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Lucy Dacus / Julien Baker & Torres / Jay Som / Hop Along // Magdalena Bay / Remi Wolf / Annie Di Russo [A Make the World Better Benefit] (FDR Park, Philadelphia PA, July 25 & 27, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Annie DiRusso, Dell Music Center, Hop Along, Jay Som, Johnny Brenda's, Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus, Magdalena Bay, Make the World Better, Philadelphia, PA, Torres on July 25, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: July 25 & 27, 2025] Lucy Dacus / Julien Baker & Torres / Jay Som / Hop Along // Magdalena Bay / Remi Wolf / Annie Di Russo

Like every one of these benefits shows, the first day was made for me.

I love Lucy Dacus, although I have seen her twice this year already.

I would love to have seen Julien Baker & Torres together.  They cancelled all of their shows this summer and were replaced by Hop Along which was fine, but not as good as the original.  Interestingly, perhaps, Hop Along was supposed to open for Japanese Breakfast last year but they were replaced at the last minute.

Jay Som is a favorite underground artist whom I love and who has been pretty quiet as of late.

Day 2 was less exciting for me.

Remi Wolf is someone I’ve h heard about but don’t really know.  She appeared on American Idol so I assume she’s not someone I would like, even if she is listed as an indie artist.  I saw that she opened for Lorde in 2022 (which I didn’t go to) and back then I wrote

Remi Wolf is a singer songwriter whom I do not know.  The fact that she appeared on American Idol in 2014 makes me not like her.  That’s unfair, but whatever.

At least I’m consistent.

Magdalena Bay is a duo (I thought it was someone’s name, oops).  The duo consists of Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin, who met in high school.  They play synthy pop and I really like their song “Image” although the rest is more pop than alternative.  Dancy and probably a treat to listen to on a sunny summer day.

Annie DiRusso was the only person on the bill for both days whom I had never heard of.  She’s an interesting young musician who veers to the noisy while writing poppy songs.  She also sings about college and wrote a song called Ovid.  So she appeals to that side of my musical appreciation.  The Harvard Crimson (!) review says

The album is an evolution of her usual guitar-heavy rock instrumentals, experimenting with incorporating different genres while still maintaining a cohesive sound across the record.

I hope she opens for someone I’m seeing one of these days.

So why didn’t I go to Day One?  Well, I didn’t really need to see Lucy again.  Plus, this was in FDR Park which I know nothing about and I have really bad luck with outdoor venues in Philly.  So while I fully support the cause, I just wasn’t willing to make the effort for this one.  And obvsiously Day Two wasn’t my scene.

 

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Pixies (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 23, 2025)

Posted in Band of Skulls, Kurt Vile, Kurt Vile and the Violators, Philadelphia, PA, Pixies, The Fillmore Philadelphia on July 24, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 23, 2025] Pixies

I have seen Pixies four times in the last eight years.  I didn’t really know if I wanted to see them again–indeed when these two shows were announced I was iffy about the whole thing.  I did want to go to the first of two nights–where they were playing Bossanova and Trompe Le Monde (since they don’t play very much from either of those albums in their sets–I’ve only seen 2 songs from Bossanova and only 4 from Trompe).  But that turned out to be the night of The Decemberists concert, and I wasn’t going to pass up The Decemberists.

A couple of days before this, I asked my wife if she’d like to go to this show–mostly because Kurt Vile was opening.  She loves Kurt and, as she says, doesn’t know anything by Pixies (except, it turns out Here Comes Your Man).  She agreed and we wound up buying tickets at the box office day of (the first night sold out this one did not).

The Kurt show was great and I told my wife that Pixies are interesting because they do not talk between songs–indeed, they don’t talk at all.  And they will play like 30 songs in 90 minutes.

She felt bad that she didn’t know anything going into the show, but I told her afterwards that they played nearly ten (out of about 30) that I had never heard before.  But it was the 2o songs in between that I was really psyched about.

I was unsure who their new bass player was–it’s Emma Richardson of Band of Skulls.  The biggest difference between her and Paz (who I really liked) is that Emma has blonde hair.  Otherwise, she is an excellent addition to the band.

