Archive: April, 2010

THE CRITICAL MASS WEEKEND OMNIBUS: The Good, The Bad and the Weekend

POSTED: Friday, April 9, 2010, 8:27 PM

Filed Under: Weekend Omnibus

Friday: True, dinner and movie is a cliche but you can't beat the price of nothing. For din din, you're on your own (what about Zavino?) but Mama Omnibus has got your movies covered: Check out the Philadelphia Film Society mini-fest (which kicks off today, and features Kim Ji-Woon's The Good, The Band and The Weird, pictured above), or head to the Piazza for a screening of Doors' doc When You're Strange. Saturday: Wish a happy one to Honest Tom, the travellin' taco maker, whose venture turns one-year-old. Or head to the Armory where bitches on wheels will battle is out in the Philly Roller Girls season opener. Sunday: Sunstainability month at Sa Va ends today so get yo-self to the boutique with some non-perishable food for donation and get 25 percent off. Then head to Nexus for multimedia artist Jebney Lewis, who doubles as the go-to technical director of such heavyweights Pig Iron Theatre Co. and Thaddeus Phillips but is finally taking the spotlight for himself.

Philly Poe Guy

Posted 2010-04-09 15:50:28

And don't forget the Timothy Carey film fest tonight 
http://www.ihousephilly.org/timothycarey.htm

and Doppelganger Poes tomorrow:
http://www.nps.gov/edal/index.htm

Posted by Molly Eichel @ 8:27 PM Permalink | Post a comment

BIG UPS: Art Star Craft Bazaar vendors, bands announced

POSTED: Friday, April 9, 2010, 5:15 PM

Filed Under: Arts | Big Ups | Arts Events | Arts News Philly Artists

etsy.com/shop/kdoss2

"Jason," by Cutesy but not Cutesy

Just got word that the folks at the Art Star Craft Bazaar — that weekendlong handmade marketplace bonanza that causes us to spend hundreds of dollars we don't have on crafts we totally, absolutely can't live without — has announced their vendor list for 2010, and it's impressive as always. The usual local suspects are there — we recognize names like Cutesy but not Cutesy (pictured, above), Heidi Roland, BloodMilk, Melissa Crotty and The Black Spot Books from 2009 — plus some new friends, too, from corners near and far. Pictured below (left to right) are works from Philly-area artists Shana Hostetter, Paisley Dog Press, My Sweet Old Etcetera and Peg and Awl.

In addition, the Bazaar's music lineup — coordinated by The Mural & The Mint's Jack McBrearty, is packed. Watch for Pepi Ginsberg, Toy Soldiers, Oh! Pears, Gildon Works and many more. Basically what we're saying is that you should clear your calendar on May 15 and 16. More info at artstarcraftbazaar.com.

Posted by Carolyn Huckabay @ 5:15 PM Permalink | Post a comment

MUSIC MADNESS: Win tickets to see John Grant and Midlake tomorrow

POSTED: Friday, April 9, 2010, 4:23 PM

Filed Under: Music

UPDATE: We have a winner! Congrats Chad for correctly answering Margrethe II and "The Help of God, the Love of the People, the Strength of Denmark." Enjoy the show!

Want to see John Grant and Midlake tomorrow night at the TLA? Midlake headlines the bill, but they'll also act as Grant's backing band. We're giving away one pair of tickets to see these boys play. All you have to do is answer this question, by emailing (DO NOT ANSWER IN THE COMMENTS) molly [dot] eichel [at] citypaper [dot] net:

John Grant's album (as well as the song above) is called Queen of Denmark. Who is the current Queen of Denmark and what is her motto?

John Grant and Midlake, Sat., April 10, 9 p.m., $15, TLA, 334 South St., 215-922-1011.

Posted by Molly Eichel @ 4:23 PM Permalink | Post a comment

INTERVIEW: Randall Grass of Philly Gumbo

POSTED: Friday, April 9, 2010, 2:00 PM

Filed Under: Music Philly Bands

Philly Gumbo plays World Cafe Live tonight.

