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Anthrax (Sports Illustrated Stadium, Newark, NJ, September 6, 2026) [IRON MAIDEN]

September 6, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 6, 2026] Anthrax

I was a huge Iron Maiden fan starting with Number of the Beast.  But when Anthrax came out, I like them even more–I feel like they invented the word Mosh (probably not but hey certainly used it more than anyone else).  I liked that they were super heavy and also had a good sense of humor.

Amazingly, I had never seen them live.  Not sure how that happened.  Although in fairness, I haven’t really listened to them since the early 1990s.

But I really wanted to see them at least once.  Indeed, I probably wouldn’t have gone to this show if Anthrax weren’t opening (this was the only venue where they played).  So the fact that I almost missed them because of Newark police is insane.

They went on at 6:10 (originally 6:30) and I left my house at 4 for an hour drive.  And I walked onto the floor as the band played their first chord.  Because when I got near the Harrison bridge, the police rerouted my side of the road (if you were in the left lane, you got to cross the bridge.  If you were in the right lane, you had to go straight).  So I followed their detour and looped back around where I Was about to get on the bridge only to see that they closed off the onramp as well.  There were people crossing the bridge, but not us.  So we all had to drive past the bridge and go to one of the parking garages.  I happened to find one that was relatively close (and much cheaper) and then hoofed it back to the venue. Continue Reading »

Posted in Anthrax, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Newark, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, Sports Illustrated Stadium | Leave a Comment »

Stay Inside (House of Independents, Asbury Park, NJ, September 4, 2026) [SINCERE ENGINEER]

September 5, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 4, 2026] Stay Inside

It took Stay Inside a little while longer than I expected to come on stage (since Smug LLC was such a short set.  But they were fantastic from the get go.  They are a four piece from Brooklyn and have been around for about ten years.  Midshow, someone noted that this was their 250th show!

Bon Z exploded with heavy guitars (I liked the way the second guitars rang out after the verse verse making the song even bigger.  There was great bass (from Bryn Nieboer) throughout the show (more prominent than on the record)

I really enjoyed the way their guitarist (Chris Johns) sang the quick but quiet Runnin’ runnin’ runnin’ runnin part and I really liked the cool quiet middle section with more tasty bass fills.

Chris Lawless was a really fun front man, jumping around, occasionally kicking a cymbal and joking with the audience and the band.

So far, the set had been pretty intense.  Monsieur Hawkwind and My Fault slowed things down a bit and it was good to know they can pull of mid-tempo as well as faster songs.

Midway through the set, Bryn told us that this was their drummer’s fourth show.  He was great.  But at some point he hit a funny sample that made everyone groan and Bryn said that this was now his last show.

There was a girl in the audience wearing a birthday hat (she was 11) and Bryn asked if it was her birthday.  Bryn asked her how old she was and she told her then Bryn said next month she was turning 40 which I genuinely can’t tell if that was a joke, but a whole bunch of people booed, which she was aghast a–why are you booing 40?)

The final song was from an earlier EP and that song rocked hard again.   I was really surprised that they only played 7 songs.  It was a tight 30 minute set and they left a great impression.  I wanted to chat with them after the show but the line for Sincere Engineer was pretty long and when I was done, the line for them was just as long and I wanted to get home.  But I’m definitely a fan and looking forward to seeing them again.

Wikipedia has just told me that Bartees Strange, yes, that Bartees Strange was in the band from 2016-2018.  That’s insane.

 

Bon Zs ≅
Runnin’ ‰
A Backyard ≅
Monsieur Hawkwind ‰
My Fault ≅
Wish It Away ‰
Ivy ∇

‰ Lunger (2026)
≅ Ferried Away (2024)
∇ Viewing (2020)

 

Posted in Asbury Park, NJ, House of Independents, Sincere Engineer, Smug LLC, Stay Inside | Leave a Comment »

Iron Maiden / Megadeth / Anthrax (Sports Illustrated Stadium, Newark, NJ, September 5, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

September 5, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 5, 2026] Iron Maiden / Megadeth / Anthrax

I loved these three bands back in the 1980s.  Not on the above order (Anthrax was always near the top), but the only one of the three I’d seen was Iron Maiden.

