There’s something special about Philadelphia’s music venues. They’re not just places to see local and touring bands – they’re a vital part of the city’s musical fabric. Philly music venues have a unique character that comes from their historic buildings, intimate settings, and passionate audiences. As passionate supporters of all things local music, our staff at ThatMag will be shining the spotlight on some local venues that have become staples of Philadelphia’s thriving music community.

Karen Lauria Saillant is the owner of the Fire, one of Philadelphia’s most revered music venues. The Fire has been a local fixture for over two decades, and it has played host to some of the city’s most talented musicians. Saillant is a passionate advocate for local music and has worked tirelessly to ensure that the Fire remains a vital part of the Philadelphia music scene. We had the chance to sit down with Saillant this past week inside her venue to discuss the Fire‘s rich history, its impact on the community, and what the future holds for this revered Philly venue staple.

ThatMag: Let’s start from the beginning – back in the ’80s before The Fire was known for what it is today, it was actually The Philadelphia Bar and Grille. What inspired you to transform it into a music venue?

Karen Lauria Saillant: My husband and I originally bought a tavern in Northern Liberties and named it The Philadelphia Bar and Grille in 1988. We did this so that he could leave truck driving and have more time to be able to attend his son’s athletic games, which was wonderful!

As for what led up to transforming it into a music venue: In 1999, my husband went into a vegetative coma trying to stop a man from attacking me and my son in front of our home in Center City. We took care of him in our home for 16 months and then he died. During that time I had to start running the Philadelphia Bar and Grille. I had cooked at the bar here and there, but I was pursuing my career as an opera singer and director, and vocal coach.

We had an adjacent room, the size of the bar, which had been our pool room. And I, with great trepidation, took out one of the pool tables and put in a tiny little stage and started bringing my singing students, who were not opera singers, there to perform. And that’s how the music venue began.

TM: The Fire has not only built a reputation as a staple of Philadelphia’s local music community but is the only female-owned venue in the city. What were some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced throughout the past 20 years as a woman in the music industry?

KLS: There have definitely been quite a few challenges and without getting into too much detail, a lot of them have been direct challenges to me as a female venue owner. I’ve had past venue partners and booking agents who’ve definitely taken advantage of my naivete and collaborative nature especially when it came to booking artists. By 2018, the situation had become so dire that I had to sell my home of 50 years in order to save The Fire. It should go without saying, but never be afraid to stand up for yourself!!!!

TM: In addition to owning The Fire, you’re also the founder of the International Opera Theater of Philadelphia, which has been putting on incredible performances in the city since 2003. What projects are you currently working on there?

KLS: Right now we’re working on what we’re calling the FLOW project, (spelled like FLOW) and we’re going to also bring that project to The Fire as well. The main goal of this project is to encourage artists and others to utilize music in FLOW as a way to take a stand against all of the violence and horrible things happening across this country right now. 

The concept of FLOW can be best explained like this: if we were all in FLOW, then we’d all be in a right-brain dominant state of mind, which is a higher consciousness that enables us to be more compassionate and understanding, and caring. If more people were ‘in FLOW’, so to speak, essentially we’d have more harmony.

We have artists from 56 countries involved, so it’ll be the most diverse opera in history. And for that reason, it’s probably the most complicated opera. We’re still putting it together. Stay tuned!

TM: How do you feel about the current state of Philadelphia’s music scene? What changes, if any, would you like to see implemented?

KLS: I have been involved with the Philadelphia music scene since I was four years old. And I was very active in the Renaissance in the Philadelphia music scene on South Street in the 70s. And the way it feels to me now, like what is it, 50 years later, is that Philadelphia [is], I believe, finally coming together as a community in the music industry. We have an organization called PIVOT, initiated by Carrie Park at World Cafe Live, and with the participation of every Philadelphia venue and we are working to support one another and help one another. So competition is not at the heart of our interactions, but rather love and caring. And I think that’s so exciting!

TM: What is your vision for The Fire and the International Opera Theater five years from now?

