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Bruce McCullough: Takes of Bravery and Stupidity (City Winery Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, January 18, 2025)

January 19, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: January 18, 2025] Bruce McCullough

I went to City Winery last year to see Scott Thompson and said I’d never go back because it’s a pain in the ass to get to.  But then Bruce McCullough announced a show there and I relented.  It was also right around our anniversary so we made it a night of delicious food and dark comedy.

Now that I know about the Convention Center parking I’m less opposed to the area in general.  But we spent 30 minutes looking for a parking space as hundreds of people were walking around and driving around doing the same thing.  But we found the parking lot and managed to get to our seat about 30 minutes before the show.

We had duck tacos and rice balls and french fries and the food was really yummy.

Brucio came out just as we were finishing our food and he danced around while some music played and he started the show with a series of actual jokes.  They were dark and funny one-liners and then it settled into him telling some stories.  Never go up to a blind man with rippled chips and say “here, read this.”

There was a running joke that the last time he was in Pennsylvania, he was in Scranton (the meth and muffler capital of the state) and the reviewer panned the show and said it had a narrative that not even Frank Zappa could understand.  There’s no record of him having played Scranton, but the joke is great (and is exactly the kind of weird review someone in Scranton or the like would say).  The article also included a pie chart of The Kids in the Hall and Bruce was the dark purple one. Continue Reading »

Posted in Bruce McCullough, City Winery Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, The Kids in the Hall | Leave a Comment »

Kurt Vile (solo acoustic) / Mike Polizze (solo acoustic) (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, January 18, 2025) early and late shows [DID NOT ATTEND]

January 18, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: January 18, 2025] Kurt Vile / Mike Polizze

I asked my wife if she wanted to see Kurt Vile (whom she loves) but we kind of both felt that we didn’t really want to see him play solo acoustic.  And that’s fine.  We had seen him not too long ago, and honestly I enjoyed his electric sound a lot more.

And then it sold out in a minute anyhow.  Later I managed to get tickets for Bruce McCullough on the same night.  But I hadn’t realized that they’d announced an early show (5:30) that night as well.  We could possibly have done both!

Mike Polizze is the main guy behind Purling Hiss, a band I’ve seen once and really liked.  I don’t think I even knew that he was an opening act for this show until I started to write this. Continue Reading »

Posted in Johnny Brenda's, Kurt Vile, Mike Polizze, Philadelphia, PA, Purling Hiss | Leave a Comment »

Zeta (Foto Club, Philadelphia, PA, January 16, 2025)

January 18, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: January 16, 2025] Zeta

I saw Zeta open for Sparta in 2023 and I as blown away by them.  I knew I’d want to see them again and since my son was home, I dragged him along to see a band he’d never heard of.

Before the first band came on, Zeta was setting up the merch and we had a long chat with drummer Chino Sandoval, who was super friendly and excited to show off the new merch.

We waited on the main floor for Zeta to come on, but when I looked to see what was happening, there was a massive wall of tall people standing in front of the stage already!  (including Bear from mannequin Pussy and GG from Soul Glo!).

It sucked that I couldn’t see them very well, but the sound was great.

Unlike the two previous bands, all four members crowded onto the little stage.

Zeta opened the song with two songs from their fantastic album Because I don’t speak great Spanish and couldn’t really hear the words that well, I assumed they played the whole record (which is about 20 minutes long). Continue Reading »

Posted in Foto Club, Lobby Boxer, Philadelphia, PA, Skullpresser, Zeta | Leave a Comment »

Lobby Boxer (Foto Club, Philadelphia, PA, January 16, 2025) [ZETA]

January 17, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: January 16, 2025] Zeta

I had never heard of Lobby Boxer (which is now one of my favorite band names to say) and I was surprised to find that they’d been around for ten years.

Like for Skullpresser, lead singer and amazing guitarist Zach Fendelman was in the floor with us, while the rest of the band was a few feet back on the “stage” (which may be elevated a couple of inches, if that).

The band was originally a trio with drummer Max Sandza and bassist Andrew Gurney (who is not afraid to play some cool basslines).  In 2020, they added second guitarist Jack Catalanotto who also plays wicked guitar lines.

As they opened, Fendelman played a quiet guitar while Catalanotto played a lead.  Fendelman sang quietly but after about a minute, the band blasted off and Fendelman sang in a great soaring emo style.  This was when I noticed that Gurney’s bass wasn’t simply following the chord pattern (which I love).  But after about two minutes the song took a kind of metal twist (Fendelman and Sandza’s first band was a metal band) and then switched back to the way the song started–but it ended with some serious guitar solo shredding.

So, in one song they threw in several different styles.  And they kept it up throughout the night–mixing all kinds of styles into one song, all held together by Fendelman’s excellent voice. Continue Reading »

Posted in Foto Club, Lobby Boxer, Philadelphia, PA, Skullpresser, Zeta | Leave a Comment »

The Vaccines / Thus Love (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, January 16, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

January 16, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: January 16, 2025] The Vaccines / Thus Love

When this show was announced, I thought it would be a great first show of the year for me and the kids.

A couple of summers ago, my son listened to one of The Vaccines’ records almost constantly.  And My daughter and I saw Thus Love open for Crawlers back in 2022.  We really liked them and they were super friendly.

