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Lil Yachty (Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA, July 6, 2025) [TYLER, THE CREATOR]

July 7, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: July 6, 2025] Lil Yachty

Lil Yachty followed about 15 minutes after Paris, Texas.  He was also on the small stage in the middle of the floor. When he came running out, the noise was loud, the lights were bright and the fog was thick.

I had listened to Lil Yachty before the show and I really liked his style.  I was intrigued by the Wikipedia blurb:

Lil Yachty has called his style “bubblegum trap.” His songs have sampled sounds from Mario Bros., Charlie Brown, the theme from Rugrats, the startup sound of a GameCube console.  Themes in his works include clouds, cotton candy, the Super Nintendo, and scenes from Pixar films. Rolling Stone described his music as “catchy, intentionally dinky-sounding tunes packed with off-color boasts delivered in a proudly amateurish singsong.”

It was exactly the kind of alternative hip hop that I like.

But his sound was overwhelmed by the venue.  Any subtlety in his music was lost and mostly it just felt like the bass was going to knock the building down.  The girls in the seats next to us were thrilled with Yachty and they screamed and sang along.  But I couldn’t hear the words and the music kind of just got melded together.  He also didn’t do very much on stage, just wandering around the stage and mostly engaging with the folks in the GA Pit, with his back to us at least 90% of the time.

He was very gracious about us being there to watch him (and not getting a hot dog or some shit).  I’m fascinated that he played 22 songs in 45 minutes.  I think this show made me realize that rappers don’t necessarily play their whole song–sometimes snippets or even a verse will suffice.  Although many of Yachty’s songs are short (many under 3 minutes, he still had to cut some parts to squeeze all of this in.

So even though I couldn’t really hear anything that was going on, his set moved pretty quickly and I enjoyed watching everyone really getting into him.

 

  1. the BLACK seminole [TAPE]
  2. Gimme da Lite (Southside & Lil Yachty song) §
  3. pRETTy ⇓
  4. SOLO STEPPIN CRETE BOY ⊥
  5. Split / Whole Time ¾
  6. Pardon Me ¾
  7. Hate Me (ian cover) ‰
  8. Ron Artest (Babyface Ray cover) (with Babyface Ray) §
  9. Yacht Club ⊗
  10. NBAYOUNGBOAT ½
  11. Flex Up ¾
  12. Coffin ¾
  13. From the D to the A (Tee Grizzley cover) >
  14. Minnesota ∼
  15. Broccoli (DRAM cover) ¥
  16. iSpy (KYLE cover) ∝
  17. One Night ∼
  18. TESLA ⊥
  19. Poland
  20. Strike (Holster) ⊥
  21. drive ME crazy! ⇓
  22. WE SAW THE SUN! ⇓
  23. A Cold Sunday π
π Something Ether EP (2024)
⇓ Let’s Start Here (2023)
⊥ TESLA EP (2023)
¶ single (2022)
¾ Lil Boat 3 (2020)
½ Lil Boat 2 (2018)
∼ Lil Boat (2016)
⊗ Nuthin’ 2 Prove (2018)
Others
¥ DRAM-Big Baby Dram (2016)
∝ KYLE-Light of Mine (2016)
> single (2017)
§ single (2023)
‰ single 2024 

Posted in Lil Yachty, Paris Texas, Philadelphia, PA, Tyler the Creator, Wells Fargo Center | Leave a Comment »

Paris, Texas (Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA, July 6, 2025) [TYLER, THE CREATOR]

July 6, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: July 6, 2025] Paris, Texas

My daughter really wanted to see Tyler, the Creator, so I grabbed us tickets.  I knew him a little (from what she had played me), but I didn’t know the other two opening bands at all.

When I read about Paris, Texas I was intrigued.  The group is a duo, featuring Louie Pastel and Felix and what I was most interested in was their description: an eclectic mix of rap & hip-hop, fused with the guitar-driven elements of alternative rock, including grunge, punk, metal, emo and new-wave.

When we arrived, we could see that the main stage was bathed in green.  But when the lights dimmed, the tiny stage in the middle of the pit suddenly lit up and Paris, Texas ran up to the small stage to perform their set.  They had a DJ with them and the three guys prowled the stage.

They also set the basic tone that everyone would have their back to us when at the center stage.  It was clear that the performers were gearing their set to the GA Pit area.   I realized pretty quickly that the people who rushed to be first at the stage were actually pretty far from the action once the band started.  Continue Reading »

Posted in Lil Yachty, Paris Texas, Philadelphia, PA, Tyler the Creator, Wells Fargo Center | Leave a Comment »

Babymetal (TD Pavillion @ The Mann Center, Philadelphia, PA, June 28, 2025)

June 30, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: June 28, 2025] Babymetal

My son and I saw Babymetal last year and while we loved the show, the venue (Wind Creek in Bethlehem) was overcrowded.  So when they announced this show at the Mann, and I scored decent seats, I was excited for us to see them again.

