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My Morning Jacket (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, October 10, 2025, Night 1 of 2)

October 11, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 10, 2025] My Morning Jacket

A couple of years ago we saw My Morning Jacket at the Met.  They played two nights in a row but we only went to one.  I’m not going to say the second night was better, but they played a lot of great songs that second night as well.  So when they announced two nights again, I grabbed GA tickets (to finally get up close to the band) for both nights.

We greatly enjoyed Balthvs and the fact that we were one person away from the barrier for most of the show.

The lights dimmed and the band came out and they were off, playing Steam Engine.  The song is 7 minutes on record and they stretched that thing out with some lengthy soloing and jamming.  It went over 15 minutes and the band sounded in great form.

I had thought that they might play all of Z (since they have been touring the album), but they didn’t (which is fine).  For this show they played three songs off of it.  One of them was It Beats 4U which, amazingly, I had not seen live before.

When we saw them last time, they didn’t play anything from The Waterfall.  Tonight they played two songs, the delightful In Its Infancy and, later on, Spring (Among the Living).

My two favorite MMJ albums are Evil Urges and Circuital, so I’m always excited to hear songs from them.  They played Circuital, which made me quite happy.  I don’t really know their first few records all that well–they’re a little too slow and not very catchy.  But the crowd seems to love when they play a deep cut like X-Mas Curtain (this is one of their older songs that I really do like, so I enjoyed hearing it).

Speaking of the crowd… we were in the pit and most of the people around us were VIP purchasers and other die-hards.  The guys in the front on the barrier all had long hair and proceeded to headbang through the whole show.  It was pretty funny and they made the front of MMJ’s Instagram page the following day.

And we were right in from of Carl Broemel and it was amazing watching him do…everything.  He played amazing solos, he played saxophone, he even sang fantastic backing vocals.  But it was so cool when he stepped up to the edge of the stage, about 6 feet from us and just wailed on that guitar.  Continue Reading »

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Alex G / Nilüfer Yanya (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, October 11 & 12, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

October 11, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 11 & 12, 2025] Alex G / Nilüfer Yanya

I saw Alex G when about ten years ago when he opened for Built to Spill. There was a bunch of buzz around him but I didn’t really know why.  I thought he was a guitar shredding type, but he’s not.  I wrote

At first I was a little unimpressed.  The songs are pretty simple and short–lo-fi recordings, which I do enjoy, but were not what I was expecting.  But by the middle, he had won me over.  The last five or six songs in particular were really good.  The band was pretty no-nonsense–not a lot of banter.  Just song after song, some really short and few with some good extended jamming.

Since then he’s released a lot more music and has seen a lot of success.  I like the songs I’ve heard by him and my daughter is a fan.  He played at All Things Go two years ago, but he was on the other stage and we could only see a video of him.

Because he’s a Philly guy (more or less) he added a second show to the Fillmore.  The first night I had tickets to see My Morning Jacket.  And since we had seen MMJ the night before that as well, there was no energy left for Alex G.

I saw Nilüfer Yanya open for Sharon Van Etten in 2019.  I enjoyed her set quite a lot and have wanted to see her again.  Although I haven’t enjoyed her newer stuff as much as what she put out back then.  She had a headline show last year but I couldn’t make it.

I would have enjoyed this double bill, but not as much as I enjoyed MMJ.

 

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Balthvs (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, October 10, 2025, Night 1 of 2) [MY MORNING JACKET]

October 10, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 10, 2025] Balthvs

A couple of years ago we saw My Morning Jacket at the Met.  They played two nights in a row but we only went to one.  I’m not going to say the second night was better, but they played a lot of great songs that second night as well.  So when they announced two nights again, I grabbed GA tickets (to finally get up close to the band).

For both nights, the opener was BALTHVS, a band I didn’t know.

They are from Colombia and when I first heard a song, I lazily said they reminded me of Khruangbin.  I see that online people compare them to Khruangbin a lot, which seems to be unfair.  I don’t know Khruangbin all that well, but both bands have a similar vibe.  However, on further listen, BALTHVS has got its own thing down quite well.  But it’s fair to say they’re in the same general area of “World psychedelic funk.”

BALTHVS is a trio from Bogotá Colombia.  Balthazar Aguirre plays guitar and sings, Vanessa Muñoz a plays 5 string bass and sings and Santiago Lizcano plays drums.  The band came out and jumped into some amazing songs.  [Founding bassist Johanna Mercurian recently had a baby and obviously didn’t tour this time]

Year of the Snake is a cool slinky instrumental and it really showed off Balthazar’s guitar chops.  I also loved that Vanessa’s bass was complex–making great use of the five string.  And Santiago was a beast behind the kit. Continue Reading »

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Rafia Bhatiq / Ian Chang / Riley Mulherkar (Solar Myth, Philadelphia PA, October 8, 2025)

October 9, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 8, 2025] Rafia Bhatiq / Ian Chang / Riley Mulherkar

Technically this show is a Rafiq Bhati show, but the show was a trio and they were all equal partners so for me they all get top billing.

