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Kurt Vile and the Violators (The Stone Pony, Asbury Park, NJ, June 21, 2026)

June 21, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: June 21, 2026] Kurt Vile & The Violators

My wife has become a huge fan of Kurt Vile in the last few years, so any chance to see him, we’ll take.  She had never been to The Stone Pony before and as a Jersey native, she really ought to have been there at least once.  This was my third time there and I really haven’t enjoyed the vibe at any of the shows.

And tonight’s was weird too.  The Stone Pony is a weird venue–it’s very wide and very shallow.  It may also slope down away from the stage (It probably doesn’t but it feels that way).  After checking out the beach for a few minutes we headed inside and saw that it was pretty crowded.  We found our spot and then realized the guys in front of us were really drunk.  They moved soon after Kurt started (and eventually the one guy fell over and the had to be removed).  But then a very tall woman who was near us suddenly wound up in front of us.  Which sucked.

After a few songs behind her, I had to move a few feet over to be able to see.  Halfway through when the drunk guy fell over and had to leave I was able to get back to my wife and we enjoyed the show together.

So this tour was for his new album Philadelphia’s Been Good To Me.  And yet he opened with two songs not on the album.  All subsequent show, he jumped right to the new album.  So I’m not sure why we got Jesus Fever (which no one else did, but no complaints, it’s a great song) and Hey, Like A Child was earlier in the seton this tour.

I was pretty fascinated to see just how many people knew the words to all of his songs.  He was pretty excited to play The Stone Pony (his first time) so maybe he gave us an extra song or two.

And then it was on to the new album.  Red Room Dub is a delightful instrumental (is this is first instrumental, I don’t know), but he put words to it (no idea what they were though).  Zoom 97 is slow, chill song with the fun line “jump n my whip (yeah!)”  His backing band is always so solid–they never show off, they just keep things going as they need to.  Continue Reading »

Posted in Asbury Park, NJ, Kurt Vile, Kurt Vile and the Violators, The Sadies, The Stone Pony | Leave a Comment »

Jimmy Eat World : 25 Years of Bleed Amaerican / Thrice / Hey Mercedes (Skyline Stage at The Mann Center, Philadelphia, PA, June 19, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

June 19, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 19, 2026] Jimmy Eat World / Thrice / Hey Mercedes

Like everyone else in the world, I liked Jimmy Eat World’s Bleed American album.  I became a little obsessed with them, as I tend to do.  But I didn’t really listen to anything else by them.  I considered going to this show but realized that I didn’t like the album enough to head to the Mann to see them.

Interestingly, Bolero Brewery announced that at their Bolero festival this year, their headliner was going to be someone touring a big anniversary.  If you guessed who it was you would get two tickets.   I guessed Jimmy Eat World and I was super psyched to see them at Bolero.  But it wasn’t them and I don’t even know the headliner that they were talking about.  So that was a bummer.

Thrice is a post-hardcore band from California.  I don’t know them at all, although they’ve been around since the late 1990s.  I just read about them a bit on Wikipedia and I don’t really understand how I don’t know them.  They are certainly the kind of band I would have really enjoyed–especially given their philanthropy.  They were pretty heavy back in the day although their sound has moved in many different directions over the years.

Hey Mercedes was formed out of the ashes of the band Braid.  I don’t know either band (I guess I never really got into the emo scene).  Hey Mercedes is pretty catchy upbeat pop punk.

This would probably have been a fun night, but I’m not upset about missing it–woulld have enjoyed it much more 20 years ago probably.

Posted in Hey Mercedes, Jimmy Eat World, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, Skyline Stage at The Mann, Thrice | Leave a Comment »

Daisy Grenade / Vienna Vienna (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, June 18, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

June 18, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 18, 2026] Daisy Grenade / Vienna Vienna

Daisy Grenade opened for Pierce the Veil but we missed them. I wanted to see them because I like what they call bubblegrunge.

Daisy Grenade is an alt-pop duo led by Dani Nigro and Keaton Whittakker hailing from their hometown of NYC. Their songs hit like chaotic diary entries equal parts heartbreak, rage, delusion and rebellion. They’re giving bubblegrunge a bloody nose, wrapping raw vulnerability in distortion and glitter.

I listened to their newer stuff and liked it a bit less-it’s more poppy than their earlier stuff.  Tonight was my daughter’s graduation, though so I didn’t mind missing this show.

