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Archive for the ‘Archer Music Hall’ Category

Cradle of Filth: Majestic in Death II (Archer Music Hall, Allentown, PA, October 24, 2026)

Posted in Allentown PA, Archer Music Hall, Black Satellite, Blackbraid, Cradle of Filth, Moonspell on October 26, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 24, 2026] Cradle of Filth

I’ve known of Cradle of Filth for decades (they have been around since 1991).  I always assumed they were a hard to listen to growly band not unlike Napalm Death (who I have seen and loved).  I just never really thought about seeing them.  Then I read a review that notes that

The band’s style evolved from black metal to a cleaner and more “produced” amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic metal and other genres. Their lyrics and imagery are influenced by Gothic literature, poetry, mythology and horror films.

So I listened to a few songs and I found out that lead Filth man Dani Filth is in corpse paint and it’s all theatrical and crazy and I’m so in.  I picked this Allentown show instead of Starland Ballroom for a couple of reasons.  The date.  The opportunity to check out Archer Music Hall and because a metal show at Starland would be insane.

So Archer Music Hall is pretty nice.  Relatively easy to get to and I got $5 parking directly across the street.

When Blackbraid ended, they brought out a microphone stand which was a statue of a person in agony.   There was a much longer wait than expected (technical issues with the keys I believe) and then the band came out.  There have been dozens of people in the band since the 90s, but the current lineup has been around for a bit.  Dani Filth – lead vocals (1991–), Martin “Marthus” Škaroupka – drums (2006–), Daniel Firth – bass (2012–),  Donny Burbage – guitars (2022–), Joff Bailey – guitars (2026–present).  I’m not sure which of the guitarists was the new guy.  One had a full beard and some corpse paint.  The other had half shaved/half really long hair and pretty good spooky makeup.  He also had an amazing angry face and was actually kind of scary from the barrier.

Although Dani Filth wasn’t.  I hate to say it, but I must.  Dani Filth is really short and he had on an excessive amount of leather with huge spokes. It was certainly comical more than scary.  But it worked with the over the top nature of the band.  Nevertheless, he is a great frontman–funny when speaking, intense when singing and constantly hitting interesting shrieking notes.

So the show was not as extreme death metal as I feared but it also wasn’t as gothic metal as I expected.  They were definitely heavy but with lots of synths and operatic female vocals peppering some of the songs.  And I really enjoyed it. (more…)

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Blackbraid (Archer Music Hall, Allentown, PA, October 24, 2026) [CRADLE OF FILTH]

Posted in Allentown PA, Archer Music Hall, Black Satellite, Blackbraid, Cradle of Filth, Moonspell on October 25, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 24, 2026] Blackbraid

Initially, the Mexican band Moonspell was supposed to be the second band on the bill but they weren’t able to secure a visa–boy our government sucks.  So Blackbraid was chosen to take over.  I’d never heard of them, but I quickly learned that Blackbraid is the solo black metal project of a Native American (no visa issues there, ye bastards).

So I listened to Blackbraid and it reminded me of Bathory [R.I.P.]–the Swedish solo extreme metal guy who I’d assumed stopped making music forty years ago (he hadn’t, in fact he made all kinds of different music throughout his a career until his death in 2004).  Bathory’s first few albums were basically the fastest drumming you could get, screamed impenetrable vocals and moderately cacthy guitar progressions.  And it sounded like it was recorded on a $5 cassette player.  Well, Blackbraid embraces much of that sound except it is really well recorded and sounds 1000 times better.  But it has the same kind of relentlessness.  I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect from them, but they did not disappoint.

In front of me was one of the guitar players who had corpse paint and some kind of bones around his neck.  The rest of the band wasn’t really painted up that much, but main singer (and main guy) Jon Krieger (also known as Sgah’gahsowáh, a Mohawk name meaning “the witch hawk”).

