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Balthvs (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, October 10, 2025, Night 1 of 2) [MY MORNING JACKET]

October 10, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 10, 2025] Balthvs

A couple of years ago we saw My Morning Jacket at the Met.  They played two nights in a row but we only went to one.  I’m not going to say the second night was better, but they played a lot of great songs that second night as well.  So when they announced two nights again, I grabbed GA tickets (to finally get up close to the band).

For both nights, the opener was BALTHVS, a band I didn’t know.

They are from Colombia and when I first heard a song, I lazily said they reminded me of Khruangbin.  I see that online people compare them to Khruangbin a lot, which seems to be unfair.  I don’t know Khruangbin all that well, but both bands have a similar vibe.  However, on further listen, BALTHVS has got its own thing down quite well.  But it’s fair to say they’re in the same general area of “World psychedelic funk.”

BALTHVS is a trio from Bogotá Colombia.  Balthazar Aguirre plays guitar and sings, Vanessa Muñoz a plays 5 string bass and sings and Santiago Lizcano plays drums.  The band came out and jumped into some amazing songs.  [Founding bassist Johanna Mercurian recently had a baby and obviously didn’t tour this time]

Year of the Snake is a cool slinky instrumental and it really showed off Balthazar’s guitar chops.  I also loved that Vanessa’s bass was complex–making great use of the five string.  And Santiago was a beast behind the kit. Continue Reading »

Posted in Balthvs, My Morning Jacket, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia | Leave a Comment »

Rafia Bhatiq / Ian Chang / Riley Mulherkar (Solar Myth, Philadelphia PA, October 8, 2025)

October 9, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 8, 2025] Rafia Bhatiq / Ian Chang / Riley Mulherkar

Technically this show is a Rafiq Bhati show, but the show was a trio and they were all equal partners so for me they all get top billing.

I know of Rafiq from his (amazing) work with Son Lux.  When I was lucky enough to see them in 2022 I felt

Drummer Ian Chang is just amazing to watch as he plays all sorts of different things and in unusual rhythms.  But then I would notice that guitarist Rafiq Bhatia was making some incredible sounds out of his guitar and I would wind up watching him for awhile.

So here was Rafiq touring his new album Environments.  This album is more or less an hour of sound shapes and explorations.  Rafiq is a guitarist but there is very little traditional guitar playing on the album.

Watching them live it was fascinating to see that Rafiq would play little bits and pieces and then he would sample himself and mess around with these new sounds.  He sat and played guitar and he had a gear box of some kind next to him.  And he would frequently reach over and twist knobs–and you could hear trills and low notes floating around.

For one song in the middle of the set, he put his guitar down and made sounds using that box– I don’t know what the original sound sources were for this, but it was fun to watch.

Ian Chang is one of my favorite drummers to watch.  He plays spare rhythms with occasional explosions of sound.  He uses brushes, mallets, stick and he has a laptop that he tinkered with from time to time.  When the set opened (Aviary I) he gently touched the various percussive elements on his kit (bells, cymbals, rims).  As the song progressed he had bursts of snare and crashes of cymbals but very rarely did he create a steady beat (except for one song late in the set where they locked into a real groove for a few minutes).  The songs didn’t call for it and his drumming was a great punctuation to Rafiq’s sounds.

I didn’t know Riley Mulherkar at all before this.  I’m not a huge fan of horns, but his trumpet playing was amazing.  For the opening bit (Aviary I), he blew into his trumpet but didn’t produce any notes.  Rather, it was like he was generating a kind of musical wind.  His subtlety was incredible as he played incredibly softly.  My very little understanding of the trumpet is that you blow harder to get the notes higher.  Somehow, he was able to create high notes while playing so delicately as to be almost inaudible.  And of course, he played loud blasts as well.  Of the three, he was the least interesting to watch, but he was the most fascinating to try to understand what he was doing. Continue Reading »

Posted in Ian Chang, Philadelphia, PA, Rafiq Bhatia, Riley Mulherkar, Solar Myth | Leave a Comment »

Deltron 3030 (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 3, 2025)

October 5, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 3, 2025] Deltron 3030

I really enjoyed the Deltron 3030 album. Del the Funky Homosapien is one of my favorite rappers.  Dan the Automator is an amazing producer and Kid Koala is the king of the turntables.  Their futuristic band set in 3030 was a great combination of the three of them.

When this tour was announced–the 25th anniversary of their debut album–I grabbed tickets immediately.  I brought my son with me (he was not born when the album came out) because I thought he’d really like the show.  And he did!

