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Archive for the ‘Johnny Brenda’s’ Category

Art Brut: Band Bang Rock n Roll plus hits / Party Nerves (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, April 6, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Art Brut, Johnny Brenda's, Party Nerves, Philadelphia, PA on April 6, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 6, 2026] Art Brut: Band Bang Rock n Roll plus hits / Party Nerves

We had returned from Minnesota on Sunday and this show was the following night.  I loved this album (and the follow up) when this came out.  Eddie Argos was a weird but fun frontman.  I thought about getting a ticket for this but I had so many shows lines up the previous week that I just opted not to get one.  But since I had cancelled those shows while in MN, I thought that I would grab a last minute ticket for this one (which had not sold out yet).

But earlier in the day I went to the knee doctor for some pain and he gave me a cortisone shot.  It hurt so much that evening that there was absolutely no way I would have been able to tolerate standing for the show.  (The shot felt much better by the following night).  So I’m glad I didn’t buy a ticket even though I’m sure it was a fun show.

I’ve seen Party Nerves open for other bands three times.  I was delighted to think I could have seen them a 4th time without really meaning to.  They are a great.  As I’d said before:

All three members are super in tune with each other, but fairly or unfairly, most of the attention has to go to guitarist Woolly since he’s the one playing the lightning fast, non-stop surf guitar riffs. Yup, rocking surf guitar that reminds me of Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet (the band who made The Kids in the Hall theme song), although listening to them this time, they have more urgency and intensity that Shadowy’s laid back vibe).

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Wax Jaw / KulfiGirls / Lash Out (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, April 4, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Johnny Brenda's, KulfiGirls, Lash Out, Philadelphia, PA, Wax Jaw on April 4, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 4, 2026] Wax Jaw / KulfiGirls / Lash Out

I was such a huge fan of Wax Jaw and I wanted to see them every chance I got.  And then for some reason, I wasn’t that excited about this show.  Have I outgrown them?  I don’t know.  Maybe it’s because I already had a ticket to a different show that night that I wasn’t thinking about this show too much.  Of coure, we wound up going to Minnesota so I wouldn’t have been able to go anyhow.

KulfiGirls are a Philadelphia-based rock band fronted by lead vocalist Abi Natesh who, through her use of the South Indian Saraswati veena, presents a novel “carnatic rock” sound inspired by diverse genres of pop and rock. 

I hadn’t heard of them, but holy cow I would have absolutely gone to this show for KulfiGirls.  Their mix of South Indian music and indie rock is really exciting and interesting.  And Abi’s voice is fantastic.  I’m going to have to check them out.

Lash Out is a Philadelphia band made up of Taylor and Tessa.  They are very low-fi and their songs are really short (on bandcamp, they do a cover of Big Lizard in My Backyard).  Also on their bandcamp is a collection of demos and their debut album Lash Out (which doesn’t sound much more polished than the demos.  Their songs are simple and short and decidedly DIY.

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The Teeth (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, March 28, 2026)

Posted in Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Purples, The Kinks, The Teeth on March 29, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 28, 2026] The Teeth 

Two years ago, I had never heard of The Teeth before I saw that they had sold out three nights at Johnny Brenda’s months and months before these shows happened.

So who were they?  The Teeth was an indie rock band from Philadelphia consisting of twin brothers Aaron MoDavis on rhythm guitar and Peter MoDavis on bass.  I was intrigued by them and was even more intrigued when I saw that they were going to open for Dr. Dog on their tour last year.  From their images and the few songs I’d heard, I assumed that they’d be a weirdo band.  And I wanted to see them.

So I was pretty happy to have grabbed a ticket for this show.  While the show was starting, I met a guy who was born in Norway but who moved to California when he was three.  He had found The Teeth a few years ago (via Dr. Dog who always praised The Teeth) and fell in love with them.  He was very excited to be seeing them for the first time.  When he asked me how I knew them, I told him the above story.

I was very amused by their stage backdrop which was a bunch of hand drawn and cut out images stuck to the Johnny Brenda’s curtain.

After the comedian, it took some time before the band came out.  And what was so much fun is that they came out of the door upstairs!  They walked through the crowd, all while Herb Alpert’s Behind the Rain played, came down the stairs and climbed onto the stage.  And that’s when I realized how normal these guys were (except for Brian Ashby’s amazing mustache). (more…)

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John Miller Giltner (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, March 28, 2026) [THE TEETH]

Posted in John Miller Giltner, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Purples, The Kinks, The Teeth on March 28, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 28, 2026] John Miller Giltner

I was delighted when I saw that The Teeth has comedians open for them on the last time they played Johnny Brenda’s.  They did the same this time.  Although last night’s show opened with a magician (which sounds awesome), I got a kick out of John Miller Giltner.

They are a young comedian (meaning he uses a bunch of young person slang) and they used a powerpoint presentation (which was really funny).  It opened with a slide that said Comedy set for The Teeth.  Which is pretty spot on.

The main point of their comedy was about how they had a bed with no frame (it’s amazing how much material you can get out of that).  This included a phot of said bed and a lengthy story about the person he was dating’s reaction to the lack of bed frame.

