This is the spot to come to for live show coverage and everything of that nature from the Greater Philadelphia Area (and further). If you’re a touring band looking for a show date in Philadelphia, please get in touch! We can help you out!
UPCOMING SHOWS:
February:
7th: Woodsman, Lantern, School Girl @ Kung Fu Necktie, 11pm
7th: Nobunny, the Hussy, Bad Side, the Whips @ Underground Arts, 9pm
13th: The Mad Doctors, Seismic Thrust, the Glue Boys @ Kung Fu Necktie, 8pm
____________________________________________________ PAST SHOWS:
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!! I am absolutely ecstatic to reveal to you that thee VERMILLION SANDS will be coming to tour these United States in the coming days at the end of September and the beginning of October, and their stop in Philadelphia on October 2nd will be presented to you by no other than the Styrofoam Drone – along with some awesome friends who are also helping to put the show together. That’s right. They’re coming out here initially for the Gonerfest in Memphis, and then they will be coming to the East coast to play some dates. They needed one more show between their NYC date and their Baltimore date, so what better place to play then Philadelphia?
So I’ll just repeat that one more time. On October 2nd @ the Drone Duplex (Park Ave. & Dauphin St. in North Philly) Italy’s own VERMILLION SANDS will be playing along with local Philly favorites OMAR and FACTORS OF FOUR. “THIS IS KIND OF A BIG DEAL.” Everyone in the area should definitely come out and support, as well as people who aren’t from the area! The show will begin promptly at 8pm, and the cover charge won’t be any more than $5.00 – but please understand, these guys need to get back to Italy a few days after the show, so no bullshit when it comes to the price. Seriously though, this is happening, and you really should come. This is the first of shows we’re presenting here at the Styrofoam Drone, and hopefully this won’t be the last. So please come out. October 2nd, Park Ave. & Dauphin St. in North Philadelphia, about two blocks off Temple’s campus. In case you’re not sure about who the Vermillion Sands are, check out the songs and all VS posts from the past right below. Thanks! See you at the show!
Who?: DOOMSTAR! Where?:The Millcreek Tavern in Philadelphia, PA When?: September 9th, 2010
It’s not everyday that you get to meet the people responsible for all those awesome songs you have stuck in your head for days at a time. Well believe it or not, I had that privilege when the fine men who make up DOOMSTAR! came into town just yesterday. In case you’re not aware, DOOMSTAR! is a three-piece band, including Spenser Gralla on guitar and vocals, Jeff Johnson on bass guitar (and awesome stage outfits & beards), while Noah Bond holds down the drum set.
DOOMSTAR! rolled into town in the late afternoon, and then around 5pm or so they headed on over to my place (the Drone Duplex – more on that later…) for some pre-show chilling out and TV watching. After traveling around in somewhat unfamiliar places, it’s probably nice to take a seat and sit back and watch a good bit of “Eastbound & Down”, which is exactly what we did. That show seriously never gets old. I actually have it on in the background as I’m typing this post. We watched something called Animal Hoarders as well, but it doesn’t even come close to the hilarity of Kenny Powers.
DOOMSTAR! hail from Cambridge in Massachusetts, so they had a good bit of information to share about the local band scene, as well as anything cool about the city of Boston and all of the surrounding areas. They’re actually friends with another sick band that has been featured here on the Drone – a band you might know as Girlfriends, and then this band Ski Mask who I would love to get a bit more information on. They also filled me in that when they were finished up with their current tour, they would be heading back into the studio to lay down some fresh new tracks. Totally looking forward to that. We talked about countless other things as well, including their van the “Baby Cave”, their “mid-fi” sound, and the fact that they have a fucking Super Nintendo in their van. I thought that was great. But moving on – their show started promptly at 9pm at the Millcreek Tavern in Philadelphia, and I was there to capture all of the madness on camera. See for yourself after the jump: Continue reading “A Day w/ DOOMSTAR! – Live in Philadelphia (9/9/10)”→
Who?: Dean Wareham w/ Dean & Britta backing band performing Galaxie 500 w/ Crystal Stilts Where?:The Trocadero in Philadelphia, PA When?: August 20th, 2010
Yo. So last night was quite the magical night. Dean Wareham and his band stopped by in Philadelphia to play some songs for us, but not just any old songs. They didn’t play Luna. They didn’t play Dean & Britta. So you only really have one more guess. That’s right. Dean Wareham played Galaxie 500 songs last night and it was nothing short of breathtaking. Before this show I never thought I would have lived to see the day where these songs are performed, but luckily for me I was sadly mistaken. Crystal Stilts opened for the night (although I was too late for them – damn!) and then Dean Wareham and his band took the stage. He was backed by his bandmates from the Dean & Britta band, and they played all of our favorite Galaxie 500 songs, with all the simplicity and honesty that you could ever hope for.
