Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for May, 2025

Momma (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 30, 2025)

Posted in Momma, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, Wishy on May 31, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 30, 2025] Momma

Just over a year ago, I saw Momma open for Girl in Red.  I had been wanting to see them for a while and an opening set is a fine way to see them.  But I was really excited when they announced this headline tour and that they were playing Union Transfer.

I was off to t he side a bit–near Allegra Weingarten but with a great view of Etta Friedman.  Last time it wasn’t entirely clear if the band was just the tow of them (as photos showed) or all four, but the two guys are still with them so I’m guessing they are part of the band now–Aron Kobayashi Ritch on bass and Preston Fulks on drums.

The set was largely songs from their new album, which was to be expected.  Although I was really surprised that they played I Want You (Fever) (which I think is a huge hit) second!  The crowd went nuts for it of course.

In fact I feel like they stacked the front of the show with the songs I wanted to hear because they followed Fever with Medicine and Ohio All the Time. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Geese (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, May 31, 2025) [VAMPIRE WEEKEND]

Posted in Geese, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia, Vampire Weekend on May 31, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 31, 2025] Geese

There had been some buzz around Geese when they were announced as openers for this show.  I knew their song Cowboy Nudes and found it odd but very catchy.

As this show came around, they started playing another song on the radio and I realized that Geese is pretty weird. So I was curious what their live show would be like.  We arrived pretty early, but the pit was already pretty crowded.  Turns out Geese already had a huge fanbase.  The front of the pit was full of big time Geese fans.

They opened their set with Islands of Man, and I thought that the most distinctive thing about the band (Cameron’s voice) was rather subdued. The song starts softly and fairly quietly with interesting guitar parts from Emily Green.

And the rest of the band was amazing too.  As the show went on, I couldn’t take my eyes off of drummer Max Bassin–he was doing some wild and complex parts.  And midway through the show I realized that bassist Dominic DiGesu was playing some amazing fills too.

For Jesse, Cameron continued to sing in a kind of subdued manner, until the bridge where he got a little shouty.  And it worked really well with the jamming music.  Tomorrows Crusades was super catchy with a great guitar line and Cameron singing in a kind of falsetto.  (more…)

Read Full Post »

Wishy (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 30, 2025) [MOMMA]

Posted in Momma, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, Wishy on May 30, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 22, 2025] Wishy

I Was happy that Wishy opened for Momma.  I knew one or two songs by them and really liked them.

The band came out–a five piece, with the two singer/guitarists Kevin Krauter and Nina Pitchkites.  They harmonize perfectly with each other–both vocally and on guitar.  There’s something very appealing about the two singers going Ah ah ah in harmony on Planet Popstar.  There’s a few different parts in this song so I actually wasn’t sure if they were playing different songs or one long one (it’s only 4 minutes, but is pretty complicated)

Wishy released an EP this year and they played half of it.  That left five songs from last year’s Triple Seven, which is the album t hat I first heard them from.  The (very simple ) guitar riff in Persuasion is wonderful–and when the harmony guitar came in–fantastic.

Love on the Outside is mostly Kevin on guitar, but after a verse, the band kicks in and the harmonies are terrific.  The rest of the band is guitarist Dimitri Morris , bassist Mitch Collins, and drummer Conner Host.  It almost seems like overkill to have three guitarists in the band, but all three do different things to make the sound enormous. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Ice Nine Kills: Silver Screamathon. Night 2: Welcome to Horrowood (Wellmont Theater, Montclair, NJ, May 25, 2025)

Posted in Dark Divine, Hail the Sun, Ice Nine Kills, Melrose Avenue, Montclair, NJ, The Funeral Portrait, The Word Alive, TX2, Wellmont Theater on May 29, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 25, 2025] Ice Nine Kills: Night 2

Two nights of 4 band metal shows is a lot.  So I am glad that we blew off the openers in night one.  I could have probably done with blowing some of them off tonight as well, but I enjoyed being closer to the stage, and that’s all that matters.

