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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!

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Metric (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 28, 2026)

July 30, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: July 28, 2026] Metric

When this tour (dubbed All the Feelings) was announced, I knew I was going immediately.  Stars, Broken Social Scene and Metric?  Three great Canadian bands who have all played with each other?  It sounded wonderful.

I saw Metric back in 2022 and thought their show was fantastic.  Their album Fantasties was one of my favorite albums of 2009.  I hadn’t listened to their subsequent albums as much, but I really enjoyed that show.  And I was excited for this one.  Their new album is much more synth poppy, which I didn’t love.  But I figured it sounded like a great opportunity for a live show.

I was somewhat taken aback when the stage setup was revealed for Metric.  In hindsight it didn’t look very different from the last time–dark and spare with lots of room for walking around.  But it was such a stark difference from the warm, crowded stage for Stars and Broken Social Scene.

The drums were straight back on a riser.  On either side of the riser were electronic gadgets.  Full sized gear that was lit up with colorful lights.  In the center of the stage was a small table with a keyboard and a light.  It was perfectly symmetrical.

The band came out and, holy cow, they had banks of lights al around the stage, including right at the front and those lights shone right at the people in the front row.  I felt like the family in front of me was really unhappy about that.  At any rate, they left about half way through the set for whatever reason.

I was front and center for this show so, I was right in front of Emily Haines.  Joules Scott-Key on drums in the back–but so dark that I could barely see him for most of the show.  Joshua Winstead was on to my right.  He often went back to that bank of electronica to do whatever he had to do.  I always enjoyed watching him play bass because he seemed to play very hard–even if sometimes the electronics drowned him out.  On the left was James Shaw playing guitar and also doing whatever to the wall of dials and gears he had back there.

They opened with their new single Victim of Luck, a song I love.  It sounded great.  I enjoyed that Emily would move her table of gear around the stage–sometimes parking it up front, other times pushing it out of the way to give her more room to more around.  Up next was Formentera, with a thumping bass and ringing guitars.

Youth Without Youth is another new song with some jagged guitars and a propulsive beat.  I wondered how some of the sounds were being generated.  Sometimes Emily played the keyboard, but other times, I’m guessing that James had manipulated the sounds so that his guitar sounded more like a synth.  I also enjoyed the Go Go Go Go part.

Then they played two songs from their second album. The bouncy Monster Hospital and the more moody Poster of a Girl.  Continue Reading »

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Broken Social Scene (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 28, 2026) [METRIC]

July 29, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: July 28, 2026] Broken Social Scene

When You Forgot It in People came out back in 2002, I listened to it quite a lot, but then Broken Social Scene fell of my radar.  I knew about a couple of projects over the years, but had no idea that they were still a going concern.  Earlier this year WXPN started playing a new song by them.  Indeed, the band put a new album out this year.

Two years ago, Broken Social Scene toured You Forgot It in People.  I grabbed a ticket and then lost some interest as the show drew closer.  I had a show lined up for the following two nights.  So I blew off the show.  Reviews made me realize I missed something fun and interesting.  Indeed, the family in front of me at this show said they have seen Broken Social Scene some 25 times.  So I was glad to finally get to experience them live.  And wow, what a fun spectacle.

Broken Social Scene is a loose collective of musicians who come and go.  For this show, the fewest number of people on stage at any given time was 7.  With it maxing out at around 15.  The main components of the band are Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning and drummer Justin Peroff.  We learned midway through the set that earlier this summer, Justin was injured in Vancouver.  They had cancelled some shows, but Justin fully recovered and was playing with them tonight.  Two other guys have been with the band since almost the beginning, Andrew Whiteman who was on the far side of the stage.  I couldn’t see him too well, but he sang lead a few times and did some solos. Right in front of me, and most intriguing to me was Charles Spearin who played a double neck guitar/ bass.  I’d never seen one quite like this.  It was really small, but Spearin jumped back and forth between bass and guitar throughout the set.  Sam Goldberg also played guitar but switched off to bass once in a while.  During the first song, Cuase= Time, all three–Goldberg, Spearin and Whiteman all played the solo together.  Brendan Canning mostly played bass, but occasionally played guitar and keys.