They started off with an explosion–really fast drumming and a black metal riff that reminded me of the style of Bathory.  And then Kreiger started….singing.  The songs have lyrics but live, it was like one explosive growl after another.  I genuinely couldn’t tell if he was singing anything or just making guttural sounds.  He never spoke to us, although he did occasionally gesture for more applause.

The band was incredibly tight–the drummer was a machine of fast drumming and I loved watching the guitarist in front of me.  After a few minutes of intensity, things slowed down and it seemed like Kreiger was singing, but it was still so animalistic that it was hard to tell.  He had an intensity that was unstoppable. (more…)

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Black Satellite (Archer Music Hall, Allentown, PA, October 24, 2026) [CRADLE OF FILTH]

Posted in Allentown PA, Archer Music Hall, Black Satellite, Blackbraid, Cradle of Filth on October 24, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 24, 2026] Black Satellite

Black Satellite is from New York City.  The two constants in the band are singer Larissa Vale and guitarist Kyle Hawken.  Their debut album is kind of slick (but heavy) metal.  Their later album is a lot heavier and angrier.  [They had previously supported Starset and now are supporting Cradle of Filth].

They came out and were pretty high tech looking.  The drums lad lights in them and the lights changed color with the stage lights.  The rest of the band was pretty intense looking.  One guitarist had on whiteface and skull lines.  The other two had various corpse painting and Larissa herself had a very cool look with her head half shaved and a black line under her eyes.  They also wore a lot of leather–they looked cool for sure.

Larissa doesn’t growl/sing she snarl sings and her voice is pretty deep.  I enjoyed that she used the old blocky microphone that you palm to sing in.  Between that and her lengthy coat, she definitely had a “leader” look about her.

Their songs were heavy and dark but with some seriously catchy elements.  And now that I know some of the lyrics, I can hear that she was singing them and not just making sounds (like on Broken).

A few songs into the set the guitarist on the far side of the stage (I don’t know who was who) who had long long long hair, reached into a pouch on hos belt and threw something to someone in the audience.  They caught it, he smiled and nodded. He did this several times throughout the set.  At the end of the set, he came over to our side and threw a few things which I later found out were–Twizzlers.  It was so cute for such a heavy and intense sounding band.

There was some serious headbanging and even a song called Kill for You

I will kill for you
I will hurt for you
For you, I would do anything (anything)
I will kill for you
Take a bullet for you
I’ll keep you safe from everything
I will kill for you

I enjoyed their whole set quite a lot, and I’m really fascinated by the makeup on their guitarist.

They didn’t play anything from their debut (which makes sense) although they did play one song that came out before their new album and then they surprised me by ending with a Depeche Mode cover.  And not something heavy like Personal Jesus.  They went with Never Let Me Down Again.   They made it really heavy and it sounded good.

It felt weird singing along to a Depeche Mode song at a metal show, but I did!  They even did goofy synchronized guitar waving.  So despite the darkness and heaviness, they clearly were having fun, too.  Which I appreciate.

I really enjoyed their set.

  1. Dead Eye ∇
  2. Broken ∇
  3. Far Away ∇
  4. Here It Ends ∇
  5. Void ∇
  6. Kill For You ∇
  7. Doom or Die ∇
  8. Downfall §
  9. Never Let Me Down Again (Depeche Mode cover)

∇ Aftermath (2025)
§ single (2025)

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cavetown / chloe moriondo (Archer Music Hall, Allentown, PA, September 20, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Allentown PA, Archer Music Hall, Cavetown, chloe moriondo on September 20, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 20, 2026] cavetown / chloe moriondo

We saw Cavetown two years ago and they were so much fun.  From the catchy songs to the fun stage goings on, it was a terrific show.  I’ve thought about seeing them again, and this seemed like a lower key way to do so.  Despite the metal looking logo, Cavetown’s music actually seems even more mellow.

I’m fascinated that this tour starts in Allentown and ends a month later in Philadelphia.  I couldn’t go to the Allentown show because I had tickets to Eihwar which I didn’t want to pass up and on the night in Philly, I had tickets to TWO other shows that evening.  So, despite the proximity and frequency, I couldn’t do Cavetown this year.

