February 6, 2022 by Paul Debraski
[ATTENDED: February 6, 2022] MST3K Live
This was my fourth MST3K live experience and it was a hoot. This was the first time that there was only one movie (in previous years they did two back to back–separate tickets). This was also the first year that the host was a newbie. Well, not totally new, Emily Marsh was on set for the previous show and as Emily Connor she will be co-hosting and maybe full-hosting the upcoming season.
Which is all well and good because I thought she was outstanding. A bundle of energy, great comic timing and what a singing voice!
But the show started with the imposing presence of Yvonne Freese as Mega Synthia and sweet, one-eyed purple GPC! She was outstanding last time and was even better this time as she was the center of attention for most of her on-stage time. She was very funny and threw in some good improvs as the crowd reacted or didn’t. She also has an amazing voice.
And of course, there are the bots–Conor McGiffin as Tom Servo and Nate Begle as Crow. It’s amazing what a small crew they have for this tour (the props take up more room than the people). There’s a mysterious fifth person on the tour as well. She is “swing puppeteer” Kelsey Ann Brady who I gather is meant to fill in where and when she can. Since the cast was all there, she was added as a kind of clone the Mega Synthia, which was pretty fun. Continue Reading »
Posted in Conor McGiffin, Count Basie Theatre, Emily Marsh, Joel Hodgson, MST3K, MST3K Live, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Nate Begle, Red Bank, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, Yvonne Freese | Leave a Comment »
February 5, 2022 by Paul Debraski
SOUNDTRACK: hiatus.
[READ: February 2, 2018] Amulet: Supernova
It has been SIX YEARS since I read the previous book in the series and the final book isn’t even out yet! When I finished book seven I wrote “How can I wait a year for book 8? [Word has it Book 8 will come out in 2018].” And in that year I totally forgot about this series. Whoops.
So it was a little hard catching up to what was going on, but I managed.
The book opens with Trellis in a dream. he meets an old woman traveler who guides him through his dream. Before he wakes he asks if he will see her again–she says sooner than you expect. When Trellis wakes, he is told the elf army has made landfall.
But when we see the army, led by a small creature named Logi, Logi tells the commander that their plan is surrender. Trellis can’t believe it, but it appears to be true and they take the army into lock up. The city celebrates Trellis, but he is suspicious and he has every right to be because Logi has a token of the Elf King’s affection–a glowing object,
Which turns out to be a bomb of sorts. Continue Reading »
Posted in Aliens, Alternate Reality, Children's Books, Death, Dystopia, Ghosts, Graphic Novel, Kazu Kibuishi, Mystery, Outer Space, Robots, Supernatural, Superstitions, Technology | Leave a Comment »
February 4, 2022 by Paul Debraski
[POSTPONED: February 4, 2022] Courtney Barnett / Shamir [moved to …]
S. and
I were looking forward to this show although we both groaned a bit when we saw it didn’t START until 9PM. Good grief.
Weather forecasts for this even were treacherous. Freezing rains and temperatures that were expected to drop below freezing did not bode well for an hour plus drive. We were fairly certain we were going to skip it. We love Courtney and our friend Kaylo recently saw this tour and said it was great, but we have seen her before and it just seemed too risky.
Then, just before I left work, we got the notice that the show had been postponed. I sort of assumed at first that it was because of the weather, but concerts can’t do that. A little while later I saw on Instagram that someone in her touring company caught COVID: Continue Reading »
Posted in Coronavirus, Courtney Barnett, Julia Jacklin, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, Shamir, The Met Philadelphia | Leave a Comment »
February 3, 2022 by Paul Debraski
SOUNDTRACK: hiatus
[READ: February 2022] Hogfather
I don’t know that I’d call many Discworld books “exciting.” They’re funny, thoughtful, clever, interesting and so much more. But usually not “exciting. ” But there’s something about Hogfather that makes it an incredibly exciting read.
It starts with the Auditors. We haven’t seen them in a while. The last time we saw them, they basically fired Death because he was getting too involved with humanity. The Auditors are gray spectral beings who exist to make the sure the world is running correctly. If any of them acts even remotely like an individual, he is instantly zapped and replaced with a new even more neutral Auditor.
And what makes the world not run smoothly? Humanity. Really, the Auditors hate humanity. And they think they have finally figured out a way to make things run more smoothly. They decide to get rid of the Hogfather.
