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Mia Asano / Billy Wilkins / Malphas (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, March 6, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Billy Wilkins, Malphas, Mia Asano, Philadelphia, PA on March 8, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: March 8, 2026] Mia Asano / Billy Wilkins / Malphas

In what is either serendipity or calculated planning, I heard about Mia Asano about three weeks before she announced this tour.  I was pretty sure I wanted to go because she looked like such a fun entertainer.  She plays a “flying V” electric violin that is more or less attached to her shoulder so she can move around while the violin stays put.

She plays mor or less heavy metal and her violin is super fast soloing.  But the more I thought about it the less I actually wanted to go.  It seemed more like a novelty than anything else.  And while I love novelty, I didn’t need to go to this one.  I think I’d rather see her as an opening act.

Billy Wilkins in from New Jersey.  He sings like a metal singer but his music feels much lighter than that.  I sort of like it but mostly don’t.  Although I suspect he’s enjoyable live.

I saw Malphas open for Arkona a few weeks ago.  I enjoyed their set but I came away thinking they were a bit amateurish, which is just an odd thing to think about a band (I blame Dingbatz more than the band I think).  Their music was pretty good and I would have enjoyed seeing them again in their home city.

 

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Baroness (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, March 6, 2026)

Posted in Baroness, Blood Vulture, Commitment, John Baizley, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on March 8, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 6, 2026] Baroness

I have seen Baroness twice before this show.  The first was an acoustic record release show at a Record Store.  The second was at a sold out Kung Fu Necktie in which I couldn’t see anything because of where I was.  So I felt I hadn’t really seen them.

I really wanted to see their Red and Blue tour (where they played both of those albums), but it sold out before I got a ticket.  So this was my chance.  It turned out that they were playing the following night at Starland Ballroom, but they were OPENING for Acid Bath, who I’d never heard of. Crazy.

But here they were headlining.  It feels like the band is really John Baizley (they only person who has been with the band from the start) and new(ish) lead guitarist and amazing shredder Gina Gleeson.  I had thought that the bassist and drummer were kind of new to the band, but Nick Jost has been bassist and Sebastian Thomson has been drummer since 2013–so, they’re long time fixtures for sure. (more…)

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Commitment (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, March 6, 2026) [BARONESS]

Posted in Baroness, Blood Vulture, Commitment, John Baizley, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on March 7, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 6, 2026] Commitment

I listened to Commitment just before the show and was blown away by the band’s old school hardcore punk sound.  And that the singer was a woman (not all that common in hardcore).  The woman is Tati Salazar who can scream with an unparalleled fury.   I noticed that the guitarist from Soul Glo was standing in the back of the stage, and that made even more sense when I found out that the drummer is Soul Glo vocalist Pierce Jordan.  And he is a beast on the drums!  Holy cow he is fast and loud.

Guitarist Jake Smith (of Eye Flys, who I do not know) was on the far side of the stage and bassist Zach Bailey, was in front of me.  Bailey was fascinating to watch because his bass work was excellent, but he did not fit the part–he looked a little like Peter Parker in the early Spiderman movies.  He also wore a black latex glove on his left hand–how did it not get ripped on the strings that he was sliding all over?  The last time I saw someone wearing those gloves on stage was also at UA when Damien from Fucked Up said that he had cut his hand and the glove was for protection.  If Bailey cut his hand, it didn’t impact his playing at all.

The band came out and exploded all over the stage.  It was no-frills hardcore punk with almost no song reaching the two-minute mark (except for one longer song).  Now, I couldn’t understand a lot of what Tati was singing, but her energy and intensity made it pretty clear what the songs were generally about. (more…)

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Aterciopelados / Laura Lizcano (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, March 7, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Aterciopelados, Laura Lizcano, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on March 7, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: March 7, 2026] Aterciopelados / Laura Lizcano

Back in the 90s I was a fan of Aterciopelados.  They never really made it onto my radar in the 2000s but I was really pleased to see that they were still together and touring.  I would have liked to go to this show but we had tickets to see DakhaBrakha already and I really wanted to see them.  Their sound has changed over the years but they retain Colombian styles as they shoft from more rocking sounds to their more recent poppy sounds.

