Results tagged “thestarlightballroom”

OK, we'll admit, the title of this post is deliberately sensationalistic, but every part of it is true, in one way or another. Anyway, it got your attention, right?

It isn't for a little while now, when the weather will hopefully be a little bit warmer (although Phillyist makes no promises to that end), but we figured that the POPPED! festival, April 9-15, needs to be on your radar already.

Fun around town, for $10 or less:

Two music festivals are hitting the Philadelphia area this weekend, and they couldn't be more different. The first is R5 Productions' This Is Hardcore 2006 fest. It starts Friday night at 5:30PM "*SHARP*," goes from noon until who knows when on Saturday and Sunday, and it's at the Starlight Ballroom all three days. We must not be hardcore enough, because we recognize pretty much none of the artists on the bill (which you can find here - along with links to buy tickets - if you scroll down a bit). We like the name Fearless Vampire Killers, though, despite the fact (or perhaps because of the fact?) that there's a really bad Roman Polanski vampire sex comedy with the same title. And anyway, isn't that what fests are for: discovering bands you've never heard of before?

The lucky ones who got tickets before the multiple sell outs will gather together tonight at the Starlight Ballroom to mourn the passing of a great rock band: Sleater-Kinney. Yep, the girls are going on "indefinite hiatus" after this tour, so for all intents and purposes this will be their last show in Philly.

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...

Is it silly to preview a show that's sold out? We don't know. But we're going to do it anyway, because this is Sonic Youth. That's right, Sonic Youth, the gigantic, mighty ancestors of today's indie scene. It's their 25th anniversary and they're still rocking the hardcore experimental punk/indie stuff. Just look at their latest album, Rather Ripped, which came out yesterday. It's the same kind of amazingly powerful, imaginative art-music they've been doing for years. Which is both exciting and a bit boring at the same time. But still, it's Sonic Youth!! They are it. They are a huge cornerstone in the foundations of rock. They made cool. Everybody should see them at least once.

Fun around town, for $10 or less:

Crazy indie band Of Montreal (portrait at left) is at the Starlight Ballroom tonight with Philly locals The Lilys (who are out behind their new album, Everything Wrong is Imaginary), and The M's, and you might want to stop by. Of Montreal is in fact not from Montreal at all; the singer, lead guitarist, and creator of the band, Kevin Barnes, is actually from Athens, GA. The name comes from the fact that when Barnes started the band, he was just coming off of a break-up with a woman from Montreal. Despite that sad origin story, Of Montreal's latest album, The Sunlandic Twins, is a ton of pleasant, silly, harmonic fun in the form of 13 regular tracks and four bonus tracks. Barnes produced, arranged, composed, engineered, and mixed this album, as well as playing most of the instruments...so he's certainly the one to blame if you don't like it! Although we can't imagine why you wouldn't. Of Montreal's music is a tasty combo of '80s new wave, '60s pop, and recent indie rock flavors, and it's definitely worth tasting.

A quick note about that sold-out Stars show we mentioned yesterday: turns out it's not so sold-out after all, and it's moving! Stars will now be playing, appropriately enough, at The Starlight Ballroom, less than a block away from the original venue, and more tickets are now available at Spaceboy Music (704 South Street), or online at R5Productions (direct ticket link here). Oh, and it's an all ages show now. Got all that?

Thursday night at Beyond Nightclub you can catch one of the more exciting recent indie acts, Stars. (That is, if you've already got your tickets; sorry, we're a little late telling you about the show, and it's already sold out!) Stars is out of Montreal (although they are not to be confused with Of Montreal) and features members of one of Phillyist's favorite indie bands, Broken Social Scene. Head on over to R5 Productions' shows page and scroll down to find some MP3s of their romantic, moving music (or, if you're feeling lazy, use the direct links here). Opening for Stars is a Norwegian fellow performing under the name Magnet (more tracks from the R5 website).