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The Flaming Lips (TD Pavilion at The Mann Center, Philadelphia, PA, August 5, 2025)

Posted in Black Sabbath, Friko, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Modest Mouse, Philadelphia, PA, Rainbows, The Chemical Brothers, The Flaming Lips on August 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 5, 2025] The Flaming Lips

I have now seen The Flaming Lips eight times.  Even when they play many of the same songs a lot, it’s always a fun and joy-filled experience.

And for the first time, I was right on the barrier to see them right up close.  So close that when they deflated the pink robots, I got to touch one!

The last time we saw them it was for the Yoshimi tour which was an evening with the Lips.  So this 75 minute set was considerably shorter, but it was a great compact set with three songs I’d never heard them play before!

They opened with an instrumental from The Soft Bulletin.  This was my first exposure to the new lineup of the band.  Steven Drozd is sitting out this tour and was replaced by AJ Slaughter who I was right in front of (I admit I was bummed that I was right in front of Steven’s spot but it wasn’t him!  Although his broken double neck guitar was there!

Slaughter did a great job playing all of Drozd’s parts and even added some pedal steel guitar which was a fantastic addition to the songs.

This was also the first time I’ve seen them with only one drummer in ages.

But the fewer musicians seemed to give room to more on stage antics.  They played parts one and two of Yoshimi and there were four giant inflatable robots filling the stage.  During part two, the confetti cannons were on full blast and I was right in the middle of it all.  Wayne also shot off his hand held confetti cannons and the delight on everyone’s faces was wonderful to be a part of. (more…)

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Modest Mouse (TD Pavilion at The Mann Center, Philadelphia, PA, August 5, 2025) [THE FLAMING LIPS]

Posted in Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Modest Mouse, Philadelphia, PA, The Flaming Lips on August 6, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 5, 2025] Modest Mouse

This was my eighth time seeing Modest Mouse in ten years.  The last two times were album tours which are always fun.

I always enjoy seeing them, and this shortened set was punchy and fantastic.  And, since I had managed to get on the barrier, I was right there to watch it all.  I was right in front of Simon O’Connor on guitar and behind him was Keith Karman on keys.

I hadn’t realized that Isaac is the only original member of the band left.  But they are a cohesive unit and it seemed pretty clear that Isaac was having fun up there.

I couldn’t really see Damon Cox on drums because Simon was blocking him, but I had a great view of percussionist Ben Masarella who is so much fun to watch–he adds so many interesting sounds to the songs and he holds them up front to get a full sound, so you get to see him pick up some randomly shaped object and see what it’s going to sound like.

Bassist Russel Higbee was pretty far away but it was fun to watch him from time to time. (more…)

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Friko (TD Pavilion at The Mann Center, Philadelphia, PA, August 5, 2025) [THE FLAMING LIPS]

Posted in Friko, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Modest Mouse, Philadelphia, PA, The Flaming Lips on August 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 5, 2025] Friko

 

I was really excited for this show–two of my favorite bands playing together.

I arrived roughly at 7, expecting to maybe miss the first song of the opener.  But no.  And not only that, I walked down to the pit (I was so excited to get pit tickets) and walked right up to the barrier.  So I was front and left for the entire night.

The night started with Friko, a young band from Chicago.  I’d listened to them ahead of time and enjoyed them, but I was so impressed by their live show.

I was delighted to be in front of Korgan Robb on guitar who was wringing all kinds of interesting sounds out of his guitar.  And since I was right in front of him, I got to watch him mess with his pedals and then find out what he was about to create.

Although it turns out that he is not actually part of the band.  Friko is presently a duo Niko Kapetan sings and plays guitar and and Bailey Minzenberger is the drummer.  For this tour in addition to Korgan, they had David Fuller on bass. (more…)

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Guster (Stone Pony Summer Stage, Asbury Park, NJ, August 1, 2025)

Posted in Asbury Park, NJ, Guster, The Mountain Goats, The Stone Pony, The Stone Pony Summer Stage on August 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 1, 2025] Guster

My wife and I saw Guster in March of 2024 and again in January 2025.  Did we really need to see them again seven months later?  Yes!  In part because those two previous shows were their We Have Eras Too tour and this wasn’t.  And also because it’s Guster and we love them.

