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The Breeders / Sean Solomon (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, June 26, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

June 26, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 26, 2026] The Breeders / Sean Solomon

This was a show I was interested in as soon as it was announced.  I really liked The Breeders when they came out–Last Splash was lie a revelation to me.  But over the years I lost interest in them for one reason or another.  However, I had just seen Belly for the first time and while I liked Belly, I’m pretty sure I enjoyed The Breeders more.  But there was something about this show that I just couldn’t commit to.  Was it because they were playing The Fillmore (Belly was at Underground Arts)? Maybe.  Was it because I hadn’t listened to any of their new music?  I don’t know.

I mean, I love Kim Deal, and I’m bummed I didn’t get to see her with the reunited Pixies, but still…

I think it was because I was really invested in seeing Weird Nightmare that evening.  And that show was weird and fun, so I don’t really feel like I missed out all that much.

Turns out they play most of Last Splash and half of Pod, so they knew what people wanted.

How does one get to be the opener for a classic alt rock band?  No idea.  Who the heck is Sean Solomon?  How did the Breeders find him?

Solomon is a musician and animator from the San Fernando Valley.  His music moves seamlessly moves from bare-bones acoustic guitar to a Neutral Milk Hotel-esque cacophony of marching drums and horn blasts.  Solomon was in a band called Moaning who put out two albums on Sub Pop, so he’s not an unknown newbie (except to me).  I found his stuff kind of interesting, but it didn’t make me want to see this show instead of Weird Nightmare.

 

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Sean Solomon, The Breeders, The Fillmore Philadelphia | Leave a Comment »

Golden Apples (Ortlieb’s, Philadelphia, PA, June 26, 2026) [WEIRD NIGHTMARE]

June 26, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: June 26, 2026] Golden Apples

I had not heard of Golden Apples before this show and yet I recognized one of the songs on new the album when I listened to it.

Golden Apples is the output of Russell Edling.  The blurb on bandcamp says his partner Mimi Gallagher is a bandmate (I’m amusing she played guitar and sang as well).  There was also a bassist, keyboardist and a drummer who I know I’ve seen with another band, but I never got her name.

I got to Northern Liberties 30 minutes early but didn’t find parking until 5 of.  I speed walked to the venue and walked in just as the band hit their first note.  Ortlieb’s can hold about 75 people, and it wasn’t crowded when I first walked in, so I had a great view of the band.

The songs were simple and catchy with the two guitars playing off of each other.  The bass sounded great in the room, by the way.

I enjoyed the simple but catchy guitar riff of followed by the totally rocking High School. During this song, Russell stepped off the stage (it’s about 6 inches high) and played his solo among the crowd (which was empty up front). Continue Reading »

Posted in Golden Apples, Metz, Ortlieb's, Philadelphia, PA, Weird Nightmare | Leave a Comment »

Spoon (The Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, June 24, 2026)

June 25, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: June 24, 2026] Spoon 

This was my fourth time seeing Spoon, a band I’ve never been a huge fan of.  That sounds worse than I mean.  I’ve liked them for years and I like many many of their songs, they were just not one of the bands that I got really into.  And yet, I will see them all the time when they play because their live show is so good.

I can’t believe it’s been four years since they last came to Philly.  That time, they cancelled and rescheduled a concert in 19 days (and even had new T-shirts printed with the new dates!).

My wife came along with me for The Beths (which she loved) and was indifferent to Spoon.  She had seen them with me at the PNC Bank Center in Holmdel when they opened for Beck seven years ago.  I told her that they would be better and more fun in this setting and she agreed they were (at PNC they played when it was still light out).

Spoon was headlining, but they still played a shortened set.

I assumed that this tour was an opportunity to play the two new songs that they’d released not too long ago (and which WXPN loves).  But amazingly, they didn’t play either one!

Chateau Blues and Guess I’m Fallin In Love are great songs and would have been so much fun to hear live.  But instead, they opened with a song from their debut album, one I hadn’t heard yet.  If I thought The Beths’ crowd was excited, they had nothing on the Spoon fans, who went crazy for this old song.

