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Momma (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia PA, April 17, 2024) [GIRL IN RED]

April 17, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: April 17, 2024] Momma

As soon as Girl in Red announced these shows I grabbed a ticket for my daughter and I.

I was super excited that Momma was the opening band because their song “Speeding 72” is one of my favorite songs of the last couple of years.   I’ve heard it on the radio enough that I checked out their debut album and I love the whole thing.  They’ve got a 90’s alt rock (Veruca Salt) vibe that I’m thrilled to hear again.

I would normally have snuck closer to the stage, but my daughter’s not a close-up fan, so we hung at the back of the pit (which in The Met is not far at all).

I enjoyed Momma’s whole (but rather short) set.  They played four songs from Household Name, including Medicine, the show opener and Speeding 72.

They played two new songs which sounded like they are mixing their sound up a little going forward.   And they played a single from last year, which also sounded really familiar.

Center stage with newly died red hair was Allegra Weingarten, and off to her right was Etta Friedman.  They sang together perfectly in that close harmony, almost whispered vocals that are a little hard to hear (especially in a bigger venue).  But they sounded great.

The band is always described as just the two of them, but thee were two other people on stage too, a drummer and a bassist.  Toward the end of the set, Etta switched instruments with the bassist.

I was pleased that the crowd reacted positively to them (being an opening act can suck) and I’m glad I got to see them before they totally take off.

  1. Medicine
  2. Bang Bang §
  3. Lucky
  4. Ohio 2 [new]
  5. Rodeo [new]
  6. Motorbike
  7. Speeding 72

Posted in Girl in Red, Momma, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia | Leave a Comment »

Juana Molina / Madison Cunnigham (White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, NJ, April 17, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

April 17, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 17, 2024] Juana Molina / Madison Cunningham

I am pretty lucky where I live to have so many concert venue choices.  This tour with Madison Cunningham and Juana Molina was appearing at two places roughly an hour from me (yes, I wish all the venues were a little closer).

I used to love White Eagle Hall but I have found it to be less than ideal lately, for a number of reasons.  I still think the venue is great, but if I can go elsewhere, I will.  So, even though Ardmore Music Hall is kind of a pain to get tom it feels like a better venue for this show.

I have wanted to see Juana Molina for a few years (I was supposed to see her in 2020 but her show was cancelled due to COVID).  I’d rather have seen her as a headliner, but this collaborative night sounded like a lot of fun.

I really like Madison Cunningham’s song “Hospital” (which I don’t think she’s actually playing on this tour).  I enjoy the rest of her music too, so it should be a fun night. Continue Reading »

Posted in Jersey City, NJ, Juana Molina, Madison Cunningham, White Eagle Hall | Leave a Comment »

Swans (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, April 13, 2024)

April 13, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: April 13, 2024] Swans

I have been a fan of Swans since 1988.  I have a lot of their records on vinyl.  I have more on CD.  I went through a deep dive of Swans fandom  after college and then pretty much drifted away from them.

I’d been kind of intimidated away from seeing them live for years–I heard their shows were punishingly loud and that Michael Gira could be a rather contrary front man.

But my pal Phil Puleo has been playing drums with them for years and I thought it was time to see him and them.  (I had tickets to see them in 2021, but COVID).

So here they were back again.

The biggest surprise to me was that they were not as loud as I suspected.  That may not have been everyone’s experience, but I really expected to be knocked back by the sound and yes, it was loud–without earplugs I ‘d have been crying–but not THAT loud.

Early Swans albums were full of slow, loud, pummeling songs.  The songs are still slow and are still loud, but there’s a lot more subtlety (relatively) in them.

I also had some idea of what this show was like–all new songs–but I genuinely didn’t expect the first song, “The Beggar” to run over an hour!

It began very quietly with leader Michael Gira strumming one chord on an acoustic guitar.  For about five minutes.  He made some vocal sounds which I don’t think were words and then, ever so slowly, the rest of the band joined in.

