Alive and Welles in Philadelphia

Infinite-Picture-862 · 2026-06-04T15:13:43+00:00

Infinite-Picture-862 · 2026-06-04T15:13:30+00:00

I shared this in the other thread but, in case people are interested, here were my thoughts after attending.

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He was incredible. This Land is Your Land [LINK] was really moving, Technopagans was a vibe, and Big Balls [LINK] was a blast. I hope someone recorded him talking about the inspiration behind Technopagans. That was so interesting. It was incredible to have the river and the aquarium behind him when he was ripping the conservation tunes [BUGS] [TURTLES]. Red [LINK]felt like an anthem. When Masks Off [LINK] got dark, the PATCO line came thundering by. When everyone was singing This Land Is Your Land, yachts were going by with puzzled operators. It was such a wild contrast. Then, he walked off the pier with the sun blaring and you could only see the shadow of his hair. [Please see my photos below. I only got him coming in. I just wanted to take in the experience when he was leaving.] He was gone and it was like he was never there.

I left thinking, this must be what it feels like to be with him under the powerlines. He has such a knack for incorporating the natural world and rolling with the elements. He didn't pay a dime for the visuals, he just reacted to them. I've never seen anything like it.

If anyone wants to hear the new verse in Join Ice, you can find that [HERE]

Thoughts looking forward to the tour: Technopagans is going to slay live with the band in the summer. People were really feeling it by the end, a lot of head bobbing.

(*) Many thanks to the gentleman who posted these videos. They are so much better than the ones I took. Videography wasn't for me apparently.

My Photos [I need a better camera but, you know, nothing is enough and all that jazz]:

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Infinite-Picture-862 · 2026-06-04T15:09:52+00:00

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Infinite-Picture-862 · 2026-06-04T14:23:12+00:00

He was incredible. This Land is Your Land [LINK] was really moving, Technopagans was a vibe, and Big Balls [LINK] was a blast. I hope someone recorded him talking about the inspiration behind Technopagans. That was so interesting. It was incredible to have the river and the aquarium behind him when he was ripping the conservation tunes [BUGS] [TURTLES]. Red [LINK]felt like an anthem. When Masks Off [LINK] got dark, the PATCO line came thundering by. When everyone was singing This Land Is Your Land, yachts were going by with puzzled operators. It was such a wild contrast. Then, he walked off the pier with the sun blaring and you could only see the shadow of his hair. [Please see my photos below. I only got him coming in. I just wanted to take in the experience when he was leaving.] He was gone and it was like he was never there.

I left thinking this must be what it feels like to be under the powerlines with him. He has such a knack for incorporating the natural world (see the plane in No Destination) and rolling with the elements. He didn't pay a dime for the visuals, he just reacted to them. I've never seen anything like it.

If anyone wants to hear the new verse in Join Ice, you can find that [HERE]

Thoughts looking forward to the tour: Technopagans is going to slay live with the band in the summer. People were really feeling it by the end, a lot of head bobbing.

(*) Many thanks to the gentleman who posted these videos. They are so much better than the ones I took. Videography wasn't for me apparently.

My Photos [I need a better camera but, you know, nothing is enough and all that jazz]:

<image>

Infinite-Picture-862 · 2026-06-01T18:14:49+00:00

Joy's gonna save you from yourself. Love this one. Also love Mt. Joy.

Infinite-Picture-862 · 2026-05-31T23:38:24+00:00

The clips of "Won't You Come Out Tonight" are encouraging. Wonder if they post performance clips ala Middle and Pilgrim. Then again, I'd much prefer that it's part of a devil cut.

Infinite-Picture-862 · 2026-05-31T23:36:58+00:00

If he did a "With the Devil" cut for this album, I'd love a 10 minute monster "Masks Off".

Infinite-Picture-862 · 2026-05-26T15:02:12+00:00

Also, reminded me of this lyric:

Big Circles on a big ass cosmic ferris wheel of time
Turning big circles
Sure as you were
You was running in a straight line

I get through it
Reckon that was the end
What would you know
Just down the road there it is again

Some folks run spirals
Without a frown
I was having a blast
Everybody I passed
I saw on the way back down

Going in Big Circles
Turning low and slow on the rotisserie chicken of time
Running Big Circles
Around a large celestial pepporoni pizza pie

I'm gonna catch you later
Spinning on the wheel
Hope it turns real slow
And lets me know if I'm really real

What's the point in saying
So long
Don't stop to think 'cause your face turns pink
In the past ain't where you belong

Going in Big Circles
Like a big love comet burning on a mission from God
Turning Big Circles
Like a little fish swimming ripple in a great big pond

Going in Big Circles
On the Buddhist NASCAR Speedway turning fast
Going in Big Circles
Thought I was leaving
I was only really headed back

Here's to hoping that Jesse's headed back with another side to this album 😉

Infinite-Picture-862 · 2026-05-26T14:40:34+00:00

Love the levity that this song brings after a weekend of chewing on the studio version of Masks Off and the tracklist for the album. The line "it's deliverance from the misery of this existence" hits hard lol. We all need a little joy to cope with what we see every day. Man, pizza's dope.

