This summer, Philadelphia’s premier public radio station, WXPN, challenged local musicians to write a song in 24 hours. While Khalil Amaru was named the grand prize winner, earning himself a spot on stage at this year’s XPoNential Music Festival, three other artists were named finalists out of the several hundred submissions.

Those artists are Yuneer Gainz, Mackenzie Johnson, and Best Bear, all of whom performed short but sweet sets Thursday night at World Cafe Live for WXPN’s Homegrown Live! show.

The free gig took place in WCL’s upstairs venue, The Lounge, and for a Thursday night show, the crowd was sizeable.

The fun kicked off with Yuneer Gainz, who was joined on stage by guitarist Sam Mandell and Andrew Miller on Keys. Offstage was Tyrell “Ace” Clark, working beats and vocal effect detail.

First was a heavy-hitting track featuring thumping bass and deep peels of a church bell. Yuneer Gainz showed off his skills both in rapping and singing in his first song. The chorus was overlaid with backing vocals, but Gainz’s shined when it was just him on the mic.

Best Bear

That became even more evident throughout his set, which featured his 24-hour song, “Grown Man Tears.” The track’s production is minimal, with just guitar and keys, no drums. He told the audience he recorded the song in just one take, a truly impressive feat.

Gainz later in the set performed his latest release, “Flight,” a song he dedicated to a late friend. This song was a more traditional hip-hop track in which Gainz showed off his ability to spit lyrics quickly.

He went on to play an unreleased track titled “Back Home in Bethlehem,” a song he wrote about visiting his brother in rural Pennsylvania. When Mandell began to play the song’s chords, Gainz was surprised at the key, noting it was different from what was laid down on the record. But Gainz found the key and nailed the vocal performance, and Mandell laid down a slick solo, continuing the motif of peppering crafty guitar licks, riffs, and solos throughout the set.

The last song was another new track and featured a lyric about the galaxy, which was fitting as Mandell and Miller’s guitar and keys were drenched in dreamy effects, complementing the lyrical content.

And it should be mentioned that Gainz told me after his set that Thursday was his first time performing live.

Up next was Johnson.

From the jump, her vocal control was on full display, and I immediately thought she could easily fit on a bill with acts like Phoebe Bridgers, Muna, or Taylor Swift.

Johnson was alone on stage with her guitar. She told the crowd her first open mic experience was at World Cafe Live, which made her set feel serendipitous.

Johnson’s song “The Sisterhood” highlighted her penchant for all things “witchy.” Leading with an eerily finger-picked minor chord riff, the song included word suggestions offered to her by fans, and Johnson put them to good use, evoking supernatural and dark vibes. We were all welcomed into her coven.

Then came a cover, featuring Blue Barnett of Best Bear. They gave the crowd a beautiful rendition of “Dreams” by The Cranberries. The two best friends delivered wildly good vocal harmonies on the classic 90s hit.

Johnson moved on to “Straight to Hell,” which she said will be her next single to release. She taught the audience a singalong section of the track’s chorus, and during the song, the audience participation aspect didn’t quite hit as hard as she surely would have liked. However, the song’s lyrics are relatable to many people: being with someone who just isn’t right for you but still pursuing that relationship. “Straight to Hell” made me think of Taylor Swift a bit, as the pop superstar often waxes poetic about her love life, and the song’s structure felt comforting like a good T-Swift song.

She closed out with “Sunburn,” her contest-winning song. While the song was written in summer, it was about the end of summer. More appropriately, it was about losing summer. “Sunburn” is a breakup song. Johnson performed the song live for the first time Thursday, and given its 24-hour turnaround, she showed true artistry in the composition and performance.

Best Bear finished the show.

The four-piece indie rockers started their set with “Apathy.” The song starts slow, with only Barnett on guitar and vocals. It builds up and includes some tasteful lead guitar work from Gwen McFadden.

Drummer Charles D’Ardenne and McFadden joined Barnett vocally on a few tracks, providing backup singing to make the band sound even more rounded out.

Best Bear’s contest-winning track was “Fireworks,” and it was recorded solo by Barnett. But Thursday, the band played a fully expanded version. The song reminded me of another band; maybe it was Soccer Mommy’s “Circle the Drain?” Either way, it was a great song that had a catchy riff and had the crowd’s heads bobbing along with the brainworm-y vocal lines.