I know of Rafiq from his (amazing) work with Son Lux.  When I was lucky enough to see them in 2022 I felt

Drummer Ian Chang is just amazing to watch as he plays all sorts of different things and in unusual rhythms.  But then I would notice that guitarist Rafiq Bhatia was making some incredible sounds out of his guitar and I would wind up watching him for awhile.

So here was Rafiq touring his new album Environments.  This album is more or less an hour of sound shapes and explorations.  Rafiq is a guitarist but there is very little traditional guitar playing on the album.

Watching them live it was fascinating to see that Rafiq would play little bits and pieces and then he would sample himself and mess around with these new sounds.  He sat and played guitar and he had a gear box of some kind next to him.  And he would frequently reach over and twist knobs–and you could hear trills and low notes floating around.

For one song in the middle of the set, he put his guitar down and made sounds using that box– I don’t know what the original sound sources were for this, but it was fun to watch.

Ian Chang is one of my favorite drummers to watch.  He plays spare rhythms with occasional explosions of sound.  He uses brushes, mallets, stick and he has a laptop that he tinkered with from time to time.  When the set opened (Aviary I) he gently touched the various percussive elements on his kit (bells, cymbals, rims).  As the song progressed he had bursts of snare and crashes of cymbals but very rarely did he create a steady beat (except for one song late in the set where they locked into a real groove for a few minutes).  The songs didn’t call for it and his drumming was a great punctuation to Rafiq’s sounds.

I didn’t know Riley Mulherkar at all before this.  I’m not a huge fan of horns, but his trumpet playing was amazing.  For the opening bit (Aviary I), he blew into his trumpet but didn’t produce any notes.  Rather, it was like he was generating a kind of musical wind.  His subtlety was incredible as he played incredibly softly.  My very little understanding of the trumpet is that you blow harder to get the notes higher.  Somehow, he was able to create high notes while playing so delicately as to be almost inaudible.  And of course, he played loud blasts as well.  Of the three, he was the least interesting to watch, but he was the most fascinating to try to understand what he was doing. Continue Reading »

Posted in Ian Chang, Philadelphia, PA, Rafiq Bhatia, Riley Mulherkar, Solar Myth | Leave a Comment »

Kneecap / Bricknasty (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, October 8, 2025) [CANCELLED]

October 8, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[CANCELLED: October 8, 2025] Kneecap / Bricknasty

Kneecap was making news all over the world by the time I heard about this show.  And Irish trio who raps in Engliash and Irish?  Sounds amazing.  They are political and very vocal.  And because they are so notorious, this show was sold out. And then, more controversy caused them to cancel their entire U.S. tour:

Kneecap have cancelled the entirety of their 2025 United States tour. The tour was set to being on October 1 in New York City and run for 15 shows; four shows in Vancouver and Toronto will continue as planned.

In a press statement, the Irish rap group said they were forced to pull the dates as they were too close to a scheduled court date for Kneecap member Mo Chara, who faces a terrorism charge for displaying a flag of the militant group Hezbollah during a 2024 concert.

They are still doing their thing, but I have no idea if they’ll come to the U.S. especially right now.

Bricknasty is another Irish rap band.  They blend experimental jazz, hip hop and neo-soul.  They seem like a much mor mellow bunch, but they share the same values.

This would have been an interesting show to be sure.

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Queens of the Stone Age: Catacombs Tour / Paris Jackson (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, October 7, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

October 7, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 7, 2025] Queens of the Stone Age: Catacombs Tour / Paris Jackson

Queens of the Stone Age is a band who has two albums that I love to death and a couple albums that I think are pretty good.  I’ve wanted to see them live for a while, but they never play venues I want to go to.  Until now.  They played the Met, a fun venue with a good pit.

But this tour was the Catacombs tour: “one-night-only evenings” at historic theaters featuring all-new musical arrangements of their catalog.

Which is exactly what I did not want.  Since I’ve never seen them live, the last thing I wanted to see was them playing gentle versions of their rocking songs.  So I said no thanks.

I’d never heard of Paris Jackson.  Turns out that she is a model and singer.  I heard an acoustic song that was quite pretty, but she also rocks out in a catchy sort of way.  I also just learned that she is the daughter of Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe.  Woah.  She hasn’t put out new music since 2020, so that’s an unusual choice for an opening act.

