The Chameleons & The Veldt @ The Fillmore 10/1/2025,
Rocktober has gotten off to a great start. I’ve been to a great gig each week so far. First off, The Veldt were pretty good, though having five guitarists, a bassist, and a drum machine was almost comical. Their music is a blend of shoegaze and soul music. I’ve had some of their albums on CD since the ’90’s so I was a little familiar with their music already. Not too familiar with their songs. As for the Chameleons, they are a band from Manchester who have been around since the ’80s, and their performance was impressive enough even for my brother, who normally likes female singers.
The Chameleons seem to be Bunnymen-related, as I do remember mentions of them from the email list days. They were good enough for me to want to support with a T-shirt purchase and a cool metal guitar pick necklace. I really like the free apples and water at the Fillmore, I saw Pinback and Hasco Enjoyments on the 15th, but I’m not as familiar with their music. Still, I did enjoy it too, especially the long and funny song titles that Hasco Enjoyments mentioned.
Kula Shaker & The Dandy Warhols @ Regency Ballroom 10/8/2025
For better or worse, Kula Shaker blew my mind. I loved their music before, but adding the projections by Mad Alchemy was mind-blowing. Not many bands can get people to sing songs in Hindi (I guess?), so they must have some cool tunes. I was so excited to see them that I bought the tour shirt before their set. Britpop has always been a favorite genre of mine, so seeing Suede, Manics, and now Kula Shaker was a treat and a dream come true.
I’ve seen the Dandy Warhols at least 4 or 5 times (possibly more?), the first being the main stage of Leeds Festival 2002. I wish I had been able to see them open for Electrafixion back in the day, but we can’t turn back time. Seeing them is more like seeing friends who have always been there for me. Anyhow, I’m familiar with many of their songs from listening to them over the years: “Get Off” and “We Used to Be Friends” are my favorite songs, and they played them well. It’s not expected that they would be great, but they celebrated their 30th anniversary last year and are an excellent band that deserves much more credit.
Dandy Warhols fans also seem very cool and loyal; there is some crossover with BRMC fans (the more artsy ones). I looked closely at some merch at their table, but their online shop was even better, so I placed an order a few days later. I ended up buying even more because they sent me a coupon code. I also watched the new Dig XX re-cut, which seemed like a completely different version of the original Dig. They gave a more balanced BJM perspective, including a lot more of their manager Davey D.
I’ve always been more of a Dandys fan purely based on their music (though they seem nicer too), but I have met or seen almost all the BJM members from Dig over the years. The featured photo on this post is from a previous Dandy Warhols show at the Teragram Ballroom on December 1, 2017.
Not too into taking cell phone photos at shows these days, so I just took a video of this song:
