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Scene Queen (Wind Creek Event Center, Bethlehem, PA, November 21, 2024) [BABYMETAL]

November 21, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: November 21, 2024] Scene Queen

I had this great plan to arrive early to this show.  And then everything went South.

My son’s college had an event that I hoped he could attend, so we wound up leaving later than I intended.  And, somehow, when I bought the tickets, I didn’t realize that going to Bethlehem would be so far out of the way from his school (Philly is more or less on the way, but jeez, this drive was ridiculous.

We also didn’t have dinner, so we had a (yummy) stop in the Bethlehem Waffle House.  But when we got to the Wind Creek Event Center, it was a nightmare.  The traffic to get in was insane–they were directing everyone around the whole campus to the parking garage that you could enter on the way in.

I went looking for a handicapped spot and they were all full, so we had  to park about as far away from the entrance as you can get.  So we trudged through the cold rain to the doors only to find a massive security line and one of the most thorough checks I’ve been in a show in a long time.

When we got in the venue people were spread out all the way to the back of the room making it almost impossible to get in.

I was really annoyed by this time.  So it didn’t give me a great introduction to Scene Queen. Continue Reading »

Posted in Babymetal, Bethlehem, PA, Japanese Music, Kawaii, Scene Queen, Wind Creek Event Center | Leave a Comment »

The Black Heart Procession (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, November 20, 2024) [MODEST MOUSE]

November 20, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: November 20, 2024] The Black Heart Procession

The opening act for this show wasn’t announced until a few days before the show.  But The Black Heart Procession had been opening all the other shows so I assumed it would be them.

I had never heard of them and assumed that they were some new young band.  And I was completely wrong.  The band was formed in 1997 (!) by Pall Jenkins who has played with a bunch of different bands and even did work with Isaac Brock in Ugly Casanova.  He and Tobias Nathaniel (these two are the main force of the band) create soundtrack music in the way Tindersticks make soundtrack music.  The big difference is that Black Heart Procession is very spare.  For most songs it is Nathaniel on keys and Jenkins on guitar.  With an unintroduced drummer playing along.

The songs are mostly slow with lots of reverb on the guitar.  

And Jenkins’ voice.  When he came out he was wearing a suit jacket and sunglasses.  He looked older than he probably is (although he’s obviously not a young guy) and he belted out songs so full of remorse that, despite the quietness of the song, no one talked through the weird opening song.  Which, I have to emphasize, FEATURED A MUSICAL SAW! Continue Reading »

Posted in Modest Mouse, Philadelphia, PA, The Black Heart Procession, The Met Philadelphia | Leave a Comment »

Animals as Leaders (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 18, 2024)

November 19, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: November 18, 2024] Animals as Leaders

My Brother-in-law, Ben told me about Animals as Leaders back in 2019 just before they came to the East Coast.  I grabbed a ticket to their TLA show and was really impressed (although I hated the crowd).

Animals as Leaders is a 3 piece founded by Tosin Abasi.  He plays primarily the 8-string electric guitar and his fingers (on both hands) are all over the fretboard.  Basically, he’s a guy you want to watch closely.   He started the all-instrumental Animals as Leaders in 2009.  Guitarist Javier Reyes also plays the 8 string (and is equally as amazing) and drummer Matt Garstka fill out the band.

The last time I saw them, the crowd was tall and very shove-y.  This time the crowd was pretty tall, but I’m better at negotiating my spaces and the shoving was contained.   The last time I saw them they were touring the tenth anniversary of their debut album.  This tour was the tenth anniversary of their The Joy of Motion album, which they played straight through.

I didn’t know the album, but boy everyone else did–I love when a room sings a long to an instrumental.

The band sounds huge, with both guitarists playing low and high ends at the same time and the drummer playing nonstop so that it’s a constant wall of sound.

