Greatful Shred -May 2- Reality Check (Free) 90s Punk and EDM Dance Happenings

May 3 Ardmore Music Hall:

Greatful Shred – best LA jam musicians featuring Dan Horne and Adam MacDougall (bassist and keyboardist from CATS aka Circles Around the Sun)  – absolute legends in the field. I saw CATS once at the now defunct LOCKN fest in 2019 for my brother’s bachelor party. One of the greatest nights of my life. It was only a few weeks later that we tragically would lose Neal Casal but I’m glad I got to see him. His fellow band members are keeping his memory and music alive. While Casal was not affiliated with Greatful Shred his musical influences are. As well as the former Dead members who have gone to that Great Gig in the Sky but before so blessed us with music that NEVER STOPS.   I’m not going to even try to articulate who is the “best” national touring dead cover bands, but there aren’t that many who make the jump to the national circuit. Greatful Shred made the jump and the quality of the product shows why. Propelled by a since gone viral ’17 renegade video shot at the Hollywood bowl at Shakedown during a Dead and Co. show that quickly turned into such a hullabaloo that the cops had to shut them down (youtube “Busted at the Bowl”), the Shred is not to be missed.

Reality Check Experiment. Philly’s favorite underground psychedelic foursome back for another FREE Zapp test tonight May 2 at 2525 W. Girard Ave. 8 PM. Then Saturday  in Wilkes Barre at  River Street Jazz Cafe. So 2 night run albeit a drive if you live in Philly for night 2. Night one, get your freaky stuff fo’ free; night 2 for a nice night out in the PA Poconos in Wilkes Barre.  If you make it out to the mountains, you’ll definitely get props from the band. I’m tempted to make the trek but I also have to coach a little league game in the morning. Be a dirt bag or a good father – choices choices…Good problems to have I supposed.

Other stuff –

Punk night. Get your 90s punk rocker feels going – Friday May 2 at Brooklyn bowl feat. Gutter Mouth (90s LA punk), Mac Sabbath (theatrical rock comedy) with additional support from Flummox.

I’d be most excited to see Guttermouth personally being a big fan of 90s punk where nothing was pc. Just like most things out of LA – except for Greatful Shred – there’s a hefty layer of fake bullshit from Guttermouth’s song writing but they are still icons. And if you know the LA punk scene it’s still something to be reckoned with. Sure it’s not the DC punk scene from the salad days. Nor the og nyc punks heaven from the 70s. But bronze medal ain’t bad. If you’ve ever seen the movie classic “The Decline of Western Civilization” (pt. 1), you’d know that the LA punk scene has serious roots. And apparently MAC Sabbath is doing some good things in terms of comedy and monster rock. Should be a good night if you’re into harder punk stuff.  Also, if you haven’t seen “The Decline of Western Civilization” (pt. 1 and 2), well then I guess your parents did a good job of sheltering you from Satanic influencey Devil Worshippy stuff. But now that you’re an adult and can make you own decisions – go see these two films immediately.

<span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>Other Other Stuff (Dance EDM, Fri night out with the girls, Sat night out with the boys)</span>

Sintra at Vinyl Philly. Fri May 2. Ok so full disclosure I have never been to Vinyl Philly but based on pictures online I want to go. And this show is free it just requires going to the venue’s website (vinlyphilly.com), click on “shows,” jumping through a few hoops to register an email and phone and boom! You have a FREE ticket to enter the show & hang out in the bar / stage area, avoiding a nasty cover charge at an upscale music lounge in Center City Phila. Free admission for a place like this is relatively unheard of. As someone who regularly doesn’t get through the bouncer’s line due to sneakers, shorts or a general disheveled appearance, I’m happy to see here that there is a work around to your typical $20+ dollar cover and line body- shaming shenanigans.  On the few instances where a bouncer does deem mes vetements acceptable, I’m never happy to pay. Register now to avoid the trouble for what should be a good girl’s night out. Sintra describes himself as Peruvian American dance – expect latin themed samba or reggaeton get down with somethings mixed in that you are and aren’t familiar with. Plus, Free show. My favorite 2 words in the English Language. Note: vinyl also doing the same free ticket / house night on Saturday May 3 with DJ Bobby Santoni. Sounds like a guy who plays your cousin’s block party serenade which gets my stamp of approval for Guys Night Out this weekend. On his bio he’s a house music junkie and Philly is a good house city.  Same deal, follow the prompts for a free ticket and boom – another night of fun. Save money by drinking water from the bar thereby avoiding overpriced the cocktails and you’ll be richer at the end of the night. Always a good idea to slip the bartender a 10 spot and they’ll make sure your water is full all night. Bartenders gotta eat too.

Virtual Riot at the Ave Live. Friday May 2. Dub Step. Prob won’t be virtual maybe somewhat of a riot. Ok so am I the only person who is crazy for wondering why dub step is still a thing in 2025? Probably.  Ok so even tho Dub Step is not my jam – Virtual Riot is one of the good ones. He’s a real musician, and he does many interesting things with loops and samples. Although I won’t shed any tears if dubstep disappears and reverts back to old school house, drum and bass, etc., being one who dabbles in EDM, I also won’t talk too much shit if you go to this. Given that Virtual Riot is a music junkie and real musician, therefore, he does do rubba  da dub step right (to the extent that’s possible). The lights should also be top notch, and it’s always a good time to see a show at the former “Club Egypt.”  Bring Earplugs. 20-25 bucks at the door. Ave Live’s bartenders also serve ice water at the bar. Loving free water. Save money. Note (and more on this later but put it on your radar now): Disco Biscuits is playing as its side Project TractorBeam on July 3 at the Ave Live.  Tickets are still available for now. This is a real tough one for me and might cause a divorce b/c my wife is all about doing “family stuff” on a “Holiday Weekend” and I’m all like yo I see my family every day but TractorBeam is bucket-list. Never seen them. They never play around here instead do some BS like Colorado or even harder to get to Montana.  Oh well we shall see.

Other Other Other Stuff – 

Monday May 5 – Kendrick Lamar. Lincoln Financial Field.  I mean if you’re checking here and you’re into Kendrick you prob knew about it already but shout out to Kendrick Lamar for being awesome, winning a Pulitzer, and doing a sick superbowl show that helped propel my Eagles to victory. Tickets are brutally expensive and all of the upper deck “cheapies” (everything is relative) are gone but really good lower level seats are still available on ticketmaster (pro-tip: look for the “blue” seats on the seat map not the “red” ones. Red ones are scalper seats and they are charging more than the blue seats for placements that aren’t as good. Also – fuck scalpers).

Have fun y’all use protection (ear protection and other kinds if you get really lucky 😉

Also RIP to Jill Sobule. Read about her untimely death from a fire. Really unfortunate. She had some hits in the 90s. The Original “I Kissed a Girl.” I remember when this came on the radio in the 90s it was a big deal. “Supermodel” from the 90s seminal film Clueless was also a great track.  Digging into her youtube page, she was doing some great political folk music, funny too. Seemed like a great soul who lived by Woody Guthrie’s motto “This Machine Kills Fascists.” A total bummer and condolences to her family, but her words live on through her music.