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 […]

Photo by MARY LYNN DOMINGUEZ Broken Bells took the stage last night at the Electric Factory on a set up that that looked less like the gear of an acclaimed indie all-star analog pop band and more like the control center of a space ship. The centerpiece of it all, of course, was the silver orb, around which two great names in the music biz would stand—James Mercer, of The Shins and Danger Mouse, famed producer. It was great for anyone in the crowd who was halfway to a parallel universe and already having really deep thoughts about space. Besides […]

Photo by DAN LONG It was a cool, clear and serene early autumn Thursday in Philadelphia when J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. fame played an uncharacteristically intimate, largely acoustic set downstairs at World Cafe Live in support of his new album, Tied To A Star. And yet, despite this being a picture-perfect setting for an awesome concert by a legendary alt-rock figure, it was probably the most awkward show I’ve ever been to in my life. Seemingly everyone in the 200-plus person crowd was aged north of 35. Everyone except me. So, I wondered if it was just me and […]

Photo by DAN LONG I hate to say it, but hip-hop shows nowadays bore me. You have a DJ sitting on a computer, looking as though he is just choosing songs from iTunes. Seem like I never see DJs actually scratching these days, I just see them pushing a button and waving their hands in the air. And it seems as though MCs have lost a lot of the energy you used to see at showsback in the day. But after watching the KRS-One show last night MY FAITH HAS BEEN RESTORED! As KRS-One took the stage a few graffiti […]

Photo by MARY LYNN DOMINGUEZ Last night, Lily Allen strolled on stage at the Electric Factory holding a grimacing Emoji pillow over her face and all I could think was “Yes. YES. This was worth the wait.” To backtrack a bit, for me (and I suspect many of her fans) Lily Allen was the first and only pop-star I fell for post-angst-filled adolescence and now finally seeing her live has cemented my place as a disciple of Sheezus. Lily appeals to the anxious, questioning, and sarcastic because her discography is by turns anxious, questioning, and sarcastic. Last night, the set […]

Photo by DAN LONG The name Stromae is put in front of you the morning of his show at the Trocadero last night, and you’ve never heard of the guy in my entire life. But typing his name into Google and you find out that this man is an eye-opening French pop star whose You Tubed singles draw hundreds of millions of views. His tunes range from poppy songs that make it impossible for you to sit still to ballads that make you cry to without even knowing what he’s saying. Google further reveals a fascinating pedigree. He identifies as […]

Photo by MARY LYNN DOMINGUEZ When Dr. Dog appeared on the Skyline Stage of the Mann Center last night, the band was clearly dreaming of greener, and presumably drier, pastures — unlike the rain-soaked mud pit we were standing in. With jungle-esque sound effects, fog machines and green backlighting, the band members took their places onstage among various potted houseplants. It looked like the wilderness that could be found within a Home Depot gardening section (Welcome to the Home Depot, baby! You’re gonna diiiiiiiiiieeee!), or a medical marijuana dispensary grow room. All of the band members came dressed in their […]