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Red Fang / Starcrawler / Warish (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, November 3, 2021) [CANCELLED]

November 4, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[CANCELLED: November 4, 2021] Red Fang / Starcrawler/ Warish

indexI have wanted to see Starcrawler for several years now.  I missed them when they came around the fist time.  Then they were supposed to open for The Distillers.  The only reason I bought a ticket to the show was for Starcrawler.  Then the show was postponed (in pre-COVID days) and when it was rescheduled, Starcrawler was no longer on the bill.  [Distillers were great by the way].

Then Starcrawler was announced as the opening band for Red Fang.  And they were going to be at Underground Arts, a perfect venue for them.  I’d never heard of Red Fang (I’ve looked them up and they seem fun).  I bought the tickets in June.

Then on September 8, Red Fang cancelled their whole Fall tour.

Band Statement: 

Unfortunately, our cautious optimism has turned into stark realism and we have decided to cancel our appearance at the Louder Than Life festival and our upcoming Fall US tour in the interest of public safety.  We feel it’s not realistic to play shows in a safe/responsible manner and the best thing to do is hang back and wait until the situation improves. Until then, take care of each other.  Love, Red Fang.

So that sucked.  But what sucked even more was that Starcrawler didn’t reschedule anything on the East Coast. Continue Reading »

Posted in ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, Cancelled, Coronavirus, Philadelphia, PA, Quarantine, Red Fang, Starcrawler, The Distillers, Underground Arts, Warish | Leave a Comment »

Beabadoobee (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 2, 2021)

November 4, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: November 2, 2021] Beabadoobee

Beabadoobee had a couple of hits that I really liked.  Her song “Care” was a perfect 90s reclamation–so fun and catchy.

When she announced a tour I figured it would be fun to see her.  I had no idea how popular she actually was.  The crowd was intense and surprisingly devoted.

She releases music in a way that’s hard for an old like me to comprehend–just random singles whenever she feels like it.  So even though she was touring for her album Fake It Flowers, she had since released an new EP and maybe even another single.

So I can’t keep up with that but everyone else sure did. Continue Reading »

Posted in Beabadoobee, BLACKSTARKIDS, Christian Leave, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Christian Leave (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 2, 2021) [BEABADOOBEE]

November 3, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: November 2, 2021] Christian Leave

The weird thing about seeing an artist who is new and very young is that her opening bands need to be (relatively) newer and younger.  And so, when seeing an artist like Beabadoobie who has one album out and who was born in you’re going to get openers who are gasp, probably teenagers.

Being an old has never diminished my enjoyment of concerts, even from performers that I’m more than twice as old as.  But the way young people find music these days has really messed with my head.

I had never heard of Christian Leave only to find out that he has like 3,00,000 online listeners.

I gather that Leave is something of a minor celebrity, with people possibly going a little crazy for him.  It was hard to tell from where I was but he seemed a but of a teeny bop star–he certainly had charisma, but not a lot of stage presence (how is that possible?  I don’t know). Continue Reading »

Posted in Beabadoobee, BLACKSTARKIDS, Christian Leave, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

BLACKSTARKIDS (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 2, 2021) [BEABADOOBEE]

November 2, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: November 2, 2021] BLACKSTARKIDS

The weird thing about seeing an artist who is new and very young is that her opening bands need to be (relatively) newer and younger.  And so, when seeing an artist like Beabadoobie who has one album out and who was born in you’re going to get openers who are gasp, probably teenagers.

I don’t know why it bugs me so much to be late for a show…especially when I don’t know the opening act.  I just like to arrive early, pick the spot I want and get psyched for he show.  For some reason, I was running late for this show and I wound up walking in after BLACKSTARKIDS had started.

There were five members on stage, but the core of the band is TyFaizon and The Babe Gabe–the main songwriters–and Deiondre acting as producer.  They all rap and sing leads (there was also a keyboardist and a drummer).

