Feeds:
Posts
Comments

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!

[ATTENDED: May 27, 2026] Witch Club Satan

I found out about Witch Club Satan last year.  I’m not sure how I stumbled upon them (maybe Instagram?)  Anyhow,  I was immediately struck by the band:  three Norwegian women in corpse paint singing black metal.  And they were great.  They sang about different subjects (for black metal) and they were fearless.  They had great screams and were completely intense.

I didn’t really think they’d come to the States since they seem pretty niche, and yet, soon enough it was announced they were coming to the States for the first time, bring their tour: Founding of the North American Coven.  And they were coming to Underground Arts.  I grabbed a ticket immediately since I never know if shows like this will sell out.  It didn’t and I was able to invite my son along and grab a ticket day before.  He’s technically not allowed in Underground Arts yet (it’s 21+) but evidently, as long as I let them know ahead of time and follow some basic rules, he was allowed to come along.

He loved the venue (it is very cool) and he loved Witch Club Satan (Penelope Trappes not so much).  Actually, we were both blown away by Witch Club Satan.

The lights went down and they started playing a deep, synthy chord It went on for a few minutes (too long, tbh), but I think they were still setting up because shortly after, the band walked from behind the stage, holding incense.  They walked through the crowd, slowly, making eye contact with everyone nearby.  It was so impressive and the crowd was rapt.

When they arrived on stage lead singer and guitarist Nix (Nikoline Spjelkavik) welcomed us to the coven and they launched into Hysteria.  It was amazing seeing them up close.  The three women wear corpse paint and have blackened eyes and markings.  And from this distance it was easy to see that they blackened their teeth as well.  For the first couple of songs they wore knitted sweaters with openings for their breasts, as well as knitted horned headgear. Nix invited everyone to dance or take their tops off.

Bassist and singer Hedda (who is filling in for Victoria Røising who just had a baby!) was awesome.  She also sang and used a violin bow and a sword on her bass.

The songs are black metal–heavy, short, fast and growled.  I wished I had listened to their music a bit more just so I knew what was happening.  I was able to take a photo of the setlist before they came out so I knew what they were playing, but there were some notes on the page that made things a little unclear.  And after Water Girl, all three women came to the front of the stage to sing the mournful Mother Sea, a completely non black metal story/song that was really intense.

After the song they left the stage and showed a video on the stage.  A few minutes later they returned wearing nothing except for floor-length black wigs (and flesh-colored underpants).  They stood on stage and proceeded to spit blood on the stage and into the crowd (I got some on my glasses!).  Nix leaned into the crowd and whispered into the ear of the woman near me–wonder what she said.

For the intro of Black Metal is Krig, Nix shouted out that there would be no mercy for the mercyless–not for the warmongers, not for Netanyahu.  For the final song of this section, Mother, the three women came to the front of the stage again and they sang/screamed the word Mother (hearing their drummer Johanna Holt Kleive–who did sing occasionally) scream the word Mother in a high pitched wail sent chills up my spine).

They returned for the third part of the set in new outfits–denim and sequined, um, torn headgear and clothing.  They looked insane, and being able to see Nix’s eyes through this mask was really creepy–especially as she made eye contact with everyone.  For You Wildflower, Hedda walked into the crowd and shouted the intro to everyone and people individually

You don’t give up, you don’t give up
The sky shivers, you don’t give up
The ground breaks, the heart aches (Motherfuckers)
The heart aches, the heart aches
They keep lying, they keep lying
The dictators, the small dicks
You keep pushing, you keep pushing (Motherfuckers)
You keep pushing
You keep breathing, you keep breathing
The sun’s shining on your resistance
You keep fighting, you keep fighting
You show up, you keep fighting
You wildflower

It was awesome.  Their “single” Fresh Blood, Fresh Pussy” is certainly catchy and it sounded great.  And then for Witchcraft Techno, Nix crowd surfed (despite being mostly naked) and was safely transported to the stage.  Before the last song, she told us that we reminded her of Norway which was both good and bad.  We were very polite but we were also very uptight and se wanted to see people dance with them.  I was (pleasantly) surprised that there had not been a mosh put up to this point.  I think all eyes were on the stage instead of thinking about dancing.  But the crowd did oblige for the final song and a pit was started.

And that was that.  Their set was about an hour and it was exhausting.  I’m so glad I bought a shirt before the show, but I do regret not buying the tour vinyl of their album.  And, if by any chance, they played nearby again, I would see them in a second.

