February 24, 2022 by Paul Debraski
[ATTENDED: February 24, 2022] Lunar Vacation
The Beths were supposed to play shows in 2020 at World Cafe Live. First in April, then in August. Then that was all scrapped and then rescheduled for January 2022. That was then pushed back until February.
Weakened Friends were slotted to open for them over these shows. But the new show had Lunar Vacation signed up for them.
And they were delightful.
They are from Atlanta, and I had to laugh when singer Grace Repasky asked if anyone did the Wordle yet. When we acknowledged that we had, she commented that it was a very British word (Bloke). Continue Reading »
Posted in Lunar Vacation, Philadelphia, PA, Pivoting, The Beths, Underground Arts | Leave a Comment »
February 23, 2022 by Paul Debraski
[ATTENDED: February 22, 2022] Billie EIlish
Back in 2019, I bought tickets for my daughter and I to see Billie Eilish’s tour in 2020. I was really looking forward to it because I’d heard that she put on an amazing show.
I was especially looking forward to the energy and the visuals. Then COVID came in and we watched with bated breath as concerts were cancelled. And then she postponed the whole tour. Ultimately, she cancelled it.
And actually that proved to be not a bad thing in the long run. The opener we had was much better than Denzel Curry. And our new seats proved to be terrific. When she announced the tour for the new album, we were given a pre-sale code since we had tickets for the earlier show. Then in May of 2021 I grabbed tickets and waited nine months!
The only bummer was that this new tour was for her newly released, more mature album (she’s all of 18). And I didn’t really like it. I thought it was kind of bland. I love that Billie is singing and not mumbling like she does on the first album–and I was really impressed by her voice. But I found the album lacked the dynamics of the first one.
She was performing most of the album live. Although I see that in the previous tour she did a whole middle section of covers, which I don’t really like, so that’s okay then.
I also thought she’d dress like the album. But nope, as you can see she was good old punky Billie. And she played 26 songs and performed for about an hour and forty-five minutes.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Billie Eilish, Finneas, Newark, NJ, Prudential Center, Set in New Jersey! | Leave a Comment »
February 22, 2022 by Paul Debraski
[ATTENDED: February 22, 2022] Dora Jar
Originally Willow was supposed to be the support act for Billie Eilish.
My daughter and I were pretty excited about that because Willow’s new album is really good. And, she had announced a headline tour, which we didn’t really want to go to. This was an easy opportunity to see her.
Then a few days before this tour began, Willow dropped out of the tour. She gave an excuse that, to my ears, sounds very lame:
Due to production limitations, I am unable to put on the show that I believe you all deserve.
It sounds noble, but let’s be honest, it’s not like the opening act’s performance was suddenly stripped down.
At the last minute, Dora Jar, an artist I’d never heard of, signed on. I listened to a song online. Thought it was fine and then forgot about it. Continue Reading »
Posted in Billie Eilish, Dora Jar, Newark, NJ, Prudential Center, Set in New Jersey!, Willow | Leave a Comment »
February 21, 2022 by Paul Debraski
SOUNDTRACK: hiatus
[READ: February 2022] The Village Teacher
This book came to my work and it was quite a challenge to catalog. Cixin Liu is a Chinese science fiction writer. These are graphic novel adaptations of his short stories. But he did not write the graphic novels. However, I wanted them linked together because there are going to be sixteen of them and they should all go together. If you put them under Liu, then they go into the Chinese authors section. But these are American books created for American audiences. (I wound up making it an American series under Liu’s name).
Anyhow, I had never heard of him before, but these books are blurbed by none other than Barack Obama.
So I decided to take a look at them.
This book is also called The Rural Teacher in translated form.
After the complex intensity that was The Wandering Earth, this story is much more simple. But it is not less intense.
There are two storylines. I’m not sure if in the written work it’s less clear that the story lines are at the same time. It felt like for a powerful effect, they would not be obviously simultaneous, but I’m not sure how he could have done that.
The story starts on a school in a rural village. The teacher is teaching the kids about outer space. Continue Reading »
Posted in Barack Obama, Cancer as plot device, China, Cixin Liu, Death, End of the World, Graphic Novel, Outer Space, S. Qiouyi Lu, Set at School, Supernatural, Surreal, Talos Press, Translation, Violence, Zhang Xiaoyu | Leave a Comment »
February 20, 2022 by Paul Debraski
[ATTENDED: February 18, 2022] Pinegrove
This is my fourth time seeing Pinegrove. I have a sweet fondness for this band. They were my first (and only) show at the First Unitarian Church–a show that was so vibrant and alive that I remember it very well even five years later.
Their shows don’t have a lot “going on,” just a lot of good music and a band that sounds better and better.
This new tour is in support of their new album 11:11. I didn’t like this album as much as their previous collections–the songs were a little too slow for my liking (although there are some terrific songs on it). They played the entire album (not in order) which might seem like a bummer given how I wasn’t crazy about the album
But instead, the band sounded so good, so dynamic, that it made me like the new songs far more than I did. Perhaps it was the way they were spaced out. Or maybe it was mixing older songs with the new ones. Whatever the case, it made the new songs sound fantastic.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Pinegrove, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »
February 19, 2022 by Paul Debraski
[ATTENDED: February 18, 2022] Lily Konigsberg
I have seen Lily Konigsberg play with Palberta–she and her bandmates switched instruments throughout the set. For this set Lily played guitar and sang. Her Lily K. Band was a four piece.
Nate was on guitar, Charlie on bass and Charlotte Kahn on drums. I am 90% sure I have seen Kahn play drums with someone else, but I can’t remember who that was.
Lily is a prolific songwriter. Some are catchy. Some are downright weird. I was actually surprised at how conventional some of these songs were. Especially after she started out with the decidedly odd and wonderful “Alone” with its jumpy bass line and wicked guitars.