Om Tidal, it says that chloe moriondo is 16, but she is actually 23.  She’s from Detrooit and plays a mix of indie pop, indie rock and bedroom pop, with the occasional hyperpop.  The first song on Tidal was her with a ukulele.  She’s on Fueled by Ramen, so they trust her fun nature and she appeared on a Pierce the Veil album.  Her songs are kind of soft pop with a slight (very slight) edge–although her newest album is pretty much all pop.

She’s probably fun live.

 

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The Struts (Archer Music Hall, Allentown, PA, June 28, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Allentown PA, Archer Music Hall, The Struts on June 28, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 28, 2026] The Struts

The Struts opened for Foo Fighters when my wife and I saw them.  Sadly, we missed their entire set.

They have a retro look and feel and I like the way Louder Than War describes their:

knack for writing and performing unapologetically direct, catchy, feel-good original songs that somehow sound like long-lost rock classics. It also shows the singer’s ability to connect with crowds.

I knew that I’d want to see  them again, because their live show (even just those couple of songs) was great.  But in the 8 years since that show, I have more or less completely lost touch with them.

I totally missed it when they came around last year for their huge 10 year anniversary tour.  I was mostly interested in this one for the chance to go to Archer Music Hall.  But I listened to some of their new stuff and I didn’t really like it.  So I couldn’t be bothered to try to get to this show.  And that’s okay with me.

I never saw any indication that there was an opening band, so I’m going to assume there wasn’t.

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Ratboys / Shallowater (The Arrow, Allentown, PA, June 22, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Allentown PA, Archer Music Hall, Ratboys, Shallowater, The Arrow on June 22, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 22, 2026] Ratboys / Shallowater

I’ve seen Ratboys three times and have really enjoyed all of their live shows.  I didn’t love this new album as much–it goes too deep into the country angle.  And yet, I know that their live show is great.  But I couldn’t make this show as I had a show the night before and the night after.

Interestingly, they are playing Jersey City in July  as well as a small festival in Philly (but I’m not going to that one).

Shallowater is an interesting band.  I listened to the first song on their album and it was slow and somehow slower.  I was absolutely going to turn it off, but I didn’t and then midsong it got hugely loud and distorted.  Evidently this genre is called slowcore?  They describe their sound as West Texas dirtgaze.  So this first song starts out really slow (like Low) and I did like that it was a full sound, not a bedroom low fi sound. It picked up about 90 seconds in and then after two and a half minutes they all jump on the distortion pedals and the song turns into chaos with a noisy distorted guitar solo for about a minute and then it all drops off again into the quiet acoustic sound once more. I’m definitely intrigued, especially since I hated them when they started–sometimes you have to listen all the way to the end of a song.

The other songs on thei album run to 7 and 8 minutes long.  I may need to dive into them a bit more.  I’m quite fascinated.

I would like to get back to The Arrow again, as it was a nice venue.  But this show wasn’t the one.

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Modest Mouse / Silver Triplets of the Rio Hondo (Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ, June 5, 2026 / Archer Music Hall, Allentown, PA, June 6, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Allentown PA, Archer Music Hall, Modest Mouse, Sayreville, NJ, Silver Triplets of the Rio Hondo, Starland Ballroom on June 6, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 5 & 6, 2026] Modest Mouse / Silver Triplets of the Rio Hondo

I continue to not go to Archer Music Hall.  I really ant to go to at least one show there.  Although recently a very loud man (with very bad breath) told me the sound there was terrible.

I’ve seen Modest Mouse a lot (eight times) and every time I think I don’t need to see them again, they do something that makes me jump back in.  Mostly I wanted to go to this show because it was at Archer. Especially since they announced a show in Philly that I got tickets for my wife and I to go to.

So, since I’d be out the night before this and I assumed I’d be going out on Sunday to see Geordie Greep, I sold these tickets.  I’m curious how much this setlist will reflect what they play in Philly.

