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Phantogram / Open Mike Eagle (Archer Music Hall, Allentown, PA, September 11, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

September 11, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 11, 2025] Phantogram / Open Mike Eagle

I have been intrigued by Phantogram fora while–I love a couple of their songs but don’t know all that much about them.  When I knew I wasn’t going to Supergrass tonight, and I found out that people might not be home tonight, I got excited at the thought of heading into Allentown spontaneously.

But my daughter kindly asked me to stay home, so I did.

I see that Phantogram played Philly back in February and that this seems to be a quicky short tour, so they probably won’t be around again for a while.

I was also pleased about this show because Open Mike Eagle was opening.  I had just seen him open for clipping., and he was great.  I would happily see him again and again.

Alas.  I’m sure I’ll get to see both of them again sometime.

Posted in Archer Music Hall, Clear Capsule, Open Mike Eagle, Phantogram | Leave a Comment »

Supergrass / Sports Team (The Rooftop at Pier 17, New York, NY, September 11, 2025)

September 11, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 11, 2025] Supergrass / Sports Team

I’ve loved Supergrass since they first came out (I guess 30 years ago).  I was super stoked to see them live a few years back (even if it meant going into NYC).

When they announced this 30th anniversary “tour” for I Should Coco I was so excited!  Then I saw that the “tour” was 6 shows.  The closest one to me was at Pier 17, an amazing venue that is a massive pain in the ass to get to.  I bought a ticket knowing pretty much full well that I wouldn’t be able to go.

And when I wound up doing three other shows this week, the thought of dragging ass all the way to NYC lost all of its appeal.  I would still love to see them again (maybe for We’re In It for the Money), but I don’t feel that bad about missing this one. Continue Reading »

Posted in Don Broco, New York City, Sports Team, Supergrass, The Rooftop at PIer 17 | Leave a Comment »

Sparks (Keswick Theatre, Glenside, PA, September 8, 2025)

September 11, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 8, 2025] Sparks

Back in 2022, I dragged myself all the way to New York City (which seems to get harder and harder to get to every time I try) to see Sparks at Town Hall.  I had never seen them and I was convinced they’d never play anywhere closer.  It was worth the grief because the show was wonderful.  Imagine my surprise when one year later they announced a show at the Keswick Theatre.  But I had tickets for another show that night, so I missed them.

And now a year later they are back at the Keswick! to tour their new album Mad!

Sparks is, without question, a weird band–they have a song about a Jansport backpack after all.  I got into them back in 1997 when they released an album of re-recorded versions of their best songs and called it Plagiarism.  Despite the occasional hit, they remain largely unknown in the States.  They are from the States even though many people assume they are from Europe.  Sparks are Russel Mael (vocals, aged 76) and Ron Mael (everything else, aged 80).

Before the New York show they hadn’t toured the U.S since 2013.  So I guess seeing them is a rare opportunity.  Perhaps I should have gone last year.  But at least I went this year and, amazingly the setlist was almost entirely different!

I walked into Keswick and the place looked like a fire had just been put out.  There was SO MUCH FOG!  There was an amusing sign that said “tonight’s show special effects FOG.”  And all the employees were joking how they couldn’t see anything.

I sat in the middle of an aisle and waited for the band.  The backing musicians came out first: Evan Weiss – guitar ; Eli Pearl – guitar ; Max Whipple – bass ; Darren Weiss – drums.

Then Ron sat in front of a keyboard, the letters of Roland rearranged to spell Ronald.  And Russel came out in a floral print suit.  And they began, as they should, with the song “So May We Start” from Annette.

They started that way last time too, so I assumed the show would be much the same.  But it wasn’t! Continue Reading »

Posted in Glenside, PA, Keswick Theatre, Sparks | Leave a Comment »

Superchunk / Tee Vee Repairmann (Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, September 10, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

September 10, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 10, 2025] Superchunk / Tee Vee Repairmann

I’ve been a fan of Superchunk forever, but I only got to see them a few years ago for the first time.  I saw them once more and kind of thought I didn’t need to see them again.  However, when they announced this show at Ardmore Music Hall, I thought it would be a great place to see them.  So I grabbed a ticket and was really looking forward to the show.

When I found out that my favorite artist made a poster for the tour (see right), I was even more excited to go.

I had been to two shows already this week (Pulp being basically spontaneous), so it was strongly suggested that I should stay home Wednesday night.  I had already given up on going to see Supergrass on Thursday, so I thought I might be able to sneak in this show, but I stayed home instead and had a delightful evening.

Tee Vee Repairmann is Sydney, Australia’s Ishka Edmeades.  There must be something n the air in Australia, because Edmeades is almost as prolific as King Gizzard.  He is (or is in) all of these bands (I haven’t heard of any of them): Satanic Togas, Set-Top Box, Research Reactor Corp, Gee Tee, Remote Control, Mainframe, 3D & The Holograms.