For starters, Dean Wareham actually did a great job hitting those high notes he did over 20 years ago when they recorded the Galaxie 500 albums. Not only that, but I’m sure his guitar playing (as you would probably expect) has only gotten better over the years, so when it came time for a nasty solo or something like that, Dean was right there to melt our faces off (see “When Will You Come Home” video clip below). As a quick side note, I shot minimal video because I wasn’t using my usual trusty camcorder. They don’t allow camcorders @ the Troc so my hands were tied. I used my digital camera to get these videos before the batteries gave out, so just bear with the quality. As far as I’m concerned, it’s better than nothing!
When Will You Come Home – Now I know this isn’t the entire song, but I didn’t want to drain my batteries just yet. I figured I’d catch the ending half of the song when Wareham melts our faces, and sure enough he does just that. What a damn-good song. Now if only they played Ceremony…
Ceremony – Oh wait! They did! How could I forget?? Just kidding, of course. As I kind of expected – If we were going to get this song, it was probably going to be last, and sure enough they played it at the end of their encore. People starting yelping out “Ceremony” when they saw Dean apply the capo to his guitar. Watching this video still gives me the jitters, hearing this last night was beyond unreal. Many people (including myself) never thought last night would become a reality. There was a guy standing nearby me who kept saying something like “We’ve been waiting”. He’s not kidding!!!
So all in all, I think you can figure out that it was a fantastic night. I’m not sure if any of you saw my G500 post the other day in honor of this show, but believe it or not, Dean actually confirmed some of my drugs comments in certain songs last night on stage. I mentioned I thought he had taken drugs for the song “Strange”, and sure enough before they played the song last night Dean says something about taking acid and going to the drug store. Now all his thoughts totally make sense! He also gave us some insights on the songs “Decomposing Trees” and “Blue Thunder”.
Apparently “Decomposing Trees” is about when Wareham and some friends took some acid in a brand new city, went to the stream, and then he thought his toes were talking to him. He walked up-stream a bit and found an old ax and begun swinging it around (while making a joke about how that’s not a good thing to do on acid), and then proceeded to tell us that the ax came off the handle and almost hit his friend Graham. Talk about a horror story (especially while on acid), but good thing they avoided that one. He also mentioned how his blue Dodge was named after the movie “Blue Thunder”, hence the track name “Blue Thunder”. Interesting stuff though – I just couldn’t believe he told us that stuff a day after I was talking about it here on the Drone. If you don’t believe me read this post. So technically I’m already late for work this morning so I’ll leave you with two last things. One: a link to all the pictures I took from the show, and two: Galaxie 500 songs for you to listen to and enjoy.
PS – I have one last thing that I almost totally forgot about. I was lucky enough to snag a setlist off the stage last night when the show was over for all you curious-folk. Check it!
Setlist:
1.) Flowers
2.) Pictures
3.) Temperature’s Rising
4.) Snowstorm
5.) Decomposing Trees
6.) Strange
7.) Hearing Voices
8.) Blue Thunder
9.) Summertime
10.) When Will You Come Home
11.) Don’t Let Our Youth Go to Waste
12.) Fourth of July
-ENCORE-
13.) Tugboat
14.) Ceremony
Who?: Cap’n Jazz w/ Gauge Where?: Starlight Ballroom, Philadelphia, PA When?: July 24th, 2010
Yo. Last night Cap’n Jazz played in Philadelphia. Where were you when it happened? I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the best night of many show-goers lives last night, because it definitely seemed that way. People were going ape-shit in the 100+ degree Starlight Ballroom, and I think I speak for everyone when I say that Cap’n Jazz put on a hell of a show. I’ve brought my evidence along with me – just check out these videos below!
In the Clear – This was their first song of the night. Watch everybody dash right towards the stage immediately after they start. Everybody also chants along perfectly with Kinsella during the pause.
We Are Scientists! – I especially like the use of the french horn in this one.
Basil’s Kite – I was really hoping they played this one last night. Sure enough, they did. WHEN I FLYYYYYYYY!!!!
Little League – The sprawling first track to their timeless album. Everybody is singin’ along as best as they can with so much dedication.