We also dislike the Stone Pony Summer Stage and the thought of going down the shore on a Friday night…?  Sheesh.  But things worked out wonderfully.  There was minimal traffic and I found a parking spot close to the Pony!

We were so early we could get merch and still get within three people of the stage.

It turns out that many people were there for The Mountain Goats, so when their set ended, we were practically on the fence (in front of Adam for a change).

We weren’t expecting a wildly different setlist from a usual show, although they do tend to mix things up a bit.   There are some songs we’ve heard A LOT (Come Downstairs and Say Hello), but others that we haven’t seen too often.  And yet even if we’ve seen most of the songs more than 5 times, there’s nothing like singing along with them and watching them have a blast.

The evening was perfect and they seemed to really enjoy being in Asbury Park (they had recorded their previous album there and had lived in AP for two weeks or so).

This set was interesting for being heavy on Adam-sung songs.  He doesn’t sing lead very often anymore, but he used to have a few lead vocals.  With Ramona, Demons Center of Attention.

The one thing that we missed in the Eras tour was that they didn’t play many songs of their newest album.  The first Eras night they played new songs but we didn’t know them yet.  So this was a good opportunity to hear When We Were Stars and The Elevator (for the first time!).  Mid way through the show, someone in the front requested Mona Lisa.  Ryan said they would play it and then said–wait, let us play it as the encore becaue we have the setlist set up already.

So they opened the encore with it (it was supposed to be Black Balloon, which I would rather have heard).  After a super fun Satellite, they called The Mountain Goats back up on stage and they all sang The Lido Shuffle.  It was fun and wild and everyone sang along to the Woah oh oh oh part.  Curiously, it was only a few days ago that I discovered that this song was not an Elton John song like I’d always assumed (I mean it sounds o much like him) but actually a song by Boz Scaggs.  I couldn’t believe they busted it out.  I also found out that it was played again the following night at the Summer Stage for Yacht Rock Review.  Same sing two nights in a row–I’ll be the Yacht Rock version sounded quite different.

One of the fun things about Guster (of many) is their mid set improv.  Tonight’s was all about how you could buy Jello Shots at the venue.  He said, only at the Jersey Shore!  So he sang a little song about Jello Shots (pop pop) and late during Doin’ It By Myself he walked through the audeince and grabbed Jello Shots for the band (they were disgusting apparently).

The show could have gone on and on as far as I was concerned but I suspect there’s a curfew.  When the show was over, my wife grabbed a setlist (very cool) and we sat on the boardwalk looking at the ocean.  A woman on stilts (dressed in black and white with seven foot long pants over her stilts) walked the board walk and took pictures with people.

And then we went for Mogo Tacos and they were delicious.

That makes 13 times for me seeing Guster.  I’ve seen Phish 17 times.  It’s possible that Guster will overtake them since a Guster show is always a much lower key affair (and less work) than a Phish show.

 

8/1/2025–Stone Pony Summerstage
Careful © [6]
What You Call Love ω [5]
Ramona © [8]
One Man Wrecking Machine ⊗ [4]
When We Were Stars Ø [2]
Demons ℵ [9]
Center of Attention ≅ [3]
When You Go Quiet £ [2]
Come Downstairs and Say Hello © [12]
Do You Love Me ω [9]
Hang On ⊗ [7]
Jell-O Shots (improv after noticing Jello shots for sale “only at the Stone Pony”)
Doin’ It By Myself € [10] (Ryan walked through the audience and grabbed a Jello shot for everyone on stage)
The Elevator Ø
Amsterdam © [6]
Happier ≅ [9]
encore
Mona Lisa ¶ [3] (fan requested the song earlier, they agreed to play it in the encore–Black Balloon on setlist)
Satellite ⊗ [10]
Lido Shuffle (Boz Scaggs cover) (with The Mountain Goats)

 

3/26/2024–Fillmore Philadelphia ERAs tour 3/26/2024–Red Bank  ERAs Tour 4/6/ 2023–White Eagle Hall  8/10/2022–Wellmont
Sketch 1: Dorm Room

Parachute ¶ [3] (Ryan & Adam only) 
 Sketch 1: Dorm Room

Parachute ¶ [2] (Ryan & Adam only) 
 What You Wish For ≅ [3] Careful © [3]
Sketch 2: Enter Brian

