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The Belair Lip Bombs (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, April 11, 2026) [THE BELAIR LIP BOMBS]

April 13, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: April 11, 2026] The Belair Lip Bombs

The Belair Lip Bombs are a young band from Victoria Australia.  They have been bubbling under around Philly with their insanely catchy song Hey You which was one of my favorite songs of the year so far.  They had played a Free at Noon the day earlier and I opted not to go since I was seeing them tonight.  And it’s pretty good I didn;t go because their set was almost exactly the same!

The band plays a fun bouncy alt rock with Maisie Everett’s delightful voice ringing clear.  Again and Again is a fun bouncy poppy song with the insanely catchy repeated chorus Again and Again and Again and Again….  Bassist Jimmy Droughton kept the bouncy songs bouncing, opening Another World with a catchy melody.

There was a guy behind me who knew the album by heart (which I certainly didn’t) and he sang along occasionally, but not too loudly.  He was really excited when they played Back of My Hand, a bubbly song with, at times only bass and drums (from Daniel Devlin), but when the twin guitars come in the song really blows up.

So Everett plays guitar (some lead moments and riffs) but most of the lead guitar is played by Mike Bradvica.  Standing in front of both guitarists, it was fun to see them both playing these distinctive parts while the bass held things together, especially on a song like Stay or Go which featured rocking guitar from Everett and running lead parts from Bradvica.

Look the Part was an older song with a cool bassline during the middle section.  There weren’t too many traditional guitar solos although Price of a Man had a relatively long one.  Continue Reading »

Posted in dust, Laveda, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, The Belair Lip Bombs | Leave a Comment »

Nick Offerman (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, April 12, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

April 12, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 12, 2026] Nick Offerman

Whenever I think about comedians that I like, they’re usually British.  Because I receive ads for comedy clubs, I feel like there are hundreds of American comedians and I don’t know any of them. So I forget that there are quite a few American comedians who I really like.  Nick Offerman makes me laugh in anything he does and yet for some reason I have never really thought about going to his stand up show.

I had gone out the night before, but my wife wasn’t really interested in going out on a Sunday night, so we blew him off.  I’ll have to put him on my list of comedians to make sure I see at least once.

Posted in Nick Offerman, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia | Leave a Comment »

Waxahatchee / MJ Lenderman / Brennan Wedl (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, April 12, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

April 12, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 12, 2026] Waxahatchee / MJ Lenderman / Brennan Wedl

My wife and I saw Waxahatchee two years ago.  Katie always puts on a good show, but we weren’t feeling this one.

I feel like people have been talking about MJ Lenderman for a while (although there are a lot of guys who go by 2 initials and their last name so I may be thinking of someone else).  But I see that he’s been putting out music since 2019.

I also saw know that he’s been playing with Wednesday and did a song with Waxahatchee.

His voice is a distinctive twang/whine that I sort of don’t like but kind of do.  It’s that whole alt-country thing that I mostly don’t like but maybe do.

The review from WXPN says

Lenderman and Waxahatchee took their seats on stage next to one another and backed by their band — Cole Berggren on banjo and keys and Colin Croom on pedal steel, lap steel, and electric guitar. They alternated between Lenderman and Waxahatchee songs, and threw in some cover songs, too.

I’m sure this was delightful for big fans of both artists, but I’m casual at best, so it wasn’t for me.

I’m more intrigued by Brennan Wedl‘s name than their music.  Wedl is a Minnesota-raised, Nashville-based songwriter.  She has a pretty hefty country twang for a Minnesotan.  She and Wxahatchee do a cover of Kathleen Edwards’ 6 o’clock News, which earns them some props.

Posted in Brennan Wedl, MJ Lenderman, MJ Lenderman and the Wind, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia, Waxahatchee | Leave a Comment »

dust (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, April 11, 2026) [THE BELAIR LIP BOMBS]

April 12, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: April 11, 2026] dust

There are a few bands called dust.  This band is from Newcastle, Australia.  They’re a five piece with drums, bass, two guitars and a saxophone!  And they were amazing.

They fall into that post-rock scene with roaring guitars and vocals that are kind of spoken, kind of shouted.  Main lead vocalist Justin Teale has an understated style that relies on subtly sung melodies and occasional loud grunts.  Drummer Kye Cherry plays fast and hard and bassist Liam Smith was a key component to the songs–whether keeping the low end with the rest of the song or playing independently–a rhythm of his own–he really held the songs together.

The songs are propulsive, moving along at a good clip with their singer kind of speak singing (in the vein of Fontaines D.C. but less accented).  The biggest surprise came when Ridgway played saxophone–it wasn’t just saxophone solos–although New High does have notes dotting the song–the sax was manipulated and distorted, running through the songs underneath rather than as a main melody.  I loved the end of the song where the band.