Johnson then joined the band for a song Best Bear dropped that very day, “The Fall.” The song is reminiscent of unavoidable 90s alt-rock that many of us millennials grew up with.

Best Bear then came in with the track “Eleventh Grade.” Barnett’s lyrics tell the story about their coming out and serve as an anthem for anyone in the LGBTQIA+ community. The band seemed to put their hearts in this particular song, given its message of “do whatever’s going to make you happy.” And McFadden again delivered lead guitar work that shined, but not so bright to outdo the rest of the band.

They went on to play “When,” the title track from their 2022 album. I hadn’t looked around the venue in a bit, and I was disappointed to see many people left by this point. I get it was a school night and a free show, but Best Bear was killing it on stage.

I couldn’t tell you what the closing song was, but it was more rock than indie. The band kicked it into overdrive to bring an end to the night that celebrated local artists so well. It was fast and had a driving force thanks to bassists Storm Paul and D’Ardenne holding down the rhythm section.

Yuneer Gainz

Instagram, Facebook, Spotify, Soundcloud, YouTube, Apple Music, YouTube Music

Mackenzie Johnson

Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music

Best Bear

Website, Instagram, Facebook, Spotify, Soundcloud, Bandcamp

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.

Since opening its doors in 2004, Philadelphia’s World Cafe Live has become a staple in Philadelphia’s music scene 2004. The intimate venue is known for its incredible acoustics and diverse lineup of shows with an emphasis on supporting the city’s local artists and musicians.

Tori Powers is the Director of Communications at World Cafe Live and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of communication for the organization, including press relations, marketing, and social media. In her role, she works to ensure that World Cafe Live remains at the forefront of the music world. Our staff at ThatMag had the chance to sit down with Mrs. Powers at the venue to learn more about the Cafe’s history, its impact on Philadelphia’s local music community, and what the future holds for this acclaimed venue.

The initial vision for World Cafe Live, according to Powers, can be credited back to the venue’s founder and president, Hal Real, who first opened the venue back in the early 2000s after years of careful planning and development.

“The space was opened to sort of a combined multi-use building between WXPN the radio station and World Cafe Live. But we share the building and we do a lot of stuff together,” Powers explained. 

The ultimate goal of World Cafe Live, according to Powers, was to curate a space that was open to everyone and able to showcase different kinds of music that may not have been coming to Philly at the time. 

Tori stated, “The vision back then was sort of just to create a space that was like a space for the community really where we could have concerts, events, food, and drink and sort of having like an elevated concert experience that you might not get at other venues.”

This approach, along with their commitment to being an independent venue, was part of what helped contribute to their success in the Philadelphia Music Community.

“We’re an independent venue. and this just allows us to do things a little bit differently than some venues that might be corporately owned. We can curate our programming and try stuff out. We have artists at all stages of their careers, so there’s no limit to what we can do here. And another big piece kind of sets us apart from many of the other venues and has contributed to our staying power here is that we’re also a nonprofit.”

Before the pandemic, World Cafe live finalized a merger with their nonprofit partner in residence titled “Live Connections,” which opened more doors for the venue to contribute back to the community through music education programs.

“At that time, our education series was born outta the recession and when a lot of funding for music action was cut from schools.” Powers said, “So the idea there was to supplement the music and arts education that was lacking in Philly public schools and give kids opportunities that they might not be getting in school for creativity and self-expression and learning about music and arts. We’re able to bring them into a professional venue setting, get them out of the schools, bring them here and give them new experiences and let them come and experience a concert venue that they may never have been to before.”

Adding to this education series for this summer is World Cafe Live’s specially curated pilot series called the “Puerta Aierta Summer Music Series,” which is focused on Latin Music, Culture, and Arts.

“It’s a cool program that utilizes the full 360 of the venue. We have concerts at night for people with food and music and dancing, and then we also have the education component. So it’s nice to be able to offer both of those and reach other communities in Philly and showcase music that isn’t always as highlighted.”

In addition to Puerta Aierta, World Cafe Live is expected to have a stacked summer calendar filled with various shows.