The Hogfather is more or less Santa Claus, but with a Discworld twist. Yes, he grants children’s wishes on Hogswatchnight (December 32–which takes its name from the Scottish celebration for the last day of the calendar year–Hogmanay) and brings them presents, but his sleigh is pulled by four wild boars, Gouger, Rooter, Tusker and Snouter. We don’t see much of the actual Hogfather because once Death learns that Hogfather is… incapacitated, Death decides to take over his duties for the night. Why? Because if Hogfather doesn’t exist then the Sun will not rise. This is nonsense, of course. Isn’t it? Continue Reading »
Posted in Alfred, Auditors of Reality, Banjo Lilywhite, Bilious, Binky, Buddy Holly, Catseye, Chickenwire, Christmas, Death, Death of Rats, Discworld, Funny (ha ha), Hex, Jonathan Teatime, Magic, Medium Dave Lilywhite, Music, Mustrum Ridcully, Peachy, Ponder Stibbons, Quoth (the raven), Santa Claus, Susan Sto-Helit, Terry Pratchett, The Bursar, The Chair of Indefinite Studies, The Dean, The Lecturer in Recent Runes, The Librarian, The Senior Wrangler, Unfinished series, Wizards | Leave a Comment »
February 2, 2022 by Paul Debraski
[ATTENDED: February 1, 2022] Mother Mother
I I had never heard of Mother Mother before a few months ago. They have been around for over fifteen years, but recently a few songs from their 2008 album blew up on TikTok. Because I have teenagers, I found out about them second hand.
And I fell in love with the frenetic guitar and lyrics of “Hayloft,” which led me to explore more of their music.
Way back on April 29 of last year, I bought four tickets to this show for me, my kids and a friend. It seemed like it would never get here. Then it seemed like it might get cancelled or postponed, but it did go on, although not exactly as planned.
When I bought the tickets, the band was playing The Foundry. The Foundry is an amazing intimate venue that hold 450 people. I was super excited that they were there because whenever I’ve seen a band there, I’ve practically gotten to high five them. So I was a little bummed when in December it was announced that they’d moved the show to TLA. TLA is bigger (and I usually have a hard time getting there, but it was great tonight). Of course, this is great for the band, as TLA holds 1,000 people. And it sold out, so they doubled their attendance.
It also turned out that Mother Mother puts on a BIG show. Big lights, big sound. They used the whole stage. And The Foundry’s stage is like the size of a dining room table, so the show would have been nowhere near as amazing. So good for everyone. Continue Reading »
Posted in DYLYN, Mother Mother, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Foundry, Theatre of Living Arts | Leave a Comment »
February 1, 2022 by Paul Debraski
[ATTENDED: February 1, 2022] DYLYN
I hadn’t heard of DYLYN before a few days ago. I was trying to figure out who was the band’s opening act and it said DYLYN> So I looked her up and I really liked the two (!) songs that were available on bandcamp.
DYLYN is a singer from Vancouver (originally Toronto). She had a powerful voice and plays a kind of power punk/metal hybrid sound.
Although interestingly, she was once a pop singer under the name Guinevere and she had a couple of top ten hits. Here real name is Gwendolyn Lewis, and it’s impossible to guess how old she is. I would have thought 18 from the show, but she had these hits a few years ago, so who knows.
DYLYN is also very pretty–which a few meatheads in the crowd were all too keen to point out nonstop throughout the show. One jackass shouted “I love you Dylyn so much that when he walked away, a woman next to me muttered, :there goes the guy who loves Dylyn.” The other drunken guy was so loud–and kept laughing about how loud he was being “I’m so loud!” Wow, what a dick (but what do you expect from a guy wearing a Hawaiian shirt with the pattern consisting of Playboy magazine covers. Where does one even get such a shirt?
But Dylyn apparently only heard the good parts from the crowd an, it’s fair to say the crowd was really into her set. She and her band (Ulysses on guitar, Parker on bass and sorry drummer I’ve forgotten your name) put on a ripping show full of bangers and ballads. And on more than one occasion, Dylyn really belted out a song showcasing what a spectacular voice she has.
I was rather surprised that this fairly unknown musician was given a 45 minute opening set, but I saw today that Dylyn has written with Ryan from Mother Mother. So they clearly have a bond.
She opened with the ripping Hellbound.
“Boy”
She ended the set with a solid cove of Nirvana’s “Lithium.”
It’s great that she got so much exposure during this tour. I hope her album is huge.
SETLIST [her album isn’t out yet so bracketed songs are lyrics that I recorded]
- Hellbound
- [take me back to the original sin]
- Hurt
- [come over with my best friend. I don’t wanna go, you can’t make me go]
- [little sister you’re not alone]
- [life is just a neverending song]
- [can you fee/ scream it, this is how I want it]
- [boy/song about her father]
- [take me to your darkness/wanna feel the pieces]
- [I want the best for you and if I tell the truth/I let you down]
- Lithium (Nirvana cover)
- Liberate Me
Posted in DYLYN, Mother Mother, Nirvana, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts | Leave a Comment »
January 31, 2022 by Paul Debraski
SOUNDTRACK: hiatus
[READ: January 2022] Feet of Clay
The Watch is back. This story doesn’t exactly introduce Golems to the city of Ankh-Morpork. They’ve always been there. But this is the first time they have become a big deal.
Also a big deal? Sam Vimes. Now that Vimes has become a Lord, it’s about time he gets a crest. So he goes to the local keeper of the Register of Proper People: Dragon King of Arms, to see about his old family crest.
Except, as Dragon King of Arms is quick to point out, his ancestor was a regicide and they tend to frown on that sort of thing. So it turns out that one of Vimes ancestor’s
But while Vimes is denied a crest, he is informed that his co-worker, Nobby Nobbs is actually from a learned and proper family (but Nobby is barely human!), still, there is fanciness in his blood. He is descended from the Earl of Ankh.