The Proof Is In the Gumbo It's way past 10 p.m. when Randall Grass answers his extension at Shanachie Entertainment, the indie label that champions reggae and celtic with a soupÃ§on of traditional country and jazz, a touch of world and blues. Grass is Delaware Valley-based, but he lives and breathes music, so his decades with Shanachie way up in Newton NJ still find him at his desk till the job gets done. This time the call wasn't about Shanachie projects, however. Rather he took some time to reflect on Philly Gumbo, with whom he's played keyboards in since Gig One. That first show was an impromptu event about 30 years back which gelled so well that four of the founders — Pete Eshelman plays guitar, Tim Hayes drums and Bert Harris handles the bass — are still holding the core together. Clearly Grass has some stories to tell. Musing over how they have stayed friends and colleagues for this length of time Grass offers, "Maybe it's because all of us were teachers or counselors at one time or another. ..." fading off as he starts to evaluate his accuracy. Multiple friendships of over 30 years each leave many details to mull over, so we'll cut to the important thing: These guys still love making music together at the dawn of a fourth decade. Readers from Paoli who are mumbling "Randall Grass" repeatedly, trying to remember if they went to Conestoga with him, or perhaps he taught them English there, both guesses are correct. He laughs recalling the family's move from California to a hillside overlooking the sprawl that is now King of Prussia. "I felt I'd been living in technicolor and suddenly we switched to black and white!" Not settling for the politely subdued life Grass went on to explore his encyclopedic interests. After finishing college he taught wards of the state weekdays in upstate New York then passed his weekends soaking up the bellydance scene in New York City. With intentions of writing a book he spent time reading in the Lincoln Center dance archives. One article lead to another, reading about Ginger Baker's studio, jamming in Lagos, belly dance on the edge of the Mediterranean — everything seemed possible to a twenty-something. When a job was advertised for someone to train teachers to go out into the countryside in Nigeria, it seemed perfect. "I looked at a map, it didn't look far from North Nigeria to [the belly dance capitals]," he remembers laughing at himself. The book never did get written [but this book did, much later: Great Spirits Portraits of Life-Changing World Music Artists], but Grass did spend three years in Nigeria, where he played with a local pop band and apprenticed with a traditional goge fiddle player. "That means I got to follow him around, be the only foreigner in the club." Oral tradition was the the instruction method, take it or leave it.

The band in 1983.

When Grass finally made it back to Philly it wasn't long before he was hosting "Roots, Rock, Reggae" on 'XPN. Thinking of the late 70s he recalls, "it was a very vibrant music scene. The Cherry Tree was hosting shows every week, International House had concerts, punk was everywhere. JC Dobbs was in full swing. Dobbs was so musician friendly, the rare club that treated local musicians well along with cool up and coming touring bands. [At other spots] you could see live reggae from local bands." He notes sadly, "Today clubs won't even book them." Reggae was a strong base for Philly Gumbo, the core members have been playing it for years. Grass recalls with pride that drummer Hayes was the only non-Jamaican in the Rock Stones, quite a compliment to how well he'd assimilated the groove. "Kingston Jamaica to New Orleans to Memphis, that triangle, that's the emphasis for Philly Gumbo." Having that solid base let the band host a world of guests during their ten year run ("every Saturday night!") at the late, lamented Bacchanal. "That was a dream gig, everybody from Byard Lancaster to the Lijadu Sisters sat in with us." The crowd reflected the breadth of Philly, downtown professionals to folks who strolled in from the projects around the corner, everybody there to dance. How does he perceive the scene today? "Look at the listings in the paper for clubs? Compared to other cities, it's pretty slim," he says. "When I started playing in bands in 1965-66, $25 a player was common. Now almost 40 years later they are offering the same thing! So we play lots of special events." "If we have a legacy, it's the awareness of New Orleans culture. What we do is what the Nevilles did, and the Meters before them." Guitarist Pete Eshelman's other groups, Zydeco A Go Go and the Wild Bohemians, have also been instrumental in seeing to it that the crowds know the response to the band's call of "Hey Pocky Way!" The real secret to Philly Gumbo's longevity may be this, "We have no strong desire to tour, just a desire to play the music as we feel it should be played." Philly Gumbo plays Fri., April 9, 9:30 p.m., $13, World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St., 215-222-1400, worldcafelive.com.

Posted by mary armstrong @ 2:00 PM Permalink | Post a comment

REVIEW: Florence and the Machine @ The TLA, April 5

POSTED: Friday, April 9, 2010, 12:45 AM

Filed Under: Music | Concert Review | Show concert photos

Photos | John Vettese

There's a drumming noise inside my head.

In another life, Florence Welch would have made a fine interpretive dance maven. Her lively Philadelphia debut appearance with Florence and the Machine this week was all about motion, gesture and scintillating energy. Beneath deep bright lights, Welch opened the show by striking a series of pantomime in poses "Howl," then bashing her floral-wreathed floor tom to the beat. On the punky Britrock-er "Kiss With a Fist," she became an unhinged, flailing force of nature - which might explain why the equally crowd-pleasing "Hurricane Drunk" immediately followed it in the set.