Happy Frappy ¶ [2]
 Sketch 2: Enter Brian

Fall in Two ¶ 
 Architects & Engineers ω [3] Terrified £ [3]
Sketch 3: Harvard Square

X Ray Eyes ℵ
 Sketch 3: Harvard Square

Demons ℵ [8]
 Red Oyster Cult © [3] Diane © [3]
Airport Song ℵ [9] Airport Song ℵ [8] Ramona © [7] Hercules  ω [3]
Sketch 4: Lillywhite

What You Wish For ≅ [5]
 Sketch 4: Lillywhite

What You Wish For ≅ [4]
 One Man Wrecking Machine ⊗ [2] (first since 2015) Hang On ⊗ [4]
I Spy ≅ [7] I Spy ≅ [6] Manifest Destiny ⊗ [6] Barrel of a Gun ≅ [7]
Barrel of a Gun ≅ [9] Barrel of a Gun ≅ [8] I Hope Tomorrow Is Like Today © [1] Backyard © [3]
Sketch 5: Tour Bus

Jesus on the Radio (Acoustic) © [5]
 Sketch 5: Tour Bus

Jesus on the Radio (Acoustic) © [4]
 All the Way Up to Heaven ≅ [3] Satellite (House PA goes out at the end of the song due to power outage.) ⊗ [8]
Sketch 6: Joe Joins the Band

Diane © [4]
 Sketch 6: Joe Joins the Band

Diane © [3]
 Satellite ⊗ [9] Jesus on the Radio (Acoustic) © [3]
Careful © [5] Careful © [4] Doin’ It By Myself (Ryan sang while walking amongst the crowd) € [7] Hard Times (Acoustic) £ [2]
(Nothing but) Flowers
(Talking Heads cover)  [2]
(Nothing but) Flowers
(Talking Heads cover)
 Look Alive £ [3] Parachute (Acoustic) ¶
Hang On ⊗ [6] One Man Wrecking Machine ⊗ [3] Come Downstairs and Say Hello © [9] Doin’ It By Myself (Ryan sang while walking amongst the crowd) € [6]
Manifest Destiny ⊗ [6] Satellite ⊗ [8] Do You Love Me ω [7] Come Downstairs and Say Hello © [8]
Satellite ⊗ [9] The Captain ⊗ [5] Never Coming Down € [4] Lazy Love € [3]
Sketch 7: Evil Producer

Thunder Song [2]
 Sketch 7: Evil Producer

Thunder Song
 When You Go Quiet £ (bonus track) The New Underground ⊗
Act 2

Do You Love Me ω [8]
 Act 2

Do You Love Me ω [7]
 Mexican Restaurant Penis TV Improv Jam to Bon Jovi’s Livin On A Prayer Lightning Rod ⊗ [2]
Sketch 8: Joe Leaves the Band

Architects and Engineers ω [4]
 Sketch 8: Joe Leaves the Band

This Could All be Yours ω [6]
 Airport Song ℵ [7] What You Call Love (with 11 year old Sam on bagpipes) ω [4]
Luke Reynolds is the Man song Luke Reynolds is the Man song Happier ≅ [6] I Spy ≅ [5]
This Could All be Yours ω [6] Lost at Sea ω [bonus track] Hard Times (with Karina Rykman) £ [3] Don’t Go £
Long Night € [5] Gangway € [3] Psycho Killer (with Karina Rykman band) [Talking Heads cover] Ramona © [6]
Doin’ It By Myself (Ryan sang while walking amongst the crowd) € [9] Doin’ It By Myself (Ryan sang while walking amongst the crowd) € [8] Groove is in the Heart (with Karina Rykman band) [Deee-Lite] The Captain ⊗ [4]
Sketch 9: Dave Gets Mad/Appreciated
Dave Song

Don’t Go £ [3]
 Sketch 9: Dave Gets Mad/Appreciated

Don’t Go £ [2]
 encore Demons ℵ [7]
Terrified £ [6] Terrified £ [5] Mona Lisa ¶ [3] encore
Sketch 10: COVID

When We Were Stars Ø
 Sketch 10: COVID

Keep Going  Ø
 Bury Me ¶  Do You Love Me ω [6]
Black Balloon Ø [2] Black Balloon Ø Terrified £ [4]
Come Downstairs and Say Hello © [11] Come Downstairs and Say Hello © [10] encore 2