I knew that Nights 1 and 2 were going to be different (duh), but I was impressed at how much they changed from Night 1 to 2.  They didn’t rearrange the stage, but they changed the set dressing, making it a very different show.

The bass drum head went from circus themed to a bloody IX.  Instead of the glowing eyes under the drums, there was a banner that read Welcome to Horrorwood.  And for tonight, Spencer’s skeleton mic stand was front and center.  And the backdrop was changed from the Jason mask to the Horrorwood scene.

As always, they played Nick Cave’s Red Right Hand and then the intro to Horrorwood played over the speakers.

Like with The American Nightmare, the opening song Welcome to Horrorwood is super fun and catchy. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Hail the Sun (Wellmont Theater, Montclair, NJ, May 25, 2025) [ICE NINE KILLS Silver Screamathon Day 2]

Posted in Dark Divine, Hail the Sun, Ice Nine Kills, Melrose Avenue, Montclair, NJ, The Funeral Portrait, The Word Alive, TX2, Wellmont Theater on May 28, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 25, 2025] Hail the Sun

Hail the Sun was the third opening band and they played for about 30 minutes.

Their sound was very different from the other two, being a lot more technical and almost proggy.  But they still rocked hard and lead singer Donovan Melero had a strong soaring voice.

Although their older songs like Parasitic Cleanse had a bit more screamo elements to it.

But songs like the truly soaring Tithe were pretty cool.  Melero told us about how long they had been playing and then he played drums and sang on Human Target Practice.  I wondered what the other drummer did during these songs. (more…)

Read Full Post »

TX2 (Wellmont Theater, Montclair, NJ, May 25, 2025) [ICE NINE KILLS Silver Screamathon Day 2]

Posted in Dark Divine, Hail the Sun, Ice Nine Kills, Melrose Avenue, Montclair, NJ, The Funeral Portrait, The Word Alive, TX2, Wellmont Theater on May 27, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 25, 2025] Ice Nine Kills: Night 2

I am all about seeing opening bands, but I know many people aren’t so much.  And yet, I also find that at metal shows, the opening bands can be samey or just too much.  And yet and yet, if you arrive too late, you wind up being really far back.  So, for tonight’s show,we arrived early enough to see all three openers.

For this show, my son’s friends also had tickets, although they were upstairs and we were in the pit. Because yes, we were early enough to get in the pit (although still not close).

After Dark Divine came TX2.  I had never heard of TX2,but my son had and he and his friends told me all about how this band was a weird poser institution.  Evidently the lead singer Evan Thomas, is something of (if social media is to be believed) a jackass, a rip off artist and a bandwagon jumper.  But INK liked them enough to have them on tour AND Spencer has sung on one of his songs.

So I didn’t expect to like them.  And I didn’t really.  I found Thomas to be super annoying.  He reminded me of Corey Feldman at his most tryhard.  He berated the audience (90% of whom were older than him) into cheering more loudly and starting a mosh pit.  And none oft his behavior is weird for a band leader, but I always find it weird from an opening band, especially one as new as them–like he hasn’t earned it yet.

On the other hand, I thought his band was great.  Bassist Corky Howard kicked ass and I had a lot of fun watching guitarist Cam Rostami who was closest to us.

The band are young and are clearly having fun.  Thomas wore kneepads and slid around on his knees.  And yes, I don’t buy his emo/angst for a second.  He’s clearly a rich kid play acting.  And he’s overacting for sure.  But some of his songs were really catchy and the crowd was really into it.

And by the end of the night even Thomas won me over with his outspoken support of the LGBTQ+ community, so I give him much respect for that at least.

