PHOTOS: Lucy Dacus Played Johnny Brenda's with McKinley Dixon on 12/29/19

Lucy Dacus at Johnny Brenda's by Rose Lamela

Part of Year-End Residency

All Photos by Rose Lamela

Rosi spent the end of 2019 in Philly as did Lucy Dacus. Dacus headlined three nights at Johnny Brenda's on 12/29-12/31, and Rosi stoped in last Sunday night. We covered Lucy Dacus's performance at White Eagle Hall back in the spring, and the opportunity to catch such an enthralling performer in such an intimate venue was too much for Rosi to pass up. Here are her photos from the evening.

McKinley Dixon

Lucy Dacus

Guest Post from Matthew Kessig: Weston Played Philadelphia's First Unitarian Church with Digger, The Fiendz, and Mike Erg, 12/4/15

Matthew Kessig

If You Aren’t A Teenager, You Are Tonight Yeah?

CoolDad Note: I saw Weston, Digger, The Fiendz, and Mikey Erg play Asbury Park's Wonder Bar on Thursday Night. Before I got around to putting down any thoughts on the show, Matthew Kessig (Corrina, Corrina / Little Rooney) put up his hand to do a review of the tour's stop in Philadelphia. Never one to turn down someone's offer to do my work for me, I jumped at the chance. Matt gives us a very different perspective than I would have, and that's always fun. Check out his review below. You can catch his band, Corrina, Corrina, along with Mikey Erg, as part of the Teenage Halloween record release show at Red Bank Rehearsal Studios on December 19th.

by Matthew Kessig

It’s a weird thing being able to say I saw Weston play live, mostly because of the fact that their first full-length, A Real-Life Story of Teenage Rebellion, is just as old as I am. This was extremely apparent at First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia on Friday, where Weston played a reunion show along with Mikey Erg, The Fiendz, and Digger. Apart from a few children whose fathers couldn’t resist giving them an authentic 90s punk experience, my friends and I were the youngest people at that show by about 5 years; so, naturally, I felt slightly out of place. I was a pair of converse with tight blue jeans in a sea of cargo-shorts and old beat-up running shoes. But I wasn’t going to complain. I was seeing Weston and Mikey Erg at The Church, two of my favorites at my (now) favorite venue; and if that meant feeling a little out of place for the night, then that was okay with me.

Mikey Erg, punk’s hardest working musician, started off the show. There were about 50 people in the room when he started his set; but that didn’t stop him from going absolutely bonkers up on that stage with that big, red Stratocaster and loud as hell AC-30. The great thing about a Mikey Erg set is that you never know what you’re gonna get song-wise. The guy’s written so many goddamn songs that the set-list possibilities are endless. His set was riddled with familiar songs from The Ergs! and some of his solo material. He played crowd favorites like “A Very Pretty Song For A Very Special Lady” and “Pray For Rain,” only taking breaks to fix his glasses in between songs. For just being a guy with a guitar, his energy was almost unmatched until Weston played. I’ve always said that if Mikey Erg opened up every show I went to for the rest of my life, I would be completely fine with it; and last night was proof of that. He rocked the room with his power-pop; and, whether you were an old fan or just hearing him for the first time, you were blown away. I’m lucky enough to be playing a show with him in my hometown of Red Bank this December.

The next act to take the stage was The Fiendz. I’m gonna be honest. I had no clue what to expect from these guys. I had never heard of them, and they all looked to be in their mid-forties, wearing clothes that one would typically wear to mow their lawn. There was a weird familiarity I felt when they walked on stage, but I couldn’t tell what it was. “Hi, we’re The Fiendz from New Jersey.” Ah, there it is.

They stood up there, gave each other the “You good?” glance, and the drummer counted on his sticks. If I told you that I underestimated these guys, I would be selling you the understatement of the year. They were fantastically fun. The first song started off with a Bouncing Souls-esque drumbeat, extremely thick rhythm guitar, and catchy-as-hell bassline. My buddies and I exchanged surprised glances, and prepared for what was going to be the high energy set none of us were ready for. It was crazy how each song sounded extremely similar, but had its own unique qualities. If I were to sum up their sound, I would sound drunk, because I’d say that they had the power chord driven structure of The Misfits with the structural integrity of a prog-rock band like King Crimson. These guys would be rocking out to a four chord Ramones sound-a-like one second, and then be ripping intricate bridge sections that only veteran musicians would be able to pull off. And the vocal melodies, THE VOCAL MELODIES, my God. Any band could only wish to have vocals as tight these guys had. Overall, nobody was expecting how good this band was gonna be; and, for about a half hour, we were all treated to the incredibly fun and extremely talented Fiendz.

