[DID NOT ATTEND: October 11, 2026] Rhododendron / Massa Nera / Gre/ay / Sodaseas
Rhododendron were supposed to open for Voivod tonight, but that tour was cancelled because of someone getting sick. And they found a new place to play the same night! So that’s awesome for them.
I’ve never heard of Cousin Danny’s Lounge, but it sounds like a real punk haven. The show was put on by the folks at Yarga, whose ethos is two fold:
1. Booking high energy live shows that encourage altered states of consciousness and true communication.
2. Promoting art and music that push the boundaries of commonly accepted modes of thought and creation. In these small endeavors we seek to break with systemic alienation and complacency.
Rhododendron surely fit the bill
Formed in 2019 in Portland, Oregon while the band’s members were still in high school, Rhododendron’s Ezra Chong (guitar, vocals), Gage Walker (bass), and Noah Mortola (drums) set out to push their musical limits without regard for genre boundaries or audience expectation. In the past 7 years the trio has developed a sound rooted in technical precision and repetition. Drawing from the angular experimentation of underground rock in the 1980s and 1990s alongside elements of jazz, ambient, and progressive music, their compositions are deliberate with intensity. Riffs fracture and reform, rhythms lock into patterns only to break apart, and extended passages build pressure before shifting direction.
They sound pretty great too.
Massa Nera also fits the Yarga bill. They are from Linden, NJ and they are an experimental screamo band (less emo and more scream, though)
the rise of end-times fascism, the annihilation of collective, shared meaning, and the looming threat of climate catastrophe. It is within this landscape that Massa Nera release their urgent, genre-defying 3rd LP, “The Emptiness of All Things.”
Having been given a commission by the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music to create a work that addresses the climate crisis, Massa Nera embraced experimentation, confrontation, and musical malfeasance in an attempt to capture the hellish inanity that defines our reality. Where once their songs bounced, they now alternately lumber and convulse. Their former impulse towards dance has mutated into a desire for destruction.
Lyrically, Massa Nera has shunned autobiography in favor of something more character-driven, more literary, more speculative. They offer a snapshot of capitalistic delusion and existential paralysis, rooted in the anxieties and fractured psychologies of the here and now. In short, “The Emptiness of All Things” is a lyrical call to arms, delivered not as a rallying cry but as an obituary. It is a mirror held up to the abyss, reflected back at the listener without pity or mawkish sentiment.
Despite this, the band has not abandoned melody. The predominant mood of ugliness is counterbalanced by passages of beauty, longing, and even undisguised gentleness. This gentleness, however, is not in service of an unearned, misplaced optimism. It is offered in the spirit of reflection, allowing listener and band alike to take a breath as they stare into the void.
There is beauty but it is mostly harsh.
Gre/ay are a noise band from Philly. You can see a cideo of them at the Ukie CLub below. But note the comment from the person who posted it (Santo Donia): “(Gre/ay is so loud. Like uncontrollably loud, I LOVE IT. Like, I thought my earplugs broke, loud. All I gotta say is: Gre/ay is loud.)”
I saw Sodaseas open for Zeta last year and they were fantastic. I would love to see them again. I don’t think they quite fit this bill, since they are far more melodic. But their ethos is certainly the same and they do throw in some noisy sections for sure. You can see a clip of them at the bottom.
As for Cousin Danny’s Lounge, I can’t find out that much about it. I’m guessing it’s a West Philly bar that hosts punk shows. Probably very small with a heraty slam dance component.
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