Results tagged “indie”

Eight o'clock Tuesday night, coming onto 9th street, off the rugged and drug-addled artery that is Spring Garden and into the Starlight Ballroom, you probably wouldn't notice much life stirring. When at the picnic table in the foyer the young man from R5 Productions checks your name on the will-call list or when the dread-locked bouncer rips your ticket, you hear The Extraordinaires in the other room singing their silly pop-folky tunes overdone with sweet harmonies. You're at a night-club with a sub-par sound-system and with the look of a renovated bowling alley or laser-tag arena and inside you are watching another ambitious, mediocre band. Most likely you are wondering if you'll have to check your watch through the Dirty Projectors, too, before Man Man comes to rock the house.

Fun around town, for $10 or less:

For thirty-five minutes, I sat on a loveseat in the dressing room of Ciaran McFeely, who performs under the moniker Simple Kid, and simply shot the proverbial shit. With legs crossed and hair hanging in his face, he thoroughly answered any query that I spewed his way. Follow-up questions were unnecessary; everything was answered.

Chris Funk of The Decemberists

If you make it through the day without melting into the asphalt, you'll be able to catch the first night of the IFC Free Film Fest at the Schuylkill Banks. Offering three nights of free entertainment, the Fest includes Raising Arizona (tonight), The Princess Bride (Wednesday), and last but certainly not least, Napoleon Dynamite (Thursday).

Listen up and listen good: Tonight is your last chance to catch the Seattle, WA, based band Pretty Girls Make Graves in Philadelphia, PA.

Some of you planned your weekend in advance and got tickets through Live Nation website for the Arcade Fire show on Saturday at 8PM. That was a great idea since the show is now sold out. Most are already familiar with Arcade Fire's unique Indie-Rock sound. Featured on the cover of the May 2007 issue of Blender, Arcade Fire is "the greatest little big band in the world." Blender continues, "In three years, Montreal...

To be honest, I can't decide whether or not I liked Headlight's concert. Not that they aren't talented, fun, or entertaining, but I just can't decide. I waited to write my review so I could think a bit more clearly on it, but frankly it's not coming to me. I will say that their recent release, Kill Me With Kindness, is one of my favorite albums right now. I even went to iTunes and bought...

In this fine city of ours, 88.5 WXPN is an institution. While we've never been able to figure out exactly the relationship between the station and the University of Pennsylvania (beyond an apparent mandate to broadcast all home Quaker games) and we keep getting letters telling us to renew our membership even though we did a few months ago (and it wasn't twelve either), Phillyist definitely has a soft spot for the X. We mean, Y-Rock? Land of the Lost? Come on! But as in any affectionate relationship, there are things XPN does that annoy us. Like their tendency to play a few "hit" songs to absolute death. Like hiding Indie Rock Hit Parade. And like David Dye.

Crazy indie rock band Sebadoh is back in their classic line-up (Eric Gaffney, Jason Loewenstein, and Dinosaur Jr. bassist Lou Barlow), they're touring the US for the first time in 14 years, and they're coming to Philly! Specifically, they'll be at the Northstar TONIGHT with The Bent Moustache. Sebadoh's trio will be pulling their old trick of switching instruments frequently, and their set list will include tracks "from all eras of Sebadoh's existence," so expect fun and variation. To get you pumped, here's a few MP3s. Download away!

Emily Haines Giveaway
1/2/07-1/5/07

Megan and Mason Wendell, Part 2

Philly-based international retailer Urban Outfitters and indie music publication Filter Magazine have banded together to release the third Give.Listen.Help. benefit CD. The CD will be sold exclusively at the 95 Urban Outfitter retail locations nationally, as well as on their website. $8.99 of the $9.99 cost of the CD will be donated to the Komen Foundation (as long as you buy it between now and March 15th of next year), where the money will be...

...Eating Disorder Fun: The Kate Bosworth pic (above) is pretty old, but we just stumbled upon this game, and it rocks, in a really tasteless way. (Flash and Burn, via The Hi-Heeled Hotties.)

