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Say She She / Carly Moffa (McLaughlin Norcross Memorial Dell, Haddon Heights, NJ, June 5, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

June 5, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 5, 2024] Say She She / Carly Moffa

My wife has been really enjoying Say She She as of late.  I was a little surprised that they hadn’t done a show in Philly in a little while and then it was announced that they were playing the Summer Concert Series in Camden County. I had been to this location once two years ago and really liked it.

I thought we would both enjoy going to this delightful outdoor setting to enjoy some gorgeous harmonies.  We even both took off work the day after (for unrelated reasons).  But then it decided to rain.  A lot.  We weren’t sure of the show was going on (there are no tickets, so no way to let anyone know what was going on).  We decided not to risk it, so we stayed home.

I found out later that the show had been moved to the Scottish Rite Auditorium in Collingswood. I don’t know anything about that venue and probably wouldn’t have wanted to go there, so I don’t feel bad that we stayed home. Continue Reading »

Posted in Carly Moffa, Collingswood NJ, Haddon Heights, NJ, McLaughlin Norcross Memorial Dell, Philadelphia, PA, Say She She, Scottish Rite Auditorium, Summer Concert Series | Leave a Comment »

Sir Chloe (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, June 2, 2024)

June 3, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: June 2, 2024] Sir Chloe 

My daughter was excite to see Sir Chloe.  We saw them back in April.  I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to go for various reasons, so I snagged a ticket to this leg of the tour just in case.

She actually didn’t love the April show as much as I did, and I wasn’t sure if she’d want to go, but she did.  And we’re both glad we went.

Because she was on crutches, and I had my cane, they put is in a handicapped spot which was next to the sound board and roped off from everyone else, but still plenty close to the action.

Last time, there were people talking a lot through the set.  This happened tonight as well–a group of guys mostly standing at the back (in front of our area) and just ignoring everything.  Fortunately, since they were in front of us, we couldn’t really hear them, they were just annoying.

I felt like Sir Chloe were more into this show than the Philly show.  Or maybe it was just easier to focus on this show (the Foundry show had a lot of distractions).  I swore that they played more songs for us than in Philly, but that was not true.  The one nice feature of  the show though was it was Asbury Park’s Pride Day, and the band made a special point of talking about it and how they were honored to be playing that evening.

So the setlist was the same, but perhaps it’s because I knew the show , that I enjoyed it more?

Like last time, when she came out, she had an oddly disaffected appearance.  She seemed quite aloof, but i am certain this time it was part of the act, because between songs she was very friendly.

I really enjoyed her new album quite a lot.  The songs are a bit more dramatic and push the envelope from the first album a little bit.  Songs like “Salivate” and “Hooves” are weird and intense, with loud guitars.

The earlier songs, though are also pretty cool.  “July” is a little more delicate on the edges, but with a nice fuzzy sound and Sir Chloe’s poppy vocal style.  “Animal” is a pretty dark song (her delivery is great) and it plays with the loud/soft vibe really well.

I realize that Sir Chloe is more or less a TikTok creation and so her audience is pretty young, but I think she could easily bust out of that pigeonhole.  In fact the audience was pretty varied.

The end of the set was when she played the big crowd pleasers.  I really really liked “Sedona.”  Her delivery is deadpan, but really catchy.  She followed that with “Michelle” the massive hit that was the only song I knew.  The crowd went nuts and the song was really fun (Michelle, you are a monster from hell).

Turs out that even though that is her big hit–the one that made her famous, I don’t like it nearly as much as her other songs.

I was surprised that that wasn’t the final song, but I guess it was more fun to end on the far more dancey “Feel Again.”

“Easy on You” was a fast tempo rocker from her first album.  Then she busted out an unreleased song (in the old days, I feel like the encore was meant for real crowd pleasers, but it seems like more and more it’s now the place to throw in one more brand new song).  It’s got a catchy, bratty “aha aha” that really sticks with you.

Then she ended with “Too Close.”  Which is her third biggest hit (according to Spotify) and the crowd was suitably excited to hear it.  Everyone enjoyed singing “I think it’s time for you to go.”

My daughter knew two people at the show (one she knew was there, the other was a surprise) so that was fun too.

And, like last time, the show was fairly short (75 minutes) which meant we got home fairly early, too!  I don’t know if I/we will see her again any time soon, but I’m very curious what the next record will be like.

