BY JONATHAN VALANIA Comedian Hannibal Buress has played a homeless man on 30 Rock who was NOT masturbating to Tina Fey, a second banana on The Eric Andre Show, and a nitrous huffing dentist/fuck buddy on Broad City. But no matter how glorious a career he goes on to have, he will forever be remembered as The Man Who Unmasked Bill Cosby, in the bit heard round the world, delivered, let us not forget, at the Trocadero (just a few hours after this interview first published on October 16th, 2014). Which confers on Philadelphia the dubious distinction of being […]
FRANKLY SPEAKING: Q&A With Barney Frank
Artwork by DONKEY HOTEY BY CHRIS MCCARY Barney Frank grew up around a Jersey City truck stop, went to Harvard, and in 1981 became the first openly gay U.S. Congressmen. During his 30 year tenure in that absurd and corrupt institution Frank has been one of the loudest voices for liberal and progressive causes. In 2013, he retired from Congress and is currently working the lucrative speaker circuit. Frank will be reading from his just-published memoir FRANK: A Life In Politics From The Great Society To Same-Sex Marriage tonight at the Free Library. Last week we got the former Congressman […]
BEING THERE: Meek Mill @ Wells Fargo Center
Photo by DYLAN LONG Last night, Meek Mill, one of the most opulent and admired self-made rappers to emerge from the 215, brought the roof down at Wells Fargo Center. To be fair, he had some help: namely the likes of French Montana, Rick Ross and P Diddy. From the second Mill’s rise-to-fame introductory video played across a massive LED backdrop, his intense presence and persona threw the sold-out arena into a trapped out frenzy. His massive Philadelphia fan base came out in full force, rapping along at the top of their lungs to every single track he played out. […]
Win Tix To See Blackberry Smoke @ The E-Factory
If you’re one of those people who yells “Freebird!” ironically right before the encore at every friggin’ show you go to — you know who you are — you really need to A) stop it, that joke hasn’t been funny since, like, 1997 and B) get your shit-kickin’ Southern Rawk card punched. And punched hard. We can help. We have a pair of tix to see Blackberry Smoke — neo-redneck-hippie rockers from Georgia who work that sweet spot where Lynyrd meets Skynyrd, where Allman meets Brothers, where .38 meets Special and Jack Daniels meets Mary Jane — at the […]
BEING THERE: Excision @ The Electric Factory
Photo by DYLAN LONG Last night at the Electric Factory, dubstep demon Excision and partners in crime Protohype & Minnesota collectively tore the Factory and its sold out crowd all a new one. 150,000 watts of PK sound and the Executioner stage setup served for a visceral assault of screeching synths and physically violent sub bass, which sent massive vibration through the bones, esophagus and eyeballs among other body parts. Every kick was a punch in the throat as Excision blew through a 90 minute attack of overwhelming visuals and bass, constantly sending the crowd into in-sync headbanging frenzies with […]
THE UNIVERSE ACCORDING TO CHARLIE: How I Learned To Stop Worrying & Love The Flower Show
BY CHARLIE C. Flowers are kind of… just flowers. They’re no Disney World. They’re just flowers, and it’s very hard to get excited about flowers, because they just look pretty and smell good, then you’re done. Just smelly green sticks. Or so I used to think. You see, this is the story of how I realized I love the Philadelphia Flower Show. I thought it would be just like flowers on the ground, really. Nothing exciting can really happen with flowers, or so I thought. I now know your first time going you may be unenthusiastic about it, but […]
BEING THERE: Hozier @ The Electric Factory
Photo by DYLAN LONG To say that last night’s sold out performance at the Electric Factory by Irish pop sensation Andrew Hozier-Byrne — known simply as Hozier — was “highly anticipated” by most, if not all, babysitter-aged young ladies in the Tri-State area is an understatement on par with “invading Iraq might have been a bad idea” or “Dallas Cowboys fans are assholes.” Last night, Hozier’s tight brogue and loose man-bun had teenage girls in the front row squealing and swooning as he effortlessly cruised through his set like it was a 90-minute victory lap, taking time between nearly every […]