After Kid Koala’s set, the trio emerged.  Dan the Automator stood behind a massive bank of sound equipment, Kid Koala took his place behind his turntables and Del (Deltron 0) walked out and stood in the middle of the other two.

And then came the opening announcement from the album–and we were all thrilled.

Then Del started rapping 3030 and it was real. There were visuals on the screen behind them–perhaps videos from 25 years ago–or maybe new for the show.  They often had lyrics on the visuals and occasionally, they showed the cameras facing Kid Koala’s turntables. Continue Reading »

Posted in Dan the Automator, Del the Funky Homosapien, Deltron 3030, Distorter, Gorillaz, Kid Koala, Lealani, Lord Sko, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Neko Case (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, October 4, 2025)

October 5, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 4, 2025] Neko Case

I have thought about seeing Neko Case since around 2022.  I even had tickets to see her in Jersey City, but wound up doing something else that night.

She had played Ardmore Music Hall in 2024, but I felt the tickets were really expensive.  And this show was the night after my son and I went to see Deltron 3030.  But my wife won tickets to this show at XPNFest.  And boy that was hard to pass up.

The biggest surprise was how undersold the show was.  We have been to The Met a lot and this was the first time that I can recall that they had the back seats curtained off.  Presumably anyone who had seats in the back were given seats closer to the stage.  I never looked after the show started, but before Neko went on there were a lot of empty seats.

In fairness, White Eagle Hall holds 800 people and Union Transfer is around 1200.  So The Met seating (and it was all seated) at roughly 3500 people was reaching way too far for her.  But still that’s got to suck to see a half empty place.

And it felt like Neko was kind of mad for the show.  Now, I follow her on Instagram and she seems (justifiably) mad most of the time.  So I don’t know if that’s just what she’s like on stage or if she was in a particularly bad mood.  I have only seen her one other time with the New Pornographers and she was only one of about 8 people on stage, so it was hard to judge her.  Although after that show she had a lengthy rant about people filming her.

The most memorable moment of this show was when she yelled at someone in the balcony for having their phone light on while filming.  She pointed at them directly an told them to turn their fucking light off.  After the following song, she admitted that the light that was bothering her was actually from the aisle lights.  I’m not sure if she apologized exactly but everyone laughed about it.

So yeah.

There’s a ton of Neko Case songs that I like.  But there’s also a joke from a show that I can’t recall in which when a couple breaks up, she says to her ex that she hopes the next concert he goes to they play all new songs.  It’s a great curse and it’s pretty much what happened here. Continue Reading »

Posted in Des Demonas, Neko Case, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia | Leave a Comment »

Des Demonas (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, October 4, 2025) [NEKO CASE]

October 4, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 4, 2025] Des Demonas

I thought I had never heard of Des Demonas, but I see that they were supposed to open for Tropical Fuck Storm in 2020 (!) but it was cancelled for Corona.

And here’s what I wrote:  Lead singer Jacky Cougar Abok has a delivery like early Nick Cave and their bio is fascinating.

Jacky Cougar Abok is the six-foot-five-inch tall Kenyan punk singer who has drummed with Thee Lolitas and Foul Swoops. Guitarist Mark Cisneros has bent strings with Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds, Deathfix, and Medications and pounded the traps for The Make-Up and Benjy Ferree, the latter alongside organist Paul Vivari. Joe Halladay (Citygoats) on bass and Ryan Hicks (Suns Of Guns) on drums round out this squared circle of sight and sound.

We wound up being a few minutes late.  This wasn’t a big deal since my wife has won tickets to the show at XPNFest (!).  The venue also had to arrange ADA seating for us, so that took some time.  They are a raw punk band–really quite different from Neko Case. I really liked them, but I imagine many people didn’t enjoy them.  Their main driving sound was an old-fashioned organ sound–quite unexpected for their propulsive vibe.  Continue Reading »

Posted in Des Demonas, Neko Case, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia | Leave a Comment »

Kid Koala x Lealani (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 3, 2025) [DELTRON 3030]

October 4, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 3, 2025] Kid Koala x Lealani

I’ve been a fan of Kid Koala for a really long time.  His turntable skills are incredible.  I was able to see him once (I can’t believe it was 7 and a half years ago).  I’ve been wanting to catch him again ever since.  And here he was, playing with Deltron and doing his own set.  I didn’t know what the X Lealani meant, but we would soon find out.