When this tour was announced I didn’t really think about going–I haven’t been enjoying heavy metal shows as much as I used to and I haven’t listened to anything new from Iron Maiden in about 30 years.  But then I saw that this show was going to be an old-school tour with songs from their first decade of music.  Of course, I am so unfamiliar with Maiden’s post 1990s output that when it said from Iron Maiden to Fear of the Dark, I didn’t realize Fear of the Dark was even one of their albums(!).

Tickets were expensive, and I think the pit area sold out pretty fast.  If I was going to this show I didn’t want to be far away.  Then my friend Jae said that he was going and I was pretty surprised.  Then they added a second night and even though it would have been fun to go with Jae (he actually wound up being late and missed Anthrax entirely) so I grabbed a pit ticket for Sunday.

 

Posted in Anthrax, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Newark, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, Sports Illustrated Stadium | Leave a Comment »

Smug LLC (House of Independents, Asbury Park, NJ, September 4, 2026) [SINCERE ENGINEER]

September 4, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 4, 2026] Smug LLC

I’m not sure what drew my attention to Sincere Engineer, but as soon as I heard them, I was hooked.  I was also really excited that they were playing soon after I’d heard of them.

I hadn’t heard of their first opener, Smug, LLC, who are (is) from Toronto.  I looked up the band and learned that it is actually a guy–Drew Thomas.  I hadn’t heard of him either, but evidently he had been a round for a second or two.  He fronted bands like Single Mothers and The Drew Thomson Foundation and has earned two Juno Award nominations.

I had no idea he was anything other than just a dude who made fun, funny music.   His songs are very dancey with lots of bass and other sound effects.

When his set started, he clicked on a laptop which started the music and a movie projector.  The video screen showed clips of movies and TV shows and clips of Drew walking around and each song had the lyrics on the screen, which was pretty smart. Continue Reading »

Posted in Asbury Park, NJ, House of Independents, Sincere Engineer, Smug LLC, Stay Inside | Leave a Comment »

Nelward / Grocer / Gloorp (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, September 3, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

September 3, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 3, 2026] Nelward / Grocer / Gloorp 

I saw Nelward open for TWRP a while back.  I hadn’t heard of him, but holy cow a few people in the audience sure did.  So Nick “nelward” Elward is an electronic composer based in Atlanta. His music takes cues from video game soundtracks, jazz fusion, old school hip hop, and classic pop.  His songs are (mostly) short and (mostly) silly.   He came out snazzily dressed and began singing DVD (30 seconds long, although longer live, with the entirety of the lyrics: Have you seen the DVD of me? (repeated).

I found his stuff to be amusing, but just ok.  And yet wow, he had some die-hard fans.

I was interested in this how pretty much only for Grocer.  I thought I’d get to see them open for Blvck Hippie a few weeks ago, but that fell through.  Tonight’s show was the day after we’d returned from a long trip and I knew I wouldn’t have the energy for it.  But Grocer does play a lot, so I hope to see them again soon.  They are a trio from Philly: Cody Nelson – Drums/Vocals, Danielle Lovier – Bass/Vocals and Nicholas Rahn – Guitar/Vocals.  Each member sings and each singer’s musical style is a little different making for a wide ranging musical set all held together by this great band having a lot of fun.  I don’t think I stopped smiling once during there set.  I definitely want to see them again.

I instinctively want to like a band called Gloorp.  Not knowing anything about them, with this line up it’s hard to tell if they are just goofy like nelward or weird but seriously like Grocer.