Oh Messy Life – Oh sweaty ballroom. This song definitely put a lot of smiles on faces last night, although I’m sure people were smiling the entire time anyway. It’s not every day, or even every year, that Cap’n Jazz comes to play a show in your town.
Take on Me – So I must apologize for this one. I didn’t have my camera handy when they started playing the song, so I missed a good chunk of it, but I still figured people would love to see it. I’m pretty sure Kinsella is reading the lyrics right off of that paper in his hands.
That’s all the video I had from the show. That’s for all you silly people who didn’t come out and try to get in last night! I hope I brought the experience right to your computer screen. In case you’re new to Cap’n Jazz though, you can check out this song “Basil’s Kite” right below – it’s damn good.
Basil’s Kite –
Get the insight on Cap’n Jazz right here @ Jade Tree
Cap’n Jazz on Myspace
Who?: Free Energy w/ Jukebox the Ghost and Miniature Tigers Where?:First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA When?: May 28th, 2010
Last night, Philadelphia was the place to be. Free Energy made their Philadelphia debut, and it was quite magical. The show took place at the First Unitarian Church off of Chestnut Street, and three different bands played. Miniature Tigers were up first, although I didn’t make it in time to capture any of their set. Next up were Jukebox the Ghost, who were a bit too poppy and quirky for my liking. At this point during the show a bunch of young girls were all cheering and carrying on like crazy, so that was a bit unbearable. Fortunately, that seemed to die down a bit by the time Free Energy took the stage. Not a moment too soon either, because myself and some people around me were just short of losing our minds. So most of that cleared out, and then Free Energy took the stage. At the beginning of their set, lead man Paul Sprangers said it was their Philadelphia debut. Philadelphia is their current hometown, so you might guess that the show got pretty packed, and it did to everybody’s surprise; even Free Energy. Sprangers kept making comments on stage like “This is for real. This is happening,” before they would start playing a song. Just watch the “Something in Common” video to see what I’m talking about.
Free Energy – Free Energy started off the night quite appropriately with their opening track from “Stuck on Nothing”. This song basically encapsulates Free Energy as a band; it’s sprawling, relentless, and just plain awesome. Please watch.
All I Know – Listen to that opening guitar. That immediately signals a good time to everybody in the audience. This is a great song right here, and the guitarist to the right does a hell of a job melting our faces off, but that goes for the entire show, not just this song. He totally nails the solo towards the end of the song.
Something in Common – Next up, Free Energy played the B-side to their only 7″ record. Listen to Sprangers before the song gets started. Him and Free Energy were totally caught off guard by the turnout last night. I think everybody and myself would say that they totally deserve the turnout, too.
New Song! – Is this song called “Come On?” Does anybody know? I thought I saw “Come On” written on the setlist, but I’m really not sure of the name. Either way, this was exciting that they were playing a new song for us. Definitely didn’t see that coming. If anybody knows the name of it, feel free to leave a comment or send an e-mail or something! Thanks!
Bad Stuff – Next up they played the epic middle track from “Stuck on Nothing”. Sprangers once again thanks the crowd for the amazing turn out and goes on to say that it totally blows his mind. I can totally see why. If there are any Free Energy songs bound to melt the skin right off your face, this is the one. The huge breakdown at the end features an immense guitar solo…that guy really knows how to play guitar.
Bang Pop – I was pretty sure this song was guaranteed last night, and sure enough, it was the final song of their encore. People screaming like crazy, people asking people out to proms; that’s how a Free Energy show goes I guess. These guys are having a ball up on stage together, just watch. Very similar to their brand new video for the song minus the school and all that other fun stuff. Listen to Sprangers once again at the end, “Seriously, thank you so much, this is fucking wild.” Their still trying to cope with the turnout by the end of the show.
Unfortunately, that’s all the video I have from the show. Now I wish I had taken more. Oh well, all good things come to an end at some point, right? That goes for me right now, because I have to go to work…gotta make that paper son. Alright well, thanks for coming by once again, please enjoy the Free Energy videos, and check out the Free Energy song I left for you below.
Who?: Twin Sister, Sharon van Etten, and Reading Rainbow Where?:AKA Music, Philadelphia, PA When?: May 22nd, 2010 at 5pm
Yesterday was a great day to be in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Flyers won yet again to take a commanding lead over the Montreal Canadiens, making their series 3-1. Not only did the Flyers play, but a very special event hosted by the Weathervane Music Organization took place at AKA Music on 2nd Street. A handful of great bands played, such as Philadelphia’s own Reading Rainbow, Long Island dream poppers Twin Sister, and last but not least, solo artist Sharon van Etten.
