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Bad Religion / Alkaline Trio / War on Women (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, November 7, 2021) [DID NOT ATTEND]

November 7, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 7, 2021] Bad Religion / Alkaline Trio / War on Women

I’ve been a fan of Bad Religion since, oh who knows, a long time.  Although I haven’t really listened to them that much in the last few years.  I’ve also never really thought about seeing them live.  Interestingly, S. saw them live at City Gardens a few decades ago (clearly she is cooler than I).

This show was announced and I was intrigued.  But it happened on the same night as a Flaming Lips concerts that I already had tickets to.

I don’t know Alkaline Trio, but I’m assuming they fall into the pop punk genre as well.

War on Women is a hardcore band founded in 2011.  I’ve heard really good things about their live show.  I think I’d rather see them headline a small club, but it would have been fun to check them out.

Bad Religion has been around forever and you never know if long terms bands like this will tour again, but I hope they will so I can be almost as cool as my wife.

Posted in Alkaline Trio, Bad Religion, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia, War on Women | Leave a Comment »

Particle Kid (Fillmore Philly, Philadelphia, PA, November 7, 2021) [THE FLAMING LIPS]

November 7, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: November 7, 2021] Particle Kid

I have always been delighted yet puzzled by the name Particle Kid (the band created by Willie Nelson’s youngest son Micah (who also plays in his brother Lucas’ band Promise of the Real).  I read recently that the name comes from his father intending to call him the Prodigal Son, but apparently misspoke and called him Particle Kid, which is pretty damn funny.

As is Micah.

Micah was able to use The Lips’ video screen to project images on, which was cool.

The band for this tour was Micah Nelson – Guitar, vocals Aroyn Davis – Bass, vocals Milo Gonzales – Guitar Anthony Logerfo, Drums, vocals.

And they were excellent.  Even though Micah is the main figure of the band, Milo Gonzaes was an amazing guitarist to watch. He could play fast riffs and then alternate with incredible unreal sounds.  And then there was Aroyn Davis, an amazing bass player who was all over the neck playing low and high notes and also using effects pedals to create bizarre wonderful effects. Continue Reading »

Posted in Micah Nelson, Neil Young, Particle Kid, Philadelphia, PA, Promise of the Real, Radiohead, The Fillmore Philadelphia, The Flaming Lips | Leave a Comment »

Thundercat (The Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, November 4, 2021)

November 6, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: March 22, 2020] Thundercat [moved from March 22, 2020]

Thundercat is an amazing bass player (He plays a six string bass).  He also writes some really catchy songs.

His style veers a little too much into R&B for me at times, but there’s something about his overall vibes that surpasses anything.

I really wanted to experience his playing live.  I was bummed that I wound up as far away from the stage as I was because I wanted to see those fingers dominate the bass.

I wasn’t prepared for how amazing his band would be.  They were a trio, with Thundercat in the center of the stage with his giant bass.  On his right was keyboardist Dennis Haam and on his left was drummer Justin Brown.  It wasn’t always clear what Haam was playing and what Thundercat was playing–which just proved how impressive they both were.  But it was totally clear what Brown was playing–dominating the drum kit and most of the stage.

Sometimes I feel that Thundercat’s albums are too poppy for me.  But boy howdy was this concert anything but.  It was like a jazzy, jamming night of excess.  And it was wonderful. Continue Reading »

Posted in Coronavirus, KNOWER, Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, The Fillmore Philadelphia, Thundercat, Yasuke | Leave a Comment »

Tinariwen (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, November 5, 2021) [CANCELLED]

November 5, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[CANCELLED: November 5, 2021] Tinariwen

indexTinariwen is a “Desert blues” band of Tuareg musicians from the Sahara Desert region of northern Mali. The band formed in 1979 in Tamanrasset, Algeria, but returned to Mali after a peace accord between 1990 and 1995.  They gained interbational attention with their album Aman Iman in 2007.

I’ve heard they put on an amazing show.

When I saw they were playing Underground Arts I wanted to snatch up tickets but this weekend proved to be very busy with me going to a show on Thursday and Sunday.

But then on September 30, the tour was cancelled: Continue Reading »

Posted in Cancelled, Coronavirus, Philadelphia, PA, Quarantine, Tinariwen, Underground Arts | Leave a Comment »

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 »

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