April 29th, 2009

Spectah Deck

From the “Funny idea, wish it was better executed” file (courtesy of the Jackson Free Press):

Arlen Specter to join the Wu-Tang Clan

This afternoon Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania) announced he is joining the Wu-Tang Clan, a prominent, loosely organized group of hardcore rappers that first formed in the early ’90s.
At a press conference with all 9 original members, including the RZA, GZA (pronounced “Rizza” and “Jizza”) and Method Man, a visibly disoriented Specter read from a prepared statement:

“My life had got no better, same damn ‘Lo sweater. Times is rough and tough like leather,” said the senior senator of his 29-year membership with the GOP. “I figured out I went the wrong route. So I got with a sick tight clique and went all out.”

After Specter finished reading his statement, the members of the Wu took questions.

“We’re just happy to have Mr. Specter on board,” said Ghostface Killa, who because of the room’s low-lying cloud of smoke was barely visible. “When he contacted my office this morning, what else could I tell him but ‘Welcome Aboard!”

“It’s hard to argue with 29 years of Senate experience,” said the ghost of Ol’ Dirty Bastard. “In this economy, even a multi-platinum, grammy-nominated super group needs as much help as possible.”

The press conference ended abruptly after Inspectah Deck lambasted the press corps for its overreporting of Somali pirates, Obama’s new dog, and the Swine Flu “pandemic” in the middle of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

[Feel free to click on my quickly Photoshopped shot above for a better view of Spectah Deck, or Ol' Dirty Arlen, or Speckwon, or Ghostface Specter, or whatever Wu name you wanna give him...]

April 29th, 2009

Happy International Dance Day!

Today is International Dance Day, as designated by the International Dance Council and apparently celebrated since 1982. You have a lot of options to mark this very important holiday.

You could do some classic Philly Soul dancing:

An offshoot of that, of course, is the Rerun Dance:

If you’re currently incarcerated, you can always hop on the trend of re-creating Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”:

You could perfect your Hall & Oates dance moves, which look easy but are actually quite tricky to master (especially Daryl’s hands-in-the-air, cross-your-legs-and-spin move):

Or you could try some vintage breakdancing, but we recommend a tutorial and/or safety headgear:

April 29th, 2009

Dylan, Willie, And Mellencamp Vs. The Iron Pigs?

Following in the footsteps of Wilco, who are playing Delaware’s Frawley Stadium — home of the Wilmington Blue Rocks minor league baseball team — on July 10th, Bob Dylan is doing a summer tour of minor league ballparks that comes to Coca-Cola Park — home of the Phillies’ AAA affiliate the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs — on July 14th. (This will likely be the only time in my life that I ever write that Dylan is following in the footsteps of Wilco.)

Even better, Dylan is bringing along Willie Nelson for this jaunt. Oh, and John Mellencamp is tagging along, too. All tickets are priced at $67.50, and go on sale at 10 a.m. this coming Saturday, May 2nd.

Who knows, maybe Kyle Kendrick will be there (if he’s not traded first).

April 29th, 2009

Tonight In Shows

Last night at the soon-to-be-demolished Spectrum, Bruce Springsteen said that he and the E Street Band brought their tour to the venerable old building to “fulfill our mission to rock the Spectrum one more time.” They’ll do it again this evening, concluding a two-night stand — the Boss’s 32nd and final appearance at the Spectrum — that seems to have much of the city buzzing. Last night’s nearly three-hour set included expected hits like “Born to Run,” “Tenth Avenue Freeze-out,” and “Rosalita,” but also featured the sporadically played “Fire,” Johnny Rivers’ “Mountain of Love,” and a cover of Philly’s the Dovells’ “You can’t Sit Down,” plus material from Nebraska (hands down my favoriite Springsteen album) and his moody, show-stopping “The Ghost of Tom Joad.” Bruce and company will rock the sold-out Spectrum one last time tonight, with surprises certainly in store.

Meanwhile, Tommy Keene — with whom we did a “Fill in the Blanks” session yesterday — brings his smart, rousing power-pop to Johnny Brenda’s [9pm/$10]; Australia’s Youth Group concludes its April Wednesday night residency (read what frontman Toby Martin had to say about it here) at M Room [8pm/$8]; and, wow, the still-around Bloodhound Gang drops by the Note in West Chester [7pm/$30-35].

April 29th, 2009

THE FETALS with Paris Is Burning

April 29th, 2009

TOMMY KEENE with Grammar Debate

April 28th, 2009

Kurt Vile Gets Some D.C. Love

So what prominent independent label is Philly’s soon-to-be-mega Kurt Vile all-but-signed to? We know, and some of you probably do, too, but we’ve been threatened with death by piranha by folks at said label if we just come right out and tell you before all of the i’s are dotted and the t’s crossed and blah blah blah. However, we can point you to a Q&A Vile just did with the Washington Post, which says there’s a “major hint in his last answer” as to which label we’re (not) talking about. Here’s that last answer:

Do you have any trepidation about heading into that indie-hype-blog world?
No, man, I’m excited. I’m real genuinely into my music. I don’t think there’s any gimmicks to it. I feel pretty sincere about it. I’m excited, really excited. I always wanted it. Pavement was one of my favorite bands forever. They sort of did the same thing where they put out lots of singles and stuff first. But the hardest part is right before then when you have to deliver everything at a specific deadline. Getting it mastered, getting the art work — it’s all pretty much done, but you’re just kind of juggling everything. And then all of a sudden once there’s an official deadline … I’ve never really had that sort of thing. The record’s done, I just have to master it and deal with the art work. I just tend to stay up late a lot and stress over things. But I’m psyched. Definitely.

Figure it out? Good! The rest of the interview is pretty interesting, too.