Encore: Dumpster Set

Encore: Camp Fire Set

 Hang On ⊗ [5]
Happier ≅ [8]
Happier ≅ [7]
Amsterdam © [5] Amsterdam © [4]

 

3/23/2019–Fillmore 1/11/2019–Free at Noon 11/1/2018–White Eagle Hall
Diane © [2] Hard Times £ Long Night € [4]
The Captain ⊗ [3] Ramona © [5] Happier ≅ [4]
Terrified £ [2] Mind Kontrol £ [2] What You Call Love ω [3]
Airport Song ℵ [6] Manifest Destiny ⊗ [5] I Spy (haven’t heard since 2004) ≅ [2]
Gangway € [2] Terrified £ Endlessly € [2]
Hello Mister Sun (w/horns) £ [2] Look Alive £  Airport Song ℵ [5]
Overexcited (w/horns) £ [2] Satellite ⊗ [6] Hello Mr. Sun (new) £
Stay with Me Jesus ω [3] Overexcited £ Stay With Me Jesus ω [2]
Satellite ⊗ [7] encore Doin’ It By Myself € [4]
Doin’ It By Myself (w/horns) € [5] I Spy (not broadcast) acoustic ≅ [3] improv Levi’s bar mitzvah
Look Alive £ [2] Come Downstairs and Say Hello © [6]
Backyard (w/strings} © [2] ** from the new album Do You Love Me ω [5]
Amsterdam © [3] Rocketship (never before) ℵ
Window (w/strings & showed the original music video) Manifest Destiny ⊗ [4]
LOST AND GONE FOREVER
20th ANNIVERSARY SET		 Amsterdam (not since 2004) © [2]
What You Wish For ≅ [2] Ruby Falls ⊗ [2]
Barrel of a Gun ≅ [6] Ramona © [4]
Either Way (w/strings) ≅ Satellite ⊗ [5]
Fa Fa (w/horns & Stephen on flute) ≅ [3] Barrel of a Gun ≅ [5]
I Spy ≅ [4] improv-“False encore” song
Center of Attention ≅ [2] This Could All be Yours ω [5]
All the Way Up to Heaven (not since 2004) ≅ [2] “encore“
Happier ≅ [5] Mind Kontrol (new) £
So Long (w/strings) ≅ Two Points for Honesty ≅ [3]
Two Points for Honesty (w/strings) ≅ [4] Demons ℵ [6]
Rainy Day (w/strings) 2nd encore
encore Jesus on the Radio (acoustic, no mics) © [2]
Rocketship (w/strings) ℵ [2]
Hang On ⊗ [3]
Great Escape ℵ
Come Downstairs and Say Hello © [7]

 

6/16/2016–Fillmore 11/21/2015–Wellmont 4/24/2015–TLA
What You Wish For ≅
 Ramona © [2] Demons ℵ [3]
Satellite ⊗ [4] Satellite ⊗ [3]  Center of Attention ≅
Doin’ It By Myself € [3]
 Simple Machine € [2]  Doin’ It By Myself €
Barrel of a Gun ≅ [4]
 Happier ≅ [3]  The Beginning of the End ⊗
Ramona © [3] Hercules ω [2]  Ramona ©
Never Coming Down € [3] Careful / “Chariots of Fire” © [2]  Gangway €
Architects & Engineers ω [2] Doin’ It By Myself € [2]  Endlessly €
Lightning Rod ⊗ [2] The Captain ⊗ [2]  Stay with Me Jesus ω
Come Downstairs and Say Hello © [5] Kid Dreams €  Come Downstairs and Say Hello © [3]
Do You Love Me ω [4] Homecoming King © [2]  Do You Love Me ω [2]
Dear Valentine ⊗
 Come Downstairs and Say Hello © [4]  (Everything I Do) I Do It for You [Bryan Adams cover]
That’s No Way to Get to Heaven ω
 Do You Love Me ω [3]  Hang On ⊗ [2]
Red Oyster Cult © [2] Never Coming Down € [2]  Lazy Love €
Mona Lisa ¶ [2]
 Demons ℵ [4]  Hercules (with Kishi Bashi) ω
Manifest Destiny ⊗[3]
 Two Points for Honesty ≅ [2]  Satellite (with Kishi Bashi) ⊗ [2]
Simple Machine € [3] Happy Frappy ¶  Simple Machine €
Airport Song ℵ [4]
 Ruby Falls ⊗  Never Coming Down €
Kid Dreams €[2]
 Lazy Love € [2]  Two Points for Honesty ≅
Demons ℵ [5] Barrel of a Gun≅ [3]  Diane © 
This Could All Be Yours ω [4] This Could All Be Yours ω [3]  Careful © 
encore “Improv”
 “encore” (“Zombie Jews”)  This Could All Be Yours ω [2]
Long Night € [3]
 Long Night € [2]  “encore”
Bad Bad World ω
 One Man Wrecking Machine ⊗  Long Night €
What You Call Love ω [2]
 Manifest Destiny ⊗ [2]  Manifest Destiny ⊗
Fa Fa ≅ [2] Airport Song ℵ [3]  What You Call Love ω
encore “boooo” Careless Whisper [George Michael cover]  Happier ≅ [2]
Jesus on the Radio ©