I loved the title of the next song “At Best a #3.” Then she told is that “Proud Home” was about Stacy’s perspective from “Stacy’s Mom.” It was good but not as catchy as he original. Continue Reading »
Posted in Lily Konigsberg, Philadelphia, PA, Pinegrove, Poise, Sixpence None the Richer, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »
February 19, 2022 by Paul Debraski
[POSTPONED: February 19, 2022] Avalanches [moved to October 10, 2022]
Avalanches debut album, the sample abundant Since I Left You, a fun, left-field rocker that was full of so many samples it was impossible to keep track of them.
It took them something like 16 years to make a second album and I didn’t listen to it. Or the one they made more recently. That’s probably not the best attitude for going into a show. Especially since, as with a lot of electronic based music I wasn’t sure if I necessarily wanted to see them live, but this seemed like a rare and fun opportunity to experience their sampling and beats in a big setting.
But then on December 15, the group announced that it’s postponing the tour to September and October “due to ongoing personal health issues.”
“We want to thank each and every one of you who bought tickets and who have supported We Will Always Love You,” the Avalanches wrote on Instagram. “We thank you so much for your understanding and apologise for the inconvenience. We can’t wait to see you in the US in September and October.”
This date was a little hinky for me, so I was glad it was postponed. See them in the fall.
Posted in Avalanches, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Theatre of Living Arts | Leave a Comment »
February 18, 2022 by Paul Debraski
[ATTENDED: February 18, 2022] Poise
Poise is the creation of Lucie Murphy. She has released an EP and an LP and the songs on them are quite varied. She’s a got a few short rockers with great riffs and a few mellow, more brooding pieces.
They were a four piece for this show with Marguax on bass, Theo Munger on drums and Sam Skinner (from Pinegrove) on lead guitar.
They cam out with a short rocker. Murphy’s voice is pretty great–she can hit some really high notes, but mostly she’s got a lot of power. I really enjoyed the second song “Nothing You Can Say” with a super catchy riff.
She mellowed things out for a song and then allowed Skinner to make some really cool feedbacking squalls during the song with the otherwise quiet chorus of “Let me break your heart.” Continue Reading »
Posted in Lily Konigsberg, Philadelphia, PA, Pinegrove, Poise, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »
February 17, 2022 by Paul Debraski
SOUNDTRACK: hiatus
[READ: February 2022] The Wandering Earth
This book came to my work and it was quite a challenge to catalog. Cixin Liu is a Chinese science fiction writer. These are graphic novel adaptations of his short stories. But he did not write the graphic novels. However, I wanted them linked together because there are going to be sixteen of them and they should all go together. If you put them under Liu, then they go into the Chinese authors section. But these are American books created for American audiences. (I wound up making it an American series under Liu’s name).
Anyhow, I had never heard of him before, but these books are blurbed by none other than Barack Obama.
So I decided to take a look at them.
This second one is also a dark story about the destruction of the earth (actually, all three are).
The story is also more complicated with a lengthy timespan and a few surprises thrown in.
As the story opens we learn that three hundred years ago scientists discovered that our sun was using up its hydrogen and converting it to helium–it was going to explode. So the scientists began a plan. Using rockets, they would stop the earth’s rotation and then using those same rockets, they would propel the earth into a habitable part of the galaxy.
Obviously, this would take many generations and would result in the destruction of the earth as we know it.
The book begins with a baby born on the day that the earth had stopped rotating. We quickly jump to the boy in school learning about everything that happened (a great way of doing exposition). These students are high-tech and scientifically very smart. Art and philosophy and everything like it have basically been done with because it’s all hands on deck for saving the planet. Continue Reading »
Posted in Babies, Barack Obama, China, Cixin Liu, Death, End of the World, Graphic Novel, Jok, Magnus, Olympics, Outer Space, Rodolfo Santullo, S. Qiouyi Lu, Supernatural, Surreal, Talos Press, Translation, Violence | Leave a Comment »
February 16, 2022 by Paul Debraski
SOUNDTRACK: hiatus
[READ: February 2022] Sea of Dreams
This book came to my work and it was quite a challenge to catalog. Cixin Liu is a Chinese science fiction writer. These are graphic novel adaptations of his short stories. But he did not write the graphic novels. However, I wanted them linked together because there are going to be sixteen of them and they should all go together. If you put them under Liu, then they go into the Chinese authors section. But these are American books created for American audiences. (I wound up making it an American series under Liu’s name).
Anyhow, I had never heard of him before, but these books are blurbed by none other than Barack Obama.
So I decided to take a look at them.
This first one is a dark story about the destruction of the earth (actually, all three are).
The story opens on an Ice & Snow Arts Festival. The artist Yan Dong is completely wrapped up in his sculpture which is abstract and wild unlike every other one. While people are looking at the art, a giant ball comes out of the sky and hovers above the ground. The creature calls itself a Low Temperature Artist. It states that only art matters in the universe–everything else is trivial.
It scoffs at the realistic art pieces and says that only Dong’s is worth considering.
Then it says that it will create the greatest ice-based art. And it slowly begins sucking up all of the water from the earth. It freezes the water and begins preparations for its installation which will remain in space protected by a membrane that will prevent the ice from melting.
Pretty cool. Except of course, that soon, the planet is completely dried out. Continue Reading »
Posted in Artists, Barack Obama, China, Cixin Liu, End of the World, Graphic Novel, Jok, Magnus, Outer Space, Rodolfo Santullo, Supernatural, Surreal, Talos Press | 2 Comments »
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The Beths were supposed to play shows in 2020 at World Cafe Live. First in April, then in August. Then that was all scrapped and then rescheduled for January 2022. That was then pushed back until February.
I Just Read About That... 