Learn more about World Cafe Live’s Puerta Abierta Summer Music Series

Connect with World Cafe Live:

Website

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

photo credit: TJ McGlinchey | Brad Hinton

By: Rev. TJ McGlinchey, MFA, MAE

On Tuesday night, April 19, World Cafe Live in Philadelphia featured the next monthly installment of the host, Brad Hinton‘s Philly Sings Philly concert series on their smaller stage in The Lounge. You may recognize Hinton as the author of the WXPN Folk Show’s theme song, “Who’s Gonna Love Me When I’m Gone?”

The emcee for the evening was the host of the Folk Show, Ian Zolitor. That evening, on the bill, was me, Tin Bird Choir, Vilebred, Andrea Nardello, and John Faye. Unfortunately, Tin Bird Choir had to drop off the bill at the last minute, so Brad Hinton filled in as the opener. My band and I played the second slot; after which Andrea Nardello and her crew did their thing. John Faye and Joey DiTullio rocked a version of Lou Rawls’ “Expressway to Your Heart” mashed up with the 76ers and 6-ABC Action News themes.

photo credit: TJ McGlinchey | Vilebred

Vilebred closed the show with some fan-favorite covers including Ween’s “Push the Little Daisies.” By the end of the night, the room had reached peak volume and sing-along-ness and good vibes were shared by all. See below for setlists and photos videos. All proceeds from the show were donated to Musicians On Call. Additional photos and videos here.

photo credit: TJ McGlinchey | McGlinchey, Samuels, and Schwarz

Last Wednesday night, Radical Face (aka Ben Cooper) took the stage at World Cafe Live. Opening for them was a Scottish singer-songwriter, Axel Flóvent. Overall, the downstairs venue at World Cafe Live is always a great one because the set up is more than ideal. It allows those who want to be front and center with the artists to do so, while still allowing others a bit more space between them and can enjoy the music from the bar. As the night went on, more and more people flooded the ground floor to get as close as possible to the music.

Axel Flóvent really wowed the audience with his storytelling and incredibly smooth vocals and guitar playing. His music has a way with the audience because of how his stories were able to connect with us. He gave us insight into certain songs that allowed us to create that personal connection with him.

Flóvent shares his witty comments pertaining to everything going on with COVID-19 and says that his tour is getting cut short, but that he is still happy and fortunate to be able to play for us tonight. One song that stuck in my head was a song about himself at the age of 17 when he was filled with tons of anxiety.

The song, “Sea Creatures,” is about over-thinking and over-analyzing every situation as most 17-year-olds do, which made it a relatable one for most in the audience. He was exceptionally humble about his success, even when everyone was screaming for him to keep playing!

Right then and there, I followed his music page because he was someone I wanted to remember! His songs connected to me personally, which made this experience so much more than I could have asked for.

Naturally, as the night went on, more people moved to the front of the stage for the main act. Radical Face can best be described as a storytelling folk and singer/songwriter sound with an incredible talent for keepinghis audience entertained.

Now it didn’t hit me just how lucky I was to be standing in this space listening to live music with all of the news surrounding the Coronavirus. One by one, I hear that my friends’ shows and other bands’ shows are getting canceled, rescheduled, and the same can be said for the big-name acts. They are no stranger to the devastating news of having to cut their tour short but made the best of a bad situation. Anytime the dreaded COVID-19 topic came up, they were always able to lighten the mood and just appreciate that they could be playing a show at this very moment.

His humor and lightheartedness was a complete contrast to the music that I heard. His music tackles some serious issues, with a very surreal storyline to expose these situations. There were stories about a set of twins in which one of them has to watch the other die, to a story about a little girl who can bring people back from the dead, and even a child who can see his dead relatives in his house.

I was completely taken aback by it because it’s not every day that you hear songs with these stories in mind. The one that got to me the most was the story of the two twins. The line in this particular song sent shivers throughout my entire body and stopped me in my steps. He says, “I’ll wear this face for the both of us…” and everything about the story became so real and raw, but its those intense emotions that draw me to music and artists like him. While I imagine he has not personally gone through these ordeals, it takes a very empathetic person to put themselves in these foreign shoes to tell these stories and get people like me to feel the way I did.

Something very subtle that I noticed is that even though he is singing these very sad and emotional songs, he is smiling through the lyrics. Though I found it a bit odd at first, my confused face changed to that of a smile. It was the realization of just how happy being on that stage sharing his music makes him. He undeniably showed his happiness and excitement for what he does, and it became the biggest lesson I took from that night. Even when situations aren’t ideal, make the best of a not so great situation and smile through it.