But it started off funny when John said that in order to get through this set they were going to need to borrow someone’s vape.  A woman nicely obliged.  If they didn’t have the vape it would induce a panic attack for sure (the panic attack graphics on the powerpoint were hilarious).

An unintentionally funny part came when they clicked the wrong button and reset the whole PowerPoint.

There was a funny part about being nonbinary and the way his dad was supported but said the worst things.

The end of the set featured a long call with Amazon help.  He called up to say that he had given his then girlfriend a video game controller and she broke up with him and he wondered if he could get some kind of rebate since she broke up with him.  The woman on the other end of the call was confused but polite and ultimately sweet.  It was a funny bit of reality in a wild set.

I do rather like the idea of a comedian opening for a rock band and think more bands should consider it.

Here’s an article about another of Giltener’s performances.  I think our night was maybe a variant of this but cut much shorter.

 

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The Teeth / Lindsey Noel (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, March 27, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Johnny Brenda's, Lindsey Noel, Philadelphia, PA, The Teeth on March 27, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: March 27, 2026] The Teeth / Lindsey Noel

It was nearly two years ago that I first heard of The Teeth when they played Johnny Brenda’s and sold out before I even knew who they were.  But this year I managed to score a ticket for their second of two nights.  For this show that I didn’t go to, they had Lindsey Noel opening for them again.

Here’s what I wrote in 2024.

I had never heard of The Teeth before I saw that they had sold out three nights at Johnny Brenda’s months and months before these shows happened.

So who were they?

The Teeth was an indie rock band from Philadelphia consisting of twin brothers Aaron MoDavis on rhythm guitar and Peter MoDavis on bass.

After abruptly breaking up 15 years ago The Teeth are reuniting for a pair of special shows at Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia. Twin brothers Peter MoDavis (Bass) and Aaron MoDavis (guitar) will reassemble with Jonas Oesterle (drums) and Brian Ashby (guitar) on their favorite stage in the City of Brotherly Love.

Opening for this show was magician Lindsey Noel.  I watched a clip of her performing in front of Penn and Teller and it was quite good.  But what a weird opening act!

Here’s some more about The Teeth: (more…)

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The Rural Alberta Advantage (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, February 18, 2026)

Posted in Johnny Brenda's, Jordan Burchel, Philadelphia, PA, The Rural Alberta Advantage on February 19, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 18, 2026] Jordan Burchel

Jordan I saw The Rural Alberta Advantage two years ago at The Foundry and it was such a great show I couldn’t wait to see them again.  I even grabbed a ticket for my wife because I was sure she’d love them.  She didn’t feel up to going but I did and it was even more fun than last time.

The RAA is a trio with an unusual setup: Keys, guitar and drums, with the drums on the right side and the drummer facing the other two.  Nils Edenloff sings and plays acoustic guitar.  Amy Cole plays keys and (most importantly) bass foot pedals that add so much to these songs. She also has a floor tom that she occasionally bangs on.  And Paul Banwatt plays drums (which is the biggest understatement I can make).

I wrote this last time and I’ll say it again

But no drumming could compare to Paul Banwatt.  He has a fairly small kit, but it’s amazing that it’s still standing by the end of the show.  He throws in all kinds of fills on the snare and even the hi-hat.  He has speed and power and is simply amazing to watch.  I think that since the songs themselves are fairly simple, it gives Banwatt the ability to fill in any open spaces as needed.  Banwatt, who is also a lawyer (!) has to be the most underrated drummer out there.  The way he plays the drums in counterpoint to the guitar in “Drain the Blood ” is just incredible to watch.

He broke two drumstick by about the fifth song.

Amy Cole has a lot to do in the songs, but she also has parts where she doesn’t do anything.  So she skips around the stage, claps, or just hangs out in the back of the stage until one of her responsibilities is called upon.  She and Paul seem to communicate a lot on stage with meaningful looks.  They even had a kind of dance move for one of the songs when Nils was singing by himself.

For a band whose songs are so intense (Nils’ voice is so intense, I love it) they have a lot of fun.

They are not very prolific–they were still calling their last album (2023) their new album.  Although Nils did say that his friend got him to participate in a “write a song a week” session which really loosened up his creativity. They have been around for almost 20 years and have put out 5 albums (an easy band to get caught up with). (more…)

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Jordan Burchel (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, February 18, 2026) [THE RURAL ALBERTA ADVANTAGE]

Posted in Johnny Brenda's, Jordan Burchel, Philadelphia, PA, The Rural Alberta Advantage on February 18, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 18, 2026] Jordan Burchel

Jordan Burchel is a folk singer from Florida.  He writes clever lyrics over simple, catchy melodies. I’d never heard of him before the show but I liked him a lot.  I almost bought a T shirt from him (they were cool designs) but the line was too long.

He sang and played guitar and his wife (I’m fairly certain) Sam (he mentioned her last name briefly, but said Sam several times) sang the harmonies (which added so much to the songs!)

He joked that he wrote the setlist on a plate (a Johnny Brenda’s tradition, I feel) but that he couldn’t read the plate from where he was.

