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Archive for November, 2025

Ted Leo (Revilla Grooves and Gear, Milltown, NJ, November 20, 2025)

Posted in Milltown NJ, Ray Lego, Revilla Grooves and Gear, Ted Leo on November 20, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 20, 2025] Ted Leo

I’ve seen Ted Leo three times before this.  Twice with Pharmacists and once with Aimee Mann for a Christmas show.  When I saw that he was playing a solo gig at Revilla Grooves, since it’s only 45 minutes from me, I had to go.  I also happen to know the owner, who DJ’d at my wedding.  But this is the first I’d been to his store and it is impressive.  A fantastic collection of vinyl and CDs as well as a ton of used equipment.  If you’re into music, it’s worth the trip.  He knows his stuff too.

But back to Ted Leo.

Back in September, Revilla Grooves hosted the ‘Noise In Focus: 30 Years of Music Photography’ exhibition.  It’s 30 years of candid photos of hundreds of musicians (while I was there I saw MCR, Deftones, Phoebe Bridgers, Jarvis Cocker and so many more) by Ray Lego.  This was the final night of the exhibition which also included a video room containing “Unseen behind the scenes of making of Deftones’  “Sat Night Wrist” record.  The video was from a bunch of tapes Lego had saved from when the band was making Saturday Night Wrist.  It showed the guys playing and taking candid shots.  There was no sound, but it was cool to watch for a bit.

So on this closing night, Ray invited Ted Leo (of whom there were many photos) to play a 45 minute electric set.  I’d never been before and the setup was great.  There’s a small stage and the sound was fantastic.  So, standing about five feet away I got to see Ted Leo do his thing.  This seemed like a great opportunity for Ted to play whatever the heck he wanted.  And I was pretty delighted by the variety of songs he played–some that I knew and many that I didn’t. (more…)

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Aaron Chen (NJPAC–Victoria Theater, Newark, NJ, November 14, 2025)

Posted in Aaron Chen, Blake Freeman, Fisk, Newark, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, Taskmaster, Taskmaster Australia on November 15, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 14, 2025] Aaron Chen

I have made a list of all of comedians from Taskmaster who I would like to see live.  It’s not everyone of course (some of them don’t do stand up and some I don’t think I would enjoy).  And then we started watching Taskmaster Australia and Taskmaster New Zealand, and I’ve added a dozen or so more to that list.

So I was pretty delighted that Aaron Chen announced a show at NJPAC–only ten days after Romesh Ranganathan.

I didn’t know if anyone here knew about him, but friends of ours knew him from the show Fisk (which is very funny). So good for him.  Aaron is currently living in the U.S.  And he made a big deal of coming all the way to Newark (from New York City).

He started right off by saying that he is from Australia and how he doesn’t look how he sounds–we don’t have that combination here. (more…)

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Blake Freeman (NJPAC–Victoria Theater, Newark, NJ, November 14, 2025) [AARON CHEN]

Posted in Aaron Chen, Blake Freeman, Newark, NJ, NJPAC-Victoria Theater, Set in New Jersey! on November 14, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 14, 2025] Blake Freeman

I have made a list of all of comedians from Taskmaster who I would like to see live.  It’s not everyone of course (some of them don’t do stand up and some I don’t think I would enjoy).  And then we started watching Taskmaster Australia and Taskmaster New Zealand, and I’ve added a dozen or so more to that list.

So I was pretty delighted that Aaron Chen announced a show at NJPAC–only ten days after Romesh Ranganathan.

Romesh didn’t have an opening act, so I didn’t know if Aaron would.  But out came an Australian comedian named Blake Freeman.  Blake has been living in the U.S. for about a year (with his partner).

He was very funny.  His delivery was calm but witty.  Talking about living in the U.S., he said the hardest part wasn’t having absolutely no professional or personal support network, it’s that we use Fahrenheit.

There was a very funny bit about him not being able to fight.  He said that he and his mates are open emotionally, and so they only fight when people can’t admit their feelings.  He had to break up a fight between his friends because one felt the other wasn’t opening up about his breakup, “You think you’re tough, well, connect with me like a man.”  After, he apologized saying his love language was touch. (more…)

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Cashier (Warehouse on Watts, Philadelphia, PA, November 7, 2025) [ROCKET]

Posted in Bleary Eyed, Cashier, Philadelphia, PA, Rocket, Warehouse on Watts on November 8, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 7, 2025] Cashier

Cashier is a four piece from Louisiana.  Before this show I went to their bandcamp and found exactly five songs.  And I liked them all.  A grungy shoegaze vibe with female vocals and cool guitar sounds.

