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Phoebe Rings (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 6, 2025) [THE BETHS]

December 6, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: December 6, 2025] Phoebe Rings

I hadn’t heard of Phoebe Rings and then I found out that she (I now know that Phoebe Rings is a band name and no one in the band is named that) was opening for The Beths on Saturday and Sunday and opening for Speedy Ortiz on Monday.

The Beths and Phoebe Rings are from New Zealand and, it turns out that Phoebe Rings and Speedy Ortiz are on the same record label.

Phoebe Rings began as the solo project of musician Crystal Choi, and is now a four-piece made of jazz students (guitarist Simeon Kavanagh-Vincent, bassist Benjamin Locke and drummer Alex Freer).

We arrived and had ADA seats.  Then we laughed as the tallest person in the room stood in front of us.  We could still see just fine, but it was hilarious how much taller he was than everyone else.

Phoebe Rings was delightful.  They are described as dream pop but they were a bit more like jazz pop.  I’d even go so far as to say they were like lounge music.  There was an early Stereolab vibe musically (not lyrically). Continue Reading »

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Phoebe Rings, The Beths, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Portugal. The Man (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 4, 2025)

December 5, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: December 4, 2025] Portugal. The Man

I saw Portugal. The Man last year in Asbury Park.  It was an overcrowded show and I found it pretty unpleasant to be there (not a fan of The Stone Pony).  Although the band was so much fun and played great songs, I came away from the show not knowing if I’d want to see them again.  But a year passed and I realized the problem was the crowd not the band.  So when they announced this show at Union Transfer, I decided to get a ticket.  And an ADA seat.

The seat was a good choice because I had lots of room, but I feel like I missed out on some interesting on stage interactions because I was pretty far back.

In the past, the band has had a Native speaker introduce the band.  They would talk about the land we were on and, in Asbury, they did a traditional song.  I expected the same tonight, but instead, they played a short film that was very powerful.  It was about The Living Fire–people, detatched from nature and the evil spirits are coming in.  Avoid the dark forces of anti-reality.

Then the band came out–something between seven and ten people (I wasn’t that close and some people seemed to come and go).

Denali a really heavy song with a classic heavy metal sound in the guitars, although the vocals are pure PTM.  Pittman is pure hardcore, with screamed vocals. The singer was David Marion (from the band Fear Before) whose intense screams set this song apart.  I’m not even sure if he did anything else–he was very tall and seemed to come out of nowhere.  The thing about the visuals was that they projected images on a screen behind them which mean they were in shadow or silhouette most of the night. Continue Reading »

Posted in La Luz, Philadelphia, PA, Portugal The Man, Snacktime, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

ZeLooperz (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 3, 2025) [EARL SWEATSHIRT]

December 5, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: December 3, 2025] ZeLooperz 

After seeing Tyler the Creator earlier this year, I thought my daughter might also enjoy seeing Earl Sweatshirt, his former partner in Odd Future.

It had been about 50 minutes and the third act was bouncing on stage.  ZeLooperz brought some much needed energy to the stage.

He was fast and funny–loud and interactive.  He has some great song titles (not sure if he played them or not though): JayJay-Z, Bustin Jieber.

He immediately shouted a Hands Up!  Which most people did.  It was during his set that I realized how short most of the songs have been.  Most are around the 2 minute mark.

About half way through he brought a guest on stage (Quadie Diesel) and he rapped a song while everyone on stage danced around.  And then he had a dance contest–he cleared the floor–but don’t worry this ain’t no mosh pit, this is for the ladies, this was “Skinny Dip.” Continue Reading »

Posted in Alexey Ekimyan, Cletus Strap, Earl Sweatshirt, Liv.E, Niontay, Philadelphia, PA, Quadie Diesel, Union Transfer, ZeLooperz | Leave a Comment »

Niontay (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 3, 2025) [EARL SWEATSHIRT]

December 4, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: December 3, 2025] Niontay

After seeing Tyler the Creator earlier this year, I thought my daughter might also enjoy seeing Earl Sweatshirt, his former partner in Odd Future.

After Cletus Strap, Niontay was up.  He came out in a huge puffer jacket and had excellent locs.  He is also a mumble rapper (he even has a song called mumbleman).  He too had a lot of people videoing him while walking around him on stage.