At this point in the show, the venue was packed, which was nice considering that just 45 minutes before the show started it was empty. The room filled more and more as each act played their set; and by the time Pennsylvania's Pop-Punk sweethearts Digger went on, the crowd had reached its peak.

I asked my friend, “What do they sound like?” and he responded “Weston,” which would prove to be true as soon as the band started their set. It seemed that just as many people there loved Digger as Weston, which I think could have been due to the fact that most of the people there had grown up seeing both bands together. Also, singer/guitarist Chris Benner of Digger was once in Weston.

One word to describe Digger? Fun. They were just a really, really fun band. They had fun. The crowd had fun. Everything was fun. There were a lot of parallels between Weston and Digger that were just beautiful 90s clichés. Whether it was songs about articles of clothing, girls, or just being a kid in the 90s, Digger proved that you’re never too old (or too young) for nostalgia as long as you have others to share the moment with.

This was the point in the night where I started to dismiss my earlier discomfort. I realized that most of the people here were my age when they fell head-over-heels in love with these bands; so why should I feel weird about that? I’m just the second generation Digger/Weston fan; and that felt pretty awesome, because in a weird way I knew a lot of the older fans in the crowd felt proud to see younger kids sing the songs from their teen years, kind of like a father who walks in on his child listening to a record that he once loved. There were a lot of moments in the night where I’d turn to the person next to me and we’d scream the lyrics at each other with the biggest, goofiest smiles on our faces. It didn’t matter that they were twice my age. It just mattered that we were having the time of our lives, and nobody could take that from us.

Weston took the stage; and, my Lord, those outfits were out of this world. There was a beautiful combination of Buzzcocks teeshirts, white “Elvis” jackets, Hawaiian shirts, and sweater vests. There’s nothing in this world that I look forward to more than seeing the outfit James Alex Snyder is going to wear. I will give any person $100 if they can find someone that can pull off red jeans, white vans, a Hawaiian shirt, and argyle sweater vest better than this man. Without getting too sentimental, he is the reason I fell in love with this band so quickly. I had the absolute pleasure of meeting James Alex and the rest of his current band, Beach Slang, on October 3rd of this year, when he allowed a few of my friends and me to take the stage to play at the last show at the Asbury Lanes. This was quite possibly the highlight of my entire life. So being able to see him and Beach Slang drummer JP Flexner take the stage together again really made the nostalgia factor that much higher for me.

From the second the blaring guitar lead of “Retarded” filled the room, Philadelphia's hearts belonged to Weston.  The crowd turned into a tsunami that rushed full-force at the stage. I was standing at the back before the band started; and, as soon as they strummed the first string, I found myself at the front of the stage with no recollection of how I got there and no intentions of caring. From this point on, the night was filled with songs from Weston's entire discography, including deep cuts and fan favorites such as “Just Like You” and “Varsity Sweater.” While it was an extremely passionate and beautiful performance, the flaws and tribulations the band faced throughout the set were some of the highlights. Whether it was a crowd-surfer falling onto James’s pedals, completely cutting the signal, or JP and bassist Jesse Short struggling to play to the intro to “In April Sometime,” it was all so incredibly human. This is what made the set the powerhouse that it was. It was just so genuine, real, and beautifully flawed. In that moment, I fell in love with Weston’s imperfection.

As the set was reaching its end, the fans knew what was coming. “I got a new shirt, for school yesterday, and my mom said I looked real handsome in it.” I can guarantee you that you have never seen a group of fully-grown men sing so passionately about a striped short-sleeved shirt. And then, without a second of hesitation, the band went into everyone’s favorite: “Heather Lewis.” This was quite possibly my favorite moment of any show I have ever attended. I screamed. SCREAMED. As I type this the very next day, I still can’t find my voice; and I still feel the heartbreak that the young 1990s Weston once felt. There was hugging, presumably some crying from the die-hards, and smiles all around. When the song ended, the band walked off; and we were endlessly satisfied.

