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Archive for the ‘Destroy Boys’ Category

Destroy Boys (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 15, 2024)

Posted in Chokecherry, Destroy Boys, Jigsaw Youth, Philadelphia, PA, Sasami, Union Transfer on November 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 15, 2024] Destroy Boys

My son is a fan of Destroy Boys and when he was playing them, I was getting into them and agreed that they’d be fun to see live.  We saw them open for Pierce the Veil in Reading and really enjoyed the show.  Although, as I said then,

For some godawful reason, the venue decided to bathe the band in purple, which rendered them almost entirely invisible from where we were seated.  It definitely made us all want to see see them (actually see them) in a small club when they come around next time.

So it was great to see them up close at Union Transfer.  It was really entertaining seeing singer Alexia Roditis wearing a long leather coat and chaps (and black underwear).  She is an intense frontperson–powerful and in total control of the room, and I love that she proved how in control she was by basically wearing her underwear on stage.

Guitarist Violet Mayugba was on our side of the stage and she was an intense force of sound and attitude.  Bassist David Orozco was on the far side and seemed somewhat out of place in fairly normal clothes while the women in the band were wearing leather.  Drummer Narsai Malik was great behind the kit.

For this tour they had a fifth member, Nastacha Beck (aka Miss Distortion) from Jigsaw Youth on rhythm guitar.  [Back in 2022, I could have seen Destroy Boys (as a trio), Jigsaw Youth and Pinkshift in ne show but I had other plans…bummer!].

The show was full of energy right from the start with a ripping (and catchy) Shadow (I’m Breaking Down).  They didn’t only play new songs, jumping immediately back to Crybaby from 2018.  And Drink (an incredibly catchy song) dates back to 2021.

But this show was touring the new album so of course there were lots of new songs (which everyone there knew).  Like Plucked, a far more complex song musically than say K Street Walker from their debut (which makes up in fierceness what it lacks in complexity). (more…)

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Sasami (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 15, 2024) [DESTROY BOYS]

Posted in Chokecherry, Destroy Boys, Philadelphia, PA, Sasami, Union Transfer on November 16, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 15, 2024] Sasami

When this tour was announced, I thought it would be perfect for myself and my kids.  My daughter loved seeing Crawlers, the original opening act, my son loves Destroy Boys and in addition to liking both bands, I had wanted to see Sasami for quite a while.

I had heard that Sasami’s shows for her album Squeeze were insane–intense rocking shows in which Sasami didn’t hold back in trying to create “maximum chaos per capita.”

That tour had a full band and they rocked hard.

So I was disappointed that this set from Sasami was all over the place.  It was just her and her Colombian drummer Juan Diego Patiño (who was pretty great).  And she played songs from all over her career.

And honestly there was nothing bad about her set, it was just totally not was I was expecting.  (more…)

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Chokecherry (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 15, 2024) [DESTROY BOYS]

Posted in Chokecherry, Destroy Boys, Philadelphia, PA, Sasami, Union Transfer on November 15, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 15, 2024] Chokecherry

When this tour was announced, I thought it would be perfect for myself and my kids.  My daughter loved seeing Crawlers, the original opening act, my son loves Destroy Boys and in addition to liking both bands, I had wanted to see Sasami for quite a while.

But then Crawlers dropped off the tour (I’m not sure why) and they were replaced by Chokecherry who I hadn’t heard of.  I listened to a song or two and liked them.  So I was pleased to arrive early enough to see them.

I’m not really sure what the details are of this band, but I’m guessing that the two women who were up front, Guitarist Izzie A. Clark and bassist E. Scarlett Levinson are the fixtures of the band.  Other articles list two different members in the band. but for this show, Jack Lillian played second guitar and Sean Aaron  was on drums.

Izzie, Scarlett and Jack were dressed in provocative outfits–undergarments and corsets and they played up this flirtatiousness.  But their music totally rocked and their look proved to be an accent to their songs.   I couldn’t really see Sean who was behind the drums, so I’m not sure if he was wearing only boxers or what.