Kid Koala came out and moved over to his three turntables.  And as he started playing some records, he said, I’m Kid Koala and I’m here to play records incorrectly.  And then his cameras turned on.  He had cameras mounted above the turntables so you could watch his hands as he scratched and spun his vinyl.

His set was so much fun and having the cameras on meant you could see that he had taped marks and other notifications on his vinyl that helped him keep track of where to put the needle.  Watching him spin the vinyl backwards to get it to exactly where he wanted it was amazing.  He didn’t play any of his own songs, he played samples and snippets of songs and had everybody bopping along.

After a few minutes, he brought Lealani out (I think she was eating dinner with him at La Chinesca–my son and I ate at La Chinesca.  And, lo and behold Kid Koala was sitting there two tables away.  I was going to say hi, but with the cane I am not subtle or fast.  So I assumed he would walk past us and I’d say hi then; but he went out a different way.  Waah wahh.)  Lealani is from Pomona California and Kid Koala introduced her as an incredible electronic musician.  She had one of those light up boxes that makes sound.  I don’t know what they’re called.  There was a camera on her as well and her hands were incredible.  She played elaborate beats and melodies on this box and the whole room was blown away.

Lealani left and Kid Koala played some more.  And then Lealani came back out with a guitar. She sang a kicking punk song while Kid Koala played some drums.  And then Kid Koala told us that he and Lealani had started a new band together and that they would be touring early next year.  This band is called Distorter and I’ll be there when they come to town.

Posted in Dan the Automator, Del the Funky Homosapien, Deltron 3030, Distorter, Kid Koala, Lealani, Lord Sko, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Lord Sko (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, October 3, 2025) [DELTRON 3030]

October 3, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 3, 2025] Lord Sko

When this show was announced–Deltron 3030 playing their debut front to back– I grabbed two tickets immediately.  I grabbed one for my son because even though he didn’t know the album, I assumed he’d enjoy the show.

In addition to enjoying his company, I enjoy picking him up on the way to Philly because it usually means we can get there super early.  Which we did–although traffic was a little heavier than I expected.  But we had time to get food at La Chinesca.  And, lo and behold Kid Koala was sitting there two tables away.  I was going to say hi, but with the cane I am not subtle or fast.  So I assumed he would walk past us and I’d say hi then; but he went out a different way.  Waah wahh.

I had looked at the previous show and they were done by around 10:20, which was great because we were going to grab churros (yum!) for the ride home.  However, the previous show did not have the extra opening act, Lord Sko.

I was expecting Kid Koala to come out to his turntables.  But instead, a person came out with a laptop and got us hyped up for Lord Sko.

His logo reminded me of Newport cigarette ads. And moments later he came out.  He had on a big winter hat with ear flaps.  You could barely see his face but you could see his long hair.  And you could hear him quite clearly.  I always think it’s weird when an opening act whom I assume few have heard of, tries to get the crowd hyped up by yelling at us to put our hands up.  I mean, have man, the bar is low, but you have to earn the love.

Anyway, he began rapping and his flow was really good.  Hiphopdx said of him

A true student of the culture, his sound is nostalgic yet fresh, fearless yet effortless. From standout tracks to a fire 2025 project, he’s building momentum fast. Hip Hop heads — don’t sleep on this one

There was some technical difficulties with the laptop, but Sko handled it very well.  He even did a freestyle while the laptop rebooted.

I cam away from his set with respect for the guy (who is like 20) and I’d happily see him again.

Posted in Dan the Automator, Del the Funky Homosapien, Deltron 3030, Kid Koala, Lealani, Lord Sko, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

The Mountain Goats: Free at Noon (World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA, October 3, 2025)

October 3, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 3, 2025] The Mountain Goats

I have wanted to see The Mountain Goats for years–pretty much ever since my friend Andrew introduced me to them (with burnt CD copies of albums).  I finally got to see them this summer while playing with Guster and that was great.  I had no idea that the band had so much fun up there and I really enjoyed their set (as I figured I would).

So when they announced this Free at Noon, I jumped at the ticket.  Sure I had just seen them two months ago, but they were great and I wanted more!

I walked in and the usher suggested I sit in the ADA section.  I didn’t want to, as I like being closer, but the crowd was big and rather tall, so I grabbed a seat and happened to be right next to the very Andrew who introduced me to them.  It makes sense that he would be there (he said the same about me) and it was a fun surprise.

The band came out and started with one of my favorite Mountain Goats songs, The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton.  I cannot believe that the song is 25 years old!