Laura Lizcano is a Colombian singer who lives in New York now.   She combines Latin American musical traditions and indie alternative music. Her songs shine in both English and Spanish with deeply personal and confessional storytelling enhanced by a telenovela-like drama.  She has a lovely voice 

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DakhaBrakha (Berlind Theater, Princeton, NJ, March 7, 2026)

Posted in Berlind Theatre, DakhaBrakha, Princeton, NJ, Ukraine on March 7, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 7, 2026] DakhaBrakha

Four years ago I saw DakhaBrakha and was blown away.  It was a very emotional time as Russia had just invaded Ukraine–support and anger were very high.  The music was beautiful and powerful and the messages of hope and resistance were very strong.  Their home base is in Kyiv and they have first hand experience with the tragedy.

It is simply unbelievable that four years later, the war is still going on.  And now with our new regime and Putin’s puppet in place, Ukraine is in even worse straights (although the EU does seem to be helping).

After seeing them, I wanted my wife to experience them as well.  I’m sad it took four years to see them again, but I’m glad they can still tour the U.S.  I asked the rest of my family if they wanted to experience this as well (and bravo to them all for saying yes with the very vague descriptions I gave).  My daughter couldn’t go because if a last minute commitment, but my wife and my son really enjoyed it.

The band is a quartet: Marko Halanevych.  He plays more than this but for tonight he did: vocals, goblet drum, harmonica, accordion guitar and certainly other things.

Then there was Olena Tsybulska, vocals and drums.  She had a small kit but a huge sound.  Next to her was Iryna Kovalenko who played everything.  She sang and played mostly keyboards, but also drums, djembe, flute, buhay, piano, ukulele, zgaleyka, and a tiny accordion.  And last but not least, Nina Garenetska sang and played cello.  The cello was the one major constant through the songs–she made bass lines, rhythms and even cool effects through pedals.

Each woman’s voice was amazing–powerful and resonant.  And when the women sang together, wow.  It was mesmerizing.  Marko sings lead on many songs.  He has a falsetto and also a deeper vocal style.  He played accordion for many of the songs.

They sing almost entirely in Ukrainian.  Marko speaks English between songs (and the women chimed in from time to time).  And there were two songs in English, the light-hearted “I’ve Boarded the Wrong Plane” [“Ye Siv Ne v Toy Litak”] and the kind of silly Baby. (more…)

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Blood Vulture (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, March 6, 2026) [BARONESS]

Posted in Baroness, Blood Vulture, Commitment, John Baizley, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on March 6, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 6, 2026] Blood Vulture

I had not heard of Blood Vulture before this show was announced.  I listened to their record and was kind of surprised at just how much they sounded like Alice in Chains.  Singer Jordan Olds sounded quite a lot like Layne Staley, almost shockingly so.  It’s possible that it was a combination of his voice and the backing vocalist(s) who really made this comparison, but it was unavoidable.  They are a bit heavier and groovier on record.  And live, the Alice in Chains delivery is pretty much gone.  But the energy remained.

I didn’t know anything about Blood Vulture or Jordan Olds who is also known as Gwarsenio Hall from his popular YouTube series, ‘Two Minutes to Late Night.”  During the Baroness set, John Baizley said that they had been on Jordan’s show a number of times.

I was initially turned off by Jordan because he did that thing where opening bands demand that people dance (and circle pit) to their music.  I’m not convinced that anyone can insist on a pit–they should form organically.  Anyhow, I didn’t love his attitude, but I quickly learned that he’s pretty funny and whatever these songs are about, he told us that each song was “about sucking blood!”

Their drummer was fantastic, and indeed, everyone in the band was great.  I loved the sound of the bass.  The lead guitarist played some great solos and they keyboardist sang great backing vocals too.  Although the recording was all done by Jordan, so there was no introduction of the band members. (more…)

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Jesse Welles / S.G. Goodman (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, March 4, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Jesse Welles, Philadelphia, PA, S.G. Goodman, The Fillmore Philadelphia on March 4, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: March 4, 2026] Jesse Welles / S.G. Goodman

I started following Jesse Welles online because he made videos of himself singing songs in a field that were political and timely.  Something stupid would happen and he would have a decent song about it within a day.

I had no idea that he was  the same guy they were playing on WXPN. I really liked the song Horses and now they play Wheel all the time (possibly too much).