SETLIST

Break Stuff [Limp Bizkit recording]

  1. Infamous ‰
  2. Black Wedding §
  3. Vendetta ∞
  4. HOSTAGE (they will not erase us) ‰
  5. Swing At Me ♥
  6. Vampire By Rumor ⊗
  7. Mad ♥
  8. I Would Hate Me Too ©

 

‰ single (2025)
∞ single (2024)
♥ Cruel World EP (2024)
§ Ghost of LA EP (2023)
© Say You’re Insecure (Without Saying It) (2023)
⊗ Drop Dead EP (2022)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Screamathon (NJ) Night 2 Screamathon (NJ) Night 1
Welcome to Horrorwood: The Silver Scream 2 The Silver Scream
Opening Night… [recording] $$ The American Nightmare $  [A Nightmare on Elm Street]
Welcome to Horrorwood $$ Thank God It’s Friday $ [Friday the 13th]
A Rash Decision $$ [Cabin Fever] Stabbing in the Dark $ [Halloween]
Assault & Batteries $$ [Child’s Play] SAVAGES $ [The Texas Chain Saw Massacre]
The Shower Scene $$ [Psycho] The Jig Is Up $ [Saw]
Funeral Derangements $$ [Pet Sematary] A Grave Mistake $ [The Crow]
Rainy Day $$ [Resident Evil] Rocking the Boat $ [Jaws]
Hip to Be Scared $$ [American Psycho]  Enjoy Your Slay $ [The Shining]
Take Your Pick $$ [My Bloody Valentine] Freak Flag $ [The Devil’s Rejects]
The Box $$ [Hellrasier] The World In My Hands $ [Edward Scissorhands]
F.L.Y. $$ [The Fly] Merry Axe-Mas $ [Silent Night, Deadly Night]
Würst Vacation $$ [Hostel] Love Bites $ [An American Werewolf in London]
Ex-Mørtis $$ [The Evil Dead] T is the End $ [It]
Farewell II Flesh $$ [Candyman]
(Track was interrupted during the bridge due to an injury in the crowd, then resumed after a delay.)		 encore
encore Meat & Greet ♥ [Silence of the Lambs]
The Nature of the Beast ß [Animal Farm] The Greatest Story Ever Told ♦
 Communion of the Cursed ß [The Exorcist] Work of Art §
Work of Art §
 Note: Reel Big Fish played on multiple songs on both nights


§ single (2024)
♥ Welcome to Horrorwood: Under Fire edition (2023)
$$ The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood (2021)
$ The Silver Scream (2018)
ß Every Trick in the Book (2015)
⊗ The Predator Becomes the Prey (2014)
♦ Safe is Just a Shadow (2010)

2023 Reading  2022 Trilogy of Terror 2019 TLA
Hip to Be Scared $$ [American Psycho]  Opening Night… [recording] $$ Thank God It’s Friday $ [Friday the 13th]
Rainy Day $$ [Resident Evil] Welcome to Horrorwood $$ The Jig Is Up $ [Saw]
Meat & Greet ♥ [Silence of the Lambs] Würst Vacation $$ [Hostel] SAVAGES $ [The Texas Chain Saw Massacre]
Ex-Mørtis $$ [The Evil Dead] Hip to Be Scared $$ [American Psycho] The Nature of the Beast ß [Animal Farm]
Rocking the Boat $ [Jaws ] Stabbing in the Dark $ [Halloween] The World In My Hands $ [Edward Scissorhands]
Stabbing in the Dark $ [Halloween] Rainy Day $$ [Resident Evil] Communion of the Cursed ß [The Exorcist]
The Fastest Way to a Girl’s Heart Is Through Her Ribcage ⊗ IT Is the End $ [IT] A Grave Mistake $ [The Crow]
IT Is the End $ [IT] Take Your Pick $$ [My Bloody Valentine] Your Number’s Up $ [Scream]
Würst Vacation $$ [Hostel] Ex-Mørtis $$ [The Evil Dead] Rocking the Boat $ [Jaws ]
Funeral Derangements $$ [Pet Sematary] The Shower Scene $$ [Psycho] Merry Axe-Mas $ [Silent Night, Deadly Night]
Your Number’s Up $ [Scream] Funeral Derangements $$ [Pet Sematary] Thriller (Michael Jackson cover)
The American Nightmare $  [A Nightmare on Elm Street] The American Nightmare $  [A Nightmare on Elm Street] Hell in the Hallways ß [Carrie]
The Shower Scene $$ [Psycho] Stabbing in the Dark $ [Halloween]
Welcome to Horrorwood $$ The Fastest Way to a Girl’s Heart Is Through Her Ribcage ⊗
Love Bites $ [An American Werewolf in London]
Tess‐timony ß [Tess of the d’Urbervilles]
Me, Myself & Hyde ß [The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde]
The American Nightmare $ [A Nightmare on Elm Street]
encore
IT is the End $ [It]

