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Halloween (Warehouse on Watts, Philadelphia, PA, June 16, 2025) [LIP CRITIC]

June 16, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: June 16, 2025] Halloween

I first heard about Warehouse on Watts back in 2021, when some kind of Yves Tumor Halloween show was being presented there.  I didn’t understand what was happening that night and really had no idea what to think of this venue.  I’ve only been interested in the venue one other time since then, but I didn’t go to it.  But here at last was someone (Hello Mary) that I really wanted to see and they were playing there.

Imagine my surprise to find out it’s a block away from The Met Philly.  It’s a cool, small club with a short stage and walls that you can lean against if need be.  I really liked it and would happily go back.

So I arrived really early and was able to check out the place a but before Halloween started.  I can’t believe that in 2025 a band can call themselves Halloween and there’s no real conflict.  Has no one ever called their band Halloween before?

Halloween is a Philly based band and they play an interesting mix of sounds.  They are probably based around shoegaze, with fuzzy swirling guitars.  The vocals are quiet ( I often couldn’t hear them, but I could tell there was singing).  Guitarist Sia Dokos (who also sang lead sometimes) played really cool interesting chords and noises and I wished that I was on their side of the stage to really see what was going on). Continue Reading »

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Momma (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 30, 2025)

May 31, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: May 30, 2025] Momma

Just over a year ago, I saw Momma open for Girl in Red.  I had been wanting to see them for a while and an opening set is a fine way to see them.  But I was really excited when they announced this headline tour and that they were playing Union Transfer.

I was off to t he side a bit–near Allegra Weingarten but with a great view of Etta Friedman.  Last time it wasn’t entirely clear if the band was just the tow of them (as photos showed) or all four, but the two guys are still with them so I’m guessing they are part of the band now–Aron Kobayashi Ritch on bass and Preston Fulks on drums.

The set was largely songs from their new album, which was to be expected.  Although I was really surprised that they played I Want You (Fever) (which I think is a huge hit) second!  The crowd went nuts for it of course.

In fact I feel like they stacked the front of the show with the songs I wanted to hear because they followed Fever with Medicine and Ohio All the Time. Continue Reading »

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Wishy (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 30, 2025) [MOMMA]

May 30, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: March 22, 2025] Wishy

I Was happy that Wishy opened for Momma.  I knew one or two songs by them and really liked them.

The band came out–a five piece, with the two singer/guitarists Kevin Krauter and Nina Pitchkites.  They harmonize perfectly with each other–both vocally and on guitar.  There’s something very appealing about the two singers going Ah ah ah in harmony on Planet Popstar.  There’s a few different parts in this song so I actually wasn’t sure if they were playing different songs or one long one (it’s only 4 minutes, but is pretty complicated)

Wishy released an EP this year and they played half of it.  That left five songs from last year’s Triple Seven, which is the album t hat I first heard them from.  The (very simple ) guitar riff in Persuasion is wonderful–and when the harmony guitar came in–fantastic.

Love on the Outside is mostly Kevin on guitar, but after a verse, the band kicks in and the harmonies are terrific.  The rest of the band is guitarist Dimitri Morris , bassist Mitch Collins, and drummer Conner Host.  It almost seems like overkill to have three guitarists in the band, but all three do different things to make the sound enormous. Continue Reading »

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The Dead Milkmen (White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, NJ, May 10, 2025)

May 11, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: May 10, 2025] The Dead Milkmen 

It took me 35 years to see The Dead Milkmen live.  And now I’ve seen them twice in about a year.  The last show was so much fun; I was really excited when they announced more shows at Underground Arts.  But those days were booked for me.  Bummer.  But then they announced this show at White Eagle Hall (where they have played a few times recently).

I arrived late (because parking there sucks).  I almost gave up and went home, but I found a reasonable parking spot. And the usher brought me to the ADA section which was pretty cool because I had been really far back.  But the ADA section was in the balcony and I was able to get really close to the stage.  Rodney Anonymous is such a wild and inclusive front man that he gets everyone involved in every song.  And even though he never looked up at the balcony, I felt like a participant.

