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Making Time Pure Halloween™ Feat Yves Tumor (Warehouse on Watts, Philadelphia, PA, October 29, 2021) [DID NOT ATTEND]

October 29, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 29, 2021] Pure Halloween with Yves Tumor

Yves Tumor is a fascinating musician and I would really like to see them live.

I was really surprised when I saw this announcement that they’d be playing in Philly in a club I’d never heard of.

I already had tickets to see Mannequin Pussy for that night, but this show seemed to start after that one.  And yet, from this write up, I couldn’t tell what was going on or if Yves Tumor was even actually going to be there:

Making Time Pure Halloween™ Feat Yves Tumor
Warehouse on Watts
Fri 29 Oct 2021, 8:00 PM EDT

Dear Philadelphia….. I can fee THE THRILL of PURE HALLOWEEN PUMPING through my veins, Philadelphia !!! Continue Reading »

Posted in Halloween, Huh?, Philadelphia, PA, Warehouse on Watts, Yves Tumor | Leave a Comment »

Pinkshift (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 29, 2021) [MANNEQUIN PUSSY]

October 29, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 29, 2021] Pinkshift

I hadn’t heard of Pinkshift (I don’t quite understand the name) before this show, but holy cow they blew me away.

Pinkshift is from Baltimore and they play a great mix of grunge and punk all coordinated by lead singer Ashrita Kumar.

Kumar is an amazing front woman, channeling her anger and aggression into an amazing set of songs.  It was awesome seeing a young Indian American woman fronting a punk band and telling the crowd what to do.

Guitarist Paul Vallejo and bassist Erich Weinroth were locked in step as they rocked.  And drummer Myron Houngbedji was completely intense

The first two songs were intense with Ashrita stalking he stage and commanding the crowd. Continue Reading »

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

The Front Bottoms (Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ, October 24, 2021)

October 28, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 24, 2021] The Front Bottoms

Even though I tend to dislike Starland Ballroom, when I saw that The Front Bottoms were playing on Philly and then ending their tour at Starland, I knw I had to pick Starland.  End of the tour at a hometown show?  The choice was obvious.  And it was right.

Because in Philly, they played 23 songs but in NJ they played 31, including their entire first album front to back.

I first heard The Front Bottoms in 2013 and somehow never got around to seeing them live.  They’ve had a few shows (what they call Champagne Jams) the last few years.  I didn’t really want to see them in that kind of Festival attitude.  I did get tickets for the 2019 show but wound up not going.

So here was my redemption.

The band was a lot of fun and the crowd was so into it.  Yes they were pushy and shovy but it was all for the good of the show (at least until I saw a girl flee the room with a bloody nose).  There was a mosh pit, there was crowd surfing and more crowd surfing.  It was insane!

 

Most of their songs are fast and fun and lend to a lot of singing along (which we all did).  And even though these songs are kind of pop punk, they’re not short two minute ditties.  So I really didn’t know how long the show would be.

Previous sets ended after 19 songs (plus encores), so I was a little surprised when they ended the set (with the perfect set ender, “Au Revoir (Adios)” at only 16 songs.  But I figured they were going to give us a long encore. Continue Reading »

Posted in oso oso, Sayreville, NJ, Starland Ballroom, Sydney Sprague, The Front Bottoms | Leave a Comment »

Arlo Parks / MICHELLE (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, October 27, 2021) [DID NOT ATTEND]

October 27, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 27, 2021] Arlo Parks

I really enjoyed the songs I’d heard from Arlo Parks’ album.  But apparently I was too late in hearing about her tour.

I’m usually pretty on top of things when tours are announced but this one passed me by entirely and when I finally went to buy a ticket (not all that long after they went on sale, the only tickets left were selling for over $100–forget that).

A friend of mine went and told me that evidently tickets were made available just before the show, but I had long given up on this one. Her album made early everyone’s Best of the Year list so there’s no way she’ll play anywhere as small as The Foundry again.  Continue Reading »

Posted in Arlo Parks, Clairo, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Foundry | Leave a Comment »

oso oso (Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ, October 24, 2021) [THE FRONT BOTTOMS]

October 27, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 24, 2021] oso oso

I had not heard of oso oso but I had heard good things about them.

They came out fairly quickly after Syndey Sprague’s set.

Starland Ballroom always puts down a projector screen while the bands are setting up.  As oso oso was about to take the stage, it looked like the lead singer was doing a hand stand or a keg stand or was funneling a beer.  I couldn’t quite tell, but his feet were in the air.