 

 

Read Full Post »

Dark Divine (Wellmont Theater, Montclair, NJ, May 25, 2025) [ICE NINE KILLS Silver Screamathon Day 2]

Posted in Dark Divine, Hail the Sun, Ice Nine Kills, Melrose Avenue, Montclair, NJ, The Funeral Portrait, The Word Alive, TX2, Wellmont Theater on May 26, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 25, 2025] Dark Divine

I am all about seeing opening bands, but I know many people aren’t so much.  And yet, I also find that at metal shows, the opening bands can be samey or just too much.  And yet and yet, if you arrive too late, you wind up being really far back.  So, for tonight’s show,we arrived early enough to see all three openers.

For this show, my son’s friends also had tickets, although they were upstairs and we were in the pit. Because yes, we were early enough to get in the pit (although still not close).

I hadn’t heard of any of these three opening bands.

Dark Divine was up first and they played about 25 minutes.  The most notable thing to me about this band was that the guitarist and bassist were wearing corpse paint, but the singer wasn’t.

They sound a lot like Ice Nine Kills, with a bit more synth thrown in–but the vocals are really pretty close.

Overall the set was fun and the band was engaging.  Although I don’t need to see them again.

  1. The Reaper ⊗
  2. Dancing Dead ⊗
  3. Make Me Disappear ‰
  4. Deadly Fun ⊗
  5. Burn The Witch ⊕
  6. Cold ⊗
  7. Halloweentown ♠

‰ single (2025)
⊗ Deadly Fun (2023)
⊕ Deadly Fun (deluxe) (2024)
♠ Halloweentown (2022)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Screamathon (NJ) Night 2 Screamathon (NJ) Night 1
Welcome to Horrorwood: The Silver Scream 2 The Silver Scream
Opening Night… [recording] $$ The American Nightmare $  [A Nightmare on Elm Street]
Welcome to Horrorwood $$ Thank God It’s Friday $ [Friday the 13th]
A Rash Decision $$ [Cabin Fever] Stabbing in the Dark $ [Halloween]
Assault & Batteries $$ [Child’s Play] SAVAGES $ [The Texas Chain Saw Massacre]
The Shower Scene $$ [Psycho] The Jig Is Up $ [Saw]
Funeral Derangements $$ [Pet Sematary] A Grave Mistake $ [The Crow]
Rainy Day $$ [Resident Evil] Rocking the Boat $ [Jaws]
Hip to Be Scared $$ [American Psycho]  Enjoy Your Slay $ [The Shining]
Take Your Pick $$ [My Bloody Valentine] Freak Flag $ [The Devil’s Rejects]
The Box $$ [Hellrasier] The World In My Hands $ [Edward Scissorhands]
F.L.Y. $$ [The Fly] Merry Axe-Mas $ [Silent Night, Deadly Night]
Würst Vacation $$ [Hostel] Love Bites $ [An American Werewolf in London]
Ex-Mørtis $$ [The Evil Dead] T is the End $ [It]
Farewell II Flesh $$ [Candyman]
(Track was interrupted during the bridge due to an injury in the crowd, then resumed after a delay.)		 encore
encore Meat & Greet ♥ [Silence of the Lambs]
The Nature of the Beast ß [Animal Farm] The Greatest Story Ever Told ♦
 Communion of the Cursed ß [The Exorcist] Work of Art §
Work of Art §
 Note: Reel Big Fish played on multiple songs on both nights