KLS: I hope that we can help inspire musicians to raise their consciousness. And in doing so, be able to raise the consciousness of our city. We desperately need music right now, but just not just any music, music that is inspirational, in-FLOW, and able to cultivate a culture in our city that supports harmony and balance and love and compassion for one another. And I hope that The Fire and the International Opera Theater can emulate those ideals and help share them with the world.

The project is also going to involve a custom invention called ‘The Adagio Flow Machine.’ It’s something a totally unique invention that gives the artist an opportunity to see in a concrete way where their music goes out of FLOW, and therefore make the adjustments necessary in the composition and execution of the music that will enable it to be in FLOW. James Wilson, a graduate of Temple University’s advanced composition program, the inventor of the machine (who has had the machine’s effectiveness confirmed by Joseph Kamiya, the father of neurofeedback, in a definitive study at Nova University, Fla.) said that music actually has four elements. We know it has rhythm,  it has harmony and it has melody, but it also should have FLOW. And this doesn’t just apply to classical music, all genres of music have this potential. So God has given us music and I hope that The Fire and the International Opera Theater will represent the highest values that music can offer humanity.”

Learn More About The Fire and International Opera Theater

Dante, The Opera | Philly-in-FLOW Project

Connect with The Fire

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Connect with the International Opera Theater

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Photo Gallery

photo credit: Angel Park

Written by Angel Park

Governors Ball, one of NYC’s most anticipated summer festivals, took place this year at Citi Field in Queens, NY. This year’s lineup featured some of the biggest names in both indie and rap music, drawing attendees from across the city and beyond, to experience performances from acts such as J.Cole, Playboi Carti, Halsey, and many others. ThatMag was on the grounds for Day Two and Three of this unforgettable event! Here’s what you missed!

Self-described as a music festival ‘built by New Yorkers, for New Yorkers,’ Governors Ball Fest‘s love for its home city was celebrated in its intricate decor located throughout the grounds. However, the most notable featured the bold Lady Liberty standing proudly next to multicolored letters spelling out the name of the event.

Retail and food vendors also lined the grounds in rows, the most notable of which included Bacardi, Dunkin Donuts, Levis, and Coca-Cola. Other vendors, such as Bud Light and GoPuff, also had their own dedicated lounges, various refreshments, and interactive activities to keep the crowd nourished and entertained in between sets. Personally, I couldn’t get enough of the delectable ice cream from the Milk & Cream Cereal Bar’s booth!

photo credit: Angel Park

In terms of stage layouts, festival organizers did a great job spacing everything out and reducing as much set overlap as possible. Artists were divided among the GoPuff, Barcadi, and Verizon stages, with each just a short walk away,

Artists were divided among the GoPuff, Bacardi, and Verizon stages, with each just a short walk away and with plenty of room to grab another slice of pizza or a Governors Ball craft brew on your way.

Governors Ball featured various artists’ sets for indie and rap music heads of all varieties. Throughout Day Two, I was able to see Valley, BENEE, and De’Wayne.

Valley‘s set was an impressive, live, showcase of hazy-filled soft rock vibes. The band played through a set of fan favorites and new material, making for a memorable show. Frontman Rob Laska’s emotive vocals soared over the instruments, giving the songs an added layer of depth and feeling.

Seeing BENEE perform was an incredible experience. This New Zealand-based pop artist was as gleeful on stage as she was sarcastic, and her humor added a great touch to what the audience later found out was actually her first U.S festival performance.

photo credit: Angel Park

De’Wayne‘s intimate set at Bud Light’s Seltzer sessions was an awesome show from start to finish. The Houston, TX-based artist had the crowd dancing and chanting along throughout his entire set and closed out with a unique rendition of The Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog.”

Finally, to cap off the evening.

Again, at noon the next day, Governors Ball opened its gates once again to attendees to finish the festival out strong. The early afternoon featured indie acts Soccer Mommy and 100Gecs, with other notable indie acts following such as Philadelphia-based songwriter Japanese Breakfast, and England’s four-piece band, Glass Animals.

