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So what happened here?

June 10, 2022 by Paul Debraski

For nearly fourteen years I was able to keep up this daily blog of books and music.

About a year ago I got a promotion and that changed everything.  I no longer had the time to post everything I wanted to.  Heck, I didn’t even seem to have the time to read all the short stories I wanted to.  Amusingly (or not), just before this new position, I had gotten a print subscription to the New Yorker.  This now means that I (like many others) have a two-foot stack of New Yorker magazines that I haven’t even looked at yet.

For a few weeks I was limiting myself to only the concerts that I went to because that was a little easier to write about.  Although back in the good old days, I used to include photo and links, and I pretty much have neither now. And I’m several shows behind as well.

So I’m still reading books and I think I may try to post some thoughts about them from time to time.  I’d also like to think I have time to write about my concerts, but even those are proving to be challenging.

So let’s consider the blog on hiatus more or less, with occasional posts about things I’ve read or listened to.

The good thing is that I like the new position and wouldn’t change it for the world. I guess I never realized how much down time my old position gave me!

Posted in Paul Debraski | 3 Comments »

Yasmin Williams with The Dream Quartet (Berlind Theater, Princeton, NJ, March 12, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

March 12, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: March 12, 2026] Yasmin Williams

I saw Yasmin Williams open for Michael Kiwanuka.  But she started early and I missed all but her last song.  It was wild fingerpicked guitar (she lays the guitar on her lap and has a kalimba at the end of it as well.  So much fun to watch.

I was psyched that she announced a show at McCarter and I snatched up two tickets.  But my son came home from college that night and we decided to stay in and celebrate his homecoming instead.

When I saw her she was solo.  For this show, she played with The Dream Quartet who I had never heard of.  Their bio says

The New York City based Dream String Quartet quartet is made up of founding members Malachi Brown, Dwayne Beach, Elizabeth Hendy, and Maggy Simon. The quartet was built on desire to invent, curiosity to experiment, and passion to collaborate. True to our name, we are dreamers at heart, dedicated to sharing our music and art with the world. The quartet takes pride in incorporating singing and movement into its performances and creations, bringing a dynamic and multidimensional energy to the stage. The four members thrive on improvisation.

I was looking forward to seeing her solo although I’m sure the Dream Quartet would have only added lovely components to her songs.

 

Posted in Berlind Theatre, Princeton, NJ, The Dream Quartet, Yasmin Williams | Leave a Comment »

An evening with The Joy Formidable (Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, March 8, 2026) [POSTPONED]

March 8, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[POSTPONED: March 8, 2026] An evening with The Joy Formidable [moved to May 13, 2026]

I saw The Joy Formidable a couple of years ago and I loved their show.  It was amazing and I kicked myself for not having seen them sooner.  I knew I’d want to see them again.

Then there was some turmoil in the band.  Their drummer (Matt Thomas) left (amicably) and both Ritzy Bryan and Rhydian Dafydd made solo albums.  When this show was announced it was listed as an evening with The Joy Formidable, but also that ther would be solo work from both Ritzy (as her new alter ego Shy Western and by Rhydian.

Then they announced that they had to postpone their East Coast shows due to the expenses of touring.

They still performed their West Coast shows and one of the setlists shows that the first part of the show was Ritzy and Rhydian doing an acoustic duo show and the second half having their new drummer play with them.

When I found out that this show was an acoustic night I was somewhat less interested because I loved their loud and wild stage presence.  I didn’t mind that the show was postponed because it had been a busy week for me.  The new date is right in the middle of a bunch of other shows I was interested in going to. But after listening to one of the Shy Western songs, I really do like it and am interested in seeing them stripped down like this.

As long as they come back again and melt my face off.

Posted in Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, Rhydian Dafydd, Ritzy Bryan, Shy Western, The Joy Formidable | Leave a Comment »

Mia Asano / Billy Wilkins / Malphas (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, March 6, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

March 8, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: March 8, 2026] Mia Asano / Billy Wilkins / Malphas

In what is either serendipity or calculated planning, I heard about Mia Asano about three weeks before she announced this tour.  I was pretty sure I wanted to go because she looked like such a fun entertainer.  She plays a “flying V” electric violin that is more or less attached to her shoulder so she can move around while the violin stays put.

She plays mor or less heavy metal and her violin is super fast soloing.  But the more I thought about it the less I actually wanted to go.  It seemed more like a novelty than anything else.  And while I love novelty, I didn’t need to go to this one.  I think I’d rather see her as an opening act.

Billy Wilkins in from New Jersey.  He sings like a metal singer but his music feels much lighter than that.  I sort of like it but mostly don’t.  Although I suspect he’s enjoyable live.