There’s not a lot more to say about the show.  Most of the songs are heavy with complex rhythms and time signatures.  There were a couple of songs that were quieter with one acoustic song (and Reyes switched down to a 7 string!).  The musicianship was amazing.   What I found especially interesting is that their songs aren’t especially long–most around 4 minutes.  This packs a lot of musical information into digestible chunks.

He told us that his favorite song was The Woven Web (it rocked) and thanked us for being there for ten years and more.

When the album was over (about an hour), they left for a brief encore break.

When they came back Tosin asked if we wanted one more.  And they played The Brain Dance.   Mid-song, opening guitarist Plini came out to play a ripping solo and then he left again.   Tosin asked if we wanted one more.  We did and they played the ripping Ectogenesis and then Red Miso from their most recent album.  After that he asked if we wanted one more, for real, last song and they ended the night with the new(ish) powerhouse “Monomyth.”

It was a great set.

I should also mention the lighting.  It was mostly kind of dark–blues and reds–but they had their own (pretty intense) lighting rig.  One of the bigger rigs I’ve seen at Union Transfer.  It was definitely cool and did lots of nifty lighting tricks.  It probably looked fantastic from further back, but I wanted to get up close to see the fingerwork.  And I think i made the right choice.

I don’t think I’ll see  them again, but I did enjoy this show quite a lot.

 

2024 Union Transfer 2019 TLA
Ka$cade ♥ Espera (tape) ∞
Lippincott ♥ Wave of Babies @
Air Chrysalis ♥ Tempting Time @
Another Year ♥ Thoroughly at Home @
Physical Education♥ Arithmophobia ϖ
Tooth and Claw ♥ Cognitive Contortions ϖ
Crescent ♥ Nephele ♥
The Future That Awaited Me ♥ The Price of Everything and the Value of Nothing / Behaving Badly @
Para Mexer♥ Para Mexer ♥
The Woven Web ♥ The Brain Dance ϖ
Mind-Spun ♥ Ectogenesis ϖ
Nephele ♥ Inner Assassins ϖ
encore The Woven Wed ♥
The Brain Dance ϖ (with Plini) CAFO @
Ectogenesis ϖ encore
Red Miso ¶ Physical Education ♥
Monomyth ¶

¶ = Parrhesia (2022)
ϖ = The Madness of Many (2016)
♥ = The Joy of Motion (2014)
∞ = Weightless (2011)
@ = Animals as Leaders (2009)

Posted in Animals as Leaders, Philadelphia, PA, Plini, Theatre of Living Arts | Leave a Comment »

Plini (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 18, 2024) [ANIMALS AS LEADERS]

November 18, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: November 18, 2024] Plini

Plini is Plini Roessler-Holgate, an Australian guitarist who has been recognized by all of the famous guitar gods [for instance: Steve Vai described him as “the future of exceptional guitar playing.”]

I wondered if he would play solo, but no, he had a four-piece band.  Jake Howsam Lowe played guitar with him.  And Jake was amazing as well.  He had some moments of speed and impressive dexterity–and I was glad that he was given his own spotlight in a song at the end.

I was really impressed by bassist Simon Grove.  He played a six string bass and at times played the same fast riffs as both guitarists.  He also had a few soloing moments and I loved seeing him play.

Finally, Chris Allison on drums was terrific.  And he inadvertently had one of the best moments of the night for me.  Someone in the audience held up a sign that said Mr Allison will you trade drum sticks with me  And Allison was totally game.  The fan passed their sticks through the audience (he or she was pretty far back and the sticks were crowd surfed) and Plini asked if the fan wanted the ones Allison had just played with or new ones.  And then said, oh give them both.  Then Plini asked how honest the Philly crowd was as they crowd surfed the sticks to the fan.  It was great.

Plini then said that instead of playing music for 30 minutes, they would just do a trade and swap for the next 30 minutes.

