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Piebald (Bolero Block Party, Bolero Snort Brewery, Carlstadt, NJ, September 6, 2025) [THE GET UP KIDS]

September 9, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 6, 2025] Piebald

When this show was announced I was excited about Wax Jaw and The Get Up Kids, but I didn’t know anything about Piebald.  It’s a little puzzling that I didn’t know them because they’re from the mid 90s Boston music scene.

The lineup said they were going to go on at 6, but their setup seemed to take a while and they didn’t go on until 6:30.  This was good for the break between them and Get Up Kids, but it meant that Wax Jaw was about an hour between bands.  But Piebald seemed in very good spirits.

I was unfamiliar with them.  And I guess I was the only one because wow, there were a group of guys up front who knew every word and who were dancing around.  Indeed the crowd was really into their set.  And so was I.  One guy was really really into it, almost embarrassingly so, but they admitted that he used to play cowbell for them so he was practically part of the band.

I enjoyed their sound right from the start–I loved that there were lots of YEAHS and HEYS sung very loudly by all three singers (Aaron Stuart, guitar and Andrew Bonner, bass).

And the content of the lyrics was really good too. Continue Reading »

Posted in Bolero Block Party, Bolero Snort Brewery, Carlstadt NJ, Piebald, The Get Up Kids, Wax Jaw | Leave a Comment »

Wax Jaw (Bolero Block Party, Bolero Snort Brewery, Carlstadt, NJ, September 6, 2025) [THE GET UP KIDS]

September 8, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 6, 2025] Wax Jaw 

There are lots of young bands that I’m excited to watch get bigger.  Wax Jaw has been a favorite of mine for awhile, but I’ve only seen them twice.

I found out about this Bolero Block Party through their social media account, even though they weren’t originally  supposed to open (according to the Tshirt I bought), but they’re the reason I went to the show (the fact that The Get Up Kids wee headlining was a major plus!)

When I saw the last night, it was at a tiny club for the release of their debut EP.  The crowd was all there for them and they were wild.

For this show, they went on at 5:00.  But, the entire afternoon it had been raining massively.  It even said it was supposed to rain for the entire day.  I assumed the show would be washed out–I certainly wasn’t going to go stand for 4 hours in the rain.

I felt bad for the brewery because this was their first time doing this and they had a lot of things in place–vendors, food trucks and even a skateboard ramp (see map below.)  Sadly the skateboard ramp went unused) it had gotten too wet, but the vendors were cool and the food was great.

And then, miraculously, it stopped raining at 3:15, which gave me just enough time to get ready and head over to Carlstadt.  Luckily there was nothing going on at Met Life Stadium, because the brewery is right around the corner and game or concert traffic would have killed me.

But I arrived early, and was delighted to walk around and look at the vendors.  I bought some shirts from Jetty and had delicious BBQ from Rhythm and Ribz. Continue Reading »

Posted in Bolero Block Party, Bolero Snort Brewery, Carlstadt NJ, Piebald, The Get Up Kids, Wax Jaw | Leave a Comment »

Poppy (Wellmont Theater, Montclair, NJ, September 4, 2025)

September 7, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 4, 2025] Poppy

Five months ago I saw Poppy play at the Fillmore.  I didn’t realize it was only five months ago, but it makes sense that this is still the same tour.  On the way to the show it started raining and as I drove around Montclair looking for a handicapped spot, I was sure I’d be really late.  Then one showed up in front of the library.  But right after I got out of the car the skies opened up and I got soaked.   Good grief.

Last time I wrote

I didn’t know how crowded it would be (somewhat), nor how enthusiastic the crowd would be (very).

And it was the same tonight.  The show definitely wasn’t sold out, but the crowd was really intense–two young girls sat in front of me and apologized saying they were going to stand a lot–which they did.

Seated?  Yes.  I had GA pit tickets, but they kindly shuffled me to the ADA seated section which was great for the first two bands, but behind too many tall people for Poppy so I wound up standing as well.

Before the show started, a giant keyhole appeared on the screen above the stage and an eye (Poppy’s I assume) looked out at us.

And then the masked band came out on stage, followed by Poppy who was wearing a white outfit with longish pants that looked like old fashioned knickers.

The setup was different from last time.  Last time Poppy was off to the side somewhat, but this time she was right up front, stalking the stage and being pretty cool.

But the songs were more or less the same.  Like last time she opened with “have you had enough?” which I once again thought sounds a ton like Garbage, even the heavy part sounds like Garbage, but with a more metal than alt sound.  Although there is a lot of absolute screaming at the end which is uniquely Poppy.

