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Archive for the ‘Philadelphia, PA’ Category

Open Mike Eagle (Milkboy, Philadelphia, PA, December 11, 2023)

Posted in Milkboy, Open Mike Eagle, Philadelphia, PA, Pink Navel on December 12, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 11, 2023] Open Mike Eagle

Open Mike Eagle is probably my favorite rapper.  His wordplay is great.  His topics are great and he seems like a really good guy.

He came out to the little stage, gave a brief introduction and started right in with “Very Much Money.”

My friends are superherosNone of us have very much money thoughThey can fly, run fast, read PortugueseNone of us have very much money thoughThey know judo and yoga, photography, politicsSome of them leap over buildingsWriters, magicians, comedians, astronautsNone of it mattered when niggas was hungry

He told us we could help by buying merch.

Open Mike has a new album out and he played a song from it right away, the excellent “BET’s rap city.”  Mike has his gear–a laptop and some kind of triggering sample device on the table.  Mike’s device was also on a milk crate so he didn’t have to bend over–cheap and effective.

He didn’t do as much live music manipulation as Pink Navel did, although he did do some.  But he did leave his work area and come around front a few times.

Like during “Relatable” one of my favorite songs of his.  I love his delivery on this song and it was cool having him come right to the edge of the stage–I wonder if he had thoughts of coming down into the crowd.

I found Open Mike through his album Brick Body Kids Still Dream, so I was psyched that he played three songs from it.  I absolutely love “(How Could Anybody) Feel at Home” with it’s super catchy chorus.  He delivered the chorus in a really different way, which was fun.  And the gentle refrain of the following song “Legendary Iron Hood'”s “Ain’t nothing gonna stop me now” was great to hear.

Turns out that I now his What Happens When I Try to Relax EP better than just about anything else.  So it was great to hear Relatable and the follow up “Microfiche.”  I absolutely love his vocal style and his delivery–and the rhymes of this song are excellent.

For “79th and Stony Island” he did a fun freestyle.

Then it was time for a few more new songs. “WFLD 32” has a slow cadence and drunken horns over more if his clever lyrics

I started rockin’ simply then expandеd
This execution’s iffy but I planned it
I protect it if it gives me an advantage
Still want to be the greatest MC on the planet
Yeah, ’cause I’m immature
If I can name my own sicknesses then it’s cured
I’m finished at high ninety-percentage pure
COVID makin’ it impossible to finish tour

Then the new titles “a new rap festival called falling loud” and “we should have made otherground a thing” which features the lyric “Bonded over MF DOOM.”

This led to him playing the song “For DOOM” saying that a dream came true when he was able to rap with DOOM.  He followed that up with a song just for him, by playing (and silently rapping along with) the Madvillain song “Raid.”

There were two songs from his darker EP Anime, Trauma and Divorce, like “Death Parade” with the chorus that discusses the cycle of trauma

Should’ve been cool, but dude got screwed up
‘Cause shit got burned up, so he fucked her up
Then she turned big, I got chewed up
That shit fucked me up, so I’ma fuck you up
A kid caught hell, that kid grew up
And messed his kid up, he fucked her shit up
Then she fucked dude up, it all got screwed up
And that fucked me up, so I’ma fuck you up

And “Bucciarati” has a video with the awesome Paul F Tompkins (see below).

He ended the set with another song from Brick, 95 Radios, which features a chorus everyone can easily get into.

He said that normally he would take a little encore break and pretend to leave the stage.  But in Milkboy there’s nowhere to go. So fuck that.  He would stay and do more rap on purpose!

This was my first rap show and I realized it’s kind of weird to watch a guy rap when there’s nothing else to look at.  No band, no one else on stage.  But Mike was captivating.  And when he told us that the next song was a gang initiation, I think we were all ready to join up.  “Maybe Gang (an initiation)” is another great song from the Relax EP.

It has my favorite line

Confident, I keep my password on my license plate

And with the chorus, he rapped it heavier and heavier

We is not a gang, we all look the same as you
But don’t be ashamed, we all make the same snafu
We got different names, we might get the same tattoo
Maybe it’s a gang, maybe it became that too

It turned out that one of the guys near me went to high school with Mike.  Mike knew it and they were nudging each other on all night. It was really fun.

Mike ended the night with one more song, a track from an early EP.  “Ziggy Starfish (anti-anxiety raps)” is one of his faster songs and his flow was outstanding.

The show was short–about an hour. But it was great.   I was delighted to finally have seen him and I’ll certainly see him again if he comes back next year.

SETLIST

  1. Very Much Money (Ice King Dream) ©
  2. BET’s rap city ♥
  3. I’ll Fight You ∞
  4. (How Could Anybody) Feel at Home ∏
  5. Legendary Iron Hood ∏
  6. Relatable (peak OME) ≅
  7. Microfiche ≅
  8. 79th and Stony Island ∞
  9. WFLD 32 ♥
  10. a new rap festival called falling loud ♥
  11. we should have made otherground a thing ♥
  12. For DOOM ∞
  13. Raid (Madvillain cover)
  14. Death Parade ψ
  15. Bucciarati ψ
  16. 95 Radios ∏
    encore
  17. Maybe Gang (an initiation) ≅
  18. Ziggy Starfish (anti-anxiety raps) ¥
© Dark Comedy (2014)
¥ A Special Epsiode Of (2015)
∏ Brick Body Kids Still Daydream (2017)
≅ What Happens When I Try to Relax EP (2018)
ψ Anime, Trauma and Divorce (2020)
∞ A Tape Called Component System With the Auto Reverse (2022)
♥ another triumph of ghetto engineering (2023)

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Pink Navel (Milkboy, Philadelphia, PA, December 11, 2023) [OPEN MIKE EAGLE]

Posted in Milkboy, Open Mike Eagle, Philadelphia, PA, Pink Navel on December 11, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 11, 2023] Pink Navel

I had been to Milkboy once before.  But for some reason I thought I was at a different Milkboy location.  However, this location is the one I was at last time.  It’s a weird space.  The music is upstairs from a bar.  It’s long and narrow, holding about 200 people.

For this show I arrived just on time, driving along a narrow side street assuming there would be no main street parking (I may have been wrong there).

I walked up the stairs and the guys in front of me were taking a long time to get in for some reason, and as I stood there, Pink Navel started.  The crowd was spaced out so it was pretty easy to sneak up to the front and get close enough to watch Pink Navel do his thing.

I hadn’t heard of Pink Navel, but the short version (from Pitchfork) is

Devin Bailey, the rapper, producer, and singer who records as Pink Navel, has an effervescent and nasal voice, an extensive knowledge of animated television, and an immense, somewhat intimidating pool of references and SAT words.

Pink Navel was a funny and engaging: “Anyone fucking with this say oh yeah!” (more…)

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Hello Mary / Bruiser and Bicycle (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, December 7, 2023) [CANCELLED]

Posted in Bruiser and Bicycle, Cancelled, Hello Mary, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA on December 7, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[CANCELLED: December 7, 2023] Hello Mary / Bruiser and Bicycle

I could have seen Hello Mary back in the spring when they opened for Blondshell.  I didn’t go to that show because I had other plans, although I did see Blondshell at the Free at Noon earlier in the day

Hello Mary opened for Blondshell and I wrote

I have since listened to the album and I love it.  I sure hope they tour soon, maybe as a headliner.

And then they announced the (admittedly short) headline tour.

But on November 29, they posted on Instagram

We are sad to announce we are postponing our east coast shows in early December 😦 refunds are available wherever you purchased your tix. Buuut we are excited to be hitting Albany and DC in March instead with @sspu see you there 🐶

Bummer.  I like the album even more now.

Bruiser and Bicycle (which I thought was two different bands) are a weirdo band who draw comparisons to Animal Collective.   As Picthfork wrote:

With their debut, Woods Come Find Me, the Animal Collective comparisons were inevitable. Though unsuspecting and humble in nature, their lo-fi sound tapped into similar vocal hijinks and manic acoustic arrangements as Sung Tongs, prompting a pavlovian response for anyone who ever bookmarked Said the Gramophone on Internet Explorer. Founded by multi-instrumentalists Nick Whittemore and Keegan Graziane, Bruiser and Bicycle spent four years perfecting their follow-up, Holy Red Wagon, and honing their identity away from their freak-folk touchstones. While the comparisons are still easy to draw, the band embarks on its own winding adventures with the help of drummer Joe Taurone. What sounds at first like free-spirited chaos settles into a strange rhythm, like three different heartbeats that just happen to intertwine snugly.

I feel like seeing them live would be the best first way to experience them.  Maybe someday.

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Deafheaven : 10th Anniversary show Sunbather (Theatre of Living Arts [TLA], Philadelphia, PA, November 29, 2023)

Posted in Deafheaven, Mary Jane Dunphe, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts, Touché Amoré on December 2, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 29, 2023] Deafheaven

I saw Deafheaven last year and found the show exhilarating and cathartic.  They played a lot of new music which is far less screamy and far more pretty (an unexpected thing from Deafheaven).

When they came back earlier this year (again at Union Transfer), I didn’t go (mostly because I had another commitment).  I wondered why they were playing TLA.  I think of it as a much smaller venue than Union Transfer, but the capacity limit is only 200 fewer people.  But I guess if they were in town just seven months ago, maybe they needed a different venue.

But for a full scale play of Sunbather?  The album that everyone thinks is amazing?  Heck yeah I was going to be there.  And I got right up front (but right behind a super tall dude).

The band came out–it was the same guys as last time.  But there was no backdrop–nothing fancy.  Just a low table for George Clarke to climb on and some pretty cool lighting rigs.

And after the cheering died down, they launched into “Dream House.”  And it was amazing.  The wall of sound was there, Clarke’s screamed vocals were there.  But you could FEEL the music.  Fascinatingly, it wasn’t all that loud.  Or, conversely, my earplugs were working exactly as they were supposed to.

I was in front of guitarist Shiv Mehra and bassist Chris Johnson–both of whom impressed me so much last time.  And I had a pretty clear view of the drumming machine that is Daniel Tracy.  It was amazing watching him play these super-fast machine gun snare drums like he was barely doing anything.

The only person I couldn’t really see was Kerry McCoy who was at the far side of the stage.

I was really impressed with the band last time and was even more so this time, since I actually knew this record pretty well.  They switched gears seamlessly and soon they were playing the quiet moments of Dream House, before ramping it back up again..

They also left the stage a lot.  Everyone but the two guitarists left the stage so that the two of them could play the pretty “Irresistible.”  Then they came back out for “Sunbather.”  And ripped through the song with ease,  I t was mesmerizing watching Clarke prowl the stage. He was wearing a button down short sleeve shirt and sort of dress pants.  But he also had elbow-length PVC gloves on.  You could see the sweat dripping off of them. He climbed up onto the platform and screamed.  Then he climbed down and screamed some more.  he even jumped down to the barrier and sang right in the fans’ faces.  I was a little surprised he never came over by us, but he did acknowledge us a bunch.

The band left and a taped recording of “Please Remember” began.  It’s like 3 minutes of droning noise and then both guitarists came out to play the pretty melody that ends the song.

Everyone was back in full for Vertigo and then they all left again for the nearly five minutes of “Windows” which was all played on tape.  It was kind of surreal to be standing, looking at a stage with no one on it–a recording of noises and dialogue playing over the speakers with throbbing lights pulsing on stage.  There was literally nothing to see, but it still felt pretty neat.  I hope the band got to rest a little during these pauses, but Clarke always looked dripping wet.

They returned once more for “The Pecan Tree.”  Like the other songs, it was intense and overwhelming.

And that was that. Yep, only 6 songs, but the record is about an hour long.

They left the stage and the Clarke came back and asked if we had time for one more.  he also announced that Kissinger was dead–so there’s a nice memory for the show.   He was kind of funny and giddy and he waited for the song to start.  He squatted and whispered in a kiddie voice “what’s it gonna be??”