§ single (2024)
♥ Welcome to Horrorwood: Under Fire edition (2023)
$$ The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood (2021)
$ The Silver Scream (2018)
ß Every Trick in the Book (2015)
⊗ The Predator Becomes the Prey (2014)
♦ Safe is Just a Shadow (2010)

2023 Reading  2022 Trilogy of Terror 2019 TLA
Hip to Be Scared $$ [American Psycho]  Opening Night… [recording] $$ Thank God It’s Friday $ [Friday the 13th]
Rainy Day $$ [Resident Evil] Welcome to Horrorwood $$ The Jig Is Up $ [Saw]
Meat & Greet ♥ [Silence of the Lambs] Würst Vacation $$ [Hostel] SAVAGES $ [The Texas Chain Saw Massacre]
Ex-Mørtis $$ [The Evil Dead] Hip to Be Scared $$ [American Psycho] The Nature of the Beast ß [Animal Farm]
Rocking the Boat $ [Jaws ] Stabbing in the Dark $ [Halloween] The World In My Hands $ [Edward Scissorhands]
Stabbing in the Dark $ [Halloween] Rainy Day $$ [Resident Evil] Communion of the Cursed ß [The Exorcist]
The Fastest Way to a Girl’s Heart Is Through Her Ribcage ⊗ IT Is the End $ [IT] A Grave Mistake $ [The Crow]
IT Is the End $ [IT] Take Your Pick $$ [My Bloody Valentine] Your Number’s Up $ [Scream]
Würst Vacation $$ [Hostel] Ex-Mørtis $$ [The Evil Dead] Rocking the Boat $ [Jaws ]
Funeral Derangements $$ [Pet Sematary] The Shower Scene $$ [Psycho] Merry Axe-Mas $ [Silent Night, Deadly Night]
Your Number’s Up $ [Scream] Funeral Derangements $$ [Pet Sematary] Thriller (Michael Jackson cover)
The American Nightmare $  [A Nightmare on Elm Street] The American Nightmare $  [A Nightmare on Elm Street] Hell in the Hallways ß [Carrie]
The Shower Scene $$ [Psycho] Stabbing in the Dark $ [Halloween]
Welcome to Horrorwood $$ The Fastest Way to a Girl’s Heart Is Through Her Ribcage ⊗
Love Bites $ [An American Werewolf in London]
Tess‐timony ß [Tess of the d’Urbervilles]
Me, Myself & Hyde ß [The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde]
The American Nightmare $ [A Nightmare on Elm Street]
encore
IT is the End $ [It]

 

 

Read Full Post »

Ice Nine Kills: Silver Screamathon. Night 1: The Silver Scream (Wellmont Theater, Montclair, NJ, May 24, 2025)

Posted in Dark Divine, Hail the Sun, Ice Nine Kills, Melrose Avenue, Montclair, NJ, The Funeral Portrait, The Word Alive, TX2, Wellmont Theater on May 25, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 24, 2025] Ice Nine Kills: Night 1

My son and I have seen Ice Nine Kills three times and while their shows don’t differ all that much, the theatrics of the spectacle are always wonderful.

And here was a chance to see any of the songs that we hadn’t already seen before, because each night of the Silver Screamathon featured one of their albums played in its entirety.

The first night was The Silver Scream–their first foray into singing about horror movies.  The stage was set up in a very cool way with a giant head behind the drumset (a combo of Jason from Friday the 13th and Michael Myers from Halloween) with a big IX on their foreheads.  There was also a large neon IX that changed colors throughout the show.   The drum head looked like a circus with red and white stripes in a circular pattern.

