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Dan Deacon (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, February 6, 2026)

Posted in Dan Deacon, Moon Bounce, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on February 7, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 6, 2026] Dan Deacon 

I saw Dan Deacon three years ago and it was one of the most fun and uplifting shows I’d ever been to.  I knew I’d see him again and I planned to drag my wife along with me.  I knew that she wouldn’t really like the music, but I thought she’d really enjoy the experience.

After the last show I wrote

I would absolutely see him again, even if I need to wait another six years.

So it was almost 4 but it did take a while.

On the way to the show I told her that all of the things that I usually get mad at during a show don’t apply here.  People can talk, they can push, then can block my view.  It really doesn’t matter.  And, wherever we start it won’t be the same place when we’re done.

She seemed thankful for this primer and knew that this was going to be a very different show.

I had genuinely hoped that Dan would come out right after Moon Bounce was done (who starts a show at 9PM these days?).  Especially since Moon Bounce’s set was 30 minutes.  But he waited until 10.  Unlike last time, he had a live drummer, which was totally unexpected but a lot of fun.

He also took advantage of the venue’s video screen.  I thought he might project trippy images, but he explained that he had been meaning to make something but he didn’t.  So instead, he played a Phish show from Saratoga Springs.  It was so funny to see the guys from Phis playing behind him.  But he was thankful to them for putting out entire shows (2 hours) for free on line with no ads.

And then he started his music.  And it was loud.  I had intended to bring earplugs like always, but with the parking problem (and trying to find a reasonable spot) I forgot.  Dan’s music is repetitive and dancey.  He also sings and usually modulates his voice so that it’s insanely high pitched.  Which is bizarre but somehow even more fun. (more…)

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Moon Bounce (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, February 6, 2026) [DAN DEACON]

Posted in Dan Deacon, Moon Bounce, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on February 6, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 6, 2026] Moon Bounce

Moon Bounce is an electronic musician.  He said he was originally from Philly then he moved to L.A. (don’t ever do it)and now he’s back in Philly.  He said he got his start because Dan Deacon turned him on to electronic music.

His set was thirty minutes and I enjoyed watching him.

He had all of his music on his laptop and he used various gear to pitch shift and modify the songs.  It was fun watching someone manipulate sounds in real time.  It was also fun seeing how well he knew his music (which duh, I know, but he would wave his hands in the air to the beats that were coming or angle his face when things slowed down).

His songs were catchy and he did sing (which I wasn’t expecting after the first few minutes of instrumentals).

It’s hard to really describe electronic music if you don’t know it that well.  There were beats and sounds.  He chose some cool sounds to go with the beats. At one point he looped an a capella sample from a rap album (which I can’t remember the name of).  The loop was one word repeated pretty quickly.  Then he slowed it down to match the beat of the next song.  “This is called a transition, it’s got to match 89 BPM, ok here we go.” (more…)

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Agriculture (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, January 24, 2026)

Posted in Agriculture, Knoll, Nina Ryser, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on January 26, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 24, 2026] Agriculture

I saw Agriculture open for Boris just two months ago.  I enjoyed their set so much that I knew I’d see them again and two months was not too short of a time to wait.

Agriculture calls their music ecstatic black metal and that description, while slightly vague, is really spot on.  There is screaming and growling, speed and heaviness but also a lot of brightness and beauty.

They put out a new album last year and most of their Boris set was from that album.  The headline set added two more songs form that record and a few more older tracks.

First out was guitarist Richard Chowenhill who started playing one note really really fast.  I was standing right in front of him and I was really blown away by how fast he was picking the string.   The rest of the band came out and started Flea, which features bassist Leah Levinson reciting lyrics while guitarist Dan Meyer who still has a big beard screamed gutturally.  The fact the the song shifts gears midway through to a pleasant, uplifting voice while Leah sings gently only make the screams that she does shortly all the more crazy.

I loved watching drummer Kern Haug.  He has exceptional sideburns and he plays so fast and yet with such precision.  I’m surprised for the second time that he wore a button down shirt,  But I was less surprised to see him trying to stretch out his back mid set because holy cow what a workout.

But it was really amazing being in front of Chowenhill as he played these amazing solos. Whether he shredded furiously or was doing fascinating finger tapping while sliding up and down the neck, the speed and accuracy were mind blowing.