Kevin Drew was center stage wearing a baseball at that said Captain, which I found amusing.   He was definitely the captain, introducing new people and telling stories between songs.  He also sang most of the songs, but not all of them. Continue Reading »

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Tomahawk (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, July 27, 2026)

July 29, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: July 28, 2026] Tomahawk

I’ve seen Mike Patton with two bands: Dead Cross and Mr. Bungle. I enjoy anything he does and am always happy to see what he comes up with (Although I didn;t like the Avett Brothers/Patton country sound all that much).  St this point, there’s realistically only two other bands I’d like to see him front live, Fantômas (which I doubt will happen) and Faith No More (which could happen).  I’d also like to see Mr. Bungle again, since the show I saw was their debut album only, but whatever.  Tomahawk is a Patton-fronted project that I was into for a bit and then it just felt like there were too many Patton related bands to keep track of at the time (Lovage, Peeping Tom, Fantômas, Faith No More, Mr. Bungle) so I stopped following them.  Which is a shame because their music is quite diverse (I mean, all Patton music is diverse, often within the same song, but…oh forget it).

So anyhow, Tomahawk put out an album in during the pandemic but hadn’t toured it.  Then, a few months ago, they announced this tour with the Melvins: a huge waste of your time and money (hilarious).

Even though I wasn’t a huge fan, I knew I had to see them.  In addition to Patton, the band featured Duane Denison (Jesus Lizard, Firewater) on guitar John Stanier (Helmet, Battles) on drums and Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle, tons of other things) on bass.  A great lineup.

The lights came up and the stage was fairly sparse. Drums in the back (with Stanier’s outrageously tall cymbals), a table of some sort out front for Patton and amps on either side. Because of the table, I couldn’t see Trevor Dunn very much (he hung back) until he came up to sing backing vocals.  But I had a great view of Denison and it was amazing watching him play.  He’s not flashy at all, but he does al kinds of interesting things to generate interesting sounds.

In fact, the whole show was not flashy at all.  There were no fancy lights or projections (just the band’s logo on a curtain in the back).  In fact, half way through the set I realized that the setlist was taped to Patton’s table.

They opened with the first song on their first album.  Rather appropriate, I think. The squeaking sound of some kind of effect opened the set as Patton whispered the lyrics to Flashback and the crowd went berserk.  The song took off and the mosh pit started.  Tomahawk is a hard band to mosh to, because their songs go at varying tempos and intensity.  But people managed it.

Tomahawk never toured that 2021 album, so they finally had a chance to play it live.  I suppose old school fans wanted to hear their earlier stuff (although, I mean this album is 5 years old, it’s not exactly new), but I really enjoyed this new stuff.   And the played 9 of the ten songs from it.

SHHH! has lots of vocal parts and I really enjoyed at the end of the song when Patton whispers the title.  It seemed like he was trying to get everyone to stop yelling things (which they did during the quiet parts), but I realized it was part of the song.  Predators and Scavengers has a cool riff and simple chugging guitar parts.  It was fun being in front of Duane Denison for this one.  I loved turning my head from Patton to see what he was doing and he was inevitably calmly playing some cool thing or other.

I had listened to the setlist before the show since I didn’t really know the songs that well (if at all) and one of my favorites was Business Casual.  It was really fun watching Mike and Trevor scream the lyrics and then whisper “bad cholesterol, business casual.”  Dension made interesting quiet guitar sounds while Dunn’s bass rumbled along.  I liked that Doomsday Fatigue had quiet moments–because Patton’s (and the whole band’s) range is tremendous and it’s fun to see them really show off what they can do. Continue Reading »

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Stars (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, July 28, 2026) [METRIC]

July 28, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: July 28, 2026] Stars

When this tour (dubbed All the Feelings) was announced, I knew I was going immediately.  Stars, Broken Social Scene and Metric?  Three great Canadian bands who have all played with each other?  It sounded wonderful.