Radical Face shows an incredible skill for storytelling and songwriting that shined throughout the entire night, and the way that all of the musicians were able to bring different elements to the stage to help bring the stories to life was another great thing to see. The bass/cello player and drummer never seemed to be out of sync, and the non-verbal communication was spot on. The crowd was singing along to every song, and even throwing out suggestions to override the setlist. They even topped off the night with an encore!

This was an incredible night for music, and it really felt like a group of music lovers coming together and just enjoying what we had right in front of us. I hope they come back to Philly again because they are going to be playing bigger and better stages and I’ll be there to soak up every minute of it all over again.

By Hannah Zaic

As fans, judges, and musicians, anxiously await the start of the show in the Hard Rock Cafe’s dimly lit dining room, the mood is excited, perhaps even optimistic. Patrons, expecting just dinner with a side of rock & roll relic, are pleasantly surprised by a bonus concert by some of Philly’s best country and folk artists.

Tonight’s leg of the city-wide battle of  PHL LIVE Center Stage will be judged by three of the most influential figures in the Philadelphia music scene: That Mag publisher, Brian Cronin; Executive Director of the Philadelphia Folksong Society, Justin Nordell; and WXTU Music Director and Radio Personality, Mark Razz.

Before shifting their full attention on the PHL LIVE country and folk finalists, the judges could be found socializing at the marble slab bar, catching up with fans, friends, and other individuals, sipping drinks, and trading war stories from the grueling music industry. The finalists performing this night were Man About a Horse, Ami Yares, Alex Mery & the Townsmen, Jessica Graae and Black Horse Motel.

You can log onto iRadioPhilly to see the highlights and to listen to the performances.

Our master of ceremonies is the illustrious Jennifer Logue of Rock On Philly. Logue is the first talent to take the stage before our finalists join her one-by-one for a discreet and organized mic check.  

It was a great night to be in Center City and regardless of the competitive nature of the event, everyone in the room was eager to show why our arts community is unlike any other in the world. Simply put, fans, judges, and musicians came for a friendly competition, but also stuck around to cheer each other on.

This display of mutual respect between artists, to and from the fans, is right in line with what PHL LIVE’s creator, Philadelphia Councilman-at-Large, David Oh, first imagined for the contest. During its second run, the multi-venue, genre-crossing event series is bigger and better than ever and shows no sign of slowing down.  

That Mag was lucky enough to sit down and talk with the councilman between acts. Otherwise, for most of the evening, he could be found at one of the tables near the stage, enjoying great music, as well as a few jokes told by our finalists and MC.

You wouldn’t think that a Republican Councilman would be inspired to create a music events series as successful as PHL LIVE. However, after attending a film festival, Councilman Oh was inspired and wondered if his music series should be structured similarly to the film festival.

Unlike most inaugural music festivals, adding a competitive spin would attract a fair amount of local, independent artists who are actually paid for their work. Since 2011, Councilman Oh has been bringing his notoriety (and cash) to local artists, while also serving as our city’s first Asian-American elected official! How cool is that?!

The culmination of 2017’s contest is going to be the PHL LIVE Awards Show held at the Trocadero, tonight, December 15th. For those of you looking to get involved next year, there are ten genres you could compete in for the grand prizes, which are as follows:

ANNOUNCING PHL LIVE CENTER STAGE

Coor’s Light Presents PHL LIVE Center Stage: 2017 Prizes

Grand Prizes for each of the 10 music category winners and the People’s Choice winner:

1. $1,000.00 for each of th 11 winners (total of $11,000.00 in prize money)
2. City Council Citation awarded to each of the 11 winners at the Awards Show in December at the Trocadero Theater
3. Resolution presented to the group of 11 winners in City Council

(You can find more information about PHL LIVE’s 2017 finalists, terms, conditions and prizes at www.phllive.org.)

Since the finalists are beating out so many other acts to play for a judge’s panel of industry heavyweights, the concerts held around the city at stellar venues like Milkboy #1 & #2, The World Cafe Live and The Hard Rock Cafe are guaranteed to be Philly local talent at its best. Better get out there and see them play before they aren’t so local anymore!

