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Lucy Dacus (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, April 16, 2025)

April 16, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: April 16, 2025] Lucy Dacus 

I have seen Lucy Dacus quite a few (six) times and she always puts on a mesmerizing show. The first time I saw her was at Johnny Brenda’s (capacity 250), the most recent was at Union Transfer (capacity 1200).  And now here she was starting off her first tour after boygenius in her former home town of Philadelphia by playing The Met (capacity 3800).

And, wow, did she step it up for this bigger venue.  She had a gigantic backdrop designed to look like a museum wall.  There were picture frames and columns and it looked amazing.  And even this was presented theatrically as for the openers and for Lucy’s first song, the whole extravaganza was covered in a dropcloth.  The band even walked through the dropcloth opening at the center of the backdrop.  When it dramatically dropped away, the crowd went nuts.

And as she sang, one (or more) of the frames would display a picture that had something to do with the song she was playing.

Because this was the Forever is a Feeling tour, she played mostly songs from that new album (she played the whole album, but not in order).  The album opens with Calliope Prelude and so did the show.  It’s a short instrumental which is primarily strings and it worked very nicely as “walk on” music.

And then she launched right into Hot & Heavy, a song that opens quietly but builds really nicely to get the whole band involved.  I was surprised that she hadn’t opened with a song from the new album, but she followed that up with five songs in a row from it.  The band includes Sarah Goldstone (keys vocals), Dominic Angelella (bass), Alan Good Parker Guitars), Phoenix Rousiamanis (violin), and Ricardo Lagomasino (drums).

First was Ankles, the big single from the album–I’m always surprised when bands play their new single so early, but it worked to keep the energy up.  This also happened to be the first Lucy album I hadn’t listened to much before the show.  So I didn’t know these new songs all that well.  But Lucy is engrossing as a performer.  And it’s fun to hear a sing for the first time in a live setting.  Like hearing the words to Modigliani–while she projected a Modigliani painting on the screen. Continue Reading »

Posted in Boygenius, Jasmine.4.T, Katie Gavin, Lucy Dacus, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia | Leave a Comment »

Katie Gavin (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, April 16, 2025) [LUCY DACUS]

April 16, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: April 16, 2025] Katie Gavin 

I Katie Gavin is the singer for Muna.  I didn’t really like the Muna album that much when it came out, but I was really impressed by their live show when I saw them at All Things Go a few years ago.

I felt kind of the same about the Katie Gavin album.  It was okay, but it didn’t excite me all that much.

In fact, I really wanted to see Jasmine.4.T because their song Elephant is one of my favorites this year.  Sadly, I didn’t realize the show started at 7:15 (I assumed 8) and when we rolled up at 7:45, Jasmine.4.T had already ended.

When Katie came out, she was met by thunderous applause, and as soon as she started performing, I was once again blown away by her stage presence.  She joked that people might not know who she is (the applause belied that).

I didn’t love Katie’s album as it leans a little too alt-country for me.  But as with anyone whose albums lean alt-country but who also rock out, in a live setting, the rocking comes to the fore.  And her four-piece band was outstanding, Both bassist Nana Adjoa and guitarist Eric Radloff provided backing vocals.  Adjoa even took a verse or two of some songs (she has a wonderful voice). Continue Reading »

Posted in Jasmine.4.T, Katie Gavin, Lucy Dacus, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia | Leave a Comment »

Mercury Rev / Ryley Walker (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, April 16, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

April 16, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 16, 2025] Mercury Rev / Ryley Walker

I enjoyed Mercury Rev’s 1990s albums.  But the 2000s records lost me.  I was surprised that they were playing Johnny Brenda’s since Deserters Songs was a relatively big album.  But they really haven’t done anything much since then.

I wouldn’t mind seeing them live but this one wasn’t very appealing to me.

I’ve seen Ryley Walker a few times.  I’ve seen him play weird psychedelic instrumental jamming and I’ve seen him play rocking songs as well.  I’m not sure which way he went with this show–probably more traditional songs I’d assume.

I wasn’t all that interested in this show, but I was taking my daughter to see Lucy Dacus tonight anyhow, so it didn’t make much difference.