It is not unusual for Phillyist to hear that a band is coming through town...but it is unusual to hear a band is coming through town by boat - which is why The Sailboat Tour caught our eye (and our fancy). Indie musicians Peter and the Wolf, Castanets & Jana Hunter have recently embarked on a 3-week tour in a boat captained by eye-patched, erstwhile DJ, Dan Gaeta. This weekend, they'll be docking in Philly for two shows: Friday night at Nexus, and Saturday night at the Green Line. Not only does this sound like a real adventure, but it seems to us that it's a great way to foil those insidious tour van-stealing villains, too. The only way this tour could be any cooler would be if they were doing it dressed as pirates. Peter and the Wolf, Castanets and Jana Hunter
Friday, August 25th at Nexus (137 North Second St. )
w/ D*Star of the Free*Stars
7pm, $5
& Saturday, August 26th at Green Line Cafe (4239 Baltimore Avenue)
w/ J Pepi Ginsberg
7pm, $7 Image via Whiskey and Apples

Fun around town, for $10 or less

If you read Phillyist's daily Frugal Fun Alerts, you'll have seen the name R5 Productions. That's because this Indie show promotion agency puts on several multi-band shows a week (oft-times all-ages) - many of which fall below the coveted $10 frugal cut-off mark. To help off-set show expenses, they host a biannual Punk Rock Flea Market, and the next one is this Saturday at the Starlight Ballroom (9th and Spring Garden). Worried that, like...

- By way of iFlipFlop, proof that Phillyist isn't the only one who doesn't to care to hear your private phone conversations while commuting on SEPTA.

Fun around town, for $10 or less:

Fun around town, for $10 or less:

We were worried that, since we didn’t have time to write a preview for Friday’s Of Montreal show at First Unitarian Church, nobody would come see one of our absolute favorite indie bands.

On July 14th, Phillyist sat down with Joel Gibb, lead singer of the Toronto-based group The Hidden Cameras. When we arrived at First Unitarian, Gibb was in crisis mode: his amp wasn’t working, and he was having trouble finding anyone able to repair it at the last minute. But Gibb isn’t the type to stress. He asked a friend to keep looking for repair shops and led us from the sweltering basement to a bench outside so we could sit and talk about him, his music, and the subject that excites him the most: semiotics.

Indie rockers Pelican (Chicago natives, except for Laurent, who made his way to Chicago via Northwestern University from France) are currently promoting their new album, The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw. The group is in town for their show tonight at the North Star Bar. Drummer Larry Herweg kindly spared some time to talk to Phillyist about their name, their music and life on the road:

by Maria T. Sciarrino To describe the Constantines as “Springsteen meets Fugazi” is to unfairly pigeonhole one of the best bands in independent rock these days. The band inherently understands the desperation creeping around the edges of the American Experience, yes, even though they’re from Toronto. On their most recent release, Shine A Light (Sub Pop), singer Bry Webb’s exacting lyrics depict sadness and hope across the board, from lush forests and crowded cities of this great world. Set to angular and yet undoubtedly pretty guitars and keyboards, these songs propel themselves from the stereo and stage, commanding nothing but your complete, undivided attention. Also on Sunday's bill are Brooklyn’s Oxford Collapse, who hearken back to the unheard music of mid-80’s college radio. A Good Ground (Kanine) showcases the band riding the coattails of the Feelies on “Cracks in the Causeway” and chasing after the ghost of the Embarrassment on “Empty Fields”. The band jumps all over the map of great American Indie Rock bands, but without sounding like a tribute act. Don’t forget to get there early and check out Get Him Eat Him, whose debut album, Geography Cones (Asbolutely Kosher), is full of loopy Casiotone and distorted guitar goodness. The Constantines with Oxford Collapse and Get Him Eat Him

Sunday, July 10

North Star Bar (2639 Poplar Street)

Doors open 8 pm, 21+, $10

Ali G, though, isn't driving Phillyist around in a limo, so we'll have to slum it by providing you with some concert previews for the upcoming week. href="http://dinosaurjr.com/">Dinosaur Jr. is touring this Summer
with a set that we've heard is gritty, dynamic, and just plain good.
No doubt aging hipsters will be flocking to the Electric Factory to
revisit their youth and the recently rereleased first three Dinosaur Jr. albums. In recent shows, the set list included "Chunk," "Little Fury Things," "Does It Float," and "Kracked." Joining Dinosaur Jr. are Broken Social Scene and Magik Markers. Indie darlings Broken Social Scene won a Juno award in 2003 for "Alternative Album of the Year" and have a new album, Wind-surfing Nation, due in October.. Magik Markers contribute their own brand of no-wave noise. It's a don't miss. - Nicole Wolverton Fear not. Tegan and Sara are playing the Theatre of Living Arts on July 12 at 8 PM, and they've got a lot to remind you Belinda Carlisle fans of the good ol' days. That isn't to say they're completely similar: the similarities end with the harmony (especially on songs like "Speak Slow" and "Take Me Anywhere") and the haircuts. These identical lesbian twins hail from Canada and aren't afraid to sing about their mutual love for women – or anything else that's on their minds ("When You Were Mine"). Expect playful audience banter and a little on-stage sibling rivalry. Don't expect a heroin breakdown a la the The Go-Gos, or prom-dress waterskiing. Tickets are a steal at $13 and are available online. Sounds pretty good, eh? - Jillian Ivey