We were nearest to Alex Fischel, who is so much fun to watch.  So much so, that singer Britt Daniel spends a lot of time watching him too.  It’s odd that Britt introduced Alex and drummer Jim Eno but not bassist Ben Trokan or multi-player Gerardo Larios.

I told my wife that she’d know a few of the songs because they do get a bit of airplay.  She knew (and really enjoyed) The Hardest Cut.

Spoon songs soun distinctly Spoon so even if you don’t know a song you’ll feel comfortable with it.   But my wife recognized I Turn My Camera On.  And I was psyched to hear My Mathematical Mind and The Way We Get By (the woman behind me–who screamed a lot–was also happy to hear that one and sang along for a bit, but not too much, thankfully).

Then they played two songs I hadn’t seen them play before–2 deep cuts from their second album.  They followed that with the amazing The Underdog.  Such a fun song.  It’s got horns on the record but the live version doesn’t miss them.

Britt is a really fun frontman–he points and smiles at people, he really engages with the audience.  I’ve no idea if he’s a nice guy or a cocky jerk, but he definitely enjoys himself on stage.  It’s pretty amazing that this is my fourth time seeing them and they played five (older) songs that I hadn’t seen them play before. And one brand new song Lose Control that hasn’t been released as a single yet. Continue Reading »

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Spoon, Squirrel Flower, The Beths, The Fillmore Philadelphia | Leave a Comment »

Comedy Bang! Bang! : Ground Beefing Tour (Miller Theater, Kimmel Cultural Campus, Philadelphia, PA, June 25, 2026)

June 25, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: June 25, 2026] Comedy Bang! Bang!

I enjoyed Comedy Bang! Bang! when it was on TV (2012-2016).  I know I didn’t see all of the episodes.  I mostly saw the ones with Reggie Watts (and a few with Weird Al).  I didn’t know it was a podcast because I don’t really listen to podcasts.  But I was shocked to find out that it had been a podcast since 2009–I didn’t even think podcasts existed for that long.

Since I didn’t know this had been a podcast, I genuinely didn’t know what to expect at this show.  I knew Paul F. Tompkins would be there (which is 90% of why I wanted to go).  And when we were talking to someone before the show, he told us it was a live taping of the podcast with special guests.  I assumed that the special guests would be local comedians–completely forgetting that the show is a parody of talk shows.

And so, we were given a sibling, a theater critic and a foreign exchange student as the guests.

But first was the balcony report.  (which had the audience going crazy chanting TBR!  It was then that we realized that people there knew this show way better than we did.

So I had gotten us seats in the middle.  But they were tight and crowded, so we snuck to the back where there were comfy open seats–note to self if you eve go back to the Miller, unless you need a close up of the stage, choose the back couple of rows.  And this way we kind of felt like the outsiders we were. Continue Reading »

Posted in Comedy Bang! Bang!, Erin Keif, Funny (ha ha), Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Miller Theater, Paul F. Tompkins, Philadelphia, PA, Scott Aukerman, Will Hines | Leave a Comment »

Lip Critic / Flatwounds / Bejalvin (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, June 24, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

June 24, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 24, 2026] Lip Critic / Flatwounds / Bejalvin

I saw Lip Critic last year and the blew me away.  I’d never want to listen to their records, but live, they were incredible.  Noisy and chaotic with two drummers and a guy who plays keys/samples/something.  And a singer who commands the room.  I definitely wanted to see them again, but I put off getting tickets to this show for a while. I jad so much going on this week that something had to give and this was it.  It eventually sold out, so at least I didn’t have to feel like I should have tried to go.   Plus they were opening for Mannequin Pussy in a few months, so I’d get to see them again, at least.

Flatwounds are from Albany.  They combine a kind of hardcore vibe with some 90s grunge sounds.   New York hardcore bounce[like Helmet] with a dark, grunge-flavoured vibe [like Alice in Chains–the vocals are similar with a touch of Stone Temple Pilots].  Their sound has morphed over a few EPs–never going too far from what they do, but exploring different nooks of the stuff they reference.  I dig it.

