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Archive for September, 2025

G Flip–All Things Go Music Festival [Day 2] (Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD, September 27, 2025)

Posted in All Things Go, Bartees Strange, Carol Ades, Clairo, Columbia MD, Faye Webster, G Flip, Gigi Perez, Hazlett, Hey Nothing, Hippo Campus, Lucy Dacus, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Orion Sun, Paris Paloma, The Backseat Lovers, Wallows, Wild Rivers, Zinadelphia on September 27, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 27, 2025] G Flip-–All Things Go [Day 2]

The weather was a but threatening and we didn’t really want to see anyone at the Chrysalis Stage, so we decided to park in the Pavilion.  We missed the end of Hazlett and saw some of Bartees Strange on the video screen.  So G Flip was up next.

I had no idea who G Flip was just a few weeks ago but I saw some kind of headline that she was dating someone.  I had never heard of either of them and the way it was written I didn’t know who or what a G Flip was.  So I looked her up and was really interested to see that she is a multi instrumentalist singer from Australia.

They set up the band’s kit and her drum set had a digital screen on the bass drum head.  This is the first time I’d ever seen this and it was really fun and interesting–all kinds of images and words were projected on it.  Super fun.

She had a few pink platforms that she danced and jumped around on.  She had a ton of energy and was really fun.  She wore a sleeveless shirt and bandana on her head.  Her first song Disco Cowgirl was a big dancey disco song.  There was even a keytar (they are really making a comeback). (more…)

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Noah Kahan–All Things Go Music Festival [Day 1] (Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD, September 26, 2025)

Posted in All Things Go, Caroline Kingsbury, Columbia MD, Joy Oladukin, Lucius, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Noah Kahan, Sharon Van Etten, Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory, Sharon Van Etten and the Attachment Theory, Sunday (1984), The Beaches, The Last Dinner Party, The Marías on September 26, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 26, 2025] Noah Kahan–All Things Go [Day 1]

Noah Kahan was the headliner for Friday night.

I know that I exist in a musical world that is all of my own so I didn’t know Noah at all.  I was aware of his song Stick Season because my daughter played it for me, but it seemed like he was basically a folk singer.  So I guess I don’t understand kids these days.

Anyhow, I was surprised that he would be the headliner, but clearly no one else was.

But I was pretty happy that it wasn’t just him and a mandolin.  He had a full band and they rocked much harder than I thought they would.  Although it was pretty fascinating to hear the crowd react so powerfully to a dude with a mandolin.

But he had a full band and they harmonized really nicely.  He also seemed genuinely funny and nice.  (I’m Noah Kahan and I’m here to ruin your evening). (more…)

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The Last Dinner Party–All Things Go Music Festival [Day 1] (Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD, September 26, 2025)

Posted in All Things Go, Caroline Kingsbury, Columbia MD, Joy Oladukin, Lucius, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Noah Kahan, Sharon Van Etten, Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory, Sharon Van Etten and the Attachment Theory, Sunday (1984), The Beaches, The Last Dinner Party, The Marías on September 26, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 26, 2025] The Last Dinner Party-All Things Go [Day 1]

I was most excited to see The Last Dinner Party. They had only played Philly once but I had tickets to another show that night.  Ugh.  So this was my first time seeing them.  And they were terrific.

The opening strains of Prelude to Ecstasy played over the speakers as they came out on stage.  The five women up front filled the whole stage–keys (Aurora Nishevci) , guitar (Emily Roberts), vocals (Abigail Morris), guitar (Lizzie Mayland), bass (Georgia Davies) with their drummer back on the riser.

They opened with Burn Alive and it was cool to hear these songs come to life.  The problem for me was that the woman next to me felt compelled to scream every single word.

The empowering anthem Caesar on a TV Screen came next and Aurora played keytar which was fun to see.  She rocked out next to Emily–who plays some phenomenal solos.

Count the Ways played live for the first time 2 nights ago in New York City. Abigail  went over to acknowledge the ASL interpreter and to thank them–she said they didn’t know they had one.

Abigail introduced the next song as being from the first record and you might know it.  And Lizzie said no you won’t this is from the new record.  Abigail laughed “I don’t know my own setlist.”

Second Best opens with gorgeous acapella harmonies from all of them.  It’s a great song, continuing their streak of great songs.  And of course since they were new, the woman next to me couldn’t sing them.

On Your Side has some really gorgeous quiet moments that showcases how great their voices are.

Aurora sang Gjuha next after giving a brief introduction about it (it’s about her relationship with her mother tongue).  Everyone sang backing vocals and Emily played the mandolin–absolutely lovely.  And it segued right into the rocking Sinner.   It was really fun to see Abigail dancing around the stage with abandon. Lizzie sings some lead vocals on this song too, which I didn’t realize.

Then came another new one Agnus Dei.  Which Abigail introduced as “This is a song about a boy–ew!”

After a moment with a QR code to donate to Palestine, Abigail said she was really sorry for what was happening on our country and it was not a time to be scared–letting us really know how the rest of the world sees us right now.

Aurora started playing the piano up on the riser and as Abigail walked up the risers and as they started the next song Aurora gasped and stopped playing–she was attacked by a huge moth. Everyone laughed–“you guys have some massive bugs here.”

They returned to Portrait of a Dead Girl which builds to some great sing alongs–over and over again as well as the really fun “give me the strength.”

I didn’t realize that the band doesn’t have a drummer.  They use session drummers for tour (wonder why).  For this show they had Victoria Smith who was great–she totally rocks. (more…)

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All Things Go Music Festival [Day 1] (Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD, September 26, 2025)

Posted in All Things Go, Caroline Kingsbury, Columbia MD, Joy Oladukin, Lucius, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Noah Kahan, Sharon Van Etten, Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory, Sharon Van Etten and the Attachment Theory, Sunday (1984), The Beaches, The Last Dinner Party, The Marías on September 26, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 26, 2025] All Things Go [Day 1]

My daughter and I went to All Things Go in 2023 and had a great time.  We didn’t go last year, but this year we decided to go again–for all three days (last time it was two).

The first day was a Friday and my daughter had a half day of school.  So we left after classes and got to MD in pretty decent time.  The early shows on Friday were great and I would have loved to see Lucius (having just seen them) and Sharon Van Etten (having seen them a few weeks earlier), but it was fine that we arrived too late for them.  But my huge YES was for The Last Dinner Party, a band I could have seen when they played Johnny Brenda’s but my wife and I had gone to a meh show elsewhere that not instead.  So I really wanted to see them!

We arrived, got good ADA parking (phew) and used our fast pass entry (yay).  We could hear The Beaches playing and they sounded great.  My daughter went for food and I grabbed a seat as we watched a video of The Marías playing. I was a little bummed we didn’t see them (although I hadn’t heard of them at all before this) because their set sounded really good.

In a bizarre coincidence, we ran into my niece/her cousin while getting food.  It was great to see her (she lives in DC).  She was really looking forward to seeing Noah Kahan.  Then we parted–thought we might see her at Noah but we didn’t.

Then we headed down to the Chrysalis Stage (which was pretty packed) in time to see The Last Dinner Party.  My daughter and I have different wants at a show.  I like to be really close and she is cool hanging out and letting the music wash over her.

So I snuck down as far as I could and enjoyed TLDP very very much.  I even got a photo of the setlist. (more…)

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Pool Kids (House of Independents, Asbury Park, NJ, September 22, 2025)

Posted in Asbury Park, NJ, House of Independents, Pony, Pool Kids, Truth Club on September 24, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 22, 2025] Pool Kids

This was my third time seeing Pool Kids.  I really like their mix of punky alt rock and really cool guitar shredding (so much finger tapping).  I saw them headline at a small place in Philly and they blew the roof off (with singer Christine Goodwyne crowd surfing at the end).