 

7/20/2013–PNC Bank Center 7/5/2004–Starland
The Captain ⊗ Happier ≅
Architects & Engineers ω I Spy ≅
Homecoming King © Airport Song ℵ
Come Downstairs and Say Hello © [2] Demons ℵ
Do You Love Me ω Amsterdam © 
Airport Song ℵ [2] Come Downstairs and Say Hello ©
Hang On ⊗ Barrel of a Gun ≅
Demons ℵ [2] Mona Lisa ¶
Satellite ⊗ Red Oyster Cult © 
Barrel of a Gun (with Ed Robertson) ≅ [2] California Dreamin’ [Beach Boys cover]
This Could All Be Yours ω Fa Fa ≅
Jam (with Ben Folds)
Backyard (with Ben Folds) © 
All the Way Up to Heaven ≅


Ø Oh La La (2024)                              -7/10
£ Look Alive (2019)                            -2/10
€ Evermotion (2015)                          -3/11
ω Easy Wonderful (2010)                -4/12
⊗ Ganging Up on the Sun (2006) -2/12
© Keep It Together (2003)              -3/13
≅ Lost and Gone Forever (1999)   —
ℵ Goldfly (1997)                                    -5/11
¶ Parachute (1995)                              -6/11

 

Parachute

  1. “Love for Me”
  2. “Eden”
  3. “Scars & Stitches”
  4. “The Prize”
  5. “Dissolve”
  6. “Cocoon”

Goldfly

  1. “Perfect”
  2. “Medicine”
  3. “Grin”
  4. “Getting Even”
  5. “Melanie” (unlisted bonus track)

Keep It Together

  1. “Keep It Together”
  2. “Long Way Down”
  3. “Two at a Time” (hidden track)

Ganging Up on the Sun

  1. “C’mon” – 3:51
  2. “Empire State” – 4:59

Easy Wonderful

  1. “On the Ocean”
  2. “This Is How It Feels to Have a Broken Heart”
  3. “Jesus and Mary”
  4. “Do What You Want”

Evermotion

  1. “Expectation”
  2. “It Is Just What It Is”
  3. “Farewell”

Look Alive

  1. “Summertime”
  2. “Not for Nothing”

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An Evening with Wilco (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, August 5, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia, Wilco on August 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: August 5, 2025] An Evening with Wilco

Nothing could have excited me more than an evening with Wilco.  They are an amazing live band and I would have been so excited to be in the pit for this one.

So why didn’t I go?

Because I already had tickets that night to see Modest Mouse and The Flaming Lips–in the pit at the Mann Center.  True I’d seen both bands seven times already, but never from the pit!

So it was a tough choice, but I couldn’t do both.

Sounds like it was a great night.  But so was mine!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2025
Islands of Men ©
Jesse ⊗
Tomorrow’s Crusades Ø
Cocaine ©
Half Real ©
2122 Ø (with Interstellar Overdrive” Pink Floyd)
Cowboy Nudes Ø
Taxes ©
4D Contry ⊗
St. Elmo Ø

© G3 (2025)
⊗ 4D Country
Ø 3D Country

 

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Spike and the Gimme Gimmes (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, August 3, 2025)

Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, Kate Clover, Schizophonics, Spike and the Gimme Gimmes, The Schizophonics on August 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 3, 2025] Spike and the Gimme Gimmes

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes was a band I knew nothing about but didn’t like, based on their name.  Then I learned that they are a cover band doing punk covers of classic rock songs and I thought their name was actually pretty perfect and I wanted to see them live.   I had a few opportunities but they kept falling through.