Last time I was on the far side and could barely see bassist Dan Stevens or drummer Dean Clean.  This time I was on Joe Jack Talcum’s side and could see the whole stage easily.  I was also able to watch Jack’s guitar playing which is surprisingly complex.

One of the fun parts of sitting where I was that I could see all of the people slam dancing–and really making their pit large (to the dismay of other around them).  And for once I was really glad that I was upstairs away from the action.

The setlist wasn’t radically different from the previous show, but the order was very different and there were a few songs thrown in that they hadn’t played last time (I was pretty thrilled to hear The Thing That Only Eats Hippies). Continue Reading »

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Miss Teen America (White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, NJ, May 10, 2025) [THE DEAD MILKMEN]

May 10, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: May 10, 2025] Miss Teen America

Parking around White Eagle Hall is a nightmare.  Despite arriving 25 minutes early for the show, I missed the first half of Miss Teen America.

But I did catch about half of their set and I enjoyed it quite a lot.

As I was watching I thought they had a really My Chemical Romance vibe.  But their earlier stuff.  It was very funny to me when, on my way back to the car, a young woman was talking with her friends and she said “That opening band was like what it must have been like to see My Chemical Romance when they first came out.  The singer even looked like Gerard Way.”

The band had a great look.  Their (new) bassist was awesome in fishnets and super high boots.  And their lead guitarist had a look that I couldn’t see all that well (the stage was pretty dark) but which was cool from afar.

They played four or five song while I was there including a song that they played together for the first time that night.  They describe themselves as traditional goth with “punk rock energy and a pop sensibility” and that’s pretty accurate.  I feel that the goth part is more from their look than their sound, but they definitely fall into the punkier side of goth. Continue Reading »

Posted in Jersey City, NJ, Miss Teen America, The Dead Milkmen, White Eagle Hall | 2 Comments »

From Indian Lakes (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, April 21, 2025) [L.S. DUNES]

April 21, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: August 3, 2025] From Indian Lakes

My son and I saw L.S. Dunes open for Pierce the Veil back in 2023.  We knew a little about them and then the merch guy told us that we would really like them.  But, as seems  to happen at the Santander Arena, the opening bands are just lost in the acoustics of the place.

But I was intrigued enough to want to check them out in Asbury Lanes.  My son and I went for dinner before the show and by the time we found parking, we had missed opening band Night Sins entirely.  And the place was PACKED.  I felt lucky that I could squeeze into the ADA seating area because if I couldn’t we’d have been crowded even further back.  Although I will say that it was not the ideal location–I really assumed we’d be really close to the stage.  And while we weren’t far away, it wasn’t ideal.

By the time we had fully settled in, From Indian Lakes were almost done.  I didn’t know anything about either band, but I was interested in them both and a little bummed to have missed them.

A brief bio: they released their first record since 2019 mid last year, which falls under a shoegaze, indie rock type of genre. The latest album of Head Void was a lot heavier than Dimly Lit in 2019, but compared to L.S. Dunes it’s quite tame.  They are apparently the brainchild of lead singer Joe Vann (Joey Vannucchi) and I don’t know who else was on stage with them.

Joe was totally understated as a front man, but he was also pretty funny, replying to fans shouting things and generally keeping the mood light.  He also had a very funny attitude about talking–just don’t offend anyone and it’s a win.  We saw about three songs in full and I really liked their vibe–very chill and shoegazey.  Although, live there was a harsher element than the soft shimmer of the album.

Overall I enjoyed what little I heard, and I’ve found that I enjoy their albums quite a bit too. Continue Reading »

Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, From Indian Lakes, L.S. Dunes, Night Sins | Leave a Comment »

Lucy Dacus (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, April 16, 2025)

April 16, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: April 16, 2025] Lucy Dacus 

I have seen Lucy Dacus quite a few (six) times and she always puts on a mesmerizing show. The first time I saw her was at Johnny Brenda’s (capacity 250), the most recent was at Union Transfer (capacity 1200).  And now here she was starting off her first tour after boygenius in her former home town of Philadelphia by playing The Met (capacity 3800).