Then my son couldn’t go.  So I asked my wife to go and she was pretty excited to see them.

We had stayed in our ADA seats for this set the actual seats were pretty uncomfortable and despite being further away in the ADA seats, the view was still much better).

Like last time, they opened with Babymetal Death.   First comes the masked Kami band (their masks are cool and the band is incredible).  Then the trio came out: Su-metal, Moametal and Momometal.

Everyone there knew the words (in English and Japanese) and what to do and when to do it–Total crowd synchronicity.

They followedwith Megitsun (that’s 2 songs from the debut to open the show). This one has a great synth line that translates well live.

Throughout the songs the trio danced like crazy.  Their precision synchronization was impressive–I like the hop dance on Megitsune. Continue Reading »

Posted in Babymetal, Black Veil Brides, Bloodywood, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, Poppy, Tom Morello | Leave a Comment »

Paul Simon: A Quiet Celebration (Academy of Music, Philadelphia, PA June 29, 2025) [CANCELLED]

June 29, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[CANCELLED: June 29, 2025] Paul Simon: A Quiet Celebration

My wife and I have seen just about everyone that we really want to (I have a list of bands that i still want to seem but it gets shorter all the time).  But one person on her bucket list was Paul Simon.

So when he announced this Quiet Celebration tour, I grabbed tickets immediately.  In fact, I joined the Academy of Music to make sure I could get us tickets for this show.

Then two days before our show, Paul announced that he would have to cancel the shows because of terrible back pain.  He was going to have surgery and hoped to get back on tour.

As it turns out, he was able to make the next night of his tour (which was about a week later).  So he only missed two shows and ours was one of them.

There were no plans to reschedule the show, although he did talk about trying to make up the shows.  He did play one night in Philly, but surely he can’t leave us hanging like that?

He’s on the West Coast until the end of the tour in early August.  Fingers crossed he squeezes us in.

Posted in Edie Brickell, Paul Simon, Philadelphia, PA, The Academy of Music | Leave a Comment »

Black Veil Brides (TD Pavillion @ The Mann Center, Philadelphia, PA, June 28, 2025) [BABYMETAL]

June 29, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: June 28, 2025] Black Veil Brides

I was really bummed that Jinjer was opening half of these shows and that our show was so close to the Jinjer dates.

I had seen Black Veil Brides open for Ice Nine Kills and my first thought when I saw them was:

“these guys have gotta be from L.A.”  Why?  Because the drummer was swinging his head around and spinning and throwing sticks and the guitarists were really flashy, doing solos up front and standing back to back while they soloed together.  None of it was especially crazy, but it just screamed L.A. metal band to me.  And indeed, I found out after that they are from Holly wood.  Turns out the rhythm guitarist is named Jinxx!

I enjoyed their set well enough then and it was fine for this show.  We had moved to the ADA section, which meant comfy chairs, so we sat through their set.  Couldn’t see them all that well, but they didn’t do anything visual, so it was no big deal.  I had mentioned my L.A. comment to my wife and she agreed.

Many people at the show were REALLY into BVB.  The person in front of us in particular was crazy for  them.

Their set was entirely fine.  I was chickling about he lead singer who sounds like a TV presenter when he talks but who started every single song with a guttural scream.  This of course made all of the songs blend together to me.

There was nothing that we didn’t like about their set, but we both agreed afterwards that there was simply nothing memorable about it.  It turned out, though, that we liked the final two songs the most.

Those songs were from 2011 and 2013, so I’m guessing I like their older stuff better.

2025 2022
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (Johann Sebastian Bach song)
(Intro theme, transitions into “Knives and Pens”)
 The Phantom Tomorrow [tape intro]
Knives and Pens ⊗ Faithless ∇
Bleeders ♦ Coffin ®
Faithless ∇ Crimson Skies ¶
Coffin ® Shadows Die ϖ
Devil ♠ Wake Up √
Perfect Weapon Scarlet Cross ¶
The Legacy § Knives and Pens ⊗
In the End ϖ The Legacy §
Fallen Angels §
In the End ϖ

♦ Bleeders EP (2024)
♠ The Mourning EP (2022)
¶ The Phantom Tomorrow (2021)
√ Vale (2018)
∇ Black Veil Brides (2014)
ϖ Wretched and Divine (2013)
® Rebels EP (2011)
§ Set the World on Fire (2011)
⊗ We Stitch These Wounds (2010)

Posted in Babymetal, Black Veil Brides, Bloodywood, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA | Leave a Comment »

Strand of Oaks / Stella Ruze (Concerts Under the Stars series Upper Merion Township Building Park, King of Prussia, PA, June 28, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

June 28, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 28, 2025] Strand of Oaks / Stella Ruze

I have seen Strand of Oaks five times.  I always think I’ve seen them more because I had planned to go to all of the Winter Specials that he played in Philly.  But I haven’t gone to that many, although the last one was great.