  • Intro
  • Hysteria
  • Wild Whores
  • Water Girl
  • Mother Sea
  • I Was Made By Fire
  • Black Metal is Krig
  • Salvation
  • Mother
  • You Wildflower ®
  • Fresh Blood, Fresh Pussy
  • Witchcraft Techno
  • Solace Sisters §

® single (2025)
∇ Witch Club Satan (2025)
§ single (2022)

[ATTENDED: May 27, 2026] Penelope Trappes

I found out about Witch Club Satan last year.  I was immediately struck by the band:  three Norwegian women in corpse paint singing black metal.  And they were great. I didn’t really think they’d come to the States since they seem pretty niche, and yet, soon enough it was announced they were coming to the States for the first time.  I grabbed a ticket immediately

I didn’t know Penelope Trappes before this show.  I listened to a few minutes of a song and got the idea that she was a kind of ambient singer.

She came out on stage with a bow tied around her head with the ends raised above her head like horns or rabbit ears.  She had an electronics board and proceeded to make ambient sounds on it.  She is Australian, but lives in England.  She did say Fuck Ice, which–yes indeed!–but is she here long enough to know about ICE?   I don’t know how much international attention they are getting.  But she was immediately on our side after saying it.

She sang, often sounds, sometimes words.  The first song (I honestly don’t know if she was playing a song, multiple songs, or improvising) lasted about 20 minutes.  I only say this because that’s when she said thank you.  There were lots of changes throughout the 20 minutes and they could have been different songs but there’s no way to tell–her latest album is about 45 minutes and it’s possible she was playing the whole thing, but again, I don’t know.

Correction, I recalled a few words when she sang, and “violent hope” was one of the phrases. It’s from “Red Dove” which comes about half way through A Requiem.  It also featured synths ala Philip Glass which  rather liked. Continue Reading »

[ATTENDED: May 5, 2026] Bloodywood

My wife and I saw Bloodywood open for Babymetal about a year ago.  We loved everything about them–their intensity, their positivity and just how heavy they were.  So when they announced a headline tour I grabbed a ticket for myself, my wife and my son.  My son had a final exam the next morning so he opted not to come.  (Smart kid).   So that left my wife and I.  Normally I love seeing opening bands–some of my favorite live bands are band I first saw when they were an opener.

But I looked at this lineup and saw three openers–bands that I have never heard of–and told my wife that we could skip them all.  She had something to do until around 6:45, so we left a little around 7.  I figured we’d get into Philly with a bunch of extra time and then stroll in around 9 right after the third band finished.

Well, we didn’t realize it was Cinco de Mayo and had no idea that South Street was blocked off in a number of places because of some kind of free taco festival.  And we got caught in the middle of it.  We drove about a mile in 45 minutes, finally escaped the chaos and found a parking garage.  When we walked to South Street, there were crazily drunken people everywhere and police on every corner.  We negotiated the cops and entered the venue at around 9:15.  My wife later told me she thought they were going on at 9 so she was panicky and didn’t understand why I wasn’t.  Well, there was no merch line, so I bought a shirt and we headed into the packed room.

I don’t really like being so far back, but TLA is fairly small, so even being n the back isn’t so bad.  Aside from the guy who inexplicably felt the need to put both his hands over he head for most of the songs, I could see fine and the sound was great.

So Bloodywood is a metal band from New Dehli who started out as a band making heavy metal parodies of Bollywood songs.  In 2016, Katiyar quit his job as a corporate lawyer and together with Jayant Bhadula formed a two-piece band with the intention of “destroying pop songs”.

Now, live, the band is a six-piece.  Katiyar plays guitars and flute!  Bhadula sings and growls.  Raoul Kerr officially joined in 2019 and does rap vocals.  The touring band since 2019 includes Vishesh Singh on drums, Roshan Roy on bass and Sarthak Pahwa plays the dhol (an Indian drum that sounds amazing). Continue Reading »

[ATTENDED: August 2, 2024] Stick Men 

About a year and a half ago I saw Stick Men for the first time and it was fantastic.

I was able to get up close to the stage to see Tony Levin (the main reason I wanted to go) play the Chapman Stick up close.  I have seen him play with King Crimson but have never been THIS close.  I didn’t know much about Markus Reuter, who also plays a kind of Stick–his own U8 Touch guitar.  But wow, he was amazing.  And he made playing these crazy complicated song so easy.  And I can’t forget Pat Mastoletto, who I’ve seen several times playing drums with King Crimson.  He’s amazing to watch, but I laughed to myself at what an amazing show this was if he was the least interesting thing on stage.

I enjoyed the show so much last time and I was really looking forward to this show as well.  The lineup was the same as last time.  And I was able to get nice and close.

