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Archive: April, 2012
Every Monday, James Friel rounds up the week's sure-bet live acts. This week? Woods, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Future Islands and more.
Monday: The garage-punk band Post Teens most recently released Post Teens, a 7-inch/Download EP that features an old-school, 60- to 90-second song format with very little melodies and very much fuzzed-out, catchy aggressiveness. 8 p.m., $8, The Level Room, 2102 Market St., 215-564-4202.
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We have a pair of tickets to see LMFAO and the Party Rock Crew and a whole slew of special guests at the Sorry For Rocking Party Tour at the Wells Fargo Center on Sat., June 30. To win, send a photo of someone in the most ridiculous workout getup imaginable — it can be you, your best friend, your granny, whatever. We all have to work out, right? We'll share the photos on our Twitter/Critical Mass page and announce the winner on Fri., June 1.
So get that Instagram fired up and start clicking. All entries should be emailed to josh.middleton@citypaper.net by Thu., May 31. Be sure to include your Twitter name so we can "@" you when we tweet your sexy photo.
Tour deets: Sat., June 30, 7 p.m., $35-$69.50, with Far East Movement, The Quest Crew, Sidney Samson, Evan Simmons and Natalia KillsWells Fargo Center, 3601 S. Broad St., $35-$69.50, livenation.com.
Our resident DJ on his most boogie-worthy pick of the week.
WHO: Addison Groove, Doc Daneeka, Spank Rock, MDM Residents
WHAT: After a slew of successful singles on Swamp 81, Tectonic and more, Addison Groove has dropped his debut album, Transister Rhythm, on the 50 Weapons label, and he’s bringing his unique perspective on juke sounds to Philly to promote it. Taking influence from Chicago’s ghetto-tech scene and merging it with his U.K.-bass-music background, the DJ's sets present a forward-thinking and highly addictive mesh of music that’s sure to keep your body and mind percolating around the room. Plus, local favorite Spank Rock will take on hosting duties, keeping things extra lively.
WHEN & WHERE: Mon, April 30, 10 p.m., $3, M Room, 15 W. Girard Ave, 215-739-5577, mroomphilly.com.
WHY: Two U.K. heavyweights plus local talent on a Monday night? Rare and beautiful.
Remember Post Post? They were great. But they're gone, and singer/guitarist Michelle Zauner has moved on. Her new band, Little Big League, is just as catchy but packs a bit more rock 'n' roll punch. Sunday's gig at KFN doubles as a seven-inch release party.
Sun., April 29, 9 p.m., $10, with Kind Of Like Spitting and Folklore, Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 215-291-4919, kungfunecktie.com.
Devoted poet/avid concert-goer/nerd-grrrl extraordinaire Jane Cassady’s weekly horoscopes run in this space every Friday morning.
Taurus (April 19-May 18): Sometimes help comes from the most unlikely places—people you may have underestimated, recurring fortune cookie slips, episodes of sitcoms. Go ahead and let it all help you, it’s okay.
Gemini (May 19-June 21): When you are Sally Draper, you’ll accept advice from just about anyone, even your creepy pill-popping step-grandmother. Lucky for you, you are not Sally Draper. Feel free to rely only on reliable voices.
Each week, Nina Willbach puts together a rundown of book-centric events. This week: Spiritual Anarchists, art about literacy, and Cornel West!
Thursday, April 26
The Spiritual Anarchist
Classy Girls Don’t Kiss in Bars
I’m obviously not the only one in Philly digging the bluegrass/roots revival; Denver natives The Lumineers played to a sold-out crowd at Johnny Brenda’s last night... and hot damn there was some hardcore foot-stomping and hand-clapping going on. Opening with the up-tempo “Submarines” and the heel-kicking “I ain’t nobody’s problem,” a tune by their pal Sawmill Joe, frontmen Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites had the audience wrapped around their suspenders and ukulele strings in seconds flat. The core trio (rounded-out by cellist/vocalist Neyla Pekarek) definitely knows how to play a crowd. For “Ho Hey,” they had the whole house roused up to do backup vocals.
The group slowed things down a bit midway through with tunes like “Slow It Down” and one of my faves, the balladic “Dead Sea,” which really showcases Schultz’s deep, gritty, country vocals. They are a talented, engaging bunch. I was particularly impressed by the keyboardist, who (for me) stole the show, especially with his bits of improv on “Flapper Girl.” In the encore set a beaming audience member was invited onstage to hold the glockenspiel while Fraites played, and Schultz introduced everyone and their instruments, in true bluegrass fashion.