He was very funny telling stories between songs.  He even joked that he felt weird about bending over to get his water because he was afraid he looked like Marco Rubio in that video where he bent out of frame to drink a water–and he doesn’t want to be associated with that man in any way.

He made a joke comparing Florida where he was born and raised to his Aunt Jane while at his wedding. She hit on all of his friends.  Like Florida, he loves his Aunt Jane, he just wishes she were different.

And on another song he has a lyric about taking all the spoons and knives.  He said he didn’t really know what that meant and if anyone had any ideas they could tell him.  He said that after one show a very intense guy came up to him and said I know what it means.  You took the spoons and knives…. but you left the forks [end of statement]. (more…)

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Mdou Moctar (solo) / Koof Ibi (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, February 4, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Johnny Brenda's, Koof Ibi, Mdou Moctar, Philadelphia, PA on February 4, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: February 4, 2026] Mdou Moctar / Koof Ibi

I have seen Mdou Moctar twice, both in 2024.

His shows (first electric, second acoustic) were really enjoyable.  He’s an amazing player and really charming.  I’ve not seen him solo and I’m not sure if it was electric or acoustic.  But I didn’t feel like going out to this show.  I’m sure I’ll see him again in thefuture though.

Kooh Ibi is a trumpet player born in New Jersey who is now in Philly.  He loops and samples music to create his trumpet pieces.  I listened to a few minutes of one and it was remarkably subdued–but really interesting.

This was probably a cool chill evening of jazzy music.

 

I really like The Messthetics (including the name).  The band has at its core drummer Brendan Canty and bassist Joe Lally who were both in Fugazi.  Along with guitarist Anthony Pirog, they make cool and interesting instrumental rock.  They have been pretty high on my list of bands to see. (more…)

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Speedy Ortiz / Phoebe Rings / @ / Dylan Baldi (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, December 8, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Cloud Nothings, Dylan Baldi, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Speedy Ortiz on December 8, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 8, 2025] Speedy Ortiz / Phoebe Rings / @ / Dylan Baldi

When I bought the ticket for this show, I thought it might be my last show of the year.  I also thought it would be fun to end the year with another Speedy Ortiz show.  But then I found out that Chokecherry, a band I’ve been wanting to see again, was playing the following night.  And since I’ve seen Speedy a bunch, I blew this show off.

It turns out this was a 25th anniversary showcase night for bands on the Carpark label.  All four bands are on the label.

We had just seen Phoebe Rings open for The Beths.  When this was first announced I wondered how Phoebe Rings could get two gigs so close together.  It was planned that way.  After two nights with The Beths, there was no rest for them as they moved on to conquer Johnny Brenda’s.

We saw @ open for Waxahatchee.  I wrote They are kind of interesting and experimental, with lots of sounds layered on to straightforward lyrics.  But live, they were the least dynamic duo I’ve ever seen.  So I’mnot sad to be missing them.

The only person I didn’t know was Dylan Baldi, although I see that Dylan Baldi is guitarist and songwriter for Cloud Nothings. I’ve heard of Cloud Nothings–in fact I feel like I even know them.  But I don’t think I do, they’re kind of pop punky.  He doesn’t seem to have any solo albums out so I assume he was going to sing Cloud Nothings songs.

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Stinking Lizaveta / channls (album relase) / Deathbird Earth (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, November 21, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in channls, Deathbird Earth, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Post Animal, Stinking Lizaveta, The Slaps on November 21, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 21, 2025] Stinking Lizaveta / channls (album relase) / Deathbird Earth

For reasons I don’t entirely remember, I’ve added Stinking Lizaveta to the list of bands that I’d like to see.

I think what inspired me to check them out is that they are an instrumental band who play complex music.

And this is the third or fourth time that I am not seeing them.  But for some reason I didn’t really feel like going to this show.

channls is a heavy post rock band from Philadelphia.  This show was an album release show for them, although they weren’t the headliners.  Their bandcamp page says

Formed in 2023 by drummer Jay Yachetta and guitar player Steven Rosplock – veterans of the progressive outfit Phantasm – channls is rounded out by two key figures from the Philly music underground: bassist Vincent King (In the Presence of Wolves) and guitarist Jace Miller (Alright Junior). In a move that borders on poetic irony, the band boasts three frontmen in a project where vocals are conspicuously absent.  The band’s sound, rooted in post-rock but unafraid of distortion-drenched aggression, occupies a liminal space between beauty and brutality.

I’m now thinking that this would have been a really good show and I should have gone.

Deathbird Earth are a dup from Philly (BJ – BASS, SYNTHESIZERS, VOCALS; DAVE – DRUMS, PERCUSSION, SYNTHESIZER).  I really enjoy watching two people make a ton of noise and their recording has a lot going on.  They note:

Deathbird Earth’s sound tends to eschew typical genre classification but is made from a mix of heavy drums and distorted bass layered with keyboard sounds that may or may not be lifted from your favorite classic science fiction films.

I guess you’d call them heavy metal, but there’s a lot going on in this heavy metal. They’re the only band with and singing tonight.

 

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