I don’t know many of their actual songs.  And it doesn’t matter.  They mostly play instrumentals that are complicated and fantastic to watch.  Much like saying you could listen to a favorite singer sing the phone book–whatever the instrumental equivalent is, I was happy to watch it.

In fact, they opened this show with a relatively brief impov–almost a warm up–and it was fun to see them noodling on their instruments.  But it tunrs out that they played ten of the same songs as last time (in a different order) and that actually worked out really well, because  recognized them from last time, so it was even more fun knowing what was coming next.

They started with Cusp.  Reuter’s guitar is so fascinating because he holds it upright like a cello and both hands are just moving all over the fretboard.  Like a Chapman Stick but shaped like a guitar.  For this song, he was playing most of the bass line while Tony played lead on the Stick.

They followed it with the title track from their new EP Brutal–it was great–very heavy and rocking and featuring Tony going “uh!” Continue Reading »

[ATTENDED: April 29, 2026] Tim Motzer 

About a year and a half ago I saw the exact same lineup in the exact same place.  Tim Motzer opened for Stick Men.  Last year I hadn’t heard of Tim, but this year I had a much better idea of what to expect.  Last year I wrote

Tim Motzer is a Philly-based guitarist.  For his live show, he plays acoustic guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar, and electric guitar.  He loops his melodies and creates percussion by tapping on the hollow bodied acoustic (and gets a lot of different sounds from it).

Last time he played four songs.  This time it was five.  But the show started the same way (actually this time, someone in the front row said, “Take us on a journey, Tim.”

The first song was on the acoustic guitar.  It was fun to watch him build and then deconstruct the melodies and work within the drum beat that he created.

This year he said he had some new pedals.  One of the seemed to make his acoustic guitar sound like a glitchy electronic concoction. It was pretty neat.  Last time eh didn’t say the names of any songs.  But his year he told us he was working on an album and he was going to play songs that he was working on.  The first was Chaos Resolution.   He didn’t name the next one. Continue Reading »

[ATTENDED: April 23, 2026] Fishbone

A little over two years ago I saw Fishbone open for Parliament.  I had been a big fan of their earlier stuff but hadn’t paid much attention since the mid 90s.  They have gone through an astonishing amount of line up changes.

Back in 2023, the lineup was pretty close to the original with

  • Angelo Moore – vocals, saxophones, theremin, percussion (1979–present)
  • John Norwood Fisher – bass, vocals (1979–present)
  • “Dirty” Walter A. Kibby II – trumpet, vocals (1979–2003, 2010–present)
  • Christopher Dowd – keyboards, trombone, vocals (1979–1994, 2018–present)

The other two guys on stage were

  • John Steward – drums (1999–2016, 2021–present)
  • Mark Phillips – guitar (2019–present)

But evidently last year nearly the entire lineup left for one reason or another and so the only two original guys are Angelo and Christopher:

  • Angelo Moore – vocals, saxophones, theremin, percussion (1979-present)
  • Christopher Dowd – keyboards, trombone, vocals (1979–1994, 2018–present)
  • Tracey “Spacey T” Singleton – guitar (1997–2003, 2024–present)
  • Hassan Hurd – drums (2024–present)
  • JS Williams – trumpet, vocals (2024–present)
  • James Jones – bass (2025–present)

I hadn’t realized this upheaval before this show, but I am glad that I got to see the previous lineup at least once.  Now in fairness, Angelo Moore pretty much IS Fishbone, so he’s the guy that you really want to focus on.  But having said that, the rest of the band was great.  First, it was funny that Hassan’s drumset faced the wall (as if he were in a timeout).  I’m pretty sure this was because of the size of the stage.  But he was a beast on double bass drums (and I could see that he was barefoot).  I loved James Jones’ five strig bass sound.  Fishbone has always had great bass and his was perfect.

Spacey T was on the far side of the stage so I couldn’t really see him all that well, but he played killer riffs and solos. JS Williams was a fine replacement for Walter Kibby–his trumpet was great and he was a perfect hype man. Continue Reading »

[ATTENDED: April 22, 2026] Sir Chloe [rescheduled from December 7, 2025]

This show was initially scheduled for December, but Dana had appendicitis and had to postpone the east coast shows.  This worked out for me because I couldn’t get to the December show.

I was pretty pleased when I arrived that the people in front of me were (possibly) older than me.  They had gray hair but she was wearing a Sir Chloe shirt.  Sir Chloe is pretty much a TikTok sensation so her crowds tend to be young (my daughter introduced me to her–in fact I think I liked her shows more than she did so I went to this one without her).