Photo | John Vettese

In a hypnotic take on "Drumming Song" - the under-appreciated centerpiece of last year's excellent Lungs - Welch leapt off her feet into a series mid-air twirls, bounding between her five-piece band (which included a full-size harp) in such an acrobatic flurry you'd think there was an Olympic judging panel sitting at stage right. But that's not to say things were on the up and up throughout. She spent much of the the brooding "Blinding" with her discarded black cardigan draped cross her face and shoulders like a death shroud while she lumbered forward, arms outstretched. Creepy. And the more she calisthenically exerted herself, the more shot her voice grew - by encore time, her once-commanding alto was barely croaking out the words. But the energy was still there. Breaking the powerhouse, Kate Bush-esque single "Dog Days are Over" with some bubbly flattery about what a great first impression the Philly crowd made - part of the act, for sure, but seemed sincere all the same - she asked everybody to jump in the air along with her, and keep going until the song ended. The audience gladly obliged, and the set was brought down in a sea of leaping bodies, flailing arms, shaky notes and total fucking joy.

Photo | John Vettese

Photo | John Vettese

Posted by john vettese @ 12:45 AM Permalink | Post a comment

ICE CUBE: Boxing match erupts at Celebrity Boxing press conference

POSTED: Thursday, April 8, 2010, 10:30 PM

Filed Under: Ice Cubes

Photo | Scott Weiner

Last night in my neck of the woods — the sweet (pepper) spot where Pat's, Geno's and the South Philadelphia Bar & Grille reside — Damon Feldman's Celebrity Boxing Federation held a press conference regarding the Female Lightweight Championship bout we wrote as an Ice Cube earlier this week. Jon Gosselin's ex Hailey Glassman would fight XXX-film babe Gina Lynn in a bout refereed by friend to Nazis everywhere Michelle Bombshell McGee (Google Jesse James, Sandra Bullock and the most hated man in America if you don't recall where you know that last name) on May 7 at Club Polaris. That is until everything went to hell. First I found out from Feldman privately that his woes regarding the Pennsylvania State Boxing Commission (the thing that sent his CBF events packing to points north and west — including Massachusetts, Nevada and California) aren't over and that the May 7 gig was probably moving to either right over the bridge to NJ or down I-95 to Delaware. Either way, it's on and I'm calling the boxing commissioner Greg Serb asap. Then there was the matter of Glassman's attorney who produced a letter that read "I told you I wasn't coming and I don't support this. I have obligations due to the contract and I will attend the event because it's for charity." (A.D. says it's a local charity — Jasonsday.com — regarding Marfan Syndrome) "I stand strong for my belief in equality, regardless of race, color, religion, or national origin. I will not stand to be associated with anyone who is a Nazi, Anti-Semitic or racist." Feldman used to box — he was the Jewish Bomber when I met him — so he knows how to dance. Enter his pal Michael Lohan (Lindsay's dad), his new fiancÃ© (like this week) Kate Major (a gal pal of Glassman and a lady who also dated Gosselin — man, is the world small) and the idea that it'll be Major who fights Lynn (who is half Spanish and half Italian according to her and her husband Travis Knight). During this press conference Knight starts insulting Lohan for looking like a grandfather, Lohan takes off his shirt to reveal a wife beater tank top and suddenly: Mock fisticuffs ensue. Or guy slapping. It was very silly. And then... Oh, you know the ending already — these two will also fight; maybe May 7; maybe another night. Who knows, it was much too messy to tell. No matter — I'm on the horn to Serb today. There's no way he can stop this sort of entertainment from happening. Especially so close to my house. Want more gossip? Check out Icepack online at citypaper.net/icepack. RELATED >> Cooper and De Niro's co-star and boxing with the woman who bedded Bullock's hubby

neil pasquale

Posted 2010-08-20 23:38:16

this is better than the wwe. great job

Posted by A.D. Amorosi @ 10:30 PM Permalink | Post a comment

IN MEMORIAM: Malcolm McLaren

POSTED: Thursday, April 8, 2010, 10:00 PM

Filed Under: In Memoriam | Music

It's easy to forget that the Sex Pistols didn't form naturally, the way a lot of bands did, with a bunch of friends getting together and rocking out. No, they were made. And Malcolm McLaren was the guy who made them. He's the one who auditioned and hired Johnny Rotten to lead his band of "sexy young assassins." as McLaren supposedly, described them. (It's worth noting, perhaps, that Mr. Rotten credited MM's assistant, Bernie Rhodes, with "discovering" him.) McLaren wasn't only a band manager. Last year, Shaun Brady interviewed him about his photography, which was on exhibition at PAFA.

"Ultimately I was trying to re-create a whole history of pop culture within the basis of 20 or 30 tracks," McLaren claims. "I thought that by cutting things up, you wouldn't immediately receive something that would sound like a clichÃ©. You might have heard a bit of it before, but you couldn't quite figure out what it's doing with this other bit. ... That was kind of a cool way of grabbing the ruins of a culture and throwing them together and giving them some basic architecture."