Since I last saw them the put out a new album.  And they played 8 (of 11) songs from it.  They opened with a new song and then immediately jumped back to their previous album

The opening riff to That’s Physic Baby is a mastercalss in cool guitar riffage–sounding like an old school metal intro.  Both Goodwyne and second guitarist Andy Anaya shred impressively with lots of fingertapping.  Anaya seems to add a few extra flourishes while Goodwyne gets back to singing.  The end is a dramatic moment where the chorus telling you what I, telling you what I need, is repeated but at the end the song drops off and she screams (and we all scream along) NEED!

Vocalist/guitarist Christine Goodwyne was fun with a powerful voice that held high notes and also screamed with rage.  She and second guitarist played some great harmony solos together too.

A group chat with goddamn 21 people I wish I was joking but I’m not.

They played one song from their debut (the wonderfully named $5 Subtweet) which has a total progressive rock vibe with a fast riff opening and some complicated intertwining moments.

The new album has a lot more going on–synths, quieter moments, even an AutoTune on the first song).  But there’s still plenty of Pool Kids sound–loud vocals and gorgeous guitar work on Last Word.  But they moved back to another of my favorite songs of their “I Hope You’re Right” with the chorus “You wanna start a fight” which is super fun to sing along to.

I also need to mention bassist Nicolette Alvarez who plays some amazingly complicated parts and adds a lot of backing vocals (which I don’t think she did on the previous album).  Drummer Caden Clinton makes a lot of noise on a fairly small drum kit.  He plays interesting rhythms and different parts of the kit to bring a really full (and dare I say kind of proggy component) to the songs.

After playing most of their bigger songs, they played three new songs.  Sorry Not Sorry is a slower song (where Alvarez’ backing vocals really shone).  Easier Said Than Done is also slower (with soft backing vocals from Anaya).  These songs are all a bit more conventional. but they retain a lot of makes Pool Kids interesting.

Then we were encouraged to sing along to the next song because we all knew it.  Conscious Uncoupling is the first song I heard by them and I loved everything about it–the soft to loud vocals, the cool guitar sounds and the big explosive chorus.

For one of the ending songs, Goodwyne put down her guitar and jumped into the crowd.  The guy next to me had been singing along all night and she ran up to him and they sang a line together.  Later from on the stage she called him over to shout a line with her and he was clearly thrilled.  There wasn’t a large crowd–I felt bad for them, although it was a Monday night–and there was even a small “pit” available because I was standing a little back from the people up front (the sound isn’t very good when you’re right on the stage).  She bounced around and then some short person slammed into her really hard.  She bounced off and seemed game for more.  So they bounced off each other a few more times and then she climbed back on stage.

They ended and it was still about 9:45 (I assuming 10PM curfew).  On their other nights they had been adding an encore and when they left the stage they put their guitars down on the stage in the “we’ll be right back” gesture.  But then the house music came on and it seemed like they weren’t coming back.  But the crowd started a “one more song” chant (again, what happened to encore), and after a few minutes, they came back.  Goodwyne apologized to the sound guy saying they weren’t planning on coming back out.  It may be the first genuinely earned encore I’ve ever been a part of.

They played Swallow, a great song with lots of finger tapping guitar–it’s really fun when Goodwyne and Ayana face each other in a little guitar battle.  It was a great and cathartic end to the show and they were done by 10!

The show was great and I was in for a surprise at the end of the show.  As I was heading up the stairs, two young women were walking down and said my name.  I looked up confused until they revealed that they were the daughters of one of my college friends.  I hadn’t seen them in about five or six years and I don’t know how they recognized me (something about knowing I liked this band and they asked their parents what I looked like to see if I was there).

Turns out they are huge fans of the band and drove 3 hours to see them!  They may also drive down to Philly on Thursday to see them again.  It was great to see them and I immediately texted their mom–it had been too long–and we caught up.

