photo credit: Sophia Varoumas

Carina Round gives you full-body chills with her compelling performance, alongside living rock legend Maynard James Keenan at Philadelphia’s The Met.

By Sophia Varoumas

“Phil’s Friends” receive the satirical and theatrical probing performance they anticipated. Maynard James Keenan (vocals) and Carina Round (vocals/guitar/percussion/keys), of Puscifer, performed in divine masculine/feminine post-punk harmony at The Met.

Alongside bandmates, Mat Mitchell (guitar), Gunner Olsen (drums), and Josh Moreau (bass/synths) on this year’s, Existential Reckoning tour, like the hierophant compliment the Empress, Carina Round, and Maynard James Keenan, showcase their voices in the Opera house, achingly beautiful and synthesized with a dusting of retro electronica.

The alternative rap trio, Moodie Black, opens the evening with a dark stage, bright white screen, and the band scattered across the stage, an industrial backdrop eerily hanging behind them, reminiscent of an old Nine Inch Nails video. Moodie Black features the lead singer, Kristen Martinez (she/her), guitarist Sean Lindahl (he/him), and drummer Bentley Monet (he/him).

Moodie Black rage on stage as Martinez’s silhouette haunts, as she towers, and paces in front of the band’s backdrop. She has an enormous voice that demands attention. The band calls it noise rap. It sounds super thrashy and industrial combined with the super-fast spoken word. You may find yourself rocking your head to their set.

Suddenly, the energy shifts dramatically when the TV screens on each side of the stage light up with static, and Maynard James Keenan (MJK), a.k.a. agent Dick Merkin, pops up on the screens with a message about “spam.” He reminds the crowd that, “ignorant entitled outrage,”  adds just enough spice to the cynical mix of processed meat, so if you pull out your phone, it will land you in Puscifer’s meat grinders, and dispose of you. The crowd roars at the announcement and then the band walks across that stage.

You see and feel this synergy on stage when Keenan and Round, the alto and soprano dance around each other in an alienesque fashion opening with the tracks, “Bread and Circus,” “Postulous,” and then the crowd-pleasing, “Fake Affront,” giving the audience Max Headroom meets Reservoir Dogs feels with their rude boy, all-black suits, white button-down shirts, and black tie attire.

Dozens of fans dress up like MJK’s personas and some, like MJK, don’t break character. Appearances by personas, Agent Dick Merkin, the agent in training on the Pusciforce, is the audience’s host for the evening probe. ‘Agents’ appear on stage scanning the audience for potential new subjects. It was quirky and entertaining adding an extra element to the night’s show.

Prior to the band’s quick seven-minute intermission and wardrobe change, the six-piece performed the songs “Humbling River,” “Apocalypticical,” “Remedy,” and “Singularity.”

Billy D, MJK’s other Puscifer persona emerges, a glass of alcohol in hand, prepared to raise a glass and run from the aliens on stage trying to probe him.

Puscifer continues in their ever so subtle way to say, “shut the fuck up” with a world in its current state of affairs, masking some rage with video “spam” entertaining the crowd to add a sense of sarcastic comic relief, but still showcasing how social media is evil, and how they may feel about society’s current events that are unfolding.

The most monumental and compelling moment of the evening was by Carina Round in her performance of “Flippant.”

Round singularly dances standing still and waving her arms pointing up, then circling her belly and up again. Suddenly she circles her belly again, points up, then points back down at her other hand circling back at her belly, and silently screams, MINE! Before the stage goes black, they end the night with, “Bedlamite” and tell Puscifer fans that they can break out their phones to take some pictures if they choose.

Want to relive the show? Philly’s Setlist below:

Bread and Circus
Postulous
Fake Affront
Underwhelming
Grey Area
Theorem
Vaginamine
Upgrade
Apocalypticical
Remedy
Personal Prometheus
Singularity
Humbling River
(Intermission)
Bullet Train
Man Overboard
Flippant
Bedlamite

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Philly’s indie-rock powerhouse four-piece, The Districts, performed to a packed crowd last night at Union Transfer to celebrate their final stop on their Great American Painting tour.

Supported by fellow acts, Francis of Delirium, and Vanillaroma, the evening served as an energetic, fun, yet bittersweet close to their six-week run of shows across the coast.

The crowd began to slowly straggle in, as the members of Vanillaroma took the stage to kick off the evening. In stark contrast to their self-deprecating description of their group as, “a music band that plays semi-mediocre rock and roll,” the members of Vanillaroma were anything but. Quirky, fuzz-filled tracks like “Leave Me Be” and “Check Your Optimism,” quickly had the growing crowd dancing and nodding along, and at one point, the band even gave some quick kudos to their family members and brought them on stage for a last-song dance.

