August 25, 2023 by Paul Debraski
[DID NOT ATTEND: August 25 & 26, 2023] Lotus Land
This is the third or fourth time I could have seen Lotus Land. And this time they are playing two nights in a row!
Really, I have no interest in seeing tribute bands. If I can’t get the real thing, then I won’t get it at all.
However, this Rush tribute band intrigues me because in the pictures they both use doubleneck instruments and their ads say they play mostly late 70 and early 80s Rush. This is a period I’ve never seen live and I think it might be fun. Plus they are very highly praised in their reviews.
Turns out Friday night we had plans and I’m really trying to not go out on Saturdays as much, so I’ll just have to hope they come back around when I’m not doing much else.
Posted in Bethlehem, PA, Lotus Land, Rush, Steelstacks | Leave a Comment »
August 25, 2023 by Paul Debraski
[ATTENDED: August 25, 2023] Amon Amarth
I saw Amon Amarth open for Slayer back in 2019. At that time I didn’t know them, but I really enjoyed their show–they were melodic and the singer was kind of growly, but he was understandable, and that makes a big difference.
I didn’t realize it had been so long since I had seen them and I kind of expected the same basic show. But since 2019, they have put out a new album (and have a brand new single out as well).
So while they did play six of the same songs as last time, the order was different and their stage show was HUGE!
Last time they had a ship on stage that they climbed all over. This time, there was a giant mask on stage and two massive statues of warriors on either side of the stage.
The band sounded huge. I have now seen them twice in the same venue and would like to see them with a better sound system. Continue Reading »
Posted in Amon Amarth, BB&T Pavillion, Camden, NJ, Freedom Mortgage Pavilion, Ghost, Ghost B.C. | Leave a Comment »
August 24, 2023 by Paul Debraski
[DID NOT ATTEND: August 24, 2023] Together Pangea / Thick / Reckling
I have wanted to see Thick for about five years now. It seems whenever they play a show I can’t get to it for one reason or another. This show was announced and I thought they were headlining. But they are not.
Together Pangea is a band whose name I like a lot. But I do not like their music. It’s not that different from bands that I do like, it just didn’t do anything for me. So I decided I didn’t want to go to this show.
Thick is a fun rocking band from New York. As I’ve said every time I keep missing them, I hope they come back soon.
I’d never heard of Reckling. They are a pretty standard fast, catchy punk band. Fun stuff, but not especially memorable.
Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Reckling, Thick, Together Pangea, Underground Arts | Leave a Comment »
August 24, 2023 by Paul Debraski
[ATTENDED: August 24, 2023] Paradox Museum
I had gotten an ad on Instagram for something called Otherworld. I bought tickets ahead of time and we had a blast when it opened.
Naturally I’d get an ad for the Paradox Museum as well. There were photos of the weirdness inside and I thought it would be fun to check out as well.
Like Otherworld, the Paradox Museum is a series of rooms that you walk through and you have your mind blown. Unlike Otherworld, everything in Paradox is familiar. There’s no weird rooms or art or crazy things to explore, exactly.
Each room deals with a visual paradox. And the rooms are designed for you to physically see (and more often take pictures of) things that kind of blow your mind.
So it was the left brain side of Otherworld’s right brain. Continue Reading »
Posted in American Dream Mall, East Rutherford, NJ, Paradox Museum | Leave a Comment »
August 23, 2023 by Paul Debraski
[LISTENED TO: August 2023] Protect the Prince
It had been a while since I listened t o Book One of this series. I feel like a book holds up well if you can get caught right up with the action without needing any kind of refresher. And so it was with this.
The book picks up about six months after the events of Book 1. Evie is now Queen Everleigh. And she is slowly coping with her new role.
The first section of the book is called The First Assassination Attempt.
Everleigh has announced her first royal meeting of the royal families and assorted other important people. The royal families suck and are always conniving for something. And before she can even begin speaking to them, one of the men steps up and tries to undermine her authority. Among other things he suggests that his son should accompany her on her upcoming trip abroad (which would more or less solidify them as a dating and soon to be married couple).
Everleigh is thrown off at first but soon regains her composure long enough to walk among the royals and reminding them of all of the ways they have insulted her to her face in the past.
But before she can savor even this minor victory, an assassin arrives with poison. But Everleigh can smell poison and does not take the bait. Soon enough they are fighting and when the assassin (who was sent by her nemesis Maven) realizes that there is no way out for her, she takes her own life rather than be captured. Continue Reading »
Posted in Assassination, Audiobooks, Death, Fantasy, Jennifer Estep, Lauren Fortgang, Magic, Revenge, Romance, Sex, Supernatural, Trilogy, Unfinished series, Violence | Leave a Comment »
August 22, 2023 by Paul Debraski
SOUNDTRACK: hiatus.
[READ: August 21, 2023] Remnants of Filth
First. Unpack the name.
The author of this book is Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou (or Roubaobuchirou). In Chinese that is 肉包不吃肉 which literally translates into Meatbun Doesn’t Eat Meat. This last phrase is what she is commonly known as in the United States.
In Chinese the book was called Yuwu (余污) which translates into Pollution. And the English title is Remnants of Filth.
Second. What is this?
This book is danmei. According to The Guardian:
Danmei is romantic fiction about men or male beings – ghosts, foxes, even a mushroom – falling in love, written almost exclusively by and for straight women and is the most popular genre of fiction in China.
Meatbun Doesn’t Eat Meat is a very popular danmei writer and her first book series The Husky and His White Cat Shizun is a bestseller.