 

Asbury Lanes, June 2024 The Foundry, April 2024
Should I Õ Should I Õ
Salivate Õ Salivate Õ
Center Õ Center Õ
Know Better Õ Know Better Õ
Mercy ∇ Mercy ∇
July ¶ July ¶
Untie You ¶ Untie You ¶
Animal ¶ Animal ¶
Company ∇ Company ∇
Hooves Õ Hooves Õ
Seventeen π Seventeen π
Obsession Õ Obsession Õ
Over Again π Over Again π
I Am the Dog Õ I Am the Dog Õ
Sedona ¶ Sedona ¶
Michelle ¶ Michelle ¶
Feel Again Õ Feel Again Õ
encore encore
Easy on You ¶ Easy on You ¶
Forgiving [new] Forgiving [new]
Too Close ¶ Too Close ¶

π Single (2024)
Õ I am the Dog (2023)
∇ Single (2022)
¶ Party Favors (2020)

 

Posted in Deux Visages, Philadelphia, PA, Sir Chloe, The Foundry | Leave a Comment »

Deux Visages (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, June 2, 2024) [SIR CHLOE]

June 2, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: June 2, 2024] Deux Visages

I hadn’t heard of Deux Visages when they were scheduled to open for Sir Chloe.  They are from Miami and at the time of the show had only released three singles!

Since then they have released an EP from which most of the songs that night came. The band is a four piece fronted by Daphney Homono.  The rest of the band includes Antoine Lappin on drums, Jack Chiu on guitar, and Tony Jouvin on bass.

They play a really enjoyable mic of shoegaze, garage, and surf rock with a healthy dose of fuzz.  There’s some diversity within the style with Excuses being a bit heavier with chanted moments.  And Go Away has short verse lines that lead to a big fluid chorus.

Their first single Cheetah (the second song they played) is a killer tune–super catchy and fun. Continue Reading »

Posted in Deux Visages, Philadelphia, PA, Sir Chloe, The Foundry | Leave a Comment »

Broke Body / Grace Vonderkuhn / Spirit Weak / Whose Hands Are These? (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, June 1, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

June 1, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 1, 2024] Broke Body / Grace Vonderkuhn / Spirit Weak / Whose Hands Are These?

I continue to try to see see Grace Vonderkuhn.  I’ve seen them once, and they do play around here a lot, but it just never seems to work out for me.  Ideally I’d like to see them headline (which they never seem to do).  Although this show seemed very promising, it fell at an awkward time for me (Saturday nights are hard for me to want to go out on after being home all day).  But the lineup was interesting.

Broke Body is from Philly.

A slow-burning force on the Philly rock scene, Broke Body is gearing up to release its next batch of new music.  The Paranoid Particles EP last September made for a solid project-length introduction to Broke Body via a punchy set of five post-punk infused atmospheric rockers. But the stage is where the band has truly shone in the time since, and this power trio — singer-guitarist Jackie McLaughlin, bassist Davey Jones, drummer Nolee Morris — has shaped its sound into something as bracing as it is body-moving.

I really love the bass work on their songs–playing some lead parts over the guitar chords.  And the drummer is tight and up for sharp tempo changes.  The vocals/guitars are also quite good.

Grace Vonderkuhn is simply great and as I say I can’t wait to see them again

Spirit Weak is from Philly.  And their bio is really spot on

If Drug Church, Weezer, and Pup walked into a bar, Spirit Weak would be the punchline! Spirit Weak is a South Philadelphiapunk adjacent band — spearheaded by Mazz Cardone. It was March of 2023 that a full band formed around Spirit Weak, with Chris Bryson on drums, Mike Brein on second guitar, a rotation of friends filling in on bass — and they played their first show on May

I definitely see the PUP influence, although they are not quite as fast, and their vocals have a slightly harsher edge.

Whose Hands are These? are from Lancaster and play driving rock.  Their publicity is a oddly pretentious, but the music rocks.

Now that i’ve written this I probably should have gone.  It seems like a really fun night.

Posted in Broke Body, Grace Vonderkuhn, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, Spirit Weak, Whose Hands Are These? | Leave a Comment »

Camera Obscura / Photo Ops (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 29, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

May 29, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 29, 2024] Camera Obscura

When it was announced that Camera Obscura had released their first album in 11 years and were touring for the U.S. for the first time in longer, I got caught up in the hype.  I didn’t really know them, but felt like I sort of did.  But it turns out I didn’t know them at all.  Then I thought, ooh, their Scottish, I wonder if they are interesting and unusual.

I listened to the new album a few ties and I like it, just not enough to go out a second night in a row.  The same thing happened when they played a song on the radio this morning,  I thought it was pleasant, but when they said it was Camera Obscura, I didn’t think it was anything more than pleasant.

They more or less broke up in 2015 following the death of their keyboardist but reunited to play at a festival headed by Belle & Sebastian.