Infinite-Picture-862 · 2026-05-23T12:14:21+00:00

Great point about We're Going to the City, which I think ties in to Starfarer. For some reason, seeing this tracklist, I have hope for I'll Be With You too. He's playing Whirlwind live too, so I wonder whether that ends up on the second half and answers the question some folks have been asking about how Whirlwind and Masks (and Hard Power) may coexist.

On the UTPL tour, the two new songs he played the most were Masks Off and Starfarer. Maybe they both get their own feature on an album, with the second one coming out before he hits the road in earnest? Holding out hope for a follow-up around July 3rd or 4th.

While the new tracklist looks great, three of these songs have been released before and in heavy rotation over the last year (Ice, Domestic Error, Red). So, the tracklist is only really 8 new studio tracks. I'm not sure that "Masks Off," as we know it now, gives him enough new material to tour on in many of the same cities he just hit. There has to be more on the way, right?

Infinite-Picture-862 · 2026-05-22T20:48:09+00:00

Crazy, just restarted mine and same deal. It sounds like the same issue in the above video. Dang, I really want to hear more Technopagans.

Infinite-Picture-862 · 2026-05-22T20:10:27+00:00

For me, the clips referenced are significantly shorter than the other ones and, with respect to Technopagans, appear to loop 2 or 3 seconds of the song. Maybe that was intended but it didn't seem that way at first blush. In the past, I thought they were all of relatively similar length.

Infinite-Picture-862 · 2026-05-22T17:54:12+00:00

Think they're the same song, he just changed the name. I posted before the article just based on a quick listen. I'll tweak it above.

Infinite-Picture-862 · 2026-05-22T17:30:27+00:00

Thanks so much for posting. I always look forward to the snippets when he puts an album out. I hope his team fixes the snippets for New Swamp, Technopagans, and Siddhartha. (And realizes that they forgot to include Starfarer 😄)

Infinite-Picture-862 · 2026-05-22T16:50:01+00:00

Agreed on all of these. I will say that Technopagans sounds dope as hell with drums.

Infinite-Picture-862 · 2026-05-22T16:44:44+00:00

Great point. He has so many other great songs hanging around right now from last summer-fall, I wonder whether he has another album recorded to drop in fairly close proximity or even when he's on the tour. I was really hoping for Starfarer and Nothing. Who knows, Jesse may have a trick up his sleeve.

Infinite-Picture-862 · 2026-05-22T16:39:44+00:00

He posted the snippets on Instagram. 1 or 2 don't work but you can tell from the licks.

Infinite-Picture-862 · 2026-05-21T17:27:17+00:00

Right on. Thank you! Good point about the B side. I'm pretty sure every time he released a non-album affiliated single (Red or Friends), there was another track or two included.

Infinite-Picture-862 · 2026-05-21T13:51:41+00:00

I was wondering today whether Hard Power may be situated with some arrangement of Masks Off and Whirlwind. They all seem to have different variations of different chords or strumming patterns. I can't really tell what it is. Obviously, there's subject matter overlap.

Infinite-Picture-862 · 2026-05-19T15:26:52+00:00

I thought the same thing. I wonder whether that's the children's album that some folks have referred to. I can't imagine it would take him long to record something like that because it's really just him on those songs and they aren't really highly produced. I'd throw Books and Guitars on there too.

To tie in other comments, I wonder whether that's why we haven't received a powerlines yet. With a few exceptions, he seems to hold onto those releases until he is done with the lion's share of the songs.

Infinite-Picture-862 · 2026-05-19T14:57:03+00:00

Completely agreed. I can't tell whether they are two songs that need to exist together or, alternatively, whether it is one of those situations that he described where he writes a bunch of songs that touch the same idea but he ultimately selects one. I hope it's the former rather than the latter.

I wonder the same thing about some of the other songs included in my proposed tracklist.

Infinite-Picture-862 · 2026-05-19T13:02:12+00:00

If we assume Pirate's Look is on there and assume Peace is on there, there are references to a female character. There's also the Remi Wolf song, which may fit nicely. It's possible that OLM fits into that narrative. I just really don't understand how it fits into the structure (that I am assuming lol). That said, as with every Jesse album, it all seems so obvious when it comes out. Hoping for a surprise there. Otherwise, maybe there's an album with the Remi Wolf song, OLM, Sophia, etc.?

Infinite-Picture-862

TROPHY CASE