I love the insanity of BLOODMONEY with her singing “beg for forgiveness from Jesus the Christ” over and over while the band played all manner of weird sounds.   For V.A.N. (violence against nature) the opening was quiet with Poppy’s gentlest vocals (including a whispered line), until the band bashed out the chords.  Poppy sang really fast lyrics with ease.  I have just learned that this song was written by Bad Omens with the intention of Poppy singing it. Continue Reading »

Posted in Montclair, NJ, MSPaint, Poppy, UnityTX, Wellmont Theater | Leave a Comment »

James: Laid and Deep Cuts (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, September 7, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

September 7, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 7, 2025] James: Laid and Deep Cuts

Back in the day I rally liked James a lot.  I got into them through Laid and listened to most of their music over the years.  Although I stopped listening in 2001.  Turns out that broke up and reunited in 2008 and I totally missed it.  Haven’t heard anything on their reunion albums (there are 9, as many as they put out before they broke up).

A few days before the show a DJ on WXPN was listing all of the songs he hoped they’d play and I started to remember all the songs I liked by them. But it was too late to go by then.

Interestingly, James doesn’t come to the US very often.  They opened for Johnny Marr last year, and the previous tour was in 2016 (they played Kung Fu Necktie, which is so tiny it’s insane–they also played there in 2015).

Looking at the setlist, it was pretty good.  They played all of Laid, but not in order–they stretched it out through the whole show.  In addition to Laid, they played three songs from 7, 2 from Whiplash (which I really liked), 1 from Gold Mother and 1 from Pleased to Meet You.  The rest were new songs that I didn’t know.

So I’m not that bummed about missing it.

Posted in James, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

UnityTX (Wellmont Theater, Montclair, NJ, September 4, 2025) [POPPY]

September 6, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 4, 2025] UnityTX

I was under the impression that MSPaint was the only opening band for this show (and I thought I might get home by like 11).  Then this afternoon I found out that UnityTX was also opening.  I’d never heard of them.  I listened to a bit of a song and heard that they were very heavy and rather screamy.  So I was ready with earplugs in.

And then they came out on stage and proceeded to rip the roof off the place.  Even though I didn’t know them, their sound was so much more alive than MSPaint’s.  Was it because there was a guitarist instead of a synth?  Or maybe it was because lead singer Jay Webster had stage presence galore.

He got people to do a circle pit, he got the audience to sing along and to even have a right side/left side “battle.”

We were on the side of bassist Kendrick Nicholson whose low end was amazing.  Kendrick also added some intense backing vocals.   I couldn’t really see guitarist Ricky Cova until he bounced around the stage, but his sharp and heavy guitar sound was fantastic.

I’ll be a little prudish and say there were too many f words in the songs–but It was more just overuse that made the lyrics seem less powerful.

But like Rage Against the Machine, they repeated parts a lot, which made it easy to sing along to. Continue Reading »

Posted in Montclair, NJ, MSPaint, Poppy, UnityTX, Wellmont Theater | Leave a Comment »

Ethel Cain / 9million (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, September 6, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

September 6, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 6, 2025] Ethel Cain / 9million

My daughter has been a fan of Ethel Cain for a while.  We got to see her two years ago at All Things Go, but I didn’t know her at all, and I think my daughter was just getting into her.  The crowd was bananas for Ethel, and I feel like if we had tried harder, we could have gotten closer and been a real part of the show with her.

Once this tour was announced, I set out to get two tickets immediately.  And I was totally shut out.  It sold out in minutes.  I kept checking over the months to see if anything became available and there were 3 seats–each priced at over $400 so never mind.

Then I found out that a friend of ours had an extra ticket and she was trying to sell it.  So I told her I’d take it and gave my daughter a lovely surprise.

I was bummed to discover a day before the show that there were now two tickets available at a reasonable price, but I already had plans to go to the Bolero Block Party.

So, she went with them and told me that Ethel was amazing.

Even though they arrived early, they missed 9million entirely because they were on the merch line (for over 90 minutes!).  According to King’s Raleigh,

9Million is a Toronto shoegaze band helmed by the multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer Matthew Tomasi. Best known for his work with alt pop icons like Ethel Cain

So that explains the connection, because I find 9million to be way way heavier than Ethel (and far more my scene).  I would have been really bummed to have missed them if I was on the merch line, but what they didn’t know didn’t hurt them and they didn’t mind missing them.

Posted in 9million, Ethel Cain, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia | Leave a Comment »

MSPaint (Wellmont Theater, Montclair, NJ, September 4, 2025) [POPPY]

September 5, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 4, 2025] MSPaint

I was under the impression that MSPaint was the only opening band for this show (UnityTX was added later).  I listened to them and was mildly intrigued.

When I arrived at the Wellmont, the parking sucked and it was raining really hard.  By the time I got into the building, I think MSPaint was just about to start.  When I entered the foyer, the nice lady there told me to stand by the side and she’d get someone to help me to the ADA section (I didn’t know they had one).  But it was pretty chaotic an took awhile for them to get me to my seat.  By the time I was seated MSPaint was about half way done.

So MSPaint is a kind of metal/punk band that has NO GUITAR PLAYER (gasp!).  They have bass (Randy Riley) drums (Quinn Mackey) and electronics (Nick Panella) with vocals by Deedee.