Here is to another epic year with PHL LIVE and to many, many more to come. Onwards, to the Trocadero!

Suzanne Santo

Ruby Red

Reviewed by: Brenda Hillegas

Here in the great city of Philadelphia, World Cafe Live and WXPN collaborate to bring us a weekly “Free at Noon” show. The free, hour-long live sets feature musicians who are usually in town for a headlining show. Last year, I caught Suzanne Santo along with Butch Walker and although I had loved Walker for many years, I left that show with an admiration (and a bit of a girl crush) on Santo.

On Santo’s debut solo album, Ruby Red, she collaborates with Walker on a track titled “Better Than That”. This song shows off what Suzanne Santo is made of – raw, honest vocals and a heavy dose of perfect Americana. It’s a shame “Better Than That” nearly closes out Ruby Red, as it’s a good enough lead track.

With that being said though, the first track, “Handshake”, draws in the listener with an eerie-pop intro and a raspy old record player sound. This anti-love song (or is it just an honest, actual love song?) proves what anyone who may have seen Santo perform before already has known. She’s the real deal.

Other stand out tracks include the soul-spilling “Best Out of Me”, the kick-ass “Love Fucked Up”, and “The Wrong Man” which is something that we can all relate to…right?!

After more than a decade-long career, Santo (who is also half of the duo Honeyhoney), gives us her all in a stand alone album. Her stellar songwriting across eleven songs creates unforgettable ballads, rock and roll, and incredibly pure, beautiful music overall.

Rating: Bad-Ass

photo credit Eric Tobin

by Lauren Rosier

Over a decade ago, a singer/songwriter from Utah, Dia Frampton, and her sister Meg, started a band, Meg & Dia. The band quickly became popular amongst the pop rock scene, garnering attention from major media outlets like Warped Tour and Alternative Press. That eventually dissolved, but left Frampton looking to continue pursuing a music career.

Meg & Dia and the inaugural season of The Voice

In 2011, Frampton auditioned for the inaugural season of NBC’s hit singing competition, The Voice, quickly becoming a fan favorite over the first season. With any reality television show, sometimes you may not realize what you’re getting into; however, Frampton’s past experiences in the music industry with Meg & Dia greatly helped her to continue on with her solo career following The Voice.

“I think through Meg & Dia I really learned about work ethic and how hard the industry is really,” She began. “I think it’s really easy to be naive with things and I think that we all are. I don’t think naive people are entitled or think it should be easy for them, but they think it will be easy. I learned about how to get a great management team, how to write songs, how to tour, how to set up my own tour, how to network with people, and I had already networked with so many great people, songwriters and producers, that I could just go with them after I had that platform and start working.”

The reality of television music competitions

Shows like The Voice and American Idol, she says, “are hard for people” because “they’re not really prepared to sustain that flame because they just don’t really know what to do. It took me ten years to build the connections that I had and understand everything from the inside out. I understood songwriting, publishing companies, and how record labels work, and how important touring was, and what to do on tour, and how to set up a great band.”

She already knew all these things that usually take some time to build up. “When The Voice was over, I could kind of go full steam ahead,” she explained. “I found with some people where it was their first time performing or something, that they were kind of struggling with what to do next. I feel like that’s a hard place to be in because you have all of this momentum and then that’s when all the weird managers come out the woodwork.”

For the first season of The Voice, she had no idea what she was getting into. “In hindsight, I think was really great because I couldn’t get stressed out or overwhelmed by something that I couldn’t really quite see,” She said. “If it would’ve been season two of The Voice, I highly doubt I would’ve ever auditioned, because I could see what it was. When I auditioned for The Voice, season one, no one knew what it was, and also a big part of it was that the four coaches weren’t cast yet. They just said there’ll be four coaches that’ll help you learn and teach you different things about songs, music, and performance. I think if they would’ve said Christina Aguilera, CeeLo Green, Blake Shelton, I would’ve had a quicker understanding how big the show was.”

photo credit Michael Kaminsky

For obvious reasons, being on The Voice, for Frampton opened a lot of doors with songwriters and producers, but “was difficult because it kind of took the joy out of music for me for a while. I don’t blame the show for that at all, that was my own instability. I don’t think I was meant for extreme competition in a TV show type of way,” She admitted. “I kind of feel bad about it now because I wish I would’ve been able to enjoy it and just have fun.”