Stars is a fantastic band and it took me far too long to see them live.  But now that I have, I’ve seen them every two years since that first time.  I was a little bummed that they weren’t the middle band for this show, but, as it turned out, they spent a lot of time on stage with Broken Social Scene, so it was no big deal.

The actual big deal, though, was that the show started at 7 instead of 8.  I probably could have gone home after work and been home for a second and then headed down to Philly, but I decided to go directly from work (which was a very smart idea).  I arrived way too early so I went to Federal Donuts to get a chicken sandwich only to find out that this location’s grill was off.  I also found out that Federal Donuts has closed a lot of their locations (No!).  So I’m not sure if this location (on 7th) no loner serves chicken (is the grill closed permanently?).  Devastating.

So, with no dinner, but a six pack of donuts, I headed over to The Met, got to my secret free parking spot, and listened to my audio book.  But there was threat of thunderstorms.  I didn’t want to get into the venue too early, but I also didn’t want to get soaked, so I headed in around 6:15.  Merch was okay, but I didn’t get anything.  I moseyed down to the pit and happily stood behind the front row of people (a nice short woman in front of me).  This family was very nice and had seen BSS many times.

Right on time, Stars came out and, as usual, Torq was his funny engaging and charismatic self.  Amy Millan looked wonderful and seemed to be having a great time as well.  And their onstage rapport is always amazing together.  Torq talked about how great it was to be able to do something with your best friend.

The rest of the band has remained the same for 20+ years.  Last tour I learned that bassist Evan Cranley and guitarist Chris Seligman are the main composers of Stars’ music while Torq Campbell and Amy Millan write lyrics.  Drummer Pat McGee and lead guitarist Chris McCarron keep everything going.  And Torq played melodica a bunch. Continue Reading »

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Melvins (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, July 27 2026) [TOMAHAWK]

July 27, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: July 27, 2026] Melvins

Despite everything in the world indicating that I should be a Melvins fan, for whatever reason, I just never followed them.

And I’d never wanted to see them live.  Then in 2023, they did a coheadlining tour with Boris (which I wasn’t going to miss).  During that show, Dale Crover had an injury so Coady Willis played drums.   But this time, Dale was back and BOTH drummers were up on stage.

Recent bassist (they have had many bassists) Steven Shane McDonald (who was one of the main dudes in Redd Kross, a band I have never gotten into) was on bass and is a lot of fun.  Despite Melvins being a heavy punk band, McDonald acts like a massive hippie.  He has long hair, was wearing a jump suit with eyes all over it and is very chill (except when he’s screaming).   He also plays his bass in a great way–lots of reverb and pedals and often playing high on the neck creating a sound that doesn’t seem to fit what I think of the Melvins’ sound, but which worked really well.

And then there is Buzz Osbourne (King Buzzo).  Last time he was on the far side of the stage, but this time i Was right in front of him.  Like last time he was wearing a caftan with a giant eyeball on it and of course, his legendary hair.  I didn’t realize he was a “good” guitar player.  I assumed the band played sludgy slow songs with just a few chords.  I kind of assumed that they didn’t care about the music.  But that’s wrong.  Buzz played solos and clearly does give a shit.

Last time, it took a couple of songs to win me over, but tonight I was fully into it.  As were most of the audience (I deliberately arrived earl than I normally would because I knew people weren’t going to blow off the opening band).  Indeed, after fifteen minutes a mosh pit started (not bad for an opening band).

As I said I always assumed Melvins songs were slow and sludgy, but most of the earlier songs in the set were pretty fast tempo.