Posted in Johnny Brenda's, Mercury Rev, Philadelphia, PA, Ryley Walker | Leave a Comment »

Tomato Flower / Zero Point Energy / Flock Econo (Silk City, Philadelphia, PA, April 15, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

April 15, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 15, 2025] Tomato Flower / Zero Point Energy / Flock Econo

I saw Tomato Flower open for Melt-Banana.  I didn’t know who they were but I loved them from the start.  Their songs were jagged and indie, weird and delightful.  They reminded me of Palm (one of my favorite weirdo bands) for the unexpected shifts in tempo and direction.  They had two singers Jamison Murphy and Austyn Wohlers (who is also a novelist) to make it all the more unexpected.

I absolutely wanted to see them again.  I couldn’t believe there were actually five shows I wanted to go to tonight.  But this one topped the list, especially since Silk City is small and has decent sight lines.

But my wife was still recovering from her surgery and I was planning on taking my daughter to a show the following night so I stayed home and missed them all.  I hope Tomato Flower comes back.

But, damn.  What bad timing.  I do hope they come back again in a couple of years.

Zero Point Energy is a Brooklyn-based duo consisting of Genesis Edenfield and Ben Jackson with a sound described as earthy electronic dance.  That’s a bio phrase but it works. They seem weirdly divergent from Tomato Flower, but there’s nothing wrong with that.  I don’t know what they’d do live, but I did like the songs I listened to.

Flock Econo is from Philadelphia.  Matt Loretti is Flock Econo and he says “Flock Econo emerges from an alternate timeline scored by Musica Popular Brasileira and ‘80s sophisti-pop. Sprung from his hermetically sealed chamber, a fool croons over bubbling syncopation and harmonies which meander, serpentine, before finding their way home.”   The songs I listened to were lo-fi and again don’t really seem like they’d play with Tomato Flower.  But who knows.

Either way, I’d love to see Tomato Flower again.

Posted in Flock Econo, Philadelphia, PA, Silk City, Tomato Flower, Zero Point Energy | Leave a Comment »

Ani DiFranco: Unprecedented Shit! / Wryn (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, April 15, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

April 15, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 15, 2025] Ani DiFranco / Wryn

Back in the day I loved Ani DiFranco.  I loved her independent spirit and that she released her own albums on her own label.  I loved her acoustic albums, I loved her more rocking albums. I saw her a few times and she was incredible live.  And then at some point she changed her sound.  She added horns and started to sound a bit more like Prince.  These aren’t necessarily bad things but I didn’t like the new stuff at all and so I completely lost touch with her.

I didn’t even realize she was still putting out records. Her most recent was Unprecedented Sh!t  and here she was touring it.  I had no plans to go but I am pleased she sold out Union Transfer.

Wryn plays acoustic guitar music that rocks once in a while.  They have a good voice and a good sense of melody.  The album is out on Righteous Babe, and there’s an early Ani feel. I might have to dive in a bit more.

Posted in Ani DiFranco, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, Wryn | Leave a Comment »

The Used / Family Dinner / In Angles / MX Lonely (Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ, April 15, 16, & 18, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

April 15, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 15, 16 & 18, 2025] The Used / Family Dinner / In Angles / MX Lonely

My son and I saw The Used open for Pierce the Veil.  I didn’t know them but he was excited to see them.

I enjoyed them quite a bit–their songs were fun and rocking and the show was a really good time.

I had no intention of going to any of these shows–these 25th Anniversary shows were for the die hard fans, I believe.  I thought my son might want to go but he wasn’t that interested either.

Each night they were playing an album in full (plus other songs, I assume).

April 15 was their self titled debut.  Family Dinner opened.

April 16 was their Love and Death album.  In Angles opened.

April 18 was their Lies for the Liars album.  MX Lonely opened.

Family Dinner “creates alternative rock that makes you want to dance, with lyrics that take some dark twists.”  I listened to a couple of songs and I really liked their fuzzy guitars and Natalie’s vocals.  I would absolutely see them live.