And, wow, did she step it up for this bigger venue.  She had a gigantic backdrop designed to look like a museum wall.  There were picture frames and columns and it looked amazing.  And even this was presented theatrically as for the openers and for Lucy’s first song, the whole extravaganza was covered in a dropcloth.  The band even walked through the dropcloth opening at the center of the backdrop.  When it dramatically dropped away, the crowd went nuts.

And as she sang, one (or more) of the frames would display a picture that had something to do with the song she was playing.

Because this was the Forever is a Feeling tour, she played mostly songs from that new album (she played the whole album, but not in order).  The album opens with Calliope Prelude and so did the show.  It’s a short instrumental which is primarily strings and it worked very nicely as “walk on” music.

And then she launched right into Hot & Heavy, a song that opens quietly but builds really nicely to get the whole band involved.  I was surprised that she hadn’t opened with a song from the new album, but she followed that up with five songs in a row from it.  The band includes Sarah Goldstone (keys vocals), Dominic Angelella (bass), Alan Good Parker Guitars), Phoenix Rousiamanis (violin), and Ricardo Lagomasino (drums).

First was Ankles, the big single from the album–I’m always surprised when bands play their new single so early, but it worked to keep the energy up.  This also happened to be the first Lucy album I hadn’t listened to much before the show.  So I didn’t know these new songs all that well.  But Lucy is engrossing as a performer.  And it’s fun to hear a sing for the first time in a live setting.  Like hearing the words to Modigliani–while she projected a Modigliani painting on the screen. Continue Reading »

Posted in Boygenius, Jasmine.4.T, Katie Gavin, Lucy Dacus, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia | Leave a Comment »

Katie Gavin (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, April 16, 2025) [LUCY DACUS]

April 16, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: April 16, 2025] Katie Gavin 

I Katie Gavin is the singer for Muna.  I didn’t really like the Muna album that much when it came out, but I was really impressed by their live show when I saw them at All Things Go a few years ago.

I felt kind of the same about the Katie Gavin album.  It was okay, but it didn’t excite me all that much.

In fact, I really wanted to see Jasmine.4.T because their song Elephant is one of my favorites this year.  Sadly, I didn’t realize the show started at 7:15 (I assumed 8) and when we rolled up at 7:45, Jasmine.4.T had already ended.

When Katie came out, she was met by thunderous applause, and as soon as she started performing, I was once again blown away by her stage presence.  She joked that people might not know who she is (the applause belied that).

I didn’t love Katie’s album as it leans a little too alt-country for me.  But as with anyone whose albums lean alt-country but who also rock out, in a live setting, the rocking comes to the fore.  And her four-piece band was outstanding, Both bassist Nana Adjoa and guitarist Eric Radloff provided backing vocals.  Adjoa even took a verse or two of some songs (she has a wonderful voice). Continue Reading »

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An evening with Dawes (McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ, April 13, 2025)

April 13, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: April 13, 2025] An evening with Dawes

My wife and I first encountered Dawes in 2013 when they (inexplicably) appeared on Parenthood, a show we watched pretty regularly.  I thought they were a fictional band, but indeed they are not and had two albums out at the time.  I can’t recall at all what their plot line had to do with anything, but Dawes became something of a punchline for us.  The AV Club (who loves Dawes and the episode) jokes that the main character says the word Dawes so much it’s like he wants to be in the band.

And yet, over the years, we heard more and more songs of their that we liked.  It seemed like every new album brought at least one or two songs that we thought were really catchy.  I hadn’t really considered seeing them live until they announced that they were playing at McCarter.  I mean, a show that close to my house?  Sign me up!

So I got us tickets and wondered who the opener would be.  Well, it turned out there was no opener.  So we were given two full sets (20 songs… evidently the typical how on this tour got 17 songs, so I guess it wasn’t a huge difference (except that we got to go home earlier).