I actually wondered how many different songs I’d hear compared to the summer’s set.  Well, it was mostly the same, but of the nine songs they played, there were three that they didn’t play this summer.

But, it was also really fun to know the other songs.  I had really enjoyed Bones Don’t Rust last time and I really really liked Broken to Begin With–a terrific song from the new album.

I really like seeing John Darnielle pogo during the instrumentals and bounce from one musician to the next smiling at the music they are playing–sometimes seeming maybe surprised by a move or another.

He explained that the new album is about a sinking ship (which he is on). Rocks in My Pockets is about it as is Great Pirates.  Continue Reading »

Posted in Free at Noon, Philadelphia, PA, The Mountain Goats, World Cafe Live, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA | Leave a Comment »

Stardew Valley: Symphony of Seasons (Marian Anderson Hall at the Kimmel Center, Philadelphia, PA, October 2, 2025)

October 2, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 2, 2025] Stardew Valley: Symphony of Seasons

My wife is a big fan of Stardew Valley.  Last November, when this show was announced, I grabbed tickets pretty quickly and basically assumed the day would never come.

Back in 2017 my son and I went to this very venue (then called Verizon Hall) to see The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses.  We were really close to the stage which I don’t think was all that exciting for him.  or for me, really. So this time, my wife and I sat in  the balcony–straight back.

It was a great location as they played videos on the screen and we could see both the videos and the orchestra perfectly.  So what was this?

Curated by ConcernedApe, Symphony of Seasons features a 35-piece orchestra performing the most memorable music from the game, and a screen above the stage playing gameplay footage plus original content created exclusively for this tour.

Concert-goers can look forward to hearing the game’s most cherished songs as they watch their farm grow throughout the seasons and explore some of the valley’s most memorable locations, from Pelican Town to the Skull Cavern, Ginger Island to Calico Desert, the Submarine to the Wizard’s Tower and much more.

I have never played the game and have only caught glimpses and audio snippets around the house so while I knew the game I didn’t know any of the music.

The whole show was wonderful.  There was an opening video by ConcernedApe who told us that he made all of the music on his computer and how cool it was that there were actual people playing it now.

The video clips were largely from the game, but there were several videos of beautifully drawn scenes–the likes of which are not on the game.  My wife said it was amazing to see 3-D looking version of the  8 bit game.  It was also funny to hear people gasp when these scenes were projected or to laugh at the funny scenes in the game.  [There were four people behind us who felt compelled to talk and make each other laugh through the show, but whatever].  There was some cosplay and interesting merch. Continue Reading »

Posted in Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Marian Anderson Hall, Philadelphia, PA, Stardew Valley, Verizon Hall | Leave a Comment »

TWRP (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, October 1, 2025)

October 2, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: October 1, 2025] TWRP


My son and I saw TWRP open for Magic Sword back in 2023 and we loved them.  We saw them again when they headlined.  And they’re the reason I went to Ninja Sex Party (they opened the show and were NSP’s backing band).

And here they were playing Underground Arts!  They were originally supposed to play World Cafe Live but because of a shakeup at the venue, TWRP and several other bands abandoned WCL for other venues.  I love Underground Arts but I think WCL would have suited my purposes better (much better sight lines).

I arrived later than I intended and the place was packed.  So instead of being on the barrier, I was back a ways behind a whole bunch of tall people.  After the first two songs I moved back and off to the side.  Not the best view but better than what I had and I could see most of the band just fine.

The previous times that I’ve seen them, they were on pretty big stages, so it was interesting to see them crammed into the small UA stage.  But they did fine with it and I was pleased that Phobos the guitarist was always near the front of the stage so he wasn’t hidden by the big pole.

All of the fun aspects of TWRP were in place.  Dr Sung on his hoverboard, Dr Sung bragging about his awesomeness and the rest of the band keeping him in check.

This tour’s theme was a weekend camping trip.  There were leaves and things around the stage and the whole conceit that they were camping was on full display.

They opened with a new song (and a new chant: party party party party).  I haven’t listened to much of the new album.  They played 4 songs from it but they did not get rid of crowd faves like Bright Blue Sky (so much fun to sing along to) and of course Atomic Karate (even in this small area he was able to do his high kicks (baby) and use the nunchaku.

The segues into each song are always fun, like when he talks about all of the potential in the room as a warm up to Human Potential. Continue Reading »

Posted in LAPD, Los Angeles Power Disco, Philadelphia, PA, TWRP, Underground Arts | Leave a Comment »

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