Pitchfork loved Niontay back in 2024:

His flow is all over the map: He can lay a stone-faced delivery over a hearty chipmunk-soul loop fit to soundtrack a downtown New York streetwear shop, or raise his pitch to Florida-fast-music levels–a relentless marathon of cold punchlines and flexes.

And that seemed right.  He had a lot more variety than Cletus, although overall the tone was similar.

At some point possibly during Cletus’ set, Earl Sweatshirt came up on stage too.  He stood behind the table with the DJ and may have done some DJ work too–it was hard to tell.  So by the middle of Niontay’s set there were nearly a dozen people on stage, mostly just hanging around while the person rapping took center stage. Continue Reading »

Posted in Cletus Strap, Earl Sweatshirt, Liv.E, Niontay, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, ZeLooperz | Leave a Comment »

La Luz (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 4, 2025) [PORTUGAL. THE MAN]

December 4, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: January 28, 2026] La Luz

I grabbed tickets to the Portugal. The Man show and was really excited that La Luz was opening for them.

I know La Luz from a live Levitation recording that I really dig.  I don’t know a lot more about the band aside from the basic bio.  They are from Seattle and are known for their “surf noir” style, with layered vocal harmonies.  The blurb says their “energetic live shows often include Soul Train-inspired dance contests and crowd surfing.”

As and opening band it’s unlikely that you’ll elicit that kind of response, but the crowd did really enjoy them.

I had an ADA seat so I wasn’t worried about trying to get too close to the stage.  And since I had a few minutes I checked out the booths that PTM had in the lobby. There were some great causes including their own book publishing label.  I saw some excellent bandanas for sale with the money going to good causes, so I bought two.  But the guy selling them to me was so slow!  It felt like he needed to tell me the origin of each one and where the money was going to and, I don’t know, the serial number.  And while he was doing this La Luz started.  So I missed the beginning and some of I Wanna Be Alone.  I could hear through the doors, but boy was I annoyed.

So La Luz has been around since 2012.  They were founded by Shana Cleveland who sings and plays guitar.  She is a great front woman, clearly having a great deal of fun.  She does play a kind of surf guitar, but that is mostly due to the vibrato.  Some songs are clearly not surfy at all, like Poppies.  But the guitar has that classic vibrato sound.

Anyhow, I got to my seat as that first song was ending and they moved right on to Call Me in the Day, a slower statelier song with lots of keys from Maryam Qudus.  For even though there is kind of a punky edge to the band, they are all about harmonies and cool sounds.  Plus, during the keyboard solo, Shana and bass Lee Johnson did a spinning dance routine. Continue Reading »

Posted in La Luz, Philadelphia, PA, Portugal The Man, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Cletus Strap (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, December 3, 2025) [EARL SWEATSHIRT]

December 3, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: December 3, 2025] Cletus Strap

After seeing Tyler the Creator earlier this year, I thought my daughter might also enjoy seeing Earl Sweatshirt, his former partner in Odd Future.

What was fascinating was that Tyler’s show was MASSIVE.  He sold out Wells Fargo Center.  He had two stages, lots of lights, and a whole routine.  Earl’s show was at Union Transfer and didn’t even have a backdrop.  There was no light show, just the venue’s lights.  And all of that is totally fine, it was just such a contrast.

It was also interesting that there were FIVE artists on the bill and I hadn’t heard of any but Earl.

There was a table in the middle of  the stage.  There was a DJ (possibly unnamed).  He had a laptop or two.

Up first was Cletus Strap. Continue Reading »

Posted in Cletus Strap, Earl Sweatshirt, Liv.E, Niontay, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer, ZeLooperz | Leave a Comment »

Sanguisugabogg / Despised Icon / Defeated Sanuty / Corpse Pile (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 29, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

November 29, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 29, 2025] Sanguisugabogg / Despised Icon / Defeated Sanity / Corpse Pile

There’s a few reasons why I like Sanguisugabogg and none have to do with their music.  Most of it is their social media presenceand thatthey have some kind of sense of humor. I also love that their name is crazy and their logo is impossible to read because their name is so weird.  They play death metal.  Lots of death metal.

Despised Icon is a Montreal based deathcore band.  So lots of growing and lots of really fast drums.  The drums in MVP sound impossible fast to me (and also don’t sound very heavy).