And then I saw that the band has changed its name to Spike and the Gimme Gimmes which isn’t as good a name but which apparently makes sense for some reason or another.

The band is made up of a bunch of different people who tour for a while.  Initially the band had a bunch of famous punkers and now it’s made of some less famous (to me) punkers, but they’re still fun as anything.

For this tour the band was Spike Slawson (of Swingin’ Utters and Re-Volts) on vocals and maracas.  He would be the Spike of the band name and has been their lead singer since they started in 1995.  We also had CJ Ramone (of The Ramones) on bass.  Yes and actual Ramone! (He was one of the first people to replace an original Ramone and was much younger than the rest of the band when he joined.  He was a fun guy to have back there.

On one guitar was Joey Cape (of Lagwagon) who has also been with the band since the beginning (I don’t know him).  Chris Shiflett of the Foo Fighters was in the band, but now his brother, Scott Shiflett (of Face to Face and Viva Death), plays guitar.  And that leaves the drummer–I can’t tell who it was from the Wikipedia page. (more…)

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The Schizophonics (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, August 3, 2025) [SPIKE AND THE GIMME GIMMES]

Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, Kate Clover, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Schizophonics, Spike and the Gimme Gimmes, The Schizophonics on August 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 3, 2025] The Schizophonics

I had not heard of The Schizophonics before this tour.  I looked them up just to see what their deal was and the reviews universally talked about how amazing the live shows are.

About 15 moinutes after Kate Clover left the stage, three people came on stage wearing black jackets with their names on them (fifties style)–Pat, Lety, Sarah.  They removed the jackets and began playing.

Lety Beers on drums and Sarah Linton on bass are great players–Lety’s drums are perfectly timed and Sarah’s bass is perfect for holding the songs together while Pat … does his thing.

Which is… being everywhere all the time.  Pat Beers sings and plays guitar.  And when he is not singing, he is dancing from one side of the stage to the other–skipping, spinning, dropping, rolling.  He ran down the steps on the side of the stage and ran back up on the stage.  All the while, he was still playing guitar.  Even as he dropped to the ground, did a backwards somersault and got back to his feet, the solo was still going on.  Were the solos intricate?  No.  But did he keep the solos going?  Yes indeed.  He plays guitar with one hand in an astonishingly powerful way.  At times he took his guitar off and held it aloft with his left hand and still played with one hand.

I took so many videos and I don’t think I ever captured the full insanity of his stage presence.

Near the end of the set, he put his mic stand on the floor, jumped down and then hopped the barrier.  He put his mic in the middle of the floor and then proceeded to sing and play and run around like a one-man mosh pit.  Even on the floor of the venue, he dropped to his knees, rolled on his back and almost crashed into everyone.  He also had fun singing to a 9-year old in the audience (Lety gave the girl a shout out).

Later, he jumped down without his guitar and sang in the audience,

It was phenomenal and the crowd responded in kind.

What were the songs like?  I have no idea.  They were fast, three chord  rockers.  He sang words but mostly screamed and yelped.  And then he soloed for ages.  The songs were all catchy and simple, but I couldn’t tell you if they were original or covers or what.

I was exhausted just watching him and I was very jealous at his ability to bounce around and get back up so easily.

I enjoyed the heck out of the set and so did everyone else.  They made a ton of new fans, at least of their live show.

I looked at setlists to see what songs they played and yet there’s no recorded setlists for any of their shows this year.  There’s a few shows from 2024 that have songs but I don’t think that’s what they played for us,

They played for about 45 minutes.  Pat was a sweaty mess by the end (although his button down shirt remained tucked in all night).  Pat even broke the heel of his shoe running up and down the stairs.  But he carried on regardless.

I’ve never seen anything like it and I can recommend seeing them one hundred percent.  They may work better as an opening act as I can’t imagine what 90 minutes of that behavior would do to the guy, but if they’re on the bill, don’t miss them!

I have no idea what songs they played and I don’t care what they might play next time.  I’m a convert!