They played Brought to the Water from New Bermuda.  It’s the same encore they played last time I saw them.  It was a massive hit with the fans then and it may have been an even bigger hit with the fans this time.  The song sounded huge. The quite parts were catchy and George danced on the platform to the melodic parts.

And then it was done too.

I am very glad I had quality earplugs in, because there was no ringing at all, and I have to assume that there should have been a lot of ringing.  I don’t know that I would need to see them again.  Perhaps it depends on what the new album will sound like.  They have changed their sound quite a bit recently, so I’m curious what direction they’ll go in.

 

2023 2022
Dream House § Shellstar ∞
Irresistible § In Blur ∞
Sunbather § Great Mass of Color ∞
Please Remember § (drone opening played on tape) Honeycomb ♥
Vertigo § From the Kettle Onto the Coil ∀
Windows § [tape recording] Worthless Animal ♥
The Pecan Tree The Gnashing ∞
encore Mombasa ∞
Brought to the Water ß encore
Brought to the Water ß
Dream House §

∞ Infinite Granite (2021)
♥ Ordinary Corrupt Human Love (2018)
∀ adult swim single (2014)
ß New Bermuda (2015)
§ Sunbather (2013)

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Baroness / Sheer Mag / Uniform / Zorn (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 1, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND–COVID]

Posted in Baroness, Coronavirus, Philadelphia, PA, Sheer Mag, Uniform, Union Transfer, Zorn on December 1, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 1, 2023] Baroness / Sheer Mag / Uniform / Zorn

I was really looking forward to this show.  I had seen Baroness in Kung Fu Necktie.  It was a fun show, but it was close and crowded and, while it was a great experience I wanted to see them in a bigger (but not huge) place.  Union Transfer was perfect.

Then I got COVID.

I was so bummed.  And with COVID being so weird these days, I wouldn’t have even tested if the tests hadn’t just come in the mail that day.  But I took it and couldn’t in good conscience go to the show.

I had been torn about when to get to this show, though.  It started at 6:30, which is insane.  And the openingest band was called Zorn.  Not John Zorn, but Zorn, a Philly based metal/punk band that I was really curious to see.  I mean check out this review from Punknews.org

During Zorn’s set, singer Eric Flea approached one of three already burning torches on stage, whipped out a sword, lit the sword on fire, and began waiving it all around as the flames grew up to some eight feet. I mean, that’s all I have to say about the Philly Vender Bender from October 28, 2022. What else can I say? A flaming sword!

I’ll admit, I was worried about Zorn. The band quickly released a string of excellent EPs which coincided with a string of excellent live shows (bandmembers jumping out coffins; people dressed like plague monks; chains being whipped at the audience; really kick ass death punk) but then, things seemed to go… silent. Was one of Philly’s most promising acts snuffed out in the bud before the flame could grow?

For one thing, Zorn was in raw and ragged and crazed top form. Their songs are as fast and as furious as ever. And, their strongest asset (aside from a great core concept) is that they’ve found that perfect sweet spot between metal and punk where the songs have the epic, grandiosity of metal as well as the slam-damn-heaviness, but they also have the unpredictable swing and danger of punk rock. A lot bands try to mix metal and punk and most of them are terrible. At the show, as the epics riffs swung upwards only for the screeched vocals to tear them back down, Zorn proved that it can be done and that the sum is greater than the parts.

The band also played some newish songs. the new tracks are more complex and frantic than earlier hits. This makes the band particularly effective because, while a lot of the spooky bands sound cool for a song or two, all their songs sound like those one or two songs. at the show, Zorn had a core style, but were able to flex it into a broad array of slashing. I’ll also add that the band has some degree of self-awareness, which, much likes Bauhaus, is the extra bit of pop that makes this band soooo good.

Also, did I mention that they started the show by having pallbearers bring out the aforementioned torches and a coffin, only for the vocalist to jump out of said coffin and throw said coffin lid at the audience? Now, THAT’S WHAT I AM HERE TO SEE.

