

Then she went away for a while and came back as a sell out.  Which she has admitted.  I used to care about things like that, and I never listened to her again, frankly.  I’m somewhat curious about hearing the Guyville songs live.  But I haven’t listened to the record in years either, so it’s like a rock that’s not worth digging up.  Plus it would be weird seeing her in a relatively large space like Franklin Music Hall.

But seeing what she played–mostly stuff from Guyville, I think I would have really enjoyed the show–sorry to be so snarky three years ago, Liz.

In some respects, I’m surprised that Liz is headlining, because S-K probably have a bigger audience, but Liz is probably more generally popular.

Frankie Cosmos plays twee pop songs.  I had heard of the band but didn’t know this:

Greta Simone Kline, also known by the stage name Frankie Cosmos, is known for her independent releases, inspired by Frank O’Hara’s poetry, DIY ethics of K Records and the early 2000s New York City’s anti-folk scene.  She is the daughter of actors Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates. Her former stage name “Frankie Cosmos” is now the name of her band.

So I guess rather than twee pop songs, I’m hearing the spare sound of K recordings, because it did feel like it would fit with the whole Seattle vibe.

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cavetown / chloe moriondo (Archer Music Hall, Allentown, PA, September 20, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

September 20, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 20, 2026] cavetown / chloe moriondo

We saw Cavetown two years ago and they were so much fun.  From the catchy songs to the fun stage goings on, it was a terrific show.  I’ve thought about seeing them again, and this seemed like a lower key way to do so.  Despite the metal looking logo, Cavetown’s music actually seems even more mellow.

I’m fascinated that this tour starts in Allentown and ends a month later in Philadelphia.  I couldn’t go to the Allentown show because I had tickets to Eihwar which I didn’t want to pass up and on the night in Philly, I had tickets to TWO other shows that evening.  So, despite the proximity and frequency, I couldn’t do Cavetown this year.

Om Tidal, it says that chloe moriondo is 16, but she is actually 23.  She’s from Detrooit and plays a mix of indie pop, indie rock and bedroom pop, with the occasional hyperpop.  The first song on Tidal was her with a ukulele.  She’s on Fueled by Ramen, so they trust her fun nature and she appeared on a Pierce the Veil album.  Her songs are kind of soft pop with a slight (very slight) edge–although her newest album is pretty much all pop.

She’s probably fun live.

 

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