Kristof Hahn on lap steel was right in front of me and it was fun watching him as he added all kinds of ambient sounds–from quiet to outrageous.

Behind him was Dana Schechter who played a lap steel (possibly modified, I couldn’t see it by she seemed to make different sounds) and occasional bass guitar.  For most of the set I could see her pretty clearly (although not her lap steel), but toward the end a tall person blocked her from me. Continue Reading »

Posted in Kristof Hanh, Philadelphia, PA, Swans, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Jhariah / Pollyanna/ Save Face (Milkboy, Philadelphia, PA, April 13, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

April 13, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 13, 2024] Jhariah / Pollyanna / Save Face

I saw Jhariah earlier this year open for Pinkshift.  I loved his set so much.  Everything about it was great.  I thought my daughter would love to see him as well, so when they announced a show at Milkboy, I grabbed tickets for both of us (after discovering that she was allowed to be in the over 21 club as long as she stayed with me the whole time).  Then it turned out that she was invited to a birthday party and she chose to go to that instead.  Which, fair enough.

I already had a ticket for Swans for this evening, which I figured I’d blow off to go out with my daughter.  When she opted for her party, I figured I’d go to the Jhariah show–I was more interested in it that she was.  I really enjoyed his set a few months ago and would have loved to see him again, especially headlining.

Milkboy is a great venue but it is a massive pain in the butt to get to.  I also started to think about how young the crowd would be for this show.  Since I had just had surgery, the last thing I needed was to be in a crowd with people slam dancing and shoving.

So I decided to go to the Swans show as I had originally planned–the music would be louder, but much slower.

Pollyanna was supposed to open for Pinkshift along with Jhariah.  But for whatever reason they did not play that show.  But I really grew to like them a lot.  So when they were announced as a last minute third band at this show I was super excited to finally get to see them live.

Save Face is a Jersey-based band who were signed to Epitaph but are now independent (which is pretty fascinating).  I’d never heard of them, but apparently they did a song with Jhariah in September (which is really good), so that certainly explains the touring together business.   They come from the screamo/post hardcore scene, although to me they sound a ton like My Chemical Romance.  Their last Epitaph album features a guest vocal from Thursday’s Geoff Rickly.

 

Posted in Jhariah, Milkboy, Philadelphia, PA, Pollyanna, Save Face | Leave a Comment »

Marco Benevento / Ghost Funk Orchestra (Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, April 13, 2024)

April 13, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: April 13, 2024] Marco Benevento / Ghost Funk Orchestra

I have seen Marco Benevento three times live.  Every time has been a wonderful, joyous experience.  And I promise myself I’m going to see him again soon.

I didn’t go to his shows last year because I needed a break from shows that week.

This year, I already had a ticket to see Swans and then my daughter and I were going to go see Jhariah, so I couldn’t go to see Marco this time.    But he’s always playing shows and I’m sure I’ll see him again pretty soon.

Ghost Funk Orchestra has a name that I was bound to love.  And yet when I listened to them I found that i didn’t really like them at all.

Ghost Funk Orchestra is the brainchild of composer/multi-instrumentalist Seth Applebaum. The band draws heavy influence from the worlds of soul, psych rock, salsa, and beyond.

Even that description is perfect for me, but I feel like they take my least favorite elements from all of the genres and I instantly bristled at the vocals and the recording style.

They’re probably a lot of fun live, and I’m sure I would have enjoyed them opening for Marco, but I did not enjoy the album at all.

Posted in Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, Ghost Funk Orchestra, Karina Rykman, Marco Benevento, Philadelphia, PA | Leave a Comment »

Richard Thompson / Jonatha Brooke (Scottish Rite Auditorium, Collingswood, NJ, April 13, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

April 13, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 13, 2024] Richard Thompson / Jonatha Brooke

I’ve seen Richard Thompson more than almost anyone else.

