Phillyist Framed Returns!
Whole Hog Is All Heart
Playlist Rewind: AFI at the Factory
Extra, Extra
Across the Ist-a-Verse
Arts & Events: August 2009 Archives
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We were obviously psyched to see friend-of-Phillyist The Color Fred perform at The Barbary last week. After all, Fred would be doing a solo acoustic set, and he'd told us when we talked to him that he writes all of his songs on acoustic—so it was an opportunity to see him do his songs live in their original form, so to speak. But as we got ready for the show, we couldn't help but feel that something was a little bit off—the fact that it was an all-ages concert in a Fishtown dive, and it started at 6 p.m. It was just an odd location and format. But hey, that's where Fred would be, so away we went.
The circus is in town! Well, theoretically. Britney Spears brings her Circus tour to the Wachovia Center this Sunday and opening for her is 19 year-old Kristinia DeBarge. Yes, of those DeBarges—but she's working to forge a name of her own. The pop tart progeny is finding her own niche with her debut album Exposed, its most notable track being "Goodbye," which samples the chorus from the 1969 Steam song "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye." DeBarge joins Britney as well as Jordin Sparks, season six winner of American Idol on an extensive world tour. Phillyist had an opportunity to catch up with Kristinia before joining Britney's crazy train . Here's what she had to say.
You probably know someone like Big Fan's Paul Aufiero. Diehard sports fan, lives and breathes football for the season, refers to the team as "we?"
It seems like Memorial Day just happened, but Labor Day and therefore the unofficial end of summer is almost upon us. We here at Phillyist recommend enjoying what you've got left. And if you're planning on enjoying it while you're down the shore, we suggest you check out "The Show" at Showboat. We caught a few minutes of it during the Atlantic City Food and Wine Festival, and we definitely recommend checking it out before it closes September 7. After all, it's one of the cheapest things you can do at a casino!
A day after the legendary Flaming Lips grace the Festival Pier, WMMR brings in the hard rock for Jaxon's Low Dough Rock Show. Okay, there really isn't any correlation, we just really like the Flaming Lips. But we also like Chicago trio Chevelle (Myspace), playing on Sunday with Staind, Shinedown, and Halestorm (PA's own slightly heavier version of Paramore).
Best. 5K. Ever.
John Oliver—Daily Show correspondent and reluctant heartthrob—will be performing for one night only at Helium Comedy Club, and it promises to be an evening of deliciously British stand-up comedy. Phillyist had a chance to talk to John in advance of the show, to which you should go...but only if you like stuff that's awesome.
About a year ago—the last time we saw Counting Crows (MySpace)—we lamented the too-short sets Counting Crows play on their frequent co-headlining tours. (Last summer was with Maroon 5, but this Phillyist has also seen them on double-bills with Live and The Goo Goo Dolls.) The band has too much strong material, and they're too excellent of performers, to play only for a little over an hour.
Tonight looks like a pretty quiet night around the City of Brotherly Love. Such as it is, here are Phillyist's quick-picks for you evening agenda.
The members of Band of Skulls are interesting above and beyond their music. Bassist/Vocalist Emma Richardson competed on the English swimming team and won a few medals for her country. Drummer Matt Hayward played tennis with John McEnroe. Guitarist/Vocalist (and Kurt Cobain look alike) Russell Marsden cheated accidental death twice. But more interesting than that, there haven't been many times I've seen members of a headlining band hanging out in the crowd to watch their openers. And yet at the Band of Skulls show at the North Star I saw just that. Richardson lounged directly in front of me with a bottle of water and her tour manager on his laptap sitting by her side. Hayward and Marsden bounced around the sparsely populated room. Fans journeyed over for autographs that were graciously signed. If my car hadn't been so far away I would have gone to grab my copy of Baby Darling Doll Face Honey for a quick signature, too. I was almost worried the venue wouldn't fill up for the talented Brits, but of course by the time they took the stage went on there were plenty of people both upstairs and down.
Well it's about damn time Quentin Tarantino's World War II action-adventure flick finally comes out, after nearly 10 years in development. stars Brad Pitt as the commander of a crack squad of Jewish-American soldiers charged with killing—and scalping—as many Nazis as possible. For as long as it took to come out, we hope it lives up to the awesomeness of its premise.
Playing at... – Trailer – Reviews
How could Phillyist not love Fred Mascherino, perhaps better known by the name of his current project, The Color Fred? The 34-year-old local—a Temple alum raised in Coatesville, lest you question his local 'cred'—gained local notoriety with Breaking Pangaea and a national following from his work with Taking Back Sunday. So it's not surprising that we've covered Fred before, and we'll continue covering him when we get the chance.
We think we've just seen the next movie that people will be quoting at parties.
Apparently it was "90s Alt Rock Radio Weekend" here in Philadelphia. Not only did we have our favorite cornflake girl, Tori Amos, mystifying the Tower Theater, but we also had the Canadian post-grunge quartet Our Lady Peace rocking the TLA on Sunday. The fact that Philadelphians who yearn for the good ol' days could see both these acts on back-to-back nights was enough to bring back many happy memories of flannel and long hair for this Phillyist. And with a newly-formed Alice in Chains hitting Philly Labor Day Weekend, Dinosaur Jr. making a stop in October, and Pearl Jam finishing off the Spectrum with four epic performances, it appears as if those of us who reminisce about the awesome music of the Bush-Clinton era will have our fill this fall as well. Just like those toothy actors in the McDonald's commercials, this Phillyist is lovin' it.
