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Archive for the ‘Philadelphia, PA’ Category

Kiwi Jr. / 2nd Grade / Log Flume (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, August 21, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in 2nd Grade, Johnny Brenda's, Kiwi Jr., Log Flume, Philadelphia, PA on August 21, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: August 21, 2026] Kiwi Jr. / 2nd Grade / Log Flume

Three years ago I could have seen almost this exact same show at the exact same place.  Kiwi Jr and 2nd Grade both played Johnny Brenda’s.  Kate David opened then and Log Flume opened tonight.  I went to see Sunset Rubtown instead (which I enjoyed).   Kiwi Jr. has been getting more attention this time around and even played a Free at Noon earlier today.  I wish I’d gone, but i didn’t feel up to the midday trek to Philly.

I knew I wouldn’t be going to this show mostly because I was sort of saving the night in case I scored a ticket to see Rush.  Which I didn’t.  And really, I was pretty happy to stay home.  Our daughter was leaving for college soon and I wanted to have a few extra nights with her.

But I do hope this lineup comes back again. Sorry Kiwi Jr.

2nd Grade are an indie band from Philly.  They are a gentle boppy indie pop band.  Super catchy and poppy with delightful harmonies and a childlike quality (as befits their name).  Most of the songs are around two minutes.

This is still true with their newish 2024 album–the longest song is 2:39.  But the songs are not hardcore blasts.  They are actually pretty complicates with multiple parts. They just do what they intend to do and then end. (more…)

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Modest Mouse (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, August 19, 2026)

Posted in Califone, Modest Mouse, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on August 20, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 19, 2026] Modest Mouse 

I saw Modest Mouse open for The Flaming Lips last year.  I was right up front and really enjoyed the intensity of the show.  I asked my wife if she’d like to see them since she never had (this would be my 9th time).  The last 3 times I’d seen them were album tours (Lonesome Crowded West and Good News For People Who Love Bad News) and the opening set with the Lips.  So this would be the first time seeing them in a while when they were just doing new stuff.

And it was a LOT of new stuff.  This makes sense as this was a tour for their new album.  They played 8 songs from the album.

But they played a nice mix of newer and older songs.  In between nearly every song there was an older one.  Some were popular (Fly Trapped in a Jar) and some were deep cuts (Broke, from a 1996 EP).  What was fun about these older songs is that the band dropped from a large 7 piece band to a trio, like on those early albums.

I’m always fascinated by the Modest Mouse crowd because the people around me seemed to know the words to all of the older songs.   And I feel like Modest Mouse is pretty abrasive, so I am always surprised at the amount of fans that they have.  But they do have some really catchy songs (radio friendly ones) like Ocean Breathes Salty–this was only the second time I’ve seen them play it!  And it was the first song of the night that my wife recognized.

There was a dude next to me who seemed to know a lit of the new album as well.  Although I think we all recognized Picking Dragons Pockets since its getting a bunch of airplay.

The crowd went nuts when they played Bury Me With It (as they should) and I was super excited when they played 3rd Planet (the opening track from The Moon and Antarctica–a song I cannot believe I’ve never seen them play live before).

One of the songs my wife wanted to hear was Float On (of course).  I warned her that they may not play it (they did play it the last two times I saw them).  Indeed, the previous show started with 4 “hits.”  But Modest Mouse mixes up their setlists quite a bit, and there were few hits to be had tonight. (more…)

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Emm / Bentley Robles / Kyle Payne (Nikki Lopez, Philadelphia, PA, August 20, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Bentley Robles, Emm, Kyle Payne, Nikki Lopez, Philadelphia, PA on August 20, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: August 20, 2026] Emm / Bentley Robles / Kyle Payne

I recently came across Emm on my feed and was intrigued–a powerful voice–sometimes she simply screamed–and a wild stage show.  I made a note that I wanted to see her live.  And then a few days later she announced a show at Nikki Lopez.  I hadn’t heard of Nikki Lopez (although I have since been there). I was looking forward to seeing this future star in a really small venue.  Although I did wonder how she would do a huge stage show in this small venue.

Damien Demax Official recorded her set.  She came out with an elaborate costume and two backing dancers.  She sang two backing tracks, although she did play guitar from time to time

But on the day of the show, the rain and storms were insane.  All day it was torrential and scary and the storms were threatening Philly that evening.  So, even though I wanted to go, since I wasn’t entirely sure what I was getting into, I decided against going.

According to the video, the show looked fun and was pretty short.  There was some audience interaction.

I hadn’t heard of Bentley Robles but I listened to a few songs and found him to be an energetic pop singer.  Not really my thing but fun.  He seemed very flamboyant which I assumed would lead to a fun show.

Damien Demax Official recorded Bentley’s set which was rather understated (unlike his cool outfit).  He sang to his backing tracks.  He has a great voice and charisma.  There’s a funny intro that he says he broke up with the guy he wrote the next song about–it’s the first time he’s singing his hit about someone he doesn’t like anymore.  He looks like a fun performer. (more…)

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Califone (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, August 19, 2026) [MODEST MOUSE]

Posted in Califone, Modest Mouse, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on August 19, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 19, 2026] Califone

Modest Mouse has very diverse bands opening for them.  Sometimes they’re so odd that I don’t care if I see them.  Other times, its a band I’ve heard of.  Like tonight. I’d heard of Califone–they’ve been around for years.  But I had no idea what they sounded like (or really anything about them).  

Califone is basically the project of Tim Rutili who was a founder of the band Red Red Meat (I also don’t know anything about them either).

For this show, he had a guitarist and bassist and two drummers (one was more percussion).  It’s possible they shared a member of two with Modest Mouse, but I can’t be sure.  Turns out Tim Rutili was part of Isaac Brock’s Ugly Casanova project.

The first two songs were slow and kind of country like.  Tim was seated and on an acoustic guitar.  The first song was a Red Red Meat cover and was quite short.  Before introducing the second song, someone on the crowd shouted Freebird and Tim was so disgusted he said, Did you just shout Freebird, god, anyone who shouts that just shows they are a dick.  They show that they are a cunt–this is Philadelphia I can say that).  Wow, I was so happy to hear it said out loud (Freebird is not funny anymore) and I’m so curious what happened to that guy from his friends.  I also thought it was a massively bold move for an opening band.  But Tim has been doing this since the 90s so he’s heard it all. (more…)

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Yard Act (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, August 15, 2026)

Posted in ⋈, Philadelphia, PA, The Armed, Underground Arts, Yard Act on August 16, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 15, 2026] Yard Act

I saw Yard Act at Underground Arts back in 2023.  Guitarist Sam Shipstone was quite the wild man while Ryan Needham’s bass had a great sound and was often the only thing holding the melody down while Shipstone went nuts.  He also provided backing vocals.

And the best part of the show was that singer James Smith doesn’t casually recite his lyrics.  He is a non-stop machine of gestures and quips, singing and screaming lyrics.  Whispering and delaying satisfaction.  He has the entire audience in his hands and he is not afraid to make then do what he wants.  It was amazing to watch.

The tour is rounded out with drummer Jay Russell and touring keyboard/sax player Christopher Duffin.

My wife loved the show–after the craziness of The Armed, I feared that Yard Act would seem tame, but they really showed up.  But she loved the loudness and the intensity.  Indeed listening to some of the songs later she said they were much more fun live (Fiction in particular).  And she absolutely loved Payday (and who wouldn’t)–take the money, take the money, take the money and run).

They opened with New Beginnings, a song we’d heard a number of times on WXPN (and have heard a lot more since then).  It is pretty different from their other songs, but didn’t change the tone of the show at all.

It’s interesting how they play a very different setlist every night.  They didn’t play Payday the following night, although the did play We Make Hits, which I was sure they would play for us, but they didn’t.

When I saw them at Union Transfer last year, they had two backing singer/dancers with them and they made the show a lot of fun.  They added a lot to the visuals, for sure (including a lot of fun percussion and dancing).  I was a little bummed that they had scaled back for this show, but they know how to put on a show regardless of the number of people on stage.

When I first saw them, they ended with the seven minute “The Trench Coat Museum.”  Last time, during the long guitar solo in the middle, James sat on the drum riser with his head in his hands as if he were miserable.  It was funny to see, especially when it was his turn to sing again and he jumped up happily, grabbed a little sampling device and started having a ball throwing out all of the samples from the song and manipulating them on the fly.  There was no sitting for this version, but the sampling device was right there and he played with it making all kinds of fun sounds.  It was terrific.

Sometimes, live, it’s not clear what the lyrics are, even when he’s speaking them.  But sometimes there a lot going on so you may miss these lyrics from Dead Horse

I wasn’t the one lied to and I’m not scared of peopleWho don’t look like me, unlike you
…
And we’re supposed to let it slideBecause the press have normalizedThe idea that racism is something we should humor

An Illusion is a quieter song which slowed things down before the big stomping fun of Redeemer.  It’s a nasty sounding song with a great chorus: Redeemer, you had your fun, now you’re clutching to your rosary like a nun.  I didn’t realize the next song was called Cherophobe Rock, which I assume is a sly dig at Smashing Pumpkins’ Cherub Rock.  Although I don’t know the conntection the song is catchy and bouncy as anything.

 

 

 

“Dark Days” is primarily a bass line and drums with Shipstone making all kinds of noise on his guitar until it builds to a “chorus” changing “Dark Days” (and live the chorus is HUGE, as is the

So much so, that when he introduced “100% Endurance,” he observed how fast the show as going.  “100%” starts out quietly and then build to a big ending.

They raged into the final two songs–the stupidly catchy chorus of The Overload and the moody “Land of the Blind.”  As they paused before the final song, people shouted out the songs they wanted to hear.  James said that they might considered playing those songs if we would graciously allow them to play the songs they wanted to play first.

The final song was the seven minute “The Trench Coat Museum.”  There is a long guitar solo in the middle, during which James sat on the drum riser with his head in his hands as if he were miserable.  It was funny to see, especially when it was his turn to sing again and he jumped up happily, grabbed a little sampling device and started having a ball throwing out all of the samples from the song and manipulating them on the fly.  I only wish they were a little clearer.

When they came out for the encore, he asked what do you want to hear and immediately someone shouted “Peanuts.” He recited the spoken word part first in a “Tom Waits” voice and then like a vampire–there was very much laughter during this section.  Someone shouted out another song title, but they decided to play “Fixer Upper” and everyone was okay with that.

It was a really fun set.  Everyone was into it, the band gave it their all, and we were back on the road by 10:30.  And we’d both happily see them again.

 

2026 Underground Arts 2024 Union Transfer 2023 Underground Arts
New Beginnings ‰ Dead Horse ♠ Dead Horse ♠
Dream Job ⊗ Payday ♠ Dark Days Δ
Fiction ‰ Fizzy Fish ⊗ Petroleum ⊗
Payday ♠ Land of the Blind ♠ Payday ♠
When the Laughter Stops ⊗ Petroleum ⊗ Dream Job ⊗
The Trench Coat Museum ø Down By the Stream ⊗ Pour Another ♠
Dead Horse ♠ Dream Job ⊗ 100% Endurance ♠
An Illusion ⊗ We Make Hits ⊗ Witness (Can I Get A?) ♠
Redeemer ‰ Dark Days Δ The Overload ♠
Cherophobe Rock ‰ A Vineyard for the North ⊗ Land of the Blind ♠
Dark Days Δ When the Laughter Stops ⊗ The Trench Coat Museum ø
A Vineyard for the North ⊗ The Overload ♠ encore
Talky Talky People ‰ 100% Endurance ♠ Peanuts Δ
You’re Gonna Need a Little Music ‰ The Trench Coat Museum ø Fixer Upper Δ
100% Endurance ♠ encore
The Overload ♠ Witness (Can I Get A?) ♠
encore
Peanuts Δ [tour debut]
Fixer Upper Δ

‰ You’re Gonna Need a Little Music (2026)
⊗ Where’s My Utopia (2024)
ø single (2023)
♠ The Overload (2022)
Δ Dark Days EP (2021)

Here’s what they played at Free at Noon (bold songs they didn’t play at night)

  1. Tall Tales ‰
  2. Talky Talky People ‰
  3. Dead Horse ♠
  4. Petroleum ⊗
  5. New Beginnings ‰
  6. Fixer Upper Δ
  7. Pour Another ♠
  8. You’re Gonna Need a Little Music ‰

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The Armed ⋈ (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, August 15, 2026) [YARD ACT]

Posted in ⋈, Philadelphia, PA, The Armed, Underground Arts, Yard Act on August 15, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 15, 2026] The Armed

I grabbed a ticket to this show for my wife and I as soon as it was announced.   I’ve seen them twice and the last time was so much fun, I was sure my wife would get a kick out of it.   I had never heard of The Armed (whose name is often simplified to ⋈) before the show and when I listened briefly, they sounded like a hardcore band, which was confusing as an opener for Yard Act, who are not hardcore.

We arrived early and got a decent spot.  The lights went down, The Armed came out and the stage exploded.  The entire place was just an explosion of noise and chaos and I was delighted to see the huge smile on my wife’s face.

I had no idea who The Armed were, nor that they had a massive fan base.  The story of the Armed is almost as interesting as their music, although, really, no, the music is far more interesting.  But still:

Although no official members of the group are known for absolute certain, the collective has been represented in the media by advertising creative and director Tony Wolski – formerly known as Adam Vallely.  The Armed allegedly has a central core of members, while simultaneously featuring a rotating line-up of collaborators. The people behind The Armed have gone to considerable lengths to misdirect, deceive, and otherwise toy with their audience when it comes to who is actually a member of the band. To achieve this, the band has largely avoided printing names of its members, had actors pretend to be members of the band and toured in secret, often performing at open mic nights under fake names.

There was a woman singing/screaming in a very high pitched voice not unlike Melt-Banana.  There were two other singers in the band, a guy who screamed as well and a guy who sang in a really nice voice.   I’m not sure how many people were on stage (seven maybe?)  They absolutely filled the stage and never stopped moving.  The guitarist in front of us was a whirlwind of action and near the end of teh set he climbed on a huge speaker cabinet and jumped off.

The male singer frequently put the mic into the crowd for the guys up front (die hard fans) to scream along.  The female singer jumped into the crowd and sang from the floor.

I loved the way Fortune’s Daughter was a wall of noise and then had a neat low-key catchy chorus sung by the third vocalist– and the end had all of the singers (and screamers going at it together).

Grace Obscure was a noisy chaotic song with a big “woah oh” and lots of screaming from the female singer.  And An Iteration started with furious hardcore drumming and then segued into a really catchy rumbling bassline and dual vocals. It was followed by FKA World from their previous album, which was (relatively) mellow–the use of explosive hardcore drumming with slow vocals is really interesting.

Local Millionaires starts softly and then turns into a screamfest.  All Futures continues the explosive sound The set ended with Big Shell a song that concludes with a series of one-two crashes from the whole band as feedback distortion and screams glide over everything.

It was exhausting and exhilarating and amazing.  I’m bummed I didn’t know about them before and I sure hope they mysteriously pop up again.

  1. Night City Aliens ©
  2. Fortune’s Daughter ♥
  3. Grace Obscure ♣
  4. AN ITERATION ∅
  5. FKA World ⊗
  6. Local Millionaire ♣
  7. ALL FUTURES ∅
  8. BIG SHELL ∅

♣ THE FUTURE IS HERE AND EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE DESTROYED (2025)
⊗ Perfect Saviors (2023)
∅ ULTRAPOP (2021)
© Cyberpunk 2077 soundtrack (2020)  [submitted under the name Homeschool Dropouts]
♥ Only Love (2018)

Here’s an amusing stories about this band from Wikipedia

The Armed released Only Love, with Ben Koller providing drums.  Koller has said the request was short notice, and that the recording would take place right in the middle of tracking drums for a new Converge album, which seemed “[like it would be] pretty stressful.” However, Koller heard that Rob Trujillo would be playing bass on the album, which was “the selling point” to him. In fact, Trujillo was never involved in any capacity with the album. Koller was also told by fellow Converge bandmate and Only Love‘s producer Kurt Ballou that the demos he was sent for this album were Converge songs, spurring him to learn them. Koller went on to say “…essentially, I was conned into playing on this album. I was so taken aback by these weird tactics that I just went with it.”

 

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Eagles of Death Metal / Mountain Head (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, August 14, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Eagles of Death Metal, Mountain Head, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on August 14, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: August 14, 2026] Eagles of Death Metal / Mountain Head

I got a kick out of Eagles of Death Metal when they came out.  Death By Sexy is a fun album and I enjoy the tongue in cheek nature of the music.  I thought about going to the show since they are apparently a great live band.

But I Just really don’t like them enough to justify going and I was a little worried about what kind of audience these guys would attract.  I left the night open, in case I decided to grab a last minute ticket.  But then the Circle Jerks announced a show for that night and that was the kibosh on EODM.

Who the hell are Mountain Head?  Well, their bio says

The enigmatic and reclusive Hannah Brothers stumbled upon a mysterious mountain in the heart of the Canadian wilderness, and what they found at the summit changed their lives forever. A shaman performed a ceremony that unlocked new depths of creativity and inspiration in the brothers, leading them to channel the spirits of Johnny Cash, Flavor Flav, and Billy Gibbons. Dressed in black denim and adorned with solid gold grills and long beards, Mountain Head emerged with a sound that blended psych-rock, alt-rock, and elements of electro-pop and jangle pop into a unique and potent sonic concoction.

The description is okay–they’re a little slower than you might expect, but there’s some psych elements, but mostly they play dumb rock like EODM.   A perfect pairing.

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Dogstar / The Backfires (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, August 12, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Dogstar, Philadelphia, PA, The Backfires, Underground Arts on August 12, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: August 12, 2026] Dogstar / The Backfires

Three years ago, Dogstar played Underground Arts and I toyed with the idea of going  to this show, probably for the same reason that a lot of other people did.

To see Keanu Reeves!

I can’t decide if I like Keanu ironically or not, but it’s still pretty wild to think that a celebrity of his star power could have been just a few feet from me.

I genuinely had no idea what Dogstar sounded like.   So here’s the blurb from Underground Arts

Here in 2023, Dogstar epitomizes the quintessential Southern California storytelling rock band they’ve always been in their hearts, making deeply resonant music that literally comes from Somewhere Between the Power Lines and Palm Trees – the name of their new album which arrives October 6, 2023 via their own label Dillon Street Records (distributed through ADA). Comprised of guitarist/vocalist Bret Domrose, drummer Robert Mailhouse, and bassist Keanu Reeves, Dogstar was born in 1991 as a band of friends who came together in a garage in Southern California and simply dreamed of playing music together and making a little noise. Now, all these years later, Domrose, Mailhouse, and Reeves took some time at the tail end of a historic lockdown to create this collection of songs that fully encompasses who they are as artists today. The happily reunited rock trio’s official return came in May 2023 – more than 20 years since their last performance together – with their first public performance at the BottleRock Napa Valley music festival with a set that sparked fan and critical praise alike, including the live debut of their lead single “Everything Turns Around,” which was officially released July 19.

So this isn’t Keanu’s band, per se.  He “only” plays bass.  Domrose sings and plays guitar, although they all get writing credit for the songs.  But wow, it was sold out and no doubt super packed with people looking to meet Keanu.

When they came back to Philly, this time they were playing a much bigger venue.   I don’t think it sold out, but good for them.

And in this video of them record shopping in Philly–their influences are perfect!

Again, I like their music–like 90s indie rock–although I don’t like their singer all that much.

The Backfires are a London/NYC band.  They play solid old-school indie rock.  Their previous album was really good.

I could easily have gotten into both of these bands in the 90s if they had gotten radio airplay.

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The Body / Big | Brave / Carnivorous Bells (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, August 7, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Big ‡ Brave, Carnivorous Bells, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, The Body on August 7, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 24, 2026] The Body / Big | Brave / Carnivorous Bells

I saw Big | Brave open for SUNN0))).  I can’t believe it has been almost ten years since that show.  Big | Brave left a huge impact on me and I’ve been following them ever since.  I’ve really wanted to see them again and it just never seems to happen.

I had a ticket for this show long before we decided to go on vacation this week.  We actually arrived home on the night of this show, but there was just no way I could make it work.

I didn’t know The Body even though they made an album with Big | Brave back in 2021.  They are a doom/sludge metal band who have expanded into using other genres as well.  From what I can tell, vocally there is a lot of distorted screaming

Carnivorous Bells are from Philly.  They’re noisy and weird and remind me of noisy weird bands from the 90s.  I don’t think I’d enjoy a 90 minute set from them, but a short opening set was probably a lot of fun.

Here’s a video of them from Ortleib’s

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Tori Amos / Bartees Strange (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, August 1, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Bartees Strange, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia, Tori Amos on August 1, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: August 1, 2026] Tori Amos / Bartees Strange

Back in the 90s, I was a die-hard Tori Amos fan.  Over the years I’ve moved on.  But I did see her four years ag (I can’t believe it has been that long).

I enjoyed that show, but I complained that she hardly played anything I new (yes, she has a like a dozen albums out but still).  And for my show she only played 17 songs.  For this one it was only 15!  After the last show I said “t was like seeing a friend who I had grown apart from.  We had a few things in common, but there were far more differences.”

So I had no intention of going to this show.  Looking at the setlist, she played these songs that I know

A Sorta Fairytale [really like this one]
Bliss [forgot about this one, but it rocks]
Putting the Damage On [she didn’t play anything from this, my favorite Tori album, last time]
Little Earthquakes [of course]
Spring Haze [she played it last time too]
Pretty Good Year [that would have been great to hear]

Fascinatingly, she didn’t play Precious Things.  And she did play Streets of Philadelphia [like last time]–next time, how about Philadelphia Freedom.  So, that’s 6 out of 15.  Not a great ratio.  

Bartees Strange opened up. I saw him 3 times in 3 and a half years and really didn’t need to see him again.  I really liked his earlier stuff, but the newer stuff I got sick of.  I realize I saw him last just over a year ago, so it’s not like the early stuff was super long ago.

 

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