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Skullpresser (Foto Club, Philadelphia, PA, January 16, 2025) [ZETA]

January 16, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: January 16, 2025] Skullpresser

Skullpresser was a later addition to this show.  For the longest time it was TBA.  When they were listed I had to look them up and was pretty surprised to see that they are a Philly supergroup of sorts with each of the members in other bands.  The one I knew the best was Colins “Bear” Regisford from Mannequin Pussy on bass.  Another famous name is The Wonder Years‘ Mike Kennedy on drums (I know they are quite big but I actually don’t know them at all).  I’d never heard of the other two bands involved.  One Dead Three Wounded‘s Sam Tropio is on guitar and Burdens is represented by Jared Birdseye on lead vocals and Dan Zimmerman on guitar.

I had also never been to Foto Club before and I’ll say that it might be my favorite small club in Philly!  The venue is cool and weird (a private club–whatever that means) with free pool tables and the venue upstairs.  It holds about 200 people and the floor is lit by LED lights.

When Skullpresser started, Jared Birdseye was on the floor with us.

They were tight and heavy (kind of a metal/hardcore blend). I couldn’t understand too many of the words, but the titles made the meaning obvious. Continue Reading »

Posted in Foto Club, Lobby Boxer, Mannequin Pussy, Philadelphia, PA, Skullpresser, The Wonder Years, Zeta | Leave a Comment »

Geordie Greep / NNAMDÏ (First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA, January 14, 2025) AND (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, January 16 & 17, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

January 14, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: January 14, 16 & 17, 2025] Geordie Greep / NNAMDÏ

Geordie Greep is one of the vocalists in Black Midi.  He’s a fascinating dude with a fascinating voice.  When I saw that he was doing a solo tour, I was really intrigued.

But when I went to the Johnny Brenda’s site, both night were long sold out.

Sometime later he added another date, but this one was at the Church, so I knew I wouldn’t be going to the show.

I’m not too heartbroken about it, but it would have been interesting to be sure

i saw NNAMDÏ open for Wilco four years ago and I loved their set.  I wrote

I felt like he was digging into prog-rock territory and yet I guess it would be more accurately labelled as jazz with rapid time changes, incredibly fast parts and wicked jamming.   And yet the roots of most of his songs were a kind of pop/R&B vibe.

This is a solid double bill, with three shows I couldn’t make.

Posted in Black Midi, First Unitarian Church, Geordie Greep, Johnny Brenda's, NNAMDÏ, Philadelphia, PA | Leave a Comment »

Speedy Ortiz / The Tisburys / Big Benny Bailey (World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA, January 11, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

January 11, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: January 11, 2025] Speedy Ortiz / The Tisburys / Big Benny Bailey

I saw Speedy Ortiz as a headliner in July and as an opener in September.  I really didn’t expect to see that they were playing Philly again so soon.

I didn’t really feel the need to see them again so soon, and I was kind of enjoying not going to shows for the beginning of January.  So I stayed away from this one.

The Tisburys are a Philly band who I have just recently come to know (although I see they’ve been around for ten years).  They are described as early aughts-leaning pop/rock while keeping that indescribable Philly grit.  They played XPNFest which is probably why their name was familiar to me.  They have a folk rock vibe but their music isn’t folk rock.

I assumed that Big Benny Bailey was jazz band, but it turns out Big Benny Bailey is the country project of Shamir and Ben Pierce of Folkadelphia.  Which is a pretty fascinating mix.  Why is everyone going country these days?

 

Posted in Big Benny Bailey, Philadelphia, PA, Speedy Ortiz, The Tisburys, World Cafe Live | Leave a Comment »

Stinking Lizaveta / Darsombra / Eye Flys (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, January 4, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

January 4, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: January 4, 2025] Stinking Lizaveta / Darsombra / Eye Flys

For reasons I don’t entirely remember, I’ve added Stinking Lizaveta to the list of bands that I’d like to see.

I think what inspired me to check them out is that they are an instrumental band who play complex music.

And this is the third or fourth time that I am not seeing them.  The main reason for this is because I rather enjoyed not going to shows for a while.  And I didn’t want my first show of the year to be a band that I didn’t really know all that much about.

But I would like to see them some day.

Continue Reading »

Posted in Darsombra, Eye Flys, Milkboy, Philadelphia, PA, Stinking Lizaveta | Leave a Comment »

Phish (Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY, December 28-31, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

December 28, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 28-31, 2024] Phish

Last year I took my family to Phish on New Year’s Eve and we had a great time.  The show was fun and being in New York City after midnight was a hoot.

I have gone to at least one show of their New Year’s run for the past few years, but this year I just didn’t feel like it.

Getting to the City is a pain and I was looking forward to relaxing and having no late nights for a while.

So, even though there’s probably going to be an amazing New Year’s spectacle planned, after seeing Gamehendge last year (my 17th Phish show), I ‘m taking some time off.

 

Posted in Madison Square Garden, New York City, Phish | Leave a Comment »

Ally Carter–The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year (2024) [audiobook 2024]

December 26, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[LISTENED TO: December 2024] The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year

This is probably the first romance book that I’ve listened to.  Technically it’s a romance mystery, but the format is pretty distinctively romance.

I can say that I really didn’t enjoy the more romancey parts of the book.  Not because of the romance, because heck, almost all books have a romance component.

But I found this romance to  be beating us over the head with the fact that a) Maggie HATES Ethan and b) Ethan is REALLY HOT.  Again, I’m fine with the romance angle and even these tow components of the romance, but jeez, how many times did Carter have to tell us these two things.