I really want to see him with a full band, but that doesn’t seem to happen much in our area anymore.  He even announced a tour with a full band, but this show was meant to be solo (with help from Zara Phillips).

I have never been to the Scottish Rite Auditorium, which was another reason that I was looking forward to this show.

And then I wound up having surgery earlier in the week.  I probably could have still gone to this show, but honestly it just felt like too much work, getting all the way down there and walking to the venue, all while trying to take it easy and recover.

I know he’s playing in Bethlehem later this year, but again, I don’t think it’s with a full band.  I need to hear Richard rock out on an electric guitar again!

I know Jonatha Brooke from when I used to live in Boston.  She was in a band called The Story and then went solo.  I really liked her album Plumb (1995) and then I pretty much lost track of her.  I had no idea she was still regularly putting out music.

I would have liked to hear her, although I see from the setlist that she didn’t play anything I knew.

Posted in Collingswood NJ, Jonatha Brooke, Richard Thompson, Scottish Rite Auditorium | Leave a Comment »

Kristof Hanh (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, April 13, 2024)

April 13, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: April 13, 2024] Kristof Hanh

I have been a fan of Swans since 1988.  I have a lot of their records on vinyl.  I have more on CD.  I went through a deep dive of Swans fandom  after college and then pretty much drifted away from them.

I’d been kind of intimidated away from seeing them live for years–I heard their shows were punishingly loud and that Michael Gira could be a rather contrary front man.

But my pal Phil Puleo has been playing drums with them for years and I thought it was time to see him and them.  (I had tickets to see them in 2021, but COVID).

So here they were back again.

I wasn’t sure who the opener, Kristof Hanh, was.  But when I looked him up I saw that he has been a member of Swans on and off since 1989.  He mostly plays lap steel guitar but also plays other guitars.  He has, in fact, played lap steel on the most recent album and some other recent releases as well.

Wikipedia says

His approach to the lap-steel guitar is non-traditional, often devoted to playing drones that can serve as either supporting background elements or take a more prominent role in the band’s music.

He came out and sat at his lap steel which was right in front of me.  He started playing and then smiled and said he was demonstrating the importance of electricity.  He turned on his gear and started playing.  He uses lots of effects and his sound was, indeed, full of drones.  He played melodies but also kept a large sound in the overall chords that he played. Continue Reading »

Posted in Kristof Hanh, Philadelphia, PA, Swans, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Moon Hooch (Wonder Bar, Asbury Park, NJ, April 10, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

April 10, 2024 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 10, 2024] Moon Hooch

I’ve been a casual fan of Moon Hooch for a number of years now.  I always enjoy watching their Instagram videos and I have one of their albums.

The band is a trio with two, TWO saxophones. Normally I wouldn’t enjoy two saxophones, but they do things differently.

They are known for their dance-oriented percussion-and saxophone music made by saxophonists Wenzl McGowen and Michael Wilbur and drummer Cyzon Griffin.

And yet, I just can’t bring myself to go see them live.  I fear that the crowd wouldn’t be one I’d enjoy… or something.

Perhaps I’m just getting carabby as I get older.

The show listing indicated an opening act but I haven’t been able to figure out who it is.

 

 

 

 

Posted in Asbury Park, NJ, Moon Hooch, Wonder Bar | Leave a Comment »

Arthur Conan Doyle–“The Copper Beeches” [The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes] (1892)

April 7, 2024 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus.

[READ: March 24, 2024] “The Cooper Beeches”

The final story in this collection is spooky and very creepy.  It starts quietly enough.

A young woman comes in to see Holmes.  She is quite upset about a job offer.  She is being hired to look after a child for a gregarious and wealthy man and his quiet wife.  He had a daughter with his previous wife but she is in Philadelphia.  Now, he has a child with his new wife and he is looking for someone to watch the child and to help with his wife’s needs and whims.

It’s a little odd, but what’s very odd is the huge amount of money he’s willing to pay (four times as much as anyone else) and the very weird fact that he asks her to cut off her beautiful hair.  What does he think?