Following Vanillaroma was the Luxemburg-based trio, Francis of Delirium, consisting of vocalist/lead guitarist, Jana Bahrich, drummer/producer Chris Hewett, and the most recent addition to the band, bassist, Jeff Hennico. Bahrich greeted the crowd with warm enthusiasm, as she set up to play, and filled in the time between songs with funny quips about her experience with food in Philly and how it was okay if no one in the crowd knew where Luxemburg actually was. The trio captivated the crowd’s eyes and ears with stunning renditions of their singles like “Let it All Go,” jump-worthy “Quit F—ing Around,” and the solemn, “I think I’m Losing,” which featured The Districts‘ lead vocalist, Rob Grote.

The venue room amplified with excited cheers once The Districts‘ crew stepped on board. Grote is quick to grab the microphone and thank the crowd for coming out that evening, and the band begins playing their opening song. There wasn’t a minute that the crowd wasn’t jumping or singing the words along to favorites such as “No Blood,” and “Do It Over.” The same whimsical vibes were portrayed heavily throughout the Great American Painting tour and translated perfectly into their final live performance in their hometown.

Connect with The Districts

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Singer/songwriter, Lindsey Jordan, (better known as Snail Mail)’s debut album, Lush, was one of my top favorites of 2018. So, needless to say, I had high expectations for her latest follow-up release, Valentine. I am happy to say that it did NOT disappoint. The album is packed with catchy melodies and heartfelt lyrics that will stay with you long after the end of the song, with singles like “Ben Franklin” and “Glory” being the best standouts of the new release. If you are a fan of indie rock or just appreciate well-crafted music, then Valentine should be on your playlist rotation.

In support of Valentine, Snail Mail is embarking on a North American tour spanning major cities across both coasts, with a stop at Philadelphia’s Union Transfer for two nights: tonight, April 5th, and, tomorrow night, April 6th – if you’ll be around the city of brotherly love those two days and are looking for an evening filled with fun, heartfelt indie rock music, then Snail Mail’s shows are a must-see!

Tickets for her Union Transfer show are still available here.

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photo credit: Johnny Eastlund

Written by Ashley Paskill

We can all remember March of 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic was just starting up and the world was shutting down. Unfortunately, for many musicians, this meant touring new material was put on hold for a while. Luckily, things have improved and concerts are happening again, even though there are a few safety measures such as vaccination and mask requirements.

Waxahatchee, featuring Katie Crutchfield, will be performing at Union Transfer in Philadelphia on April 10 and 11, 2022. She had just released her newest album, Saint Cloud, in the spring of 2020 in the midst of the shutdowns. She is performing songs off of Saint Cloud at long last.

Waxahatchee is from Alabama, and Crutchfield got the name from a creek near her hometown. She started performing as Waxahatchee in 2010 and has had much success since. “Can’t Do Much,” a song off the 2020 album release, even landed on Barack Obama’s Favorite Songs of 2020 list.

The album was written in 2018 and recorded in the summer of 2019. The 11 songs deal with topics from romantic love to overcoming addiction and tell of various journeys, both literal and metaphorical. The songs of the album have different styles, with nods to classic country, modern, and folk. The album was released on March 27, 2020, as the world was shut down.

The New Yorker described the album as “A talisman of the self-isolation era… Saint Cloud evokes a sense of freedom and belonging that has been elusive in this era of constraint and distance.”

Waxahatchee is currently on tour with a variety of special guests. She is coming to Philadelphia’s Union Transfer on April 10 and 11 of this year.

Brooklyn Vegan caught a performance of the recent tour dates and said “[Waxahatchee] has the ease of a road-seasoned group and sounded fantastic bringing her songs to life, particularly the Saint Cloud material, which is among her strongest yet. From the pure jolt of energy that came as the band all joined in together, it became abundantly clear to all that they’d been waiting for this moment just as anxiously as we had.”

For Philadelphia’s tour dates, Madi Diaz is the opening act, and during previous shows this tour, she played songs off her latest album, Same History, New Feelings, which was released earlier this year. She was born in Connecticut and grew up in Pennsylvania. Diaz’s music has touches of folk, country, and pop, and she cites Patty Griffin and Lori McKenna as her influences.

RVA described Diaz’s setlist as “vulnerable, quiet tunes, ones that only necessitated a single drummer/keyboardist and Diaz‘s lone guitar.”

Aside from the tour venues, Waxahatchee has recently performed her songs on the likes of Jimmy Kimmel Live and CBS This Morning. She also wrote and sang the song, “Tomorrow,” for Apple TV+’s original show, El Deafo.

For Crutchfield, Saint Cloud is a representation of how much she has grown and really highlights her journey of getting sober. The lyrics highlight places she has been and there is optimism in her lyrics. This has resonated not only on the album but on her recent tour.

RVA cites this growth, saying “The flora seeming to grow up the band’s equipment and the cautious optimism of Crutchfield’s lyrics only served to highlight the signs of life elsewhere inside the National.

