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Archive for May, 2025

The BellRays (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 3, 2025) [THE DAMNED]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, The BellRays, The Damned, Union Transfer on May 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 3, 2025] The Damned

I saw the Damned at Coney Isalnd High with my friend Garry on Feb 6 1998

The BellRays are a band from California that describes itself as an original punk, rock and soul band.  I had never heard of them and assumed they were a young band.  But they have been together since 1990.  I guess if I hadn’t heard of them in 35 years, they weren’t really on my radar.

So they came out and demanded quite a lot from the audience.  Again, I thought they were a new band, so this surprised (and annoyed) me.  Knowing that they’ve been doing this for so long, I get where the on stage banter and attitude comes from.

They rocked pretty well, but it really wasn’t my thing.  Actually, that’s not true.  If they had opened for someone else–someone soulful and almost bluesy, I would have enjoyed them more. But there’s really nothing punk about them (except their attitude, I guess).

The songs were basic, good rockers, but lyrically, they were pretty meh.

Having said that, singer Lisa Kekaula has a fantastic voice–soulful and powerful–and she and guitarist Robert Vennum, the founders of the band) have great chemistry.  I was thinking that a comparison of her voice to Tina Turner’s was lazy; however, in their blurb they say they have been described as ‘Tina Turner fronting AC/DC.”  I wouldn’t go as heavy as AC/DC for the band, but the description works.  Actually, they sound a lot more like an L.A. metal band circa late 80’s.  Although their cover of Ball of Confusion was pretty great.

If I was in the right mood for them I probably would have loved them, but I found them just okay.

The Damned toured around here in 2023 and I couldn’t go.  But Fucked Up opened for them and I sure as hell would have enjoyed THAT double bill.

  1. On Top £
  2. I Fall Down ♠
  3. Hard Drive ♠
  4. Wolf’s Sun ♠
  5. Changing Colors ‰
  6. Living a Lie £
  7. Down On My Knees ♠
  8. One More Night ♠
  9. Voodoo Train €
  10. Black Lightning £
  11. Startime €

♠ Heavy Steady Go
£ Black Lightning
€ Red White and Black
‰ Let It Blast

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Varietourpia with Paul F. Tompkins (Theatre of Living Arts [TLA], Philadelphia, PA, May 4, 2025)

Posted in Artoun Nazareth, Medusa the Gangsta Goddess, Paul F. Tompkins, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts, Varietourpia on May 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 4, 2025] Varietourpia with Paul F. Tompkins

Paul F. Tompkins is one of my favorite comedians and I would happily see him do anything.  Although this is the first time I’ve been able to see one of his Varietopia shows.

As the name suggests, this is a Variety show like they had in the old days: comedy, music, interaction, magic.  All in one show.  He’s been doing this since 2002 (!) and it sounds like when he does the show in L.A. anyone who is funny or entertaining shows up.

For our show, we had Medusa the Gangsta Goddess and Artoun Nazareth.  Not household names by any means.

Medusa the Gangsta Goddess is an underground hip-hop legend whom I’ve never heard of.  She was fun and is referred to as the godmother of west coast hip hop.

Artoun Nazareth is a magician who I thought was really good and very funny.  I was gobsmacked by a trick in which writing appeared to move across a page and turn into something else.

Nazareth is also an actor, so it makes sense that he was such a good performer.  He did fun crowd work and was good enough that I immediately followed him on Instagram. (more…)

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Devo (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, May 1, 2025)

Posted in Devo, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on May 1, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 1, 2025] DEVO

As with most people my age, Devo has been (intentionally or not) part of my life for most of my life.  Even if I didn’t know their earlist stuff, Whip It was unavoidable in the days of MTV.

I never considered seeing them.  In fact I hadn’t really thought about them at all since college.  But a few years ago we saw a Mark Mothersbaugh exhibit in a Denver Museum and I went on a really deep dive of his stuff (and obviously I know he makes all kinds of great soundtracks).

Devo has played live over the last decade, but this was their first time playing Philly since 2008.  And I had heard that the shows on this tour were great.  So I was excited to see them.

And what a show!  They’ve always been a very visual band and this continued in their live show.  And the crowd responded in kind.  There were many people dressed in yellow jump suits.  There were countless energy domes, including one that a guy custom fit the inside with duct tape and other gadgets so it fit him perfectly (he of course had on a yellow jump suit too).

It opened with a funny video showing a where are they now look at the guy who tried to make them stars in the 1970s.  (Very funny, but also quite pointed).

They opened with one of their “new” songs (from 2010) which I vaguely knew.   And the backdrop was a full scale visual assault of colors and videos.

The band were dressed in black suit jacket and pants (with Devo printed on the lapel).  Mark Mothersbaugh looks a lot like Steve Martin now which is somehow even more fun. (more…)

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