COMING ATTRACTION: Meet SEPTA GIRL

[Photo by TIFFANY YOON] BY PHILLYGRRL It can be hard for both non-SEPTA and SEPTA riders alike to understand the appeal public transportation holds for a former country girl like me. When I moved here from New Jersey as a child, I was fascinated by the trolleys, trains, subways and buses I saw everywhere. Even now, despite the grime and urine, the inconveniences and hassles, I’m still awed by how accessible everything is to the average Philadelphian. With just $2 in your pocket, you can go anywhere you like in the city, a rarity for your average small-town American without […]

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We Know It’s Only Mock N’ Roll But We Like It

BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE INQUIRER  It’s been 25 years since Spinal Tap launched its hilariously disastrous, albeit fictional, North American tour in support of its equally ill-fated and fictional album, Smell the Glove. Mercifully, the band’s Unwigged & Unplugged tour — which touched down Thursday night at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside – seems to be going much better: rave reviews and sold-out theaters without a single drummer losing his life, all of which is a big step up from second billing to a puppet show at an amusement park or the Air Force base-dance circuit. Part mock-career retrospective, […]

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MEDIA: The Daily Beast Took My Deeney Away

EDITOR’S NOTE: A little while back we received a note from The Daily Beast peeps wondering if we would be terribly upset if they poached Jeff Deeney for a piece they wanted written about the Coatesville Arson Insanity. We responded something to the effect that introducing writers like Deeney to places like The Daily Beast was half the purpose of Phawker, BUT NO FUCKING WAY! Just kidding about the last part. You can read Deeney’s Coatesville arson piece HERE, co-authored with Philly native/DB staffer Gregory Gilderman. Below you will find an addendum to the piece that Deeney filed for Phawker.  […]

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PAPERBOY: Slow-Jamming The Alt-Weeklies

BY DAVE ALLEN Like time, news waits for no man. Keeping up with the funny papers has always been an all-day job, even in the pre-Internets era. These days, however, it’s a two-man job. That’s right, these days you need someone to do your reading for you, or risk falling hopelessly behind and, as a result, increasing your chances of dying lonely and somewhat bitter. That’s why every week, PAPERBOY does your alt-weekly reading for you. We pore over those time-consuming cover stories and give you the takeaway, suss out the cover art, warn you off the ink-wasters and steer […]

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ABOUT LAST NIGHT: New Ceremony For Old Skin

I’M YOUR FAN: Leonard Cohen on bended knee, Academy of Music, last night [Photo by MICHAEL T. REGAN] BY JONATHAN VALANIA The Great Man glides onstage in black pinstripes and a fedora like a gangster cantor, double-breasted and tie-less, his crisp creamy blue shirt buttoned-up to the neck David Lynch-style. He seems to walk on air. He was born like this, he had no choice, he was born with the gift of a golden voice. Now his friends are gone and his hair is grey, he aches in the places he used to play. After all these years, he’s still […]

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TONITE: First We Take Manhattan

Leonard Cohen plays the Academy of Music tonight! Look for a full report tomorrow, including a MICHAEL T. REGAN slideshow. You lucky ducks! ROCK SNOB ENCYCLOPEDIA: Cohen, Leonard — Patron saint of life’s beautiful losers. With a lyrical acuity far beyond those of mortal men and a baritone that sinks lower than the submarine in Das Boot, Leonard Cohen has forged a craggy reputation as the quintessential singer/songwriter’s singer/songwriter–not bad for a guy who, technically speaking, can’t even sing. […]  Having established himself in the literary world, Cohen began seeking entree into the music scene. The timing could not have […]

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HECKUVA JOB TIERNEY: Why Is THIS Man Bloviating About Supreme Court Replacements In The Inquirer?

[Illustration by KENT BARRET] JOHN YOO IN THE INQUIRER: Obama’s nominee will keep the liberal pack intact. But liberals want more. They want a progressive thinker who can challenge Scalia and Thomas and their revolutionary ideas for modern constitutional law. While a witty man and elegant writer, Souter did not pen any landmark opinions that will be remembered in the decades to come. The liberal wing of the court has yet to produce a worthy heir to the mantle of Chief Justice Earl Warren or Justice William Brennan. Obama promises something different. In 2007, candidate Obama declared that his judges […]

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TONITE: Give Up The Ghost

BY DAVE ALLEN Tonight, Philadelphia is privileged to host a tour date by Ghost, a Japanese band making its return from a self-imposed American exile. They vowed not to return until after George W. Bush was no longer in office, and, true to its name, Ghost disappeared. We have indeed been deprived of something elegantly nutso. Though polystylistic in the extreme, Ghost’s music has an overall scuzzy and metallic vibe, with head-spinning reverb and lingering, hard-bitten distortion. Many tracks feature tightly coiled repetitions, like some of the finest moments of Tool and Radiohead, but tempered by a broken-down and dusty […]

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NUTTER VS. BRT: Showdown At The Party Hack Corral

INQUIRER: The seven members of Philadelphia’s Board of Revision of Taxes yesterday flatly refused Mayor Nutter’s request that they resign, saying they saw no reason to do so despite news reports that detailed chronic mismanagement and ethical lapses at the agency. Standing six abreast – Joseph A. Russo was absent – they said they would fight for their jobs, which pay $70,000 to $75,000 a year for part-time work. “I take it as a personal affront, quite frankly,” said member Russell Nigro, a former Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice. Though jointly funded by the city and the School District of Philadelphia, […]

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