They opened with Lisa 1 and 2.  It starts with Izzie and Scarlett, quietly singing Lisa, I miss you, Lisa I’m sorry.  And then the song takes off.  But it’s in pat 2 that he real blistering punk comes out.  Two minutes of intensity.

Scarlett sang Afterglow, a song that builds with her softish voice into a terrific loud/quiet rocker.  It features one of several songs that have great guttural screams in them.  Around Around Around had a bit of a shoegaze vibe to it

The two singers had great harmonies together and I loved when Izzie left the mic for a few seconds to walk around while soloing.

They ended with Mirror Mirror a kicking rocker with fuzzy guitars and big loud chords.

I enjoyed their set a ton and would happily see them again.

 

2024 Union Transfer
Lisa 1
Lisa 2
Afterglow ∀
Around Around Around §
I Know You ∀
Glass Jaw §
Mirror Mirror ∀

∀ Messy Star (2024)
§ single (2023)

 

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Pierce the Veil (Santander Arena, Reading, PA, November 25, 2023)

Posted in Dayseeker, Destroy Boys, L.S. Dunes, Pierce the Veil, Reading PA, Santander Arena on November 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 25, 2023] Pierce the Veil

My son and I saw Pierce the Veil this summer in Asbury Par–on a storm-filled evening in which the opening band was dropped entirely and every other band did a shortened set (PtV played 7 songs).

This tour was, technically, I think, part of that tour–all for the new album.  But instead of it being a double-headline bill, PtV was the main headliner.

They played like it.

And the crowd responded in kind.

I’ve been to a lot of shows where the audience is 100% into the band, but after my two PtV shows, I’d have to say their audiences have to be the most intense.  Everyone knows every word to every song.  The people behind me even brought their small children with them.

For this show they played more than twice as many songs as when we saw them last time–although they did not play “Bulls in the Bronx” a song that I love.  But that’s fine.

While this tour is for the new album (they played six songs from it), they did not shy away from older songs at all.

The set was mostly loud rockers.  Starting with the opener “Death of an Executioner.”  They followed it with a song from their debut album–with angry vocals, the kind of which they don’t really use anymore.

I don’t actually know a lot of their songs all that well, but I really enjoyed “Circles”–these guys know their way around a chorus. (more…)

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L.S. Dunes (Santander Arena, Reading, PA, November 25, 2023) [PIERCE THE VEIL]

Posted in Coheed & Cambria, Dayseeker, Destroy Boys, L.S. Dunes, My Chemical Romance, Pierce the Veil, Thursday on November 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 25, 2023] L.S. Dunes

L.S. Dunes is like an emo supergroup.  The five guys in the band are each from at least one other well-known band.

Frank Iero (guitar) is from My Chemical Romance.  Travis Stever (guitar) is from Coheed & Cambria.  Tim Payne (bass) and Tucker Rule (drums) are from Thursday and singer Anthony Green is from Circa: Survive and a bunch of other bands.  Circa Survive is the only band I didn’t know, so I had a sense of what they sounded like–but not their vocalist.  Actually, I heard him sing a song with Thursday when we saw them open for MCR, but I don’t remember it.

This band started during the pandemic, with the various guys sending tapes back and forth to each other.  They’re all from roughly the east coast, (NJ, NY, PA) which is kind of cool for those of us on the east coast.

When the band came out they sounded so much bigger than Dayseeker.  I don’t know if it’s because the opening bands played via a less sophisticated sound system or what, but L.S. Dunes’ music filled  the arena in a way that Dayseeker didn’t.

The music was interesting and complex.  And singer Green hit high notes and growled alternately.

When I was at the merch table, the guy selling L.S. Dunes merch said sometimes the best first exposure to a band is live.  I agree with that sentiment although I think this particular first exposure wasn’t ideal because we were so far away and the lights weren’t great and, despite me saying how full the sound was, it still sounded a little rough (too loud maybe?)

Regardless, I really enjoyed the set and look forward to seeing them again in a smaller venue where I can really appreciate what they’re doing.