I’m going to admit, though, that the most fun part of the show was the two drummers.  I’ve seen a few bands with two drummers and it’s always neat.  You kind of think they can’t possibly stay in sync, but come one, they are drummers of course they can.  What was really fun about this pair was that Dale is right handed and Coady is left handed so they mirrored each other.  Mostly they played the same thing but from time to time, one of them would add extra fills or wood blocks or something.  I loved at the end of the first song the both held their sticks over the heads in a X shape while they prepped to start song 2. Continue Reading »

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Bloc Party (PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ, July 22, 2026) [MUSE]

July 23, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: July 22, 2026] Bloc Party

For ages now I’ve felt like I should get into Bloc Party.  I mean, right from the start, I associated them with Art Brut and there’s no good reason why I didn’t jump on the Bloc Party party.  While not as “talkie” as Art Brut there is a similar vibe, with singer Kele Okereke kind of yell-speaking the lyrics.

Last year, Bloc Party played a show at the Met Philly.  I was going to go because Metric was opening.  Then they dropped out and I wound up not getting tickets–as I said, I didn’t know them all that well.  But I was really excited that they were opening for Muse on this tour, because it would finally give me a chance to check them out.

And they were fantastic.  The sound wasn’t perfect for them (too much bass drum, good heavens).  But what really impressed me about them was how great they sounded musically.  I’d always thought that the focus was on the lyrics/vocals.  And, yes, the lyrics are compelling, like on Coming on Strong

I was happy as a pig in
Happy as a pig in
Happy as a pig in spite of myself

But once I got past the words, I was blown away by guitarist Russell Lissack–he generated some weird and cool sounds effortlessly.  And there’s so much going on with the guitar work in Bloc Party songs.  I only wish I’d watched him from the start.  But, understandably, all eyes are on Kele–especially since he is a big muscular dude (I didn’t really know what he looked like back in the day, but he is big now!

I found myself liking their newer songs even more than their older ones.  The guitar progression of Rough Justice is great–cinematic and slightly scary at the same time.  Of course, the riff from 2012’s So He Begins to Lie is also great–heavy and lurching but really catchy as well.  And it was during this song that I really blown away by drummer Louise Bartle.  She played fast and heavy and played some really interesting drums patterns.  I realize that she didn’t play on the early albums (she joined ten years ago), but she was a force of nature live. Continue Reading »

Posted in Bloc Party, Holmdel, NJ, Muse, PNC Bank Center, The Temper Trap | Leave a Comment »

Man Man / Death Valley Girls (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, July 23, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

July 23, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[DID NOT ATTEND: July 23, 2026] Man Man / Death Valley Girls

I was so excited to get a ticket for this Man Man show.  I was certain it would sell out in a second, so I bought a ticket for this show while on an airplane to Minnesota.  It didn’t sell out (weird) but I was still looking forward to this show so very much as Man Man never disappoints.

I arrived in Philly, found a good parking spot and then realized that I left my wallet in the pizza place that I stopped in on the way to Philly.  And that pizza place is about 40 minutes away.  I called the place and they had found it.  Phew.

I thought, well, I don’t need my wallet to enjoy the show.  I asked my son to go get it for me (so nice of him).  And then I went to use the parking app.  Only to remember that the card I used for the parking app had been cancelled because someone had hacked my account a few weeks ago.  And for whatever reason, the other card on my account wouldn’t work.  I couldn’t add a new card because I didn’t have my wallet.

I stood there for 20 minutes trying to get a card added (going into different apps to get a card number and failing).  Finally, I gave up.  I didn’t want to get a 60 dollar parking ticket.  I realized too late I could have just asked my son to give me his card number.  But I was frustrated and annoyed.  And so I gave up.  I decided to just get my card so my son didn’t have to.  He was about half way to the pizza place, but I told him to turn around and enjoy the night.  I got to the pizza place just before it closed and wound up having a nice night at home.

But dammit.

Dammit.