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Deltron 3030 (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 3, 2025)

October 5, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 3, 2025] Deltron 3030

I really enjoyed the Deltron 3030 album. Del the Funky Homosapien is one of my favorite rappers.  Dan the Automator is an amazing producer and Kid Koala is the king of the turntables.  Their futuristic band set in 3030 was a great combination of the three of them.

When this tour was announced–the 25th anniversary of their debut album–I grabbed tickets immediately.  I brought my son with me (he was not born when the album came out) because I thought he’d really like the show.  And he did!

After Kid Koala’s set, the trio emerged.  Dan the Automator stood behind a massive bank of sound equipment, Kid Koala took his place behind his turntables and Del (Deltron 0) walked out and stood in the middle of the other two.

And then came the opening announcement from the album–and we were all thrilled.

Then Del started rapping 3030 and it was real. There were visuals on the screen behind them–perhaps videos from 25 years ago–or maybe new for the show.  They often had lyrics on the visuals and occasionally, they showed the cameras facing Kid Koala’s turntables. Continue Reading »

Posted in Dan the Automator, Del the Funky Homosapien, Deltron 3030, Distorter, Gorillaz, Kid Koala, Lealani, Lord Sko, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Neko Case (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, October 4, 2025)

October 5, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 4, 2025] Neko Case

I have thought about seeing Neko Case since around 2022.  I even had tickets to see her in Jersey City, but wound up doing something else that night.

She had played Ardmore Music Hall in 2024, but I felt the tickets were really expensive.  And this show was the night after my son and I went to see Deltron 3030.  But my wife won tickets to this show at XPNFest.  And boy that was hard to pass up.

The biggest surprise was how undersold the show was.  We have been to The Met a lot and this was the first time that I can recall that they had the back seats curtained off.  Presumably anyone who had seats in the back were given seats closer to the stage.  I never looked after the show started, but before Neko went on there were a lot of empty seats.

In fairness, White Eagle Hall holds 800 people and Union Transfer is around 1200.  So The Met seating (and it was all seated) at roughly 3500 people was reaching way too far for her.  But still that’s got to suck to see a half empty place.

And it felt like Neko was kind of mad for the show.  Now, I follow her on Instagram and she seems (justifiably) mad most of the time.  So I don’t know if that’s just what she’s like on stage or if she was in a particularly bad mood.  I have only seen her one other time with the New Pornographers and she was only one of about 8 people on stage, so it was hard to judge her.  Although after that show she had a lengthy rant about people filming her.

The most memorable moment of this show was when she yelled at someone in the balcony for having their phone light on while filming.  She pointed at them directly an told them to turn their fucking light off.  After the following song, she admitted that the light that was bothering her was actually from the aisle lights.  I’m not sure if she apologized exactly but everyone laughed about it.

So yeah.

There’s a ton of Neko Case songs that I like.  But there’s also a joke from a show that I can’t recall in which when a couple breaks up, she says to her ex that she hopes the next concert he goes to they play all new songs.  It’s a great curse and it’s pretty much what happened here. Continue Reading »

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Amy Millan / Diana DeMuth (Milkboy, Philadelphia, PA, October 5, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

October 5, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 5, 2025] Amy Millan / Diana DeMuth

I know Amy Millan from the band Stars.  Her voice is gorgeous in their songs.  But I’ve never listened to her solo music.  I had seen Stars last year and thought it might be interesting to see her live.  But I wasn’t all that motivated to go to this show, so I never got a ticket.

Diana DeMuth is a singer songwriter from Massachusetts.  She sings quiet folk songs, with a voice that is pleasingly rough.

This would have been a fairly mellow night I think.

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Des Demonas (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, October 4, 2025) [NEKO CASE]

October 4, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 4, 2025] Des Demonas

I thought I had never heard of Des Demonas, but I see that they were supposed to open for Tropical Fuck Storm in 2020 (!) but it was cancelled for Corona.

And here’s what I wrote:  Lead singer Jacky Cougar Abok has a delivery like early Nick Cave and their bio is fascinating.

Jacky Cougar Abok is the six-foot-five-inch tall Kenyan punk singer who has drummed with Thee Lolitas and Foul Swoops. Guitarist Mark Cisneros has bent strings with Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds, Deathfix, and Medications and pounded the traps for The Make-Up and Benjy Ferree, the latter alongside organist Paul Vivari. Joe Halladay (Citygoats) on bass and Ryan Hicks (Suns Of Guns) on drums round out this squared circle of sight and sound.

We wound up being a few minutes late.  This wasn’t a big deal since my wife has won tickets to the show at XPNFest (!).  The venue also had to arrange ADA seating for us, so that took some time.  They are a raw punk band–really quite different from Neko Case. I really liked them, but I imagine many people didn’t enjoy them.  Their main driving sound was an old-fashioned organ sound–quite unexpected for their propulsive vibe.  Continue Reading »

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