Some fans weren’t done, though; and yelled the typical “one more song,” which is kind of like the equivalent to screaming “Freebird” when a band asks what you want to hear. But Weston was not done yet. They walked out, asked if anyone knew the words to every band’s go-to cover, “Where Eagles Dare,” and recruited, maybe, the drunkest man in Philadelphia, which is pretty impressive in itself when you think about it. This man in his mid-thirties, rocking a Phillies baseball cap and a plain grey sweatshirt, went up there and sang his beautiful little heart out. For the fifth time in the night, the crowd was blindsided by unexpected amazingness. This guy had to be the most confident man on the planet with the, until now, unknown ability to be the perfect frontman. He did all the classic moves: put the mic to the crowd for the choruses, pace back and forth intensely. He just had an amazing time doing it. After this man had received his high fives and pats on the back, Weston ended the show with a self-proclaimed “deep cut,” and the show was over.

As the crowd slowly made their way towards the exits, I went over to the merch table to grab myself a shirt for my collection. Unfortunately, they didn’t have my size, which was initially disappointing; but it was okay because I saw Weston that night. Wouldn’t it be selfish of me to want anything more? I was so incredibly lucky to see a band that, after they broke up, nobody thought they would see again. Whether it was the beautiful mishaps throughout the set, the hilarious buddy-comedy romance that JP and Mikey had while switching on the drums in between songs, or just the unmatched passion and fun these old friends had while playing their songs, there will never be a show quite as genuine as Weston at the First Unitarian Church.

Titus Andronicus Kicked off Their Tour w/ Spider Bags and Baked at First Unitarian Church, 9/11/15

I took a few pics of Baked before I decided that this wasn't the best venue for photos.

#TMLT Across America

Following a five-night residency at Brooklyn's Shea Stadium for the release of The Most Lamentable Tragedy and an in-store performance at Vintage Vinyl in Fords, NJ, Titus Andronicus officially kicked off their 2015 fall tour in the basement of Philadelphia's First Unitarian Church on Friday, September 11th. Joining them for most of the U.S. leg of the tour are Merge labelmates Spider Bags and Shea Stadium paisanos Baked.

As we left my house, Gentleman Jim sent me back inside to change into shorts and suggested I bring a second shirt for the ride home. I, reluctantly, listened as far as exchanging my rock and roll jeans for my suburban dad cargo shorts; but I ignored his advice regarding a dry shirt. As soon as we walked into the dimly lit church basement, I knew I'd made a mistake.

I'd never seen a show at First Unitarian Church before, and I thought it would be some former house of worship converted to a rock venue. Instead, the building is a functioning Unitarian church with occasional shows in the basement. That basement looks exactly like you'd expect: small recessed light fixtures in the drop ceiling and wood paneling on the walls.

I'd seen Baked open for Titus Andronicus at Asbury Lanes last year. They play around with lots of sounds I love: some droning noise, guitars strummed with the tremolo bar, etc. I've been on kind of a Creation Records kick lately, and Baked play right into that with maybe an updated Brooklyn version of the sound. It became clear during their set that picture-taking would be futile for this show, so Gentleman Jim and I headed back to the car to stash my camera bag.

We stayed outside the building, breathing oxygen, for as long as we could but headed back inside when we heard the start of Spider Bags' set. I caught Spider Bags at The Saint a while back, and they pretty much blew me away. This time, I made the mistake of waiting too long to head inside. We got stuck way in the back of the room, and I felt a little detached from the whole thing as tall guys wearing backpacks continually had to walk or stand right where I was. From what I could see, the band looked as wild as ever; and I definitely perked up for songs like "Japanese Vacation" and "Eyes of Death."

I wasn't going to make the same mistake for Titus Andronicus; so, after filling my lungs up with air outside, I made my way back in just a few minutes before their set. A precariously perched set of monitors was right next to me as I stood safely outside the scrum at stage right.

Patrick Stickles took the stage with a few members of the band. He made his introductory speech, which I always appreciate, laying the ground rules for not letting your own good time infringe on anyone else's good time during the show. People mostly listen to that, but this audience would end up being a little drunker and more aggressive than the one I experienced at a packed-out Shea.