Vienna Vienna deems his cathartic take on alternative music “glimmer rock.”  His music reflects his journey with queerness and self-acceptance, creating a space of shared catharsis at his shows. The music blends pop-punk, queer pop, and soft-rock ballads, celebrating strangeness and authenticity.

I’ve listened to a couple of his songs and I really like them–he’s fun and catchy.  They’ve got a great voice and a great sense of melody.  I hope they opene for someone else that I see in the future.

Posted in Daisy Grenade, Philadelphia, PA, The Foundry, Vienna Vienna | Leave a Comment »

Algernon Cadwallader (RUBA Club, June 17 & 18, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

June 18, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 17 & 18, 2026] Algernon Cadwallader

Algernon Cadawallader has reunited and played a bunch of shows.  Before they reunited I had not heard of them.  But I had since listened to them and thought they sounded pretty great.  I have not been able to get to any of their shows in Philly, which is especially crazy since they seem to play pretty often now.

I had also never heard of the RUBA Club.  It is possible that it once stood for Russian United Beneficial Association. Now just known as the Ruba Club in Northern Liberties.  It is a non-profit social club, venue, and production space which hosts events, shows, and parties in our cabaret bar and ballroom theater.

This was a SPECIAL EVENT hosting the 20th anniversary show of Algernon Cadwallader’s first demo

The band said they were Soooo stoked to share these nights with two artists who were part of our story since the early days.

June 17th was Cara Beth Satalino.  June 18th was Amanda X. Continue Reading »

Posted in Algernon Cadwallader, Amanda X, Cara Beth Satalino, Philadelphia, PA, RUBA Club | Leave a Comment »

Chinese American Bear / Layton Wu (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, June 17, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

June 17, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 17, 2026] Chinese American Bear / Layton Wu

I hadn’t heard of Chinese American Bear until I was looking at the PhilaMOCA site for another show.  The name was cute and I looked into them and immediately wanted to see them live because their live shows are playful and interactive. Tong leads the audience in singing Mandarin and dancing.  There is a background dancer in a dumpling hat or a bear hat, and the duo throw dumpling or boba plushies into the crowd.

I mean, how fun would that be?  But we had tickets to see Wilco (why do all the good events happen on the same night?).  Since they’re from Seattle there’s a chance they’ll come back to the East Coast sooner rather than later.  The band consists of married couple Lingbo Anne Tong and Bryce Barsten. They play psychedelic C-pop (or mando pop) with both Mandarin and English lyrics.

Layton Wu is a New York based Taiwanese bedroom pop singer.  He might be too soft for my liking.  I wonder if he’s more fun live.

 

Posted in Chinese American Bear, Layton Wu, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA | Leave a Comment »

An evening with Wilco (Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Bethlehem, PA, June 17, 2026)

June 17, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: June 17, 2026] Wilco

This was my third time seeing Wilco.  I’ve been trying to see them again since 2021 but for some reason it never worked out.  In fact, I’ve been trying to see them a lot since 2016, but it never worked out until tonight.

SteelStacks outside is a fun venue and I grabbed a ticket for my wife and I.  The last time I saw Wilco it was a co-headlining tour with Sleater-Kinney, so their set was short.

But this time, it was just them, so they did two sets (although, somehow they played fewer songs than when I saw them ten years ago).

We arrived at SteelStacks wih plenty of time, but were kind of herded into the grassy area.  I didn’t even realize that they had a merch table.  I probably would have bough the poster (see below) so it’s probably for the best that I didn’t know about it.

This was my wife’s first time seeing them and I knew she’d enjoy the show, both for the songwriting and for the wildness (because Wilco may be dad-rock, but they absolutely crush thing live).

Wilco has been around forever, so they have a million songs to choose from.   It’s possible that you’re not going to hear your favorite song at any of their sets, but it’s pretty likely that you’re going to hear a bunch of your favorites–and some unexpected deep cuts.

I’m not a massive Wilco fan.  I enjoy most of their stuff, although I haven’t really listened to the two latest albums.  And, yea, I really start at around Summerteeth, but I could easily make an ideal setlist and this show covered most of it.

We got off to a great start with Handshake Drugs and If I Ever Was a Child.  Jeff was playing acoustic guitar and we were in front of Nels Cline (with a clear view of Glenn Kotche on drums).  They played a few newer songs that I didn’t know.  I was intrigued by the lyrics to Cruel Country, especially since the first line is cleanly stated–I love my country.  It’s hard to feel that way, but I guess it’s nice to be reminded that we could feel that way again.