But indeed, they did play.  Continue Reading »

Posted in Animals as Leaders, Philadelphia, PA, Plini, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Destroy Boys (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 15, 2024)

November 17, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: November 15, 2024] Destroy Boys

My son is a fan of Destroy Boys and when he was playing them, I was getting into them and agreed that they’d be fun to see live.  We saw them open for Pierce the Veil in Reading and really enjoyed the show.  Although, as I said then,

For some godawful reason, the venue decided to bathe the band in purple, which rendered them almost entirely invisible from where we were seated.  It definitely made us all want to see see them (actually see them) in a small club when they come around next time.

So it was great to see them up close at Union Transfer.  It was really entertaining seeing singer Alexia Roditis wearing a long leather coat and chaps (and black underwear).  She is an intense frontperson–powerful and in total control of the room, and I love that she proved how in control she was by basically wearing her underwear on stage.

Guitarist Violet Mayugba was on our side of the stage and she was an intense force of sound and attitude.  Bassist David Orozco was on the far side and seemed somewhat out of place in fairly normal clothes while the women in the band were wearing leather.  Drummer Narsai Malik was great behind the kit.

For this tour they had a fifth member, Nastacha Beck (aka Miss Distortion) from Jigsaw Youth on rhythm guitar.  [Back in 2022, I could have seen Destroy Boys (as a trio), Jigsaw Youth and Pinkshift in ne show but I had other plans…bummer!].

The show was full of energy right from the start with a ripping (and catchy) Shadow (I’m Breaking Down).  They didn’t only play new songs, jumping immediately back to Crybaby from 2018.  And Drink (an incredibly catchy song) dates back to 2021.

But this show was touring the new album so of course there were lots of new songs (which everyone there knew).  Like Plucked, a far more complex song musically than say K Street Walker from their debut (which makes up in fierceness what it lacks in complexity). Continue Reading »

Posted in Chokecherry, Destroy Boys, Jigsaw Youth, Philadelphia, PA, Sasami, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Vundabar / Courting (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, November 17, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

November 17, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 17, 2024] Vundabar / Courting

I saw Vundabar last summer with my daughter at All Things Go.  I really enjoyed their set and thought it would be fun to see them again.  This show wound up being on a Sunday night during a really busy week so we decided not to go.  I imagine they’ll be back again next year and we’ll check them out then.

Courting is a British band and their latest album is quite good.  They have a pretty varied style, although this review from Bring the Noise UK notes that their music was mostly

sardonic, post-punk festival bangers, which immediately got anybody between the ages of 16 and 24 within the nearby vicinity going feral in a mosh-pit.

although their new album changes things a but

Using glitching 808s, autotune as a design choice and an unending onslaught of pop culture references, Courting create catchy pop-punk-meets-hyperpop earworms

I imagine this would have been a really fun bill.  And I’d like to see them if they open for anyone else.

 

Posted in Courting, Philadelphia, PA, The Foundry, Vundabar | Leave a Comment »

Sasami (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 15, 2024) [DESTROY BOYS]

November 16, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: November 15, 2024] Sasami

When this tour was announced, I thought it would be perfect for myself and my kids.  My daughter loved seeing Crawlers, the original opening act, my son loves Destroy Boys and in addition to liking both bands, I had wanted to see Sasami for quite a while.

I had heard that Sasami’s shows for her album Squeeze were insane–intense rocking shows in which Sasami didn’t hold back in trying to create “maximum chaos per capita.”

That tour had a full band and they rocked hard.

So I was disappointed that this set from Sasami was all over the place.  It was just her and her Colombian drummer Juan Diego Patiño (who was pretty great).  And she played songs from all over her career.

And honestly there was nothing bad about her set, it was just totally not was I was expecting.  Continue Reading »

Posted in Chokecherry, Destroy Boys, Philadelphia, PA, Sasami, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Ratboys (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, November 13, 2024)

November 15, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: November 13, 2024] Ratboys

This was my third time seeing Ratboys in just over a year.  I would have loved to have seen them before this tour (even though I love this album), just to see what they were like before.   But this show was fantastic.  Not quite as long as the first time I saw them (since this was a co-headlining show), but the band were tons of fun and they threw in a few songs that I hadn’t seen them play before.