Read the whole interview here.

Posted by Patrick Rapa @ 10:00 PM Permalink | Post a comment

BIG UPS: More swoon-worthy LOST posters

POSTED: Thursday, April 8, 2010, 9:30 PM

Filed Under: Arts | Big Ups | TV Visual Art

mattsoncreative.com/blog

The chair of electromagnetic death

How badass are these new LOST posters from Mattson Creative? We first gave Cali-based designer Ty Mattson a Coveted-style shout-out in February — OK, we sort of shouted at him for not selling his beautiful LOST-inspired artwork. (They're so gorgeous, we seriously wanted to buy all of them and plaster them on our office walls.) This new series, inspired by Season 6, is equally striking. Mattson's creating a new poster for each episode; he updates on Wednesdays at his Web site, mattsoncreative.com/blog, so check it weekly for more amazingness. Above is Mattson's latest, "Happily Ever After"; below are a few of our favorites, including (L-R) "What Kate Does," "The Substitute," "Ab Aeterno" and "The Package."

Bets on what Mattson will come up with next week? We know it's a Hurley-centric episode, so I'm thinking broken headphones, a bucket of fried chicken or maybe a giant Cheech bust? Eh? Leave your comments below, and keep watch on Critical Mass for the triumphant return of resident LOSTie Patrick Rapa's Useless Lost Recaps. (Also, if you're not reading Best Week Ever's Lost recaps, now's the time to start.) LOST. RELATED >> COVETED: Posters and tees, please, Useless Lost Recaps

Posted by Carolyn Huckabay @ 9:30 PM Permalink | Post a comment

NOW SEE THIS: U.S. Girls, "Red Ford Radio"

POSTED: Thursday, April 8, 2010, 8:30 PM

Filed Under: Music | Now See This Philly Bands

Maybe you read my cover story on U.S. Girls and thought, "huh. wonder what she sounds like, exactly." Well, check out this video for what might be her most instantly accessible track. Good song. Good video.

Posted by Patrick Rapa @ 8:30 PM Permalink | Post a comment

IDOL HANDS: American Idol, last night a Simon saved my life

POSTED: Thursday, April 8, 2010, 7:45 PM

Filed Under: TV Idol Hands

We like American Idol. Too much. Molly Eichel is off at jury duty serving the citizens of Pennsylvania, so you're going to have to get by with just me today. Don't worry, she'll be back next week. But I am concerned for the poor sucker who ends up with Molly on his jury.

Wow. I was way off. Who woulda thunk it? Head of the Lynche mob/muscle man Big Mike was at the bottom of the Votem Pole last night (that's a totem pole made of votes). AND Tim Urban was in the top 3 along with Bagpipes McDewyze. America, you're really starting to take your democracy for granted. If I were in charge, I would have had all the other contestants killed, or maybe just exiled, and crown Powersox the champ. That'll probably end up happening (except maybe the murder/exile), but at least voting makes it kind of fair. In this situation, however, fair is not the word I'd use. I'd say something like "bullshit." I'm not the biggest Big Mike fan ever, but when Tim Urban and a performance featuring bagpipes turn out on top, it has to be bullshit. Usually, I tend to run with the masses like lemmings off a cliff, but this time I'm glad the judges trumped America's decision and gave Mike the save. Out of all the people still in the competition, Mike is one of the ones worth saving. Not to mention next week will be twice as exciting because TWO contestants get voted off. And if one of them isn't Tim Urban I don't know what's going to happen. It'll be like when Brody realizes they're going to need a bigger boat. PREVIOUSLY >> IDOL HANDS: American Idol, oh no she didgerididn't!

Posted by Tommy Button @ 7:45 PM Permalink | Post a comment

« PREVIOUS | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14

Q&A with SHARI SOLANIS: "The goal isn't pornography"
What we're trying to do this weekend
SEXY TIME Q&A: I've never had an orgasm during sex with a man — and I'm 30!
Coming soon to Philly: Two cockamamie movie promotion schemes
ICE CUBE: In Memoriam: Joe Tartaglia
Q&A with Tony Goldwyn: "Life is gray, and relationships are, too"
CONCERT REVIEW: Primus (3D & quadraphonic sound) @ The Tower 10/17
NOW SEE THIS: Transit cop arrests marijuana activist for alleged disorderly conduct.
ICEPACK ILLUSTRATED: The Archbishop meets the Geator, the Mayor goes suit shopping, Le Bec Fin fin.
NOW SEE THIS: Tim and Eric direct Terry Crews for Old Spice

About this blog

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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