I stood in front of singer guitarist Kylie Gaspard who played intensely and sang with a similar intensity.  She was an early focus for me, but I soon realized  that the whole band was fun to watch.

They opened with Beginner, and like on the recorded version, it opens with feedback and two guitars playing one note over and over until one of the guitars turns it into a little riff and then the song slams out with the full force of the band.

Guitarist Joseph Perillo and bassist Austyn Wood were on the far side and I couldn’t really see them, but Perillo’s guitars were great–playing lead lines throughout the songs. (more…)

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The Mars Volta (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, November 5, 2025)

Posted in Feliz y Dada, Kianí Medina, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Mars Volta on November 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 5, 2025] The Mars Volta

My son and I saw The Mars Volta open for Deftones in an arena and the sound was terrible.  They played an unreleased album so it was really hard to know what was going on in a cavernous place where all subtlety was lost.

So when they announced a headlining tour I grabbed tickets for my son and I.  And what a treat to get there early and be right up front for the show.

Visually there wasn’t a lot going on–the band is largely dressed in black and white and there was only a black curtain behind them.  The lights tended toward the dark and the blue so you couldn’t see super clearly.  But this was really all about the music.

This show was for them to play their new album, Lucro sucio straight through, just like they did opening for the Deftones.  That set was 40 minutes (like the album) but this show was about twice as long with lots of trippy jamming sections.

The set opens quietly with Fin wherein Cedric Bixler-Zavala sings to a synth opening–his voice soaring to great heights–as it did all night, his voice is incredible. (more…)

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Bleary Eyed (Warehouse on Watts, Philadelphia, PA, November 7, 2025) [ROCKET]

Posted in Bleary Eyed, Cashier, Philadelphia, PA, Rocket, Warehouse on Watts on November 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 7, 2025] Bleary Eyed

I was supposed to see Bleary Eyed with Hello Mary back in 2024.   But family things came up and I couldn’t go.  I don’t always try to see bands that I missed for one reason or another. And I certainly don’t with opening bands.  But it is fun to see a band that I was supposed to and check them off an imaginary list.

Bleary Eyed is from Philadelphia so I’m surprised I have seen them on more bills, but I consider myself lucky that there are so many good Philly bands that can get tossed onto a bill sometimes as the first or second opener.

Bleary Eyed is the brainchild of Nathaniel Salfi who sings and plays guitar.  He started the project in 2015 and has had a mostly revolving lineup.  Margot Whipps joined the band on vocals and guitar a couple of years ago (she’s also credited with bass).

Bleary Eyed turned out to be a classic-sounding shoegaze band with chorusing guitars and washes of sound.  There were also some keyboard flourishes and two singers.    Nathaniel has a somewhat deeper voice that flows perfectly with the sound.

I enjoyed the way they mixed up the sound with some really good loud/quiet shifts in Wreck.  There was also some good My Bloody Valentinesque soloing at the opening of 2 True.  And a great opening riff on Upset which was sung by Margot.  I felt like her vocals were not loud enough, although it may have been that I was on the other side and everyone on my side was loud. (more…)

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Kianí Medina (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, November 5, 2025) [THE MARS VOLTA]

Posted in Feliz y Dada, Kianí Medina, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Mars Volta on November 6, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 5, 2025] Kianí Medina

After Feliz y Dada, I wasn’t really sure what to expect next.  The change was pretty dramatic.

Out came two normal-looking people.  They stood in the same place as Feliz y Dada but could not have been more different.

Kianî Medina is from Puerto Rico and she sang soaring vocal lines over a pre-programmed backing track and live guitars from her brother Jerry.  The songs were kind of dancey but the live guitar added so much texture and, at times, rocking out.

She sang in Spanish and has a gorgeous voice.  I liked how the songs were mostly synthy (sometimes synth sounds triggered by the guitar) and dancey and then the guitar sound would come in an play some ripping solos.

Kianî had some smooth dance moves especially when Jerry soloed.  And on one of her middle songs (I don’t have a setlist or know any song titles), things slowed down for a lovely sounding ballad.

It was followed by a staccato dance song with some cool guitar–Jerry’s guitar playing sounds like Omar’s on this one.  (more…)

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Feliz y Dada (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, November 5, 2025) [THE MARS VOLTA]

Posted in Feliz y Dada, Kianí Medina, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Mars Volta on November 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 5, 2025] Feliz y Dada

My son and I saw The Mars Volta open for Deftones in an arena and the sound was terrible.  They played an unreleased album so it was really hard to know what was going on in a cavernous place where all subtlety was lost.  But my son was intrigued and I told him we could see them again.

So when they announced a headlining tour I grabbed tickets for my son and I.  And what a treat to get there early and be right up front for the show.

The opening band was Feliz y Dada, whom I had no heard of.  When I looked  them up it was unclear if they were a real band, a novelty band or possibly even members of The Mars Volta.  Many speculated that the lead singer was Teri Gender Bender.  I never found out, but I didn’t care because their set was bizarre and wonderful.

The stage was curtained off to give them a small area up front.  A massive stack of (fake) speakers was behind them and they were given a black curtain to hide the rest of the stage.

Feliz y Dada is a trio.  All three members wear masks with a kind of horn on top and four eyes.  They also wear robes and dance around slowly–waving their bodies back and forth–a perfect encapsulation of “alien life.”

There is literally nothing like them.  The guy on the left had a large pyramid that he kept tapping as if he was playing bass notes or something (it clearly didn’t make any sound, but it did light up). I assume the guy on the right was playing all of the sounds–although it’s also possible he simply started the song and then pretended to play things like the guy on the left.

The singer was singing live but her voice was so distorted and auto-tuned as to be unrecognizable and completely un-understandable.  But she danced around slowly and approached everyone in the front in a slow and methodical way–waving and seeming to suss out what the vibe was.  She also sang into a telephone at one point for what I think was Well Hello.

They sang four short songs and that was that. (more…)

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Romesh Ranganathan: Hustle (NJPAC–Victoria Theater, Newark, NJ, November 4, 2025)

Posted in Newark, NJ, NJPAC-Victoria Theater, Romesh Ranganathan, Set in New Jersey!, Taskmaster on November 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 4, 2025] Romesh Ranganathan

I have made a list of all of comedians from Taskmaster who I would like to see live.  It’s not everyone of course (some of them don’t do stand up and some I don’t think I would enjoy).  I never really imagined that I would see everyone on the list as many British comedians do not tour the U.S.

I was pretty excited when Romesh Ranganathan announced a show near us.  Romesh is HUGE in England–he’s got TV shows and radio shows and everything else.  But in the US, he filled the 500 seat theater (I wonder how weird it is for massive comedians to play smaller venues like this).

The biggest surprise was when we walked in there was a DJ spinning tunes on stage.  His name is Martin 2 Smooth and he played a whole bunch of classic hip hop, which Romesh loves.

Then Romesh came out and started his act.  I enjoyed that when a person walked in late, he quipped “I just flew in from London and I was on time.” (This was the first night of his US tour).

He was very angry on Taskmaster and I assumed he would be angry in standup.  But he wasn’t.  Well, he was angry, but that wasn’t his whole thing.  He was very funny, making jokes about his family (his oldest son who is now bigger than him and who he believes looks like a terrorist with his hoodie up all the time). (more…)

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Boris: Do You Remember Pink Days? Tour (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 2, 2025)

Posted in Boris, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on November 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 2, 2025] Boris

It’s fascinating to think that Boris almost called it quits a few years ago.  Since then they have shown a seriously revitalized interest in touring and revisiting their older albums.

This tour was the 20th anniversary of their classic Pink.  But the tour was titled Do You Remember Pink Days? because they threw in some other songs from the same year (they were quite prolific in 2005).

They also didn’t play the album front to back which was an interesting choice except that there are several different versions of the album so there is no real definitive track listing or anything else.  (You’d have to be crazy to try to be a Boris completist).

They had some fun merch and I debated buying one of Wata’s cute frog stuffed animals, but I didn’t.  And I still kind of regret it.

After the glory of Agriculture faded away, the stage was set–Atsuo’s gong brought close to the front (it was just the trio again for this tour).  I was right in front of Takeshi and his doubleneck bass/guitar and I was pretty far from Wata who seemed to be shrouded in fog for most of the show.  I tend to be on Takeshi’s side more often than not because I think the fanboys really like to be near Wata.  But as it turns out, Takeshi sings a lot of this album, so it was a good place to see all the action. (more…)

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