It’s always interesting seeing what the crowd gets excited by.  I was really pleased to hear Evicted (I love that guitar melody); there was a huge reaction for I’m Always in Love, but an even huger reaction for Hummingbird.

I’d often wondered if Pat Sansone ever felt like Nels Cline gets all of the love (I didn’t realize they joined in the same year).  But at this show Pat had some absolutely stellar, showoffy guitar solos.  In fact, there were two extended jams in which he and Nels played off of each other.  It was really fun and the songs they chose to do them in were totally rocking so it just felt like a fantastic jam session.

Bassist John Stirratt has been with Wilco since the beginning and for this show, he sang a song that he wrote (and sang on) on the debut album.  The song was It’s Just That Simple, which I didn’t recognize, but it was fun to see Jeff on bass. Continue Reading »

Posted in Bethlehem, PA, Levitt Pavilion, Wilco | Leave a Comment »

Basic / Victor Vieiera Branco’s Bark Culture / The Er Band (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, June 17, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

June 17, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 17, 2026] Basic / Victor Vieiera Branco’s Bark Culture / The Er Band

I really enjoy seeing Chris Forsyth and his various projects.   Basic is his recent project with Forsyth on guitar, Nick Millevoi on baritone guitar and drum machine, and Patrick Avery on percussion and electronics.  I’ve seen them twice and really enjoyed their rocking, possibly improvised set.

Rooted in Philadelphia, Bark Culture is Vieira-Branco’s creative brainchild, where intriguing sonic forces feel at once dark and lyrical, sometimes effusive yet always fresh and compelling. With each member focused on injecting energy and emotion, Bark Culture pushes the envelope, reinventing itself as an experimental group that strikes a perfect balance between written material and open improvisation.

The ER in the ER band is Philly guitar deity Emily Robb.  The ER Band is Dustin Burrows on guitar and organ, Daniel Provenzano on bass, and Richie Charles on drums. If you enjoy the sound of a band locking in on the root note and getting real filthy, you will probably dig this.  I saw her open for Mdou Moctar and she played uninterrupted for 40 minutes.  She played bluesy riffs.  She looped herself.  She played solos over those riffs.  She made noise.  She experimented with melodies and feedback.

This sounds like an interesting night of experimental improv, but I had tickets to see Wilco tonight, and that’s what we did.

Posted in Basic, Chris Forsyth, Emily Robb, Johnny Brenda's, Nick Millevoi, Philadelphia, PA, The Er Band, Victor Vieiera Branco's Bark Culture | Leave a Comment »

Jinjer / Entheos / Crystal Lake (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, June 14, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

June 14, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 14, 2026] Jinjer / Entheos / Crystal Lake

Back in 2022, I saw Jinjer after blowing off all three opening bands.  I never do this kind of thing, but I had no interest in the openers.  I left my house pretty late and arrived just before they went on and it was great.

I thought about doing the same thing tonight, but with a twist.  I had tickets to see Vundabar across town.  I thought I could see Wunderbar and when their show was over, I could head over and catch most, if not all of Jinjer. I wasn’t going to buy a ticket for Jinjer, because that would be took reckless.  But then Ticketmaster offered a crazy cheap deal on tickets for this show (and other shows).  I also had a $20 gift from Live Nation, so I used the two together and bought a ticket for this show for $7.  That way if I didn’t make it, no big deal.

Something happened at home that had me running very late and feeling kind of beat.  So I wound up not even going to the Vundabar show.  I didn’t feel so bad about missing this one, as it seems like the Vundabar show ended at roughly the same time as Jinjer, so it wouldn’t have been worth trying to get across town anyhow.

Entheos are a progressive death metal band from Santa Cruz, California.  The band features ex-members of Animosity, Animals as Leaders, and The Faceless.  Musically they are interesting and compelling with lots of prog component.  And, despite being a death metal band, they’re not all that heavy.  But the death metal component (and the part I don’t care for) is the growly singer.  However, I’ve noticed a lot of interesting vocal sounds from the singer and it turns out that all of the vocals, including the melodica parts are done by Chaney Crabb.  She’s pretty impressive with her range (not as good as Jinjer’s but pretty close).  I would have enjoyed seeing them after all, I think.  I’ll keep aneye out for them in future.

Crystal Lake are a Japanese melodic metalcore band that incorporates heavy prog elements and even nu-metal.  It’s fascinating hearing a Japanese singer screaming in English.  Although I see now that they have had an American singer for the last few years.  Indeed, lots of line up changes for this band.  They have some cool melodic elements that I like.