After a version of "Upon Viewing Oregon's Landscape with the Flood of Detritus" with just Stickles and keyboard player Elio DeLuca, the rest of the band climbed onstage for "The Magic Morning" section of The Most Lamentable Tragedy. From "Lookalike" to "Dimed Out," it appeared that most of the people up front knew the lyrics. Things, as expected, got particularly crazy during "Dimed Out;" and I kept one eye on the monitors rocking back and forth over my head. Later in the set, Stickles climbed the scaffolding for a moment that "rocked but wasn't safe," and I thought the whole thing was coming down.

Someone who obviously hadn't listened to Stickles's opening speech jumped up on the stage and tried to stage dive into the crowd at one point. Stickles restrained him and had security eject him. There were a few boos, and I wasn't sure if they were aimed at the offender or the band; but they quickly dissipated as the show progressed. I'll admit to having someone ejected myself who had managed to get so drunk at the BYO venue as to pose a danger to himself and a puke risk to those around him.

The rest of the show was a pretty rowdy but respectful affair, the crowd in front of the stage heaving forward and backwards at all the right times. There were a few more TMLT selections -- "Fatal Flaw," "C'mon Siobhán," "No Future Part V: In Endless Dreaming" -- as well as old favorites including "legendary hit song, A More Perfect Union." It got pretty steamy; and I was grateful to, for once, be unencumbered by my camera bag. I did ready my apology to Gentleman Jim for ever doubting his dry shirt advice.

Titus Andronicus usually throw a cover or two into their sets, and it's often a Bruce Springsteen song. On Friday, they did a version of "Born in the U.S.A." -- complete with iconic keyboard riff. The song's disaffected and bitter lyrics famously contrast with its anthemic and patriotic-sounding chorus; and, in my opinion, it was a good choice for the day. Things ended just before midnight with "Titus Andronicus" from The Airing of Grievances. The speakers never fell on me.

Heading up the stairs into the evening felt like emerging from underwater, and my lungs took in all the clean Philly air they could. My shirt stuck to me during the ride back home. I wondered what I'd do for a post without any pictures, but I figured I'd just have to write around a thousand words. Hopefully, I'll get a few pictures when I see Titus Andronicus at Warsaw in a few weeks. I remember the light there being pretty good.

The Replacements Played The Festival Pier at Penn's Landing w/ Superchunk, J Roddy Walston and The Business (Who we missed), 5/9/15 (PHOTOS)

Tommy Stinson and Paul Westerberg

Leave Them Wanting More

I'd seen The Replacements three times in my life: August 20th, 1989 at The Garden State Arts Center in support of Tom Petty; March 7th, 1991, headlining The Beacon Theatre; and June 22nd, 1991, at Madison Square Garden in support of Elvis Costello just a few weeks before they called it quits. CoolMom and I saw Paul Westerberg together at The Fastlane on August 7th, 1993 and in Seattle, probably at The Showbox, sometime in 1996. I never saw The Replacements' original lineup, and Paul Westerberg is one of my idols.

When Paul and Tommy Stinson announced in 2013 that The Replacements would get together to play some reunion shows, I saw the people who said it was just "half of The Replacements" or "Paul, Tommy, and some other guys." Give me a break. Bands alter their lineups all the time; and Westerberg himself has said of his old songs, "I look at them as my songs that I wrote, even though Tommy and Bob and Chris played with me." Put me anywhere where Paul Westerberg is playing Replacements' songs, and I'm a happy guy. Add in Tommy Stinson on bass, and I'm floored. Just like last night.

CoolMom and I had big plans for the day of the show. We were going to maybe head to Philly early and spend the night. Leave the kids with my mom. When it dawned on us, though, that the show was happening on the night before Mother's Day; we deicided that having the kids wake up without their mom around and having their grandmother wake up to take care of them until we got home wasn't in the spirit of the day. We left for the show, after a full day of activites, at around 5.

Outdoor shows are so early. Curfews and all. Even though our tickets said 7:30, by the time we got into the venue at around 7:35, we'd already missed J Roddy Walston's entire set. Bummer.