In Angles are a much much heavier band–a heavy screaming kind of band with tasty guitar licks in their songs.  Described as post-hardcore, if that helps.  They are from East Brunswick, NJ, so mad props. Maybe I’ll give them another listen just for proximity sake.

MX Lonely is described as heavygaze from Brooklyn.  I don’t love that phrase, but I do tend to like the music.  They seem pretty good.

I would have enjoyed all three openers.  But probably Family Dinner best.

 

 

Posted in Family Dinner, In Angles, MX Lonely, Sayreville, NJ, Starland Ballroom, The Used | Leave a Comment »

Remember Sports / Anna McClellan (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, April 15, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

April 15, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 15, 2025] Remember Sports / Anna McClellan

Remember Sports are a Philly band that I’ve been vaguely interested in for a while.  They play indie punk and lead singer Carmen Perry has a distinctive almost unpleasant voice that I find really compelling.

But since I didn’t know them that well and there were four other shows I could have gone to tonight, this one didn’t have much of a chance.

Anna McClellan is an indie musician based out of Nebraska.  Her music (and vocals) seem really raw.  She seems to be also pushing the boundaries of unpleasantness, but might fall on the other side of it for me.

Posted in Anna McClellan, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Remember Sports | Leave a Comment »

An evening with Dawes (McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ, April 13, 2025)

April 13, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: April 13, 2025] An evening with Dawes

My wife and I first encountered Dawes in 2013 when they (inexplicably) appeared on Parenthood, a show we watched pretty regularly.  I thought they were a fictional band, but indeed they are not and had two albums out at the time.  I can’t recall at all what their plot line had to do with anything, but Dawes became something of a punchline for us.  The AV Club (who loves Dawes and the episode) jokes that the main character says the word Dawes so much it’s like he wants to be in the band.

And yet, over the years, we heard more and more songs of their that we liked.  It seemed like every new album brought at least one or two songs that we thought were really catchy.  I hadn’t really considered seeing them live until they announced that they were playing at McCarter.  I mean, a show that close to my house?  Sign me up!

So I got us tickets and wondered who the opener would be.  Well, it turned out there was no opener.  So we were given two full sets (20 songs… evidently the typical how on this tour got 17 songs, so I guess it wasn’t a huge difference (except that we got to go home earlier).

This show also happened a few months after the band announced that everyone except the two brothers: Taylor (vocals, guitar) and Griffin Goldsmith (drums) was out of the band.  I had actually wondered if they were going to play just the two of them.  But they didn’t–it was a full band, and they sounded great.

I think we were both a little surprised at what the band looked like, since I clearly never looked at them (since Parenthood).  This tour was for their new album Oh Brother, which I didn’t really know, although I did know and like the song Still Strangers Sometimes–a perfect catchy song from them.  But they started with The Game, a deep cut that I didn’t know but which I thought was quite good.

But I was really psyched when they played Living in the Future, and even though When the Tequila Runs Out is kinda goofy, it was really fun live.  Speaking of fun, this crowd was really really rowdy.  More so than the band, I’d say,  I had no idea that Dawes had such a devoted fan base (one guy was overheard saying he’d seen them a dozen or so times).

And the crowd went nuts for songs that I didn’t know.  I knew a few songs from Good Luck with Whatever, but I didn’t know Me Especially or Didn’t Fix Me.  Nor did I know Right on Time from the album All Your Favorite Bands (which I think we owned).

But that was just a few songs I didn’t know before they played Most People, a ubiquitous song that sounded great live.  They ended the with the mellow A Little Bit of Everything and then finished up the set with  Someone Else’s Café/Doomscroller Tries to Relax from Misadventures of a Doomscroller.  I felt like I knew the song, but it seems like an unlikely radio song–but that guitar riff was really cool.

After a little break, Tyler came out by himself and played a pretty, acoustic Moon in the Water. Continue Reading »

Posted in Dawes, McCarter Theatre, Parenthood, Princeton, NJ | Leave a Comment »

Gruff Rhys (solo) / Chris Forsyth (solo) (World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA, April 11, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

April 11, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 11, 2025] Gruff Rhys / Chris Forsyth

This was a dream show for me.  I love Gruff Rhys (and can’t believe it was all the way back in 2018 that I saw him) and then to find out the Chris Forsyth was opening?  Oh dream night.  And it was in the upstairs part of World Cafe Live (because hardly anyone knows Gruff).  It would have been intimate and amazing.

