BY TONY CARO I’m the rookie on Dive Team 13. I was hired as a volunteer diver at the Adventure Aquarium in Camden in July of 2018, while our most veteran member of the team has been diving here for over 22 years. I started SCUBA diving early last year when I took an introductory class at Temple University. It was there that I met some other divers who told me Adventure Aquarium was looking for volunteer divers. SCUBA diving had never been a passion of mine, but the opportunity seemed too good not to jump at. Our main job […]
LOCAL BOY MAKES GOOD: Q&A W/ Derek Gaines
BY HENRY SAVAGE Sitting in a Los Angeles Roscoe’s Chicken with his mother, Derek Gaines took some time to discuss his career, comedic inspiration, and growing up in a multicultural suburb of Philadelphia. Gaines started doing stand up over a decade ago when he was the ripe age of 19 years old and hasn’t looked back since. Moving to New York City, he was able to improve his craft in the comedy circuits there, where he would later live with SNL cast member, Pete Davidson. Soon after, Gaines started getting booked for gigs on MTV, including his own series, […]
BEING THERE: Weezer @ The Met Philly
Photos by JOSH PELTA-HELLER Twenty-five years ago, a band that deliberately named itself Weezer helped rescue self-indulgent no-fucks-given arena rock from the grungy abyss of dejected disaffection that devoured the early ‘90s. In an era where Ed Vedder’s yarling angst and Kurt Cobain’s anthems for the apathetic were the prevailing aesthetic markers, Weezer again reminded us music didn’t always need a movement, and that the message didn’t need to be heavy for the guitars to be. If Soundgarden and Mudhoney reclaimed the hair from hair metal, and Beck made it cool to be a loser — Rivers Cuomo was there […]
CINEMA: Can’t We All Get Along
GREEN BOOK (Directed by Peter Farelly, 140 minutes, USA, 2018) BY DAN TABOR FILM CRITIC ‘Based on a true story’ Green Book borrows its title from the Negro Motorist Green Book, informally called the “Green Book”. This mid-20th century guidebook was meant for African-American travelers, to let them know which hotels would be willing to host them in the Deep South. The film, which takes place in the mid-1960s stars as Viggo Mortensen as Tony “Lip” Vallelonga, a cardboard cutout of an Italian American stereotype who was a bouncer for the local night club. When the club closes for renovations, […]
BEING THERE: Manchester Orchestra @ Fillmore
Photo by MATT SHAVER Sitting in the lobby bar of the Fillmore, we can hear the first strains of Manchester Orchestra seeping through the showroom doors. “All of their songs are so slow,” Hannah is complaining. I don’t feel like arguing with her, so I just nod. Last year’s A Black Mile to the Surface feels cinematic and elaborately arranged, without being overbearing. It doesn’t feel like they’re trying to prove anything, scaling back after the noisy overproduction of their last projects. Singer-guitarist Andy Hull’s songwriting is his strongest attribute, his lyrics arresting in their vivid intensity. “I Know How […]
Gritty Volunteers To Host The Academy Awards
TWITTER: OK Fine, I’ll Do It
BEING THERE: Ghost @ The Tower Theater
Photo by MATT SHAVER I don’t think anyone in the history of time has received quite the bad rap that Satan has. Dude offers out a helping hand to two individuals thrust in to a new plane of existence, extensively written about by some folks who never even met him, and that one book has cast a shadow over his intentions for a couple of millennia now. Thankfully, the Swedish metal/satanic PR firm known as Ghost has descended upon the US to spread cheer and merriment this holiday season. Fronted by the elusive (and until 2017, anonymous) Tobias Forge (playing […]
UNDONE: The Complete Oral History Of Weezer
Artwork by Fuzzysocks102. EDITOR’S NOTE: A vastly shorter version of the following oral history of Weezer appeared in MAGNET MAGAZINE in 2014. In advance of Weezer’s performance at The Met tomorrow night, we are publishing the complete and unabridged version. Enjoy. “The best history of Weezer I have ever read.” — PAT WILSON, DRUMMER BY JONATHAN VALANIA This year the Blue Album turns 20, and Pinkerton is old enough to vote. Two decades-plus of being Weezer hasn’t all been Buddy Holly glasses and hash pipes for The Last Band Standing, Alt-Rock Class of ‘94. At various points along the way […]
BEING THERE: Soccer Mommy @ First Unitarian
Photo by JOSH PELTA-HELLER Wearing oversized wire-frame aviators and high pigtails supported by a small army of shiny barrettes, Sophie Allison serenaded a sold-out crowd of Philadelphia fans at the First Unitarian Church last night with her band, Soccer Mommy. Soccer Mommy’s early bedroom pop work evolved into the highly praised Clean, a 2018 record that deals with love, loss, and the overall existential struggles of most every young adult. It’s music that makes you crave the warmth of another while simultaneously feeling the pain of punching through the walls that Allison described in “Henry,” the opening song of the […]
BEING THERE: Cult Leader @ Ortliebs
Photo by MARK LIKOSKY Cult Leader, sludgy grindcore crust punks from Salt Lake City, are brutally melodic in a way one would only know by going down dark paths, through treacherous caves during the worst hours in search of answers. They played Ortlieb’s last night as part of a Deathwish Records package tour that also Sweden’s God Mother and Brooklyn’s Primitive Weapons. God Mother was heavy and pleasantly evil, but the singer stopped the music from time to time because he felt the ‘moshing’ was a bit too harsh and made a joke that in his country at least if […]
MOTHER TONGUE: A Q&A With Soccer Mommy
Photo by LINDSEY GRACE WHIDDON BY SOPHIE BURKHOLDER Sophie Allison, who makes music under the name Soccer Mommy, describes her sound on her Bandcamp page as “chill but kinda sad.” Her debut album Clean (Fat Possum), which came out earlier this year, has already started topping lists for the best albums of 2018. She got her start by posting self-produced tracks online, following the increasingly popular trend of bedroom pop music. After moving to New York for college, she decided to pursue music full-time, adding a full band and advanced production to make Clean, a soft rock record that follows […]
Win Tix To See Rufus Wainright @ The Keswick
Rufus is for lovers: Boys who like boys, girls who like girls, boys who like girls and girls who like boys. Young, old, everyone in between. These are his people. Basically anyone who’s ever had their heart break apart in their hands and learned the hard way that you can jigsaw it back together, with patience and the glue of time, but it will never be the same again. It’s like bypass surgery or Cupid’s arrow — it may not kill you, it might even make you stronger, but it still hurts when you lay the wrong way. By […]
BEING THERE: Khruangbin @ Union Transfer
Photo by MATT SHAVER Khruangbin, an acclaimed coven of Houston psychedelic soul gurus, have been amassing an impressive following since their Thai-flavored 2015 debut LP, The Universe Smiles Upon You. “Khruangbin” is Thai for “aeroplane,” literally translating to “flying engine.” They are currently on tour in support of their latest album, Con Todo El Mundo (2018), which draws upon Spanish and Middle-Eastern influences. They have been consistently jamming sold-out shows and last night’s concert at Union Transfer was no exception. The group — which features Laura Lee on bass, Mark Speer on guitar, and Donald “DJ” Johnson on drums — […]