After the previous band we waited until Nick Cave’s Red Right Hand played over the speakers.  And soon after, the band came out on stage and wasted no time jumping into The American Nightmare.  Despite my best efforts, I wound up being near a pole so I missed some stuff that happened on the left side of the stage and Spencer does love to use the whole stage.  I moved around a bit and eventually was okay with where I was.  But for the most part I could see fine and the band sounded great. (more…)

Read Full Post »

The Word Alive (Wellmont Theater, Montclair, NJ, May 24, 2025) [ICE NINE KILLS Silver Screamathon Day 1]

Posted in Dark Divine, Hail the Sun, Ice Nine Kills, Melrose Avenue, Montclair, NJ, The Funeral Portrait, The Word Alive, TX2, Wellmont Theater on May 24, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 24, 2025] Ice Nine Kills: Silver Screamathon Day 1

I was pretty excited to see the Ice Nine Kills Silver Screamathon–two days at the same venue with each night focusing on one of their horror-themed albums.  My son and I have seen them a few times, but this felt like a way to really see their whole show and in a relatively small place.

Well, it was PACKED and we arrived a little late because we didn’t care about the opening bands.  And while my son did get into the pit, I was much further back than I anticipated.

We missed The Funeral Portrait completely.  They formed in 2014 in Georgia and have a theatrical component (and have had Spencer from INK sing on some of their tracks).  Frontman Lee Jennings compares their sound to a blend of bands such as My Chemical Romance, Ghost, and Motionless In White. I don’t hear it.  Their music is like a weird mix of alt rock and metal but in a way that doesn’t work for me.

Melrose Avenue are from Australia (!).  That alone makes me wish we’d seen them.  Although this description from New Noise Magazine doesn’t sound all that great (more…)

Read Full Post »

Lucius (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 22, 2025)

Posted in Lucius, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, Victoria Canal on May 23, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 22, 2025] Lucius

I saw Lucius last year when they played the anniversary of their debut album.  I enjoyed the show and their performance so much that I knew I’d want to see them again.  And I knew my wife would really enjoy it as well.

But I had no idea she’s enjoy it as much as she did.  She said it was her favorite concert of the year [UPDATE: at year’s end she maintains that belief].

The stage was set up with two large cacti flanking the keyboard set up of Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig.  I love that they dress alike (down to the wigs they are wearing).  They wore red, beautifully decorated ponchos, and it’s amazing that they face each other and more or less mimic each others movements–they’re not a tightly choreographed ship, which is good.  They are more like a loose duo who can allow the moment to overtake perfect choreography.  And they’re all the better for it,

But mostly, Lucius are instantly recognizable because of the gorgeous vocals of Wolfe and Laessig,  And it gives you goosebumps to see them perform live.

There’s a several Lucius songs that I absolutely love.  There’s also some that I’m iffy about (but the hits greatly outweigh the misses for me).  And I really like the vibe of the new album a lot.  I’m sure that has a lot to do with Adam Granduciel of The War on Drugs who produced the album (his fingerprints are all over it).  The opening song Final Days doesn’t sound like The War on Drugs, but it does sound like Lucius covering a War on Drugs song.

They followed up with Gold Rush, which I was surprised to hear so early as its the big hit from the album.  They wound up playing five new songs in a row.  Trespassers Will Be Shot uploaded several songs from our show (see below).  Things had mellowed, but when Stranger Danger came on and the guitars went crazy and Jess and Holly came to the front of the stage–it was electrifying.

The band had a simple set up.  Jess and Holly in the center.  On our right side was drummer Dan Molad and on our left was multi-instrumentalist (but mostly, an amazing guitarist–the sounds he generates are amazing) Peter Lalish.

They played the quieter 24 and then moved to Wildewoman for the amazing Tempest.  Since they had just toured the album last year I didn’t think they’d play too much from it, so it was cool to hear this one.

Then for the really fun Joy Ride, they put on matching hats and sat stage right in a couple of folding chairs.  We got a kick out of them snapping their heads left and right to the beat.

They jumped back to Wildewoman again for the awesome (and even more awesome live Nothing Ordinary) and the fantastic Genevieve, which was delightfully percussion heavy (Jess and Holly playing cowbells) and full of cool lighting. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »