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Archive for December, 2025

Kevin Devine (Flounder Brewin Co., Hillsborough, NJ, December 17, 2025)

Posted in Flounder Brewing Co, Hillsborough NJ, Kevin Devine on December 17, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 17, 2025] Kevin Devine

I’ve been a fan of Kevin Devine and the Goddamn Band for several years now.  I first saw him opening a show and I really enjoyed his brief set.  I’ve since seen him solo and with the Goddamn band.  So when they announced that he would be playing a show at a Brewery fifteen minutes from my house, I grabbed tickets immediately.

And then my scheduled surgery was moved up from January to December 10.  I assumed there was no way I could go.  And yet, a week later I felt great and figured I could surely sit for 90 minutes.  I reached out to Flounder and secured two seats and by midday I felt well enough to go.

Sadly, I am an idiot and never confirmed the start time.   I thought it started at 8, but it actually started at 7:30 and it sounds like Kevin mingled and chatted with everyone.  So we arrived around 7:45, embarrassingly after he had started.  And we clearly missed ten or fifteen minutes.  However, Kevin played 20 songs while we were there and finished a little after nine, so even if we missed a few songs, we still had a great night of music.  [Turns out we only missed one full song, some of the second song and a 5 minute intro, phew]. (more…)

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Chokecherry (Warehouse on Watts, Philadelphia, PA, December 9, 2025)

Posted in Chokecherry, Philadelphia, PA, The Sewing Club, Warehouse on Watts on December 10, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 9, 2025] Chokecherry

I was scheduled to have total hip replacement surgery on the day after this show.  I didn’t think I’d be able to go and then two things changed my mind.  The first is that I saw that the show was fairly short–Chokecherry was playing for about an hour.  The second was that my surgery wasn’t scheduled until the afternoon.  I had assumed it would be early in the morning, but a later appointment meant I could sleep in.  As it turned out my wife had a minor emergency after I got home that kept us up until 3AM, so it was all moot, but whatever, I’m thrilled that I got to go to this show.

I had seen Chokecherry open for Destroy Boys about a year ago and I loved them.  The band seems to consist of guitarist Izzie A. Clark and bassist E. Scarlett Levinson.  Their second guitarist and drummer were different from last time.

Warehouse on Watts is really small, so while Scarlett was setting up her gear (in a long faux fur coat), I chatted with her for a moment.  I told her how much I liked them when they opened.  And she told me that she had food poisoning that night.  I never would have guessed, although in retrospect, when she said she talked a lot less than usual, it was true given how much she talked tonight.

They opened with a favorite song from their previous EP, Afterglow–slow and moody opening with crashing choruses.  Scarlett commented that the new album is pretty sad, although the first song they played from it Major Threat is a blistering rocker with a catchy chorus.

I love that Izzie and Scarlett switch off on lead vocals for nearly every song.

Things quieted down a bit for Secrets, but this allowed them to really feature their harmonies.  I was more or less in front of Scarlett, so I could really hear her delicate higher voice.  I was a little bummed that I couldn’t see Izzie that well because I remembered that she shredded impressively.  She still sounded great even if on the other side of the stage.  Particularly on the delicate guitar intro of Goldmine.

I loved how much the crowd new the songs by name when they were introduced and Scarlett’s super high vocals on Pretty Things (which the crowd knew) were stellar.  Second guitarists was excellent, either making the sound fuller while Izzie soloed or adding some extra flourishes. (more…)

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The Sewing Club (Warehouse on Watts, Philadelphia, PA, December 9, 2025) [CHOKECHERRY]

Posted in Chokecherry, Philadelphia, PA, The Sewing Club, Warehouse on Watts on December 9, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 9, 2025] The Sewing Club

The Sewing Club is from Nashville.  I hadn’t heard of them before this show.  When I walked in, their guitarist was at a merch table selling cute little hand sewed monsters.  He later told me he had been sewing since he was little and thought it would be fun merch given their band name. And it was!  I bought one.

The Sewing Club are a four piece of two guitars (Stephen Meaux and Justin McKinney), drummer Zach McCoy (who added great backing vocals) and singer/bassist/keyboardist Hannah McElroy.  I was in front of  McCoy and very close to their merch guitarist (I’m not sure who was who).  I could clearly see McElroy, but the other guitarist was on the far side of the stage and I never really saw him.

They opened up quietly with Sport Mode.  I enjoyed the shoegaze vibe of the song and the intensity of the guitars, but was blown away when the song started rocking out.  The loud part was simple but really catchy with the two guitars playing different parts (one lead).  Up next was Wyatt, a song that mixed the tempo up right from the start (and which had some soaring guitar lines).

I enjoyed watching the crowd around me get more and more into the set especially when Wait kicked in and ramped up the intensity.

For Bite, Hannah switched to keys.  This was a much slower and more mellow song, although the rest of the band joined in before the end.  After an unknown song (the most rocking of the set with lines something like I wish you’d die), they played a newer song that they were sure they’d screw up (they didn’t) with some fun headbanging from Hannah.

They ended their 30 minute set with Strange, a slower song that filled the room and had a killer guitar riff.  I really liked their set a lot and look forward to more music from them.

Sport Mode ∼
Wyatt¢
Pocket ∼
Wait ∼
Bite $
(Unknown)
Alright Ok %
Strange ¢


% single (2026)
∼The Sewing Club EP (2025)
¢ Care EP (2024)
$ single (2024)

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The Beths (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 6, 2025)

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Phoebe Rings, The Beths, Union Transfer on December 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 6, 2025] The Beths

This is my third time seeing The Beths, a New Zealand band that’s taking the U.S. by storm.  Las time they played here they sold out Union Transfer.  This time, they sold out TWO NIGHTS at Union Transfer.

We immediately got tickets to night one and for the first time, saw them from a chair off to the side (thanks ADA seating).  Although they interact so nicely with the front, that it’s kind of a bummer to not be in on the action.

But the sound was great (I know it always sounds better further back, but I like being close).

So The Beths are a four piece: Elizabeth Stokes, singer and guitarist.  Jonathan Pearce who plays lead guitar. Benjamin Sinclair on bass and Tristan Deck on drums.  They are delightful and funny and play fantastic songs.  Liz is a great songwriter and the boys make divine harmonies.

Last time they played nearly all of their then new album.   This time they played nine out of ten songs from their newest album.  And they opened with the title track a bouncy song that had everyone delightedly singing along.

After the even punchier No Joy they played two older songs one from Expert and one from Future Me Hates Me.

Then they moved back to the new album with the super fun first single Metal.

At one point during these songs, Benjamin did something that made a tin whistle fly into the air which he caught and started playing.  Later both Benjamin and Jonathan activated the tin whistle cannon and we were delighted to see them snatch the instruments out of the air and start playing.  The also have some shakers in their songs.  Liz uses a banana shaped one.  If you go to Benjamin’s review of the following night, you can read about the amusing trick they played on Liz and her banana. (more…)

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Phoebe Rings (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 6, 2025) [THE BETHS]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Phoebe Rings, The Beths, Union Transfer on December 6, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 6, 2025] Phoebe Rings

I hadn’t heard of Phoebe Rings and then I found out that she (I now know that Phoebe Rings is a band name and no one in the band is named that) was opening for The Beths on Saturday and Sunday and opening for Speedy Ortiz on Monday.

The Beths and Phoebe Rings are from New Zealand and, it turns out that Phoebe Rings and Speedy Ortiz are on the same record label.

Phoebe Rings began as the solo project of musician Crystal Choi, and is now a four-piece made of jazz students (guitarist Simeon Kavanagh-Vincent, bassist Benjamin Locke and drummer Alex Freer).

We arrived and had ADA seats.  Then we laughed as the tallest person in the room stood in front of us.  We could still see just fine, but it was hilarious how much taller he was than everyone else.

Phoebe Rings was delightful.  They are described as dream pop but they were a bit more like jazz pop.  I’d even go so far as to say they were like lounge music.  There was an early Stereolab vibe musically (not lyrically). (more…)

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