This series is about two soldiers. Mo Xi and Gu Mang. Continue Reading »
Posted in China, Danmei, Drinking, 肉包不吃肉, Humiliation, LGBTQ, Magic, Magical Realism, Meatbun Doesn't Eat Meat, Military, Romance, Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou, Rui, Sex, Translation, Violence, Yu | Leave a Comment »
August 21, 2023 by Paul Debraski
[ATTENDED: August 19, 2023] Parliament-Funkadelic featuring George Clinton
I’ve had Parliament’s Greatest Hits since like 1990. I have a couple Funkadelic albums. I am in no way a huge fan, but I’ve always liked them and I’ve always thought that George Clinton was a pretty great guy. I realize 100% that the P-Funk heyday was literally decades ago. And of course I knew that any P-Funk concert in 2023 was going to be an imitation of what the band(s) got up to back in the day.
But since George was going to be there and his name was on the marquee, I assumed that this show would be a 21st century update to the classic P-Funk show. And with the technology (and costumery) available, it seemed like this could be an outrageous spectacle.
And it was not.
Well, it was a spectacle. There were some forty people on stage over the course of the night. Not even all of them were musicians. There were people ringing in the stage (one woman had her purse with her) who I’m guessing were VIPs or who won a contest or something. When the band first came out there were four horn players, two guitarists, a bassist, a drummer, a keyboardist, a disembodied voice (eventually I located him), four backing vocalists and George himself.
These musicians came and went throughout the show, sometimes being replaced by others. And who even knew what was going on in the back where people were unseeable. Continue Reading »
Posted in Blue Eye Extinction, Fishbone, Funkadelic, George Clinton, Montclair, NJ, Parliament, Wellmont Theater | Leave a Comment »
August 20, 2023 by Paul Debraski
[ATTENDED: August 19, 2023] Fishbone
I first heard of Fishbone from John Cusack wearing a Fishbone shirt in Say Anything (1989).
And it wasn’t just a random T-shirt
[Cusack didn’t like the boom-box scene]. In a last-ditch effort to convince his star to try the scene the way it was written, Crowe told Cusack that the song blaring from the stereo would be by the band Fishbone. At the time, the actor was a big fan of the ska group, and their music’s inclusion helped persuade him to give it a try. The shot worked, but the scene was still a long way from reaching its legendary form.
(While sources all agree that a Fishbone song was played from the boombox on-set, which song was used seems up for debate. AFI claims it was “Question of Life, Mental Floss says it was “Turn the Other Way” and Uproxx believes it to have been ”Bonin’ in the Boneyard.” For the sake of argument, we’ll trust Crowe, who said that “Party at Ground Zero” was the song used.)
Anyhow, I liked the logo and decided to check out the band (or at least that’s how I remember it). I loved their first EP with it’s funky dancey, naughty songs. And Truth and Soul followed to great success. Then it was their terrific The Reality of My Surroundings which sold me for good on Fishbone. They even had a pretty big hit with the very heavy “Swim” from the following album. So I’d been following Fishbone for about five years and hen kind of lost touch with them.
But those albums received a ton of play in those years and I never forgot how much I loved them.
So when I saw that they were still together (or reunited or whatever) I was surprised and delighted. There’s been a ton of lineup shuffling over the years, but as of this concert, four of the six original members are now back (or still) in the band. Continue Reading »
Posted in Blue Eye Extinction, Fishbone, Funkadelic, George Clinton, Montclair, NJ, Parliament, Wellmont Theater | Leave a Comment »
August 20, 2023 by Paul Debraski
[DID NOT ATTEND: August 20, 2023] Pixies / Modest Mouse / Cat Power
I saw Pixies for the first time in 28 years at The Stone Pony Summer Stage and it was glorious. I’ve since seen them two more times and I don’t feel the need to ever see them again. Even though each show has been very good, and there is some mixing up of songs, I feel like I’ve seen everything they’re going to show me.
I would see Modest Mouse every time they came around. The shows are totally different and each one feels like a new version of the band.
I have never really liked Cat Power (blasphemy!). She just doesn’t do anything for me.
With this line up, the nays overrode the yeas.
Recently I looked to see how much the tickets were, just in case I wanted to go and I found out it was sold out. So good for all of them.
Posted in Asbury Park, NJ, Cat Power, Modest Mouse, Pixies, The Stone Pony, The Stone Pony Summer Stage | Leave a Comment »
August 19, 2023 by Paul Debraski
[ATTENDED: August 19, 2023] Blu Eye Extinction
I had been looking forward to this show quite a lot. I’ve loved Fishbone for years and I assumed that PFunk would be a lot of fun.
At the last minute I found out that there was going to be a third band, Blu Eye Extinction opening as well. I was pretty tired going in so this wasn’t welcome news.
I walked in as they were playing and I rather liked their sound–a rock/funk/rap experience. Off t the side of the stage was a woman playing keys and singing backing vocals. But he singing style was… different. Kind of operatic and not exactly related to the melody. It was a puzzle for sure. So I looked them up and found this
Blu Eye Extinction is a NYC-based funk fusion band. The brainchild of Isotopia Records’ Constance Hauman who brings an unlikely combination of opera, jazz and funk to her keyboards and vocals, is only possible with the funk foundation and masterful grooves of the electric bass of James Jones. His unique style also encompasses his vocals, supporting Henry Ott’s rock guitars… If that isn’t enough, you add front man and emcee TJ Robinson on trombone, percussion and rap vocals, supported by JS Williams‘s rich trumpet w/ R&B vocals, and last but so not the least, Joshua Keitt’s metal-rock funk drums, it is no wonder that audience’s minds have been blown on the 50 UK and US shows since their debut at New Orleans Jazzfest April 29, 2022.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Blue Eye Extinction, Fishbone, Funkadelic, George Clinton, Montclair, NJ, Parliament, Wellmont Theater | Leave a Comment »
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This is the third or fourth time I could have seen Lotus Land. And this time they are playing two nights in a row!
I Just Read About That... 