As Tee Vee Repairmann he writes short (like 2 minute) songs that are pop/garage punk.  Fun and simple, they’d be a perfect match for Superchunk.  (Live, he has a full band, who I assume played with him for these shows.

 

Posted in Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, Superchunk, Tee Vee Repairmann | Leave a Comment »

The Get Up Kids (Bolero Block Party, Bolero Snort Brewery, Carlstadt, NJ, September 6, 2025)

September 10, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 6, 2025] The Get Up Kids 

I have tried to se The Get Up Kids at least three times in the last few years.  They had been doing this tour for Something to Write Home About for a couple of years, including Union Transfer in Sept 2024 an Starland Ballroom in February of this year.

I was interested in this show for Wax Jaw, but heck, it was also a chance to finally see The Get Up Kids.  Midway through the set, lead guitarist and sometimes singer Jim Suptic said that they ha just played LA the night before and had a red-eye flight at 4:30 to go to Japan.  But they wanted to make sure they gave New Jersey a good show.  He said they loved playing NJ and that so far on this tour NJ has sung along the loudest.

I really had no idea what the band looked like and had no idea who had that totally recognizable singing voice.  So it was kind of a surprise to see Matt Pryor with a full beard.   Earlier Piebald had joked that The Get Up Kids weren’t kids anymore.

Bassist Rob Pope doesn’t sing, but he does come up front to the edge of the stage from time to time.  And drummer Ryan Pope was excellent.  Keyboardist Dustin Kinsey wasn’t on every song but I appreciated his contributions. Continue Reading »

Posted in Bolero Block Party, Bolero Snort Brewery, Carlstadt NJ, Piebald, The Get Up Kids, Wax Jaw | Leave a Comment »

Piebald (Bolero Block Party, Bolero Snort Brewery, Carlstadt, NJ, September 6, 2025) [THE GET UP KIDS]

September 9, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 6, 2025] Piebald

When this show was announced I was excited about Wax Jaw and The Get Up Kids, but I didn’t know anything about Piebald.  It’s a little puzzling that I didn’t know them because they’re from the mid 90s Boston music scene.

The lineup said they were going to go on at 6, but their setup seemed to take a while and they didn’t go on until 6:30.  This was good for the break between them and Get Up Kids, but it meant that Wax Jaw was about an hour between bands.  But Piebald seemed in very good spirits.

I was unfamiliar with them.  And I guess I was the only one because wow, there were a group of guys up front who knew every word and who were dancing around.  Indeed the crowd was really into their set.  And so was I.  One guy was really really into it, almost embarrassingly so, but they admitted that he used to play cowbell for them so he was practically part of the band.

I enjoyed their sound right from the start–I loved that there were lots of YEAHS and HEYS sung very loudly by all three singers (Aaron Stuart, guitar and Andrew Bonner, bass).

And the content of the lyrics was really good too. Continue Reading »

Posted in Bolero Block Party, Bolero Snort Brewery, Carlstadt NJ, Piebald, The Get Up Kids, Wax Jaw | Leave a Comment »

Wax Jaw (Bolero Block Party, Bolero Snort Brewery, Carlstadt, NJ, September 6, 2025) [THE GET UP KIDS]

September 8, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 6, 2025] Wax Jaw 

There are lots of young bands that I’m excited to watch get bigger.  Wax Jaw has been a favorite of mine for awhile, but I’ve only seen them twice.

I found out about this Bolero Block Party through their social media account, even though they weren’t originally  supposed to open (according to the Tshirt I bought), but they’re the reason I went to the show (the fact that The Get Up Kids wee headlining was a major plus!)

When I saw the last night, it was at a tiny club for the release of their debut EP.  The crowd was all there for them and they were wild.

For this show, they went on at 5:00.  But, the entire afternoon it had been raining massively.  It even said it was supposed to rain for the entire day.  I assumed the show would be washed out–I certainly wasn’t going to go stand for 4 hours in the rain.

I felt bad for the brewery because this was their first time doing this and they had a lot of things in place–vendors, food trucks and even a skateboard ramp (see map below.)  Sadly the skateboard ramp went unused) it had gotten too wet, but the vendors were cool and the food was great.

And then, miraculously, it stopped raining at 3:15, which gave me just enough time to get ready and head over to Carlstadt.  Luckily there was nothing going on at Met Life Stadium, because the brewery is right around the corner and game or concert traffic would have killed me.

But I arrived early, and was delighted to walk around and look at the vendors.  I bought some shirts from Jetty and had delicious BBQ from Rhythm and Ribz. Continue Reading »

Posted in Bolero Block Party, Bolero Snort Brewery, Carlstadt NJ, Piebald, The Get Up Kids, Wax Jaw | Leave a Comment »

All Things Go Music Festival [Day 2] (Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD, September 27, 2025)

September 8, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 27, 2025] All Things Go [Day 2]

After yesterday’s fun we headed back to our hotel and crashed.  Saturday’s show began at 11.  We had no intention of getting there that early–but there wasn’t a lot else to do in the area but hang out in the hotel.