I’m not sure if I was annoyed by the crowd (SO CROWDED) or what but I found oso oso to be one the most meh band I’ve seen on a long time.  I really felt nothing for them. Continue Reading »

Posted in oso oso, Sayreville, NJ, Starland Ballroom, Sydney Sprague, The Front Bottoms | Leave a Comment »

Sydney Sprague (Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ, October 24, 2021) [THE FRONT BOTTOMS]

October 26, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 24, 2021] Sydney Sprague

I have come to really hate the Starland Ballroom.  I can’t believe how long it takes them to get people inside.  One shouldn’t arrive fifteen minutes before show time and miss the opening band’s first two songs.

And that’s what happened with Sydney Sprague.  The people behind me were particularly looking forward to her too, particularly the song she opened her set with.  So I felt bad for them.

I hadn’t heard of Sprague, but she was getting some good press and I was looking forward to her set.

After missing the first two songs, I pushed my way in to an intensely crowded Starland Ballroom.  It was hard to find a good spot, but by the time I settled, Sprague was steadily rocking along.  Her songs were really good–rocking and catchy.

In fact I think her live set was more rocking and intense than her album. Continue Reading »

Posted in Blink 182, oso oso, Sayreville, NJ, Starland Ballroom, Sydney Sprague, The Front Bottoms | Leave a Comment »

Tigers Jaw (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA October 22, 2021)

October 25, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 22, 2021] Tigers Jaw

I had planned to check out Tigers Jaw at a small club in New Hope, but the show kept getting cancelled.  All I really knew about them was a Tiny Desk Concert they did that I really liked.  There were two of them and they wrote catchy poppy punk songs.

Little did I know they’ve had tumultuous line up changes since their early days in Scranton, PA.

Back in 2014 3/5 of the band left, leaving only Ben Walsh and Brianna Collins.  Their 2017 album, Spin was recorded as a duo.  But for I Won’t Care How You Remember Me, they added the touring bassist and drummer the band to record the album.

And for the tour, they added two more members.  So this show proved to be a lot bigger, louder and dancier than I expected.

Continue Reading »

Posted in Kississippi, Philadelphia, PA, Tigers Jaw, Total Rubbish, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Spoon/Nicole Atkins (White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, NJ, October 24, 2021) [DID NOT ATTEND]

October 24, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 24, 2021] Spoon/Nicole Atkins

I’ve seen Spoon twice and they put on a great show.

Nicole Atkins is a singer who has put out several singles that sound very different from each other and which I like.

But this show was the same night as The Front Bottoms and there was no way I was missing THAT show.

I’ve heard this show was very good.

But my show was amazing!

Posted in Jersey City, NJ, Nicole Atkins, Spoon, White Eagle Hall | Leave a Comment »

Kississippi (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 22, 2021) [TIGERS JAW]

October 24, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 22, 2021] Kississippi

Kississippi has one of my favorite band names of recent years.  I wasn’t even sure if I liked them, I just knew I liked the name.

And here they were opening for Tigers Jaw (something of a musical mismatch because they tend to play a bit more synth poppy compared to Tigers Jaw’s heavier sound).

Kississippi is the solo project of Philadelphian Zoe Allaire Reynolds.  She’s released a few albums and EPs, but for this show, she was mostly touring her latest album Mood Ring which is a bit more upbeat than her previous releases.

I didn’t catch any of the band member names, but her bassist was outstanding.  They had a great sound coupled with a great look [I have since learned their name is Alyssa Milman (they/them)].  Zoe herself was a fun front woman.  I especially enjoyed the “YMCA” type of dance she made for “We’re So In Tune” (you can imagine it, I’m sure). Continue Reading »

Posted in Kayleigh Goldsworthy, Kississippi, Philadelphia, PA, Tigers Jaw, Total Rubbish, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Total Rubbish (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 22, 2021) [TIGERS JAW]

October 23, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 22, 2021] Total Rubbish

I had planned to check out Tigers Jaw at a small club in New Hope, but the show kept getting cancelled.  All I really knew about them was a Tiny Desk Concert they did that I really liked.  There were two of them and they wrote catchy poppy punk songs.  Their opening act was supposed to be Kayleigh Goldsworthy who is more or less a folk singer.  So I assumed that’s what kind of show this would be.

The opening band at Union Transfer was Total Rubbish, a new band based in Philly.  They have one EP out called Triple Negative.

The four young women took the stage and proceeded to play some great noisy grungey shoegazey rock.  It was hard to tell exactly what the dynamic should be because they weren’t mixed all that great.  The vocals were kind of buried (or maybe I was too close to the stage).  Continue Reading »

Posted in Kayleigh Goldsworthy, Kississippi, Philadelphia, PA, Tigers Jaw, Total Rubbish, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

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