(more…)

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Touché Amoré  (Theatre of Living Arts [TLA], Philadelphia, PA, November 29, 2023) [DEAFHEAVEN]

Posted in Deafheaven, Mary Jane Dunphe, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts, Touché Amoré on December 1, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 29, 2023] Touché Amoré

Touché Amoré (what a fun name to say) have been on my radar for a little over a year.  I assumed they were a dance band, not a punk band.  But indeed. They punk.

And they punk hard.

The band came out and started right in with a big, clean sound and singer Jeremy Bolm screaming the lyrics.  The best thing about his screaming is that it is intense like old school punk, but it is completely clear.

I loved that for every verse or chorus he put the mic out for the audience to sing the last word or phrase. And they did.  There was a huge Touché Amoré fanbase there.  [There was a gross couple in front of me who had hands all over each other who, thankfully, left after the band was done].

At first I thought they were “just” a screaming punk band.  But I quickly got totally into them.  I loved the sound of the band–not too complicated but every song has something interesting going on in it.  Drummer Elliot Babin is a maniac behind the kit.  And I loved that you could hear both guitarists Clayton Stevens and Nick Steinhardt very clearly (Nick Steinhardt was on the far side of the stage, so I couldn’t see him very well, but I could clearly see his sparkly shirt).  And bassist Tyler Kirby would punctuate songs with excellent thumping bass.

But it was the lyrics that constantly impressed me.  I couldn’t understand them all obviously, but the ones I did were impressive. (more…)

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Mary Jane Dunphe  (Theatre of Living Arts [TLA], Philadelphia, PA, November 29, 2023) [DEAFHEAVEN]

Posted in Deafheaven, Mary Jane Dunphe, Philadelphia, PA, Ringo Deathstarr, Theatre of Living Arts, Touché Amoré on November 30, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 29, 2023] Mary Jane Dunphe

I didn’t know there was an opening act for this show until a few hours before the show.  I looked up Mary Jane Dunphe, listened to a song and didn’t much like it.

So, according to The Creative Independent

Mary Jane Dunphe is a poet and musician who tells stories—not through direct narrative but through embodied presence and performance, through cinematic and fragmented memory, the wild transmission of feeling. Her versatile songwriting has garnered critical acclaim in past projects such as the visceral punk of Vexx and Gen Pop, the minimal dream pop of CCFX and CC Dust, and the lonesome country-rock of The County Liners—and now Dunphe’s debut solo album, Stage of Love (out now on Pop Wig), is the start of a captivating new chapter.

Mary Jane came out on stage wearing a Sinead O’Connor T-shirt with FIGHT THE REAL ENEMY on the back.  A very promising start.  Then she told us it was her birthday.  When someone started singing happy birthday to her, she held up a finger and said “No.  I’m the singer,” and then laughed.

Then she hit a key on a device behind her, strapped on a guitar and sang a very mediocre song.  The music was okay and the lyrics were hard to decipher.  I see now that she is a poet, so I suspect that means the words are more important than the music.  When the song ended, she played chords on her guitar for a few more measures, eventually sliding up the neck to make a wall of noise.  When that stopped, she put down the guitar, tapped the device again and walked to the mic.

The music–even more spare without the guitar–filled the room.  Mary Jane swayed and spun and danced and hopped and occasionally sang.  It occurred  to me that the singing wasn’t really in tune or on time.

And her performing wasn’t particularly interesting either.  A lot of spinning, some stomping, occasionally touching herself.  There was even a somersault at one point.  It just felt a lot like what a little kid thinks performance is.  And since you couldn’t really hear the words, it wasn’t very impactful.

I honestly wondered if she was like the local promoter’s daughter who was getting her first shot at being on stage.  And then I discovered  that she has been in bands for years.

I am a very forgiving viewer, but I had a really hard time with this one.  I also assumed she’s be done after 20 minutes (12 was enough), but she was allowed to stay up there for 30.  Oof.