But it turns out my son only liked the one album by The Vaccines (their debut) and didn’t care for the rest.  I’m still amazed that I’d never heard of them (they had like six singles from the debut album).  And my daughter wasn’t really interested in going either. Continue Reading »

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, The Vaccines, Thus Love, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Skullpresser (Foto Club, Philadelphia, PA, January 16, 2025) [ZETA]

January 16, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: January 16, 2025] Skullpresser

Skullpresser was a later addition to this show.  For the longest time it was TBA.  When they were listed I had to look them up and was pretty surprised to see that they are a Philly supergroup of sorts with each of the members in other bands.  The one I knew the best was Colins “Bear” Regisford from Mannequin Pussy on bass.  Another famous name is The Wonder Years‘ Mike Kennedy on drums (I know they are quite big but I actually don’t know them at all).  I’d never heard of the other two bands involved.  One Dead Three Wounded‘s Sam Tropio is on guitar and Burdens is represented by Jared Birdseye on lead vocals and Dan Zimmerman on guitar.

I had also never been to Foto Club before and I’ll say that it might be my favorite small club in Philly!  The venue is cool and weird (a private club–whatever that means) with free pool tables and the venue upstairs.  It holds about 200 people and the floor is lit by LED lights.

When Skullpresser started, Jared Birdseye was on the floor with us.

They were tight and heavy (kind of a metal/hardcore blend). I couldn’t understand too many of the words, but the titles made the meaning obvious. Continue Reading »

Posted in Foto Club, Lobby Boxer, Mannequin Pussy, Philadelphia, PA, Skullpresser, The Wonder Years, Zeta | Leave a Comment »

Geordie Greep / NNAMDÏ (First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA, January 14, 2025) AND (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, January 16 & 17, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

January 14, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: January 14, 16 & 17, 2025] Geordie Greep / NNAMDÏ

Geordie Greep is one of the vocalists in Black Midi.  He’s a fascinating dude with a fascinating voice.  When I saw that he was doing a solo tour, I was really intrigued.

But when I went to the Johnny Brenda’s site, both night were long sold out.

Sometime later he added another date, but this one was at the Church, so I knew I wouldn’t be going to the show.

I’m not too heartbroken about it, but it would have been interesting to be sure

i saw NNAMDÏ open for Wilco four years ago and I loved their set.  I wrote

I felt like he was digging into prog-rock territory and yet I guess it would be more accurately labelled as jazz with rapid time changes, incredibly fast parts and wicked jamming.   And yet the roots of most of his songs were a kind of pop/R&B vibe.

This is a solid double bill, with three shows I couldn’t make.

Posted in Black Midi, First Unitarian Church, Geordie Greep, Johnny Brenda's, NNAMDÏ, Philadelphia, PA | Leave a Comment »

Speedy Ortiz / The Tisburys / Big Benny Bailey (World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA, January 11, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

January 11, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: January 11, 2025] Speedy Ortiz / The Tisburys / Big Benny Bailey

I saw Speedy Ortiz as a headliner in July and as an opener in September.  I really didn’t expect to see that they were playing Philly again so soon.

I didn’t really feel the need to see them again so soon, and I was kind of enjoying not going to shows for the beginning of January.  So I stayed away from this one.

The Tisburys are a Philly band who I have just recently come to know (although I see they’ve been around for ten years).  They are described as early aughts-leaning pop/rock while keeping that indescribable Philly grit.  They played XPNFest which is probably why their name was familiar to me.  They have a folk rock vibe but their music isn’t folk rock.

I assumed that Big Benny Bailey was jazz band, but it turns out Big Benny Bailey is the country project of Shamir and Ben Pierce of Folkadelphia.  Which is a pretty fascinating mix.  Why is everyone going country these days?

 

Posted in Big Benny Bailey, Philadelphia, PA, Speedy Ortiz, The Tisburys, World Cafe Live | Leave a Comment »

Stinking Lizaveta / Darsombra / Eye Flys (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, January 4, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

January 4, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: January 4, 2025] Stinking Lizaveta / Darsombra / Eye Flys

For reasons I don’t entirely remember, I’ve added Stinking Lizaveta to the list of bands that I’d like to see.

I think what inspired me to check them out is that they are an instrumental band who play complex music.

And this is the third or fourth time that I am not seeing them.  The main reason for this is because I rather enjoyed not going to shows for a while.  And I didn’t want my first show of the year to be a band that I didn’t really know all that much about.

But I would like to see them some day.

Continue Reading »

Posted in Darsombra, Eye Flys, Milkboy, Philadelphia, PA, Stinking Lizaveta | Leave a Comment »

Phish (Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY, December 28-31, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

December 28, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 28-31, 2024] Phish

Last year I took my family to Phish on New Year’s Eve and we had a great time.  The show was fun and being in New York City after midnight was a hoot.

I have gone to at least one show of their New Year’s run for the past few years, but this year I just didn’t feel like it.

Getting to the City is a pain and I was looking forward to relaxing and having no late nights for a while.

So, even though there’s probably going to be an amazing New Year’s spectacle planned, after seeing Gamehendge last year (my 17th Phish show), I ‘m taking some time off.

 

Posted in Madison Square Garden, New York City, Phish | Leave a Comment »

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