Following the show, Frampton’s debut record, Red, was released in December 2011, but was later announced that she had been dropped from Universal Republic.

“Being dropped from Universal was really difficult. It was my third record label, I’d been used to working with labels and I knew how it went. It still didn’t mean it didn’t hurt just as bad,” She explained. “I felt really lost for a long time after that happened, which is why I think it took me such a long time to put out Bruises. It was definitely a long time of figuring out what the heck I’m doing and not having a lot of confidence in myself, growing older, and it’s such a weird thing feeling like hot stuff [on the show] and all of a sudden, feeling like yesterday’s outfit that nobody wants to wear anymore.”

Despite the disappointment of being from dropped from Universal, Frampton’s past experiences with [Meg & Dia] really helped. “I think that’s another thing Meg & Dia came in to help me because it wasn’t an ‘all is lost’ moment, it was definitely a very dark moment, but I still knew how to do things on my own,” She noted. “how to put music out on my own, how to write on my own, how to rely on myself and band members. I have that in my back pocket. The record label didn’t work out, but I still can do things on my own.”

On her latest record, Bruises, the upcoming tour, and the “Crave” music video

Nettwerk Music Group

Over the the five year lapse between Red and Bruises, Frampton had a lot of time to think about what her next record would be about. For Bruises, “I felt like I had more to say and that’s really important for me for when making new music,” She explained. “I don’t want to just keep writing because I have to stay relevant. I want to make sure I have something to say and that’s always what’s driving it.”

Frampton’s latest record, Bruises, has a lot of things of going into the darkness and coming out again, as most of us can relate to. “A friend said ‘you know you should have it be a journey and we could start with the lighter songs like ‘Out of Dark’ and ‘Hope’ and go into the darker songs like ‘Lights’, ‘Dead Man’, and kind of go from this journey from light to dark,” she explained. “It was a great idea, but for me, my life really hasn’t been this gradual dark place that I’m free again. I wanted to make tracks that were hopeful and happy and then they go down into a darker place and then back up, down, up, down. I wanted it to represent the ups and downs of how life is for me and for a lot of people, I’m sure.”

Bruises gave Frampton the ability to work with some really amazing people like producer Daniel Firth while Red was produced by fifteen different producers, but didn’t really have the cohesiveness that Bruises does. “I think maybe the incohesive part of [Red] represents the excitement of being in so many different places and headspaces and working with all these great people, and traveling.”

Her latest music video for music video for the song “Crave” started with a desire to work with film maker Andrew Ahn. “I honestly just connected with him through Twitter,” she admits. “He’s really great at telling stories. I wanted ‘Crave’ to be something special. Andrew’s really great at making things beautiful and natural. For us, we didn’t want it to be a ‘gay love story’, we wanted it to be a love story,” she explained. “I think that’s something really important about the art, it can normalize things that some people don’t understand.”

Frampton will be heading out to the east coast for a four-day with a stop in Philadelphia at World Cafe Live on Sunday.

“I just got the ticket counts back for my four-day tour that’s happening in a couple weeks and it made me so happy. The rooms are smaller, 300-700 capacity, but the rooms are selling a lot better than I thought they would,” she said. “It made me really happy that I could go across the country and play for people and that they’re coming out to see me. They’re spending their money and their time on a Thursday night or Wednesday night to come out and spend an hour with me. That’s really incredible to me. Sometimes I take that for granted.”

For Day 2 and Day 3 of NonCOMM, I was only able to attend the Free at Noon shows. I sent our writer Matt to attend Day 3 though, and you can check out his recap next.

If you aren’t familiar with Free at Noon, it’s a wonderful music program from WXPN and recorded at World Cafe Live in front of an audience. The shows take place almost every Friday. During NonCOMM, there is always a special Thursday set as well. For most Free at Noon shows, a band that is in town for a full gig will come by World Cafe Live and do a short, one-hour set. These are, of course, free and open to the general public, but you must sign up in advance to attend.

For NonCOMM 2017, the Free at Noon shows included Nancy & Beth and the Pixies on Thursday, and Ala.Ni and Paul Shaffer & The World’s Most Dangerous Band.

