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Turnstile / Citizen / Ceremony / Ekulu / Truth Cult (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, May 24, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

May 24, 2022 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 24, 2022] Turnstile / Citizen / Ceremony / Ekulu / Truth Cult

The new Turnstile record is fun and wild.  And I’ve heard that a Turnstile live show was absolutely bonkers.  I wanted to go to this show, although the prospect of five bands in one night is exhausting.

Plus I had tickets to see Sondre Lerche (they couldn’t be more different options)–which we wound up not going to anyhow.

Citizen are a rocking band who embrace a lot of styles.  I hear some post punk and some shoegaze wrapped in an emo blanket.  I rather dig their stuff.

Ceremony were a hardcore band who have expanded their palette a bit.  Indeed, one of their newest songs has a female vocalist singing gently in the middle of the song.

Ekulu, are a crossover hardcore band with lots of screaming metal solos.

Truth Cult throws in a bunch of influences.  There’ a lot of 70s rock in their delivery (those backing vocals and riffs) but the lead vocals are firmly in the punk realm.  There’s a hint of Fucked Up on their overall sound, as well.

Posted in Ceremony, Citizen, Ekulu, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia, Truth Cult, Turnstile | Leave a Comment »

Sondre Lerche / mmeadows (City Winery Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, May 24, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

May 24, 2022 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 24, 2022] Sondre Lerche / mmeadows

I’ve been a fan of Sondre Lerche for about eight years.

I was delighted to have the opportunity to see him live, but when the night of the show came up, my wife and I decided to just stay home instead.  She didn’t really know him–sometimes I get tickets for a show I think she’ll like–and I’m sure that impacted her decision to stay home.

At the same time, it felt like a long drive for a seated show of mellow folk, no matter how good it was.

Here’s a review from the NYC show the night before

Lerche said that his newest album was written and recorded in Norway, where he grew up and hunkered down during lockdown. He kept busy training for marathons, started a wine company, wrote children’s books, and busted out creative new music videos during that span. He also discussed how his working methods have allowed his artistry to evolve and branch out in unique ways.

Lerche’s music has continued to evolve over the years and now encompasses an extraordinary range of styles, each amazing in their own right, from jazz and addictive instrumental ballads to pop melodies and rhythms. Approaching each song is much like examining a gallery piece: once you can overcome the rush and excitement of the melody and can focus on the lyrics, you let them sink in. His thought-provoking, introspective poetry strikes a chord and makes you love and appreciate the songs more with each listen. These elements come together with eclectic, but incredibly appealing results.

I don’t really know mmeadows, but their music is pretty interesting.  Rough Trade publishing describes them this way:

Longtime collaborators Kristin Slipp and Cole Kamen-Green come together for the first time as a duo in mmeadows. The band’s distinct sound is informed by their deep musical backgrounds: Kristin is a current member of indie royalty Dirty Projectors, while Cole has worked directly with Beyoncé on two albums, ‘Beyoncé’ and ‘Four.’ Drawing from their disparate influences, mmeadows sees two people connect in what Paste Magazine calls a sonically “singular” way.

Vocal-focused pop songwriting is the heartbeat of mmeadows, who liberally use found sounds and esoteric vintage instruments in their productions and performances. The band released their first EP, Who Do You Think You Are?, in April 2020.

Perhaps a but too poppy for me, but I’ll bet they’re fun live.

Posted in City Winery Philadelphia, mmeadows, Philadelphia, PA, Sondre Lerche | Leave a Comment »

Scott Thompson and Paul Bellini: An Evening with Mouth Congress (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, May 21, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

May 21, 2022 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 21, 2022] Scott Thompson and Paul Bellini: An Evening with Mouth Congress

I love PhilaMOCA and can’t believe how many of their shows I’ve had to miss since they reopened.

Of course this one I wouldn’t have missed ina million years.  Except I didn’t even HEAR about it until it was long sold out.  [Plus, we went to Music Man on Broadway so I wasn’t around].

So what the hell was this?  And are you telling me that for an extra $15 I could have met a Kid in the Hall?

PhilaMOCA is excited to host The Kids in the Hall’s Scott Thompson and KITH writer Paul Bellini for a documentary screening and reunion performance of their 1980s gay punk band Mouth Congress! This is not a tour, this is a one-off just for Philly proudly organized in-house by PhilaMOCA!

The event will feature a screening of the pseudo-documentary MOUTH CONGRESS followed by a live performance, sketches, and a Q&A with Thompson and Bellini.

