Scroll Stopper Club: Live Music Coverage

Folk Punk, Emotional Damage, and the Limits of My Patience

James Ippoliti — Sun, 24 May 2026 01:00:55 GMT

There’s a certain kind of band that makes you realize music taste is deeply personal. Not in the obvious “everyone likes different things” way — I mean the kind where one person’s life-changing performance is another person’s personal psychological warfare.

The Night I Watched Thousands of People Discover Castle Rat

James Ippoliti — Sat, 16 May 2026 13:25:11 GMT

When I first discovered Castle Rat — a Scroll Stopper before I even had my YouTube channel — I described them to friends as “a Frank Frazetta painting that came to life and started a heavy metal band with riffs that rival Black Sabbath.” That was early 2025.

But let me back up.

On March 23, 2025, I went with friends to see Orions Belte at Johnny Brenda’s,…

Bands I’m Watching Closely Right Now

James Ippoliti — Tue, 12 May 2026 01:21:03 GMT

The basement of First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia isn’t much to look at. Wood-paneled walls. A couple of staircases leading down into a packed standing-room floor. No dramatic lighting. No sleek modern venue aesthetic. Just a room.

The Song that Stopped Me

James Ippoliti — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 14:37:23 GMT

I started my YouTube channel in December 2025 as a way to stay busy while I was job hunting. At first, it was something completely different—a bass guitar channel called Growing Up Bass. That idea didn’t last long. Pretty quickly, I realized what I actually cared about was discovering new music and sharing it, especially from artists who weren’t already…

I Feel Safe When I’m With Shaft: Seeing Susanna Hoffs Up Close

James Ippoliti — Sun, 21 Dec 2025 17:02:32 GMT

Live at LPR 12/19/2025

Friday night I went into New York City to see Susanna Hoffs at LPR in Greenwich Village. If you’re young—or have lived under a rock your entire life—Susanna Hoffs was a member of the 1980s hit band The Bangles. Manic Monday, In Your Room, Walk Like an Egyptian, Eternal Flame, Hazy Shade of Winter—these songs were unavoidable on ’80…

You’re Weird Now—And So Am I

James Ippoliti — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 02:45:23 GMT

I’ve been hitting a lot of live shows lately, and here’s what I learned: you don’t always have to fight for the front-row spot. For as long as I can remember, I believed the ideal place at any performance was right up front. The ticket price even tells you that. Maybe it makes sense at giant arena shows, but when you’re in a small venue—where every view…

Team Dresch and the Queercore Revolution That Still Hits Hard

James Ippoliti — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 18:55:23 GMT

Vitapup finishing their set at the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia

Discovering new music in the mid-’90s wasn’t something that happened without substantial effort. You hunted. You stalked sound the way crate-diggers stalk obscure vinyl—through static, mixtapes, and chance.

For me, the chase often started with WPRB Princeton, the college radio stati…