Check out the new videos from Dewey Decibel (above), The Chairman Dances (below) and Market East (bottom).
We profiled Dewey in our winter issue. His new EP is forthcoming.
Market East will play the North Star Bar on Thursday with Brad Hinton, Henry Wolfe and Lucy Stone. See here for details.
The Chairman Dances’ second album drops today. Listen to it here:
Catch them live on Friday at Kung Fu Necktie. Ticket details are here.
Cock Sparrer and the Cro-Mags @ Union Transfer.
Images by Matt Emmerich.
Legendary punk rockers Cock Sparrer played two shows at Union Transfer last week. The band, which spawned the Oi! sound, formed in 1972.
They don’t play much these days, so having them here for back to back shows was a huge coup for Joe Hardcore, who also began selling tickets for this year’s This is Hardcore fest on the day of the first Cock Sparrer show (see here for TIH tix).
The Cro-Mags opened the show.
Swedish Math Metal Band Meshuggah @ The TLA.
Text and images by Chad Sims.
DISCLAIMER: Do NOT go to see Meshuggah if you are epileptic or prone to panic attacks. The former condition because the band’s light show is one of the most intense on earth (be prepared to have very bright lights shot in your eyes for most of the set). The latter because the music’s punishing pulse will likely stir one.
The Swedish math metal band’s music is something to behold. It does away with all but the sparsest bits of a melody and makes up for it with a throbbing jackhammer rhythm.
I have never before in my life felt like more of an outsider to a concert. The TLA was sold out, filled to capacity. The crowd was ravenous, chanting the band’s name before they took the stage.
Groups of fans could be overheard saying they were driving to the next show the following night – in Massachusetts. In short, Meshuggah has one of the most dedicated fan bases I have ever seen and it was evident as soon as the music began.
The band’s performance was fascinating as the instrumentalists clearly need to really concentrate to pull off the incredibly tricky timings of the songs, while lead singer Jens Kidman strutted about the stage like a tough guy biker in some sort of religious trance.
All that being said, Meshuggah is not for everyone. They are truly a punishing band and all but the most jaded metal fans will leave their shows with hints of PTSD.
Metal/ hard rockers Baroness was the middle band and put on an excellent show. The vocals were top notch, and I loved their drummer’s syncopated beats. They seem like the type of band that could break huge in the coming years, and if they keep going in the direction they are, I can’t wait to hear more.
Polish tech metal band Decapitated opened the show.
Ty Segall @ Johnny Brenda’s.
Text and images by Brian Wilensky.
Forget the button pushers, the anything-wave garbage and the electro-dance beat poppers. Rock and roll is still alive and well. And it’s still not sorry, if you can judge by Ty Segall, who brought the house down at Johnny Brenda’s on Friday.
“I like the passion,” said Segall’s bass player Mikal Cronin after the show, “but it did get a little violent in there. It normally doesn’t get like that.”
Segall performed his first two songs with Timothy Presley from White Fence, who warmed up the crowd before Segall took the stage. Segall and his band went on to blast through his songs including “Caesar,” “My Sunshine” and of course “Girlfriend,” from Melted.
The crowd was especially rowdy when Segall hit their nerve right with “Standing at the Station,” off of Lemons.
Cronin had to fix his bass after it ate it during “Wave Goodbye,” from the forthcoming Slaughterhouse. That prompted them to replay the guitar shedding outro. Next they teased Neil Young’s “Down by the River,” before Segall looked at the asinine, moshing crowd and said, “Fuck that. Neil would’ve wanted you to pogo.”
Sometime during the rock and roll fray, someone threw beers from the back.
White Fence’s set (below) was a bit more loose but still heavy in the West Coast rock sense. They touched on their latest records Family Perfume Vol. 1-2. Presley was especially appreciative of the warm reception from the crowd.
Teenanger (below) was raw and fast. And their name definitely reflected their vibe. You’ll hear them more soon, for sure.
Shaking Through: Purling Hiss’ “Lolita.”
Since January 2010, Weathervane Music and WXPN have collaborated on a music and video web series, Shaking Through. Led by Brian McTear of Miner Street Recording studios, they provide opportunities to rising, independent artists. The series has included several Philly bands, including Creepoid, Hezekiah Jones, Party Photographers and Reading Rainbow.
The latest installment features another Philly favorite, Purling Hiss, whom we profiled in our spring issue. The episode was curated by Adam Granduciel from The War on Drugs.
Download the track for free here:
We profiled Weathervane in our summer issue last year. Learn about the amazing project here.