When he announced this Concert Under the Stars, I immediately penciled it in.  And then about a week later I saw that Babymetal was playing the same night in a venue that would allow us to see them pretty well.  So I grabbed two tickets for Babymetal and knew I’d have to wait to see Strand of Oaks again–maybe this winter?

I assumed that Stella Ruze was a folk singer.  Turns out they are a roots rock band from Philly.  “They blend four-part vocal harmonies and horn arrangements into a new, genre-bending sound.”  I’m not sure how genre-bending their sound actually is.  It’s kind of folky and sounds like it woul dbe great to hear at an open air show.

 

Posted in Concerts Under the Stars series, King of Prussia PA, Philadelphia, PA, Stella Ruze, Strand of Oaks, Upper Merion Township Building Park | Leave a Comment »

Bloodywood (TD Pavillion @ The Mann Center, Philadelphia, PA, June 28, 2025) [BABYMETAL]

June 28, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: June 28, 2025] Bloodywood

I hadn’t heard of Bloodywood before this tour, but when I looked them up, I was totally intrigued.

They are a folk metal band from New Delhi, which I found interesting enough.  And their backstory is fascinating.

Prior to forming the band, Karan Katiyar regularly uploaded parody metal covers of popular Bollywood songs on YouTube.  In 2016, Katiyar quit his job as a corporate lawyer and together with Jayant Bhadula formed a two-piece band with the intention of “destroying pop songs”.

Live, the band is a six-piece.  Katiyar plays guitars and flute!  Bhadula sings and growls.  Raoul Kerr officially joined in 2019 and does rap vocals.  The touring band since 2019 includes Vishesh Singh on drums, Roshan Roy on bass and Sarthak Pahwa plays the dhol (an Indian drum that sounds amazing).

The band was loud as anything and they got the crowd going in a second.  They even had the crowd form a circle pit which is very impressive as an opening act and in such a small pit area. Continue Reading »

Posted in Babymetal, Black Veil Brides, Bloodywood, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA | Leave a Comment »

Preoccupations / Goon (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, June 25, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

June 25, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 25, 2025] Preoccupations / Goon

I’ve seen Preoccupations twice already, once in the Foundry opening for Protomartyr.  They used to be called Viet Cong, but wisely changed that name.  They put on a great live show, but I was in a bit of a concert funk and didn’t bother getting tickets.  It’s possible that Preoccupations has changed their sound somewhat–a little softer and less abrasive perhaps.  They seem to have embraced a new wave feel.  I wonder how they deal with their older songs live if they’ve become kind of a different band.

Goon is a band created by Kenny Becker who is also an accomplished painter.  Fascinatingly, Becker suffers from a rare medical condition that periodically deadens his sense of smell and hearing, which for years shaded his day-to-day life with a dull pallor.   Similarly his songs are hazy and soft, synth pieces with soft vocals.  Considering Preoccupations opened for Metz last time around, this is quite a change.

Posted in Canadian Music, Goon, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Preoccupations | Leave a Comment »

Godspeed You! Black Emperor / Marisa Anderson (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 24, 2024) [POSTPONED]

June 24, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 24, 2025] Godspeed You! Black Emperor / Marisa Anderson [moved from November 24, 2024]

Back in 2000, I saw Godspeed You Black Emperor at Maxwell’s in Hoboken.  My friend Lar was in from Ireland and he went to the show with me, which was pretty awesome.

I waited 18 years to see them again, but the last time I saw them, the show was marred by the crowd.  I was ready to see them again but when the night arrived I wasn’t feeling it.  So I stayed home.

GY!BE tends to have interesting and perhaps unexpected openers. Last year it was supposed to be Alan Sparhawk from Low.  For whatever reason, this time it was Marisa Anderson is an American guitarist and composer from Portland, Oregon. She is known for mixing American primitive guitar with various genres.  She’s the kind of artist that the intellectual in me loves (because she’s really good, I’ve listened to few songs) but who I would find dull in a live setting after a short time.

Posted in Alan Sparhawk, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Marisa Anderson, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Blondshell / Daffo (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, June 21, 2025) DID NOT ATTEND]

June 21, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 21, 2025] Blondshell / Daffo

I really like Blondshell.  I saw her do a Free at Noon, but I couldn’t make her show that night at PhilaMOCA.  Good for her that her next Philly show was at Union Transfer. I was really looking forward to this show.  I had gotten my daughter a ticket because I thought she’d enjoy it and she likes Daffo.  But the night of she was really busy so we both wound up staying home.

We saw Daffo open for Sir Chloe and really enjoyed her set.  At the end of the night my daughter bought a shirt from her and chatted with her.  I was sure she’d want to see her again, but I guess not.

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

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