ICEPACK ILLUSTRATED: Johnny Showcase, Jess Conda, Lee, Chip, George, Asher, etc.

Putting on a show, getting a silo, it comes naturally to our first guests. David Sweeny, better known to Rat Pack aficionados and coke heads as Johnny Showcase, will finally drop his debut soul cabaret funk mess Love is the Message, on Oct. 21 with a party at Underground Arts to show for it.

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ICEPACK ILLUSTRATED: Johnny Showcase, Jess Conda, Lee, Chip, George, Asher, etc.

POSTED: Thursday, October 20, 2011, 1:00 PM

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Putting on a show, getting a silo, it comes naturally to our first guests. David Sweeny, better known to Rat Pack aficionados and coke heads as Johnny Showcase, will finally drop his debut soul cabaret funk mess Love is the Message, on Oct. 21 with a party at Underground Arts to show for it. It’s not just a speed-and-sweat hdriven disc or a wonky one closer in his sprit to his Lefty Lucy luaus despite the inclusion of his Parliament-ary “Cocaine Sandwich” and the freak-a-deaky “Love is the Message (For Miles Davis)”. The whole affair was co-produced with producer/engineer Henry Hirsch who has twiddled the knobs for Lenny Kravitz, Madonna and Mick Jagger. “Johnny’s a fiction, but the funk is for real,” says Sweeny of his exy dance debut. “At first I was doing Johnny as a tongue-in-cheek lounge cabaret act, playing upon mediocrity and cheesiness. But I got totally transfixed by Miles Davis’ electric transformation in the late ’60s/early ’70s (hence the title track) as well as Dylan’s electric transformation in ’65. Both were creating outside of the comfort zone of their audiences. I decided to do the same thing, and it totally changed the game, creatively. I built myself a funk band, The Sons of Thunder, and started making any kind of music I wanted, because they could play whatever I asked them to.” As for working with the legendary Hirsch, Sweeny was in awe of the master, one of the last men standing to champion analog recording. “He would listen to a demo, and say something like “Hmm, it sounds like you want Led Zeppelin-type drums on this one. Ok, give me an hour.” Within the hour, simply by manipulating drums, microphones, and the console, Henry would have achieved that John Bonham sound. We all walked away stronger musicians.” If by some dumb chance that you miss the Showcase/Sweeny Underground Arts extravaganza, catch up with Johnny when he hooks up with Martha Graham Cracker for their double-teamed Halloween soiree at Milkboy Chestnut Street on Oct 29. If Martha takes a break ask Dito von about the book he’s working on (Pig Iron: Three Plays, due out in December) and his role in Act II’s Irma Vep opening Oct. 25.

Want more show people? Take the wizardress/true star that is Jess Conda. She just finished playing the haughty Mae West in Looking Pretty and Saying Cute Things at the Adrienne Theater, and now the Brat-artist-in-residence has began work on her own Halloween cabaret. A is for Anaconda at the RUBA Club (Oct. 27-29 with a special preview of Madi Distefano’s Meanwhile on the first two nights) is a little Edward Gorey, a little heavy metal and, in the tradition of Brat stuffs like Haunted Poe and Carrie. “Plus my band is the boys from the Martha Graham Cracker cabaret, sans Martha,” says Conda. Take a rock show, dress it up in Victorian finery, cover it in blood and blast it with bombastic vocals. Perfect Halloween fare. “This show tells the story of the corruption of my rock ’n’ roll alter ego, Anna,” says Conda. “It’s inspired by the cult favorite poem, The Ghastlycrumb Tinies by Edward Gorey. I was curious if I could stage the world of that poem in a rock context. Can Victorian school children get down to Iron Maiden? Can the spectacle of a rock show feel like true theater?” Sure can.

Popping pop up fresh: Stateside on the 1500 block of E. Passyunk Ave. didn’t just get a chef, ex-Barbuzo mate George Sabatino. It’s got a five-course soft opening pop-up at South Philly Green Eggs (13th and Dickinson) on Oct. 29. The Green Eggs folk, along with Bill Bonforte and Stephen Slaughter are responsible for Stateside which will open soon after the pop. Up.

If Laurie Anderson can show at Fabric Workshop, Karen Finley can work at Kelly Writers House. The yams-and-yowling performance artist will be a Kelly Fellow at UPenn this up-coming season. Mazel.

I’m hearing that Andy Molholt — ex of The Armchairs, also buzzing as a Circadian — may unleash his new solo project Laser Background at an Occupy Philly event within the next week with some friends from Seattle in tow. Catch his waves.

Sure your pooch eats as well as you do. My doggie bags are truly for my greyhound, Django. Why not have a book that not only celebrates feeding our dogs well but one that features the chefs that do it to their own pooches? That’s why Square 1682 is having a lunch, no launch, for The Culinary Canine on Oct. 20. Ex-1682-chef, Guillermo Tellez, is among those locals who contributed recipes for the dog- cookbook. Matt Levin, of Adsum, Christine Gyaw of Rangoon and Georges Perrier did likewise for Culinary Canine photographer Sabina Louise Pierce and author Kathryn Levy Feldman. $10 cover benefits PACT (People/Animal = Companions Together). Woof.