This show also happened a few months after the band announced that everyone except the two brothers: Taylor (vocals, guitar) and Griffin Goldsmith (drums) was out of the band.  I had actually wondered if they were going to play just the two of them.  But they didn’t–it was a full band, and they sounded great.

I think we were both a little surprised at what the band looked like, since I clearly never looked at them (since Parenthood).  This tour was for their new album Oh Brother, which I didn’t really know, although I did know and like the song Still Strangers Sometimes–a perfect catchy song from them.  But they started with The Game, a deep cut that I didn’t know but which I thought was quite good.

But I was really psyched when they played Living in the Future, and even though When the Tequila Runs Out is kinda goofy, it was really fun live.  Speaking of fun, this crowd was really really rowdy.  More so than the band, I’d say,  I had no idea that Dawes had such a devoted fan base (one guy was overheard saying he’d seen them a dozen or so times).

And the crowd went nuts for songs that I didn’t know.  I knew a few songs from Good Luck with Whatever, but I didn’t know Me Especially or Didn’t Fix Me.  Nor did I know Right on Time from the album All Your Favorite Bands (which I think we owned).

But that was just a few songs I didn’t know before they played Most People, a ubiquitous song that sounded great live.  They ended the with the mellow A Little Bit of Everything and then finished up the set with  Someone Else’s Café/Doomscroller Tries to Relax from Misadventures of a Doomscroller.  I felt like I knew the song, but it seems like an unlikely radio song–but that guitar riff was really cool.

After a little break, Tyler came out by himself and played a pretty, acoustic Moon in the Water. Continue Reading »

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Deftones (Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA, April 4, 2025)

April 5, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: April 4, 2025] Deftones

I liked Deftones pretty much from when they first came out (the riff for My Own Summer is so good), although like everyone else, it was White pony that really blew me away.

I was lucky enough to see them in 2016 after they released Gore (an album that I love even though many fans do not).  They played the Sands Bethlehem, not a great venue, but the band sounded great and the band was really interactive with the audience.

I knew I wanted to see them again but the pandemic had other ideas, rescheduling their shows a few times.  When the rescheduled show finally happened in 2022, I wound up going with my daughter to see Beach Bunny instead.  And my son (a Deftones fan) went in my place.  Interestingly, since then my daughter has become a big Deftones fan and wow I’m sure she wished we had gone to Deftones instead of Beach Bunny.

Indeed, when this show was announced, I grabbed four tickets for me, my son, and my daughter.  But then my daughter had a commitment she couldn’t get out of (oh no), so my son’s friend came along–he’s a big fan as well–and all was good.  Actually it wasn’t all good because my car died on the way down.  Luckily it died on the way to his school and not while we were on 95.  Okay it didn’t die exactly, but it gave me a very alarming warning beep that made me quite certain I would not be driving it anywhere except home.

So he drove us in his convertible.  And he handled the nonsense of rte 95, the bottleneck at the Wells Fargo Center and the fact that there was a baseball game at the same time next door very well.  The baseball traffic was the real killer and the reason we missed fleshwater completely.  While we were in line for the exit, a car swerved in front of us and it was one of my coworkers!  How weird.  They were going to the stupid baseball game.

But we had decent seats (straight back but not close) and after Mars Volta we waited with mounting excitement.  It was here that I realized how young (and female) much of the audience was (like my daughter).  I believe that TikTok has introduced them to a lot of new people (good for Deftones, but it means they pay arenas instead of large clubs now).

The lights went down and thier gigantic video screen behind them lit up.  The screen jumped between shots of the band playing and other random projected videos.

The show started with what I guess is their (now) biggest hit.  I believe that Be Quiet is the song that got all the younguns into them.  And it sounded great, even in the cavernous Wells Fargo.  And I was really impressed with how energetic and bouncy Chino Moreno (who is in his 50s now) was. Continue Reading »

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