I saw Death Valley Girls open for The Distillers back in 2019.  They’re sort of a fuzzy rock band with goth leanings.  The goth leaning come primarily from their look and their lyrics–not their sound.  I forgot how good their show was. Now I’m even more bummed that I was a block away form the show but couldn’t go.

Posted in Death Valley Girls, Man Man, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts | Leave a Comment »

The Temper Trap (PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ, July 22, 2026) [MUSE]

July 22, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: July 22, 2026] The Temper Trap

I was really excited for this show. Muse is always a good show and I brought my son with me–he’s become a big fan.  I had purchased lawn seats and was hoping to upgrade them to pavilion seats when we arrived.  So I wanted to get there earlier enough to upgrade without having to hang out with nothing to do.  I knew that heading down to Holmdel around 6PM can really suck. but I was totally unprepared for how bad the traffic would be.  Holy cow, we were on 287 for half an hour easily (ten miles).  We pulled up to the venue just before 7. We still managed to upgrade our tickets and walked into the pvailion just as The Temper Trap came on.

I hadn’t heard of The Temper Trap, but when I looked them up I found out that they had a new album that being quite well received.

I also found out that they were from Melboure and I’ve been having a great deal of luck with Australian bands lately.  Well, I’ve found that they actually moved to London a while ago (and singer Dougy Mandagi doesn’t have much of Australian accent).

I enjoyed their set but I wasn’t really blown away by anything.  Indeed, when they were done I couldn’t even really remember what the sounded like (except that the bass was way too loud, which I know is not the band’s fault).

Listening to the songs now, Lucky Dimes is pretty cool with the sound effects getting generated–but which I didn’t really notice during the show.

Into the Wild slowed things down and Mandagi ‘s falsetto really came to the fore. Continue Reading »

Posted in Bloc Party, Holmdel, NJ, Muse, PNC Bank Center, The Temper Trap | Leave a Comment »

Death Cab for Cutie (The Mann Center, Philadelphia, PA, July 17, 2026)

July 18, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: July 17, 2026] Death Cab for Cutie

Death Cab for Cutie has put on consistently excellent shows. This is my fifth time seeing them–they’re also one of the few bands that my wife and I have seen the same amount of times.

We saw them about a year ago when they opened for My Chemical Romance.  I still think it was an odd choice for an opener, but the crowd responded well, and it was almost like a rocking greatest hits set from DCFC.

But this show was touring for thier new album. I hadn’ listened to it a lot, but, like with most DCFC albums, I could listen to the whole thing and simply enjoy it all.  This made for a funny realization in that the band played a few seriously deep cuts and I assumed they were from the new album.  It’s interesting when you think a 28 year old song is new.

The stage was interesting.  A series of four foot tall panels were behind them.  When they started the first song, Riptides, the panel lit up in interesting ways, although there was nothing specific about any of them.  Then about half way through the song, the giant wall behind them lit up as well.  So they had a pretty wild and intense visual show going on behind them while they played.  I realized that I hadn’t listened to the previous album, Asphalt Meadows, all that much either (fake fan).  So I thought Roman Candles was a new song but one that I’d internalized in my recent listen through.

I always feel bad when a band plays new songs and the crowd is pleased, but when they play an older song and the crowd goes berserk.  It almost feels like we’re saying don’t bother making new music.  So when they started The New Year, the crowd went wild.  We all also knew the new single from the album, Punching the Flowers, which has been getting a lot of airplay on WXPN.

I’m rally bad with song titles, particularly DCFC titles, so I never remember which songs are the hits from the album.  I hadn’t thought of The Ghosts of Beverly Drive, even though they’ve played it three of the four previous times we’ve seen them.

The woman behind me was a pretty big fan and it was interesting when she sang along to Black Sun.  Most of the songs were pretty loud, but this one is quiet and she sang in a somewhat professional manner–high with vibrato.  It was almost annoying, but her voice was really pretty, so….