About Mouth Congress:
Mouth Congress was formed in a basement in November of 1984 when Paul Bellini rented a beatbox from an audio store. He wanted to experiment with sounds and try his hand at songwriting with his sister’s boyfriend, guitarist Rob Rowatt, and her high school buddy, bassist Gord Disley. Their cacophony immediately drew the attention of Scott Thompson, who at the time was on the cusp of joining a local comedy troupe called The Kids in the Hall. Since they only had the beatbox for a month, they recorded dozens of sketches for songs. Then, about ten months later, they made their stage debut with Brian Hiltz’s band I Want functioning as back-up. From start to finish, Bellini either tape-recorded or video-taped everything the band ever did, from jam sessions to costume fittings to lyric-writing sessions to live shows. This dragged on for about 4 years, so you can imagine how much media he accumulated. But by 1991, both Thompson and Bellini were so preoccupied with their work on The Kids in the Hall television series that they quietly put all the Mouth Congress media into a deep, dark hallway closet. They didn’t forget about it, though. For years, Bellini pondered the idea of making a film about the band. Then, in 2011, he dug all this stuff out of the closet, showed it to Thompson, and the two men set about trying to shape it all into something.

Synopsis:
It’s a cold, snowy night in Toronto. Melancholy, an 8-year old girl, is spending the night at her Uncle Kevin’s place. Uncle Kevin is Kevin McDonald of The Kids in the Hall. After a day of Josef von Sternberg cosplay (he dons an ape suit like Marlene Dietrich in Blonde Venus), Uncle Kevin sets Melancholy up in his den to watch a DVD of a movie he was in called Lilo & Stitch.

But Melancholy isn’t interested in Lilo & Stitch. Instead, she finds an old VHS tape labelled Mouth Congress and her curiosity gets the best of her. As she watches the first five minutes of this bizarre rock band on stage, she is captivated. Kevin catches her in the act and admonishes her for snooping, but she is hooked. For a bedtime story, she insists on being told the history of Mouth Congress.

NOTE: There will no longer be a 10:00 PM performance (no controversy, the performers just want to put their all into a single performance).
Admission is $40, Admission + post-show Meet & Greet is $55

Posted in Paul Bellini, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, Scott Thompson, The Kids in the Hall | Leave a Comment »

Vagabon / Maneka (White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, NJ, May 21, 2022) [CANCELLED]

May 21, 2022 by Paul Debraski

[CANCELLED: May 21, 2022] Vagabon / Maneka

There is evidence that Vagabon was supposed to play White Eagle Hall on May 21, 2022.  But there is very little of it. There’s no announcements of the show/tour.  There’s np posters or fliers.  And if you look at the website for White Eagle Hall, there a post announcing the show, but not one cancelling it.

I have wanted to see her for a few years now.   I loved her debut album, but i believe her follow up records sound quite different, so maybe I missed my chance back in 2019 when I didn’t see her with Angel Olsen.

Maneka used to be in Speedy Ortiz.

I listened to a track off his new album and it was mellow and almost a little boring.  But then I read that his previous album was wild and crazy and it is.

Turns out Maneka is really hard to pin down and would probably be amazing to see live.

Here’s a little blurb from Pitchfork.

After parting ways with Speedy Ortiz in 2017, Brooklyn-based musician Devin McKnight adopted the moniker Maneka to experiment with genres beyond his indie-rock roots.   …  McKnight came into his own on Devin in 2019, and he cranked his energy up to 11 by blending heavy metal and noise-punk with hip hop and jazz. On Dark Matter, McKnight continues to ask what it means to be Black in the indie scene while expanding his musical range in surprising ways.

McKnight likens America’s racist history to dark matter—an invisible force that binds the country together. “America has this really dark energy. How has it been this fucked up for so long and no one’s done anything about it?” he has said. On Dark Matters, he confronts that energy directly, writing lyrics that attack racism at its roots. On “Winners Circle,” an unusual fusion of trap drums, shoegaze guitars, and a double-time hardcore outro, he plays on the theory that Beethoven might have been a person of color who lightened his skin to pass in his own scene, singing, “Don’t paint a smile in the place where that shame hid/Play that brand new shit/That No. 9 shit.” On “The Glow Up,” he grapples with generations of racism—“And how do you explain this?/The seat in the back is meant for me?/And how do you explain this?/The ones we lost hanging from the trees”—over syrupy electric bass and guitar. And on the psychedelic “Runaway,” over dueling electric and acoustic guitars, he comes brutally to the point: “Stored in the bones/Is the feeling/You don’t belong here.”