She received decent applause after each song, but I don’t know if people were entirely genuine about it.  Both Touché Amoré and Deafheaven sang her praises during their set, with Touché Amoré really hyping her.  But I didn’t get it.

I have also seen that Ringo Deathstarr opened for them on a few shows.  I would have 200% preferred to see them.

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GZA & The Phunky Nomads / Rebelmatic (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, November 29, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Rebelmatic, Underground Arts on November 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 29, 2023] GZA & The Phunky Nomads / Rebelmatic

I saw a poster for GZA playing Underground Arts and I was kind of surprised that he wouldn’t play a larger venue.  But I don’t know much about the individual Wu-Tang members, so I shouldn’t guess at how successful they are.

I wasn’t planning on going to this show, but when I heard that he was touring with Fishbone (although not here) I checked out this show a little more.

Turns out Rebelmatic is an amazing band.  I hadn’t heard of them, but listened to a few songs and  they are great.  This blurb is pretty spot on

Style Weekly recently asked the legendary HR of Bad Brains if there were any bands out today that reminded him of the Brains. “There’s a group called Rebelmatic,” was his response. 
 Certainly high praise for a band that recently came off tour with Fishbone’s Angelo Moore. “Rebelmatic brings out the automatic rebel in you,” Moore stated of his tour mates. 
 Rockers, Rebelmatic have been racking up a large number of legendary live performances, most recently packing out Webster Hall with indie darling Kool A.D. (Das Racist).

I’m still not going to this show, but I will definitely keep an eye our for Rebelmatic in the future.

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Liz Phair / Blondshell (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, November 22 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Blondshell, Franklin Music Hall, Liz Phair, Philadelphia, PA on November 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 22, 2023] Liz Phair / Blondshell

I guess it was 30 years ago that I really got into Liz Phair.  I loved Exile in Guyville.  And the two follow-ups.

Then she went away for a while and came back as a sell out.  Which she has admitted.  I used to care about things like that, and I never listened to her again, frankly.

I’m somewhat curious about hearing the Guyville songs live.  But I haven’t listened to the record in years either, so it’s like a rock that’s not worth digging up.  Plus it would be weird seeing her in a relatively large space like Franklin Music Hall.

I would love to see Blondshell again, having seen her at a Free at Noon.  But I’d much rather see her a sa headliner.  I’m sure that will happen next year.

 

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GZA / Fishbone / Beau Young Prince / Crazy and the Brains (White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, NJ, November 18, 2023) [CANCELLED]

Posted in Beau Young Prince, Cancelled, Crazy & the Brains, Fishbone, GZA, Jersey City, NJ, Philadelphia, PA, Rebelmatic, Thurston Moore, Underground Arts, White Eagle Hall on November 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[CANCELLED: November 18, 2023] GZA / Fishbone / Beau Young Prince / Crazy and the Brains

This About a month ago I saw a message that Fishbone was playing White Eagle Hall.  I had seen them earlier this summer for the first time and absolutely wanted to see them again–headlining!

But this show was scheduled for a day that we had family plans.  So I knew I couldn’t go.

When I looked up the show recently, I saw that it was cancelled.  I also saw that maybe this show was opening for GZA?  Weird that the WEH page mentioned Fishbone and not GZA.

And of course GZA is part of the Wu-Tang Clan although I don’t know much about him individually.

But it turns out that this leg of the tour has just been cancelled.

Most apologetically, due to unavoidable circumstances, we are forced to postpone the upcoming GZA/Fishbone Truth and Swords shows to Spring 2024.
Rest assured tickets purchased will be honored for the rescheduled date. If you would like to receive a refund, you will be able to do so at place of purchase.
We apologize for doing this at the 11th hour with the tour beginning
in Silver Spring, MD Monday.
Both GZA and Fishbone only want to bring the best show to all of you
and plan on doing so in Spring 2024.

Except that GZA is supposed to play Underground Arts in a week or so (which isn’t on the poster) and the opening band is Rebelmatic, who I’d not heard of, but apparently I should have: (more…)

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