Silvertide was back in the house on the 9th for  a show at the sold-out TLA on South Street.  It was a packed house from the floor to the mezzanine.  The faithful were in full force to welcome their favorite sons home.

The night kicked off with the most buzz-worthy band on the local original rock scene, Kid Felix.  They opened up with one of their fan favorites, “Class Action Satisfaction”, followed up by their newer track, “Jericho”.  This was a tougher spot than Kid Felix is used to; they’re usually the headliners.  They’re also accustomed to playing more than seven songs.  Their crowd was in pockets throughout the floor section, so the infection took a song or two to spread.  But they delivered as they always do, and by mid-set they were in full- stride.  The normal smack to the senses had been delivered to the audience. And when they closed with “Once Upon a Genghis Khan” all eyes were onstage.

Lead singer Jake Falana had this to say, “At a show of that caliber, opening up feels just as good as headlining. Just getting to perform with artists like Silvertide is an incredible feeling in itself. I used to walk around the halls of Sterling High School singing songs like “Ain’t Coming Home”, “Foxhole Jesus Christ”, and “Devil’s Daughter”, so it was a bit of a surreal experience for me.”

Kid Felix wound up playing an encore show later that night at the TLA After Party at Dobbs on South St.  It came together on the fly when their manager Zac Tait joked with DVT’s Vince Volz to “clear off  (at Dobbs) the stage cause we’re playing at the after party.”

John and Brittany were the second act of the night.  They hit the stage with their standard riffs galore, keeping the energy level right where Kid Felix left it.  They deliver a consistent show every time, and this night was no exception.  This would seem less impressive if it wasn’t only the second show with their current rhythm section.  Bass player Mike O’Brien and drummer Terry Sharkey were recently added to the line-up. They played multiple tracks from their new EP Start Sinning like “Zzzzoloft”, “Start Sinning”, and my personal favorite “Dirty Little Magazine”.

John Faye opened up after the show, “This was definitely the biggest show that John & Brittany have done to date. The energy at the TLA was amazing and we really fed off of the crowd’s energy. It was also the first big show we have done with Mike O’Brien on bass and Terry Sharkey on drums, so that made it all the more exciting for us.”

And then, it was time for Silvertide to hit the stage.  The crowd murmured with excitement as the minutes between sets passed.  A cheer for a guitar check.  Another cheer for a drum roll.  And then the curtains went up, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.  A one, two, here we go! Back-up!  Back-up!  Back-up yeah!  Ain’t turning back…I ain’t coming home.”  Well-played fellas.  The crowd agreed.

The energy in the crowd was electric.  There were some people there who were meeting Silvertide for the first time.   They may have heard a song on the radio a few years back.  These people were introduced to Silvertide the live band; and its strong handshake.  Silvertide made their bones being an awesome live band, on top of all their talent.  So many bands are stuck with one or the other.  Great crowd interaction.  Great energy on-stage.  Great camaraderie between everyone.   There’s truly a trickle down effect from the way lead singer Walt Lafty interacts with the crowd, to the energy from lead guitarist Nick Perri, to bassist Brian Weaver, rhythm guitar Mark Melchiorre and drummer Kevin Frank.

A larger contingent of the crowd was like an old friend who you haven’t seen in awhile.  Excited to see you at first, then reminiscent of the good times the longer you talk.  I found myself up on the balcony to get a better view (and a faster drink).  Up there with me were people singing along with every word.  There was a great exchange; “I brought my rain to California, all the way from Philadelphia, PA.”

The show had a similar feeling for the band.  Drummer Kevin Frank had this to say about the atmosphere backstage, “This one (show) was more family members, friends, and sponsors that we hadn’t seen in awhile.  It almost felt like a high school reunion.  But our pre-show half hour rule kicked in.  We spent the half hour before our set together as a band, no matter what.  Just like we used to.”

The band decided to play the entire Show ‘n Tell album.  They threw in some b-sides and even “Adult Child,” which was only released on the Japanese version of Show ‘n Tell.   The crowd was happy with their extended set, because they were to make-up for lost time.

As the night came to an end, after the crowd roared for more, many conversations talked about the future.  Pockets of fans talked about how great the show was, but openly wondered what was next.  So what is next?  I could tell when I spoke to Kevin that he had heard this question a few hundred times already. He was diplomatic in his response, with a sense of quiet hope, “Right now we’re recording for the next two-three weeks with David Ivory.  We’re all good friends; he’s a great mentor.  We’re expecting to release a new EP sometime in late spring.  And we’re looking to play shows sometime later in the year.”

