Hop Along’s Frances Quinlan @ PhilaMOCA.
Text and images by Kate McCann.
Hop Along fans gathered at PhilaMOCA Tuesday night to see front girl Frances Quinlan play a set of six brand new songs.
Before a patient and silently polite audience, Quinlan fumbled her bright pink songs sheets around while remembering which new songs were which.
After the set, which was part of PhilaMOCA’s weekly Tuesday Tune-Out series, Quinlan screened Fellini’s La Strada, a 1950’s film from which Hop Along got its name. Read more…
Palma Violets and Dreambook @ Kung Fu Necktie.
Palma Violets haven’t been around very long. And their debut album doesn’t even drop for another four weeks. But they’ve already garnered at least one massive award – their song “Best of Friends” was named the best track of 2012 by NME. Read more…
Mic Stew and Max Swan @ Bourbon Blue in Manayunk.
Images by Zakee Vaughn.
Philly rap champion Mic Stew held a party at Bourbon Blue in Manayunk on Saturday, and he partnered with Max Swan, the multi-instrumentalist best known as a sax player.
Swan played a variety of instruments throughout the night and Stew and a few friends, like Myke Storm, rhymed over a live band.
The packed crowd had the New Orleans-style restaurant hopping. Read more…
Nightlands Record Release Show @ Kung Fu Necktie.
Dave Hartley, the man behind Nightlands, celebrated the record release of his side project with a wonderful show at Kung Fu Necktie Saturday.
It was a great night of smooth, dreamy and nostalgic songs, complete with reverb and harmonizing vocals.
Hartley, who plays bass in The War on Drugs, stoically ran through the album, ocassionally joking with Michael Johnson, who played drums.
Johnson’s bandmate from Ape School, Scott Churchman, opened for Nightlands (with Johnson on the fuck drums for both sets). Jon Barthmus kicked off the night. Read more…
Ra Ra Riot @ Union Transfer.
Text and images by Grace Dickinson.
On Thursday, two days after releasing their third album, Beta Love, Ra Ra Riot performed at Union Transfer.
“I hope you got a chance to buy it and memorize all the words,” joked Wes Miles, the band’s lead vocalist. “So help me sing it tonight.” Read more…
It’s going to be crazy cold this weekend so you should totally pack yourself into a steamy, crowded music venue and dance your ass off. It’s really the only sane option. Here are a few places you can do such a thing. Read more…
Tuesday Tune-Out: Birdie Busch and Carl Cheeseman @ PhilaMOCA.
Singer-songwriter Birdie Busch took the stage last night at PhilaMOCA with collaborator Carl Cheeseman and the two performed an array of free-form, serene, experimental music. Read more…
United Nations Keeps The Screamo Dream Alive On MLK Day.
Text and images by Rick Kauffman.
United Nations has realigned themselves for a couple of east side shows. On MLK day, nearly four years to the day of their first show – coincidentally on the day of President Obama’s first inauguration, lead singer Geoff Rickley occupied his regular stomping ground with full band in tow at The Barbary. They headlined with support from Braille, sludgy hardcore act Old Lines and the kickass ambient/hardcore three-piece Black Clouds. Read more…
The Kick Back 2 @ Villa on Broad Street.
On Sunday, Villa on North Broad Street hosted Kick Back 2, an afternoon show featuring dozens of Philly’s rising hip-hop performers. Organized by Mont Brown and Pace-O Beats (above), the event gave young performers stage time in front of the packed clothing/sneaker shop.
Read more…
Jessie Ware @ Union Transfer.
Text and images by Grace Dickinson.
After playing with The Roots earlier in the week on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, soul-singer Jessie Ware hopped from NYC to Philadelphia for a performance at Union Transfer. Opening with Devotion, Ware sang nearly her entire EP, If You’re Never Gonna Move, along with a few other tracks from her UK released album, also titled Devotion, to be released in the states this April.
The Friday night show drew a fairly packed crowd, though was the only one not to sell out on her U.S. tour. It was the South Londoner’s first time headlining as a solo artist here but Ware let the audience know it wasn’t her first Philadelphia performance.
“When I decided to be a singer, I quit my 9-5 job and became a back-up singer,” explained Ware, referencing her former days touring with English musician Jack Peñate. “My first stop was Philadelphia and we did World Café. It’s been very romantic for me to be back here tonight.”
Ware made a visit back to World Café earlier in the afternoon for a session with David Dye, this time performing songs off of her own record.
Prior to her solo debut, Ware also acted as a back-up singer for Joker, along with SBTRKT (Aaron Jerome). For SBTRKT, Ware eventually ended up singing lead on the British producer’s 2010 single “Nervous,” a single that led Ware to her own label deal with PMR.
The 28-year-old is frequently compared to the likes of other powerful, female UK soloists popular in the states, like Adele and Sade. She definitely has that same soulful feel, akin also to English vocalist Joss Stone, though with a dubstep influence likely linked to her days with SBTRKT.
It’s the dubstep bassline that got the crowd moving on Friday night, with Ware dancing too, and referencing how happy she was to be there in between each song. Despite rather rapid success back in the UK, it’s clear Ware is still humble as ever.
As fans projected shout-outs and tributes towards the stage, Ware took a moment at one point to do some complimenting of her own. She let the crowd know she found them to be “very polite and so very sweet”, and acknowledged that this time in her life has been such a “wonderful and wild adventure”.
Before closing out the night with her album’s primary single, “Running,” Ware also acknowledged opener Rochelle Jordan, a singer/songwriter from Toronto. She too had a soulful voice that leans a bit more towards R&B. Jordan is also just rising up in the music world, getting a small shout out from Drake on his track “Club Paradise,” and positive reviews from her second LP, PRESSURE, released in August of 2012. Jordan will make a few more stops with Ware as she finishes out her U.S. tour this month.
JUMP: The Philly Music Project 