BOOKS: Infinite Guest
Artwork by TOMMASO PINCIO If David Foster Wallace were alive today, would the famously introverted author be flattered to see himself on the big screen, or horrified at the commodification of his very identity? James Ponsoldt’s new film The End of the Tour recreates five days that the late author David Foster Wallace spent traveling around the Midwest with Rolling Stone Magazine writer David Lipsky around 1996, shortly after Wallace’s critically acclaimed novel Infinite Jest was published. In the film, the two men have a number of philosophical conversations about writing, life, sex, and fame — kind of like if […]
BEING THERE: Juliana Hatfield @ Boot N’ Saddle
Photo by PETE TROSHAK Twenty-two years after the release of her most famous work — 1993’s Become What You Are, — Juliana Hatfield and a reunited Juliana Hatfield Three are out on the road to celebrate that classic album and the recent release of their second album as a trio, the excellent Whatever My Love. Hatfield along with drummer Todd Phillips and bass player Dean Fisher blazed through Become What You Are beginning to end along with a few new songs and a surprise cover to the delight of a packed house at the first of two sold-out nights at […]
BEING THERE: Sleater-Kinney @ Union Transfer
Photo by PETE TROSHAK Last nght, Sleater-Kinney — not seen in these parts since July 31st, 2006 — staged a triumphant return to Philadelphia with a way-sold out show at Union Transfer in support of their wonderful new album, No Cities to Love. Minneapolis hip hop artist Lizzo jolted the crowd awake during a lengthy opening set, at one point throwing bags of cookies out in the crowd while performing her song “Batches and Cookies.” Sleater-Kinney hit the stage shortly after 10pm, opening with raucous renditions of “Price Tag” and “Fangless”, the two opening tracks off of No Cities to […]
BEING THERE: Moosh & Twist @ The TLA
Photo by DYLAN LONG Hometown heroes DeQuincy Coleman McRae (Moosh, right) and Oliver Feighan (Twist, left) have gone from local rappers/Friends Select alums to globe-trotting recording artists who collaborate with the likes of Hoodie Allen. Friday night at the TLA kicked off with South-Philly up-and-comer Major Van Winkle and the Philly-bred live hip-hop act Ground Up, who recently sold out the Union Transfer with their vibrant-yet-dirty bars & heavy hitting drums. At half past 10, OCD: Moosh & Twist took the stage and unleashed their heavy and intricate bars, mixing in oldies — “Hold It Down,” “Take Me Back” and […]
BEING THERE: Ariel Pink @ Union Transfer
Photo by MARY LYNN DOMGINUEZ Tuesday night at Union Transfer, concertgoers in tacky plastic sunglasses and obnoxiously puffy fur coats awaited sunny pop salvation from their favorite wacky-rock idol. Though temperatures were below freezing outside, there was a hellish rise in temperature, glitter and lipstick graffiti when Ariel Pink and his ragtag five-piece band of sinners took the stage. You never quite know what you are going to get at an Ariel Pink concert. Typical sour antics at Ariel Pink concerts include: moody mid-show breakdowns, lost heads, and merciless 300-year sentences to the deepest, darkest dungeons doled out to naysayers […]
What’s Funny About Police, Love & Understanding?
Illustration by ALEX FINE JEFF DEENEY FOR THE MARSHALL PROJECT: As a social worker, I’ve always been conflicted about the fact that I work in a law enforcement setting. My desk is situated among probation officers (POs), typically in baby blue polo style shirts with “PROBATION” written across the back. Officers from the court system’s warrant squad come and go, dressed in black commando gear, pants tucked into their boots so they don’t trip when they run (they’re basically always running after people.) I see guns in the office, all the time. It’s a controlled environment; people are searched on […]