Defeated Sanity is a German technical death metal band.  They throw n some fascinating prog rock elements and then blow it all away with really fast parts and really deep growling vocals.

Corpse Pile is from Houston.  They are heavy, slow, and heavy.  The singer sings in the slowest growling manner I think I’ve ever heard.

I like a little death metal now and again.  This evening would have destroyed me.  Possibly just seeing a whole show by Sanguisugabogg would have destroyed me.

Posted in Corpse Pile, Defeated Sanity, Despised Icon, Emma Harner, Leith Ross, Philadelphia, PA, Sanguisugabogg, Union Transfer | Leave a Comment »

Avatar / Alien Weaponry / SpiritWorld (Archer Music Hall, Allentown, PA, November 28, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

November 28, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 28, 2025] Avatar / Alien Weaponry / SpiritWorld 

Avatar are a great live band. I’ve seen them three times and have been wanting to take my son to see them.  We did get to see them open for Pierce the Veil, but it was really hard to see what was going on.  I think I need one more show from them.  But this wasn’t it.  It was the weekend after Thanksgiving and we had company, so we did not go to this one.

Alien Weaponry are a power trio from New Zealand.   They play a mix of thrash and hardcore but with some really catchy parts as well.  The band currently consists of Lewis de Jong (guitar and vocals), Henry de Jong (drums), and Ethan Trembath (bass guitar). They are known for tackling sociopolitical issues particularly pertaining to New Zealand’s history and contemporary society. They often incorporate Te Rao Māori lyrics into their songs.  So that’s pretty cool.  Listening to Kai Tangata, it’s clearly not English.  Maybe their fans can learn a new language.

SpiritWorld are pretty fascinating.  They sound like Helmet but they dress like spangled cowboys.  They have an album called Deathwestern which is hilarious.   They play mostly thrash metal with elements of death metal (and chanted choruses), yet thematically it’s all about Westerns.  I hear elements of Slayer and Pantera in their songs too.

This whole evening would have been pretty intense.

Posted in Alien Weaponry, Archer Music Hall, Avatar, Phantogram, SpiritWorld  | Leave a Comment »

Momma / Narrow Head (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, November 22, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

November 22, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 22, 2025] Momma / Narrow Head

I saw Momma back in May and really enjoyed their set a lot.  They play the kind of music that I just love–female fronted alt/grungy stuff.  When they announced this show in Asbury I was really sure I wanted to go.  I mean, they were great when I saw them last time and I think they only get better each time.

Plus, I suspect that their next album will show them growing their sound more.  I imagine they’ll be expanding their sound some. So the next time they tour, it will be for a new album and they won’t play these songs as much.  But sometimes things come up and seeing a band you just saw six months ago isn’t as important.

This was, apparently a double headline show with Narrow Head whom I’ve never heard of.  Turns out they did a split single with Momma.  They are from Dallas and sound a lot like Helmet or Biohazard or some heavy band like that.  They seem like a really odd match for Momma, but it was probably an interesting show.

Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, Momma, Narrow Head | Leave a Comment »

Rheostatics: The Great Lakes Suite (TD Music Hall, Toronto, ON, November 21 & 22, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

November 21, 2025 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 21 & 22, 2025] Rheostatics

I am a huge fan of the Rheostatics, but I’ve only seen them live one time–ten years ago!

They don’t play live much these days and they record music even less.   But they had just released this new project–The Great Lakes Suite.  And, even crazier, Alex Lifeson was on the record and was going to play live!  I could go to this relatively small venue in Toronto and see one of my favorite bands with one of my favorite guitarists.

When I saw Rheostatics, they were playing their Group of 7 album–it was a special event.  So, I saw them play my least favorite of their albums (although live it was really tremendous) plus a few extra songs.

The Great Lakes Suite is a beautiful piece of symphonic music inspired by the Great Lakes.  And this is what they were playing.  And no matter how much I wanted to see Rheostatics and how exciting it was to see Alex up close, I didn’t want to drive all the way to Toronto and hear a band I love NOT play the songs I wanted to hear.

I see on the setlist that they played the entire Suite and two encores.  So I’m glad I didn’t get tickets.

Posted in Alex Lifeson, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Dave Bidini music, Hugh Marsh, Kevin Hearn, Martin Tielli, Rheostatics, TD Music Hall, Tim Vesely | Leave a Comment »

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