There’s nothing that Holmes can do right now, so he wishes her luck. But he confides to Watson that he thinks it’s a very bad idea. And he points out amusingly that if this appointment was in the city it wouldn’t be as scary but being in the middle of nowhere is where all the more horrible things happen.

It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside….
The pressure of public opinion can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of a drunkard’s blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of country which makes the danger.

A short time later she reaches out to Holmes and wants to talk to him.  They meet and she tells him that the house is crazy.  She has found a length of hair that is just like hers and there is a wing of the house that is totally locked up.  The master of the house has asked her to put on a specific (used) dress.  And finally, when she expressed an interest in the locked area, he was menacing about insisting that she stay away from it.

I guessed what Conan Doyle had in mind but didn’t really imagine that he’d go through with the crazy idea–Conan Doyle is (I think) pretty out there with some of his ideas, but again I wonder if he was ahead of the curve or if there are other lesser known stories that deal with unusual storylines.

My suspicions were correct about what was going on, but as with the Noble Bachelor, he had more (unexpected to me) details to throw into the story.

And that’s the end of this book.  In a little while I’m going to bust into his next collection of short stories The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.

~~~~~

The four novels of the canon:

  1. A Study in Scarlet (1887)
  2. The Sign of the Four (1890)
  3. The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902)
  4. The Valley of Fear (1915)

The 56 short stories are collected in five books:

  1. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892)
  2. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1894)
  3. The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1905)
  4. His Last Bow (1917)
  5. The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1927)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892) contains 12 stories published in The Strand between July 1891 and June 1892

  1. “A Scandal in Bohemia” (June 1891)
  2. “The Red-Headed League” (August 1891)
  3. “A Case of Identity” (September 1891)
  4. “The Boscombe Valley Mystery” (October 1891)
  5. “The Five Orange Pips” (November 1891)
  6. “The Man with the Twisted Lip” (December 1891)
  7. “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle” (January 1892)
  8. “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” (February 1892)
  9. “The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb” (March 1892)
  10. “The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor” (April 1892)
  11. “The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet” (May 1892)
  12. “The Adventure of the Copper Beeches” (June 1892)

Posted in Arthur Conan Doyle, Mystery, Sherlock Holmes, Short Story | Leave a Comment »

Arthur Conan Doyle–“The Beryl Coronet” [The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes] (1892)

April 6, 2024 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus.

[READ: March 24, 2024] “The Beryl Coronet”

The eleventh story in this collection sees Holmes getting back to his old sleuthing skills–he even uses a magnifying glass!

The Beryl Coronet is a gold crown studded with jewels.  It is worth a fortune.  The backstory is that a banker has come to see Holmes.  He is so bad-looking that Watson presumes him to be a destitute alcoholic when he arrives.  But he is, in fact, head of the bank.  He says that he was recently approached by a man who needed a lot of money immediately.  Normally the bank would say no, but the man produced this crown (which is a national treasure) as collateral.

The banker said okay, but then was so nervous about it being stolen in the bank that he brought it to his house (which cannot possibly be more safe than a bank).

He proceeded to tell his son and niece (long story short: her parents are dead, he’s like a father to her).

Later that night, the banker hears a ruckus and his son (who is kind of a lazy boy and has recently asked for money) is seen in the anteroom with the crown (now broken).  The banker freaks out and accuses his son of theft.  The son says nothing, just gets offended and walks off.  The niece (whom the banker had often times implored to marry his son) rushes to his defense.

The banker is freaked, obviously, as the crown is ruined and three jewels are missing.

Holmes does some lengthy detection and figures things out.  The son is obviously innocent.  The thief is cleverly alluded to and there is much hand wringing.

I enjoyed this one quite a bit–even if the banker (once the crown part is recovered) is still left with a broken crown! Continue Reading »

Posted in Arthur Conan Doyle, Mystery, Sherlock Holmes, Short Story, Thieves | Leave a Comment »

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