Every Monday, JUMP intern Maddy Court scours the blogosphere for musical rumblings and other fun stuff. Enjoy!
My window unit and box fan provided the soundtrack to my weekend until the power in my South Philly neighborhood went out Saturday night and my neighbors had an impromptu porch party. Small things like that – or the BBQ block party and makeshift water park I walked past in Fishtown the other day – make me fall in love with Philly all over again. I’m from a small Midwestern town and trust me, people there don’t pitch in to do neighborly stuff like that.
Moving on. I’m way jealous of people who can afford tickets to stadium concerts because there’s air conditioning. Speaking of “cold,” my favorite band from the 5th grade – Coldplay – rolled out their multi-media Mylo Xyloto tour at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday and Friday. You can see pics of the high production value and sold-out venue on philly.com‘s site or on this tumblr Coldplay fan-page (like the above image).
Robyn opened, which reminds me of that thing when your best friend is dating someone lame and all you can do is hope it ends soon. Thankfully, Robyn caught a break by performing at Voyeur on Thursday. It seemed like more her scene.
Friday also saw hip-hop wunderkinds, Mindless Behavior, perform at the Mann. There’s so much footage of the show YouTube, I feel like I was there viewing the action through the grainy lens of a cell-phone camcorder.
One Win Choice played with The Wild, The Taxpayers and Cayetano last night at The Golden Tea House, a new DIY venue in West Philly. Check out One Win Choice’s travel blog from their recent European tour.
Well, I think that’s about it for the weekend. Everyone was too hot or angry about sports to post about music, including me.
Population Zero @ Kung Fu Necktie.
Text and images by Mattitude from Modern Bropar.
Zach Volta (above), vocalist and a founding member of South Philadelphia’s Population Zero, will be relocating at the end of the month to Austin, TX. They played at Kung Fu Necktie Saturday with Reagan Youth, Dust Angel and Toxic Life.
Population Zero has an upcoming full length in the works. Look for it on Creep Records.
Images by Brandee Nichols.
The Roots held it down on the Parkway for more than three hours on Wednesday, backing up Common, Queen Latifah, the Jonas Brothers, Daryl Hall and surprise guest Lauryn Hill at the culmination of Philadelphia’s 10-day Welcome America celebration.
Former Lady Gaga back-up singer/dancer Gogo Morrow, a local girl, performed on a side stage earlier in the day.
Questlove curated the music that played during the Independence Day fireworks show that followed the concert.
Every Thursday, our JUMP mag intern, Bree Wood, offers her suggestions for fun Philly music stuff for the upcoming weekend (and more).
New York comes to Philly this week. Indie, hardcore and punk music – whatever you are into – you can find these bands playing your kind of music this week in Philly.
FRIDAY
Lemuria plays The Barbary with Ma Jolie and Nona
Lemuria (above) is a longtime favorite of mine. They are a three-piece indie rock band from Buffalo, NY, fronted by singers Alex Kerns and Sheena Ozzella.
SATURDAY
I Am the Avalanche plays at The Trocadero opening for MxPx
I love Brooklyn-based I Am the Avalanche singer Vinnie Caruana’s voice. My friend makes fun of me because whenever I break up with a boyfriend, she can hear me coming down the street blaring their album. Their music is relatable, which is why I think people like them. If you enjoy I Am the Avalanche, you should check out Caruana’s previous Long Island-based band, Movielife.
Reagan Youth is a political hardcore punk band from NYC that started in the 80s. Guitarist Paul Cripple is the last remaining original member but it’s always great to see an influential band that still plays today. Plus, local hardcore heroes Population Zero always put on a great show.
SUNDAY
One Win Choice with The Wild, The Taxpayers and Cayetano at The Golden Tea House
No New York acts playing this show (haven’t you had enough?) but I put it up because it’s all D.I.Y. with great bands. Philly’s own One Win Choice is just back from touring Europe. Cayetano is a new Philly band made up of three women. Every band in the show has a different sound but is in the hardcore to punk range. If you like that style, I’m sure you will enjoy the show. This venue is run on donations. Support The Golden Tea House so they can continue to put on shows!
Every Monday, JUMP intern Maddy Court scours the blogosphere for musical rumblings and other fun stuff. Enjoy!
Does the term social media make everyone feel prematurely middle-aged or is it just me?
In any case, this was an intense weekend to lurk on the #Philadelphia and #Philly tags. For one, the Wawa Welcome America festival kicked off on Friday. federov, an anoymous Tumblr user, posted some photos of the festivities (like the one above) that somehow manage to make Penn’s Landing look not sweaty and gross.
Speaking of Welcome America and Daryl Hall’s impending Parkway concert on the 4th, someone needed to say this:
Thanks for not mentioning the violence or how much the Phillies blow!
