I can’t say I knew the late local-music-scene stalwart Dan Krawiec well, but before he passed away this April at a tragically young age, the ultimate Philly fan annually threw himself one hell of a loud, punk-rock birthday bash — and that alone would move him to the tippy-top of the Icepack Pantheon of Local Dudes to Toast. This week’s Anchor Fest (at Union Transfer July 27, a day before Krawiec would have turned 33) is dedicated to his memory. Like Dan K. shows of yore, it features the crème of Philly’s indie wonks like The Great Northern and Women, the latter being a band Krawiec played in. Oh, and The Dead Milkmen will be there to pay tribute, too.
Grand Circus Paper & Toy is so Philly it hurts. This Etsy shop, run by Fleisher Art Memorial instructor Ronnie Ribant, sells fold-it-yourself papercraft kits that, when assembled, turn into tiny, card-stock models of Tastykake and Kenzinger delivery trucks, Mambo moving vans, South Philly rowhomes and watering holes like Monk’s Café (complete with an embedded, smoking SEPTA bus from that one time in 2010) and Memphis Taproom.
Here’s a name you haven’t seen in Icepack in a minute: Dirty Diamond. The filthier alter ego of film editor Michael Hans screams lyrics that would make your mom wash your mouth out with soap, then punch you in the face. With the guys of Scareho taking time off from hanging in front of Anthony’s Coffee House in the Italian Market (I’m looking at you, Fran) to actually play a gig, Diamond and Pretty Poison Burlesque hit up North Star Bar July 28.
At 15andwalnut.com, you can watch tiny, computer-generated shadow-people creepily strolling around a model of the impending four-story, 90,000-square-foot quasi-mall space planned for the southeast corner of 15th and Walnut streets. If the rumors are right, they’ll soon be able to walk into a Cheesecake Factory (ugh) and a Uniqlo. Uniqlo has also been discussed as a renter for the (don’t get me crying) Daffy’s space on Chestnut Street when that Quonset hut closes this autumn.
The ’70s- and ’80s-themed Boogie Nights dance club at Atlantic City’s Tropicana Casino and Hotel comes to life in a televised weekly four-part reality series starting July 28 on WMGM-TV NBC 40. During Curtain Call: The Boogie Nights Edition, viewers will see how the Tropicana turned an underperforming slot-machine area of the casino, the old Penny Pavilion, into a thriving hot spot. Revel execs, take note.
South Philly jazz legend and longtime Cameo-Parkway label session man Joe Sgro (who passed July 15 at the age of 94) will be memorialized at noon on July 28 at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, 1237 Federal St. Don’t bring flowers. Bring your respect.
More ice at citypaper.net/criticalmass.