So, um, I don't get it. The Time Traveler's Wife is a highly-praised reality-bending romance, beloved both by critics and many of my friends. I've seen people push the book earnestly into somebody else's hands, saying, "Trust me, you'll love it." Sure enough, they would love it, and tell their friends, and so on. Now that said beloved novel has spawned a mopey, over-literal film adaptation, I can ask what I didn't ask then: why should I care?
Some music is just meant to be played in the summer. The Caribbean-influenced music of Jimmy Buffett, obviously, is summer music. As is the laid-back California surfer sound of Jack Johnson. And when you put those two kinds of music together, you get...Jason Mraz. August is naturally the time of year for music like Mraz's, so we were all in the right frame of mind for last Sunday's concert at Festival Pier. For added excitement, Mraz's primary support was Philly's own G. Love & Special Sauce. Score.
Saturday night, the Tower Theater hosts Tori Amos (MySpace) in what is guaranteed to be a gorgeous performance. This Phillyist has seen her perform many times, including once in a solo performance at the Tower, and each time has been remarkable. Amos seems to have softened her lyrics with age and wisdom, and her music no longer seems consumed by rageragerage overtones, as it was through the 90s. Her tenth album, era and show Amos reconnecting with the piano. As a longtime Tori Amos fan, it is so refreshing to hear a new album with "vintage" Tori.
Bummed because you didn't win last week's Never the Sinner giveaway? Never fear! We have two more pairs of tickets and two more signed posters to give away. Just fill out the form below by Wednesday, August 19, and we'll let you know if you won. Full details about the show are in last week's post.
In case you haven't noticed, one of Phillyist's favorite things about the summer is all of the great festival concerts, and we've been loading up on them lately. Well, it's hard to believe, but it's now mid-August, so summer is nearing its end and the parade of festivals will pack it up until next May or so. But they're not done yet, and there's one long-standing end-of-summer festival to particularly look forward to: the Philadelphia Folk Festival, now in its 48th year.
Last Friday was the Rockstar Mayhem Festival at the Susquehanna Bank Center, and it will certainly go down as one of the hardest rocking festivals—if not the hardest—in metal. Mayhem brings together all factions of the metal world from the death metal of The Black Dahlia Murder and Whitechapel to the black metal of Behemoth. Thrash metal was represented with Trivium and, of course, motherf'ing Slayer. (If you haven't already, check out our interview with Slayer's Tom Araya.) There was something for everyone and few people seemed to leave disappointed.
You would think that the godfathers of thrash metal would be intimidating figures to talk to. When Phillyist had the opportunity to sit down with Slayer (MySpace) bassist/vocalist/co-founder Tom Araya, that's exactly what we thought. Boy, were we wrong. Sitting with Araya was sitting with a sage of heavy metal, a gentle spirit with a vast musical background who just happens to front the greatest thrash metal band the world has ever seen. It was pretty damn incredible.
Mauckingbird Theatre Company, Philadelphia's premiere gay-themed theatre company, is about to launch a new production called Never the Sinner, and Phillyist is giving you a chance to catch it yourself. Both this week and next, we'll be awarding two pairs of tickets and two posters signed by the cast to two lucky readers (that's four winning readers, four posters, and four pairs of tickets total).
This Saturday, The Mann promises to be the place for great music. Nine time Grammy Award Winner and kick ass guitar player Bonnie Raitt and recent inductee to the Blues Hall of Fame and all around bad mamma jamma, Taj Mahal, will kick off their summer tour - the Bontaj Roulet Project - by bringing their smoky and delicious blues to the Philadelphia music scene. Backed by their individual bands, the concert will feature both artists as individuals, each playing their own full set and will end the night with a blow-out collaborative performance.
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Not the kind we showed you last week—but still, we'd advise you against being this guy, too.
Remember last week when we recommended grabbing one of the few remaining tickets to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs with Amanda Blank? Some of you lovely readers must have heeded our advice because the house was sold-out packed by the time YYY took the stage on Wednesday. If you didn't seize the opportunity when you had the chance—hate to say we told you so (no we don't) but you missed out big time, cause holy crap the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are great in concert. And if you tried to get in and couldn't, we are ever so sorry. Truly we are. We recommend consoling yourself with close-ups of Karen O in her glow-in-the-dark poncho and the recently released Heads Will Roll remix EP.
Here at Phillyist, we've been to our fair share of punk shows. We're well aware that there are certain rules that go along with attending said shows. Even though we know better, we broke almost all the rules at Rise Against/Rancid/Billy Talent. Inappropriate footwear? Check. Expensive sunglasses and camera that might get crushed in a mosh pit? Check. Thank god we brought along our ability to fling guys twice our size into the pit for our own protection.
I have musical ADD. Well, I don't, but the jukebox that's been installed in my head does. One minute, I'll have Metallica stuck in my head; the next, it'll be Mozart. Sometimes, Frank Sinatra and Fergie are remixed by my frontal cortex. I thought it was just me.
I love my Philadelphia nerds, and my invader, visitor nerds, so I'm looking forward to the Math the Band party that's doubling as a tribute show to Atom and His Package at National Mechanics tonight. And, I love things that are free!
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