It was pretty bizarre about half way through the show a guy pushed his way up front and started “singing” along to Leah’s screamed vocals. He clearly knew the words and he did try to sound screamy but it was almost like have a translator next to me.  I let him get in front so he’s stop shouting in my ear. (more…)

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Knoll (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, January 24, 2026) [AGRICULTURE]

Posted in Agriculture, Knoll, Nina Ryser, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on January 25, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 24, 2026] Knoll

I hadn’t heard of Knoll until my physical therapist said he knew them.  He said they put on an incredible show.  And since I already knew that Agriculture was incredible, I was doubly psyched.

So Knoll set up their gear.  They had an old-looking end table (I would guess like 100 years old, with all kinds of filigree–but probably not worth anything) and interesting gear on it. The table also had a little light on it.  And then I realized that there were four floor lamps around the stage.

And these lights were the only things that lit the stage!  And, most interesting of all, each band member had a step on plug (like we use for our Christmas lights) and turned their individual light on and off throughout the show.

All five members of the band were dressed in all black–button down shirts and black pants.  And the lead singer, James Eubanks, has his head shaved, (possibly his eyebrows), his fingernails shaped into points.  He looks like Nosferatu.

Before the show, he busied himself by making sure all of the lamps were plugged in.  And as soon as they were ready.

BOOM.

I was in front of guitarist Cameron Giarraputo.  He was like a machine with the speed and technical expertise he brought to these incredibly fast songs.  It was a wall of noise.  And then Eubanks stepped up front and an unholy demon jumped out of his mouth.

He growled, he shrieked, he made sounds that I didn’t think a human could make and… apparently… there were words associated with these sounds. (more…)

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Nina Ryser (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, January 24, 2026) [AGRICULTURE]

Posted in Agriculture, Knoll, Nina Ryser, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on January 24, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 24, 2026] Nina Ryser

Nina Ryser is a member of Palberta (I love that name) whom I saw live a while back.  I saw Nina solo back in 2022.  She was opening for Tropical Fuck Storm.  And tonight she was opening for Agriculture.  That’s two really heavy bands who chose her to open.  She is something of a Philly DIY institution, but she plays offbeat synth songs that are not at all like the headliners.

Most of the songs were built around a beat and a simple chord pattern.  There was a droney component to it and Nina’s vocals were kind of deadpan.  With her was Luke Knapp, on bass and other synthy sounds.

There were some good bass lines and fun synth sounds.  Nina tends to re-state her lyrics a bunch and the songs quickly become familiar (I’m not even sure if there are verses and choruses). (more…)

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Belly: King 30th Anniversary Tour (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, October 27, 2025)

Posted in Belly, Los Angeles Power Disco, Philadelphia, PA, Tanya Donnelly, The Breeders, Throwing Muses, Underground Arts on October 29, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 27, 2025] Belly

I really liked Belly when they first came out.  Their debut album is great and the follow up King is probably just as good.  When this tour was announced I wasn’t sure if I had listened to King all that much but when I put it on again I realized I knew it quite well.  Then I looked at other setlists to see of they were playing any of the songs from Star, and the were.  So I decided to see them.

I’ve always liked Tanya Donnelly–she’s been on the periphery of massive success pretty often.  She founded Throwing Muses with Kristen Hersh (her step sister). But I feel like Tanya left just before they became more commercially successful.

Then she formed The Breeders with Kim Deal.  But she left before they released Last Splash.  And then she formed Belly.  She had a pretty big hit with Feed the Tree.  But King wasn’t as successful and Belly broke up.  Tanya went solo.

Belly reformed in 2016 with almost all four original members.  The original bassist was replaced by Gail Greenwood right after Feed the Tree and is with them as they reunited.  Belly put out an album in 2018 which I missed entirely.

They toured in 2016 playing a set of mostly Star and King, then toured in 2018 playing mostly the new album, Dove.  And now they were back for King.

The set was great and I was delighted with how much fun bassist Gail was.  She was very chatty with the audience and when she said that the next sing would make you cry, a guy next to me said I’m crying already, and she went over and gave him a hug.  Gail also sang an amazing range of backing vocals, from really deep voices to very high pitched ones.  And her bass sounded great.

The stage set up was interesting, with Tanya and Gail right up front.  Lead guitarist Thomas Gorman was on the far side.  He was in the background a bit although he did take front stage for the few guitar solos he played.  His brother, drummer Chris Gorman was behind a pole and I didn’t see him for the whole show–but the drums sounded great.

