ICE PACK ILLUSTRATED: Diplo, Jesse Ventura,Michael McDonald, Deep Roy - you know: The usual.

The Roots and Wawa Welcome America! have a thing going on. They'll appear at the holiday festival on the Parkway July 4 as they have in the past with no Goo Goo Dolls or Sheryl Crow in sight. Thank God, right? But at a press conference with Mayor Nutter at City Hall Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson and Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter revealed that Earth, Wind & Fire, Michael McDonald, Estelle, Sara Bareilles and DJ Jazzy Jeff will join them on stage. Oy. That sounds like a headache.

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ICE PACK ILLUSTRATED: Diplo, Jesse Ventura,Michael McDonald, Deep Roy — you know: The usual.

POSTED: Thursday, April 14, 2011, 11:36 AM

Filed Under: Icepack Illustrated

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It was so nice they decided to have it twice. Feastival — lasts year’s supposed one-off event thrown by Audrey Taichman, Stephen Starr and Michael Solomonov for the benefit of the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe — has become an annual thing. Mark September 14 in your foodie calendar and write Pier 9, 121 N. Columbus Blvd. on the page.

We haven’t heard from Philly’s comic giants The Minor Prophets and that’s a damn shame. They’ve long been on the multi-media sketch comedy tip. Thankfully the Troc will get a dose of Prophet-eering on April 15 with all new live material. Plus The Minor Prophets will screen their latest collaboration with director Derek Frey, The Ballad of Sandeep, a short film starring Deep Roy. You might know Deep from his role as all of the Oompa-loompas in Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He also played Danny McBride’s foul-mouthed sidekick during last season’s Eastbound and Down on HBO. “In our film, though he plays a computer programmer,” says Prophet David Amadio who notes that Deep is flying in for the screening.

The Roots and Wawa Welcome America! have a thing going on. They’ll appear at the holiday festival on the Parkway July 4 as they have in the past with no Goo Goo Dolls or Sheryl Crow in sight. Thank God, right? But at a press conference with Mayor Nutter at City Hall Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson and Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter revealed that Earth, Wind & Fire, Michael McDonald, Estelle, Sara Bareilles and DJ Jazzy Jeff will join them on stage. Oy. That sounds like a headache. Plus, Jeff bagged on Ahmir’s soul food contest soiree at Time Café two Sundays ago so who knows if Jazzy will show. Then again if McDonald gets all “Peg” on the Roots, the whole affair will be great.

My friend, one time Inky reporter and PR lady Cheryl Squadrito, tells me her neighbor is Joshua Shelov, the filmmaker behind The Best and the Brightest which plays Cinefest for two shows (April 15/16) this weekend at the Prince Music Theater. Icepack fans will remember that I followed Shelov and his stars Neil Patrick Harris and Amy Sedaris around the Rittenhouse area while they filmed the boarding school comedy. Howdy neighbor. Another familiar film face in town this weekend is director/actor Charles Dutton. He’s busy lensing that a film he wrote Must Be the Music with none-other than the aforementioned Tariq Trotter as well as Jadakiss and Ms. Jade.

Jukebox Zeros show off their new bass player, Wayne Wright, on April 16 during a free all-ages b-day bash for skatepun Bud Baum at FDR Skate park. Wheelie! Plus the JZ’s just placed their track “City of Bother and Loathe” on the It Came From the Hideout — The Best of the GaragePunk Hideout Vol. 1 compilation.

Speaking of p-p-punks, you’re going to miss Andrew “Stripes” Winter when he heads out on tour as part of Face to Face tour this month. The guitarist and drummer is a for-hire power pop/punk maven who plays with McRad, Leiana and Blitzkid, the latter of whom opens for all Face to Face shows (including May 21 at The Troc). But while he’s gone, know that he’ll be well represented by his partner in The Reckless Dodgers, Matt Schenck. Shenck and Winter run Studio Bisco, the Disco Biscuits’ studio on N. Third Street that was formerly Studio 4 for the Ruffhouse crew. When the pair aren’t taping dense and lengthy Biscuit jams, they’ve been recording their own stuff with Will Wright and Terry Foley from Philly’s Abstract Verses as Reckless Dodgers’ rhythm section. The whole shebang sounds like a sweet blend of the Avett Bros and Green Day. If you haven’t heard of them yet, you will. They’re one of my pick-to-clicks for 2012.

So how does Diplo feel now that his Switch’s illustrated reggae-dance project Major Lazer will soon make its way onto the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim programming block? “I dunno it was never planned,” is what Diplo told me during a late night email session. “I did the bio for the Major Lazer project in a bar really drunk one night. It seems everyone took the whole thing literally and built off of it. We did have the idea for the first video “hold the line” to be a little like G.I. Joe. We did that and then I guess a relationship started with Adult Swim with Eric Wareheim (of Tim & Eric fame) directing our next two videos. Their line of culture and media is right there along ours. They proposed the idea to the Cartoon Network and we went full throttle with it over the last 6 months helping out. I hope this begins a new chapter in my life.”

Everyone knows what it means to play on 4/20. You’re in the weeds. So I’d like to tell you about some of my special stoner picks for that sunny April day. You can check out the Kuf Knotz-gathered benefit for illing hip-hop legend Kool Herc at World Café Live with Chuck Treece, Wyldlyfe and Doodlebug from Digable Planets. You can hit the Troc’s Balcony for the rousing Penrose/loping New West double bill with local Latin lover El Malito pulling up the rear on 4/20. And you can drive fast to Kung Fu Necktie to catch Stephen Buono’s shredding buds in Seabrook Powerplant. They play banjos and sound like Mothers of Invention-meet-Meat Puppets. And like Philly’s rocking Penrose, the Seabrook trio have several brothers in the outfit. Yow.

WHOWHATWHERE: Last week’s Alien Intersection II show at the Philadelphia Market Place Design Center with chunky mosaic sculptor Bryce LeVan Cushing was a smashing success. The Philadelphia expatriate sold Keith Brand’s Horse (not the WXPN guy’s mare but rather the name of a Cushing sculpture) and gave away more Grafton Village Cheese Company product than thought possible. Plus I think every body was drunk. Nicer still, Bryce introduced me to Parisa Abdollahi whose gallery of fine designs, installations and rugs the exhibition was held at Suite 301where Abdollahi’s swanky goods reside. Go there. The Hollywood Undead hung out with 104.5 FM DJ Maxwell at Saturday Night Online in Bala Cynwd, over the weekend. Wrestler/governor/whathaveyou Jessie Ventura hit the Free Library to sign copies of 63 Documents the Government Doesn’t Want You to Read. Ventura hosts TruTV’s Conspiracy Theory. As for something this government wants you to know, before President Barack Obama dealt with lowering the tax boom on the rich, he held court in Fairless Hills, PA. Yay.

Posted by A.D. Amorosi @ 11:36 AM Permalink | 1 comment

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Comments (1)

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 4:47 PM, 04/15/2011

Thanks A.D. this chunky artists formerly known as MoonFire Tower (Bryce LeVan Cushing) is very grateful to know you! I know I'm fat. . old news. Can't wait to play my guitar for you soon! I've quit drinking and craziness, but not performing! Been reading up on some of your old blog posts and articles and wanted to add that it was Joey Arias with Klaus and Bowie on Sat. Night Live! Was great hanging out with you at the show, your energy is divine! maybe next time i give you a sculpture instead of cheese! Back at the Design Center in a month for a dinner meet and greet at their restaurant!

— BryceLevanCushing

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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