Then a song like Swamped has high octane stars and stops with jagged guitars and a rumbling bass.  Just Like Ice opens with a simple punky bassline and then the whole band crashed in with guitars and sax.  It was in this song that second guitarist Gabriel Stove traded off vocal lines with Justin.  His style was similar but different enough to add a really cool sonic style to the voices.  I enjoyed their back and forth a lot on this song.

Things changed up even further with Trust U See which opened with a slow threatening pulsing bassline and bleats of sax making a very noir-sounding vibe.  It was even more so when Teale’s spoken vocals came over the top.  The slow down in the middle was just long enough that the tension built even more.

Another surprise came when Stove sang lead vocals on Restless. His style isn’t that much different but he is more singing than spoken and his timbre is pretty different so that when Teale added his vocals toward the end, it sounded amazing.  One of the more amusing things about this set was that when the lead singer/guitarist leaned forward, he almost hit the guy in the front of the stage in the head (about ten times) but the singer’s eyes were closed so he never noticed. Continue Reading »

Posted in Australia, dust, Laveda, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, The Belair Lip Bombs | Leave a Comment »

Sunn O))) (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, April 11, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

April 11, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 11, 2026] Sunn O)))

I saw Sunn 0))) in 2017.

It was a pretty intense and amazing experience.  I didn’t think I would need to see them again, but when this tour was announced, I figured that roughly ten years was enough time between shows.

Sadly, t was scheduled for the same night that I had a ticket to see The Belair Lip Bombs.  Since this was their first time coming to the States and it was at the terrific PhilaMOCA, I decided to give Sunn O))) a miss.  However, I did consider that I might be able to sneak into the end of their set and catch maybe ten or fifteen minutes since my show was two bands with a small catalog of music.

My friend Jae went to the Sunn O))) show and I told him to text me when it ended.

I wasn’t sure how I would ask to get in to see the last few minutes of the show–if they’d make me pay or what.  But it was all moot.  Sunn O))) had no opener, and their set ended roughly at the same time as mine did.  He also laughed that they played the audio of banter from a Venom show.  Hilarious.

Jae said the show was great and I hope they come back again in a couple of years.

Here’s the clip that Sunn played (hilarious)

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Sunn O))), Union Transfer, Venom | Leave a Comment »

Laveda (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, April 11, 2026) [THE BELAIR LIP BOMBS]

April 11, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: April 11, 2026] Laveda

I hadn’t heard of Laveda, but when I listened to them before the show I was interested in their take on 90s grunge.  Then, as I was leaving the house, I saw that they were going to go on at 7:30 instead of 8.  But I wasn’t going to be arriving until like 8:45, so I was bummed to miss them.

However, traffic was light and for one reason or another the band didn’t go on until 7:45, so I was able to see their whole set and was right up near the stage.  Laveda is from Brooklyn.  They were founded by Ali Genevich (guitar, vocals) and Jacob Brooks (guitars and effects).

They opened with Strawberry, a heavy, crashing song with tons of distortion and feedback.  It was a great introduction to the band.  Ali sang all of the songs and had a quiet delivery that suited the songs.

When it ended, they played a noisy and lengthy feedback filled section. Brooks was on his needs playing with the effects pedals and generating feedback.  The noise resolved into the song Care.  It was this song that full won me over.  *’s guitar chords were great and reminded me a lot of Sonic Youth (their more commercial songs).  The bass was also great–a rumbling low end that propelled the song as much as the drums.  The song rocks for a solid 4 minutes and then ends with a very pretty quiet guitar part.  I actually assumed this was a new song, but I see it’s the end of Care, which makes me like the song even more. Continue Reading »

Posted in dust, Laveda, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, The Belair Lip Bombs | Leave a Comment »

The Belair Lip Bombs [FREE AT NOON] (World Cafe Live, Philadelphia Pa, April 10, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

April 10, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 10, 2026] The Belair Lip Bombs [FREE AT NOON]

I really liked Hey You from The Belair Lip Bombs.  I was pretty excited to get a ticket to see them tomorrow night at PhilaMOCA.  Especially since it sold out pretty quickly.  Then they announced a Free at Noon for the day before the show (they were playing a show in NYC tonight, so they drove back and forth with all of their gear.

I grabbed a ticket because I thought that maybe I’d skip the PhilaMOCA show and go to see Sunn0))) on Saturday instead.  But I was busy that morning and didn’t feel like hauling ass all the way down to Philly especially since I had a ticket to their show.

So I blew this one off.  Interestingly, they played 9 songs at the Free at Noon and 11 songs at the PhilaMOCA show.  Huh.

You can hear their set here.

Posted in Free at Noon, Philadelphia, PA, The Belair Lip Bombs, World Cafe Live | Leave a Comment »

Atsuko Okatsuka (McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ, April 9, 2026)

April 10, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: April 9, 2026] Atsuko Okatsuka

I had not heard of Atsuko Okatsuka when this show was announced (with the striking image to the right).

