By DYLAN LONG We can all agree that Weezer needs no introduction, nor did they get one this past Saturday night at the Trocadero. Instead, after almost an hour and a half of fans trickling in to fill the joint to capacity, Weezer mainman Rivers Cuomo meekly appeared on the lip of the dimly-lit stage in front of the curtain and kicked off an acoustic set that mixed deep cuts (“You Gave Your Love To Me Gently,” “Why Bother”) with the classics (“El Scorcho,” “The Good Life” and of course “Buddy Holly”). Each song seemed to lure another Weezer member […]

Photo by DAN LONG The Boot & Saddle is a 125-person capacity South Philly venue with a long Country and Western history that was shuttered years ago and recently revived with punk rock charm. I knew right away this was going to be the smallest and most intimate venue I’d get to see Thurston and company play. Last night, the Thurston Moore Band — My Bloody Valentine bassist Debbie Googe, experimental guitarist James Sedwards and ex-Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley — kicked off their set with “Forever Love” and then segued into “Speak to the Wild” for a trifecta of […]

Photo by PETE TROSHAK A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, one Obi-Wan “Ben” Kenobi, in the midst of a light saber duel to the death with one Darth Vader, Dark Lord Of The Sith, declared: “If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.” He was not kidding. Nobody in this galaxy has proven the verity of Obi-Wan’s prophecy more incontrovertibly than Malala Yousafzai. One day she was just a tiny voice for advocating for the right of girls to get an education in then-Taliban-controlled Swat Valley. And then the […]

Photo by DEREK BRAD As the sun dropped on a warm late October afternoon, the gates opened for the Forbes’ first ever Under 30 Music Festival at the Piazza in Philadelphia. The festival is a partnership with Global Poverty Project, the organization that runs the annual Global Festival in NYC. Both events are free ticketed events for anyone who took specific action against extreme poverty on social media — watching a video on extreme poverty, tweeting about it, or even taking a selfie and hashtagging about Global Citizen.

Photo by PETE TROSHAK Last night a sold-out crowd at the Trocadero Theater bore witness to the evolution of former My Chemical Romance singer Gerard Way from a leather-wrapped wild boy to a suave, Kool-Aid-haired thin white duke in a dark blue suit. Way and his tight four-piece backing band, The Hormones, spent an hour throwing out darts of finely-honed New Wave-y rock from his debut solo album, Hesitant Alien, to the delight of the loud and raucous crowd. It is fitting that the Troc would be one of the first stops on Way’s first solo tour given that in […]

Photo by MARY LYNN DOMINGUEZ Upon his arrival onstage last night at the Tower Theater, Flying Louts (a.k.a. Steven Ellison) tilted his head skyward and petitioned the ‘Whiskey Fairy’ for a divine intervention. FlyLo was, he said, about to spirit-guide the jam-packed audience to their ego deaths, which is no easy task without an entire bottle of liquor at the ready. Then, with a maniacal grin, Flying Lotus informed the Tower crowd that they were dead and with that the wild rumpus had begun. Though terrifyingly ominous at times, Flying Lotus’ signature spaced-out jazz-infused electro-ambient hip-hop whosiewhatsit set sent the […]

Photo by DAN LONG I was stoked to see Bass Drum of Death at the Barbary last night based on their rad videos and generally loud, cool “I don’t give a shit” aesthetic, but I left the show somewhat disappointed, truth be told. To be clear, this was not Bass Drum of Death’s fault, they performed well and sounded great, but the crowd on the other hand totally ruined what could have been a killer vibe.   For starters the online ticket portal said the show was sold out, but in fact the venue was far from packed. Even before […]

Photo by MARY LYNN DOMINGUEZ Upon hearing my first genuine ‘woop woop’ last night at the Electric Factory, it dawned upon me that everything about the Insane Clown Posse following is completely genuine. Each juggalo and juggalette was clownified with black and white facepaint and it was clear there were certainly no restrictions on age, race, or gender. In fact, some of the youngest decked-out ICP fans stood front and center, barely able to peek over the barrier, but sure to have the most interesting story to share at show-and-tell in the morning. Disregarding the prevailing sewer smell, gobs of […]