But this would probably have been a really long loud night had I gone to the whole thing.

Posted in Crystal Lake, Entheos, JInjer, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia, Ukraine | Leave a Comment »

Vundabar “Gawk” ten year anniversary / Slow Fiction (Union Transfer, Philadelphia PA, June 14, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

June 14, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 14, 2026] Vundabar / Slow Fiction

I’ve seen Vundabar twice, although the first time was just a song when we arrived late.  The second time was at All Things Go.  And it made me really want to see them properly inside.

I missed them in 2024 when they came around and this tour–10 years of their Gawk album–seemed like a great way to see them.  There was some real miscommunication in my house and I wound up not going.  So I was bummed about it.  Vundabar does seem to tour quite often so I hope I’ll get to see them in the near future.

Drook was originally listed as the support act but it was changed to Slow Fiction.

Slow Fiction includes band members Julia Vassallo (vocals), Joseph Skimmons (guitar), Paul Knepple (guitar), Ryan Duffin (bass), and Akiva Henig (drums) who came together in New York City in March of 2021.  The band references Swervedriver, Broken Social Scene, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and speaks to breaking the patriarchy, shattering the gaze of toxic masculinity, and dismissing the notion of objectification. The music is refractive while the lyrics are uneasy, meant to make us reflect on the inexplicable image modern society allots to women.

This would have been a stellar show and I wish I had gotten my act together.  Luckily, Slow Fiction is opening for actual Swervedriver in August.

Posted in Drook, Philadelphia, PA, Slow Fiction, Union Transfer, Vundabar | Leave a Comment »

Enter: Shikari / Boston Manor / Initiate (Theatre of Living Arts [TLA], Philadelphia, PA, June 13, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

June 13, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 18, 2022] Enter: Shikari / Boston Manor / Initiate

Sometimes, when a venue promotes a band pretty heavily it’s easy to get caught up in the hype.  There’s also a lot of bands that have been around for fifteen or twenty years that I completely missed when they had their popular surge.  Back in 2022, they played Union Transfer and I was really interested in them because of the UT hype machine (they are very good at their job)

Enter: Shikari (I think that I just like the colon in their name) has been around since 1999 and originally were kind of a screamo band that was really heavy but had lots of synth and electronic elements too.  It’s the kind of thing I want to like but I tend to not, really.

It’s probably the kind of show I would go to where everyone is a diehard fan and I’d enjoy the songs but not know any of the songs.

I also didn’t realize they were British.

I’ve listened to them a bit more since that show and I do rather like all of the various elements they put into their music. Although at the same time I’m not convinced I need to see them live.  There were several other shows that I wanted to go to instead of this one, so this didn’t really have a chance.

Then in May, they had to cancel the whole tour becaue of our stupid givernment

Hello USA & Canada.
We wish we were here with better news. Unfortunately, despite best efforts at our end, due to ongoing visa issues that look extremely unlikely to be sorted before some massive financial decisions need to be made, we’re in the position where we have to cancel both legs of the planned touring in North America this year, along with our Warped Tour and Summerfest appearances.
If you know us, you know that this isn’t a decision taken lightly and we’re gutted that we’re not able to be with you in 2026.
We’re already starting the process of trying to make plans for 2027 but, with uncertainty around the timeframes getting visas secured, we did not want to simply postpone and reschedule these shows, hence full cancellation and refunding of ticket purchases.
Once again, we apologise for this situation which is out of our control, and we thank you for your continued support. We were really looking forward to bringing Lose Your Self to you, and we hope to have better news regarding that sooner rather than later.
Thank you.

Boston Manor are a British band who have been around since 2013.  I’ve never heard of them, despite them being a punk, post-hardcore, grunge band.  Although when I just looked them up on Tidal, I do know the song Heathens.  Follow up: it’s a Twenty One Pilots song that they are covering.

Initiate are a screamy band from L.A.  And I really like them.  Their singer Crystal Pak has a great screaming voice–intense but understandable.  And their music is more complicated than many similar bands  The current line-up of the band consists of Pak on vocals, Alec Riley and Jack McTomney on guitars, Michael Morales on bass, and Danny Paul on drums.   I’ll bet they are fun live, although a whole album is a little exhausting.

Posted in Boston Manor, Enter: Shikari, Initiate, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts | Leave a Comment »

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