I don’t know why the new album has two songs with the album title (an a and  a b).  They played the a version, a pretty song.  It seemed like every time they played a new song I marvelled at how short it was.  Most of the new album’s songs are about three minutes long.  And some of their songs (arguably the best ones to see live) are really long.

In three of our shows, they played a song from their second album, one I don’t know well, enough (again, fake fan).  This one was Company Calls.  And it really shows how consistent they have been over the years.

One of the great longer songs is You Are a Tourist–catchy and with a great riff.  It’s fun watching Ben sing and play guitar because he never sits still for a second.  He’s always rocking back and forth and when he’s not singing, he walks around to either guitarist Dave Depper or bassist Nick Harmer.

Both Depper and Harmer have keyboards at their disposal and each ones plays from time to time.  And main keyboardist Zac Rae plays guitar from time to time too. I wonder how the roles get divvied up.

I realized midway through the set something that I have realized from time to time but it really stuck out for me–when Harmer has cool bass parts, the songs always sound great.  Like the amazing bass intro of I Will Possess Your Heart.  This song is one of the best DCFC songs to see live.  It starts slow and quiet with that bass riff and Ben making interesting sounds from his guitar.  Then after a few minutes, Ben runs to the piano in the back and plays the quiet parts as the progresses.  The song runs to at least 9 minutes and could go longer if they’re into it–and it was clear that Ben was really into it as he danced behind the piano before returning to the front of the stage for more guitar.

From the loud, long rocker, he moved to the quiet I Will Follow You Into the Dark.  It was just Ben and his guitar and it sounded beautiful.  So much so that he said it was amazing having 11,000 people sing back to him.  He had us all sing the chorus to him and then he finished the song.   He said that the next song-Grapevine Fires-seemed appropriate to play given that we were currently inhaling toxic air from the Canadian wildfires.  We really should all have been masked up, but I couldn’t find any in my house!

Then came two new songs, the quiet and delightful Stone Over Water and then the super intense How Heavenly a State–it opened with a thumping bass and the jagged guitars.  It was really heavy and then after a minute or so the song dropped away and sound effects played through the venue before the bass thumped back in again.  I immediately fell in love with this song and look forward to seeing it live again some time.

This show was also amazing for me because no one sat in front of me and the people in the row before that didn’t stand up.  So I could sit and see everything perfectly.  It was awesome.  Finally with about three songs left, the woman in the row in front of us stood up and moved in front of me.  So I had to stand for the last few songs, but that was totally fine–it is fun to stand too.

Ben dedicated Cath… to Japanese Breakfast and told us not to listen to the words for the dedication, just the vibe.  The crowd was super excited for Cath and even more so for Crooked Teeth.

One more new song Trap Door was followed by a song from the previous album that I like a lot.  In fact I have the chorus “I want to know the measure from here to forever and I want to feel the pressure of god or whatever” running through my head much of the time.  They ended the set with Soul Meets Body and the place erupted.  Everyone loved singing the “ba dat da dat da dah dah” part and this is one of those great

They left for an encore break and weren’t gone very long when they came back and opened the encore with a quiet song that I didn’t really recognize.  I thought it was part of a new “trend” of bands starting an encore set with a new song.  But I couldn’t have been more wrong.  This was a Champagne in a Paper Cup from their debut.  It was a short song that segued into Ben jumping behind the piano and playing a slow melody.  Once again, I thought, encores are supposed to be fun and bouncy.  I didn’t recognize Different Names for the Same Thing at first, but once I realized what it was I was pretty excited to hear it.  It was the first time I’d seen them play it and it was a tour debut.  And that’s a cool thing about DCFC, their setlist is mostly the same every night, but they do mix it up here and there and maybe your town will get a rarity or an old favorite when other towns won’t get the same one.  And after the quite intro, Ben ran to the front and Harmer played the bouncy bassline and the song took off.