For Waxahatchee‘s upcoming shows at Union Transfer in Philadelphia, those attending the show are required to show proof of their COVID-19 vaccinations at the request of the artist. Both shows, on April 10 and 11, are sold out. The doors open at 7 pm and the show starts at 8 pm.

If you go:

Venue: Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St., Philadelphia

Time: 8 pm

Tickets: Sold out

You can read about the venue’s COVID-19 policy here.

Allman Family Revival

Written by Eric Sperrazza

My childhood had a soundtrack of some of the greatest and most diverse music by the people in my tribe raising me. I have vivid memories of my father’s love of southern rock and how Creedence Clearwater Revival, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and the Allman Brothers Band would permeate through the car, as he would shuffle me back and forth to extracurricular activities.

Over the years, I grew an affinity for the sounds that would put wind into my Dad’s proverbial sails and I always keep an eye out, to this day, for moments I can share with him to celebrate the love of that genre he instilled in me. Luckily, for me, I didn’t have to search too hard for the next opportunity to make a memory with him!

On Thursday, December 9th, the Allman Family Revival will be front and center, at The Met in Philadelphia, for their annual multi-hour celebration and tribute to the legendary Allman Brothers Band.

A sheer spectacle of musicianship, I experienced no small amount of pleasure in speaking to Devon Allman, son of Gregg Allman and co-founder of the Allman Betts Band, about how the show got started.

“In 2017, I lost my Dad,” Devon said. “After six months of grieving, I realized I was denying myself of the power of healing through music and invited a bunch of friends to a comeback show. My agent came back and said San Francisco wanted the show at the Fillmore. I thought it was so cool because my Dad lived in San Francisco throughout the 90s and it became a second home to us. They only had one date to offer, though, December 8th,” he explained. “Which also would have happened to have been my Dad’s 70th birthday. I thought ‘Holy Shit! That’s serendipitous!’ So, we decided to make it a birthday present for my Dad and made it a tribute to him. It started off so innocently and then it evolved to where New York, Denver, and then more wanted the show.  Now? We are in our 5th year and we have 31 offers which we whittled down to 18 shows.”

And evolved, it did. Today, everyone from Kenny Wayne Shepherd, G. Love to Lilly Hiatt, and Robert Randolph perform during the Allman Family Revival show. The structure of the actual show was described by Devon best when he said, “It’s amazing that all these musicians put three weeks aside, every year, to be a part of this. So, I modeled this event after The Band’s famous 1976 concert, ‘The Last Waltz.’ The Allman Betts Band will be the house band, and we will play a few songs and then begin introducing guests. The guests perform their take on an Allman Brothers song and then a song they are famous for. So, they can promote their music and then take on one of my Dad’s songs.”

It is truly an epic night honoring one of the greatest American songwriters and musicians in American history, but what of younger music lovers that might be unfamiliar with the Allman Brothers Band.

Devon had a message for them. When asked to give his elevator pitch to the new school of music fans, he was quoted as saying, “It’s a continuation of the wild wild west! We are doing it the way they did it in the ’60s and ’70s. Anyone who is out of their pop phase and looking for good organic music, this is the real stuff. I mean, good God!  It’s a clinic in the electric guitar up there on that stage. If you are a fan of the electric guitar and you missed this you seriously missed the show of the year!”

Here’s the rub; If you miss the show this year, there is no guarantee that Philadelphia may always be on the annual tour stops. As Devon impressed upon me, there are so many markets that want this show and only so many days to perform so they may mix up where they go, from year to year. With great urgency, it would behoove anyone on the fence to get a ticket to the show and be a part of the Allman Family Revival.

As for me? I will be there, celebrating my father’s 70th birthday and celebrating Gregg Allman along with everyone else. As I sing Midnight Rider in the audience along with a cavalcade of stars on stage, I will simultaneously be honoring my dad and the lessons he imparted to me on what fun southern rock can be…even for a Yankee like myself.

Doors open at 7 pm at The Fillmore and the show kicks off at 8 pm. Tickets are still available here.

Hope to see you there!

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photo credit: Neil Zlozower

Written by Eric Sperrazza

Growing up in the ’80s & ’90s, you would have been hard-pressed to turn on MTV and not see a video of some high-haired band, straight off the Sunset Strip. Amidst the LA onslaught of Whisky A Go Go alumni were Great White!

Since 1977, the band had been shredding licks and belting out their own brand of blues/metal. Ten years later, they truly landed with the seminal platinum album, Once Bitten. That would kick off Billboard Top 100 singles like “Once Bitten, Twice Shy” and one of my personal favorites, “The Angel Song.”

Today, Great White is still performing. Longtime band keyboardist and producer, Michael Larkie, spoke with me and explained what being on the road these days is like.