  1. Permanent Rebellion ♠
  2. Bombsquad ♠
  3. Like Forever ♠
  4. Grey Veins ♠
  5. Benadryl Subreddit ∇
  6. It Takes Time ♠
  7. Grifter ♠
  8. Past Lives ♠
  9. 2022 ♠
  10. Old Wounds ∇

∇ single (2023)
♠ Past Lives (2022)

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Dayseeker (Santander Arena, Reading, PA, November 25, 2023) [PIERCE THE VEIL]

Posted in Dayseeker, Destroy Boys, L.S. Dunes, Pierce the Veil, Reading PA, Santander Arena on November 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 25, 2023] Dayseeker

Dayseeker was the only band on this bill that I had never heard of.  I was rather surprised to find that they’d been around for almost ten years.

I’m always interested in finding out about new (to me) bands, and there were lots of people with Dayseeker T-shirts on in the crowd, but I really just couldn’t get into them.

They weren’t bad, they were just sort of generic emo.  I wanted to see if I was alone in thinking this, and I found this review from SputnikMusic which loved Rory Rodriguez’ voice, but found the album to be less challenging than their previous one:

Erase his voice from any track, and it instantly becomes mediocre at best, with toned down musicianship, unnecessary breakdowns, and borderline lazy guitar and drum work. To dismiss the record for those shortcomings though, while not entirely unjustified, would be a bit short-sighted.

So, I guess that’s what I was hearing.  And, because the sound at the Santander Arena isn’t great, I wasn’t that impressed by his voice either.

And again, none of it was bad, it was just sort of there.  I tapped my foot to some songs, kind of got into some others, but as I write this just a few days later, I can’t remember a thing about them.

Except that after every song, Rodriguez said “If you know our band, then you know…”  It was a pretty weird was to introduce every song.   He also pretty clearly lays his heart on his sleeve, talking about his father’s battle with cancer and about how the band almost gave up seven years ago (that was when I realized how long these guys had been around).

Their set was almost as short as Destroy Boys, though so all was good.

  1. Dreamstate ♣
  2. Burial Plot ¥
  3. Homesick ♣
  4. Without Me ♣
  5. Crying While You’re Dancing ♣
  6. Sleeptalk ¥
  7. Neon Grave ♣

¥ Sleeptalk (2019)
♣ Dark Sun (2022)

  • Rory Rodriguez – vocals
  • Gino Sgambelluri – guitar
  • Mike Karle – drums
  • Ramone Valerio – bass

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Destroy Boys (Santander Arena, Reading, PA, November 25, 2023) [PIERCE THE VEIL]

Posted in Dayseeker, Destroy Boys, L.S. Dunes, Pierce the Veil, Reading PA, Santander Arena on November 26, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 25, 2023] Destroy Boys

My son was listening to Destroy Boys a few months ago and I really dug their sound.  I imagined they’d be really fun to see live, so I made a note to see when they came near us.

Then it turned out that they were opening this show for Pierce the Veil.

I’d rather have seen them in a small venue, but seeing them at all is better than not seeing them.

Since we knew how long it took us to get to Reading after going on Wednesday, we planned our timing and had enough time to get some dinner (at a Bojangles!).  We still cut it a little closer than I liked but after we parked and scampered to the arena, we had a comfortable amount of time to find our seats before the lights dimmed and the band came out.

To virtual invisibility.

For some godawful reason, the venue decided to bathe the band in purple, which rendered them almost entirely invisible from where we were seated.   It stayed that way for a couple of songs and then they switched to a friendlier white/yellow schema so you could actually see how many people were on stage.  Although I feel like there were five sometimes, I only see 4 band members listed: Alexia Roditis vocals / guitar ; Violet Mayugba guitar ; Narsai Malik – drums ; David Orozco – bass.  But I’m also pretty sure there was some instrument switching going on.

The sound was also a little rough (arena shows, amiright?) but the band’s energy was undeniable.