They announced this show as “one more tour for 2024!”  It was a short tour, and there were three co-headlining tours with Palehound.

They opened as they have each time I’ve seen them.  A great opening couplet of the rocking Making Noise for the Ones You Love and the catchy Morning Zoo.

They mixed things up by throwing in a brand new song.  I guess they have been so inspired by playing these songs that they are writing new ones already.

When I saw them the first time, they’d played the whole of the new album The Window.  This time, they played about half of it and threw in some older favorites. Continue Reading »

Posted in Palehound, Philadelphia, PA, Ratboys, Underground Arts, youbet | Leave a Comment »

Tokyo Police Club / Born Ruffians (Brooklyn Bowl, Philadelphia, PA, November 15, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

November 15, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 15, 2024] Tokyo Police Club / Born Ruffians

I had wanted to see Tokyo Police Club when they came around back in 2021, but their show was the same night as a show I was taking my son to.  So this show, part of their final tour, I grabbed a ticket for immediately.

And then Destroy Boys announced a show for the same night–and I knew my son and daughter would want to go to it.  As I said three years ago:

I was pretty psyched to see them, but it turned out that this show was scheduled for the same night as a Starset show that I would be taking my son to.  Sometimes schedules just don’t align nicely.

So I’ll never get to see Tokyo Police Club.

I do hope I get to see Born Ruffians though.  I’ve liked them for a pretty long time and could have seen them two years ago on a headlining tour, but I stayed home with my son to watch some anime instead.

I do hope it wasn’t their last tour as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2024 Brooklyn Bowl 2022 The Foundry 2019 Union Transfer
Violin Akai € Intro / Pathos, Pathos ∇ Marigolds Ø
Chiba Funk € Manchester ∇ F Delano Ø
Late Night Comic € Bright Whites ∇ Hey Big Star $
It All Began With a Burst ∇ It All Began With a Burst ∇ Say Yeah $
Can’t Let Go, Juno $ Wonder Woman, Wonder Me ∇ Carry on Phenomenon ∠
Marigolds Ø Atticus, in the Desert ∇ Honeybody $
Colorful State € I Am the Antichrist to You ∇ Honeybody Remix $
solo improv Beat the Bright Out of Me ∇ Can’t Let Go, Juno $
I Am the Antichrist to You (solo) ∇ This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) (Talking Heads cover) Theme From Jerome (Forgotten Words) Ø
Summer of ’42 (solo) Ø Q&A ∠ I Am the Antichrist to You (solo) ∇
Violin Tsunami Ø Penny Rabbit and Summer Bear Ø This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) (Talking Heads cover) (solo)
This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) (Talking Heads cover) (solo) Marigolds Ø Violin/Banjo improv
Escape from Knossos € I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That) (Meat Loaf cover) Bright Whites ∇
Icarus IV € The Ballad of Mr. Steak ∠ Q&A ∠
Hahaha Pt. 2 ∠ Honeybody (began with studio arrangement which bled into performing in the style of the Mattsoro remix) $ Penny Rabbit and Summer Bear Ø
Lilliputian Chop € encore Angeline Ø
The Ballad of Mr. Steak ∠ Violin Tsunami Ø Violin Tsunami Ø
Philosophize in It! Chemicalize with It! ∠ Philosophize in It! Chemicalize with It! ∠ Ode to My Next Life $
Honeybody $ Philosophize in It! Chemicalize with It! ∠
encore Atticus, in the Desert ∇
Penny Rabbit and Summer Bear (acoustic, in crowd) Ø (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life (Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes cover)
Manchester (acoustic, in crowd) ∇ The Ballad of Mr. Steak ∠
Ooh La La (Rod Stewart cover) (acoustic, in crowd) It All Began With a Burst ∇
encore
Annie, Heart Thief of the Sea (acoustic, in crowd) Ø
Manchester (acoustic, in crowd) ∇
Summer of ’42 (acoustic, in crowd) Ø