“We figured out a really cool way of doing it. We go out on a Thursday and perform Friday, Saturday and Sunday. That way, we are home for Monday and have a few days off,” Larkie revealed.

In fact, Great White is performing on October 29th, alongside Slaughter, at the Rivers Casino in Philadelphia, making for a big show of classic hair band-era rock. The band will feature a new lead vocalist, Mitch Malloy, to take on the classic Great White tunes.

When talking about the differences between Malloy and the original frontman, Jack Russell, Larkie was quoted as saying, “Mitch is a great frontman. Very agile and very active on stage. He engages the crowd, very very well! Mitch is different from Jack only in the fact that his solo stuff is more Journey & Bryan Adams, so this is new to him; being in a band that plays the kind of music we do. But he does it well!”

Playing Philadelphia is definitely not new to Larkie and Great White. Larkie went on to spin tales of playing the Spectrum and having fans charge down the ramp to the tour buses, putting him and his bandmates in a Beatles-esque panic, forever solidifying why Philly is a must-stop when Great White goes on tour!

And what of new music with Mitch and the band? With all of this chemistry and the joy of being back and playing Great White hits to rock-starved fans, Larkie was asked about the prospect of laying down a new album.

“We are looking at the 1st quarter of the new year to flush out some ideas but I will tell you this! It will sound like every bit of a Great White record,” Larkie explained.

It is not just the time-honored and battle-tested fans that Larkie and Great White hope to see this Friday. The band issues an open invite to anyone that wants to escape and enjoy music that makes you feel good.

“I guarantee you when we hit the apex of our set, and the crowd is singing along with us to ‘Once Bitten, Twice Shy,’ it’s a PARTY! Come; come be Rockstars with us!” said Larkie to new and hopeful fans looking for a good time on a Friday night in Philadelphia.

Come be rockstars with us; probably the most truthful tagline of any great rock show. The curtain goes up at 8 pm at Rivers Casino, which is located at 1001 North Delaware Avenue in Philadelphia. Tickets are still available here.

I know I, for one, will be taking Larkie up on his offer. With my torn jeans on and flannel tied properly around my waist, consider me an honorary rockstar as I belt out “The Angel Song” from the crowd.

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It was a beautiful weekend for music and good vibrations at the Wiggins Park Marina for this year’s XPoNential Music Fest presented by University of Pennsylvania radio station 88.5 WXPN on September 17, 18, and 19, 2021.

Two stages were set to host dozens of bands over the weekend, the River Stage and the Marina Stage. The River Stage catered to larger acts, bands more prone to dancing, situated at the bottom of a large natural amphitheater. Nestled right next to the Marina, just over a small hill, was the Marina Stage. This special stage was reserved especially for singer/songwriters and Nashville acts on their first leg of a tour since 2019.

Saturday, September 18, 2021

On Saturday, September 18th, the second day of the festival, the first act we caught was Philly locals, Stella Ruze, on the River Stage. Established in 2014 by Brendan Johnson and Katie O’Donnell, the band has recently expanded to include two drummers, a trumpet player, a saxophonist, a keyboardist, and 3 and 4 part vocal harmonies. Stella Ruze’s sound is reminiscent of Paul Simon and the crowd responded well to them being that they were the first act of the afternoon. I saw a few familiar faces up on stage with Stella Ruze including Rob Tait on percussion and Gabe Preston on trumpet. Their set was fun and danceable and fans stuck around to talk to the band afterward.

photo credit: Liv Foltiny

Over on the Marina Stage, we caught a group called Great Time. Their sound is along the lines of what I would call Neo/New Wave. The lead singer played synths in front of what was essentially a funk trio who also had synths attached to their instruments. In a neon jumpsuit, the lead singer could have managed on her own. The trio could have played a mean funk set on their own, as well. But, as a band, the combination is artfully executed. The sound was synth-heavy but ultimately danceable. They employed two laptops, one on the drums and one with the lead singer. She also played saxophone and flute throughout the set. 

After the band, Great Time, we headed back to the River Stage for Paul Beaubrun and his band from Haiti. At first blush, there was a strong flavor of Fela Kuti. This young quartet slickly transitioned between rock and roll, reggae, blues, Caribbean, cumbia, salsa, and more.

Beaubrun rocked the lead guitar effortlessly. They led a vocal jam heavily laden with percussion that ended in a sing-a-long and passionately screamed directions to ‘Go Low!’, ‘Jump!’, and ‘Scream!’. The highlight of their set was a very cool, very reggae version of “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers.

Nashville singer/songwriter, Michaela Anne, and her quintet crooned to audiences from the Marina Stage. This was her second show back prior to the pandemic. She employed spacey intros and synth strings to begin a few of her songs. Strong three-part harmonies and an authentic pop-country sound were eerily reminiscent of Stevie-Nicks-era Fleetwood Mac.