Posted in Cancelled, Jersey City, NJ, Maneka, Speedy Ortiz, Vagabon, White Eagle Hall | Leave a Comment »

Little Simz (Theatre of Living Arts, Philadelphia, PA, May 21, 2022) [CANCELLED]

May 21, 2022 by Paul Debraski

[CANCELLED: May 15, 2022] Little Simz

I’ve never been to a rap show, but this week I had an opportunity to go to three that I wanted to go to: DAVE (British), SHAD (Canadian) and Little Simz (British).

I really like Little Simz’ delivery and attitude and I thought she’d be a lit of fun to see live.  Apparently a lot of other people did too, because this show was originally scheduled for The Foundry but it got moved to TLA.

However, on April 20, Little Simz cancelled her American tour.

Little Simz has cancelled her upcoming US tour, citing the financial unviability of the undertaking as an independent artist.

“I take my live shows seriously and would only want to give you guys nothing but the best of me,” the 28-year-old rapper and actor, born Simbiatu Ajikawo, tweeted.

“Being an independent artist, I pay for everything encompassing my live performances out of my own pocket and touring the US for a month would leave me in a huge deficit. As much as this pains me to not see you at this time, I’m just not able to put myself through that mental stress.”

The 11-date tour was due to commence in May. It would have been the first time that Simz had showcased her widely acclaimed 2021 album, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, in the US. A representative for the musician could not confirm whether the cancellation would also affect her planned dates in Canada and South America.

Simz advised artists to “know your worth and stick to your guns”.

Good for her for knowing her worth.  And obviously the stress would be too much, but I still think she might have made some money on this tour.

Posted in Cancelled, Little Simz, Philadelphia, PA, The Foundry, Theatre of Living Arts | Leave a Comment »

Primus: A Tribute to Kings / Battles (Wellmont Theater, Montclair, NJ, May 21, 2022 & Wind Creek Event Center, Bethlehem, PA, May 25, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

May 21, 2022 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 21 & May 25, 2022] Primus: A Tribute to Kings / Battles

I saw Primus on the tour back in October and it was pretty great.  I would happily have seen them again, even playing the same songs (although I think set two varies somewhat).

I didn’t love the crowd around me (I didn’t realize Primus fans were bros, but I guess they are).

However, this first date was the same day that my wife and I were going to see The Music Man on Broadway.  And the second date was the same day that my family was going to see Blue Man Group.  So, this leg of the tour was not to be.

Battles are a weird band that I tend to forget about.

The two main guys in the band were once in Don Caballero and Helmet, and their music should be really heavy.   But as I wrote when I first heard their song “Ice Cream” back in 2011

But they’re not so much heavy as noisy and crazy.  And this track is a head-spinning amalgam of keybaords, unsettling rhythms, processed guitars and singing from Argentinean techno producer Matias Aguayo.  The lyrics sound like they are not English, but they are (with heavy effects on them).

The song is weird, indeed. But after just one listen, I was totally hooked.  It’s catchy and bouncy and very sunny and it’s a real joy to listen to.

Boy I’d like to see them live.

Posted in Battles, Bethlehem, PA, Don Caballero, Helmet, Montclair, NJ, Primus, Rush, Wellmont Theater, Wind Creek Event Center, Wolfmother | Leave a Comment »

Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man (Winter Garden Theatre, New York, NY, May 21, 2022)

May 21, 2022 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: May 21, 2022] The Music Man

S. loves musicals.  She especially loves The Music Man. So when it was revived for Broadway and was starring Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster, I knew I had to get tickets for her.  

And then the pandemic shut down Broadway.  I believe the show was supposed to open in 2020 (I was going to get us tickets back in 2019).  But then Broadway bounced back and the show opened in December 2021.  We managed to get tickets for May 2022 (purchased on October 3, 2021).  We were in Left Mezzanine Row D seats 49-51.

The seats were a little far to the left, but were not obstructed in any real way (there was one scene where we couldn’t quite see what was going on in the one corner, but that’s okay. most of the action was out front. 