There was s light emergency right after they started the next song, but it was quickly taken care of and they easily jumped back into No Sunlight which is a super fun song (despite the lyrics).

They ended the set with another really long buildup of a song.   I told my wife that when we saw them at the Tower Theater and they ended with this song, it absolutely blew me away. It didn’t affect her the same way, but she promised to pay more attention this time.  So, when they ended the show with Transatlanticism (a song I recently found out they don’t play at every show), I was thrilled.  This version had the same impact on me.  I love that it starts slow (and the visuals behind it were of waves crashing down) and that the song continues to get louder and louder as they played.   I was very aware of drummer Jason McGerr– their “new” drummer who has been with them for 22 years after seeing him on the screens when they opened for MCR.  He began the song by tapping everything gently, keeping time.  And by the end, he was smashing the hell out of the cymbals.  The intensity is incredible.  As new elements are added (the guitar line) the “I need you so much closer” and finally the “come on”‘s.  It was magical and my wife agreed.

Incidentally, I love DCFC’s music, but their visuals are just consistently underwhelming.  This image to the right is the album and was the basis of the poster and Tshirts.  I mean, boring.  My wife bought a short from them which is just black with the band’s name in big letters on the front.  Surely they must have a visual artist friend who can make their stuff a little more exciting?  At least for merch?  And album cover can be stark and visually boring but still effective, but for a poster?  Not so much.

July 17, 2026 Mann Center 2025 MetLife [open for MCR] September 29, 2022 Met Philly
Riptides ♦ TAPE: Our Prayer (Beach Boys song) I Don’t Know How I Survive ¿
Roman Candles ¿ [3] I Will Possess Your Heart ⇑ [4] Roman Candles ¿
The New Year ™ [3] The New Year ™ [2] The New Year ™
Punching the Flowers ♦ Roman Candles ¿ [2] Cath… ⇑ [2]
The Ghosts of Beverly Drive ℘ [4] Here to Forever ¿ [2] A Movie Script Ending ∏ [2]
Black Sun ℘ [5] Black Sun ℘ [4] Here to Forever ¿
I Built You a Tower (a) ♦ You Are a Tourist ⊗ [3] Black Sun ℘ [3]
Company Calls ϖ Cath… ⇑ [3] Northern Lights ¥ [3]
You Are a Tourist ⊗ [4] Soul Meets Body ¶ [4] I Miss Strangers ¿
Pep Talk ♦ Transatlanticism ™ [3] Crooked Teeth ¶ [3]
I Will Possess Your Heart ⇑ [5] Rand McNally ¿
I Will Follow You Into the Dark ¶ [4] I Will Follow You Into The Dark ¶ [3]
Grapevine Fires ⇑ Your Heart is an Empty Room ¶
Stone Over Water ♦ Asphalt Meadows ¿
How Heavenly a State ♦ You Are a Tourist ⊗ [2]
Cath… (dedicated to J Brekkie) ⇑ [4] The Ghosts of Beverly Drive ℘ [3]
Crooked Teeth ¶ [4] I Will Possess Your Heart ⇑ [3]
Trap Door ♦ Soul Meets Body ¶ [3]
Here to Forever ¿ [3] Foxglove Through the Clearcut ¿
Soul Meets Body ¶ [5] encore
encore Pepper ¿
Champagne from a Paper Cup ⊄ 405 ϖ
Different Names for the Same Thing ¶ I’ll Never Give Up on You ¿
No Sunlight (restarted after brief audience emergency) ⇑ [2] Bixby Canyon Bridge ⇑
Transatlanticism ™ [4]

 