But of course the focus is Tanya.  She exuded a coolness that I really enjoyed.  But she didn’t see aloof or above it all.  She seemed to be having a really good time.  Especially when Gail said, thanks for cheering us on even when we suck.  But they did not suck.  They sounded great and Tanya’s voice was really impressive.  She hit some high notes in the encores that really blew me away.  And the harmonies between her and Gail were fantastic.

I didn’t know every song from King.  It’s weird that I didn’t really know the first two songs all that well, but I knew the next few–who doesn’t remember the first song on an album?  And when they sang the jittery Red, I couldn’t wait to shout along with the chorus.  Silverfish sounded fantastic and Super-Connected was even better than I remembered.

After the album, they took a short break and came back with a second set of mostly songs from Star (which was great!).  I got to hear all of my favorite songs from the album, so that was super cool.  They played two songs from Dove which sounded very nice, if not a little slower.  And they ended the set with the Dive track Shiny One.  They merged that song into Jimi Hendrix’ Are You Experienced (which I see is on their B sides record, so I guess it has been a part of their set for a while) which merged back into Shiny as they headed off for the encore break.

It’s obvious that they were going to do an encore (it was on the setlist after all), but it’s always nice when a band seems to really appreciate that the people there are excited for them to come back.

I didn’t know the first song, Thief, which is a bonus song on their greatest hits album.  This was one of the songs where Tanya really showed that she could hit those high notes.  It was a quiet, almost acoustic song (she didn’t play acoustic guitar) for about half of it. And then the band kicked in to rock the rest.  The final song was Full Moon Empty Heart.  I aways assume bands are going to save the big hits for the encore–but no one seems to do that anymore. And that’s fine. But I found it odd that they picked this song to end the show.  Unless it was an opportunity for Tanya to save her voice for the end, where she–damn–really hit some impressive high notes.

I also really appreciated that this was an evening with Belly and the whole show was done by around 10:15.

I’m really glad I finally got to see them.

SETLIST
King album

  1. Puberty ♠
  2. Seal My Fate ♠
  3. Red ♠
  4. Silverfish ♠
  5. Super-Connected ♠
  6. The Bees ♠
  7. King ♠
  8. Now They’ll Sleep ♠
  9. Untitled and Unsung ♠
  10. L’il Ennio ♠
  11. Judas My Heart ♠
    Set 2
  12. Low Red Moon *
  13. Gepetto *
  14. Slow Dog *
  15. Human Child ◊
  16. Spaceman ≅
  17. Dusted *
  18. Feed the Tree *
  19. Shiny One ◊   >
  20. Are You Experienced (Jimi Hendrix song)
    encore
  21. Thief ≅
  22. Full Moon Empty Heart *

≅ Bees (2021)  [also appeared as new songs on their Greatest Hits album in 2002]
◊ Dove (2018)
♠ King (1995)
* Star (1993)

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Destroyer / Jennifer Castle (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, October 12, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Dan Bejar, Destroyer, Jennifer Castle, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on October 12, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 12, 2025] Destroyer / Jennifer Castle

I had tickets to see Destroyer here in 2022, but other things got in the way.  After seeing Destroyer open for Father John Misty, I was curious to see how he would tour for this new album (a huge band or a small band?)

Well, we had tickets for My Morning Jacket the two nights before this show and even though I wanted to go to this one, there was just know way I could do it.  So I missed out on Dan and his band again,  But I’m sure he’ll be back again.

Incidentally, here’s a review of his show (well, actually, more of him than of the show) in San Francisco

He’s a notoriously shy performer—Early reviews of Destroyer all recall him coming on stage already drunk, if not drink-in-hand prepared for it.  English major dropout, lover of French New Wave films and 40s era jazz. The Vancouver-based artist stands aloof on stage, staring at seemingly nobody in particular, in what seems like an attempt to pretend the crowd isn’t there. He sips his beer in between songs and crouches down, closing his eyes while his bandmates do the rest. Something tells me that this is his most comfortable and preferred way of performing.

And it answered my question about his live band

Joined by the two guitarists, the bassist and drummer were feverish and impossible to take your eyes off of. The keys player and trumpeter (with his own pedal board, mind you!) took the edges of the stage, with Bejar in the center.

So I know what I missed.  And I’d like to see it again.

Jennifer Castle is a Toronto based singer songwriter.  She released two albums under the name Castlemusic.  She has played with everyone from U.S. Girls to Fucked Up.  Her 2014 album has chamber folk and psychedelic components an her previous album had psychedelic folk elements.

She sounds interesting, although the few songs I’ve listened to are far more folk than psychedelic.  And she’s a little too slow for my tastes.

