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Ringo Deathstarr / The Veldt / SOLD (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, May 19, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

May 19, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 19, 2024] Ringo Deathstarr

I saw Ringo Deathstarr back in 2019 and they were fantastic.  They play heavy shoegaze in all of the best ways.  I really wanted to see them again.

But this show happensto be on the same night as a show that I already had tickets for–MC Lars, who I have tried to see on many many occasions but have never been successful.  So I’m afraid Ringo Deathstarr loses out (and maybe I do too).

I hadn’t heard of The Veldt even though they’ve been around since 1986 (!)

Spotify describes them as a soul-powered rock band on the heavier end of the shoegaze spectrum, the Veldt are dream pop at their core yet just as known for driving riffs and stirring vocals. Led by Daniel and Danny Chavis, the Veldt were misunderstood from their late-’80s beginning.

I like their music but really don’t like the singer’s voice for this style of music.

SOLD is a Philly band that’s been around for a few years.  They descibe themselves as

Philly Post-Punk that’s fast and hard but then soft and lame too. Lot of bass, some spooky organs and a guitar all on top of drums. So yeah.

I listened to a few songs and they rock.  But when the cheesy synths come in, it’s quite a surprise (in a good way).

This would have been a fun show.

Posted in Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA, Ringo Deathstarr, SOLD, The Veldt | Leave a Comment »

Mannequin Pussy / Soul Glo (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 18, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

May 19, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 19, 2024] Mannequin Pussy / Soul Glo

I’ve seen Mannequin Pussy three times.  The first time they were opening for Japandroids and Boot & Saddle.  And now they have three sold out shows at Union Transfer!

I immediately grabbed tickets for the first night–a hometown show would be amazing.

And I was especially excited that Soul Glo was opening for them. Continue Reading »

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

Bit Brigade (Artie’s Bar & Grill, Frenchtown, NJ, May 18, 2024) [GALACTIC EMPIRE]

May 18, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: May 18, 2024] Bit Brigade

I had seen Bit Brigade six years ago (can’t believe it has been that long) and assumed my son would love to see them too: a heavy metal band playing the music from video games while a guy in the band plays the game?  Sounds perfect.

They tend to play bars so my (underage) son was shut out.  But when they announced this show at a place in Frenchtown, and it was all ages, we were there!

I actually thought it was going to be outside, but it wasn’t (possible showers, but I don’t know if it was always meant to be inside or not).

When I got the tickets (for him and his friend) I assumed Bit Brigade was headlining as I had not heard of Galactic Empire.  Yup, a Star Wars cover band–two gimmicks in one night, but that’s cool.  And then the night of, my wife decided that she’d like to see the spectacle as well, so she joined us and it was even more fun having her there as the boys immediately left me to hang by themselves.

I was a little surprised that BB went on first, but in retrospect it makes sense.  BB is really fun, but they are kind of static–we all watch the guy play the game(s) and the band totally rocks.  Whereas Galactic Empire is more dynamic–band members running around and a bigger stage presence.  Plus, as it turned out, everyone was there for them and not Bit Brigade.  Except for us. Continue Reading »

Posted in Bit Brigade, Castlevania, Contra, Duck Tales, Frenchtown NJ, Galactic Empire, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Star Wars, The Avengers | Leave a Comment »

Joy Again (First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA, May 17, 2024) [CANCELLED]

May 17, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[CANCELLED: May 17, 2024] Joy Again

I saw (some of) a Joy Again set when they opened for Chastity Belt in 2017.

My daughter loves one of their songs “Looking Out for You” (which has over 460 million listens on Spotify).  I thought it would be fun to see them.

But I don’t go to The Church, so I wouldn’t go to this show anyhow.  But then there was the bigger news.  On March 8, the band wrote:

Hi everyone-

After 10 years we’ve decided to end Joy Again. We have so much love and respect for one another and calling it quits is extremely sad for everyone involved, but it feels like an appropriate time to move on. We’ve had an incredible time together through writing and recording, to being in the studio and on the road. We’re truly going to miss it so much.

Unfortunately with this said we’ll also be cancelling the upcoming tour. We’re so sorry and truly appreciate all of you who had already bought tickets and everyone who was excited to come to one of these shows. Refunds will be issued to everyone shortly – some of you may have already gotten yours.