Up first was the boy-girl duo of Reading Rainbow, and they played for a good chunk of time. Robbie plays the guitar and Sarah plays the drums. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not too sure about this band. She plays a simple drum beat, he plays some guitar chords. They both keep it going without much of a twist until the song ends. There’s really not much going on at all. They certainly have the heart and soul when they’re up on stage (as you can see by the video), but as for the music, I think they need to spice things up a bit. They were wondering why people weren’t moshing. Was that a joke?
Reading Rainbow – Well, here it is. Constant snare drum pounding action. I don’t know if they’re going for a minimal approach to the music or anything, but this stuff is boring. I’d be lying if I said I was entertained at this point of the show. I don’t know the name of these Reading Rainbow songs, so if anybody can help me out with that, that would be great.
Reading Rainbow – Here’s another! This time she hits the cymbal! Robbie shreds away on the guitar! Watch!
Twin Sister – All Around and Away We Go – Okay, here we go. This is why I went to the show that day. This is the 4th track from their most recent effort, Color Your Life, and it’s quite a funky one. It almost sounds like it could be the Bee Gees or something.
Twin Sister – Lady Daydream – Another song from their most recent release. Listen to that guitar twang! It’s almost a creepy sound.
Twin Sister – Saturday Sunday – This song doesn’t come off any of their releases, but it’s quite a good one. You can download it from their website if you like what you hear.
Twin Sister – I Want a House – This song is the last track from their first EP, “Vampires with Dreaming Kids”. This song builds up into quite a heavenly ending, with the hit from the keyboard and the shake of Estella’s tambourine. These guys all play their instruments so carefully.
Twin Sister – The Other Side of Your Face – This is the opening track from their latest effort “Color Your Life“. Aside from the version on the record, they draw this one out to be quite long. They start off by building the song up for about the first 4 minutes, and then continue to put us through a dream land of sounds and textures. The final minutes are phenomenal as they all just rock out without another care in the world. Fantastic!
Twin Sister – This was their last song of the set, and I don’t exactly know the name of it. It somebody wants to help that would be great. Guitarist Eric Cardona helps with vocal efforts on this one as they speed things up and then slow them down.
Sharon van Etten – I Wish I Knew – This was the first song of her set, and it was the only song I could stick around for. This woman has a beautiful voice! I want her to sing me to sleep. If anybody knows the name of this song, please share it!
Twin Sister – Phenomenons
That marks the last video I have from the show, but there are still a couple more I didn’t put up here that you can find on my YouTube Channel. Why not subscribe while you’re over there? It won’t hurt, I promise. This way you’ll know whenever we have more videos up here on the Styrofoam Drone. Either way, whatever you end up doing, thanks for coming by, and as always check back again for some more tomorrow!
Not too long ago a friend and myself went to go see the Strange Boys play live. This was on their last visit to Philadelphia, and they played at the Danger Danger Gallery. I had been filming the entire set they played so I could use it to put up here on the blog, but promptly after the show singer/guitarist Ryan Sambol kindly asked if I wouldn’t put those videos on the internet. Fair enough. Maybe I can share them with you some day…
When they came to Philadelphia they were touring for their new album “Be Brave”, but that certainly didn’t mean they forgot to play song from their first record, “And Girls Club”. That’s a good thing too – most of the songs on “And Girls Club” are perfect for playing live, tracks like “Who Needs Who More”, “Poem Party”, and “This Girl Taught Me a Dance”. These certainly aren’t the only ones either. But with that being said, looking at the songs from “Be Brave”, not nearly as many of these songs would pack such a punch live. A few that would are “A Walk on the Bleach”, “Be Brave”, and “Night Might”, but after those couple you’re left with “The Unsent Letter”, “You Can’t Only Love When You Want”, and “All You Can Hide Inside”, which don’t necessarily deliver as well as the other songs do – they just kind of fall short of that mark. But this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t still be interested in listening to “Be Brave” – remember, we’re talking about a live scenario here. Songs like “Da Da”, “Night Might” and “Friday in Paris” have that classic Strange Boys twang that we had so much of from the first record. “Friday in Paris” has an acoustic guitar solo in the closing minute of the song, while the ending of “Between Us” is bound to put a smile on your face. “Night Might” quickly becomes another Strange Boys classic with it’s sudden pace changes and the wail of the harmonica. The song gets really good at about 1 minute and 15 seconds in when they slow everything down, but they don’t forget to pick up the pace on last time before the end. I really hope that one day I can share these Strange Boys videos with you guys, so I’ll work on that for everybody. Oh yeah, take notice that the ratings and tags of each post will now be at the bottom of the post. Stay tuned…