We opted for the matinee performance because, well, hell, it was much easier to get into the city early and to get home at a reasonable hour.  Or so we thought.   Our train in had delays.  Our transfer train into Penn Station had an overflowing toilet!  It was pretty stressful.  It was also crazy hot.  But we did enjoy our dirty water dogs on the street corner before heading into the theater. Continue Reading »

Posted in Hugh Jackman, New York City, Sutton Foster, The Music Man, Winter Garden Theatre | Leave a Comment »

An Evening with Jens Lekman and local youth orchestra / Leslie Deshazor (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 20, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

May 20, 2022 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 20, 2022] Jens Lekman [original show was cancelled, so technically not rescheduled from April 19, 2020]

I have really enjoyed Jens Lekman over the years. His Tiny Desk Concert is tremendous.  He was even the subject of a request in an episode of Every Little Thing, a podcast that S and I really like.  (A caller could not get a fragment of a song out of his head and it was one of Lekman’s).

I have been wanting to see him for a while and this show with a local youth orchestra sounded kind of fun.

Jens Lekman originally announced a unique North American tour where he’d perform with local youth orchestras in various cities for 2020, but the dates were put on hold because of the pandemic. He’s now announced new dates for the tour, beginning this April and running through May. He’ll be joined by violinist Leslie DeShazor for the shows. “This is a tour that I have been working on and looked forward to for almost four years,” Jens writes. “The idea originally came to me in 2015 when I was invited to Cincinnati to perform a show with a group of young string players from the organization MyCincinnati. The show ended up being one of the most memorable moments of my whole career. The energy that is present when a young person is still exploring and mastering an instrument is something I’ve always been drawn to. As someone who’s been playing music more or less professionally for over 15 years I often have to go back to this youthful source to remember and learn. To let the students become my teachers.”

It’s unclear to me whether Leslie DeShazor played a set before or was a featured part of the orchestra. Continue Reading »

Posted in Every Little Thing, Jens Lekman, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Shad / Kuf Knotz & Christine Elise (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, May 20, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

May 20, 2022 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 20, 2022] Shad / Kuf Knotz & Christine Elise

SHAD’s 2010 album TSOL is one of my favorite rap albums.  Of all of the rappers that come around to Philly to tour, SHAD is the one I’m most interested in seeing.

SHAD is from Canada although he was born in Kenya.  He raps about real issues but also has a thread of positivity through his songs, which I appreciate.

This happened to be a really busy week of shows for me, though, so I had to blow it off.

He comes to town every couple of years, so I assume he’ll be back maybe in 2024.

When he came to town in 2018 he played Boot & Saddle (RIP) and I couldn’t make that show either.  For that show Kuf Knotz also opened.

Kuf Knotz is a Philly rapper who blends hiphop poetry with deep grooves of soul and beats sun kissed with the spirit of Lo-Fi & 90’s era vibes , Kuf’s inimitable style focuses on unsubtle spirituality, that, like his music, focus on unity, positivity and creativity.

For this tour, he was with harpist Christine Elise

Christine Gallagher, MA, MT-BC, LMT, LPC “Christine Elise” is classically trained harpist, pianist, and vocalist.  In 2018, Christine and Kuf founded a community music therapy outreach performance project called Higher Grounds Music, using the power of music, clinical training, and performance experience to foster personal growth. Working in a strength based model, the workshops/performances are designed to support participants in building skills to build confidence, increase motivation and drive and strengthen self-care skills.

If they all tour together next time, I’ll have to go for an night of positivity.

Posted in Christine Elise, Johnny Brenda's, Kuf Knotz, Philadelphia, PA | Leave a Comment »

Pom Pom Squad / Chloe Lilac (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, May 20, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

May 20, 2022 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 20, 2022] Pom Pom Squad / Chloe Lilac

I was really interested in seeing Pom Pom Squad–their album Death of a Cheerlader was really good retro-grungy pop fun.

Then I saw them (unexpectedly) open for Nada Surf and they were fantastic.

That was about six month ago and I thought they’d be even better in a headline show.

But I’d already had a ticket for another show this night (which I wound up not gong to anyway).  I was feeling some seasonal concert burnout by the end of May for sure.

Chloe Lilac is a young Brooklyn singer.  It seems like her earlier stuff is a little more synthy but her newest stuff has a bit more grunge (with lots of f-bombs) and would work well with Pom Pom Squad.

Clout says

Chloe Lilac is an artist that has been growing exponentially as of late.   All it felt like she needed to solidify this was a full body of work to represent this step up, which is now here in the form of her latest extended play DOUCHEBAG.

The EP is packed full of huge tunes, from its unapologetic and brass title track, to the confrontational ‘WHO IS EMILY?’, to the more calculated and thoughtful closer ‘JANSPORT’. Chloe Lilac has shown that she is an artist that can do it all, and do it all in the context of her razor-sharp indie pop sound.

Posted in Chloe Lilac, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, Pom Pom Squad | Leave a Comment »

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