 

 

 

2016 Union Transfer 2015 TLA (opening for Guster) 2014 New Brunswick (opening for Rod y Gab)
Stranger Things Theme [recordong] violin improv violin improv
Statues in a Gallery $ Atticus, in the Desert ∇     It All Began With a Burst ∇
Hey Big Star $ Bright Whites ∇ Bittersweet Genesis for Him AND Her ∠
m’lover $ Bittersweet Genesis for Him AND Her ∠ Atticus, in the Desert ∇ 
Atticus, in the Desert (featuring extended banjo percussion solo) ∇     The Ballad of Mr. Steak ∠ Bright Whites ∇
Bright Whites (with improv interlude featuring flute solo) ∇ Q&A ∠ Philosophize in It! Chemicalize with It! ∠
Carry on Phenomenon ∠ Philosophize in It! Chemicalize with It! ∠ Manchester ∇
Who’d You Kill $ Manchester ∇
Can’t Let Go, Juno $
Say Yeah $
Ode to My Next Life $
I Am the Antichrist to You ∇ (solo)
The Ballad of Mr. Steak (featuring Mr. Steak) ∠
Philosophize in It! Chemicalize with It! ∠
It All Began With a Burst (with “Don’t vote for Trump” vocal loop) ∇
encore
Honeybody $
Q&A ∠
Manchester ∇
€ Kantos (2024)
Ø Omoiyari (2019)
$ Sonderlust (2016)
∠ Lighght (2014)
∇ 151a (2012)

Posted in Born Ruffians, Kishi Bashi, Philadelphia, PA, Tokyo Police Club | Leave a Comment »

Chokecherry (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 15, 2024) [DESTROY BOYS]

November 15, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: November 15, 2024] Chokecherry

When this tour was announced, I thought it would be perfect for myself and my kids.  My daughter loved seeing Crawlers, the original opening act, my son loves Destroy Boys and in addition to liking both bands, I had wanted to see Sasami for quite a while.

But then Crawlers dropped off the tour (I’m not sure why) and they were replaced by Chokecherry who I hadn’t heard of.  I listened to a song or two and liked them.  So I was pleased to arrive early enough to see them.

I’m not really sure what the details are of this band, but I’m guessing that the two women who were up front, Guitarist Izzie A. Clark and bassist E. Scarlett Levinson are the fixtures of the band.  Other articles list two different members in the band. but for this show, Jack Lillian played second guitar and Sean Aaron  was on drums.

Izzie, Scarlett and Jack were dressed in provocative outfits–undergarments and corsets and they played up this flirtatiousness.  But their music totally rocked and their look proved to be an accent to their songs.   I couldn’t really see Sean who was behind the drums, so I’m not sure if he was wearing only boxers or what.

They opened with Lisa 1 and 2.  It starts with Izzie and Scarlett, quietly singing Lisa, I miss you, Lisa I’m sorry.  And then the song takes off.  But it’s in pat 2 that he real blistering punk comes out.  Two minutes of intensity.

Scarlett sang Afterglow, a song that builds with her softish voice into a terrific loud/quiet rocker.  It features one of several songs that have great guttural screams in them.  Around Around Around had a bit of a shoegaze vibe to it

The two singers had great harmonies together and I loved when Izzie left the mic for a few seconds to walk around while soloing.

They ended with Mirror Mirror a kicking rocker with fuzzy guitars and big loud chords.

I enjoyed their set a ton and would happily see them again.

 

2024 Union Transfer
Lisa 1
Lisa 2
Afterglow ∀
Around Around Around §
I Know You ∀
Glass Jaw §
Mirror Mirror ∀

∀ Messy Star (2024)
§ single (2023)

 

Posted in Chokecherry, Destroy Boys, Philadelphia, PA, Sasami, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

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