Get out your 3D glasses and check this out new video from our spring issue cover boys, Cheers Elephant.
This is some trippy stuff.
The guys have been busy lately, with their new album officially dropping last Tuesday. We caught them playing the Apple store on Walnut Street that day. See some of their other new videos here.
FYI: our summer issue drops in print next week! We’ll begin distribution on May 25. Copies will be available around the region by June 1. The issue features The Roots, the Tough Shits, Cold Fronts, OCD: Moosh & Twist, El Malito, Vacationer and so much more.
Jay-Z stopped off in Philly to announce that he’ll be curating the two-day, three-stage music festival over Labor Day weekend. It will take place in front of the Art Museum but it won’t be free, like Live 8 was in 2005.
No word on who will play the festival yet, though Jay-Z said that about 70 percent of the 28 acts were booked. Freeway, who was previously signed to Jay’s label, appeared on stage (above) for the press conference but is not slated to perform at the show.
There will be a variety of genres represented at the festival, dubbed “Made in America” and sponsored by Budweiser.
We’re hoping there will be plenty of Philly representation on the stages. For instance, we saw Chill Moody (right), who will perform at The Roots Picnic, hanging with the crowd during the press conference. It’d be great to see the West Philly native open up the show for the Jigga man.
The full lineup is expected to be announced next Monday. Tickets for the September 1 & 2 events will go on sale next week, on May 23. Tickets will cost $99 and a portion of the sales will go to charities served by the United Way.
Spiritualized (and Nikki Lane) @ The TLA.
Text by Chad Sims. Images by Mike Bucher.
On Friday night, Spiritualized played the TLA with Nikki Lane opening.
Nikki Lane played a great set with nothing accompanying her incredible voice but her acoustic guitar. She sounds like one of the legendary female country singers of yore (think Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, etc.) but looks somewhat like Zooey Deschanel. My favorite of her songs was the tune “Sleep for You.”
While her performance was incredible, it was marred by an audience member shouting a crude comment suggesting that the singer expose her anatomy. Dudes, it is 2012 can you learn how to act at a concert and show the performers some respect?
Luckily, Lane didn’t let this bother her much and even called the guy out on his questionable, non-prescription eyewear (he may have been wearing Oakley’s).
Jason Pierce (aka J. Spaceman) and his band Spiritualized played a long, varied set. Material from across their seven albums was sprinkled through the night. It is not surprising that Pierce is fairly low key in his performance and allows the music to speak for itself.
The crowd blew up when they played some well known songs like the title track from masterpiece album 1997’s Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space.
Overall amazing show and a good paring of an established band and an upcoming artist who I hope to hear more from.
We don’t know what exactly will be announced on Monday but the mayor’s office is asking the media to attend a press conference at 10:30 am. Their only clue about the subject matter is this line: “Mayor Nutter and Shawn ‘JAY-Z’ Carter to make major announcement.”
We’re hearing it’s a massive, multi-day festival over Labor Day weekend.
Jay-Z posted the video above as a teaser.
No clues about the location of the presumed festival. But Jay-Z has performed at the Art Museum steps before, when he participated in the Live 8 concert. Check out the video of his performance then:
Eve @ Kung Fu Necktie.
Text, video and image by Morgan James.
Uptown’s fiercest lyricist and the industry’s most swagged female rapper is revving to make 2012 the year of E-V-E.
Back after a music hiatus – aside from a bevy of smash features and prominent acting gigs, Eve is poised to release her first full-length effort in ten years.
Eve kicked off the free “Reebok Classics” series sponsored by Reebok and Complex Magazine this week in her hometown (Eve graduated from Martin Luther King High School). The series of live concerts features hip-hop’s biggest icons and will visit Philly, NYC, Las Vegas and more throughout the summer. Concurrent with the campaign, the shows will be documented as part of an exclusive Complex film series.
Wednesday afternoon, Complex’s film crew captured hip-hop heads and Eve supporters wrapped around the corner at Kung Fu Necktie in anticipation. DJ Mike Nyce pumped up the volume and Eve wowed the crowd looking better than ever with some of her own classics “Hot Boyz,” “Satisfaction” and “Love Is Blind.”
During the performance she sampled two new tracks off of the upcoming album Lip Lock. She led the bar in a thumping reggae inspired track and later showcased an introspective song she dedicated to her brother, warmly telling the crowd and eyeing her father standing stage-left, “He graduates high-school this year and he’s going to college!”
A decade ago Eve rapped “Let Me Blow Ya Mind.” This year she is ready to blow minds again. And she just might.
JUMP: The Philly Music Project 