I really wanted to like them, but nothing i listened to really stuck. Continue Reading »

Posted in Camera Obscura, Philadelphia, PA, Photo Ops, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Francis of Delirium (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, May 28, 2024)

May 29, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: May 28, 2024] Francis of Delirium 

I was supposed to see Francis of Delirium open for The Districts back in 2022, but I wound up taking my son and his friends to see Ice Nine Kills instead.  I didn’t mind missing The Districts because I had seen them just a few months earlier, but I was bummed about missing Francis.

And here they were two years later on a headlining tour.  They had just played Boston Calling but tonight was their first proper show and they were ready for it.

I had also snagged tickets to see Negativland tonight.  A very different experience.  I was torn about which to go to see because I love Negativland’s culture jamming.  But I thought that Francis of Delirium was a better, more fun choice.  And I was so right!

I had listened to FoD’s new album Lighthouse, which is more mellow than their previous couple of EPs.  So I thought the show would be enjoyable but kind of chill.  But WOW, did they rock!  All of the grunge sensibilities of the early EPs were employed on the new songs as well and the whole night was like a perfect callback to the best elements of the best grunge songs, all with a new perspective.

Francis of Delirium is from Luxembourg (main Delirium, Jana Bahrich, was born in Antwerp but lived in Switzerland and Canada before her family settled in Luxembourg.   Her  backing band Denis Schumacher (drums) and Jeff Hennico (bass) are both native to Luxembourg.  I don’t know really anything about Luxembourg, but it seems so exotic.  And apparently being an indie rock band is REALLY exotic in Luxembourg, so they are like the most exotic band around, I guess.

The trio came on stage and Jana played am introductory guitar part using a metal slide–a sound not featured on the record.  But it was just a cool opening intro before she tossed the slide on the ground and they jumped into “Alone Tonight.”

I’m not sure what recent song really make me perk up my ears and find out who wrote such a great song, but I think it was “Blue Tuesday,” which hits all of my buttons for a great song.  Jana joked that it was a Tuesday night, perfect for playing the song.  It sounded even better than on record.

The new album has 11 song and they played 9, also mixing in some from the earlier EPs.  Continue Reading »

Posted in Francis of Delirium, Johnny Brenda's, Julian, Philadelphia, PA | Leave a Comment »

Negativland and Sue-C: Live Performance of We Can Really Feel Like We’re Here / J Lesser (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, May 28, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

May 28, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 28, 2024] Negativland / J Lesser

I saw Negativland in 2000.  I was a big fan of  them in the 1980s and 90s.  So seeing them live was a real trip.  Hearing and seeing The Weatherman in person was something I never thought I’d be able to do.

I didn’t really realize they toured from time to time (they played PhilaMOCA in 2022!).  I really haven’t paid too much attention to them in the last twenty years, so when I saw this tour announcement I jumped at the chance to see them again.  It would have been cool to see them 24 years later.

I didn’t realize that it was the same night for a show that I really wanted to see, Francis of Delirium.  So I debated on which artist to check out.  A seated show at PhilaMOCA or a bouncy show at Johnny Brenda’s.  Logically, this was the show to go to, but I went with my heart and went to Francis instead.

Sue Slagle (SUE-C) is an award-winning artist, engineer and educator whose work in “real time cinema” presents a new, imaginative perspective on live performance. Her performances blend cinema and technology into an organic, improvisational and immersive act, created from live cameras, light pads and video algorithms. She has always pushed the boundaries of human-computer interaction, employing emerging technologies and inventing many of her own, both through performance and tinkering with hundreds of students in her well-established teaching practice.

I mean, it does sound like a cool show.  I’m just not in that headspace anymore. Continue Reading »

Posted in J Lesser, Negativland, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, Sue-C | Leave a Comment »

Julian (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, May 28, 2024) [FRANCIS OF DELIRIUM]

May 28, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: May 28, 2024] Julian

I have a negative opinion of any musician who goes by one first name.  I mean, sure a few people can pull it off (Cher, Adele), but their names are (at least a little) unusual to begin with.  It’s weird enough for new artists to go by their first name (Mike, Dave).  But it’s bizarre to me that a band would go by a single first name.   Enter Julian.  I mean, there are several Julian/Julien musicians who do not go by a mononym, so how confusing is it to be this first-named band?