Their music is genre defying, being equally inspired by indie rock, hip hop and pop culture.  So a song like “PALS” has rapped verses (from all three of them, I think) and then a super catchy chorus with lovely backing ahhs. Continue Reading »

Posted in Beabadoobee, BLACKSTARKIDS, Christian Leave, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Poul Anderson–Three Hearts and Three Lions (1961) [audiobook 2011–Bronson Pynchot]

November 1, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[LISTENED TO: October 2021] Three Hearts and Three Lions

Every since I signed up for Chirp audio books, I’ve been able to really indulge my love of Bronson Pinchot as a reader.

I bought this book without knowing much about it.  I basically make sure that the books aren’t war books, because I don’t care about that subject, and if it’s not, then I’m on board.

This book was a cool sci-fi fantasy story by an author whom I had heard of but didn’t know anything about.  Imagine my surprise to find out that book was initially written in 1953 as a novella and expanded into a novel for 1961!  I was especially surprised because there is some serious science a the book opens which seemed far more contemporary.

Holger Carlsen is an engineer.  The prologue of the story shows him working in an engineering department and talking about science-y stuff.  The story is about Carlsen, but told from a different point of view.  Pinchot gets to use a Danish accent for all of his speaking parts.

The narrator talks about what happens as if it is not believable but that he is going to relate the story anyway: “Holger’s tale does not seem altogether impossible to me. Not that I claim it’s true.”  He says that Carlsen was generally well-liked and respected.  And this is his story.

Carlsen decided to join the Danish resistance in fighting Nazis in WWII.  The fighting is going well, and the American forces are known to be coming.  But Holger is shot.  He wakes up naked in an unfamiliar place.

He looks around.  Things seem normal, although he can’t explain his nakedness.  He wanders around and finds a horse who is not afraid of him.  He also finds a cottage that has clothes which fit him,  Things seem off somehow, though, and he genuinely can’t get his bearings.

Soon enough he meets an old woman who claims to be a witch. She speaks a language he doesn’t know and yet he understands her.  Through a drawn out discussion and some revelations, he realizes that he is kind of a medieval knight and he sees a shield emblazoned with three hearts and three lions. Continue Reading »

Posted in Audiobooks, Bronson Pinchot, Chirp Audiobooks, Dwarfs, Elves, Fairies, Fantasy, King Arthur, Morgan Le Fay, Poul Anderson, Romance, Sci-fi, Science, Scientists, World War II | Leave a Comment »

Mannequin Pussy (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 29, 2021)

October 31, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 29, 2021] Mannequin Pussy

I had just seen Mannequin Pussy open or Japanese Breakfast back in August.  And they were great.  But there’s nothing like seeing a band as the headliner.

The unthinkable happened a few days before our show–all of the bands gear and merch were stolen while they were in Ohio.

Mannequin Pussy has a pretty unique sound, so I’m sure they’ve customized a lot of their gear.  But they decided to carry on.  The opening bands loaned them so gear and Mannequin Pussy thrived.  The crowd also helped with a few “Fuck Ohio” chants.

They broadcast Meek Mill’s “Dreams and Nightmares (Intro)” as a tension-building set up for their performance.

The set was similar to their opening set with Japanese Breakfast, but it was longer and there were a couple of substitutions.

It was a great mix of the raging and the chill.  The band really knows how to get a crowd going, often playing a few blistering punk tracks in a row to get the crowd into a frenzy and then calming things down, all the better to get the crowd going again. Continue Reading »

Posted in Angel Du$t, Mannequin Pussy, Philadelphia, PA, Pinkshift, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Chris Grine–Secrets of Camp Whatever : Volume 1 (2021)

October 31, 2021 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus

[READ: August 2021] Secrets of Camp Whatever

I’m not sure who brought this book home, my wife or my daughter, but I was pretty delighted to read it.

Two kids are heading to the town of Nowhere with their parents. They are moving into their father’s mother’s old house on the outskirts of town.  It’s a small town and when they pull into the local diner, the waitress tells them to turn around and go back home… that place is haunted.  But the local museum owner, Henry Person, tells them not to believe that nonsense.

