Richard Thompson, Philadelphia Folk Festival, last night by PETE TROSHAK The Philadelphia Folk Fest is a music institution now in its fifty-second year. The Fest is held on an idyllic patch of moonlight farmland, with a stage housed in a barn-like structure at the bottom of a steep, crowd-filled hill. The fest is a four day event complete with campgrounds and a variety of musical acts, kind of like a mini-Woodstock with less mud and no bad brown acid. Friday night at the Philadelphia Folk Festival was headlined by British guitar and songwriting legend Richard Thompson — a veteran of […]

Photo by RORY MCGLASSON Paul Weller, founder of The Jam, is now and shall forever be The Modfather. The 55-year-old Brit pop icon ended his U.S. tour Wednesday at Union Transfer and despite a setlist with paltry few Jam numbers, Weller did not disappoint. Weller doesn’t do nostalgia. Repeated shout-outs for Jam tunes were summarily ignored. Still, Weller did offer up a few all-time favorites, among them “That’s Entertainment,” the  timeless classic that catapulted Weller to super-stardom some 36 years ago, and the mighty “Town Called Malice.” Weller, who still gets nervous before going on stage apparently, took about three […]

Dr. Dog’s Scott McMicken, Saturday night by PETE TROSHAK The 2013 XPoNential Music Festival kicked off Friday with the sunny sounds of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and ended on a lightning-flashed, hard-rain-a-fallin’ Sunday with the one and only Bob Dylan. Dr. John, a.k.a. the Night Tripper, delivered a rare daytime outdoors set Saturday afternoon to a large, eager audience. Backed by a tight five-piece band, the good Dr. delivered a swampy drowning-in-gumbo-blues jam of a set that wowed the crowd. Highlights of the evening included a transcendental set of psychedelic ear candy from Philly’s stoner-friendly answer to E.L.O., aka […]

Flaming Lips, Wallingford, CT, last night. PREVIOUSLY: We’d been traversing the spine of Tornado Alley for the last two hours when the stewardess announced that we would be landing in Oklahoma City in a few minutes, and that we should fasten our seatbelts and return our minds to the upright position, when the drugs took hold. We are, as the saying goes, off to see the wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Odd—or, if you prefer, the Wizard of OK, a.k.a. Wayne Coyne, frizzy-brained mainman of the Flaming Lips, the P.T. Barnum Of The Stoned, a.k.a. The Man Who Had A […]

Photo by PETE TROSHAK UK post-punk priestesses the Savages have been a band for less than two years and released their debut album just two months ago. In that short window they have been so relentlessly hyped as “the next big thing” that the inevitable “they aren’t THAT good” backlash has already begun. Sunday night at Union Transfer Savages proved, to this reviewer anyway, that they are more steak than sizzle. They took the stage stealthily, clad in ninja-like black outfits and opened with the Siouxsie-ian roar of “I Am Here.” Message: Get used to it. Gemma Thompson throttled her […]

Photo by PETE TROSHAK Minimalist Brit post-punk legends Wire brought their Dadaist art-punk to a joyous, head bobbing crowd at the Union Transfer last night. Wire has only played Philly once in the last decade, and the joint was packed with fans both old and young to catch this rare performance. Early on the crowd buzzed about the setlist, wondering if the band, which has always taken pride in defying expectations, would eschew their classics for a singular focus on the new Change Becomes Us. Those fears were put to rest when Wire delivered a spastic, barking “Drill,” from 1987’s […]

Stu Murdoch, Belle & Sebastian, Skyline Stage @ The Mann last night by DEREK BRAD

Photo by PETE TROSHAK Unlikely retro folk duo She & Him worked their Mickey & Sylvia-like magic on an enthusiastic crowd in the sweltering heat on Tuesday night. On paper the union of dark-and-serious artist M. Ward and sunny anime-girl-eyed actress Zooey Deschanel shouldn’t work, but live their talents mesh to create something special. Ward was the grounded half of the duo, dressed to the nines in a sharp grey suit delivering bristling bursts of notes with both his Gibson guitar and gravelly voice. Deschanel provided the wings for the pair with a bouncy energy and a powerful voice that […]

The Rolling Stones, Wells Fargo Center, last night 9:05 pm by VIC SUEDE EDITOR’S NOTE: Powerful east coast storms that grounded us for 12 hours at Atlanta International yesterday put the kibosh on our Rolling Stones concert coverage plans. Our apologies. RELATED: About to turn 70 next month, the impossibly fit and thin Jagger not only strutted from the opening chords of “Get Off of My Cloud,” but at the very end of the show still was running and dancing along a long tongue-shaped walkway into the audience. He not only sang sharp and high from the start, but through […]