Bejalvinare a weird hyperpop band (like 1000 Gecs, I suppose) who describe themselves as straightedge electronic fight music.  The vocals are largely growled and the music is mostly glitchy chiptune. It’s the kind of “music” that annoys a lot of people, but which I find intriguing and would enjoy seeing how they do it live.  They seem like a perfect fit for Lip Critic, tbh.

I suspect that this show was a wild night of chaos.

Posted in Bejalvin, Flatwounds, Lip Critic, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA | Leave a Comment »

The Beths (The Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, June 23, 2026) [SPOON]

June 24, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: June 23, 2026] The Beths

I love The Beths and I’m thrilled that my wife does too.  This was her third (my fourth) time seeing them.  And the previous time was only six months ago (do they ever go back to New Zealand?)

This was a double headline show, which I tend to think sucks for everyone.  The bands don’t play a full 90 minutes (or more) and the fans don’t get a full show from either of the bands that they like.  But sometimes it works out okay.  We were hoping the show wouldn;t run too late as we were both pretty tired.  So, the fact that Spoon kept it pretty short was ok.

But honestly we would have loved a bit more of The Beths!

After Squirrel Flower, we moved up fairly close to the stage.  Then a nice tall man (from Matawan) told us to go in front of him. Which was so thoughtful.  Although if he did that for everyone, he’s be in the back row.

The couple in front of us was interesting.  She was a huge Beths fan and he…stood sideways for the whole show.  He faced he partner.  I looked at his shoes and indeed they were pointing to the side.  And he turned his neck for the entire show to see the band.  Why would anyone do that?

The tall guy next to me was totally into it, drumming along, make hand motions and singing (quietly) everything.  This was a pretty dedicated fan base–surely everyone there saw them in December too.

Because they weren’t full headlining, they kept things relatively tightly paced.  The show started like the last one with the fantastic Straight Line was a Lie which got everyone bouncing.  They followed it with the really fun No Joy which is especially fun because at two points song the song, Jonathan Pearce on guitar and Benjamin Sinclair on bass stomp on a little stomp rocket thing and penny whistles fly into the arm which the catch an proceed to play.

It was interesting that they played some songs that they didn’t play six months ago.  Like they played Knees Deep from Expert…  It’s a fun bouncy song (because they all are, right?).  Then they jumped back to Future Me, one of many songs that have wonderful backing vocals from Jonathan, Benjamin and drummer Tristan Deck.

Things shifted gears dramatically when Liz said she was going to sing the next song by herself.  She told us it was about her relationship with her mother, so it was clearly Mother, Pray for Me.  The thing I didn’t know about the song (or her) was that her mother is a devout Catholic Indonesian woman.  Liz was born in Jakarta and moved to Auckland at age four.  That made some of the lyrics even more meaningful.  This song is a surprise because it’s not poppy and punky, it is slow and beautiful.  And I am really surprised that she played it during this shortened set.  It stops all 0f the energy and, thankfully, the crowd is rapt.  It must be a very meaningful song for her to bare herself like this.

When it was over and she thanked everyone for being quiet (except two people who whooped?), Jonathan told us about a club in New Zealand that is right across from their studio and it’s about to close that very night.  They were trying to raise money for it and said that all profits from merch would go to the venue.  But they needed $150,000 by midnight.  And holy shit, they raised it (well, the club did, not The Beths alone–but “Auckland indie band The Beths were one of the almost 3000 donors, sending $9633.38 from the band and “the people of Philadelphia””.)  It was a pretty lengthy chat which meant that they didn’t get to do their usually fun introductory banter.  Although TRistan did give a plug for Ben’s wonderful blog breakfast and travel updates.com.

They touched on their previous album a couple of times with Best Left (not to be confused with Best Laid Plans) with that echoing pulsing guitar intro (some things are best left….to rot).  And then only one song from Jump Rope Gazers (the wonderful title track)–this is why a double headline show isn’t as much fun, only ten songs?