Deedee’s delivery was kind of like Rage Against the Machine–the same tone and same sloganeering.  It kind of worked but something felt a little flat in the execution.  Riley was going pretty nuts on the bass and I rather liked the electronics that Panella was laying down, but it just didn’t do anything for me.  It was loud but didn’t feel “full” like the two instruments weren’t blending.  And, I felt like the vocals were maybe too loud, superceding the music.

I heard about three full songs but nothing really stuck with me.

All of which is kind of a shame because the album is pretty solid and feels fuller.  Maybe I was just suffering from weather sadness to appreciate their set.

Posted in Montclair, NJ, MSPaint, Poppy, UnityTX, Wellmont Theater | Leave a Comment »

Rilo Kiley / Natalie Bergman (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, September 4, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

September 4, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOTTTEND: September 4, 2025] Rilo Kiley / Natalie Bergman

The announcement of a Rilo Kiley tour was major news!  I was pretty excited about even though I didn’t really know the band.  But I knew and liked Jenny Lewis and assumed her old band would be similarly great.

But I listened to a few of their songs and didn’t really like them.  So, I saved some money and a night out (actually I went to Poppy instead).

Natalie Bergman is a singer from Chicago. She has an interesting, lovely voice but I didn’t really care for her music that much.  I mean, I wasn’t going to this show anyhow, but I do like to hear what the openers sound like.

Posted in Natalie Bergman, Philadelphia, PA, Rilo Kiley, The Met Philadelphia | Leave a Comment »

Swans / Little Annie & Paul Wallfisch (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, September 4, 2025) DID NOT ATTEND]

September 4, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 4, 2025] Swans / Little Annie & Paul Wallfisch

Last year I saw Swans for the first time.  It was intense and wonderful.

This year, the band announced that they would tour once more and this would be the last time in this format:

This is to let you know that there will be zero additional shows/tours added to the 2 Swans tours listed here. This is the final tour, the last chance to experience this expansive sound and ensemble. The players: Kristof Hahn, Norman Westberg, Dana Schechter, Phil Puleo, Larry Mullins, Christopher Pravdica, Michael Gira. This marks about 15 years of this phase of Swans. It’s been wonderful to be inside such an overwhelming, total sonic experience, but it’s time to end it. Following these 2 tours Swans will continue in a much different, stripped down version. I’m not exactly sure what form the music will take, but I’m excited to find out.

I put this show on my maybe pile because I did want to go but if something better came along, I’d be okay with missing it, since I  had just seen it the year before.

And then Poppy announced a show near us and I got tickets for my daughter and I.

Swans wound up playing an entirely different set then when I saw them, but since most Swans music is of the same ilk, I pretty much know what the show was like (glorious, no doubt). Continue Reading »

Posted in Little Annie, Paul Wallfisch, Philadelphia, PA, Swans, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Karina Rykman (McLaughlin Norcross Memorial Dell, Haddon Heights, NJ, September 3, 2025)

September 4, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 3, 2025] Karina Rykman 

We didn’t really plan to go to  this show, especially since it was right at the beginning of the school year.  But, since these shows have a strict 9:30 curfew, we decided to drive the hour and get a free show with Karina Rykman!  Because who doesn’t love a night of Karina!

The amazing thing is that Karina has recently posted videos of her in front of these giant festival crowds, and here we were surrounded by a few hundred people and able to get right up next to the stage.

Karina came out and the joy and good vibes started right away.  It’s unclear whether the crowd knew her or not (although there were a lot of hippie types with jam band shirts on).  The trio absolutely fills the space with guitar wizard Adam November filling the space with his effects and soloing skills and drummer Chris Corsico keeping things together but adding some fun too.

The opening instrumental jamming of the new song Lagos > Dirty South was just fantastic.  A jamming/funky/super fun opening which got a whole lot of people off their feet and standing in front of the stage.  This blocked our view and so we took this as a chance to get up and dance (well, sway, really).  Which also meant getting right up on stage to see even better.

I always wonder what people think when they shift from the rocking instrumentals to her far more poppy and gentle song-songs.  Her voice is so soft an airy (very different from her speaking voice).  But these songs are a delightful breather before the grooviness of Plants comes on (with Adam November showcasing all of the cool sounds he can get from his gear).

Up next was another new song, Change My Flight (I guess a new album is on the way?) followed by the Ween cover Springtheme.  When she was singing the lyrics I was think they didn’t sound like her lyrics and now I see that it’s a Ween cover.  It segued perfectly into City Kids.  The crowd loved City Kids and mid-song she brought up Jeremy Kaplan of Dogs in a Pile to play a lengthy melodica solo [no wonder she didn’t have time to play everything on the setlist]. Continue Reading »

Posted in David Bakey, Haddon Heights, NJ, Karina Rykman, McLaughlin Norcross Memorial Dell, Philadelphia, PA, Summer Concert Series | Leave a Comment »

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