But my wife was still recovering from her surgery and I didn’t feel comfortable leaving her.

Markitaneight recorded the hold night so I got to watch what I missed.  Chris played electric guitar.  He played about 25 minutes.  No set list was recorded, but he played some instrumentals and some songs with words.

I didn’t realize that Gruff was going to start the night with a 15 minute moving screening!  Which he then followed with music on his acoustic guitar.  The rest of the show was him talking about his American Interior project with slides and a soft spoken narrative.  The video has a hard time recording his spoken voice which is a bummer (but he’s fine singing).

He played songs from the album (but not in order).  And Chris Forsyth played a tasteful solo over Lost Tribes.  It looks like it was a weird, fun night.

CHRIS FORSYTH set:
Tomorrow Might as Well Be Today
You’re Gonna Need Somebody
Boston Street Lullaby [slow, serious instrumental (he had to sit for it)]
long instrumental [looped himself and played a solo over it]

GRUFF RHYS set:
American Interior ∀
Iolo ∀
Bad Friend ≅
Shark Ridden Waters ∞
Pang! ∏
Walk Into The Wilderness ∀
Lost Tribes ∀
If We Were Words (We Would Rhyme) ∞
Liberty (Is Where We’ll Be) ∀
The Last Conquistador ∀
The Swamp ∀

* set two*
Allweddellau Allweddol ∀
100 Unread Messages ∀
Y Gwenan Gorn ∀

 

∞ Hotel Shampoo
∏ Pang!
≅ Sadness Sets Me Free
∀ American Interior

 

 

 

Markitaneight recorded the night. Here’s Chris Forsyth:

Here’s Set 1 of Gruff’s night

And what he’s calling Set 2

Super Furry Animals was one of my favorite bands of the 1990s.  Their music was great and I loved that they were Welsh.  It’s unfathomable that some of their singles weren’t huge here.  Even their all-Welsh album Mwng is catchy as anything.

Since the mid 2000s they’ve been in a different musical space (and on hiatus).  Lead singer Gruff (pronounced Griff) Rhys has released several solo albums and just recently released the album Babelsberg.

I hadn’t heard any of Babelsberg, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to see Gruff live for the first time.  (I saw SFA back in the 90s, but this would be very different).

Gruff was supposed to come to Johnny Brenda’s a few years ago (he explained), but Visa issues caused him to miss the Philly date.  That show was supposed to be solo, but for this show he had a four piece band: bassist Stephen “Sweet Baboo” Black and Osian Gwynedd on piano (who I could never see because he was behind Gruff, but whom I talked to after the show).  And he had Kliph Scurlock from the Flaming Lips on drums (!).  Kliph was selling the merch (while the other guys were talking Welsh backstage) and I chatted with him for a bit.  He has moved to Wales! Continue Reading »

Posted in Chris Forsyth, Gruff Rhys, Philadelphia, PA, Super Furry Animals, Wales, World Cafe Live | Leave a Comment »

Ty Segall / Mikel Cronin (Ukie Club, Philadelphia, PA, April 15, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

April 11, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 15, 2025] Ty Segall / Mikal Cronin

I have tried to see Ty Segall many times and something always comes up. I’d like to see him with his band, but I’ve even tried to see him solo.  I think his solo acoustic stuff is fun, but he’s so much more wild with the band (and amplification).

There were actually FIVE shows I wanted to go to tonight.  Ty Segall’s was second on my list because I would have much rather seen Tomato Flower.

It’s possible that I’ve given up trying to see Ty Segall after failing once again.

Mikal Cronin plays with Ty Segall pretty often.  I really enjoyed his album MKII.  Like Ty, I’d rather see him all fuzzed out on amplifiers.  But I’m sure his solo stuff is fun too.

Posted in Mikal Cronin, Philadelphia, PA, The Ukie Club, Ty Segall | Leave a Comment »

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