June 10, 2019 Sayreville October 9, 2018 Upper Darby
I Dreamt We Spoke Again ¥ [2] I Dreamt We Spoke Again ¥
Summer Years ¥ [2] Summer Years ¥
The Ghosts of Beverly Drive  ℘ [2] The Ghosts of Beverly Drive  ℘
Long Division ⇑ [2] Long Division ⇑
Title and Registration ™ [2] Title and Registration ™
Gold Rush ¥ [2] Gold Rush ¥
Crooked Teeth ¶ [2] A Movie Script Ending ∏
No Sunlight ⇑ Crooked Teeth ¶
What Sarah Said ¶ [2] What Sarah Said ¶
60 & Punk ¥ [2] 60 & Punk ¥
I Will Possess Your Heart ⇑ [2] I Will Possess Your Heart ⇑
Autumn Love ¥ [2] Title Track ϖ
Black Sun ℘ [2] Autumn Love ¥
Expo 86 ™ [2] Black Sun ℘
Northern Lights ¥ Expo 86 ™
You Are A Tourist ⊗ Northern Lights ¥
Cath… ⇑ [2] Doors Unlocked and Open ⊗
We Looked Like Giants ™ Cath… ⇑
Soul Meets Body ¶ [2] Soul Meets Body ¶
encore The Sound of Settling ™
I Will Follow You Into The Dark ¶ [2] encore
When We Drive ¥ I Will Follow You Into The Dark ¶
Tiny Vessels ™ [2] Near / Far ¥
Transatlanticism ™ [2] Tiny Vessels ™
Transatlanticism ™

⊄ Something About Airplanes (1998)
ϖ We Have the Facts And We’re Voting Yes (2000)
∏ The Photo Album (2001)
™ Transatlanticism (2003)
¶ Plans (2005)
⇑ Narrow Stairs (2008)
⊗ Codes and Keys (2011)
℘ Kintsugi (2015)
¥ Thank You for Today (2018)
¿ Asphalt Meadows (2022)
♦ I Built You a Tower (2026)

Posted in Death Cab For Cutie, Japanese Breakfast, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA | Leave a Comment »

Patty Griffin (Musikfest Cafe, Bethlehem, PA, July 16, 2026)

July 17, 2026 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: July 16, 2026] Patty Griffin

I have Patty Griffin’s first two albums.  I liked her first album (folkie) and really liked her more rocking second album Flaming Red.  I’d always thought she had kind of a weird voice but it was a cool voice. And then after those two albums I’d basically forgotten about her.  My wife really liked one of her songs (Where I Come From).  That one’s from 2019 and seems more likely that it would have been played.

Patty Griffin came out on stage with two musicians-a percussionist who was wonderful to watch–he had so much gear and hit all kinds of things.  I was very happy we were on his side of the stage.  And a guitarist who made some amazing sounds come from his guitar.  She announced their names but I didn’t hear either one.

Patty stood front and center and began singing.  And she didn’t sound anything like I thought she would.  I realized that the albums I liked were 30 years old, but I didn’t expect her to sound so different.  And when she spoke, it was practically a whisper.  Well, I have just learned today that Patty Griffin had a battle with breast cancer in 2016 and lost her voice.  She started singing again in 2019.

So I guess that explains why she sounds different.  And probably why she doesn’t sing any of her older songs–at some other recent shoes she did sing a song from her debut but clearly not at every show.

As she started All the Way Home, the guy in front of us whooped.  Really loudly.  I admit that I don’t like whoopers at the best of times.  But this was a small, quiet crowd.  In no way was any whoop necessary, but certainly once you did one and the crowd didn’t react, it’s time to read the room dude.

I enjoyed these first two songs from her latest album.  Back at the Start had s cool surf-guitar sound that sounded great with her whispery voice.  She played The Wheel from that 2019 album (my wife liked the wrong song, I guess).Then she played a bluesy song called Standing.  I don’t really like the blues as a genre, so I didn’t love this one.  Up next was a song about her mother’s passing.  Indeed, her whole new album is about that.  Born in a cage was a very pretty song.  Continue Reading »

Posted in Bethlehem, PA, Kathleen Edwards, Musikfest Cafe, Patty Griffin, Steelstacks | Leave a Comment »

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