He continued, “But right now we’re five people doing five very different things.  We get together as friends.  We write music.  We’re going back to our roots; re-establishing the original flicker, the original flame.  Long term plans for Silvertide are temporarily on hold.   We are going to make the CD, re-connect with our fans.  If they like it, cool.  If they want us to play more shows, great we’ll do it.  Whatever falls into place, cool.”

Whatever is on the horizon for Silvertide looks promising, when using Saturday night as a barometer.  It was a great night for Philadelphia’s original rock scene.  New faces.  Known faces.  There’s a good amount of promise locally.  Silvertide deserves some of the credit for giving everyone else something to aspire too.  Here’s to them pushing their bar, and Philadelphia’s collective bar, even higher.

Saul Dratman of Gravity Given Productions has put together quite a line-up to end the Summer Season at Dave & Buster’s on Delaware Ave. Many local favorites will be playing throughout the day and night on the dockside bar. The event coincides with the Red Bull Flugtag. The event is happening on the Camden side of the Delaware, but Dockside will have one of the best views in Philadelphia. What goes great with the atmosphere of a Red Bull Flutag? How ’bout some adult beverages and rock ‘n roll.

The line-up for the festival is stacked. John & Brittany, Bong Hits for Jesus, Mach 22, The Jackson, Rider, The Good Excuses, Phil La Placa, and more. Bong Hits is fresh off of playing their biggest show to date. They played with Sublime with Rome and Cypress Hill at the Festival Pier. They also just released a new EP – Low Rent Hustlers. John and Brittany, Mach 22, and The Jackson Rider all recently played the first Annual Liberty Fest at The Legendary Dobbs. And each band seems to be mixing something up in the studio. Phil La Placa may sound familiar from his “Even the Res” days. He has been frequenting local haunts as an acoustic artist more recently. He still brings his A game, strong songwriting with vocals that truly portray the emotion of the words.

The Festival started to come together back in July. Stephen Rose of Bong Hits put Dratman in contact with an intern at a David Ivory’s Recording Studio who also works at Dave & Busters. They wanted an awesome rock line-up to end the Summer Season. Dratman knew how to put one together.

Dratman has been running Gravity Given Productions since March, earlier this year. He has started to book bands regularly at Rebel Rock Bar in Northern Liberties. He put together Conniefest at Connie Mac’s in Pennsauken over the summer. He is working towards making that and annual occurrence. He even has a night booked at The Grape Room at the end of the month. He is moving quickly for someone just getting into the business; a business that can extremely taxing at times.

Dratman is a local musician himself. His band Give Me Gravity is also playing the Fest. He credits some of his success to being more in tune with other local musicians, “It has helped me greatly because I’ve become friendly with musicians on the local scene. Because I’m a musician I feel I know what the bands I book are looking for. They want drink tickets and fair cuts. I’d rather the bands get paid over myself.”

Dratman hasn’t only been working hard on planning- Give Me Gravity just wrapped up an EP they released in July. They’ve been getting spins of their single “Leave” on 93.7 WSTW’s Hometown Heroes Show. They have a pretty solid indie, pop/punk rock sound. At times they remind you of Taking Back Sunday, minus the double vocals in every song.

So if you’re looking to do something this Saturday, whether it’s all day, afternoon, evening, or night, you should head down to Dave & Busters. There will be drinks, loads of plus local original music, and plenty of opportunities to generally be a menace.

The night was kicked off by local Philly scene veteran John Faye and one of his projects, John & Brittany. Their sound is built on complementary guitars, oozing with hooks, on top of a tight drum and bass section. The lyrics are catchy and clever. They tore through their set like only Jon’s vocals can. Vocals sharp like a knife, but rough like a dull serrated edge all at once. Their tones have blended well over the past year plus, with a new EP on the horizon.

Musically the night was closed out by Jackson Rider and their country/rhythm & roots/rock sound. An infectious, pleasing sound that causes onlookers to dance and groove regardless of their musical preferences. Seeing the band multiple times over the past few years, their growth has been measurable. Formed from the remnants of Whiskey Train, they have tightened their craft and widened their audience.