She sang the first song (and what I assumed was the final song).  The first song was a David Lynch cover “In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song)” that apparently Pixies released a long long time ago on a B-sides record.  She also sang Into the White.  Interestingly (or not) they did not play Gigantic (the most famous Kim Deal sung song).

Heaven is a slow, meandering song, something unlike most Pixies songs, so it felt like it was building to something.  Which turned out to be a song from their 2019 album that I didn’t know.  So, yes, I’m an old school Pixies fan and haven’t listened to much of anything they ‘ve released since they reunited. (more…)

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Kurt Vile and the Violators (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 23, 2025) [PIXIES]

Posted in Kurt Vile, Kurt Vile and the Violators, Philadelphia, PA, Pixies, The Fillmore Philadelphia on July 24, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 23, 2025] Kurt Vile & The Violators

I had seen Kurt Vile in 2018, but since then, my wife has become a huge fan.  We saw him and the Violators at Union Transfer in 2022.

I know we enjoyed the UT show, but somehow, this opening set was a lot better.  We both felt that way.  Not that we had bad feelings about the UT show, but this just felt bigger, like he was just having a ton of fun.

But it is weird to have him opening since he is a pretty big deal (especially in Philly).  I don’t know if he could sell out the Fillmore on his own, but maybe…  Anyway, he strolled out said he was Kurt from Philly and these were his boys around him.

He started with a song from his new(ish) EP, the only song that we hadn’t heard him play before.

Like last time, he switched guitars pretty much every song and the Violators switched instruments from time to time. (more…)

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The Decemberists (Wind Creek Event Center, Bethlehem, PA, July 22, 2025)

Posted in Bethlehem, PA, Melt, Merce Lemon, The Decemberists, Wind Creek Event Center on July 23, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 22, 2025] The Decemberists 

We saw The Decemberists last year and it was pretty exciting that they announced a small summer tour (8 shows!) and one was in Bethlehem.  My last experience here at Wind Creek was abysmal.  We arrived much earlier tonight and the getting into the venue process wasn’t that terrible.

The previous show was fairly elaborate with a large cast on stage.  They opened with just Colin singing and then the rest of the band slowly coming out to make each song louder.

This time was completely different.  Drummer John Moen came out first and started a rousing drum beat.  Then the rest of the band came out and they launched into July, July! a perfectly apt song for the summer, and one that we hadn’t seen before (which is shocking).  Indeed, while not a rarities show per se, this show featured a lot of songs that we hadn’t seen before or, had only seen once.

I wondered if they’d play much from the new album–technically this is still the same tour (Peaceable Kingdom–their merch totes still said 2024).  They played three songs, Burial Ground which is always fun to hear live.  The other two songs were deep cuts from the new album and two that they hadn’t played live before this mini tour.

Rox in the Box is one of my wife’s favorite songs and she’s always a little bummed when they don’t play it.  But this time they did.  Before the show we talked to the people seated next to us (gasp, really? Yes!) and in discussing what songs they’d like to hear, my wife said Rox in the Box (check) and Make You Better (check).  We also discussed the new jamming version of Severed.  This version had Colin telling an off-the-cuff (clearly) story about the brown shirts in charge of this country being subsumed by the rust of steelstacks (or something).

After a second deep cut from As It Ever Was (which I thought sounded familiar but couldn’t place it), they played a superbly deep cut from an early album: The Bus Mall (something they do play from time to time, but which I’d never heard live).  It was followed by another new track for us, Oceanside, a fun song from their earliest EP.