I was delighted that they played Metal, the recently ubiquitous single that is so much fun.  The melancholy Til My Heart Stops was followed by the similarly melancholy (but somehow bouncy and poppy) Little Death.

They ended the set with Expert in a Dying Field, another super fun and catchy song.  I felt that they had enough time to squeeze in the amazing I’m Not Getting Excited (it’s only like 2 minutes long) but they were done (and Ben says they removed all of their gear in 9 minutes).  It was a great set, marred only by the fact that I wished it was 45 minutes longer.

2025 2025 2023 2022
Straight Line Was a Lie ⇒ [2] Straight Line Was a Lie ⇒ Future Me Hates Me ¶ [2] I’m Not Getting Excited Ω
No Joy ⇒ [2]  No Joy ⇒ Knees Deep ⊗ Not Running  ¶
Knees Deep ⊗ [2] Silence is Golden ⊗ [2] Out of Sight Ω [2] Great No One 
Happy Unhappy  ¶ [2] Future Me Hates Me ¶ [3] A Passing Rain ⊗ A Real Thing [new]
Mother, Pray for Me ⇒ [2] Metal ⇒ Not Running ¶ [2] Happy Unhappy 
Best Left ⊗ [2] Til My Heart Stops ⇒ Best Left ⊗ Out of Sight Ω
Jump Rope Gazers Ω [4] Mother, Pray for Me ⇒ Dying to Believe Ω [2] Acrid Ω
Metal ⇒ [2] Your Side ⊗ I Want to Listen ⊗  Jump Rope Gazers Ω
Til My Heart Stops ⇒ [2] Uptown Girl  ¶ [2] Head in the Clouds ⊗ Uptown Girl 
Little Death  ¶ [4] Mosquitoes ⇒ Jump Rope Gazers Ω [2] When You Know You Know ¢/⊗
Expert in a Dying Field ⊗ [3] Ark of the Covenant ⇒ I Told You That I Was Afraid ⊗ Mars, the God of War Ω
Jump Rope Gazers Ω [3] When You Know You Know ⊗ [2] Whatever  ¶
Best Laid Plans ⇒ I’m Not Getting Excited Ω [2] Little Death 
Little Death  ¶ [3] You Wouldn’t Like Me ¶ Future Me Hates Me 
I’m Not Getting Excited Ω [3] Silence is Golden ⊗ River Run: Lvl 1 
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Hugh Martin cover) Expert in a Dying Field ⊗ Dying to Believe Ω
Expert in a Dying Field ⊗ [2] encore
encore You Are a Beam of Light Ω
Roundabout ⇒ [Roundabout replaced Take since roundabouts / traffic circles came up earlier in the show.  First time as closer.] Little Death ¶ [2]

⇒ Straight Line Was a Lie (2025) (played everything from it except Take)
⊗ Expert in a Dying Field (2022)
Ω Jump Rope Gazers (2020)
¶ Future Me Hates Me (2018)
¢ Demos 2014-2020

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Spoon, Squirrel Flower, The Beths, The Fillmore Philadelphia | Leave a Comment »

Ally the Piper / Aurelia Anne Cohen (Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, June 24, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

June 24, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 24, 2026] Ally the Piper / Aurelia Anne Cohen

Ally the Piper is a bagpipe player who plays rock/heavy metal music.  I had seen her in a video playing with heavy metal violinist Mia Asano.  Both of them are very cool and I imagine that their sets are lots of fun.  I seriously thought about this one, but ultimately decided I didn’t care enough.   She does play Crazy Train and her metal bona fides are quite secure.   I just didn’t want to go.

Aurelia Anne Cohen is a folk singer.  Her bio says that she is an original time travelin folk musician and circus freak, found wherever Vaudeville survives.  She has an interesting backstory, but musically, she is pretty much old school Appalachian-style folk.  She’s probably a fun entertainer (I means she was a circus freak after all.   But I wasn’t that interested.