My Rating: 7/10 Genre/ Tags: Garage Rock, Lo-Fi, R&B Be Brave: Tracklist
1.) I See
2.) A Walk on the Bleach
3.) Be Brave
4.) Friday in Paris
5.) Between Us
6.) Da Da
7.) Night Might
8.) Dare I Say
9.) Laugh at Sex, Not Her
10.) All You Can Hide Inside
11.) The Unsent Letter
12.) You Can’t Only Love When You Want
The Strange Boys on Myspace
The Strange Boys – And Girls Club previously posted on the Styrofoam Drone BUY Be Brave directly from the Rough Trade Shop
Who?: Real Estate w/ Family Portrait Where?:The Barbary, Philadelphia, PA When?: April 18th, 2010
Hello all! So this past Sunday night was a very special night. Not only did the Philadelphia Flyers conquer the New Jersey Devils, but Real Estate and their hometown friends Family Portrait came to Philadelphia to play a show for us. Believe it or not, the show almost didn’t even happen due to some van trouble. Both bands showed up rather late, but they still put on a tremendous show. The third band The Beets never even made it – not too sure what happened there, but the show went on regardless. Family Portrait took the stage first, and they didn’t waste any more time.
Family Portrait – This was their first song of the night. I’m not too sure of it’s name, so if anybody can shed some light, that would be fantastic. Towards the end there is some very nice guitar work, and he makes it look so simple!
Family Portrait – Dentist – Lead singer Evan Brody sings about being a dentist without a high school diploma. He gives us fair warning that we may not have many teeth left after he’s finished either. Probably a good idea to steer clear of Brody’s Dentistry.
Family Portrait – Mega Secrets – This would be one of the many tracks featured on the Underwater Peoples Summertime Showcase CD that was released in Summer ’09. It’s also one of the tracks that’s on their spilt 7″ with Andrew Cedermark. You can find both of these releases for a very reasonable price over at the Underwater Peoples Store. “Mega Secrets” marked the end of Family Portraits set, but there was still much more to come.
Real Estate – Beach Comber – They appropriately start their set off with the opening track “Beach Comber” from their first LP. That LP was put out by Woodsist in 2009. These guys look like they’re having such a great time up on stage…
Real Estate – Pool Swimmers – The second song of their set was the more laid back and chilled out song “Pool Swimmers”. This song can be found originally as the b-side on their now out-of-print “Fake Blues” 7″ that was put out by Woodsist in 2009.
Real Estate – Untitled New Song – They introduce this song as being the “newest of the new” and that it’s only their third time performing the song live. What a treat! After the show ended I couldn’t help but ask Martin Courtney if there was a name to the new song they had played. Unfortunately the track doesn’t have a name at this point, but Courtney went on to say that we could be seeing it released on a new 7″ record sometime in the future. Exciting! Definitely looking forward to that one.
Real Estate – Green River & Suburban Beverage – “Green River” was by far the loudest and most hard hitting song they played on Sunday. It’s just what their set needed too. They quickly change the momentum by playing “Suburban Beverage” immediately after, which probably left many concert-goers yearning for more of that hard hitting action. Parts of “Suburban Beverage” do deliver quite nicely, but not nearly as well as “Green River” did.
Real Estate – Atlantic City – The jangly guitars and easy-going bass line in this one make it irresistibly catchy. Evoking a hot and hazy summer day, this song is bound to leave you smiling. At the end Matt Mondanile quickly tells us that this song is about Atlantic City.
Real Estate – Fake Blues – This video would bring us to the final song of their set, and what a great way to end the night. Judging by the screaming at the beginning, I’m going to guess that this is the song most people wanted to hear. It just so happens to be their most played song on Last.fm, so it’s probably a good call that they played this one.
Now, I must depart. Nocturnal Skate Shop is releasing a brand new pair of Nike’s at noon, and apparently people camped out over night to get them. They’re called “Skunks”, and I’m sure you can figure out why considering what day it is. If that’s not a big enough hint, then just look at the picture of them below.
If that doesn’t help, then I don’t know what to tell you.