Superchunk

Superchunk came on at just about 8. Jason Narducy is still filling in for Laura Ballance, who suffers from a hearing condition called hyperacusis, on bass during the band's live performances. The tight time schedule and the fact that many were there to see The Replacements for the first time in over 20 years meant a very short set for Superchunk -- about 30 minutes. Mac McCaughan was his usual hyper-kinetic self, and the rest of the band gave it everything they had as well. Jon Wurster has to be one of the most animated drummers I've ever seen, smiling and mouthing the words all the way through the set. They managed to hit most of the highlights like "Driveway to Driveway," "Detroit Has a Skyline," "Learned to Surf," "Precision Auto," "Me & You & Jakie Mittoo," and "Slack Motherfucker." They were great. I could have used more.

Soon after 9pm, the lights went down; and Paul, Tommy, drummer Josh Freese, and guitarist Dave Minehan walked onstage to a huge ovation. They opened with "Takin' a Ride" from 1981's Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash, and the dudes around us launched into a singing / screaming frenzy that would last the whole show. The band also did "I'm In Trouble" from that early record later in the set; and Superchunk, during their own set, did acknowledge The Replacements for being ahead of them in proclaiming, "I Hate Music" way back on that record.

The Replacements

There were a few surprises during the set. Outtakes / bonus tracks like "Kissin' In Action" (All Shook Down outtake) and "Wake Up" (Don't Tell a Soul bonus track) made the setlist. The band did covers of Sham 69's "Borstal Breakout" and -- not really a surprise, but still fun -- Barbie Gaye's "My Boy Lollipop."

A couple of spontaneous moments had me smiling. At one point, a fan requested "Hold My Life" from the front row. Westerberg pointed them out and noted that they'd been requesting the song for several shows straight. "We don't know it, but we'll try it." Then, turning to Tommy, "...the one with the seven-and-a-half bar change." The version that came out was about as flawless as you'd ever expect from the band. Later, Westerberg gave the crowd a choice between "Seen Your Video" and "Androgynous."

"Both?? At the same time?? Sure. Why not?"

Stinson and Freese played "Seen Your Video," while Westerberg and Minehan played
"Androgynous." Weird, discordant, and funny. At the end of it, they launched into a proper version of "Seen Your Video;" but, sadly, the moment had passed for the full "Androgynous."

The rest of the set hit a bunch of favorites: "Favorite Thing," "Little Mascara," "Kiss Me on the Bus," "I Will Dare," "Can't Hardly Wait," "Bastards of Young," and more. Westerberg playing Hootenanny's (and Say Anything's) "Within Your Reach" while seated on the drum riser was a nice moment.

"Never Mind" closed the main set. Two encores consisted of "Left of the Dial" / "Alex Chilton" and "Unsatisfied," respectively. Everything was done by about 10:40.

It was a great night. Bob of GayGuy/StraightGuy joined us for the evening. CoolMom danced and sang in front of me, my hands on her waist or her shoulders. We ran into lots of friends. But, I'll be honest. When The Replacements were done, CoolMom and I looked at each other and said, "That's it??" The Replacements played 25 songs over the course of a set that spanned their entire career and that lasted over 100 minutes. We still wanted more out of them.

I guess that's our problem. It's our problem for loving a band so much that we would have sat there for hours listening to them. They did exactly what a band is supposed to do for a crowd. The Replacements lifted us up. They gave us part of themselves and delivered a fantastic show. They left us wanting more.

Can't wait for the next time.

Swervedriver played Philadelphia's Union Transfer w/ Gateway Drugs, 3/29/15

Sunday

Sunday was the last day of a busy weekend of shows. Gentleman Jim Norton and I were headed to Philly to see Swervedriver as they began their swing through our area. Also on the bill were LA's Gateway Drugs.

Some Sunday obligations meant that we got a bit of a late start to Philly, but we did manage to arrive in time to catch the second half of the set from Gateway Drugs. We caught enough of it for me to know that the band's combination of shoegaze and garage rock sits squarely in my wheelhouse -- one of its rooms anyway. The venue was crowded but not sold out, and I was able to position myself pretty close to front and center.