Posted in Ally the Piper, Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, Aurelia Anne Cohen | Leave a Comment »

Squirrel Flower (The Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, June 23, 2026) [SPOON]

June 23, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: June 23, 2026] Squirrel Flower

I saw Squirrel Flower open for Soccer Mommy back in 2021.  At the time I wrote that I found her solo stuff kind of dull, but then she brought a band out for the second half of her set and I liked the songs a lot more.

About mid way through I felt like they sounded like a slightly grungier version of Cowboy Junkies.  It was still a little slow for me but I enjoyed a few songs.

Despite enjoying a couple of songs, I didn’t feel compelled to see her again, especially since she was going on at 7.  So we left a little earlier than I would for an 8PM show and we arrived with Squirrel Flower starting her final song.  It was, like the others, very slow.  Here’s one thing I noted last time:

In an interview, she says that “Hurt a Fly” is her first ever Squirrel Flower song with key changes (!).

I believe it.  She did change her vocal note at some point in the song but it was mostly forgettable.  So I’m glad we didnt stand through 40 minutes of her.

 

Continue Reading »

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Spoon, Squirrel Flower, The Beths, The Fillmore Philadelphia | Leave a Comment »

Black Country, New Road / Horsegirl (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, June 23, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

June 23, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 23, 2026] Black Country, New Road / Horsegirl 

I was vaguely intrigued when Black Country, New Road first came out (NPR music loved them).  And then in 2022, lead vocalist and guitarist Isaac Wood announced his sudden departure from the band four days before the release of Ants From Up There which resulted in the cancelling of the band’s planned first US tour.

I didn’t like the sound of the band with the new singer quite as much so I didn’t go see them when they returned.  I am really surprised they were playing Franklin Music Hall–how did they get so huge?  I’ve listened to their newest album and liked it even less.  So yea, I wasn’t going to this show.

Horsegirl has a super catchy song called Switch Over that I like quite a lot.  They remind me of a few 90s alt rock bands,  there’ssome Stereolab and an Elephant 6 bands vibe, there’s even a Nico feel in the vocals.  Their newer records is a slower and a bit different from their previous record (which they say is their High school record).  I tend to prfer the less mature stuff, so I actually prefer the previous album.  But this one is good too.

They are not to be confused with horsegiirL, a German DJ who wears a horse head mask.

Continue Reading »

Posted in Black Country New Roads, Franklin Music Hall, horsegiirL, Horsegirl, Philadelphia, PA | Leave a Comment »

Ratboys / Shallowater (The Arrow, Allentown, PA, June 22, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

June 22, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 22, 2026] Ratboys / Shallowater

I’ve seen Ratboys three times and have really enjoyed all of their live shows.  I didn’t love this new album as much–it goes too deep into the country angle.  And yet, I know that their live show is great.  But I couldn’t make this show as I had a show the night before and the night after.

Interestingly, they are playing Jersey City in July  as well as a small festival in Philly (but I’m not going to that one).

Shallowater is an interesting band.  I listened to the first song on their album and it was slow and somehow slower.  I was absolutely going to turn it off, but I didn’t and then midsong it got hugely loud and distorted.  Evidently this genre is called slowcore?  They describe their sound as West Texas dirtgaze.  So this first song starts out really slow (like Low) and I did like that it was a full sound, not a bedroom low fi sound. It picked up about 90 seconds in and then after two and a half minutes they all jump on the distortion pedals and the song turns into chaos with a noisy distorted guitar solo for about a minute and then it all drops off again into the quiet acoustic sound once more. I’m definitely intrigued, especially since I hated them when they started–sometimes you have to listen all the way to the end of a song.

The other songs on thei album run to 7 and 8 minutes long.  I may need to dive into them a bit more.  I’m quite fascinated.

I would like to get back to The Arrow again, as it was a nice venue.  But this show wasn’t the one.

Posted in Allentown PA, Archer Music Hall, Ratboys, Shallowater, The Arrow | Leave a Comment »

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