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Archive for the ‘Philadelphia, PA’ Category

Goat Girl / Maria BC (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, October 13, 2025) [CANCELLED]

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[CANCELLED: October 13, 2025] Goat Girl / Maria BC

I saw Goat Girl open for Parquet Courts back in 2018 and I really enjoyed their set.  I liked how they played a variety of styles, sometimes playing very loudly, but other times having a kind of drunken country feel.  THey were fun and I was interested in seeing them again.

But then in August they announced that they had to cancel the whole tour:

Hello everyone We’re really sad to share that, due to personal reasons, we won’t be able to go ahead with our North American tour next month. This was not an easy decision, and we’re truly sorry to everyone who was looking forward to seeing us. We were so excited to come back to the US and Canada – it’s been a while, and it means so much to know you’ve been waiting to see us play. This isn’t goodbye, we fully intend to be back as soon as we can. Thank you for your understanding, and for all the love and support you continue to give us.

Maria BC is an American ambient musician.  She sings over quiet, slightly creepy music–catchy melodies with unusual instrumentation.  Interesting and pretty different from Goat Girl.

I assume they’ll be back again.

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Destroyer / Jennifer Castle (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, October 12, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Dan Bejar, Destroyer, Jennifer Castle, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on October 12, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 12, 2025] Destroyer / Jennifer Castle

I had tickets to see Destroyer here in 2022, but other things got in the way.  After seeing Destroyer open for Father John Misty, I was curious to see how he would tour for this new album (a huge band or a small band?)

Well, we had tickets for My Morning Jacket the two nights before this show and even though I wanted to go to this one, there was just know way I could do it.  So I missed out on Dan and his band again,  But I’m sure he’ll be back again.

Incidentally, here’s a review of his show (well, actually, more of him than of the show) in San Francisco

He’s a notoriously shy performer—Early reviews of Destroyer all recall him coming on stage already drunk, if not drink-in-hand prepared for it.  English major dropout, lover of French New Wave films and 40s era jazz. The Vancouver-based artist stands aloof on stage, staring at seemingly nobody in particular, in what seems like an attempt to pretend the crowd isn’t there. He sips his beer in between songs and crouches down, closing his eyes while his bandmates do the rest. Something tells me that this is his most comfortable and preferred way of performing.

And it answered my question about his live band

Joined by the two guitarists, the bassist and drummer were feverish and impossible to take your eyes off of. The keys player and trumpeter (with his own pedal board, mind you!) took the edges of the stage, with Bejar in the center.

So I know what I missed.  And I’d like to see it again.

Jennifer Castle is a Toronto based singer songwriter.  She released two albums under the name Castlemusic.  She has played with everyone from U.S. Girls to Fucked Up.  Her 2014 album has chamber folk and psychedelic components an her previous album had psychedelic folk elements.

She sounds interesting, although the few songs I’ve listened to are far more folk than psychedelic.  And she’s a little too slow for my tastes.

 

 

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Hotline TNT / Dusk (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, October 12, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

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[DID NOT ATTEND: October 12, 2025] Hotline TNT /Dusk 

Hotline TNT have played Philly a few times in the last year.  I was a little bit obsessed with them since I missed them back in January 2024 (and then fell in love with their record).  When they played a show in June that I missed, I wrote

Hotline TNT plays what I can only describe as classic shoegaze, which is definitely having a moment again.  Unlike a lot of their contemporaries, they don’t really mess with the classic shoegaze vibe all that much–not adding elements at all.  Their music warms my heart and I’d love to see them live.

I would have loved to go to this show–reviews say they killed it. But it was the night after two long standing nights with My Morning Jacket, and that was just too much.

I can’t figure out who Dusk is.  There’s a number of bands called Dusk.  The most likely one here seems to be the band from Wisconsin, although they are kind of country, which doesn’t quite fit.  There’s an industrial black metal band called Dusk, but I assume it’s not them.  And there’s a band from Austria called Dusk.  It’s as confusing as the fact that I couldn’t find a poster for this mini tour or this show and the only thing I could find was this ad for LPR.

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Balthvs (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, October 11, 2025, Night 2 of 2) [MY MORNING JACKET]

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[ATTENDED: October 10, 2025] Balthvs

We saw Balthvs last night and really enjoyed them.  So much so that my wife and I were both looking forward to seeing them again.  I wouldn’t have minded hearing the same set again because it was so enjoyable.  But, I assume since they knew that MMJ would be playing a different set tonight, Balthvs played an entirely new set tonight as well.

Tonight, with the audience more familiar with them, they received a huge response when they came out and the guys in the front row were 100% in–jumping and headbandging and clapping.  It had to be a great reception for them.  And they continued to impress with a whole bunch of new (to us) songs.

The opening Sun Colored Eyes was a bit more mellow and groovy, but still sounded great.  All is One continued in the mellower vein with vocals from Vanessa.  She sang in a dreamy voice that made this song even more psychedelic.  There were a few transitions where the song had a five note beat that grounded the song nicely.

As soon as Balthazar played the opening riff to Bird Song, the crowd went nuts.  I didn’t know the song but I have since learned that it’s a Jerry Garcia/Grateful Dead song, so that checks.