Her songs were heartfelt and employed clever turns of phrases in her lyrics. I especially enjoyed this lyric: “I’m not the fire, I’m just the smoke…”

I caught up with Philadelphian bassist, Charlie Muench, (an old classmate of mine from West Chester University’s bass studio where we both studied under Peter Paulsen), and he told us that the rest of the band came up from Nashville while he joined them for shows in PA, NJ, and NYC. This group is going places, I’m a fan.

The funky Cimafunk delivers an unforgettable set at the  XPoNential Music Festival on Saturday. (photo credit: Liv Foltiny)

The 29-year-old Cuban vocalist known as Cimafunk was warmed up and ready to rock when we returned to the River Stage. This band is all business, and their business is funk. Two female singers who also doubled on trombone and saxophone, respectively, backed up a lead singer who resembled a young, Cuban James Brown. The rhythm section included a drum kit, congas, hand percussion, bass, and electric guitar. At moments, they reminded me of an Afro-Cuban Fishbone, or funkadelic or both, combined with the Fania All-Stars.

The lead singer had all the moves and charisma of a master like Héctor Lavoe or James Brown. I must also mention that the backup singer playing hand percussion was integral to the band’s sound. The claves and the güiro were the stars of the show in this group full of soon-to-be- superstars. I must also mention heavy usage of the Stravinsky orchestra-hit sample featured in most hip-hop songs produced between 1981 through 1993.

On the Marina Stage, Adia Victoria, from South Carolina, emphatically informed the crowd that she “Drove up to play the blues for you.” Her voice was instantly breathy and bluesy, but her mic technique was lacking and it made for an uneven vocal performance. However, her band was tight and she and they got extra points for wearing matching black and red western-themed outfits with boots and hats and all. If you walked away from the stage a bit, you could hear the Tedeschi Trucks Band warming up in the BB&T Pavilion.

South Carolina blues artist Adia Victoria performs on the Marina Stage. (photo credit: Liv Foltiny)

Strand of Oaks, a straight-up rock and roll outfit, was next on the River Stage. The band was tight. Three-part harmonies, electric guitars, a three-piece Ludwig drum kit, and absolutely spot-on stage presence made their performance spectacular. The lead guitar solos were amazing. Towards the end of their set, they were stretching out into Pink Floyd territory.

Next up, on the Marina Stage, the crowd was starting to boil over in anticipation of the arrival and performance of one Christone “Kingfish” Ingram.

Suddenly, though he was not yet on stage, Kingfish‘s guitar began to scream. He appears from off-stage just ripping up a solo over that groove. From there the temperature only went up. Of course, there were ups and downs, highs and lows, throughout the set. But Kingfish absolutely held the audience in the palm of his hand throughout. He got out into the middle and then just rocked for five minutes or so before heading back down the

Legendary guitarist and blues artist, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and bring the blues to Philly. (photo credit: Liv Foltiny)

hill to get back on stage. The crowd was absolutely foaming at the mouth at this point. He ended the set by starting a very loud and fast solo over the tune, “Hey Joe,” and then dropped his guitar down onto the stage with a huge band and giant static and feedback while he walked off and hopped onto a golf cart. Absolutely legend.

Capping off the afternoon on the River Stage was the singer/songwriter, Ani DiFranco. Her trio consisted of a drummer/percussionist, a keyboardist/bassist, and herself on vocals, plus an array of really cool, old guitars for various tunings. She joked with the crowd initially, saying “I like this set-up. You all have the light in your eyes this time. Now you can see how it feels…” She launched into a set of mostly new songs mixed with classics. She is the master of the use of dissonance in her songs and from song to song in her sets. She can hit a chord that will make your shoulders tighten and then resolve it in such a way as to make you actually relax a bit. She’ll go from a taught, confessional song and then follow it with a tune that makes you smile again. She’s a master performer and another who always has the crowd right there in her palm.

Vocalist Greg Ormont gets weird at XPoNential Music Fest on Saturday, September 18. (photo credit: Liv Foltiny)

Later at the BB&T Pavilion, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong and the Tedeschi Trucks Band rocked out for four solid hours. Pigeons Playing Ping Pong were lively, danceable, and generally provided a fun atmosphere for the crowd to dance their butts off on the lawn. Their setlist included just five incredibly stretched-out songs including: “Penguins,” “Somethin’ For Ya,” “Fun In Funk,” “Horizon,” and “Lightning.” 

The Tedeschi Trucks Band, conversely, while rocking out completely, was less lively on stage. With a setlist that included covers of The Wood Brothers’ “Smoke Ring Halo,” as well as “Don’t Keep Me Wonderin,'” by the Allman Brothers Band, and “Bell-Bottom Blues” by Derek and the Dominoes. Tedeschi Trucks kept up its reputation for being the next generation of enlightened southern rock.