So Gloorp is from Philly and is the creation of Garrett Burke (with Danny Murillo, and Gabe DeSanto).  Pitchfork sums him up:

Burke is a high school marching band kid with a drumming resume that includes stints with Mothers and of Montreal.  His albums are half-organic/half-electronic MIDI meld of slamming polyrhythms and gonzo sound effects. There’s hardly even any melodies or samples taking up space—just one skull-rattling fill after another, a daisy-chained string of mulching beats that’s casual, light, and fun as hell.   Songs have  bouncing bass throbs, a wispy vocal sample weaving its way between the beats like it’s gasping for air.   Or a phased-out spoken-word passage from that’s similarly abstracted, used more like extra grease to keep Burke’s water slide nice and slippy. His drums speak for themselves.  It’s all very low-key, in that special way an album best heard blasting through beat-up car speakers should be.

So he’s not really like either band.  I imagine this is more fun to see live than to listen through good speakers.

Posted in Gloorp, Grocer, Johnny Brenda's, nelward, Philadelphia, PA | Leave a Comment »

Arlo Parks / Baird (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, August 31, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

August 31, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: August 31, 2026] Arlo Parks / Baird

Back in 2024, I blew off seeing Arlo Parks because I wasn’t feeling that well. I noted that I had failed to see her several times now and that maybe I should just give up.  But every time that Arlo releases a new song, I just love it.  So this time, I promised myself that I would go to see her.

And then we had to bring my daughter to college and there was literally no way to make it back in time.  Obviously the trip to college was so much more important and quite a lot of fun), but sometimes timing sucks.

I was able t sell my ticket, so that’s cool.  Maybe, indeed, I won’t be able to see her live after all

I think this means I’m not going to be seeing Arlo live.

I hadn’t heard of Baird but he evidently her producer and co-creator.  He has assisted with much of her music.  His own music is kind of lo-fi dancey.  I was unimpressed by the opening of Dogpile, but I like the way it built into something else while retaining the same elements throughout.

Last time, I chose not to go because Arlo played for only an hour.  This time it was 90 minutes.  I did get to see her (sort of) at all things go.  But maybe in a couple years I’ll finally geta proper show.  We’ll see.

Posted in Arlo Parks, Baird, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

King’s X / Lady White Rat (Sellersville Theater, Sellersville, PA, August 29, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

August 29, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: August 29, 2023] Kings X / Lady White Rat

I’ve seen King’s X five times.  I’ve enjoyed all of their shows although I started to find them a little samey.  I haven’t been all that interested the last few times they swung by.  But this time–it has been four years after all–I was.  I was going to reach out to my friend who lives near Sellersville to see if he wanted to go.  But I didn’t because we were going to be driving my daughter to college.  And then he contacted me to see if I wanted to go!  I was bummed to say no.

When I first looked at the setlist I was afraid it was exactly the same as the last few times (it always seems to start the same).  But they changed things up quite a bit in the back end of the set which makes me really hope they come back again soon.  I don’t know if dUg can still hit the notes, but it would be fun to see them once more.

Lady White Rat is a crushing hard rock power trio based out of the Lehigh Valley PA region. With captivating song writing, melodic harmonies, and a dynamic range of sounds varying from metal to jazz, Lady White Rat’s music offers a sense of familiarity while incorporating a fresh unique sound uncommon in the scene. With emphasis on the live experience, Lady White Rat performs high energy chaotic live shows with the ability to command a crowd and make your head bang for the entirety of their set.

I listened to a song (from the show) and they were good.  Heavy with good harmonies. Continue Reading »

Posted in King's X, Lady White Rat, Sellersville Theater, Sellersville, PA | Leave a Comment »

Citizen / Hotline TNT / Anxious / Rocket (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, August 29, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

August 29, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: August 29, 2026] Citizen / Hotline TNT / Anxious / Rocket

What’s a person to do when there’s a four-band bill and you like 2 of the bands but neither is headlining?