Apparently in the middle of the song they segued into a 2 minute original, Famagusta Port and then cycled back to finish up Bird Song.

Balthazar said that they had recently been to Turkey and took some of the scene their with them, which resulted in Turkish Coffee, a song that was perfectly in keeping with their sound, but had definite Turkish influences.  Then he joked that Philadelphia wasn’t too far from the ocean and they launched into what they call Surf Medley, a three part song of surf guitar instrumentals, starting with The Chantays “Pipeline,” segueing into Dick Dale’s “Misirlou” and finally Reverend Horton Heat’s “Marijuana.”  It was fantastic–Balthazar is an incredible guitarist and they captured the surf vibe perfectly.

Up next was an older song Siente which had a little bass solo section for Vanessa to show off her chops.  (more…)

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My Morning Jacket (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, October 10, 2025, Night 1 of 2)

Posted in Balthvs, My Morning Jacket, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on October 11, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 10, 2025] My Morning Jacket

A couple of years ago we saw My Morning Jacket at the Met.  They played two nights in a row but we only went to one.  I’m not going to say the second night was better, but they played a lot of great songs that second night as well.  So when they announced two nights again, I grabbed GA tickets (to finally get up close to the band) for both nights.

We greatly enjoyed Balthvs and the fact that we were one person away from the barrier for most of the show.

The lights dimmed and the band came out and they were off, playing Steam Engine.  The song is 7 minutes on record and they stretched that thing out with some lengthy soloing and jamming.  It went over 15 minutes and the band sounded in great form.

I had thought that they might play all of Z (since they have been touring the album), but they didn’t (which is fine).  For this show they played three songs off of it.  One of them was It Beats 4U which, amazingly, I had not seen live before.

When we saw them last time, they didn’t play anything from The Waterfall.  Tonight they played two songs, the delightful In Its Infancy and, later on, Spring (Among the Living).

My two favorite MMJ albums are Evil Urges and Circuital, so I’m always excited to hear songs from them.  They played Circuital, which made me quite happy.  I don’t really know their first few records all that well–they’re a little too slow and not very catchy.  But the crowd seems to love when they play a deep cut like X-Mas Curtain (this is one of their older songs that I really do like, so I enjoyed hearing it).

Speaking of the crowd… we were in the pit and most of the people around us were VIP purchasers and other die-hards.  The guys in the front on the barrier all had long hair and proceeded to headbang through the whole show.  It was pretty funny and they made the front of MMJ’s Instagram page the following day.

And we were right in from of Carl Broemel and it was amazing watching him do…everything.  He played amazing solos, he played saxophone, he even sang fantastic backing vocals.  But it was so cool when he stepped up to the edge of the stage, about 6 feet from us and just wailed on that guitar.  (more…)

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Alex G / Nilüfer Yanya (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, October 11 & 12, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

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[DID NOT ATTEND: October 11 & 12, 2025] Alex G / Nilüfer Yanya

I saw Alex G when about ten years ago when he opened for Built to Spill. There was a bunch of buzz around him but I didn’t really know why.  I thought he was a guitar shredding type, but he’s not.  I wrote

At first I was a little unimpressed.  The songs are pretty simple and short–lo-fi recordings, which I do enjoy, but were not what I was expecting.  But by the middle, he had won me over.  The last five or six songs in particular were really good.  The band was pretty no-nonsense–not a lot of banter.  Just song after song, some really short and few with some good extended jamming.

Since then he’s released a lot more music and has seen a lot of success.  I like the songs I’ve heard by him and my daughter is a fan.  He played at All Things Go two years ago, but he was on the other stage and we could only see a video of him.

Because he’s a Philly guy (more or less) he added a second show to the Fillmore.  The first night I had tickets to see My Morning Jacket.  And since we had seen MMJ the night before that as well, there was no energy left for Alex G.

I saw Nilüfer Yanya open for Sharon Van Etten in 2019.  I enjoyed her set quite a lot and have wanted to see her again.  Although I haven’t enjoyed her newer stuff as much as what she put out back then.  She had a headline show last year but I couldn’t make it.

I would have enjoyed this double bill, but not as much as I enjoyed MMJ.

 

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Balthvs (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, October 10, 2025, Night 1 of 2) [MY MORNING JACKET]

Posted in Balthvs, My Morning Jacket, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on October 10, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 10, 2025] Balthvs

A couple of years ago we saw My Morning Jacket at the Met.  They played two nights in a row but we only went to one.  I’m not going to say the second night was better, but they played a lot of great songs that second night as well.  So when they announced two nights again, I grabbed GA tickets (to finally get up close to the band).

For both nights, the opener was BALTHVS, a band I didn’t know.

They are from Colombia and when I first heard a song, I lazily said they reminded me of Khruangbin.  I see that online people compare them to Khruangbin a lot, which seems to be unfair.  I don’t know Khruangbin all that well, but both bands have a similar vibe.  However, on further listen, BALTHVS has got its own thing down quite well.  But it’s fair to say they’re in the same general area of “World psychedelic funk.”