I’m not really sure what his set would be like–I assume it’s just him.  He seems like he’d be a really good performer–personable and easily improvised.  But this show was sold out pretty quickly, so I didn’t bother investigating more.

During the pandemic, S.G. Goodman was supposed to open for Nada Surf.  So back in 2021 I wrote

S.G. Goodman is a singer-songwriter from Western Kentucky known for her rootsy sound and raw, honest lyricism. Her debut album came out in March.  I’ve listened to “The Way I Talk” and wow, what a cool song.  A simple repetitive beat with Goodman’s raw voice.  She doesn’t sing like a country singer (so that’s good), she tells a song story that ends with some amazing guitar feedback.  I’d love to see her live.

Since then she has gotten a ton of airplay on WXPN/  I like most of her songs although she is a bit overplayed now too.

This was probably a fun, upbeat folkie night.

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Peaches / Model/Actriz (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, March 1, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Model/Actriz, Peaches, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on March 1, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: March 1, 2026] Peaches / Model/Actriz

I was really surprised when I saw that Peaches announced a show at Union Transfer.  Although I see she did play there in 2022.

I don’t know very much about Peaches.  I know enough to know that she is sex positive and very very explicit.  I did think that this would be a fun show to experience once (like Gwar, but with very different fluids) but I already had tickets to see comedian Ed Gamble who I was really excited to see live.

Maybe if Peaches comes back in four more years I’ll try to see her.  I’ve seen some clips from the show online and it looks pretty wild.

I saw Model/Actriz four years ago and really want to see them again.  In fact, I found out about this show first because they were announced as the opening act.  I think they were pretty much brand new when I saw them and I’m glad that they’ve been getting more popular.  I do hope to see them again and it looks like they tour a lot more often than Peaches, so I’ll assume they’ll be back soon.

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Mitski (Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ, February 28, 2026)

Posted in Her New Knife, Mitski, Sayreville, NJ, Starland Ballroom on March 1, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 28, 2026] Mitski

I saw Mitski in 2018 at Union Transfer.  Then in 2022, my kids wanted to see Mitski and I scored tickets to Franklin Music Hall.  We couldn’t get tickets to her 2024 show and when she announced her 2026, I knew we weren’t going to go.  Why?  Because she had decided on a residency at The Shed in New York City, somewhere I didn’t know and didn’t want to go to.

And then, out of the blue, four days ago Mitski announced that she was going to do an album release party at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville.  What? Why there? Was this real?  And would I be able to get tickets?

Well, the answer to the final question was yes, yes I could.  I had asked my kids and neither one of them wanted to go.  I didn’t ask why, but I grabbed two tickets, just in case one of them changed their mind.  But neither one did so my wife and I went to see her.  Which means that I have now taken everyone in y family to see Mitski.

We arrived what I thought was pretty early but boy was I wrong.  I used the ADA entrance to avoid the massive line and we managed to get a great spot in the center near the front of the elevated area behind the soundboard.  Obviously I would prefer the floor but it was PACKED!  And this location was much better than being on the floor in the back.

At 8:30, Mitski’s band came out on stage.  The set was remarkably bare.  As in, there was nothing on stage except the instruments and a black curtain. (more…)

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Arkona (Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ, February 25, 2026)

Posted in Ametropia, Arkona, Clifton NJ, Dingbatz, Аркона, Malphas, Mindrazer on February 28, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 25, 2026] Arkona

I saw Arkona (Аркона) open for Korpiklanni back in 2018.  I liked everything about them–their look, their sound and their lead singer, band creator, and primary songwriter Masha Scream (Maria Arkhipova).  The band were dressed in burlap robes, and they all had long hair.  There was a hand drum and skulls and all manner of arcana.  I assumed that they were huge (and I think they are in Europe).

So when they announced a show in Clifton, I just had to go–their first time in the States (otherthan NYC) since 2018.  It was my first time going to Dingbatz, a (mostly) heavy metal club. The place is really small (200 people) and the show was not sold out (yikes).  I felt bad for the band who I know has played festivals with thousands of screaming fans.  And here we were, about 75 people.  Yikes.  I hope they didn’t lose money.

The roadies came out and hung up the Arkona banner (I think at other shows they’ve projected images behind the band, but there was no room for that here).  It was pretty funny seeing them hang the banner while standing on chairs–again a whole battle of the bands feel.  (more…)

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