In between the opener and the closer was Soraia, for whom the evening was made. They hit the stage with their well-practiced pro act, much to the aplomb of the 150 plus people at Dobbs. These people were there to support one of the better stories of our beloved, local original music scene. Locally born and nationally weathered, Soraia has worked their ass off for the better part of a decade. Fronted by “alpha front-woman” ZouZou Mansour, Soraia demands attention from their viewing audience. With throwback tunes and throaty vocals, one is reminded of the some of the finer points of rock ‘n roll when listening to Soraia.

The main goal of the night was successfully accomplished. Soraia has opened for Bon Jovi in the past, but Jon has never had the opportunity to see their full live set. Through their work with producer Obie O’Brien, Zou and the band have come in contact with Jon Bon Jovi. It’s to the point where Jon has collaborated with them on their upcoming album. The issue was Jon had yet to fully see a live performance in a natural original music setting.

This showcase event first started to come together when Zou reached out to Jim Thorpe and Vince Volz from DVT Events and asked if she could do the showcase. Zou, Jim, and Vince have all gotten to know each other over the years. Jim has been working with Zou since he booked her at the Chestnut Room in 2005. Vince started working with her when he was booking at Doc Watson’s Pub. Both have had great experiences working with Zou and Soraia. Vince had this to say, “I don’t know if I’ve worked with someone as well rounded. She has it in every facet of the word. Talent. Stage presence. Voice. But she’s also very real, down to earth.” The tables have turned from Zou getting in-touch with Jim and Vince for shows, to them reaching out to her when they have a great line-up they want Soraia to be a part of. It has even gone a step further where Zou calls them to talk up other local bands. A further testament to Zou’s down-to-earth and genuine spirit happened amidst all the post-showcase buzz. She heard that Robyn Welsh of the PSPCA was putting together a Rock ‘n Roll for The Animals night and gladly offered to be part of the line-up. Soraia is joining up with local bands Mach 22, The Better Half, and more, to support this great cause on August 2nd at Dobbs.

Jim and Vince both have a great local, and even national, reputation for working with bands and treating them well. If their names sound familiar it’s because they have been major advocates and supporters of the local scene for years. DVT Events is a hybrid of their respective solo production/booking companies Double V Bookings and Jim Thorpe Productions.

Jim Thorpe, has been booking original music acts since the early 90’s. He has been an independent promoter for local clubs The Middle Eastern, The Khyber, JC Dobbs, The Grape St Pub, to name a few. Jim has been a director of the Dewey Beach Music Conference (DBMC) for the past eleven years. He currently sits on the board for the Philadelphia Grammy Chapter. He is also a co-founder, along with Vince, of the upcoming Liberty Music Fest running at Dobbs August 16-19.

Vince Volz has parlayed his former booking duties as a member of local band Phoenix Rise into his own company, Double V Bookings. The company was founded in 2005. He started booking at Doc Watson’s Pub in 2007. He was able to bring WMMR’s Local Shots to Doc Watson’s in January 2009. This worked out to be a very successful stretch for the Local Shot Series. Weekly shows every Tuesday regularly drew 70-100 people. It was a great way for four or five local bands to get in front of Jaxon, of WMMR, once a week. Bands worked these gigs, trying to make an impression. This has yet to be recaptured at Local Shots new home. It’s hard to blame the venue. Bands more recently had assumed these spots as free promotion instead of an opportunity to hustle and impress. Local Shots has evolved into a mini monthly showcase, where one band receives the station’s attention for a month. Still this new incarnation of Local Shots along with WMMR, willingly came along with Vince when Dobbs was relaunched in January 2011.

The execution of a showcase is not something new to DVT Events. In the past, Jim has showcased local bands Halestorm and Silvertide. Both showcases were very successful in their goals, getting local bands in front of record labels and industry people, and getting these bands signed. This again is the case with Soraia. Immediately after the showcase they were greeted offstage by Jon Bon Jovi, who was able to remain as inconspicuous as possible thanks to the staff at Dobbs. This overflowed to the second floor where a private area was set-up for the band and all interested parties. Bon Jovi’s faithful fans got hold of the Ustream video the next day, and Soraia was blowing up in the ‘twitterverse’. The industry rumblings are that a label supported album and tour will be forthcoming for Soraia sometime this Fall. It looks like this night will pay dividends in the future for Soraia, DVT Events, and The Legendary Dobbs.

by John Dempsey