Well, maybe not very.  Their bio says

Despite various lineup shifts and relocating from D.C. to Philadelphia, Julian has remained tight-knit, well-worn, and snugly fit around the sharp, soft voice and inner thoughts of vocalist and guitarist Jay Leiby (they/them). Yearning Songs, the project’s fourth EP following a series of one-off singles, invites listeners to come honest and open—to leave with a warm halo of dream-pop and 2000s pop rock glowing in its wake. They are working on a new EP that will be out sometime this summer.

And yet, it’s really hard to search for them online.

Which is a real shame because they were great as openers for Francis of Delirium.

The band was a five-piece with J front and center.  They played guitar (but not lead as there weren’t really any solos) and sang.  The rest of the band was tight and fit in perfectly.  Although I will say that the second guitarist (I didn’t get anyone else’s names) was too quiet in the mix.  When he played a lead line in one of the songs it was only there when J’s guitar faded.

But the bass and keys sounded great.

Indeed, I really enjoyed the keys/bass music that the band played while J was tuning.  Instead of loops or noise, they played pretty ambient songs.

But the main focus is on J’s songs.

Julian has a few EPs out and most of the songs came from the newest one Yearning Songs.

J plays simple chords, but they use a capo a lot to change the feel of the songs.  But the most notable things about the songs is their mostly really short.  Most of the songs in the set were about 2 minutes long (no time for a solo).

I enjoyed the two new songs (according to the photo of the setlist, Everything and Picture, as they rocked a little harder and were a little longer.  There’s nothing wrong with short songs, but these songs felt more fleshed out.  I mean, Crush Song is only 1 minute and 45 seconds long!  But it’s really good, with a staccato company that is really catchy.

J’s voice is pretty soft and the melodies are all pretty quiet, but there’s a great rocking vibe underneath and most of the songs rock out for a short time.

They told us that Bike (and older song) was their favorite to play and the band really got into it

I was a little bummed that their set was so short.

 

  1. Never B ¥
  2. Everything [new song]
  3. Stuck ¥
  4. Bike £
  5. Picture [new song]
  6. Car ⇔
  7. Crush Song ¥
  8. Having You Around ¥

⇔ Real Distance EP (2018)
£ Longing EP (2021)
¥ Yearning Songs EP (2022)

Posted in Francis of Delirium, Johnny Brenda's, Julian, Philadelphia, PA | Leave a Comment »

Hozier / Allison Russell (Freedom Mortgage Pavilion, Camden, NJ, May 25, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

May 25, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 25, 2024] Hozier / Allison Russell

When this show was announced, I immediately planned to get tickets to see Hozier again.  My son and I had seen him in a small intimate show, but I imagined that seeing him from (ideally) the pit or (otherwise) in the lower sections would be amazing.

I don’t even think I paid attention to the fact that the show was at the hated Freedom Mortgage Pavilion.

Then I logged in on the day of and the tickets were OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive.  I mean lawn seats weren’t too bad, but I don’t intend to ever go t a show and sit in lawn seats again, so the heck with that.

I just checked a couple of days ago, and t here were literally only two seats available for sale in the whole place (resale, I don’t know if they were marked up or not).  In other words, parking is going to be a nightmare!

I’m sure Hozier will kick ass, though.

Allison Russell is a Canadian singer who is placed in the Americana genre, which is kind of funny.  WXPN plays some of her songs, and “Stay Right Here” is super duper catchy and will sound AMAZING in the Pavilion with its big chorus, disco beats and r7B/choir components (I wonder if she’ll have a band live).  Her song “Nightflyer” is more mellow but quite lovely.

I think I might actually be quite the fan of her without realizing it was her.

The whole night will be great.  I’m bummed it was priced out of our range.

 

Posted in Allison Russell, Camden, NJ, Freedom Mortgage Pavilion, Hozier | Leave a Comment »

Mannequin Pussy (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 23, 2024)

May 24, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: May 23, 2024] Mannequin Pussy

I wasn’t sure if I needed to see Mannequin Pussy again–but when they announced a tour of their new (excellent) album and that they were ending it in Philly and that Soul Glo was opening, I knew I had to go.

This was the fifth time I’ve seen Mannequin Pussy, which is a little crazy since it’s more than band that I have liked for a lot longer.

But they put on a great show (and they play Philly a lot).

I enjoy them as a headliner because Marisa Dabice can really stretch out and encourage the audience t o let themselves go.  She also told us that this tour was all about playing the new album.  Which they did.  All but the last song.  And this album kicks ass so it was great to hear all of these new songs.

The show started quietly with their surprisingly mellow first single, “I Don’t Know You,” and it built with the second single “Sometimes.”  If anyone came just for the new singles, that was the end right there. Continue Reading »

Posted in Mannequin Pussy, Philadelphia, PA, Soul Glo, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

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