They brought out Ron from Melt to sing The Queen’s Rebuke and she sounded fantastic!  I don’t know where she came from–Melt didn’t open the show and they are playing in Bethlehem in two days, but how did this magic pairing happen?  I have no idea.  I see they didn’t play it the previous night, so maybe Melt was just hanging around.  Because Ron stayed out for the next song and their guitarist came out and played too.  And that next song was a cover of Paranoid by Black Sabbath.  Not something you expect to hear at a Decemberists show.  However, Ozzy died earlier that day so it seemed a nice tribute.  Colin took the drums and John Moen sang.  He did a fairly decent Ozzy impression (getting everyone to clap and going crazeee), but hilariously he didn’t know the words at all.  How is that possible? (more…)

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Merce Lemon (Wind Creek Event Center, Bethlehem, PA, July 22, 2025) [THE DECEMBERISTS]

Posted in Bethlehem, PA, Melt, Merce Lemon, The Decemberists, Wind Creek Event Center on July 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 22, 2025] Merce Lemon 

I didn’t know Merce Lemon before this show.  Normally I look up an opening band, but I just didn’t for this show.

They came out as a five piece (although Merce Lemon is apparently the lead singer and it is her project).  She was joined by Reid Magette who played some utterly fantastic lead lines in the songs.  Pat Coyle on drums was fun to watch because the songs weren’t complicated, but he threw in lots of flourishes here and there to make them really come to life.  Alvin Row was playing lap steel for the whole show.  Sometimes his leads lurred with Reid’s but overall he provided some great ambient sounds.  And Benji on nass occasionally made some great feedbacking noises on these otherwise mellow songs.

Merce described her band in an interview with Post-Trash:.

My drummer Pat Coyle plays under his name. Benji, who plays bass, also plays under Clear Creek SP. Reid, my guitarist, plays under I4A, which stands for Ideas for Advertisements. Spencer, who played keys on the album, plays ambient music under the name Alvin Row. We recently played a show at my friend’s sauna, which has an outdoor space. He was playing ambient lap steel, and it made me cry.

They played six songs, each one at least 5 minutes long.  The songs started out quietly but they usually had really exciting moments and the crowd was easily won over by them.  The last song in particular had a great build up and conclusion.

Merce never mentioned the band’s name (or anything more than I’m Merce) and I don’t know what songs they played, except for a Bonnie “Prince” Billy cover of “I See a Darkness.”

I’m hopeful that someone will post the setlist as I really don’t know what they played.

But yeah, overall a very enjoyable opening act.

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Pixies / Kurt Vile (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 22, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Kurt Vile, Kurt Vile and the Violators, Philadelphia, PA, Pixies, The Fillmore Philadelphia on July 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: July 22, 2025] Pixies / Kurt Vile 

When Pixies announced this two night stand at The Fillmore I was really intrigued.  I have seen Pixies four times in the last eight years and wasn’t sure I’d need to go again.  Although I was actually interested in tonight’s show because I feel like they don’t play as much from Trompe Le Monde.

But then this show was on the same night as a Decemberists concert that my wife and I were not willing to pass up.  Glad we got to go to night two.

My wife has become a huge fan of Kurt Vile over recent years.  We have seen him, but I thought she’d really like to see him again.  SO I’m glad we got to go to the second night of these shows.  And it’s fun to see him as an opening act in Philly.

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Primus / Ty Segall (The Rooftop at Pier 17, New York, NY, July 21, 2025)

Posted in New York City, Primus, The Rooftop at PIer 17, Ty Segall on July 21, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: July 21, 2025] Primus / Ty Segall

I’ve seen Primus four times.  And yet I’ve never seen them as just Primus.  I saw them in the 90s which was great.  Then I saw them play their Desaturated Seven album, which was fine, but the  extra songs were what I really wanted to here.  I saw them play Rush’s A Farewell to Kings, which was awesome, but again, not really Primus.  And I saw them with Puscifer this summer but it wasn’t really their show.  So, this would have been a great opportunity to see them.

But, while the Rooftop is an amazing venue, it’s a massive pain in the ass to get to.  So I’d need to have someone really special playing there to haul ass there.  And Primus wasn’t it.

Probably because Ty Segall was opening.  I have had no luck seeing this guy.  I have missed him on six occasions for one reason or another.  So, I’ll blame Ty.