I didn’t care about Zinadelphia (who I feel really missed an golden opportunity to call themselves Zinfindelphia) and I didn’t care about Carol Ades.  Hey, Nothing is a folkie duo, but they didn’t intrigue me enough to get there early for.

The weather was dicey with potential rain so we decided that we would just hang out under the comfort of the Pavilion and sneak out for food from time to time.

We hung out pretty close to the stage (about twenty rows up) but off to the side quite a bit.  So we had a decent but not great view–I wouldn’t want to pay for those seats for sure.

We wound up seeing most of the bands on the Pavilion Stage and watched the Chrysalis Stage bands on video.

I would have watched Bartees Strange, but I’ve seen him a few times, so really the first person I was intrigued by was G Flip.  So we rolled in to the Pavilion Stage and caught the end of Hazlett.

I enjoyed the little of Hazlett that we saw and then we caught about 20 minutes of Bartees on the video screen. Continue Reading »

Posted in All Things Go, Bartees Strange, Carol Ades, Clairo, Columbia, MD, Faye Webster, G Flip, Gigi Perez, Hazlett, Hey, Nothing, Hippo Campus, Lucy Dacus, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Orion Sun, Paris Paloma, The Backseat Lovers, Wallows, Wild Rivers, Zinadelphia | Leave a Comment »

Poppy (Wellmont Theater, Montclair, NJ, September 4, 2025)

September 7, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 4, 2025] Poppy

Five months ago I saw Poppy play at the Fillmore.  I didn’t realize it was only five months ago, but it makes sense that this is still the same tour.  On the way to the show it started raining and as I drove around Montclair looking for a handicapped spot, I was sure I’d be really late.  Then one showed up in front of the library.  But right after I got out of the car the skies opened up and I got soaked.   Good grief.

Last time I wrote

I didn’t know how crowded it would be (somewhat), nor how enthusiastic the crowd would be (very).

And it was the same tonight.  The show definitely wasn’t sold out, but the crowd was really intense–two young girls sat in front of me and apologized saying they were going to stand a lot–which they did.

Seated?  Yes.  I had GA pit tickets, but they kindly shuffled me to the ADA seated section which was great for the first two bands, but behind too many tall people for Poppy so I wound up standing as well.

Before the show started, a giant keyhole appeared on the screen above the stage and an eye (Poppy’s I assume) looked out at us.

And then the masked band came out on stage, followed by Poppy who was wearing a white outfit with longish pants that looked like old fashioned knickers.

The setup was different from last time.  Last time Poppy was off to the side somewhat, but this time she was right up front, stalking the stage and being pretty cool.

But the songs were more or less the same.  Like last time she opened with “have you had enough?” which I once again thought sounds a ton like Garbage, even the heavy part sounds like Garbage, but with a more metal than alt sound.  Although there is a lot of absolute screaming at the end which is uniquely Poppy.

I love the insanity of BLOODMONEY with her singing “beg for forgiveness from Jesus the Christ” over and over while the band played all manner of weird sounds.   For V.A.N. (violence against nature) the opening was quiet with Poppy’s gentlest vocals (including a whispered line), until the band bashed out the chords.  Poppy sang really fast lyrics with ease.  I have just learned that this song was written by Bad Omens with the intention of Poppy singing it. Continue Reading »

Posted in Montclair, NJ, MSPaint, Poppy, UnityTX, Wellmont Theater | Leave a Comment »

James: Laid and Deep Cuts (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, September 7, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

September 7, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 7, 2025] James: Laid and Deep Cuts

Back in the day I rally liked James a lot.  I got into them through Laid and listened to most of their music over the years.  Although I stopped listening in 2001.  Turns out that broke up and reunited in 2008 and I totally missed it.  Haven’t heard anything on their reunion albums (there are 9, as many as they put out before they broke up).

A few days before the show a DJ on WXPN was listing all of the songs he hoped they’d play and I started to remember all the songs I liked by them. But it was too late to go by then.

Interestingly, James doesn’t come to the US very often.  They opened for Johnny Marr last year, and the previous tour was in 2016 (they played Kung Fu Necktie, which is so tiny it’s insane–they also played there in 2015).

Looking at the setlist, it was pretty good.  They played all of Laid, but not in order–they stretched it out through the whole show.  In addition to Laid, they played three songs from 7, 2 from Whiplash (which I really liked), 1 from Gold Mother and 1 from Pleased to Meet You.  The rest were new songs that I didn’t know.

So I’m not that bummed about missing it.

Posted in James, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

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