Photo by MATT SHAVER Wiping the sweat from her brow, Brittany Howard paused between songs Friday night at The Fillmore to wag her finger at the crowd with a warning: “Be careful now. Don’t fuck around and drive me up.” Fans swallowed her words in a roar of cheers that would do just that, after only two songs in a set that featured every track off of her just released solo full-length debut Jaime. Unable to speak over the unending applause, Howard gave up trying, blowing a kiss to the crowd with a mouthed “love you” before turning back to […]

Photo by ALEX PATERSON-JONES The Dead Milkmen are the band that invariably comes to mind when we think of Philly punk rock. To me, their sound has always stood out against their contemporary punk rockers: no screaming, no harsh distortion or feedback – instead, punk attitude and punk rock song structures accented by surf and funk influence, with no shortage of comedy. Since their humble cassette beginnings in ’83 as a band of fictional characters in the minds of guitarist/vocalist Joe Genaro and his high school friends, Rodney Linderman (vocalist/keyboardist), and Garth (who joined the Air Force), to the full […]

Photo by JOSH PELTA-HELLER There’s something rather tempting about the grungy industrial basement design of Underground Arts, and Nick Allbrook clearly thought so too, as he swung from his legs on a ceiling pipe with a wild smile on his face in the middle of his set last night, before careening back down into his self-requested crowd surf. The lead singer of Australian psych-rock band Pond, Allbrook took the stage of the small venue with his four other bandmates last night, some of whom trade off between Tame Impala’s touring band. Equipped with multiple synthesizers, a few guitars, a sparkling […]

Photo by JOSH PELTA-HELLER Sam Beam took his place Friday night on the Union Transfer stage by a bank of half a dozen acoustic guitars and a glass of red wine, the crew of Calexico supporting the flanks. The Tucson-based Tejano troubadours have been collaborating and co-touring with Beam — better known by nom de guerre Iron & Wine — on and off now for about 15 years.Trading vocal harmonies with Calexico’s Joey Burns, and alternating between the two songwriters’ compositions, Beam’s smoky mountain ballads in perfect complement with Burns’ brass-gilded southwestern score. The magnetic indie folk singer and his […]

Photo by JOSH PELTA-HELLER There is perhaps no better complement to the purple skies and browning leaves of an early autumn night than the violin-centric folk pop music of Andrew Bird. His pensive, literary lyrics, spinning horns, pedal loops, and virtuoso whistling drew a crowd of shaggy-haired Bird look-alikes to the Fillmore last night, many fans already equipped with previous tour merchandise, and even more dorkily smiling through the face hole of a life-size cutout of the mock Death of Marat on his most recent album cover at the venue entrance. That album, My Finest Work Yet, which came out […]

Photo by MATT SHAVER Thursday night at Union Transfer, Brooks Nielsen, lead singer of Cali-based beach goths The Growlers, hit the stage rocking his trademark Robert Smith-inspired locks and a thrifty striped sweater. Lead guitarist Matt Taylor went for the no fuss, white tee and was joined by guitarist, Kyle Stratka who opted for a long-sleeve, colored tee. This was suspiciously dressed down for a band that usually sports incredibly dapper, coordinated suit ensembles. However, these perplexing sartorial choices had no apparent impact on their ability to deliver the good. They opened with “Problems III” which felt like a great […]

Photo by JOSH PELTA-HELLER Vampire Weekend, what a silly name for a band. Named after a short film Ezra Koenig (lead singer and guitarist) made in college, it took me a while for these guys to grow on me because of their title. New bands, take note- the name of your band is important. Hot off the release of their fourth album Father Of The Bride, Vampire Weekend has made a successful comeback after a six year hiatus and are now embarking on their first tour in about as long. Last night, the crowd braved the threat of hellacious rain […]

Travis Scott @ Made In America by ALEX PATERSON-JONES Day one began with Philly’s own 99 neighbors. Although everyone comes to Made in America to go crazy, it is not an easy crowd to win over especially if they have never heard of you. 99 neighbors is a four person rap group took on the challenge and had the crowd jumping and singing songs they didn’t know the lyrics to. Grace Carter, an R&B artist from London, followed at Liberty Stage with her debut American festival performance. Shooting the show means you only get to stay for the first three […]

Photo by ALEX PATERSON-JONES Twenty-three stops into tour for their long-awaited and still-unreleased fourth album, Tame Impala played a way, way sold out Mann Center Friday night. A darkened stage and 14,000 screaming fans marked the entrance of TI mainman Kevin Parker and co. as the intro to “List Of People (To Try And Forget About)” unfurled. Tame Impala’s uber-psychedelic sound was matched with an equally trippy light show while smoke machines pumped out fog all night long. The stage had a frame of lights that would act as a race track of color to surround the band, which they […]

Photo by JOSH PELTA-HELLER It’s not easy for a band to maintain its integrity in an industry that reserves gratification for mainstream success. Remarkably, over two decades, indie rockers Spoon [pictured, below right] have managed to avoid committing the penultimate sin of ‘selling out.’ Opening the show at BB&T last night, Spoon’s set swerved from 90’s grunge throwbacks to the delicate synth-pop tunes that populate their most recent albums. While their quintessential single “The Underdog” is crunchy and defiant, “Inside Out” off 2014’s They Want My Soul is plush and drifting. For as much as they have evolved sonically, the […]

Photo by JOSH PELTA-HELLER Getting old is not for pussies. But let us not kid ourselves, there is no shame in living a long life, especially if you are a man of wealth and taste. By design, you don’t realize this until you get there but growing old is the best revenge. It gives you the license to finally admit to yourself just how silly and absurd you have been lo these many years. And that, my friends, is freedom. The Rolling Stones are as old as the devil — maybe older. They’ve been around for a long long year […]

by JOSH PELTA-HELLER Woe betide the naysaying snickerer that mistakes indie legends The Mountain Goats for folky meanderers. Live, John Darnielle and co. invest their goat music with a visceral immediacy and all-in emotionalism that, even in its moments of accidental grace and pin-drop quietude, utterly commands the collective attention of the room, which was pretty packed Friday night at Union Transfer for the first of a two-night stand. Touring the new album In League With Dragons (2019), Darnielle curated a set list that featured new songs, a solo section with deep cuts from Nothing For Juice (1996), and crowd […]

Photo by DAN LONG Bad Books, the collaborative side project of singer-songwriter Kevin Devine and Manchester Orchestra frontman Andy Hull, has been resurrected after a seven-year hiatus. Their second album, 2012’s II, by far the most popular of their repertoire, weaves fictional narratives that swerve from punchy alt-rock to sentimental folk tunes, each chorus more catchy than the last. Their latest album, III, is as minimal as the title suggests, a bare bones ensemble of acoustic guitars and keys. The lyrics are more solemn, the background noise muted to spotlight each singer’s distinct voice. Onstage at Union Transfer last night, […]