I’m always intrigued when I’ve never heard of a band who is headlining a tour.  Particularly if there are other bands on the bill that I know and like.  So how have I never heard of Citizen?  They’ve been around since 2009 and have come through Philly several times. Their 2023 album Calling the Dogs is considered essential listening.  Their bio says

With the ability to excel in both quiet ballads and distorted rock anthems, Citizen (which recently expanded to a full quintet with the addition of former touring members drummer Ben Russin and guitarist Mason Mercer) has an incredible knack for channeling raw emotion and energy into singalong songs.

A brief listen confirms the singalong part for sure.  I like them, they’re quite fun, although they’re not especially memorable. This probably would have been a worthwhile night to check out, although we were leaving for Minnesota the following day so that was unlikely.

Hotline TNT plays what I can only describe as classic shoegaze, which is definitely having a moment again.  Unlike a lot of their contemporaries, they don’t really mess with the classic shoegaze vibe all that much–not adding elements at all.  Their music warms my heart and I’d love to see them live.  This is the seventh time I’ve missed them since 2022.

Anxious are an emo band from Connecticut,  They play some lighter stuff, but seem to have a heavier punk edge as well.  They have old school punk singing from time to time–sometimes in background behind some much gentler singing.  But it’s mostly poppy punk stuff.   Pretty fun/

I Saw Rocket open for Ride and then saw them ona headline tour at Warehouse on Watts.  They are great.  I’m surprised they were so low on this bill.  This Rocket (there are several bands named Rocket) is from LA and holy cow, they scratched just about every musical itch I had.  Soft female vocals, shoegaze to heavy crunchy guitars.  It was all there.  I loved every second of their set.

Posted in Anxious, Citizen, Hotline TNT, Philadelphia, PA, Rocket, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Anthony Green / Maps + Atlases / Keith Goodwin (Williams Center Black Box, Rutherford, NJ, August 29, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

August 29, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: August 29, 2026] Anthony Green / Maps + Atlases / Keith Goodwin

I found out about this show a couple of days before it happened and there was no chance I was going to go.  It was also the first time I’d heard of the Williams Center/Black Box.   Okay, that’s not exactly true, I grabbed tickets to the Gully Boys/Pollyanna show in October, when I checked out the venue website for the first time, I saw this show.

As for the Williams Center, I don’t really know that much about it.  There is a cinema.  But I was surprised to see the variety of musicians playing here–Built to Spill (!?).  Evidently it has a capacity of 642.  There also appears to be a bigger venue capacity 2,200 but not that many shows listed for it.

I have seen Anthony Green play with L.S. Dunes.  I was very interested in this show but there was just no way to make it.

So I’m going to leave it up to Sadgrlmtl to summarize what she saw in Massachusetts

Keith Goodwin, who I found out has been a long-time collaborator from his High and Driving days, came on. He was joined by Dave Davison on guitar. Anthony joined for the final song.

My two cents: I haven’t heard of him but he is apparently long time friends with Anthony.  He has been in a few bands (Good Old War most notably) and shows up with Anthony a lot–he might even be in Circa Survive for this upcoming tour.

Maps + Atlases came on with Dave back as the main singer. I had not listened to the band beforehand, but they are labeled as math rock which explains the very strange riff choices by all instruments – especially the drums which had 1 cymbal and 4 toms on top of the regular hi-hat, snare and kick combo which threw me off and made me super curious as to what he was gonna do with the mini toms. These were unfortunately not mic’d very well, so I couldn’t hear them. Overall, very interesting openers.

My two cents: I have heard of Maps + Atlases (or Maps & Atlases if you prefer), but I don’t know much about them. They seem to have 4 albums out with their 2010 album Perch Patchwork being remastered this year.  Pitchfork says their early releases were classic math-rock, typified by busy guitar lines borrowed from 90s bands like Don Caballero. Maps & Atlases are far from the only band from Chicago to use that sound as a starting point, but they’re one of the few to try and move it forward and successfully translate it into pop songs.  I probably would have liked them back in the day, although I’m not sold on his voice.