For fans of Mumford and Sons, the Avett Brothers, and the Head and the Heart, The Lumineers are a refreshingly intimate addition to the folk scene, exuding a really genuine down-home affect that complements their true-to-the-heart lyrics and solid musical talent. Subtle hair-slicking and hat-tipping makes you fall in love with them as much as their earnest “oh oh, ah ah, hey heys.”
Since Icepack Illustrated’s top graph has become home to spring’s top restaurant tastings, what better place to start this week than Bravo network Top Chef victor Kevin Sbraga and the victorious spring tasting menu he previewed on Monday night at his namesake joint on Broad Street. Acting as host and exec chef, Sbraga introduced each item and its primary ingredients. Since Monday night was damp and freezing, it made sense that Sbraga started with his creamy peppery and honeyed (yes, honeyed) fois gras soup poured atop crushed rose petal relish. The deep fried green tomatoes with cumin crème fraiche, cherry tomatoes, dill and feta was paired with the most tenderly spongy sweetbreads I’ve ever eaten. The secret to that last dish was the buttermilk. The seared scallop with crispy pork belly, shaved jalapeno atop watermelon with tabouleh made with quinoa (rather than bulgar wheat which really made all the difference), mint and cilantro had the heat and the sweet. The thick rich meatloaf patty topped with marmalade came with several forms of asparagus (shaved raw, blanched, pureed) rather than the winter’s heavy potato usual, and the whole meaty affair was feathery, light and luscious. The dessert was Sbraga’s wife’s new special Orange Creamsicle dish with chilled yogurt mousse and several fresh layers of orange variations like granita. Despite this week’s winter chill, spring just got hotter.
That same Monday night, Top Chef alum and current star of Life After Top Chef for Bravo, Jen Carroll, held a pop-up event at David Katz’s Meme on Spruce Street in order to test drive possible menu items for her soon-to-debut Concrete Blonde eatery. Those of you paying attention will recall that two weeks ago I wrote that Carroll and her investors had honed in on the now-vacant Marathon space on 13th and Chestnut for C-Blonde, mere doors from her previous employ, 10 Arts at the Ritz Carlton. Word has it at present that the deal for the Marathon spot has fallen through (we called Carroll who hasn’t returned our message) but that Jen was getting anxious to try out her Blonde menu items, hence the pop-up. Carroll brought along Top Chef bud Spike Mendelsohn, her 10 Arts’ collaborators Monica Glass (on dessert duty) and Aaron Gottesman and fed local restaurant owners Rob Wasserman (Rouge), Tamar and Steve Olitsky (Table 31) and Jon Gosselin.
Speaking of pop ups, the Philly Art Alliance has had a busy week to speak of — Nic Elmi’s sweet-as-pie Rittenhouse Tavern opened inside the Alliance’s hallowed halls, Jared Miller’s second “Craft of” tasting hits the Alliance on April 29, and Harshita Designs’ wearable art for men and women starts its pop-up run April 27. The Harshita crew will be at PAA until May 3 and they’re selling tunics. Tunics, I tell you.
Mancation, that dopily romantic flick that N’Sync-er Joey Fatone and Wonder Years’ Danica McKellar shot in Philly last year (Frank Vain directed, Tommy Avallone and Derek Linderman amongst others produced) just got picked up by Lionsgate Home Entertainment’s Grindstone home entertainment division. Cheggout MancationMovie.com for info.
Last year, the good folks at Live Nation’s Theater of the Living Arts department began discussing the revival of its much-loved Midnight Movie schedule, a large factor in the original TLA’s success with a young projectionist named Ray Murray (from TLA Films/Entertainment and Artsploitation, neither of which has anything to do with TLA, the venue). In the early ’80s, Rock n’ Roll High School was a big screen fave. Hair too. Yet, nothing was as a smash success or had a more interactive toast-tossing audience and sell out showings as the legendary Rocky Horror Picture Show screenings at midnight. A little inquiry into whom might be the best aptly-dressed cast to play Frank N. Furter, Biff, Magenta and Rocky on stage while the film un-spooled behind them has yielded Philly’s own Transylvania Nipple Productions Co., a troupe that has done their Horror show at the William Way Center, Club HP and campus gatherings at Drexel and Tyler. Catch the Nipple on April 28 at 11:30 p.m.
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