Every time she saw Ethan she pointed out his hot arms or his studly abs.  And every time she saw him she told us how much she hated him.

And, hey, Ally Carter, trust your reader that they can hold information for more than a few pages.

This may have seemed more obnoxious to be in an audio book format.  Saskia Maarleveld did a great job in both male and female voices.  But hearing some of those same phrases repeated over and over was annoying.  Zachary Webber did a good job as Ethan (towards the end of the book, Ethan starts getting his own POV), but I actually enjoyed Saskia’s voice more.

So a basic plot summary.  Mystery author Maggie Chase hates Ethan Wyatt, a fellow author at their publishing imprint. He’s good-looking, popular with literally everyone and the guy can NEVER get her name right. Continue Reading »

Posted in Ally Carter, Audiobooks, Funny (ha ha), Morality, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Romance, Saskia Maarleveld, Violence, Zachary Webber | Leave a Comment »

Muriel Spark–“The Leaf-Sweeper” [The 2024 Short Story Advent Calendar #25] (1953)

December 25, 2024 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 25, 2024] “The Leaf-Sweeper”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my seventh time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

Ten years of stories! Yikes, where does the time go?
When the first Short Story Advent Calendar launched, in 2015, we frankly had no clue we’d still be sitting here today, continuing to offer up batches of tasty stories fresh from the oven. To celebrate this milestone, we’ve packed the 10th SSAC with a mix of new and familiar names—ideal company for those chilly winter nights ahead.

The author of this story was Muriel Spark.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.  Although today doesn’t have an interview just this blurb:

It’s December 25. To officially conclude the 2024 Short Story Advent Calendar, we present a story about pamphlets and ghosts from the one and only Muriel Spark. As always, thank you so much for reading. We hope you enjoyed it, and that you have an excellent rest of your holiday season.

This was a strange ghost story.  A woman passing an asylum tells the story of Johnnie Geddes, a man who started the Society for the Abolition of Christmas.  Continue Reading »

Posted in Canadian Content, Christmas, Ghosts, Hingston & Olsen, Muriel Spark, Short Story, The Short Story Advent Calendar | Leave a Comment »

Thomas Hardy–“The Thieves Who Couldn’t Help Sneezing” [The 2024 Short Story Advent Calendar #24] (1877)

December 24, 2024 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 24, 2024] “The Thieves Who Couldn’t Help Sneezing”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my seventh time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

Ten years of stories! Yikes, where does the time go?
When the first Short Story Advent Calendar launched, in 2015, we frankly had no clue we’d still be sitting here today, continuing to offer up batches of tasty stories fresh from the oven. To celebrate this milestone, we’ve packed the 10th SSAC with a mix of new and familiar names—ideal company for those chilly winter nights ahead.

The author of this story was Thomas Hardy.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.  Although today doesn’t have an interview just this blurb:

It’s December 24. Thomas Hardy, author of Far from the Madding Crowd and Tess of the d’Urbervilles, died in 1928 and was unavailable for an interview.

This is one of Hardy’s earliest short stories.  It seems like it is going to be a Christmas-related ghost story, because a man sets out n horseback on a spooky, foggy night.  But there are no ghosts.  Rather, he is set upon by bandits who steal his possessions and his horse.  Continue Reading »

Posted in Canadian Content, Christmas, Hingston & Olsen, Short Story, The Short Story Advent Calendar, Thomas Hardy | Leave a Comment »

Jennifer Croft–“Anaheim” [The 2024 Short Story Advent Calendar #23] (2022)

December 23, 2024 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 23, 2024] “Anaheim”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my seventh time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

Ten years of stories! Yikes, where does the time go?
When the first Short Story Advent Calendar launched, in 2015, we frankly had no clue we’d still be sitting here today, continuing to offer up batches of tasty stories fresh from the oven. To celebrate this milestone, we’ve packed the 10th SSAC with a mix of new and familiar names—ideal company for those chilly winter nights ahead.

The author of this story was Jennifer Croft.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.  Although today doesn’t have an interview just this blurb:

It’s December 23. Jennifer Croft, author of The Extinction of Irena Ray, has not prepared an acceptance speech.

I was concerned that I wouldn’t like this story.  It was longer than others and it started kind of slow, with a main character who was unsatisfied with things.  Ho hum. Continue Reading »

Posted in Canadian Content, Cats, Christmas, Hingston & Olsen, Jennifer Croft, Short Story, The Short Story Advent Calendar, Walt Disney World | Leave a Comment »

Josh Riedel–“The One with the Multiverse” [The 2024 Short Story Advent Calendar #22] (2023)

December 22, 2024 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 22, 2024] “The One with the Multiverse”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my seventh time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

Ten years of stories! Yikes, where does the time go?
When the first Short Story Advent Calendar launched, in 2015, we frankly had no clue we’d still be sitting here today, continuing to offer up batches of tasty stories fresh from the oven. To celebrate this milestone, we’ve packed the 10th SSAC with a mix of new and familiar names—ideal company for those chilly winter nights ahead.

The author of this story was Josh Riedel.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview. And this opening blurb sets the tone

It’s December 22. Josh Riedel, author of Please Report Your Bug Here, also once splashed in a fountain for title-credits purposes.

This story has a lot of elements that I like–pop culture, multiverses, identity confusion.  And although I never really liked Friends, I do enjoy stories that involve the sitcom.

So this story was pretty fun for me. Continue Reading »

Posted in Canadian Content, Christmas, Friends, Hingston & Olsen, Josh Riedel, Short Story, The Short Story Advent Calendar | Leave a Comment »

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