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Kate Clover (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, August 3, 2025) [SPIKE AND THE GIMME GIMMES]

Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, Kate Clover, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Spike and the Gimme Gimmes, The Schizophonics on August 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 3, 2025] Spike and the Gimme Gimmes

I had wanted to see Me First and the Gimme Gimmes for a little while.  And then they changed their name to Spike and the Gimme Gimmes (I don’t know enough about the band to know anything about this–all I know is there are all kinds of people playing in the band from time to time).

I didn’t really think very much about the opening acts and wasn’t even sure if I’d make it in time to see either opener.  But I got there a few minutes before Kate Clover came on.

I don’t know anything about her.  In fact it’s only when writing this that I found a bio about her (it’s overblown and not very informative) but  I learned that she’s from L.A.

Her set up was simple–guitar, bass and drums–with everyone dressed in black and white.  The guys were in suits and she had a cool black outfit with white piping on it.  They came out and rocked!

Her bio says she learned three chords and that’s what we got.  Simple, chugging, riffing garage rock.  Songs around 3 minutes long with maybe a guitar solo.  Kate also played guitar although for a couple of songs she put down the guitar and just sang.  At one point she said they were going to play a new song, but since you don’t know us, it’s all new, right?  As far as I can tell, this was her first show in New Jersey. (more…)

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The Mountain Goats (Stone Pony Summer Stage, Asbury Park, NJ, August 1, 2025) [GUSTER]

Posted in Asbury Park, NJ, Guster, The Mountain Goats, The Stone Pony, The Stone Pony Summer Stage on August 1, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 24, 2025] The Mountain Goats

Back in I have been wanting to see The Mountain Goats for a long time (my friend Andrew got me into them, jeez, like ten years ago).  They have played in the area nearly every year since I first heard about them but for one reason or another I never saw them. Usually it’s scheduling conflicts and occasionally the show sold out before I heard about it.

I had even more or less given up on seeing them (if you miss a band more than half a dozen times it’s practically a sign from the universe).  But here they were opening for Guster!

I was really excited to finally see them, and I was equally excited/surprised to see that the drummer for The Mountain Goats is Jon Wurster who I have seen with Superchunk and Bob Mould and have therefore seen him five times!  (I thought I’d be seeing him with Superchunk again this fall, but I didn’t realize he had left the band!)

The band was a three piece with multi instrumentalist Matt Douglas playing everything and John Darnielle (the master Goat) singing and playing guitar and keys. (more…)

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The Swell Season (Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova) (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 29, 2025)

Posted in Glen Hansard, lnterference, Marketa Irglova, Once, Philadelphia, PA, Snacktime, The Frames, The Swell Season, Van Morrison on July 29, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 29, 2025] The Swell Season (Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova)

Three years ago my wife and I saw Glen and Marketa (interestingly announced as Glen and Marketa of The Swell Season) and the show was wonderful.  So when they came back around (this time announced as The Swell Season) I grabbed tickets right away.  (Incidentally, The Swell Season is the formal name of this duo–Glen has several other bands as well.

We were delighted to be reasonably close and right in the middle.

And there were to be lots of surprises tonight.  Glen and Marketa were joined by a bass player and drummer (whose names I don’t recall).  But before the first song started, they had a big surprise–four member of Snacktime came out to play horns on several of the tracks.  Glen explained that he had met Snacktime at the Newport Folk Festival and since they were going to be in Philly at the same time, he asked them to join him on a few songs.  I’m not typically a fan of horns, but their horns added so much depth to these songs, it was terrific.

And what was so much fun was that Glen instructed them how to play some of the songs while on stage–almost like an improved jam session.  The opened with Low Rising and Glen asked them to stick around for any songs that seemed good to have horns on.

The Swell Season just released a new record and they played all of the songs from it (except A Little Sugar).  But as I told my wife, I don’t really listen to The Swell Season all that much, but everything I hear from Glen (especially live) I enjoy immensely.

After a couple of new songs they played When Your Mind’s Made Up and the crowd was rapt as their gorgeous voices (and that piano) melded beautifully.

They played a few songs that they’d played last time, and that’s great because those are obviously the catchiest ones.  They played a few of Glen’s solo songs (three in total) but none of Marketa’s solo songs–although she did get some gorgeous solo moments where it was just her and her piano and her voice is still gorgeous.  This was especially evident on I Leave Everything to You, which Glen said was so beautiful as soon as he heard it he knew it would be the centerpiece of the album and the tour. (more…)

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