The Japandroids played a sold-out show on Friday at Johnny Brenda’s, which is a 21+ venue. The show followed the New York stop of the Canadian band’s tour, of which The Village Voice asked: Why Do Japandroids Keep Romanticising Youth in Venues That Don’t Allow Young People? Thank you, Village Voice. I – and America’s ‘tweens – owe you one. Artists should know their demographic. Enough said.
On Saturday, Algernon Cadwallader performed a free concert at Morgan’s Pier, which may or may not be an evil bastion of capitalism. Singer Peter Helmis channeled my dad and wore a palm tree button-up, as you see in the images at right from @filmmike!
And finally, this dude had a great first visit to Philly but rest assured, he says that HE WOULDN’T LIVE HERE. Um, yeah.
Return of An Albatross.
Text by Brittany Thomas. Image by Kyle Fisher.
They take their name from the bad luck bird. And some say 2012 is a bad luck year. But thirteen years and six albums later, these guys haven’t seen much in the way of misfortune yet.
After a nearly two year hiatus, the experimental/psychedelic/grindcore Philly via Wilkes-Barre band An Albatross is gearing up for a reemergence.
They’ll play their first show in two years at The Barbary on July 4th, performing the fast, heavy carnival/saga-soundtrack-on-acid spectacle they’re best known for.
“Albert Einstein once said that ‘insanity is doing the same thing repetitively and expecting a different result,’ and I think that makes us pretty much fucking insane,” says front-man Edward B. Geida, III.
NEW VIDEO: Shorty Boy-Boy’s “Candy Man.”
Shorty Boy-Boy (aka Josh Pannepacker) is always a good time but in his brand new video, produced by the folks at Bands in the Backyard, things get really, really trippy. Check it out. This might be the most raucous and soulful Shorty Boy-Boy song yet.
Intern Bree’s Weekend Guide to Free Music.
Three free shows and a free festival this weekend! All are awesome events featuring bands that I love. So if you are broke like me, take advantage of these opportunities and feed on free!
THURSDAY
Garrett Klahn (above) of Texas is the Reason, with DJ Marcos Udagawa and Jamie Stem at Gunners Run
Texas is the Reason has a melodic sound for a heavy, post-hardcore/emo band band, which is why, like many others, I’m a sucker for them. They broke up after a few good years in the ’90s but they’ve made a few appearances since then. A free performance from Garrett Klahn, the lead singer of a pivotal 90’s band? Why pass this up?
FRIDAY
The Menzingers (above) at Gunners Run
After their show at the Barbary, the Philly-via-Scranton punk rockers The Menzingers (above) will play a free acoustic show at Gunners Run. I like to think of them as a punk band with a softer side. The other day I was at the Tasker-Morris station and their song came on my iPod. It made my day.
SATURDAY
Clark Park Music and Arts Festival
Among the bands performing in the heart of West Philly will be Power Animal, The Horrible Department, Erode and Disappear, On the Water, Break It Up, The Downtown Club, Jampa, The Really Cooks, City Wide Specials and The Best Westerns. I love that our city can put on great free festivals. Feelin’ lucky. Check out the bands in the line up you might find your new favorite jam.
Algernon Cadwallader (above) with En Garde at Morgan’s Pier
Algernon Cadwallader is one of the best local indie bands, for sure. Everything about them all over the place, but in an organized way. Rhythm, timing, etc. – it’s like a musical brain teaser. I’m into it.
Editor’s note: Unpaid Intern Maddy Court recently quit her job as a street team member for a major music marketing firm. Here, she recounts the trials and tribulations of her former occupation.
The best advice I’ve ever gotten was to never to start an article with a quotation. The second best was from an ex-traveling salesman who said, “Sometimes in life, people won’t want want you’re selling and there’ll be nothing you can do.”
But what if you’re giving away something for free and people still don’t want it? As a former street team member for a music marketing firm, I was faced with that question on a weekly basis.
Unpaid Intern Maddy’s Weekly Rehash!
Every Monday, JUMP intern Maddy Court scours the blogosphere for musical rumblings and other fun stuff. Enjoy!
Out of Town Films posted a short video (above) of These United States playing “Miss Underground.” Watch it, it’s purdy.
At Union Transfer, Built to Spill performed and photographer Robert Beamer posted some awesome pics to the Tumblrsphere.
Speaking of Union Transfer, R5 Productions founder Sean Agnew was called out for being a capitalist property developer in indie clothing during a heated Twitter war between local anti-capitalist and former OX member Barclay Shields and @TheRealFagnew. Try and make sense of it for yourself on Storify (though keep in mind that Agnew says he is not @TheRealFagnew).
And on a political note, someone in South Philly is really pulling for ROMENY this November. We cannot confirm whether it was @TheRealFagnew who tagged that.
JUMP: The Philly Music Project 