I saw Malphas open for Arkona a few weeks ago.  I enjoyed their set but I came away thinking they were a bit amateurish, which is just an odd thing to think about a band (I blame Dingbatz more than the band I think).  Their music was pretty good and I would have enjoyed seeing them again in their home city.

 

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Baroness (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, March 6, 2026)

March 8, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: March 6, 2026] Baroness

I have seen Baroness twice before this show.  The first was an acoustic record release show at a Record Store.  The second was at a sold out Kung Fu Necktie in which I couldn’t see anything because of where I was.  So I felt I hadn’t really seen them.

I really wanted to see their Red and Blue tour (where they played both of those albums), but it sold out before I got a ticket.  So this was my chance.  It turned out that they were playing the following night at Starland Ballroom, but they were OPENING for Acid Bath, who I’d never heard of. Crazy.

But here they were headlining.  It feels like the band is really John Baizley (they only person who has been with the band from the start) and new(ish) lead guitarist and amazing shredder Gina Gleeson.  I had thought that the bassist and drummer were kind of new to the band, but Nick Jost has been bassist and Sebastian Thomson has been drummer since 2013–so, they’re long time fixtures for sure. Continue Reading »

Posted in Baroness, Blood Vulture, Commitment, John Baizley, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts | Leave a Comment »

Commitment (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, March 6, 2026) [BARONESS]

March 7, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: March 6, 2026] Commitment

I listened to Commitment just before the show and was blown away by the band’s old school hardcore punk sound.  And that the singer was a woman (not all that common in hardcore).  The woman is Tati Salazar who can scream with an unparalleled fury.   I noticed that the guitarist from Soul Glo was standing in the back of the stage, and that made even more sense when I found out that the drummer is Soul Glo vocalist Pierce Jordan.  And he is a beast on the drums!  Holy cow he is fast and loud.

Guitarist Jake Smith (of Eye Flys, who I do not know) was on the far side of the stage and bassist Zach Bailey, was in front of me.  Bailey was fascinating to watch because his bass work was excellent, but he did not fit the part–he looked a little like Peter Parker in the early Spiderman movies.  He also wore a black latex glove on his left hand–how did it not get ripped on the strings that he was sliding all over?  The last time I saw someone wearing those gloves on stage was also at UA when Damien from Fucked Up said that he had cut his hand and the glove was for protection.  If Bailey cut his hand, it didn’t impact his playing at all.

The band came out and exploded all over the stage.  It was no-frills hardcore punk with almost no song reaching the two-minute mark (except for one longer song).  Now, I couldn’t understand a lot of what Tati was singing, but her energy and intensity made it pretty clear what the songs were generally about. Continue Reading »

Posted in Baroness, Blood Vulture, Commitment, John Baizley, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts | Leave a Comment »

Aterciopelados / Laura Lizcano (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, March 7, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

March 7, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: March 7, 2026] Aterciopelados / Laura Lizcano

Back in the 90s I was a fan of Aterciopelados.  They never really made it onto my radar in the 2000s but I was really pleased to see that they were still together and touring.  I would have liked to go to this show but we had tickets to see DakhaBrakha already and I really wanted to see them.  Their sound has changed over the years but they retain Colombian styles as they shoft from more rocking sounds to their more recent poppy sounds.

Laura Lizcano is a Colombian singer who lives in New York now.   She combines Latin American musical traditions and indie alternative music. Her songs shine in both English and Spanish with deeply personal and confessional storytelling enhanced by a telenovela-like drama.  She has a lovely voice 

Posted in Aterciopelados, Laura Lizcano, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts | Leave a Comment »

DakhaBrakha (Berlind Theater, Princeton, NJ, March 7, 2026)

March 7, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: March 7, 2026] DakhaBrakha

Four years ago I saw DakhaBrakha and was blown away.  It was a very emotional time as Russia had just invaded Ukraine–support and anger were very high.  The music was beautiful and powerful and the messages of hope and resistance were very strong.  Their home base is in Kyiv and they have first hand experience with the tragedy.

It is simply unbelievable that four years later, the war is still going on.  And now with our new regime and Putin’s puppet in place, Ukraine is in even worse straights (although the EU does seem to be helping).

After seeing them, I wanted my wife to experience them as well.  I’m sad it took four years to see them again, but I’m glad they can still tour the U.S.  I asked the rest of my family if they wanted to experience this as well (and bravo to them all for saying yes with the very vague descriptions I gave).  My daughter couldn’t go because if a last minute commitment, but my wife and my son really enjoyed it.

The band is a quartet: Marko Halanevych.  He plays more than this but for tonight he did: vocals, goblet drum, harmonica, accordion guitar and certainly other things.