When we finally could see them, they were jumping around stage and generally kicking butt.  (more…)

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Destroy Boys / Jigsaw Youth / Pinkshift / Softcult (Theatre of Living Arts [TLA], Philadelphia, PA, September 10, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Courage My Love, Destroy Boys, Jigsaw Youth, Philadelphia, PA, Pinkshift, Softcult, Theatre of Living Arts on September 10, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 10, 2022] Destroy Boys / Jigsaw Youth / Pinkshift / Softcult

This was an amazing bill for great punk.  I only found out about it after I had tickets for Neko Case that evening.  It turns out we wound up going to Lunar Faire this night anyhow.  But I would see any of these bands when they come back.

Destroy Boys play fast. lo-fi punk, but with really clear (and excellent lyrics).  I also enjoy the titles which have very little to do with the lyrics like:

“I Threw Glass at My Friend’s Eyes and Now I’m on Probation” with lyrics like

You’re ruining my life day by dayThe butterflies you give me are literally making me nauseousThis is disgusting, like seriously dudeWhat do you think you’re doing?You’re like way older than meAnd you’re gross and I don’t wanna do that

  • Alexia Roditis – lead vocals (2015–present), guitar (2018–present)
  • Violet Mayugba – guitar, backing vocals (2015–present)
  • Narsai Malik – drums (2018–present)

Jigsaw Youth is a punk band from Staten Island with a seriously heavy low end.  I listened to a few songs and liked some.  I preferred their newer stuff to their older songs.  I’m sure they would have kicked ass.

  • Maria Alvarez – bass, vocals
  • Nastacha Beck – guitar, backing vocals
  • Alex Dmytrow  – drums

I have seen Pinkshift twice and they are dynamite, both on record and especially live.  I would see them any chance I get.  And their new music is even better.

They are down to a trio now, but they always have a bass player on stage with them.

  • Ashrita Kumar – vocals
  • Paul Vallejo – guitars
  • Myron Houngbedji – drums

Softcult is the one sonic exception to the punk evening.  Softcult is a duo from Canda.  Their number one song on Spotify, “Love Song” is a soft woozy shoegaze song–it’s wonderful.  Their other songs play more with a hard/soft dynamic and grungy attitude.  The band comprises twin siblings Phoenix and Mercedes Arn-Horn who are also in the band Courage My Love (who are a bit more punk).  The three or four Softcult songs I heard were great.

  • Mercedes Arn-Horn – vocals, guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, cello
  • Phoenix Arn-Horn – drums, vocals keyboards

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SWMRS (Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA, April 7, 2019) [MUSE]

Posted in Beach Goons, Destroy Boys, Muse, Philadelphia, PA, SWMRS, The Clash, Wells Fargo Center, WKDU 91.7FM--Philadelphia, PA on April 7, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 7, 2019] SWMRS

I was unfamiliar with SWMRS when I heard they were announced as Muse’s support act.

They formed in 2011 as Emily’s Army.  They recorded two albums under that name, then changed it  to SWMRS.  The band features brothers Cole and Max Becker (They are both singers and guitarists, with Cole taking more lead vocals (and hypeman) and Max playing more lead guitar).  The drummer is Joey Armstorng (obligatory mention that he is Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong’s son).  They also have had Joey’s brother Jakob on rhythm guitar.  Brother-to-no-one Seb Mueller is the bassist.

But it was their politics that made me excited to see them.  From a bit in Rolling Stone:

the subversion of patriarchy is part of what drives the band. They are a product of their respectively progressive upbringings in Oakland, where the young band members grew up loving riot grrrl and entrenched in feminist teachings. “I became aware at a pretty young age that I was benefiting too much from the patriarchy,” Becker, a current Berkeley student, explains. “It’s one of those things where you don’t think about it until you play a hundred shows and only see aggressive, hyper-masculine dudes crowd surfing on top of 14-year-old girls. We feel like it’s our duty to uplift the voices that aren’t as easily heard as ours.”

That’s pretty awesome.  And an encouraging sign for the youth of tomorrow. (more…)

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