I enjoyed being behind the older folks because she was very short.  But she left (bathroom?) at the end of Suzy Clue and a young woman pushed her way into he spot, followed by a much taller woman.  So, my view was blocked, and to make it worse, the first woman was an arm raiser–the worst affliction after loud talkers.  Luckily I was able to schooch over away from them–but I missed seeing how the older woman enjoyed the show.

Sir Chloe’s band came out on stage and by the end of the set I was blown away by them.  Alina Sloan was on bass.  She was the furthest from me, but–especially toward the end–her bass was great–exciting and rumbly.  I was in front of guitarist Soph Shreds and does she ever.  It was really fun watching her rock out and play some great loud chords.  She also had a few tricks up her sleeve which I enjoyed quite a bit.  But mostly I was blown away by drummer Maya Sepansky.  Holy shit, she was fantastic–she played all kinds of fills, played different rhythmic patterns and generally blew me away.

But as they started Squaring Up, Dana was singing from behind the curtain.  She came out on stage midsong wearing a Mannequin Pussy T-shirt and cargo pants.  A very different look from her red suit from the previous tour.  Like last time, she was deadpan and understated.  Unlike last time, she seemed to walked around a lot more, getting close to us on the edges of the stage.  Her on stage persona is so fascinating because unlike say Suzy Clue, she is not doing anything on stage.  No dancing, no writhing, just singing.  And I love that she has the confidence in herself and her music to just sing her songs.  And yet, despite not doing a lot, she is totally engaging–charismatic and weirdly engaging.

This tour was for her relatively new album Swallow the Knife. She played 8 of 11 songs from it (skipping The Hole (the opening song!), Complicated and Too Much).  And the fans were just as into the new stuff–it’s super catchy, like the ahha ahha of Forgiving.

She didn’t speak very much between songs–she’s very hard to figure out.  Although she did ask “who likes to Kiss” as an intro to Kiss (the woman next to me shouted “I volunteer!”)  The catchy “right-ee-ight-ee-ight” is fun as is the end, “I don’t want love, I want revenge.”

She only played 4 songs from her previous album.  But she chose good ones and played three in a row.  I love the noisy squealing of Salivate and that she followed it with the quieter Obsession.  I was really happy that she played Hooves (I don’t wanna hold hands)–one of my favorite songs that seemed well used near the end of the set to get everyone really pumped.

One of my favorite songs is Sedona, which has two catchy parts, the nicotine/amphetamine part and the Sedona/Arizona part gives you two sing alongs in one song.

She played 7 of 9 songs from her first album (Skipping Easy on You and Wrath), which still gets the biggest applause, I think.  People went nuts for July. She ended the set with two songs from the album.  I enjoyed the loud/quiet mix of Untie Me and Animal.  And then she told us she had time for one more song and everyone got excited when the dude who wanted Michelle so badly shouted Michelle!  But she messed with everyone by playing the very mellow Candy

The encore break was short and she came back out for Michelle which made everyone go crazy.  It’s not my favorite of her songs to be sure, although it’s what all the kids like.  I was happy that she ended the show with the ass kickng Too Close which features two great sing along moments, “I think it’s time for you to go ” and the stellar: “Don’t tell me to listen when you’ve got nothing to say.”

Sir Chloe songs feel kind of understated on record, like Passenger, but live, the band really rocks out.  The guitars are loud, the drums rumble and the bass throbs.  And the songs are fairly short so a 21 song set can run about 75 minutes and it feels like a much longer show.  I’m so glad I went and it was even fun to get home early.

Brooklyn Bowl 2026 Asbury Lanes, June 2024 The Foundry, April 2024
Squaring Up ¶ Should I Õ Should I Õ
July ¶ Salivate Õ Salivate Õ
Take It ⊗ Center Õ Center Õ
Passenger ⊗ Know Better Õ Know Better Õ
Kiss ⊗ Mercy Mercy ∇
Salivate Õ July ¶ July ¶
Obsession Õ Untie You ¶ Untie You ¶
I Am the Dog Õ Animal ¶ Animal ¶
Sedona ¶ Company Company ∇
Eyes ⊗ Hooves Õ Hooves Õ
Forgiving ⊗ Seventeen π Seventeen π
Forget It ⊗ Obsession Õ Obsession Õ
Company Over Again π Over Again π
Hooves Õ I Am the Dog Õ I Am the Dog Õ
Holy ⊗ Sedona ¶ Sedona ¶
Mercy Michelle ¶ Michelle ¶
Untie You ¶ Feel Again Õ Feel Again Õ
Animal ¶ encore encore
Candy ⊗ Easy on You ¶ Easy on You ¶
encore Forgiving Forgiving  ⊗
Michelle ¶ Too Close ¶ Too Close ¶
Too Close ¶

⊗ Swallow the Knife (2025)
π Single (2024)
Õ I am the Dog (2023)

∇ Single (2022)
¶ Party Favors (2020)

[ATTENDED: April 20, 2026] Pallbearer

I saw I had heard of Pallbearer but didn’t really know all that much about them.  I assumed they were a really heavy growling type of band.  So when Knoll announced that they were opening for them, I checked them out, enjoyed them and bought a ticket to the show.