 

House of Independents 2025 Ukie Club 2023 Rooftop 2023 (open for PUP)
Tinted Windows € Swallow Swallow ¶
Arm’s Length That’s Physics, Baby That’s Physics, Baby ¶
That’s Physics, Baby Erso ⊗ $5 Subtweet ⊗
$5 Subtweet⊗ $5 Subtweet⊗ Arm’s Length ¶
Which is Worse? € Further ¶ I Hope You’re Right ¶
Last Word € Comes in Waves ¶ Conscious Uncoupling ¶
I Hope You’re Right I Hope You’re Right Talk Too Much ¶
Sorry Not Sorry € Pathetic ¶
Bad Bruise € Arm’s Length
Easier Said Than Done € Conscious Uncoupling
Conscious Uncoupling Talk Too Much
Leona Street € encore
Talk Too Much Borerline ⊗
Exit Plan €
encore
Swallow

€ Easier Said Than Done (2025)
¶ Pool Kids (2022)
⊗ Music to Practice Safe Sex To (2018)

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Truth Club (House of Independents, Asbury Park, NJ, September 22, 2025) [POOL KIDS]

Posted in Asbury Park, NJ, House of Independents, Pony, Pool Kids, Truth Club on September 23, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 22, 2025] Truth Club

I saw Truth Club open for Indigo de Souza last year and I really liked their set a lot.

It was pretty obvious that there was a curfew in place because the bands changed pretty quickly (they were using the same drum set so that helped).  Truth Club came out and opened with a song from their debut album.

Unlike Pony, they played many of the same songs (the don’t have a new album yet, but they do have a bunch of new songs).

I definitely enjoy their second album more than their debut–there’s a lot more dynamics going on.  77x starts slow but in an interesting, lurching way.

And here’s what I loved about them last time and this time.  Singer Travis Harrington plays guitar as well and he plays the basic chord structure.  But in these first few songs, guitarist Yvonne Chazal made some really interesting sounds.  They played lots of high chords and single notes.  They bent the notes and made really interesting textures.  It wasn’t always clear what sounds were coming out, but it made the whole thing feel bigger.

After a couple of songs Yvonne switched instruments with bassist Kam Vann.  If I had to guess I’d say that Kam might be the full time lead guitarist because he was pushing the sounds further than Yvonne did.  He played loud hard chords, but also played some solos and added extra sounds.

And really it’s the song creations from Truth Club that I like so much.  There’s a lot of loud/quiet shifts, but there’s also odd time signatures (for one of the songs Travis counted in to 6).  (more…)

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Pony (House of Independents, Asbury Park, NJ, September 22, 2025) [POOL KIDS]

Posted in Asbury Park, NJ, House of Independents, Pony, Pool Kids, Truth Club on September 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 22, 2025] Pony

I saw Pony open for Fucked Up about 3 years ago.  I didn’t know them before the show, but I really enjoyed them.  Pop punk energy (like Beach Bunny but a little rougher around the edges).  I was pretty psyched about this lineup.  Three bands I knew and liked.  So I wanted to make sure I arrived early enough for Pony.

The show said 7:30, I strolled in around 7:15 and they were already on!  And apparently had been since 7.  So I only got to see a few songs, but it was enough to know that they still kick butt and I would happily see them again.

Interestingly, their recorded output is far more poppy than their on stage performance.

Pony is from Toronto and is fronted by Sam Bielanski who plays guitar and sings.  She is also a voice actress and voiced Jazz in My Little Pony: Tell Your Tale (hence the band name).  I can’t find a ton of information about the band, but I’m guessing that Matty Morand is an important part of the band.  He played (really cool) guitars at this show.

I don’t know if she played guitar for this set as she wasn’t when I came in and didn’t pick one up.  But her intensity is amazing.  And, she was super nice after the show.

The setlist was almost entirely different from the previous show as they have released two albums since then.  I really would have enjoyed seeing more of this set.

 

2025 [Pool Kids] 2022 [Fucked Up]
Superglue § WebMD ™
Peach ∇ Couch ™
Freezer ¼ Furniture ™
Sucker Punch ∇ Très Jolie ∇
Sick ∇ Sometime Later ™
Middle of Summer § My Room ™
Every Little Crumb ¼ Did It Again ∇
Très Jolie ∇ Chokecherry ™

§ single (2025)
¼ single (2024)
∇ Velveteen (2023)
™ TV Baby (2021)

 

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PUP (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, September 17, 2025)

Posted in Alanis Morissette, Ekko Astral, Jeff Rosenstock, Philadelphia, PA, PUP, The Fillmore Philadelphia on September 21, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 17, 2025] PUP

My son and I have seen Pup twice and have enjoyed both shows immensely.  I assume I’ll want to see them whenever they come around because they are so much fun.