Nancy & Beth is Megan Mullally and Stephanie Hunt. Together, with their band, they perform a very entertaining variety show. From synchronized numbers, a bit of comedy, some seriously beautiful gospel, and tambourines, this is a wonderful duo to see live. Megan’s husband, Nick Offerman, even showed up to steal the show a bit. Nancy & Beth will be back to headline Philly Pride on June 18th.

The Pixies! Yeah, they broke up nearly 25 years ago, but giving it another go back in 2004 was a great decision. It was incredible to catch them live. Their set started with “All the Saints” from last September’s release, Head Carrier. You still have time to see them yourself, they’ll be at the Electric Factory TOMORROW (5/23) night!

On Friday, the London-based Ala.Ni won over the crowd. She’s beautiful and charming, in voice and as a person. Her jazzy, sweet music was the perfect way to ease everyone into Day 3 of NonCOMM. Her album, You & I, will be out on June 9th. Hopefully she’ll do a US (preferably east coast) tour soon because I wish she could have played longer. Please come back to Philly soon!

Lastly, Paul Shaffer and the World’s Most Dangerous Band took the stage. Their set was filled with fun and funk, a cover of “Hollywood Swinging” by Kool and the Gang, and guitarist/vocalist Felicia Collins (with Philly roots and family still in the area) lead the band with some Michael Jackson songs. I’d love to see a full show from this group! For 33 years, they were the house band for David Letterman. Now they’re back after a hiatus with the release of Paul Shaffer & The World’s Most Dangerous Band via Siren Records. Guest vocalists on the album include Jenny Lewis, Bill Murray, and Shaggy among others.

NonCOMM, produced by WXPN-FM, was founded by WXPN’s Music Director Dan Reed. The quick background of the event is that Dan Reed wanted to create a meeting of the minds to discuss the unique concerns of public radio stations. Since 2000, Dan and WXPN have been able to bring together non-comm radio stations, hosts, artists, and music industry professionals, in partnership with The Top 22, for three-days filled with music and networking. For attendees, it’s a chance to meet up with colleagues from across the US. It’s also a great place to see many well-known bands do short sets in a very intimate setting. I could spend all day listing some of the amazing artists I’ve seen over the years, but I won’t. So, instead, I’ll just focus on what I was able to capture during this year’s event.

Dan Reed and Bruce Warren kicked things off and celebrated the 25th Anniversary of NPR’s World Cafe by introducing the audience to the new host, Talia Schlanger. After a few words from each of them, guests filled up their drinks and got ready for the first set.

Performances at NonCOMM move quickly, with each act performing about 30 minutes. Guests rotate from the upstairs and downstairs stages. Day one of NonCOMM 2017 started with the National Reserve upstairs. They have the southern rock vibe everyone has been loving lately, yet they are from Brooklyn. They’ll be back in our area next month.

Georgia’s Brent Cobb was up next, and the first act for the downstairs stage this year. Cobb is from Georgia and you may know him because he penned tracks for Luke Bryan (“Tailgate Blues”), Kenny Chesney (“Don’t It”), Miranda Lambert (“Oh Shit”), and Little Big Town (“Pavement Ends”). He’ll be back in Pennsylvania later this summer, opening for Chris Stapleton at Hershey Stadium. You can also catch his television debut on June 9th, as he performs on Conan.

Philly’s own The Districts were up next. I missed them, as I started to run into people I haven’t seen in a while. Time for catching up! They’re a great local band, so look out for their upcoming appearances in our city. The band is in France tonight, followed by Berlin and Amsterdam! Most of the summer will see them touring the US, with a hometown stop on August 11th at Union Transfer.

Ani DiFranco was next for me, and I truly have no words. Many of my friends are huge Ani fans, so it was an absolute pleasure to catch her live finally. I stumbled upon her record label in Buffalo last summer (drove by, saw a sign for an arts and crafts fair in the lower level of the church where her Righteous Babe label is located, and immediately pulled over). She’s powerful, classic, and I am really looking forward to her upcoming 19th (!!!) studio album, Binary (out on June 9th).

I ran upstairs to catch a bit of Bash & Pop- a group formed in the early ’90s by Tommy Stinson following the breakup of the Replacements. I wish I could have seen more, but by then it was getting hard to move around upstairs and I desperately needed a snack. I did meet some of the band’s crew earlier in the evening and I appreciate (thanks Steve and Ian!) them letting me join in on their conversation. They’re in Florida tonight, and I hope to see them next time they play Philly so I can enjoy a proper show.