I have been going to a lot of comedians this year and reading the blurb and the fact that it was so close I thought it might be worth checking her out.  After buying the tickets, I watched some of her special on TV and wasn’t that excited by the opening moments.  But since I didn’t know if this was the routine she was going to do, I didn’t watch anymore.

So I wasn’t that excited going in.  And it turned out that my wife had a commitment that she couldn’t get out of.  So I almost stayed home.  But again, it was close, so I went.

And I’m so glad I did, because she was hilarious.

She started with a routine about her playing a video game in which you own restaurants.  I didn’t think this could be an extended riff, but it was and each level of the joke made it funnier.  From the fact that she is very very busy (she has so many restaurants) to the part where she is making so much money (in the game) but losing so much money (in real life) as she upgrades.  To how her husband found out about her spending on the games (snitch accountant) to a hilarious joke about her caveman cafe and the dinosaur that runs it with her.   Any paleontologists in the audience?

She spun this off into a series of jokes about how having a phone and doomscrolling is very healthy because otherwise you are left alone with your own thoughts!

I really enjoyed her take on depression commercials–do you really want to be like the people in the “after” scenes?  I really enjoyed the sequence (and the big payoff at the end) about the white man who is excellent at kendo.  She explained that this man has trained for years and is really impressive.  At first she thought it was racist, but realized that he is so sincere and devoted that it is honoring rather than appropriating.  Although she acknowledged that if he hurt himself and someone asked her to finish the routine, THAT would be racist.

The only person who is more Japanese than this man is her father, who is the quintessential Japanese man.  She went to visit him and that’s when she learned she had a brother (from her father’s first marriage).  She was unsure if she wanted to meet him, but when she did and he said, do you want to pretend po be cats while waiting online, that she knew she’d found a kindred spirit.

She crammed so much good material into an hour.  It was a great set.  At the end she did a brief Q&A which turned into a fan fest of people who went to the show wearing a wig that looked like her hair.  I had no idea this was a thing.  Apparently it is.  And she loves it.

I’m sorry my wife couldn’t make it, but I’m really glad I went.

Posted in Atsuko Okatsuka, Maddy Kelly, McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ | Leave a Comment »

Maddy Kelly (McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ, April 9, 2026) [ATSUKO OKATSUKA]

April 9, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: April 9, 2026] Maddy Kelly

Maddy Kelly is a comedian from New York. As with most unannounced opening acts,

She had a funny setup to the fact that she looks really young.  People ask if she’s still in school and she says no, I do stand up.  The reply is that always amusing.  I also got a real kick out of her blood donation story.  She went to the bathroom after having given blood and the blood hadn’t clotted.  When she told the nurse she bled in the bathroom, the nurse was concerned and asked if it was her first time.

She coupled the age joke with the fact that she’s half Indian and half Irish but that she looks like a teenaged Latina girl.  And her poor all white Irish grandparents who just don’t understand her at all.

She opened the show by asking if anyone was brought there not knowing who the comedian was.  The person who brings you to a show like this just looks at you the whole time trying to see if you’re enjoying it.

After a few minutes of personal jokes she switched to politics and was delightfully brutal to ***mp.  It’s so surprising that someone so good looking could be so evil.

Her political jokes were really funny–coming at the evil folks in charge from a slightly different angle than usual.

Her set was short, but I could have listened to her for twice as long.  I’d like to see her if she comes around again.

 

Posted in Atsuko Okatsuka, Maddy Kelly, McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ | Leave a Comment »

Art Brut: Band Bang Rock n Roll plus hits / Party Nerves (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, April 6, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

April 6, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 6, 2026] Art Brut: Band Bang Rock n Roll plus hits / Party Nerves

We had returned from Minnesota on Sunday and this show was the following night.  I loved this album (and the follow up) when this came out.  Eddie Argos was a weird but fun frontman.  I thought about getting a ticket for this but I had so many shows lines up the previous week that I just opted not to get one.  But since I had cancelled those shows while in MN, I thought that I would grab a last minute ticket for this one (which had not sold out yet).

But earlier in the day I went to the knee doctor for some pain and he gave me a cortisone shot.  It hurt so much that evening that there was absolutely no way I would have been able to tolerate standing for the show.  (The shot felt much better by the following night).  So I’m glad I didn’t buy a ticket even though I’m sure it was a fun show.

I’ve seen Party Nerves open for other bands three times.  I was delighted to think I could have seen them a 4th time without really meaning to.  They are a great.  As I’d said before:

All three members are super in tune with each other, but fairly or unfairly, most of the attention has to go to guitarist Woolly since he’s the one playing the lightning fast, non-stop surf guitar riffs. Yup, rocking surf guitar that reminds me of Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet (the band who made The Kids in the Hall theme song), although listening to them this time, they have more urgency and intensity that Shadowy’s laid back vibe).

Posted in Art Brut, Johnny Brenda's, Party Nerves, Philadelphia, PA | Leave a Comment »

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