Our debut album Song and Dance will be released on June 28. We’re so proud of this body of work – it represents our love for each other and all the ups and downs we’ve been through in all our years together. All of this has been a long time coming and we hope you understand that this decision is best for us. We’ll always be making new music, whether together or apart you can always expect to hear something new from us and the projects we pursue in the future.

Thanks for sharing this past decade with us,

Joy Again

They’ve been out for ten years, have half a billion streams on Spotify and hadn’t put out a record yet?

Posted in First Unitarian Church, Joy Again, Philadelphia, PA | 1 Comment »

Guster: Free at Noon (World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA, May 17, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

May 17, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 17, 2024] Guster

My wife told me that she heard Guster was doing Free at Noon and we frantically tried to figure out if she could get the day off so  we could go.

As soon as I logged into the page, I saw that it was sold out!  I was so bummed.

I can’t believe that the last time I saw Guster: Free at Noon was five years ago!  I would have guessed it was two years at most.

The setlist was mostly new songs (the new album was released today).

There’s a video of the set online and, as usual, the show looks great.

  • Keep Going
  • Stay With Me Jesus
  • Witness Tree
  • Hang On
  • Keep It Together
  • Black Balloon
  • Satellite
  • This Could All Be Yours

Posted in Free at Noon, Guster, Philadelphia, PA, World Cafe Live, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA | Leave a Comment »

The Avett Brothers / City and Colour (The Mann Center for Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, May 16, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

May 16, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 16, 2024] The Avett Brothers

Three years ago I wrote:

I enjoyed them last time I saw them, but the crowd was terrible,  Nevertheless, it would take a lot to get me to go to The Mann Center to see them–it’s just too inconvenient for me.

Maybe some other tour.

Here it is three years later and they’re back at The Mann Center.  And I’m still not willing to go there to see them.

City and Colour is Dallas Green, the clean singer from Canadian band Alexisonfire.  I liked them a lot (especially his parts).  I’ve also enjoyed some of his solo stuff, which tends to be more folkie.

I’ve often thought it would be interesting to see him live.  He seems like a decent guy and I imagine his shows would be enjoyable.

Maybe I’ll get to see both of them some day.

 

 

Posted in City and Colour, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA, The Avett Brothers | Leave a Comment »

Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou (肉包不吃肉) [Meatbun Doesn’t Eat Meat]–Remnants of Filth / Yuwu (余污) [Pollution] Book 2 (2019) [translation 2023]

May 14, 2024 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus.

[READ: May 13, 2023] Remnants of Filth Book 2

I didn’t expect to read any more books in this series, but then book 2 came to my desk and I had to see what happened next.  Now I’m half way into the series and I’m very curious how it will play out.  But I’m quite certain I’ll never see Part 3.  Incidentally, our library had books 2-4 of Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou’s more noteworthy series The Husky and the White Cat Shizun (why don’t we have book one?)

So, it’s been a while, what did I say last time?

The author of this book is Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou (or Roubaobuchirou).  In Chinese that is 肉包不吃肉 which literally translates into Meatbun Doesn’t Eat Meat.  This last phrase is what she is commonly known as in the United States.

This book is danmei.  According to The Guardian:

Danmei is romantic fiction about men or male beings – ghosts, foxes, even a mushroom – falling in love, written almost exclusively by and for straight women and is the most popular genre of fiction in China.

This series is about two soldiers.  Mo Xi and Gu Mang.

The two were friends and then lovers when they were younger.  They fought together and they loved each other.  This was largely forbidden and no one knew of their relationship.

And then (and we don’t know why in this book), Gu Mang switched sides.  He joined forces with the enemy.  And on the battlefield when Mo Xi and Gu Mang faced each other, Gu Mang stabbed his friend and lover in the heart.  There’s magic in these books, and Mo Xi survived.

In book one, Mo Xi brought Gu Mang out of the slavery he was stuck in.  Mo Xi has to do some twisting of reality for people to believe that he is holding on to Gu Mang for reasonably reasons but Mo Xi is so virtuous, no one questions his motives. Continue Reading »

Posted in China, Danmei, Drinking, 肉包不吃肉, Humiliation, LGBTQ, Magic, Magical Realism, Meatbun Doesn't Eat Meat, Military, Romance, Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou, Rui, Sex, Translation, Violence, Yu | Leave a Comment »

Amon Amarth / Cannibal Corpse / Obituary / Frozen Soul (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia PA, May 13, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

May 13, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 13, 2024] Amon Amarth / Cannibal Corpse / Obituary / Frozen Soul

When this tour was announced I had the choice of seeing them at The Wellmont in NJ or the Fillmore in Philly.

