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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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Osees / DMBQ (Underground Arts (13th Anniversary Celebration), Philadelphia, PA, October 26, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in DMBQ, Osees, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on October 26, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 26, 2025] Osees / DMBQ

Four years ago I saw Osees and really enjoyed the chaotic energy of the show.  Since then they have returned every year in mid October.  I get a ticket every year and then something comes up–usually involving a birthday party.

This year it happened during a lengthy run of shows that I was seeing and something had to give,

Even though this looked like an especially fun show (if Union Transfer was crazy I can’t imagine how insane they would be at Underground Arts).  A couple of days before the show my brother-in-law out in Denver said he saw the set and that it was awesome and he really liked DMBQ as well.

It made me even more bummed that I missed it.

DMBQ is from Tokyo.  The name stands for Dynamite Masters Blues Quartet.  I love a good rocking Japanese band and this was even more incentive to get to this show.  But I just couldn’t do it.

Watching a video of their live set and they are not quite as unhinged as some Japanese bands, but they are sure wild.  They’re  athree piece and they seem to defy conventional song structure.  Lots of solos, and a wild fuzzy insanity around the whole thing.  I can’t tell if the singer is singing in English, Japanese or just some made up sounds.  It’s amazing.  And the guitar player (the singer) is all over the guitar–clearly very proficient at the instrument.

I hope the come back next year.

 

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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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Tropical Fuck Storm / Eraser (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, October 2, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Eraser, Philadelphia, PA, Tropical Fuck Storm, Underground Arts on October 2, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 2, 2025] Tropical Fuck Storm / Eraser

I love Tropical Fuck Storm and I want to see them every time they come to the area.  I was pretty psyched when they announced this show at Underground Arts.

And then I realized it was the same day as the Stardew Valley concert that I had bought tickets for like 8 months ago.  My wife loves the game and the music and there’s no way I wasn’t going to go to it.  So, I had to blow off TFS.  Which is a bummer.  But Stardew was wonderful, so it’s all good.

Eraser is a noisy Philly band.  I don’t know if you’d call it No Wave or just good old fashioned noise rock, but that’s what it was.  They play simple melodies and then go nuts making wild sounds and playing bizarre chords.  The keyboard is pitched to what was almost a toy keyboard sound–tinny and noisy, playing usually one or two note melodies like early new wave bands.

They make a good opener for TFS, but they’re pretty out there.

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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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Lambrini Girls / Edging (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, September 26, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Edging, Lambrini Girls, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on September 26, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 26, 2025] Lambrini Girls / Edging

As seems to happen a lot, I heard about Lambrini Girls and how their shows were amazing.  And then I saw that they were playing Underground Arts.

Their bio says “Imagine your nan is in the boot of your car with a croissant in her mouth and hears bikini kill for the first time. That could be you. It will never be us as we are not bikini kill and we are not your nan. We are Lambrini Girls. Bon appetite xoxox.”  The band currently consists of Phoebe Lunny and Selin Macieira-Boşgelmez (bass).  Lunny has a kind of shouting/speaking style (not all that unusual) and her accent remains very strong (also not very unusual among British bands).

Their name comes from Lambrini, a brand pear-based alcohol “aimed at the undiscriminating female drinker.”  And they have a song called Cuntology 1010, which is pretty funny while also being very pointed.   They seem like they would be a ton of fun live.

But my daughter an I had left for All Things Go earlier in the day, so I couldn’t go to this one.  I hope they come back next year.

I hadn’t heard of Edging, who describe themselves as “landscaper punks from Chicago” because their three founding members connected through landscaping jobs.  They play noisy punk and singer Faith Callaway has a great raw singing style.  But what makes them stand out is that their punk is accompanied by a saxophone (like X-Ray Spex).  Or, as I saw: “70s-style punk splattered with technicolor saxophone.” They seem like they’re a lot of fun.

This would have been a great show.

 

 

 

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Fu Manchu / Heavy Temple (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, September 17, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Fu Manchu, Heavy Temple, Philadelphia, PA, Rush, Underground Arts on September 17, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: March 24, 2022] Fu Manchu / Heavy Temple

Fu Manchu is one of the great stoner rock bands.  They have been around for thirty years with a similar fuzzy, grungey sound.  I missed them the first time around but became more keenly aware of them when their 2018 album Clone of the Universe featured not only an 18 minute song, but also a guitar solo from Alex Lifeson of Rush.

Their early stuff is really catchy and I wish I had known about them for longer.  They seem like they’d be a really fun live band.

They had announced a 30th anniversary tour in 2020, which was rescheduled twice until ultimately getting cancelled.  I was really excited to see they were coming back, but pretty bummed that it was the same night as Pup.

Heavy Temple has been on my radar since probably 2021 when they were going to open for Monster Magnet (show also cancelled).  So Heavy Temple is a band that consists of High Priestess Nighthawk (low end and vocal power), Siren Tempest (rhythm) and Thunderhorse (6 string axe slinger).  I’ve been following them on Instagram since the and they seem like their live show would be really fun.

Actually it looks like the band is laregly new members except got High Priestess Nighthawk who is the main force of the band.

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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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Black Moth Super Rainbow / Ricky Eat Acid / Huron (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, September 12, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Black Moth Super Rainbow, Huron, Philadelphia, PA, Ricky Eat Acid, Teen Suicide, Underground Arts on September 12, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 12, 2025] Black Moth Super Rainbow / Ricky Eat Acid / Huron

I’d heard of Black Moth Super Rainbow and knew they were pretty weird (duh) but I didn’t know much about them.  I assumed I’d like them given that they are a psychedelic electronic indie rock project.  They are a solo project created by Thomas Fec.  Their visuals are startling and crazy.  But musically it’s very slow and I wasn’t that excited by it.  So I never hot tickets.

Ricky Eat Acid is the electronic project of Samuel Joseph Ray. He’s from Baltimore and is in the band Teen Suicide.  His music seems to be trippy and weird (as befits the name) and is mellow with samples and possibly no vocals.  Might be fun for a short set.

Huron is an electronic musician from Pennsylvania.  He is very hard to find online mostly because of Lord Huron but also because Huron is a very popular word in the United States.  He has a bandcamp site.  He makes very slow trippy music that I would hate to stand around listening to, but which I would definitely enjoy falling asleep to.

 

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