Then there was Olena Tsybulska, vocals and drums.  She had a small kit but a huge sound.  Next to her was Iryna Kovalenko who played everything.  She sang and played mostly keyboards, but also drums, djembe, flute, buhay, piano, ukulele, zgaleyka, and a tiny accordion.  And last but not least, Nina Garenetska sang and played cello.  The cello was the one major constant through the songs–she made bass lines, rhythms and even cool effects through pedals.

Each woman’s voice was amazing–powerful and resonant.  And when the women sang together, wow.  It was mesmerizing.  Marko sings lead on many songs.  He has a falsetto and also a deeper vocal style.  He played accordion for many of the songs.

They sing almost entirely in Ukrainian.  Marko speaks English between songs (and the women chimed in from time to time).  And there were two songs in English, the light-hearted “I’ve Boarded the Wrong Plane” [“Ye Siv Ne v Toy Litak”] and the kind of silly Baby. Continue Reading »

Posted in Berlind Theatre, DakhaBrakha, Princeton, NJ, Ukraine | Leave a Comment »

Blood Vulture (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, March 6, 2026) [BARONESS]

March 6, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: March 6, 2026] Blood Vulture

I had not heard of Blood Vulture before this show was announced.  I listened to their record and was kind of surprised at just how much they sounded like Alice in Chains.  Singer Jordan Olds sounded quite a lot like Layne Staley, almost shockingly so.  It’s possible that it was a combination of his voice and the backing vocalist(s) who really made this comparison, but it was unavoidable.  They are a bit heavier and groovier on record.  And live, the Alice in Chains delivery is pretty much gone.  But the energy remained.

I didn’t know anything about Blood Vulture or Jordan Olds who is also known as Gwarsenio Hall from his popular YouTube series, ‘Two Minutes to Late Night.”  During the Baroness set, John Baizley said that they had been on Jordan’s show a number of times.

I was initially turned off by Jordan because he did that thing where opening bands demand that people dance (and circle pit) to their music.  I’m not convinced that anyone can insist on a pit–they should form organically.  Anyhow, I didn’t love his attitude, but I quickly learned that he’s pretty funny and whatever these songs are about, he told us that each song was “about sucking blood!”

Their drummer was fantastic, and indeed, everyone in the band was great.  I loved the sound of the bass.  The lead guitarist played some great solos and they keyboardist sang great backing vocals too.  Although the recording was all done by Jordan, so there was no introduction of the band members. Continue Reading »

Posted in Baroness, Blood Vulture, Commitment, John Baizley, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts | Leave a Comment »

Anything Goes (Somerville High School, Somerville, NJ, March 5, 2026)

March 5, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: March 5, 2026] Anything Goes

Two years ago we saw The Rider University performance of Anything Goes and it was amazing.  The performers at Rider are phenomenal.

This year, my daughter’s high school put on Anything Goes and I have to say that they did a great job, too.  The biggest difference was, of course, budget.  The set and look of the Rider performance were stunning and the high school did a great job with the set with what was clearly a smaller budget.

The other big difference was the tap dance section.  The Rider performance had two tap dancers who are utterly fantastic–I believe they are going on to professional work.  The high school also did tap dancing and they were really good.  If I hadn’t see the Rider performance first, I would have been blown away at how great the high school students did.

But the acting and singing was great. I laughed a lot at the performances and was really impressed by the singing.

And the tech crew did an amazing job!

Posted in Acting, Anything Goes, Drinking, Regrets, Set at School, Somerville High School, Somerville, NJ, Theater | Leave a Comment »

Jesse Welles / S.G. Goodman (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, March 4, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

March 4, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: March 4, 2026] Jesse Welles / S.G. Goodman

I started following Jesse Welles online because he made videos of himself singing songs in a field that were political and timely.  Something stupid would happen and he would have a decent song about it within a day.

I had no idea that he was  the same guy they were playing on WXPN. I really liked the song Horses and now they play Wheel all the time (possibly too much).

I’m not really sure what his set would be like–I assume it’s just him.  He seems like he’d be a really good performer–personable and easily improvised.  But this show was sold out pretty quickly, so I didn’t bother investigating more.

During the pandemic, S.G. Goodman was supposed to open for Nada Surf.  So back in 2021 I wrote

S.G. Goodman is a singer-songwriter from Western Kentucky known for her rootsy sound and raw, honest lyricism. Her debut album came out in March.  I’ve listened to “The Way I Talk” and wow, what a cool song.  A simple repetitive beat with Goodman’s raw voice.  She doesn’t sing like a country singer (so that’s good), she tells a song story that ends with some amazing guitar feedback.  I’d love to see her live.

Since then she has gotten a ton of airplay on WXPN/  I like most of her songs although she is a bit overplayed now too.

This was probably a fun, upbeat folkie night.

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