Anthony Green comes on with a massive band including one trumpeter so quiet he needed a mic (!) otherwise, he would be drowned out by the 4 guitars (who needs 4 rhythm guitars?). It was a show of pure excess as Mr. Green performed songs from all of his bands (Circa Survive, L.S. Dunes, Saosin and Sounds of Animals Fighting) all while drinking what looked like piss but was apple juice. At some point, I realized all of his openers were in his band and that Dave had literally been performing the entire evening – what a champ. At some point, they even play musical chair and the trumpeter goes to the drums, the drummer goes to the keyboard and the keyboardist goes to the trumpet (WHAT?). What a polyvalent group that genuinely loves music. Mr. Green sang as if it was his last show which is funny considering how his bandmates played very politely all while staring at him as if thinking “that’s just Anthony being Anthony”. He also sporadically made jokes.

My two cents: The dude is intense.  I wish I’d seen Sounds of Animals Fighting when the played Union Transfer and I wanted to see Circa Survive next month, but all three shows sold out in a second.  But he’s clearly always making music so I’m sure I’ll see him again.

 

  1. Acoustic VIP
  2. Holding Someone’s Hair Back (Circa Survive song)
  3. Like Magick (L.S. Dunes song)
    Show
  4. So It Goes
  5. I Don’t Want to Die Tonight
  6. Babygirl
  7. She Loves Me So
  8. You’ll Be Fine
  9. Trading Doses
  10. East Coast Winters
  11. Pets (Porno for Pyros cover)
  12. Seven Years (Saosin song)
  13. Strange Terrain (Circa Survive song)
  14. Act Appalled (Circa Survive song)
  15. Reconcile
  16. Don’t Dance
  17. Dear Child (I’ve Been Dying to Reach You) / Like Magick / Fucks Me Up

    Encore:

  18. Get Out (Circa Survive song)
  19. This Song Won’t Save You

Posted in Anthony Green, Circa Survive, Keith Goodwin, L.S. Dunes, Maps & Atlases, Maps + Atlases, Rutherford NJ, Saosin, Set in New Jersey!, The Sound of Animals Fighting | Leave a Comment »

Swervedriver (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, August 27, 2026)

August 28, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: August 27, 2026] Swervedriver

I saw Swervedriver back in 2019 and I was really excited to finally see them.  I was especially excited that they played the one song I wanted to hear (the rest was great, too).

So here it was seven years later (insane) and they were playing their debut in full.  This album was in such heavy rotation when it came out.  I loved their propulsive shoegaze as well as Adam Franklin’s voice.

Swervedriver has had a lot of members over the years, but the two guitarists (Franklin and rhythm guitarist Jimmy Hartridge) have been there the whole time.  Last time I recognized the bassist (their third) and it was still him–Mick Quinn from Supergrass! (he’s been with them since 2016).  Like last time, the drummer (their fourth) was Mikey Jones–he’s been with them since 2011 and man was he good–pounding the hell out of the kit–I never realized how many fills Swervedriver songs have.

The theme from Twin Peaks began and by the time it wrapped up, the guys came out on stage.  I haven’t listened to Raise in a while, but as soon as the opening notes of Sci-Flyer came out, the whole record came flooding back.  And it sounded great.  I loved watching Franklin easily play the recognizable riffs.  Obviously they played the album in order, so Pile Up was next and it was cool watching them generate the album sounds live–the way the guitars almost seem to fade away during the verses.

Son of Mustang Ford is the song I really wanted to hear last time and they played it next.  I was super psyched to hear it again.  Frankly, they could have played it for five more minutes and I would have been happy.

Things slowed down for Deep Seat, and I appreciated the quiet guitar and prominent bass–I should have watched Quinn more but I was so focused on the guitars. Continue Reading »

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Slow Fiction, Swervedriver, Underground Arts | Leave a Comment »

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