 

 

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TWRP (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, October 1, 2025)

Posted in LAPD, Los Angeles Power Disco, Philadelphia, PA, TWRP, Underground Arts on October 2, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 1, 2025] TWRP


My son and I saw TWRP open for Magic Sword back in 2023 and we loved them.  We saw them again when they headlined.  And they’re the reason I went to Ninja Sex Party (they opened the show and were NSP’s backing band).

And here they were playing Underground Arts!  They were originally supposed to play World Cafe Live but because of a shakeup at the venue, TWRP and several other bands abandoned WCL for other venues.  I love Underground Arts but I think WCL would have suited my purposes better (much better sight lines).

I arrived later than I intended and the place was packed.  So instead of being on the barrier, I was back a ways behind a whole bunch of tall people.  After the first two songs I moved back and off to the side.  Not the best view but better than what I had and I could see most of the band just fine.

The previous times that I’ve seen them, they were on pretty big stages, so it was interesting to see them crammed into the small UA stage.  But they did fine with it and I was pleased that Phobos the guitarist was always near the front of the stage so he wasn’t hidden by the big pole.

All of the fun aspects of TWRP were in place.  Dr Sung on his hoverboard, Dr Sung bragging about his awesomeness and the rest of the band keeping him in check.

This tour’s theme was a weekend camping trip.  There were leaves and things around the stage and the whole conceit that they were camping was on full display.

They opened with a new song (and a new chant: party party party party).  I haven’t listened to much of the new album.  They played 4 songs from it but they did not get rid of crowd faves like Bright Blue Sky (so much fun to sing along to) and of course Atomic Karate (even in this small area he was able to do his high kicks (baby) and use the nunchaku.

The segues into each song are always fun, like when he talks about all of the potential in the room as a warm up to Human Potential. (more…)

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LAPD [Los Angeles Power Disco] (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, October 1, 2025) [TWRP]

Posted in LAPD, Los Angeles Power Disco, Philadelphia, PA, TWRP, Underground Arts on October 1, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 1, 2025] LAPD 

I was super excited for this show.  I wanted to get there early and get right up front for TWRP.  But I guess everyone else did too.  So I didn’t get a close spot at all.  I was annoyed by the people in front of me since they cut in at the least second and blocked about six shorter people.

The only consolation is that they were playing Weird Al as house music–which is a little weird since TWRP are funny, but aren’t comedy music.  But whatever, we all enjoyed it.

I’d never heard of Los Angeles Power Disco before this show.  The name was pretty funny (especially abbreviated LAPD).

The band came out on the tint stage and the trio crowded right up front.  There was a guitarist and a keyboard/bass/guitar player, and there was singer/guitarist Sarah Rayne.

Rayne had been in the band Cobra Man which played what they called Los Angeles Power Disco.  Then Cobra Man broke up very acrimoniously and Sarah took the name LAPD.

There was no drummer and honestly I don’t even know if the two guys on stage are part of LAPD or are touring musicians (LAPD has five songs out on Bandcamp, all released in 2025).

Sarah was dressed in a sequined unitard and was super interactive with the crowd.  I didn’t love the spot where I was (or the three tall people who jumped in front of us at the last second), so I couldn’t fully see what she was doing, but I know at one point she climbed on the barrier (holding hands with someone up front) and proceeded to high five and have people sing along to “Your. Time. To. Burn.” (more…)

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múm / Vorhees (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, September 16, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in múm, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts, Vorhees on September 16, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 16, 2025] múm / Vorhees

I remembered when múm came out back in 1999.  I wanted to love them because they were an interesting band from Iceland with six members.  I was ultimately surpirsed and how mellow the music is.  It also sounds like it could be made by one or two people, so I’m not sure what all six members are up to.

They had just released their first album and tour in 12 years.  I was interested but there were four shows I wanted to go tonight and one of them was Garbage who I was not passing up.

When I looked up Vorhees, the first thing that came up was a hardcore band from England.  I didn’t think that could be right. And indeed it’s not.  This Vorhees is the nom de guerre of Dana Wachs, an audio engineer, musician, and sound designer based in New York City.

She releases a film score in 2026 which she recorded during the pandemic and she describes:

The pandemic forced a home recording set up, and contributed a foreboding tone to some of the heavier material here. It was an insular, and sometimes claustrophobic time … I lean into a range of texture and saturation, with the occasional melodic theme reappearing in a plethora of sonic guises.

Sounds moody and intense.   Not usually what I go for at a standing event, but I’ll bet it was very cool.

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