My evening ended with a performance by Blondie. Again, what can I even say? It’s Blondie! Their latest album, Pollinator, was just released and the band is just as great as they have always been. Debbie Harry came on stage with a strong message to us and the planet, along with a bee headband. If Debbie Harry can’t save us, who will? The band opened with “One Way or Another” and played fan favorites like “Call Me” and “Heart of Glass”. Off the new album, we heard “Fun” and a few others. Blondie will return on August 2nd with Garbage, at the Mann Center.

I can’t hang like I used to, and so I headed home before Bad Religion’s Greg Graffin took the stage upstairs. The final performance of the night was from Chicano Batman, a band I did really want to see (they’ll be back on July 29th for the XPoNential Music Festival). You can read our recent interview with them here. Ah the days where I would hang until 1am, sleep for a few hours, and head to work the next morning.

One of the really great things about NonCOMM is that a website called VuHaus streams everything live. Take a look at their NonCOMM 2017 clips, and upcoming shows that you can watch live from your couch. This is also the perfect way to catch next year’s sets if you can’t make it down to the World Cafe Live.

There are limited tickets available to the public and WXPN members, so if you love mingling with industry folks and enjoy seeing some of the best big acts (and fantastic up-and-coming ones as well), I highly suggest you keep an eye on the event page for next year. The best way to stay in the know about NonCOMM and other WXPN-produced events is to become a member, so click here and begin supporting your local radio station.

Check out my Free at Noon piece next, and then see what Matt covered for Day 3 of this year’s NonCOMM.

Empty tables and spaces were sparse as a crowd waited with anticipatory excitement at World Cafe Live on Thursday night. The Voice’s Luke Wade and Matt McAndrew filled up the room with fans of all ages and all walks of life in support of both artists.

At 8:00 PM, McAndrew took the stage to yells of excitement. He was joking that he just gotten rid of his old loop pedal and had gotten a new one, and that if he screwed up, he’d start over. Despite his reservations, the music sounded great, as he began the set with the first single, “Carried Away,” off his latest EP, Rush In Slowly.

McAndrew performed fan favorites from The Voice like Christina Perri’s “A Thousand Years” and Damien Rice’s “The Blower’s Daughter.” He also played a beautiful, new song  from his upcoming EP titled “Just a Boy” where he sang “…I’m just a boy to you/that never had a chance/it was over before it began…”

McAndrew was so funny talking in between songs about his loop pedal and various other things. He ended the hour-long set with the title track from his latest EP.

Luke Wade took to the stage around 9 PM with a four-piece band accompanying him and opened his set with a new song, “Say It Out Loud,” from his new record, Only Ghosts. The song had elements of  Americana and folk influences more so than the other tracks on the record.

One of my favorite songs on the record, “Kissing Makeup,” was heartfelt and beautifully sung. His voice sounded amazing and his songwriting has this way of evoking emotion.

His versatility is commendable. He had people dancing when he performed “Morning View,” an upbeat track about being truly happy and finding someone that you want to wake up to each morning. Wade slowed it down on “While I Was Away” where he sung about a relationship in turmoil. “While I Was Away” is a very honest and emotional song if you pay close attention to the lyrics, you can hear the emotional heartbreak that was endured.

Songs like “On Fire” and “Passenger Side,” showed his passionate side where he sang “I want that sneaking out the back door/just to come and pick you up/throwing pebbles at your window/come on baby let’s go/so let’s find an open road/so I can show you where it goes/we’re feeling young and wild and free/just like we’re meant to be…”

He came back with two-song encore. During “Till The Fighting Is Through”, Wade talked about the struggles he endured after the show; feeling lost and discouraged when he’d think there’d be tons of people coming, yet less than 20 fans would show up. It’s a song, he says, he uses as a reminder to himself to keep going.

He ended with a cover of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” a track he recorded with fellow Voice alum, Mia Z, with proceeds going to Susan B. Komen cancer research.

The one thing about Wade and McAndrew is that they’re always acting grateful, humble, and so kind to the people that support them. For both of them, their rise in the music industry was different, but the buzz surrounding them continues to grow due to the quality songwriting, production, and voices that they showcase.