Who?: Titus Andronicus w/ the Babies Where?:The Barbary, Philadelphia, PA When?:April 15th, 2010
“I’m so glad I stage dived. I think I’m officially too old for that now,”
said Joe Gallagher, friend and operator of the wonderful “Pizza Prospects” blog. He too, just like everyone in attendance last night, had been waiting a long, long time for Titus Andronicus to come to town. They didn’t just “come to town” either. They showed up and put on a grand display of what music should sound like, leaving anyone who had never seen Titus Andronicus before breathless and dying for more. To anyone who saw Titus Andronicus for the first time last night, I wish I could have been in your shoes.
First up were Brooklyn, NY band “The Babies”, who almost didn’t see any set time at all. They were a bit late to the show, so they almost completely missed their time slot. Sure enough, they showed up with enough time to play, and sure enough, I was there to capture part of the action.
The Babies – All Things Come to Pass – They rushed right into the Barbary and wasted no time setting up before playing. This was the song they started off with, and if anybody knows the name of it, please send me a message! Or leave a comment! Or something! Thanks again Sandy!
The Babies – Caroline – This was their last song of the set, and I am very glad I captured this one. We get a front row seat to watch all of Kevin Morbys guitar playing, which is quite stunning. This song is like one long build up before they break it all down within the last minute. Definitely a fun song and a fun band. They played an awesome set and did a fantastic job warming up the crowd for the main event, even with being pretty late for the show. Once again, if anybody knows the names to these two Babies songs, please enlighten me. Next up were Titus Andronicus, and this time around we have a completely different line-up of songs as compared to the last show we covered.
Titus Andronicus – Joset of Nazareth’s Blues – This was their second song of the night, and also the first song they played from their sprawling first full length album “The Airing of Grievances”. It makes me happy that they don’t forget to play these songs from this album. I really hope they never do.
Titus Andronicus – Fear and Loathing in Mahwah, NJ – “SHUT THE FUCK UP!” are the first words that you can make out in this video, thanks to another good friend who also goes by the name Joe (last name excluded). Again we get to hear another song from “Grievances”, and this one is more or less of a live staple for a Titus Andronicus show if you’re asking me. What really makes it an essential live song is the rapturous and anthemic ending that’s always sure to dismantle any crowd. Pay close attention as Pat Stickles moves towards the crowd as he shreds away on his guitar in the midst of everything. Thank you for this one.
Titus Andronicus w/ Cassie Ramone cover Weezer’s “Undone – The Sweater Song” – Now here is what may have been the highlight of the night, because absolutely nobody saw this coming. And who doesn’t love the Sweater Song? I’m sure many of you don’t, but either way this was quite a surprise. They played the entire song, and they even covered the chit-chat found at the beginning (and throughout) of the original Sweater Song. How awesome is that? Not only do they have the chatter down, but Pat Stickles plays through the guitar solos without breaking a sweat (but not literally). This one was quite a treat.
Titus Andronicus – Four Score and Seven – “This is neat. We sold all the tickets today, how wonderful!” Something they had never done in Philadelphia before last night. You’re very welcome Titus Andronicus. This was their last song of the night, and what better way to close it than with their single “Four Score and Seven” from “The Monitor”? I said earlier in the post that no songs overlap from the Fords, NJ show, but now you can call me a liar.
Titus Andronicus – This is in-between two of the songs at some point in their set. I uploaded this for no specific reason; I guess it’s kind of funny. While bassist Ian Graetzer was experiencing some technical difficulties during the set, Pat Stickles kept the crowd going simply by making everyone laugh. He plays the Charlie Brown theme pretty well too! Once again, thanks for viewing, and be sure to check back for more very, very soon. Please keep in mind that tomorrow is the 3rd annual Record Store Day, so make sure you get up and go support your local music store. Thanks again.
Who?: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists Where?:First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA When?: April 7th, 2010
Zac didn’t go, but someone had to be there. I’m talking about the Ted Leo/Pharmacists show at the Church last week. I had seen Ted just this past December but his Brutalist Bricks is so good (think a punk looking at 40 and making the decision to “trim the fat” on a “new record” and allowing it to find the perfect place within his canon) that I, no matter what, could not miss this show. And why not? With TL, you always get your money’s worth. Last week was no different. There was his unrivaled rapport with the audience, his Pharmacists’ (James Canty, Marty “Violence” Key, Chris Wilson) “togetherness,” spirited stage “moves,” and a set that included the rarely heard “Under the Hedge” alongside TL/RX live staples like “Little Dawn” which I thought might be worth capturing for this site.
Styrofoam Drone 