Magnet mag didn’t just get off the ground last week with its new monthly publishing schedule. It got quoted in Time, a goofy expletive laden quote from cover boy Jeff Tweedy from Wilco.

The Triangle at the, ummm, triangle at 10th and Reed, is for sale: The building, the bar, the heavy metal music and mom jeans, the whole she-bang. I miss the days when they had some of the best meatballs outside of the Amorosi household. Maybe a red gravy room is in order. Buyers?

The Daily News’ man-about-Atlantic City, reporter Chuck Darrow’s band, Nytrous, hits the Hard Rock Cafe at the Taj Mahal to benefit the Shirley Mae Cancer Fund. Be there if you can. Good cause. Good guy behind it.

I wasn’t going to say anything but months ago, the singularly named Lee from Hop Sing Laundromat mentioned that he had to open his Chinatown watering hole by Halloween 2011 lest he lose some of the privileges of licenses that might expire by the date, Oct. 31. With his electricity found to be perfect, his nickel bar backed and beautiful and his health inspection soon to pass (how could it not? Lee is in there 23/7 keeping the place spotless) it pretty much has to open within the next 11 days or he’s back to the drawing board.

Speaking of Chinatown, it’s an all-local all-girls night out at the Troc’s Balcony Oct. 26 when the new wavey all-lady Losers Club and the sweetly sonorous Darien Rose take to the boards.

Chip Roman’s bud, chef Jason Cichonski is thisclose to opening Ela at the old Judy’s spot on the corner of Third and Bainbridge. Icepack caught him doing his own build out earlier this summer.

Yay you, George Manney. The director won a 2011 Feature Documentary award for Best Music Documentary for that Meet Me On South Street, The Story of JC Dobbs jawn at Philly’s Firstglance Film Fest 14. Maybe Terry Lee Barrett will win something. The Shady Dawgs cartoon screenwriter (Harvey Keitel has said he’d be interested in playing one of the Dawgs, Barrett also wants Steve Buscemi and Michael Madsen. Is this Reservoir Dawgs?) Barrett will take part in a Greater Philly Film org script pitch event at Vie Ballroom on N. Broad where he will deliver a short pitch to pitch coaches for polishing purposes. Hey, if the Vie name sounds familiar, that’s Joseph Volpe’s catering hall that he’s got going with Stephen Starr’s Route 6 and Marc Vetri’s Alla Spina.

We don’t care if Philly suburban stoner Asher Roth ever drops a sophomore effort if he keeps doing stuff like this “In the Kitchen” vid from his Pabst & Jazz project produced by Chuck Inglish.

WHOWHATWHERE: Philly beware: we’re hearing that the real band and faux metal head stars of Rock of Ages currently wowing crowds at the Merriam like to parrrrrrty hard. Yay Stephen Starr and Parc. Not only did fellow restaurateur Bob De Niro sup on escargot Monday night before heading back to his hotel after a long day of filming The Silver Linings Playbook while his co-star Bradley Cooper dicked around with J-Lo. Carla Gugino, The Mighty Macs star, ate at Parc the night previously. Then she had to be up early to meet up with the Talk Philly crew (Ukee Washington, Pat Ciarrocchi) Cathy Rush and David Boreanaz do to The Mighty Macs promo thing before leaving town. For a guy who can’t keep a secret, ?uestlove was mum about his new project with The Roots when he DJ’ed an autumn-welcome affair at Mitchell & Ness with Flyers pucks Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell and James van Riemsdyk. The drummer and the rest of his crew are readying Undun for a Dec 6 drop off. “Make My” is the first single (Nov. 1 on iTunes) and the whole affair is, according to Def Jam, “an existential re-telling of the short life of one Redford Stephens (1974-1999).” Work THAT. Real Housewives rise to their own level: Theresa Guidice of NJ table-flipping fame hung out at Sugar House Casino. Lisa Vanderpump from Beverly Hills was at QVC appearing on In the Kitchen with David. While the hard-as-nails Thrice went for an acoustic set when they hit Radio 104.5’s Performance Theater last week, Duran Duran went for tea, crumpets and conversation when they visited Mix 106.1 FM studios. Lastly, when it came to shucking oysters for a buck promotions, the Naked Cowboy, Robert Burck, came to the aid of Oyster House. While a USO girl group sang on and bartenders from Franklin Mortgage served strong drinks, the National Constitution Center opened its new exhibition Fighting for Democracy: Who is the “We” in “We the People”? with a special ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring World War II veteran Domingo Los Baños, the only living individual of the seven featured in the exhibition. Los Baños served as a member of the First Filipino Infantry Regiment during the war. We salute your bravery.

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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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