[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.
[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.
[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.
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 »
[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 »
[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.
[DID NOT ATTEND: April 11, 2025] Chase Petra / Small Crush / Sorry Mom
I saw Chase Petra open for Pool Kids and they were great.
Lead singer Hunter Allen’s vocals are fantastic. Loud and powerful with some great subtleties–she puts a lot of emotion into her delivery. Guitarist Genevieve Quiquivix played some great riffs and even put some cool finger tappings between lines of the verses–awesome.
I would have greatly enjoyed seeing them again, but I still wasn’t leaving the house after my wife’s surgery.
Small Crush is from L.A. They write short poppy punky songs that are a ton of fun. More poppy than punky, but with a great DIY vibe. Their bio says the band
began in Logan Hammon’s bedroom when she was 13 years old, writing songs on her dad’s old guitar and recording covers on garageband. In her sophomore year of high school, she found some friends in jazz band class to help fulfill her dream of playing her songs in a full band. Together the band began developing their indie rock sound by getting inspired by 90s alternative and early 2000s indie.
Sorry Mom is a queer punk band from New York City. Their bio is pretty great. It says that they
like to hang out and play music and shoot hoops. they’ve shared the court with the likes of ajj and two members of the front bottoms.
and continues
We’re Juno and Taryn. Juno sings and plays guitar and writes all our songs. Taryn drums and makes websites on Wix. Juno does stick and poke tattoos and loves to cook. Taryn has lots of plants and likes to draw pictures that have frogs in them. If you’ve ever seen a business-y tweet from our band account, that was Taryn.If you’ve ever seen a nonsense, borderline psychotic tweet from the band account, that was Juno. It’s very nice to meet you!
Their songs are fast and sloppy and fun as anything. No doubt very fun live.
[DID NOT ATTEND: April 9, 2025] half•alive / The Walters / Mehro
I first heard of half•alive on a Tiny Desk Concert.
I’ve been interested in seeing the band because their stage show is legendary–they have two guys who basically dance–they choreograph dances for the songs.
I missed them in 2023 when they played TLA. My friend Lindsy is a huge fan and was very excited to go to the show. She got there early and even met the band. But The Fillmore was too big of a venue for me to “check out” this band, so I didn’t go. I know that half alive is pretty dancey in an alt kind of way and I’m sure I’d like them live, but I didn’t feel like going.
The Walters played on a half•alive song so I see the connection. They’re a bit more low-key than half•alive, though. They remind me of AJR (but the less wacky parts). Catchy though.
mehro pronounced “marrow,”
the name mehro encapsulates their goal of seeping into the literal DNA of listeners. “The concept was born from bone marrow: It’s essential for us to live, but we never see it,” recalls mehro.
Woah.
mehro’s rich, multi-layered music has an airy, dreamlike sound that lures the listener in before giving way to the bleak emotions bubbling just below the surface.
I listened to a song and enjoyed the mix of lo-fi bedroom pop and full band screaming choruses. They defied my expectation for sure.
[CANCELLED: April 9, 2025] Transviolet / Annabel Lee / Mixie
I had missed Transviolet when they opened for Mother Mother. But I started following them on Instagram and I found them really interesting. They announced a headlining tour and were going to play The Foundry, which was pretty ideal (although lead singer Sarah McTaggart is really energetic and I wonder how she would have coped with such a small stage).
The show was cancelled inexplicably at the last minute. I posted a question as to why on their Instagram and Sarah wrote back: it rhymes with smive smation
A last minute change allowed Sarah to play a solo show at Ortlieb’s which is pretty awesome. I didn’t know about it though. But as Sarah wrote:
love you philly, sorry we couldn’t play our show as intended, but glad we got to share this special moment together ❤️🩹 special thanks to @ortliebsphilly for coming through and being so kind to let us set up a lil merch pop up for the diehards/fans who flew in to see us
Annabel Lee was one of the openers. I didn’t know them, but their bandcamp bio says
Annabel Lee is a Los Angeles rock and roll artist known for her unhinged stage persona and “high octane” (Earmilk) vocals. Getting her start performing at hardcore shows around New England, Annabel brings that kind of unbridled energy to her shows, where everyone is on the cusp of losing their shit while also bringing senstitivity and tenderness with her heavy, imagistic lyricism.
Mixie is an LA based artist who pushes the boundaries of pop. Her music is pretty poppy but she throws in some interesting twists as well. She seems like she’d be fun live as well.
[DID NOT ATTEND: April 8, 2025] FACS / Jeff Ziegler / Long Spells
I saw FACS back in 2019. They opened for Explosions in the Sky and they were intense and wonderful. They were 3/4 of the now defunct band Disappears. I would have really enjoyed seeing them again, to experience their noise and cathartic sounds. But there were THREE other shows I could have gone to that night and they were all slightly more interesting to me.
Ultimately, I stayed home because my wife had just had surgery. According to the video below they only played for 45 minutes.
Jeff Ziegler is a Philadelphia based music producer who makes abstract electronic music. The video below makes it seem reasonably interesting.
The blurb on the video below says:
Live synth set from producer, engineer, and multi-instrumentalist Jeff Zeigler, recorded at Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia. Known for his work with Mary Lattimore, Kurt Vile, The War on Drugs, and his own project Valley Exit, Zeigler builds a shifting landscape of modular textures, analog pulses, and atmospheric loops unfolding in real time. This set moves through evolving drones, drifting melodies, layered sequences, and the subtle unpredictability of live modular electronics. It’s a performance that sits between structure and spontaneity, drawing from the rich, textural side of experimental and ambient music.
Long Spells are a trio from Philly with an amusing quote for their bio
“Long Spells is a musical act comprised of three caucasian males of varying ages that reside in the city of Philadelphia and possess mid socioeconomic statuses. Each member works a job unrelated to music that inconsistently assists with creating a sense of financial stability within their lives. Long Spells is a musical and creative outlet that can help them find stimulation, regulate their mood, and live in a manner congruent with their desire to be true to themselves. The members have many similar musical interests and social/cultural connections that have brought them together over the years. Long Spells enjoy making indie pop/rock that allows for experimentation with sound textures, melodies, and rhythms. Audience members at their shows have been observed nodding their heads and tapping their feet to the music. After performances, some showgoers have been overheard telling the band members, “Hey, great set!” “I really liked the third song.” and “I had a hard time hearing the lyrics.”
From what I heard below I would have really enjoyed them. In fact, the while night sounds like it would have been great.
I Just Read About That... 