He says that Nowhere is known for unusual things–monsters in the lakes, elves in the forest, even a bigfoot sighting.  But the fog is so thick no one can confirm anything.

Willow is going to summer camp and is not particularly pleased about it.  Her younger brother Gryphon is not going to camp, but he really wants to.  Where’s the justice?  When their mother hears about the fog and the creepiness around the camp she wonders whether they should even send WIllow.

But the kids’ dad when to Camp … Whatever like a million years ago and he is pretty excited for Willow to go.  He can’t wait for her to hear all about the camp at the opening campfire.  Even if a kid did go missing the year he was there… and was never heard from again.

But Mr Person says the camp hired a new camp director … Clarence Tooter, a big game hunter.  He’ll keep the place safe.

A nice touch is that Willow uses a hearing aid, but it’s not a big deal to the story.    Except that Mr Tooter believes she is deaf and so he yells at here whenever he sees her.  And that sign language is very important to the story (although the reader doesn’t need to know it). Continue Reading »

Posted in Chefs, Children's Books, Chris Grine, Funny (ha ha), Goblins, Graphic Novel, Oni Press, Poo, Summer Camp, Supernatural, Superstitions, Unfinished series, Vampires, YA Books | Leave a Comment »

Angel Du$t (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 29, 2021) [MANNEQUIN PUSSY]

October 30, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 29, 2021] Angel Du$t

Angel Du$t is considered a supergroup (according to Wikipedia).  At the time, I hadn’t heard of either of the bands that the members came from (Turnstile and Trapped Under Ice).  Since then, Turnstile has absolutely blown up all over the place.

I’ve been wanting to see Turnstile, but I guess I’ve already seen 3/5 of them [Daniel Fang — drums ; Brendan Yates – rhythm guitar ; Pat McCrory – lead guitar].  The two guys from Trapped Under Ice were Justice Tripp – lead vocals and Jeff Caffey bass.

I didn’t know anything about the band and even the write about up them said that they defied expectations of their other bands. Continue Reading »

Posted in Angel Du$t, Bad Brains, Lemonheads, Mannequin Pussy, Philadelphia, PA, Pinkshift, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Garcia Peoples / Ryan Sawyer (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, October 30, 2021) [DID NOT ATTEND]

October 30, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 30, 2021] Garcia Peoples

I discovered Garcia Peoples by accident a couple of years ago.  They were opening for Heron Oblivion and I’d never heard of them.  But their show was outstanding.

So when they played a small headline tour I saw them again.  And I’ve seen them a couple more times at weird events (like a free show after a Phish concert in Atlantic City).

I kind of made it a mission to see them as often as I could.  But sometimes things just get in the way.

I would really have loved to see them at Johnny Brenda’s this night, but I had neem out the night before and the next night was Halloween.  It was just too much going on. Continue Reading »

Posted in Garcia Peoples, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Ryan Sawyer | Leave a Comment »

Lotus Land (Steel Stacks, Bethlehem, PA, October 30, 2021) [rescheduled date] [DID NOT ATTEND]

October 30, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 30, 2021] Lotus Land [rescheduled from April 20; and October 30, 2020]

I really had intended on seeing this band once they finally settled on a date.  But October 30 is just too close to Halloween to be taken seriously as a concert night out.  Especially for a cover band.

I’m sure they’ll be back. Or better yet, maybe they’ll play somewhere even closer to me.

~~~

It seemed like as things started to open up that smaller venues like this might have shows.  of course, the concern was–is a smaller venue better since you’ll be so much closer to everyone.  I thought maybe they could have this outside–even in October.  I guess not.

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.

I put this on my calendar as a show to see if there weren’t much else going on at the time. Well, it turned out to be a hugely busy concert month so I probably wouldn’t have gone.

However, Lotus Land seem to tour up and down the East Coast pretty much constantly, including this rescheduled show in October.  I suspect I’ll be able to see them some time in the not too distant future.

 

Posted in Bethlehem, PA, Coronavirus, Lotus Land, Postponed, Quarantine, Rush, Steelstacks | Leave a Comment »

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