I hadn’t even considered the Starland Ballroom show because I had tickets to two shows already that night.  And, honestly, I don’t love Starland.  For certain shows it’s a great venue.  But the last time I saw Modest Mouse there, the crowd was…icky.  So, it was never in contention anyhow.

Modest Mouse often chooses odd bands to open for them.  Although, that is how I first discovered Tropical Fuck Storm.  But the Silver Triplets of the Rio Hondo are from Portland, Oregon and make sci-fi roadhouse music & noise collage for dissociatives.   That’s not what I thought they’d sound like at all (I imagined three women singing a capella or something).  Instead, they’re three guys (in white suits I gather) who play slow Western music with trippy sound effects added in.  I’m pretty sure I’m happy I didn’t see them. (more…)

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Avatar / Alien Weaponry / SpiritWorld (Archer Music Hall, Allentown, PA, November 28, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Alien Weaponry, Archer Music Hall, Avatar, Phantogram, SpiritWorld  on November 28, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 28, 2025] Avatar / Alien Weaponry / SpiritWorld 

Avatar are a great live band. I’ve seen them three times and have been wanting to take my son to see them.  We did get to see them open for Pierce the Veil, but it was really hard to see what was going on.  I think I need one more show from them.  But this wasn’t it.  It was the weekend after Thanksgiving and we had company, so we did not go to this one.

Alien Weaponry are a power trio from New Zealand.   They play a mix of thrash and hardcore but with some really catchy parts as well.  The band currently consists of Lewis de Jong (guitar and vocals), Henry de Jong (drums), and Ethan Trembath (bass guitar). They are known for tackling sociopolitical issues particularly pertaining to New Zealand’s history and contemporary society. They often incorporate Te Rao Māori lyrics into their songs.  So that’s pretty cool.  Listening to Kai Tangata, it’s clearly not English.  Maybe their fans can learn a new language.

SpiritWorld are pretty fascinating.  They sound like Helmet but they dress like spangled cowboys.  They have an album called Deathwestern which is hilarious.   They play mostly thrash metal with elements of death metal (and chanted choruses), yet thematically it’s all about Westerns.  I hear elements of Slayer and Pantera in their songs too.

This whole evening would have been pretty intense.

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Deafheaven / I Promised the World (The Arrow, Allentown, PA, September 18, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Allentown PA, Archer Music Hall, Deafheaven, I Promised the World, The Arrow on September 18, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 18, 2025] Deafheaven / I Promised the World

After having missed Deafheaven back in May for the stupidest reason ever (I wrote down the wrong date–the show was a day earlier), I thought this would be a great opportunity to see them.  Especially in a small club like The Arrow.

However, I had already been out three nights in a row and even I know my limits.  But Deafheaven seems to play a lot so I assume they’ll be back next year.

I Promised the World is an American metalcore band from Texas. Originally they were called Switch and then Sinema. In May 2025, the band changed their name to I Promised the World due to other acts sharing the name Sinema.

They have clean and unclean vocals, and the clean parts are quite catchy.  I’m intrigued that they have parts with really growly vocals while the music is gentle and almost jazzy. I like how these younger bands are genre bending so much.

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Phantogram / Open Mike Eagle (Archer Music Hall, Allentown, PA, September 11, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Archer Music Hall, Clear Capsule, Open Mike Eagle, Phantogram on September 11, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 11, 2025] Phantogram / Open Mike Eagle

I have been intrigued by Phantogram fora while–I love a couple of their songs but don’t know all that much about them.  When I knew I wasn’t going to Supergrass tonight, and I found out that people might not be home tonight, I got excited at the thought of heading into Allentown spontaneously.

But my daughter kindly asked me to stay home, so I did.

I see that Phantogram played Philly back in February and that this seems to be a quicky short tour, so they probably won’t be around again for a while.

I was also pleased about this show because Open Mike Eagle was opening.  I had just seen him open for clipping., and he was great.  I would happily see him again and again.

Alas.  I’m sure I’ll get to see both of them again sometime.

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