I'd been wanting to make it over to Union Transfer for a while. Many of the bands that come through NYC and play Terminal 5 end up playing Union Transfer in Philly. My hatred of T5 is pretty well-documented here, and I've been looking for an alternative. While I can imagine that a sold-out Union Transfer may not be the most comfortable place in the world, there's no way it can be as bad as T5. Pair that fact with a nice early arrival, and it seems like I may have found my spot.

Anyway.

Swervedriver came on at, I think, around 10pm and opened with "Autodidact," the opening track from this year's very solid comeback album, I Wasn't Born to Lose You. The 90-plus minute set ended up covering almost that whole record. The new songs fit in pretty seamlessly with 1990s classics like "Son of Mustang Ford" and "Girl on a Motorbike." Bassist Steve George was unable to join the band for this run of shows, but Mick Quinn of Supergrass expertly filled in.

This was another one of those shows where I had to take a few moments and let the sounds just wash over me. I felt the kick drum hammering my chest and lost myself in the noise a few times. I really love this stuff.

When it was done, Gentleman Jim went to help the band break down and load out (because he can't not work at a show) as I headed for the lobby. I ended up having a nice chat with supremely gracious Swervedriver frontman, Adam Franklin, about the band's upcoming shows in New York and our mutual preference for non-flash photography at shows.

In all, it was a fantastic end to a busy weekend. You have a final chance to catch Swervedriver and Gateway Drugs tonight as they play Brooklyn's St. Vitus. Both bands should shake that 350 or so capacity venue pretty hard.

Here are some photo highlights from Sunday (no flash). The rest are at Flickr.

#1 City I Have To Get To More Often Of 2014

Philadelphia's Beach Slang at Asbury Lanes in October

Philadelphia

You'll remember that Allyson Dwyer and I had a less than wonderful experience seeing the Slowdive reunion at NYC's Terminal 5. That left me trying to find alternative locations where I could see bands who were too big for a 500-capacity venue and too small for, say, Madison Square Garden. I posted a question on Facebook about Philly's Union Transfer, and the feedback was uniformly positive. I'll have to think about it the next time a band I want to see announces that they're playing Terminal 5. I'll scan the tour announcement for Philly.

I've lived in New Jersey since I was 5, and I've only been to Philadelphia maybe a half-dozen times. I know we went there on a 5th grade field trip -- the day Ronald Reagan was shot, as it turns out. I endured a few Phillies games at The Vet with my friend and his Phillie Phan dad. We've taken a few flights out of the Philadelphia airport, and I think we spent the day there with my father-in-law once. That's it. This is made even stranger by the fact that CoolMom graduated from the University of Pennsylvania; and, save for the times mentioned above (airport, dadinlaw), I don't think she's been back there.

Take my vow never to set foot in Terminal 5 again and pair it with the great music coming out of Philadelphia, and I think my relationship with the city is about to deepen.

Beach Slang

Maybe my favorite song of the year comes from this new band made up of Philadelphia punk vets. That off-kilter, pulsing guitar sound, the Smiths references, the -- as aptly pointed out by Scotch LaRock in his review -- Replacements meets Psychedelic Furs meets Jawbreaker sound of the band, and the go-for-broke live performance all combine to make "All Fuzzed Out" a song that I can listen to over and over while singing along, bouncing my head, and pumping my fist as I drive.



Cayetana

OK. Maybe this is my favorite song of the year. Philly's Cayetana won me over when I saw them open for Laura Stevenson, and their record Nervous Like Me definitely wins my "Most Listens Of 2014" competition. The record is strong throughout. I love album-closer "South Philly," but "Hot Dad Calendar" has this great video, so...



Radiator Hospital

The prolific Sam Cook-Parrott of Radiator Hospital put out another record of quirky, lo-fi pop gems in 2014. "Cut Your Bangs" exemplifies that whole punkier version of Elephant 6 thing he does so well.



Mumblr

I used the word "uncomfortable" to describe Mumblr's Full of Snakes quite a bit in my review of that record. "Sober" is one of those uncomfortable songs about being young and powerless against your own feelings of jealousy and insecurity. It's also got some sonic references to music that I love, like Modest Mouse.



Those, and that whole Terminal 5 thing, are just a few of the reasons why I've gotta get to Philly more. I mean, I know we'll see all of these bands in Asbury Park at some point; but it doesn't seem fair to make them keep coming to me. And I think it would be good to get out there and see them in their natural habitat.