I went to more “concerts” this year than I have in any other year in recent memory. In lieu of a year-end list, I present to you my active social life.

06/28 - Antarctigo Vespucci - Scribble

*With Suzie True and Diners

After listening to Love In The Time of E-Mail approximately one billion times since 2018, this show meant the world to me. Jeff and Chris walked right into the venue wearing matching white tank tops. Greg Cheekface and Stefan PUP were there. Real “we’re just hanging out” vibes from the whole show. It was so sweaty. It had been an eternity since I had gone to a show where I knew every single word. All the hits, lots of bits, and an avalanche of balloons unleashed on the audience.

Scribble is a sober venue and I don’t drink, but I felt hungover the next morning. Skylar and I went to Bub & Grandma’s about it.

Pretty sure Diners also changed my life. For a month or two straight, I couldn’t listen to Domino without crying. It felt as if my whole life was unfolding in front of me.

07/20 - Bad Moves - Baby’s All Right

*With Oceanator and Theo Grizol

Already wrote about this one!

08/03 - Julien Crean - Wonderville

My friend Julien makes beautiful music and it was so nice to see Julien and their siblings(!) play music in the middle of a summer afternoon with my friends.

09/03 - Nine Inch Nails - Barclays Center

*With Boys Noize1

I think this was the best show I’ve seen in my entire life, and I had to leave early.2 This NIN show is relentless. They start and they do not stop. The Peel it Back Tour feels like a celebration of the entire NIN oeuvre, a real overview type beat. I found myself getting randomly wowed by, say, the way they interpolated “Somewhat Damaged”3 into the B-stage piano setlist or the multiplying projections during “Copy of a”—songs I wasn’t even expecting to hear! It’s really something special. I’m seeing them again on Valentine’s Day. Very romantic.

09/13 - PUP and Jeff Rosenstock - Brooklyn Paramount

Jeff might be the artist I’ve seen the most after They Might Be Giants, which is crazy bonkers bananas4—but somehow before September, I’d never seen PUP live. I regret that the night two setlists may have been a bit better, but I’m not bitter. The setlists are similar, but I would’ve liked to hear “Paranoid” and “Totally Fine” over “Guilt Trip.” Still, I cried when they played “Hallways” and I probably always will.

I caught a guy texting his friend “They kick fucking ass,” and you know what? True. The legendary DOUBLE BAND then TRIPLE BAND made it sweeter—combining both Death Rosenstock and PUP’s prowess into a mega band, then adding Ekko Astral so everyone can sing Alanis Morisette together. Incredible energy!

10/10 - John Carpenter - Knockdown Center

At a John Carpenter show, you stand in a crowded room with a bunch of dudes remembering movies they like. Real “Hell Yeah” vibes. By coincidence, I watched They Live for the first time the night before and that enhanced the whole experience, especially because of the big words onscreen and sunglasses during the They Live portion. John Carpenter is cool as fuck. The man is onstage conjuring synth sounds and guitar tones no one has heard in decades. I liked when he introduced a new song by saying it was inspired by an “evil dream” he had.

10/17 - The Sloppy Boys - Milkboy

It brings me great joy to say I exited the minuscule Philly venue Milkboy and told Mike, “I think that was my favorite show I’ve seen all year.” In all honesty, I’d assumed the Sloppy Boys would be, well, sloppy. Comedy boys making a joke out of their musical endeavor.5 But they performed a tight, nearly 2 hour show. They’re goddamn professionals.

I can’t explain the euphoria of shouting “My last band sucked […] THIS BAND SUCKS TOO!” along with the audience. The crowd was friendly and rowdy—lots of “Go Birds” onstage and off, and one absurd Philadelphia ad-lib from Timmy K.: “M. Night Shyamalan!”

11/15 - Cindy Lee - Brooklyn Paramount

There’s a picture of my grandma sporting a beehvive and an ultra-short dress on the morning of my mother’s first communion. Basically this is what Cindy Lee looked like when she took the stage at Brooklyn Paramount this fall. Cindy Lee is girl with no girl group, echoed only by herself on a backing track. At one point, the artist procured a bouquet of fake flowers, like a beauty queen reenacting a pageant win.

However, the Cindy Lee show wasn’t novelty at all. As Cindy Lee, Patrick Flegel chews gum and rips guitar solos, looking zonked out on 1960s pills—then sometimes breaks a satisfied smile.

12/30 - The Sloppy Boys (again) - Mercury Lounge

Mike and I are seeing the Sloppy Boys again because we can.

Non-music/immersive roundup

• 01/05 - Last Sleep No More matinee

  • Is that all there is?

• 01/18 - Oh, Mary!

  • Cole Escola forEVER

• 01/24 - Dimension 20 at Madison Square Garden

• 02/05 - Life & Trust

  • Gone too soon!

• 02/08 - Urinetown at City Center Encores

• 03/08 - Luna Luna

• 04/12 - Otherworld Philadelphia

• 07/12 and 10/25 - Viola’s Room

  • So nice I went barefoot twice.

• 08/30 - Dragula World Tour

  • Auntie Heronie’s jack-in-the-box routine to “Closer” by NIN… gagged.

• 10/15 - On this date I finished Lennox Mutual by Candle House Collective

  • You can ask me about it offline.