This was the first time we were fairly close to the stage (we were one person from the barricade at the beginning of the night, although by the end we had been pushed around a bit.  And indeed, my son jumped in the pity later in the night.

This was a busy bill–3 bands, with Jeff Rosenstock playing an hour.  I was really impressed with the efficiency of the night (are you listening Wet Leg?).  15 minutes between Jeff Rosenstock leaving the stage and Pup taking over.

I realized that I hadn’t listened all that much to their new album, which was not a great plan going into a tour for the new album.  All Pup songs are catchy and fun, so it doesn’t really matter if you don’t know them–except that when you know them you can sing/scream at the top of your voice.

But it wasn’t all new songs at all.  They opened with a new song (the opening song of the album). (more…)

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Sharon Van Etten and the Attachment Theory: XPoNential Music Festival: River Stage (Wiggins Park, Philadelphia PA, September 20, 2025)

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, River Stage, Sharon Van Etten, Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory, Wiggins Park, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA, XPN Fest, Xponential Music Festival on September 20, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 20, 2025] Sharon Van Etten and the Attachment Theory

Sharon Van Etten and her new band The Attachment Theory headlined Saturday night’s Festival.  I saw SVE in 2019 (I loved her debut album).  But I wasn’t really sure I needed to see her again.  Then she announced a Free at Noon and I went.  And I regretted not seeing her full show at Union Transfer.  So I was pretty psyched that she was headlining tonight.  After Kathleen Edwards, we headed over and managed to get a spot standing pretty close to the stage.

The sun was setting and the atmosphere was building  And soon Sharon and the band came out.

It’s a little weird to start out by singing Who wants to live forever over and over, but I guess it works to build an atmosphere as the song got bigger and louder.  But for me the show really kicked of into high gear when they played Afterlife.  It’s a slow song with a lot of keys (Teeny Lieberson) and then a great bass line (Devra Hoff–whose bass work is outstanding both fretted and fretless). And when the chorus barrels in–the backing vocals are just gorgeous (Sharon picks the best backing vocalists).

They followed it up with the great single from the album, Idiot Box.  Another great bass line from Devra and Sharon picked up the guitar to play the main guitar line.  It’s such a great catchy song and it’s really fantastic live. (more…)

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Kathleen Edwards: XPoNential Music Festival: Marina Stage (Wiggins Park, Philadelphia PA, September 20, 2025)

Posted in Camden, NJ, Kathleen Edwards, Marina Stage, Philadelphia, PA, Wiggins Park, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA, XPN Fest, Xponential Music Festival on September 20, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 20, 2025] Kathleen Edwards

We wandered around a bit while Molly Tuttle was playing and then headed back to the Marina Stage for Kathleen Edwards.  It was still crowded, but not as crowded and so we got a reasonable spot on the hillside.  We were relatively early for Kathleen.  And let’s face it she was a major reason I wanted to go to this festival.  To get to see her and Richard Thompson was a wonderful day.

I had seen her at the end of last year and I had tickets to see her in October, but a set

This was the first time we were hearing these new songs live.  Billionaire sounded just amazing floating around the riverfront.  When the Truth Comes Out had just started getting some airplay and it was a lot of fun to hear it live for the first time.

But it wasn’t all new songs. She played one of my favorite older songs Change the Sheets–the guitar of this song and the chorus are so great.

She announced that’s she’s part of the five timers club at the festival.  The only other thing she’s done five times is David Letterman.  She said how much she loved Philly, because of XPN and the people who support it.  “It’s fucking unbelievable.  And I know this is a family show so I’m only going to swear once.  Maybe.”  This led to the song in which she sings how thankful she is, Glenfern, one of the songs I’ve seen her play every time.  She will always be thankful (and yes she cursed in it too). (more…)

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