As tired as I was by that point in the day, the crowd’s enthusiasm was contagious and the artist’s energy levels never faltered once. The audience even reached their peak rowdiness levels when headliners Playboi Carti and J. Cole took the stage. Fans from the front row all the way to the VIP bar could be seen dancing and singing along to the lyrics.

With an unbeatable lineup, delicious food vendors, and a unique atmosphere that could only come from New York, Governors Ball 2022 perfectly captured the hearts of indie and rap music fans across the city. We’ll be counting down the days until 2023!

Connect with Governors Ball

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Photo Gallery

Something More Than Free

Reviewed by: Jane Roser

From cutting his teeth with the Southern rock band Drive-By Truckers and rising above his addiction demons to release one of 2013’s most critically acclaimed albums (Southeastern), singer-songwriter Jason Isbell’s name is nowadays uttered in the same breath as iconic lyricists John Prine, Townes Van Zandt and Leonard Cohen (to name a few). His true genius, though, is in his simple ability to articulate with earnest the story he is attempting to tell.

Isbell’s fifth solo album, produced by Dave Cobb and released via Southeastern Records, is both introspective and reflective. With the exception of the blues-rock song “Palmetto Rose”, Something More Than Free is a quieter album than Southeastern, but no less full of emotion, themes of life, death, suffering and redemption. Isbell is a born storyteller with a penchant for giving his characters such a breath of life; you constantly wonder if his subjects are based on real people and events or the product of a soulful imagination.

Isbell has often said: “I used to explain what my songs meant, but after a while, I realized if I had to explain it, then I wasn’t done writing it,” but in talking about his latest album, Isbell has opened up about the inspirations behind some of his new songs.
The opening track, “If It Takes A Lifetime”, is a classic country-feeling song incorporating slide guitar and a beat which sets the album’s somber tone. This song also has one of my favorite lines: “A man is the product of all the people that he ever loved.” It illustrates where the protagonist has been and where he is going; all of the things that have shaped him into who he is today and his ambitions for who he could be tomorrow: “But I keep on showing up, hell-bent on growing up, if it takes a lifetime.”

The ballad “Children of Children” came about because both Isbell and his wife, musician Amanda Shires, were the product of young parents and he speaks of how much these parents gave up to raise their children. It’s a song of love and devotion, but also of a loss of what could have been. The lyrics are simple, but profound and hit you like a ton of bricks: “You and I were almost nothing. Pray to God the Gods were bluffing. Seventeen ain’t old enough to reason with the pain. How could we expect the two to stay in love, when neither knew the meaning of the difference between sacred and profane?” and “I was riding on my mother’s hip. She was shorter than the corn. And all the years I took from her, just by being born.”

“Speed Trap Town” is one of my favorite tracks and Isbell has admitted it’s his, too. The song begins in a grocery store, then follows the storyteller sneaking a bottle of booze up to the bleachers of a high school game and thinking of how “these 5-A bastards run a shallow cross. It’s a boy’s last dream and a man’s first loss,” then shifts to a dying father who “was a tough state trooper ’til a decade back, when that girl that wasn’t Momma caused his heart attack. He didn’t care about us when he was walking around. Just pulling people over in a speed track town.” The entire song seems to echo and stays with you long after the last note is played.

With so many haunting ballads and acoustic guitar-driven songs, you almost fall out of your seat when “Palmetto Rose” shifts into high gear and those electric guitars wail out like a bad-ass muscle car speeding down sizzling asphalt. “Palmetto Rose” is an ode to South Carolina (“the Iodine State”) and really captures what a stroll down Charleston’s King Street is like with vendors selling couples woven “roses” (made from Palmetto tree leaves), telling them that the tradition of giving these to your sweetheart dates back to the Civil War, supposedly to keep them safe from harm: “Palmetto rose in the sidewalk mud, dirty white stem and a big green bud. Catch them coming out of a King Street store, with some bullshit story about the Civil War.”

Something More Than Free is a powerful and breathtaking follow-up to Southeastern and really illustrates why Isbell is such a prolific and seductive poet. He has learned from his past, discovered intense courage and freedom in his present and I’m sure will welcome change, surprises and continued passion for living in his future.

Rating: Bad-Ass