Diuretic w/Insecticide, Banshee, Grozov
Nikki Lopez
304 South St.
Philadelphia
Jan. 16, 2026
“I have never seen any of these people before in my life. Well, okay, I see Alex from Diuretic over there. But I have definitely never seen a barricade inside of Nikki Lopez. Oh, I guess this is an all-ages show.”
This was my inner monologue as I entered through the upstairs of what used to be the legendary J.C. Dobbs, and is once again serving that purpose for a new generation under the name Nikki Lopez. To give you an idea of what J.C. Dobbs was, check out the link below. I was too young to live it... it is what it is.
Rage Against The Machine JC Dobbs ‘93
It was full as shit in there. Nikki Lopez himself told me he thinks they hit 100 to 120 people, which is good for that room. The only other time I’ve seen this place so full was when Special Interest played. I have to say, the kids in there were going kinda hard, and so was the band, who turned out to be Insecticide. It’s a good name for a band playing some pretty well-executed 90’s grind. They are definitely disciples of Pig Destroyer and I definitely stayed my ass right there next to the bar.
Shit is simultaneously familiar and new in this room. People I know peppered in amongst a crowd of younger people who I may come to know in one capacity or another in the ever-approaching future. Everybody, past, present, and future, all together, in one room, and here I am, in the moment, thinking about it. Shit is kinda trippy. As we do the 10 year nostalgia-driven retrospective for the shitty ass year that 2016 was, I think back even further to how much I hated being underage, and how much FBC ("Fuck Bar Culture") by Coke Bust (link below) meant to me even though I never was or will be straight-edge. All ages shows are obviously important, and I think there’s maybe a lot that I’m missing not attending them as frequently as a 33-year-old. I need to go to a show at Philly Style Pizza, I think.
Anyways, I’ve seen Diuretic perform probably five to 10 times by now. I’ve watched them play outside and in all sorts of rooms, always giving equal parts grind and powerviolence. Hearing them amplified in Nikki Lopez was really doing it for me; it got me feeling like I never properly experienced them before tonight. The feeling of the familiar and new converging washed over me again as I watched people younger than me doing shit that confused me, like livestreaming their own reactions to the music with a ring light (that’s a new one), or trying to get everyone to gather at the foot of the stage to catch them as they got someone else to film them jumping off.
When I caught up with Alyssa Rorke after Diuretic’s set, we had a conversation that stemmed from this moment and how it relates to the importance of, and increasing difficulty surrounding, being in the present at a show.
“I'm trying to be better at keeping my eyes open because I feel like I get caught up in my eyes being closed, and then I open them and then it's like, oh, there's people onstage. And I was like, I'm gonna, but also I'm gonna play it cool and pretend like my eyes weren't closed that whole time. I think, honestly, when we're doing the set, it's very, like, work, we're in it. You know, it's very in the zone. This is probably why I can never do vocals in post.”
This is how I learn Diuretic records their music live.
“Like, I can't do it without a live band. It feels weird not to. It's almost like we're the Power Rangers and everyone needs to be doing it for it to work.”
Alyssa is a singer, guitarist, and bassist from New Jersey who got involved in DIY in New Brunswick at Rutgers by booking house shows. Though she started her first band, Young Buffy, a decade ago, Alyssa considers herself a “late bloomer” as a guitarist.
“It was kind of like sweet pop, kind of like twee, Tiger Trap, that kind of like pop-punk kind of thing. I was singing and writing the songs. That was like the, you-learn-3-chords-and-then-you-start-a-band type of band that I started.”
Her next band was called In Trouble, who started out through PhilaMoCA’s First Time’s The Charm initiative, which created a festival of local Philadelphia bands all playing their first show. Alyssa also played bass in Dump Him, and while telling me about this, she reveals that she doesn’t consider herself a bassist because she uses a pick.
Sidenote: if you are a bass player who tells other bassists they’re illegitimate because they use picks, I need you to take a break from reading and immediately go fuck yourself. Fast-forward to 2021 and Alyssa steps out of her comfort zone again with Diuretic, where she’s been ever since.
“This is the first band that’s just singing, so nothing to hide behind. When you're just doing vocals, you know, it's vulnerable, you don't have a weapon or something to shield you. This is the longest I've had a band running. It’s been four years that we've been playing together and I couldn't imagine anyone filling in. I think, like, someone did fill in for Rose for a couple shows and I was so upset about the idea. And especially after touring with them, I'm like, I could not imagine doing this with anybody else. So I feel very grateful for our very solid lineup.”
We should bring back First Time’s The Charm.