Sunday, September 19, 2021

The next day it was even more sunny and bright than the day before and the crowd was just as excited. I had been surviving on lemonade and chicken empanadas for most of the weekend. Between sets, you could hear the brass band, Snacktime, up at the top of the hill playing cleverly arranged pop tunes, including Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish” and “Waterfalls” by TLC. Unfortunately, one of the headliners, Dawes, had to cancel their set due to positive COVID-19 tests. Cimafunk was added to the bill and Shovels and Rope was moved up to close out the festival. 

Sunday’s festivities began on the Marina Stage with songwriter/vocalist, Anna Shoemaker, joined by an accompanist on acoustic guitar. Her tunes were a bit emo, a bit folk-punk. She and her accompanist were sharing beers throughout the set. She seemed both nervous and relaxed and having fun at the same time. She spoke with the audience like they were her family sitting out in the crowd. Off-hand comments and asides punctuated a set of introspective, existential songs with titles like “It’s Depression” and “Laugh Until I Die.” Her voice reminds me of another amazing Philly vocalist named Ali Wadsworth.

Chris Day delivers some serious guitar. (photo credit: Liv Foltiny)

Over on the River Stage, things were heating up. The sun was beating down on an ever-increasingly expectant crowd of rabid Tommy Conwell fans. This classic rock group referenced their own songs as they introduced them. For their third song, Tommy announced, “This is the first song off our first album.” For their fourth song, “We did this on Letterman back in 1989!”… and so on. He was adamant that “the eighties are coming back!’ many times throughout the set. I’ll give it to him, Tommy Conwell still rocks out. His band is awesome. 

Singer/songwriter, Sierra Ferrel, sweetly sang songs of struggle and love and everything else in-between from her perch on the Marina Stage. Here we had another group of Nashville professionals pretending to be a live band, but really doing exactly what they did in the studio. However, Ferrel‘s look (complete with denim jumper, nose ring, and facial tattoo), was just the beginning of my interest in this songstress. Before going on stage, while I was chatting with the sound technician and local musician, Jim Tauscher (IATSE, Local 8), I saw her rocking a leather fringe mask over her regular mask. This lady is cool as hell. But what really had me swooning was her amazing voice. Her songs are fun and her band was tight. She also had a fiddler and a bassist. They were short one other member due to a positive COVID-19 test. 

Nashville-based singer/songwriter, Devon Gillfillian, will knock your socks off, then help you put them back on, and tie your shoes for you. He came dressed to the nines in psychedelic businesswear ready to croon to the crowd awaiting him in front of the River Stage. He did just that. His first tune was sexy and slow and had stops that lasted just a bit too long, but also just long enough. This man is a soul singer who loves chatting with his audience. He has two cats, named Felicia and Barry White. His band had killer backing vocals, especially during a rousing version of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On?” with the addition of the members of Snacktime bolstering the horn section. He was seen chatting up fans and posing for pictures throughout the festival after his set.

Devin Gillfillian rocks out on the guitar at WXPN’s XPoNential Music Fest. (photo credit: Liv Foltiny)

Back over at the Marina Stage, singer/songwriter, Jade Bird, was warming up. She played solo, just her and an acoustic guitar. She informed the crowd that thought they’d notice her English accent, even though she had recently moved to Texas. She had a backing vocalist to flesh out vocal harmonies over sweet and personal songs. This Brit has got a firm hold on an Americana sound and style. It was nice to hear someone from across the pond as opposed to the many Nashvillian folks we’d had through the weekend. 

Next up on the River Stage was Cimafunk for a second set, but not before Snacktime could get up and play a quick version of P-Funk’s “Do That Stuff.” Cimafunk came out guns-blazing for their second set of sexy, Spanish-speaking funk. That famous Stravinsky orchestra-hit sample came out early in the set and stuck around. They also made heavier use of 80s synth sounds. Cimafunk is everything you want in a party band. Funk, Latin, Caribbean, hip-hop, rock, reggae, everything! Who wouldn’t want another set from Cimafunk?

Nicole Atkins smiles at fans after performing live. (photo credit: Liv Foltiny)

Nicole Atkins is a rare bird. She’s a Nashville pro who’s ready to rock out. Her set was at once tight and loose like a good Rolling Stones concert. I spotted Philly locals Meaghan Kyle, Ryan Williams, and Imani Roach supplying backing vocals at stage-left. Her band was a rock and roll quintet with her as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist. Their blend of pop-rock and bluesy rock and roll hit the spot after a set of super-dancey funk. Her voice soared above the crowd at the Marina Stage, as she switched from a Fender Jazzmaster (a model I own, coincidentally) to a Fender Acoustasonic Jazzmaster. I particularly liked a tune called “Garbage of Eden.” They closed with an epic righteous cover of Led Zeppelin’s “What Is And What Should Never Be,” proving that she and her group is on top of their game right now.