I chose the Wellmont because it is smaller and I thought it would be more fun.  I see too many shows in Philly anyway.

It worked out for the best as my wife and I were going to see Neil Young on Sunday night, so this left the rest of the week free.

I’ve really enjoyed Amon Amarth in the past and since my son and his friends enjoyed them when we saw them last year, it was a no brainer for the fur of us to see them headline.

I wasn’t to thrilled with the rest of the lineup, honestly.  I’ve seen Cannibal Corpse a few years ago and once was enough (although now that I heard what a genuinely nice guy Corpsegrinder is, I certainly like them a lot more).  It’s fascinating though that they’ve been a band since 1988 (and appeared in Ace Ventura Pet Detective!  They were an integral early band in the Tampa death metal scene.

Obituary is another super old school band from Tampa (formed in 1984, so even older).  It’s kind of weird that Amon Amarth, who is a Swedish band and not really a death metal band (they’re all about Vikings, but they do sing in a growly way) would invite two early death metal bands.

I know of them (their logo is very familiar) but I guess I never listened to anything they did.  They are heavy and fast but the singer actually does a kind of high voice when he sings (as well as some growling).  It’s a different vibe to be sure and more of what I think about with 80’s metal bands.

Frozen Soul is a death metal band from Texas.  They formed in 2018.  I had not heard of them and wasn’t really that interested in seeing them anyway.  They are heavy death metal with growling vocals.

If it weren’t for the headliners I ‘d have had n interest in this tour at all.

Posted in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Amon Amarth, Cannibal Corpse, Frozen Soul, Obituary, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia | Leave a Comment »

Neil Young & Crazy Horse (Freedom Mortgage Pavilion, Camden, NJ, May 12, 2024)

May 13, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: May 12, 2024] Neil Young & Crazy Horse

My wife and I are both big fans of Neil Young.  Although we tend to prefer different eras, we enjoy most of his catalog pretty equally.

We had seen him play solo ten years ago.  We saw him play Promise of the Real nine years ago.  If we ever got to see hi again, I never would have guessed it would be with Crazy Horse.  I would have loved to get close up seats for this show, but JFC, the pit and front row seats were like $600 a piece.  I actually assumed we were priced out, but I knew how much we both wanted to see him (I mean, Neil is 78 how many more tours is he going to do?).  So I bought two not-outrageously priced seats in the 200 second (front row).

The band wasn’t exactly Crazy Horse.  Nils Lofgren is playing with Bruce Springsteen (booo).  But he was replaced by Micah Nelson (who I have seen as Particle Kid).  Truth be told, I couldn’t tell a difference.  They were far enough away and the spotlights blurred everything anyway.  But he sounded great, as did everyone else.

In classic Crazy Horse style, the three guys up front stood about a foot away from each other.  So despite the size of the stage (and the massive Marshall stack backdrops), they were all within whispering distance of each other.  Which I assume was Neil’s way of letting everyone know what was happening next.  Continue Reading »

Posted in Camden, NJ, Freedom Mortgage Pavilion, Neil Young, Neil Young and Crazy Horse | Leave a Comment »

Avatar / Oxymorrons / Conquer Divide (Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ, May 12, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

May 12, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 12, 2024] Avatar / Oxymorrons / Conquer Divide

This is a show I was so psyched to go to.  Until I realized it was the same night as Neil Young and my wife and I werre pretty darn psyched to go to see Neil with Crazy Horse.

I’ve seen Avatar three times and I really wanted to see them headline one more time.

I’ve seen Oxymorrons twice and I have loved every second of their shows–I can’t wait to see the again.

Conquer Divide is the only band I was unfamiliar with.  They are a metalcore band, with the twist that all of the members are female, which is pretty awesome.  And frankly, the one really bad thing about metalcore is the vocals.  For Conquer Divide, clean vocalist Kiarely “Kia” Castillo sings in a relatively high register–something that metalcore tends to leave out entirely.  And unclean vocalist Janel Duarte (who just left the band) has a great scream that’s not cookie monster like, it’s a good passionate scream.

This would have been a great show.  Stupid double booked nights.

Posted in Avatar, Conquer Divide, Oxymorrons, Sayreville, NJ, Starland Ballroom | Leave a Comment »

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