BALTHVS is a trio from Bogotá Colombia.  Balthazar Aguirre plays guitar and sings, Vanessa Muñoz a plays 5 string bass and sings and Santiago Lizcano plays drums.  The band came out and jumped into some amazing songs.  [Founding bassist Johanna Mercurian recently had a baby and obviously didn’t tour this time]

Year of the Snake is a cool slinky instrumental and it really showed off Balthazar’s guitar chops.  I also loved that Vanessa’s bass was complex–making great use of the five string.  And Santiago was a beast behind the kit. (more…)

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Rafia Bhatiq / Ian Chang / Riley Mulherkar (Solar Myth, Philadelphia PA, October 8, 2025)

Posted in Ian Chang, Philadelphia, PA, Rafiq Bhatia, Riley Mulherkar, Solar Myth on October 9, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 8, 2025] Rafia Bhatiq / Ian Chang / Riley Mulherkar

Technically this show is a Rafiq Bhati show, but the show was a trio and they were all equal partners so for me they all get top billing.

I know of Rafiq from his (amazing) work with Son Lux.  When I was lucky enough to see them in 2022 I felt

Drummer Ian Chang is just amazing to watch as he plays all sorts of different things and in unusual rhythms.  But then I would notice that guitarist Rafiq Bhatia was making some incredible sounds out of his guitar and I would wind up watching him for awhile.

So here was Rafiq touring his new album Environments.  This album is more or less an hour of sound shapes and explorations.  Rafiq is a guitarist but there is very little traditional guitar playing on the album.

Watching them live it was fascinating to see that Rafiq would play little bits and pieces and then he would sample himself and mess around with these new sounds.  He sat and played guitar and he had a gear box of some kind next to him.  And he would frequently reach over and twist knobs–and you could hear trills and low notes floating around.

For one song in the middle of the set, he put his guitar down and made sounds using that box– I don’t know what the original sound sources were for this, but it was fun to watch.

Ian Chang is one of my favorite drummers to watch.  He plays spare rhythms with occasional explosions of sound.  He uses brushes, mallets, stick and he has a laptop that he tinkered with from time to time.  When the set opened (Aviary I) he gently touched the various percussive elements on his kit (bells, cymbals, rims).  As the song progressed he had bursts of snare and crashes of cymbals but very rarely did he create a steady beat (except for one song late in the set where they locked into a real groove for a few minutes).  The songs didn’t call for it and his drumming was a great punctuation to Rafiq’s sounds.

I didn’t know Riley Mulherkar at all before this.  I’m not a huge fan of horns, but his trumpet playing was amazing.  For the opening bit (Aviary I), he blew into his trumpet but didn’t produce any notes.  Rather, it was like he was generating a kind of musical wind.  His subtlety was incredible as he played incredibly softly.  My very little understanding of the trumpet is that you blow harder to get the notes higher.  Somehow, he was able to create high notes while playing so delicately as to be almost inaudible.  And of course, he played loud blasts as well.  Of the three, he was the least interesting to watch, but he was the most fascinating to try to understand what he was doing. (more…)

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Kneecap / Bricknasty (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, October 8, 2025) [CANCELLED]

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[CANCELLED: October 8, 2025] Kneecap / Bricknasty

Kneecap was making news all over the world by the time I heard about this show.  And Irish trio who raps in Engliash and Irish?  Sounds amazing.  They are political and very vocal.  And because they are so notorious, this show was sold out. And then, more controversy caused them to cancel their entire U.S. tour:

Kneecap have cancelled the entirety of their 2025 United States tour. The tour was set to being on October 1 in New York City and run for 15 shows; four shows in Vancouver and Toronto will continue as planned.

In a press statement, the Irish rap group said they were forced to pull the dates as they were too close to a scheduled court date for Kneecap member Mo Chara, who faces a terrorism charge for displaying a flag of the militant group Hezbollah during a 2024 concert.

They are still doing their thing, but I have no idea if they’ll come to the U.S. especially right now.

Bricknasty is another Irish rap band.  They blend experimental jazz, hip hop and neo-soul.  They seem like a much mor mellow bunch, but they share the same values.

This would have been an interesting show to be sure.

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Queens of the Stone Age: Catacombs Tour / Paris Jackson (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, October 7, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

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[DID NOT ATTEND: October 7, 2025] Queens of the Stone Age: Catacombs Tour / Paris Jackson

Queens of the Stone Age is a band who has two albums that I love to death and a couple albums that I think are pretty good.  I’ve wanted to see them live for a while, but they never play venues I want to go to.  Until now.  They played the Met, a fun venue with a good pit.

But this tour was the Catacombs tour: “one-night-only evenings” at historic theaters featuring all-new musical arrangements of their catalog.

Which is exactly what I did not want.  Since I’ve never seen them live, the last thing I wanted to see was them playing gentle versions of their rocking songs.  So I said no thanks.

I’d never heard of Paris Jackson.  Turns out that she is a model and singer.  I heard an acoustic song that was quite pretty, but she also rocks out in a catchy sort of way.  I also just learned that she is the daughter of Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe.  Woah.  She hasn’t put out new music since 2020, so that’s an unusual choice for an opening act.

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