Shovels and Rope, a duo featuring Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst from South Carolina, set up on the River Stage to close the festival. They resemble the White Stripes with Trent on guitar and Hearst on drums. But each had more to offer than what you could see immediately. They both employed synths attached to the guitar or the keyboard the Hearst played with her right hand while keeping a beat with her right on the snare and her foot the bass drum. Eventually, they settled in and Hearst riffed on the band’s name: “Shovels and Rope:” it’s all you need to dig a hole for yourself and to get back out again.” They had released an album years ago with that title and decided to keep it for the band’s name later on when they started touring. They wowed the crowd, as well as me and Liv. I’m a fan. Get yourself some Shovels and Rope.

With that, the weekend of sun and music had ended. Crowds filtered out to their cars and trains and Ubers to go back across the bridge to Philly or back out into the wilds of New Jersey. Tito’s Vodka packed up their merch tent. Police stood around trying to look useful. Performers and audience members, alike, wiped the sweat from their brow, packed up their cooler and lawn chair, and went home to face another week.

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Today, Hawaiian jazz/surf rock group, Slowey and the Boats share their new holiday single, “Christmas Island,” out now via Hi-Tide Recordings. The single is an updated, yet timeless version of the original song written in 1946 by Lyle Moraine.

This single is taken from the band’s upcoming Christmas album, Merry Christmas from Slowey and the Beats, due out November 13 via Hi-Tide Recordings.

“‘Christmas Island’ was on our ‘must-learn’ song list for years,” says bandleader and steel guitarist, Isaac Stanford. “When we teamed up with Steve Stanislaw to sing a few songs on our Christmas album, the time was right to add it to our holiday repertoire.”

Slowey and the Boats are an integral part of Philadelphia’s Hawaiian jazz scene. A five-piece band, they blend elements of traditional folk with western swing, ballads, tangos, and Hawaiian party classics, unlike any other band you’ve heard before.

In 2012, the band came together when Stanford recruited some other fellow Philadelphia musicians, including David Streim and Freddie Berman, to lend a hand to his songs.

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“Dearly Beloved….We Are Gathered Here Today To Get Through This Thing Called Life….”

Fuck. What a predicament we have found ourselves in at this time. You thought every year up to now was crazy? Hell no. 2020 is…just…goddamn. I thought 2016 was for sure going to take the cake. Losing David Bowie AND Prince in a matter of a few months followed by the biggest political shakeup we’ll probably ever see. An absolute whirlwind. Nope. Nothing compared to this.

As I write this, we are all doing the same thing (or at least we should be). We’re stuck in our homes trying to stay away from an enemy we can’t even see. A force of nature the likes of which we haven’t seen in over a century. Quite possibly the only thing that can shut down the entire globe past World War III and I don’t even think that would keep everyone confined to their homes by state and federal mandates. This…this is unprecedented. A virus. A microscopic “fuck you” to the human race. Everything other than essential businesses is closed. Work? Gone. Sports? Gone. Literally being around anyone? Forget about it.

But. We have one crutch to the outside world past binging hours of Netflix and the news telling us how bad things are out there. One crutch that has always been there to provide a spark of light even in the seemingly complete eternity of darkness.

Music. The one constant. Not even a pandemic of worldwide proportions can wipe out our music. The feeling you get from listening to your favorite song. Hearing a brand new song for the first time and knowing “this is special.” Seeing your favorite band play (even if it has to be on the internet right now). It’s the single most special thing we have as human beings. It brings us together, it tears us apart…it is inherently…us. People from all different walks of life. All different backgrounds and upbringings creating music to express emotions that are sometimes the hardest thing to get out without help. Love, heartbreak, politics, a walk in the park, shit, just being alone. There’s a song for EVERY emotion and moment in life. It’s really incredible to think. Everyone can find a song to match what they’re going through at any period in time. Sure it might take a while to find, but when you find THAT song? You hold onto it for life. There are songs I have found at a very young age that I still listen to constantly, just because they have had that strong of an effect on me.

photo credit: Nick Hopton

My Grandmom (Graba as she was referred to), raised me on Motown and the solid gold oldies. You look at me and the last thing you think I’d listen to would be some Four Tops, The Temptations or Smokey Robinson. But goddamn, if those songs don’t hit me right in the soul and send me back to the best times I’ve ever had. Times when life was just, easy. Fun. Carefree. But just as all things in life tend to do, the good times come to an end. But that’s where the music really comes in. A reminder of the good times, the ones that can always come back again.

And now more than ever, that’s the hope we need. As we look at the outside world from the inside, we need that reminder that it’s always darkest before the dawn. That even though the future is uncertain and bleak, there is always tomorrow. There is always, us.