It turns out that they are a doom metal band and the album that they were touring, Foundations of Burden, is a classic of the genre.

I had enjoyed the first two bands but when Knoll was done, a whole bunch of guys rushed to the stage.  One of them was actually a guy I’ve seen at a couple of shows recently (MMJ and Band of Horses–he even looks a bit like Jim James).  He is a massive headbanger (headbanging to Band of Horses!).  So he was finally in his element and he knew this album really well. There were a bunch of guys together who knew each other and they were all headbangers and fist pumpers.  And  while it was all harmless, I didn’t enjoy the vibe.

And when the band started I realized the real problem for me.  I was standing right in front of Brett Campbell’s guitar amps.  And it was LOUD!  So when he stepped up to the microphone and I literally couldn’t hear him I wasn’t too happy.  Later on, bassist Joseph D. Rowland sang another part and I couldn’t hear him either.

By the third song, when Devin Holt played a solo and I could hear it until Campbell started playing his guitar, I knew I had to move.

So the album has 6 songs which meant I was already half way through.  But I just wasn’t really enjoying myself.  So I left the front and headed toward the back.  And things were much better back there.  The sound was phenomenal–balanced perfectly and still loud as anything.  Mark Lierly was on drums with a fairly small kit net to the wall of amps–but he was certainly loud enough. Continue Reading »

[ATTENDED: April 20, 2026] Knoll

I saw Knoll open for Agriculture three months ago.  Then I saw that they were returning in three months to open for Pallbearer.  And they are the reason I went to this show (and why I listened to Pallbearer for the first time).

Knoll’s show in January was just mind blowing–intense and wild and loud and a little scary.  And I really wanted to see them again.  Last time I was in front of guitarist Cameron Giarraputo, so this time I wanted to experience it from the other side of the stage in front of Ryan Cook guitarist and trumpet (!) player.

What did I write three months ago?

I have seen a lot of extreme bands, but there’s nothing to prepare you for this.

And the show was largely the same.  Possibly the same songs, but it’s kind of hard to tell.  So I’ll quote from myself a bunch.

Knoll set up their gear.  They had an old-looking end table (I would guess like 100 years old, with all kinds of filigree–but probably not worth anything) and interesting gear on it.  The table also had a little light on it and there were four floor lamps around the stage.

This time I watched as singer Jamie Eubanks asked them to cut all of the lights.

These lights were the only things that lit the stage!  And, most interesting of all, each band member had a step on plug which turned their individual light on and off throughout the show.

All five members of the band were dressed in all black–button down shirts and black pants.  And the lead singer, James Eubanks, has his head shaved, (possibly his eyebrows), his fingernails shaped into points.  He looks like Nosferatu.

Last time I noted that Giarraputo was like a machine with the speed and technical expertise he brought to these incredibly fast songs.  The same was true of Cook–his wrsits moved so fast!

Drummer Jack Anderson must be exhausted by the end of the show playing so fast.

Continue Reading »

[ATTENDED: April 20, 2026] Lástima

I hadn’t heard of Lástima.  They are a Philly band who plays blackgaze which may be a term they made up, or maybe not.  But it makes sense.

They play fast, heavy, dark music with mostly growled vocals.  Back in the day we called these cookie monster vocals.  But cookie monster vocals are for fast singers and I think singers of this style of music sing more like real monsters–slow and deep and creepy AF.

What set this band apart was the inclusion of Thuy Nguyen on violin! (!).  From where I was you couldn’t always hear the violin (again, I need to stand further back from the stage) but when the rest of the band quieted down, the violin was a wonderfully mournful component.

I was in front of Eric Mauro on guitars and Hazel Whitman on bass.  I could kind of see Sam Hyla on drums, but really the most entertaining person was singer/guitarist Richie DeVon.

DeVon sang.  Sometimes in a normal voice (during the quiet section) but usually with a growl or a scream.   There were a few songs (or openings of songs) which had quiet piano parts.  DeVon played them and was usually accompanied by Nguyen on violin.  Toward the end he got down on his knees and screamed his head off while messing about with his effects pedals.  It was quite cathartic.  Continue Reading »