 

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“Weird Al” Yankovic: Bigger & Weirder 2025 Tour (TD Pavilion Stage at the Mann Center, Philadelphia, PA, July 19, 2025)

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, Funny (ha ha), Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Milo Murphy's Law, Paul Simon, Philadelphia, PA on July 20, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 19, 2025] “Weird Al” Yankovic

This was my tenth time seeing Weird Al.  That’s pretty exciting.

I didn’t know if he’d be doing another tour (he hasn’t put out any new music (aside from soundtrack songs) in over ten years!  But this was a bigger and weirder tour.  In practice, this meant that there were more people on stage than ever before–four other people on stage aside from his long-lasting regular band.

Probyn Gregory – backing vocals, trumpet, trombone, tuba, guitars, percussion ; Scheila Gonzalez – backing vocals, saxophone, clarinet, percussion ;  Payton Velligan – backing vocals, guitars, percussion ; Monique Donnelly – backing vocals, keyboards, percussion.

I asked my whole fam if they wanted to go and all three of them said yes, rather excitedly I might add.  But that was a long time before the show.  And so my daughter wound up working and my son wound up going to a concert in Wisconsin!  I was able to sell my two tickets for basically face value and my wife and I enjoyed the show by ourselves.

I assumed that this show would be a kind of greatest hits show, but it turned out to be chock full of songs I hadn’t seen live before and, some that I had never even heard before!

They opened with Tacky, but there was some kind of technical difficulty, so I’m not sure how much of the song they were going to play.  I would have enjoyed hearing it, but it’s not a big deal.

Then he surprised the heck out of me by opening with Mission Statement, the CSNY inspired song that mocks corporate speak.  It sounded great with the backing singers doing harmonies.  Then came Polkamania!  I knew this medley, but not very well.  I had forgotten that he put it out in 2024 as a single covering the ten years since his last album.  It was really fun seeing Billie Eilish in a Weird Al concert.

After the drum solo, they played Everything You Know is Wrong, a song I simple cannot believe I’d never seen him play live before (I see he never played it before this tour!).  It was amazing. (more…)

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The Warning / Speed of Light (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, July 19, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Mexico, Philadelphia, PA, Speed of Light, The Warning, Union Transfer on July 19, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: July 19, 2025] The Warning / Speed of Light

In a really weird coincidence, I had literally just read about The Warning and how much they rocked.  I listened to a couple of songs and liked them quite a lot.  And then I saw that they were playing at Union Transfer.  I was really interested in going, but it was one of four shows that I wanted to see today.  And I already had tickets for Weird Al so The Warning lost out.

So The Warning is from Monterrey, Mexico (they sing in English).  The band members are sisters: Daniela (guitar, vocals, piano), Paulina (drums, vocals, piano), and Alejandra (bass guitar, backing vocals, piano) Villarreal Vélez.  They rock really hard , Daniela’s voice is great and they seem like they’d be fantastic live.

Speed of Light are also siblings Riley (bass and vocals) Tyler (drums) and Cameron (lead guitar) Christensen.  They are from California and started the band when they were children.  They are less metal than The Warning, with a grungy sound, they have clean (excellent) vocals and some growling as well.  They are pretty intense.

I think this would have been a great show to go to and I hope they both tour again around here.

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Dinosaur Jr. / Snail Mail (The Stone Pony Summer Stage, Asbury Park, NJ, July 19, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Asbury Park, NJ, Dinosaur Jr., J. Mascis, Snail Mail, The Stone Pony, The Stone Pony Summer Stage on July 19, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: July 19, 2025] Dinosaur Jr. / Snail Mail

I saw Dinosaur Jr. right here ten years ago almost to the day.  They were opening for Jane’s Addiction and it was a terrific show.  I have seen them two more times since then and kind of felt I didn’t need to see them again.  Although it has been four years now.

I don’t love this venue, although if you get there at the right time and in the right spot it can be pretty great.

I’ve ben trying to see Snail Mail since 2018.  Every time they play–either opening or headlining, something comes up and I don’t see them.  I’m not even sure if I like them anymore.  But I love that she keeps popping up on my radar.  They seem like an odd band to open for Dino Jr.

 

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