Nobby is not too happy about being upper crust and spends much of the book bemoaning that he can be upper class and have no money. When Society calls on him to come visit, he is woefully out of place and the whole dinner party is a hilarious feast for the reader. Continue Reading »
Posted in Anachronisms, Angua von Überwald, Carrot Ironfoundersson, Cheery Littlebottom, Death, Detritus, Discworld, Dorfl, Dwarfs, Fred Colon, Funny (ha ha), Golems, Guns, Lady Sybil Ramkin, Lord Vetinari, Magic, Nobby Nobbs, Samuel Vimes, Terry Pratchett, The Librarian, The Watch, Vampires, Violence, Werewolves, Wizards | Leave a Comment »
January 30, 2022 by Paul Debraski
[POSTPONED: January 30, 2022] Indigo De Souza / Horse Jumper Of Love / Friendship [moved to May 2, 2022]
Indigo De Souza is a new (to me) musician who I heard about on NPR music. Her song “Kill Me” is outstanding. A great dynamic of sounds, very funny lyrics and memorable hooks. I loved it immediately. She announced a tour soon after I’d heard it and I grabbed a ticket to see her headline tour (!).
She’s ben making music since she was like 9 with a few EPs and a previous album. I imagine she’ll be a fun and wild performer.
On January 13, Union Transfer announced:
Indigo has decided it’s best for all involved to move their tour to a few weeks later in the year. The Philly show will now take place at Union Transfer on May 2nd
That’s not too far off.
I hadn’t heard of either of the opening acts (such is the case when the headliner is fairy new herself). Continue Reading »
Posted in Cancelled, Friendship, Horse Jumper of Love, Indigo De Souza, Lucy Dacus, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »
January 29, 2022 by Paul Debraski
[CANCELLED: March 20, 2020] Best Coast / Rosie Tucker [CANCELLED]
I had tickets to see Best Coast at Union Transfer in March 2020. I like them although I was more interested in seeing their opening act Mannequin Pussy.
They were one of the first bands to cancel their tour outright back in May 2020 rather than rescheduling dates.
They announced a new tour for 2022 back in June. I’d have rather seen them in Asbury Lanes, but that show was on the same night as our War on Drugs show. So I considered going to the Union Transfer show. It was supposed to be a busy week of shows, so I wasn’t sure I’d want to go or not.
But on January 6, the band announced they were cancelling the tour
Best Coast is canceling its upcoming tour in support of its “Always Tomorrow” album due to COVID concerns.
The tour was set to kick off on Jan. 11 at the Catalyst Club in Santa Cruz, California. The SoCal indie-pop group — consisting of singer-songwriter-guitarist Bethany Cosentino and multi-instrumentalist Bobb Bruno —was scheduled to hit August Hall in San Francisco as well as such cities as Chicago, Toronto, Seattle and Los Angeles.
“We are devastated to announce that our upcoming Finally Tomorrow tour is unfortunately canceled,” the band posted on Twitter. “It was an incredibly difficult decision to make, but one that we ultimately felt was right.
“The last two years have been so difficult for us as a band (and the entire world) — and we appreciate your support through it all.”
“Our last show was in Chicago (on March 11, 2020). It was about two weeks into a monthlong tour. We had obviously been hearing a lot about COVID. But I think when you are on tour you exist in such a bubble of just what’s going on in the tour landscape. We were all kind of like, ‘OK, like I guess we’ll see what will happen with this.’ I fully didn’t think that the world was truly about to shut down. I did not see that coming whatsoever.”
“At this time, we are not rescheduling any of these dates, as the rollercoaster of the reschedule-announcement-cancelation cycle we’ve been stuck in is incredibly exhausting (for you too I’m sure!) and we just need a moment to decompress. We love you SO much and we hope to safely see you soon. Hang in there. love, bethany and bobb”
Continue Reading »
Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, Best Coast, Cancelled, Mannequin Pussy, Philadelphia, PA, Rosie Tucker, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »
January 28, 2022 by Paul Debraski
[POSTPONED: March 12, 2022] The Black Angels / L.A. Witch [moved to…]
I really got into The Black Angels with their 2013 album Indigo Meadow. I’ve recently been enjoying their Live at Levitation vinyl.
They’re just one of a bunch of younger bands who are exploring psychedelic music in a heavier vein than the original psychedelic bands. And I like it a lot. Plus they are supposed to put on a trippy show.
I mean, their post says
HERE is an incredible show. It will shock and amaze you.
And a poster would never lie. Continue Reading »
Posted in Coronavirus, L.A. Witch, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, The Black Angels, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »
« Newer Posts - Older Posts »
This was my fourth MST3K live experience and it was a hoot. This was the first time that there was only one movie (in previous years they did two back to back–separate tickets). This was also the first year that the host was a newbie. Well, not totally new, Emily Marsh was on set for the previous show and as Emily Connor she will be co-hosting and maybe full-hosting the upcoming season.
I Just Read About That... 