“War, children, it’s just a shot away…It’s just a shot away”

*Looking into the crowd* “Raise your hand if you’ve ever been to a concert. You. I know you have. Definitely you. Oh, you and I have been to quite a few together. Oh, that guy in the wayyyy in the back? Him too.” If you are living and breathing, odds are you have seen some kind of live performance in your lifetime. Even so much as a talent show during high school. And if you haven’t? Well, shit…my friend, you are certainly not living.

It’s a religion for a lot of us. A place of worship. That certain comfort that can only be found by being surrounded by dozens, hundreds, hell, even thousands of people you don’t know; all brought together by some ethereal sense of magic for a few hours of our lives. It can’t truly be described in words. It has to be experienced. Felt. And now, lost. We’re not able to go to our houses of worship right now. To let out the love, the emotion, the rage. It’s truly the only free place left on earth in my mind. A place where you can just “be.” As someone who writes and performs on a stage at a fairly decent pace, this makes it even worse. That’s my happy place. That’s where my mind just shuts the fuck up for however long I’m blessed enough to be up there for. Where nothing else matters but drowning in the now. Freedom. No drug can match it. No other type of love (at least from what I’ve found so far in life) can match it. It’s one of a kind. Ask any musician out there; it’s an addiction in its own way. Once you get your first taste of the stage, you want to live there. And now, we can’t get our fix. We can’t open the doors to our cathedrals. We can’t live in that moment.

“Digital witnesses…What’s the point of even sleeping? If I can’t show it if you can’t see me…What’s the point of doing anything?”

However, we can still worship. We can still sing. We can still dance. We can still release. Just not together, we have to, for right now, do it separately. But that’s where the true beauty of the internet shines. Ah yes, believe it or not, there is still beauty in the internet. Past all the bullshit, the memes, the trolling, there’s still proper use for it. Artists and musicians around the world have opened their homes and minds to everyone via live-streams, podcasts, and interviews.

I cannot tell you how many incredible bands, even the Philadelphia area, have embraced these methods of sharing on a totally regular basis now. Low Cut Connie, one of the best bands to come out of in a while, (I watched Elton John shout them out at his Philly gig last year. Elton Fucking John.) runs gigs 2-3 times a week from the comfort of their living room. Bright Kelly from The Great Enough is seemingly on every single day busting his ass to share music and love from that big white chair in his den. LauraLea Taraskus, Bryen O’Boyle, Victoria Watts and Kirby San…the list goes on and on.

These are people that I’ve seen live and nearly die on stage for their art, confined to their homes, still spreading love and entertainment in a time where those two necessities of life are so hard to come by. It’s what we need right now to get through, and it’s what they need right now to keep sane. But it’s not just them. I’m seeing countless individuals who have never graced a stage before turning their cameras on to take part in the magic that we are seeing. Getting on that seemingly invisible stage to let their emotions out to anyone who will listen. Finding an outlet. Finding freedom.

photo credit: Nick Hopton

Living.

What I’m getting at is we can still do everything we have been doing, just in a different way.

We can still worship. We can still share an experience. We can still live in the moment.

“Guess who just got back today / Them wild-eyed boys that had been away / Haven’t changed that much to say / But man, I still think them cats are crazy.”

Those moments are what I hold on to now. Memories of blurred nights passed, drenched in sweat, cigarette smoke and whiskey. In the middle of a pit, or on a stage. Pure, unadulterated fun. The nights that we took advantage of, always knowing there will be another night to come; until there isn’t.

Now most times, that means either your body has given up, your life has changed significantly, or the worst outcome: you’ve lost the passion for the music. This situation is new. This is uncharted territory. But I believe that this, while dark and unknown, could be the best thing to happen to a lot of us in a long time.

Just picture it. The first show back. The anticipation, the longing, the light drop. Your favorite band is on stage, right in front of you, and you’re surrounded by thousands of friends you never knew you had, all singing in unison and unloading all that emotion that has built up over the months since you last experienced this feeling. It’s bliss. It’s all new again; just like the first time you felt it. Suddenly, everything that we are currently going through now comes out in a primal, dance and filled fury.

We’re all together again.

That’s the moment we have to keep focused on. The moment when togetherness is no longer deemed a risk to public health, but celebrated as a cure for those goddamn quarantine blues that we’re currently enthralled in. Celebrations everywhere. From the small stages of your favorite local bar to the massive arenas and stadiums that can shake the ground for miles. Millions of voices will exclaim in unison that we, as one people, are back.

But let us never again take advantage of what the future holds. Let’s remember to truly live in these moments again. Because now we truly see how fragile life is. How fast everything can change. Some never realize this until it is too late to change, to enjoy life again. This is a rare opportunity for all of us to change. For all of us to reflect. For all of us to build the anticipation, the longing…

Those lights will drop soon. And when they do…

We will sing. We will dance. We will be together….again.

“Keep Me In Your Heart For Awhile” – Warren Zevon