July 31st, 2009

Soft Power, Gildon Works

July 31st, 2009

Foreign Born, The Veils, Faces on Film

July 30th, 2009

Interview: Polvo’s Ash Bowie

As Brian noted in his column this week, the pioneering and influential North Carolina indie-rock quartet Polvo is finally coming to Philly tonight (they’re headlining Johnny Brenda’s) a year after reuniting and just ahead of its forthcoming album, In Prism, due from Merge Records in September. A little while back, I spoke with Polvo singer-guitarist Ash Bowie about the band’s re-emergence after a 10-year break:

Did the decision to reunite Polvo come out of a sense of “unfinished business,” or did you just miss playing these songs with these guys? Or was it something else entirely?
Really, it was the appeal of playing the [2008] ATP festival in England that got us back together, and the fact that the timing seemed good for everyone. The opportunity just came to us unexpectedly. I don’t think there was ever a sense of unfinished business.

What were those first couple of [reunion] shows like? How many rehearsals did you do prior to those gigs?
Those shows were a lot of fun, and the audiences were great. We had some minor technical problems and didn’t play all the songs perfectly, but we enjoyed ourselves. I think we only had about six full-band rehearsals beforehand, but the three of us who live in North Carolina had been practicing regularly for a few months.

Do you have solid memories of those very first Polvo shows from all those years ago? How does the feeling then compare to playing now?
I remember the early shows being pretty hit or miss, but it was definitely a fun and creative time for the band and for our local scene in general. We were all around 21 and living in party houses, playing shows with our friends’ bands, making crazy flyers. I guess that was our band’s “formative” period, and it all seemed pretty exciting and important at the time. And so that’s how I remember it. The feeling of playing live is kind of the same. I usually start off pretty nervous, and then that wears off and then it’s a little like being in a bubble created by the stage sound.

July 30th, 2009

PHOTOS: Amanda Blank At Electric Factory

[Click twice on any photo below for full view.]

Weds., July 29. Electric Factory. All photos by Michael Alan Goldberg.

July 30th, 2009

Popped! Attorney Conor Corcoran Speaks To Us At Length About Their Lawsuit Against Live Nation

As we reported on Monday, Alexis Rosenzweig — president/CEO of Philadelphia concert promoter Popped! — has filed a civil complaint against concert promoter Live Nation, alleging breach of contract in the wake of Live Nation severing its partnership with Popped! back in February for what was to be a major 3rd annual Popped! Festival at FDR Park in June, slated to be headlined by the Beastie Boys, Animal Collective, Fleet Foxes, and others. The suit also alleges tortious interference on the part of Live Nation: Popped! claims that Live Nation convinced the Roots — who already had a deal in place to play the 2008 Popped! Festival at Drexel University — to back out of that show to play the inaugural Roots Picnic a couple of weeks earlier. Finally, the suit alleges two counts of civil conspiracy against Philadelphia-based Live Nation executives Geoff Gordon and Jim Sutcliffe for their roles in both the breach of contract and tortious interference claims. Popped! is seeking a total of $250,000 in damages.

Though we’ve been in touch with representatives of Live Nation, the company has thus far not provided to us any comment or reaction regarding the lawsuit. However, we spoke at length with Popped! attorney Conor Corcoran on Monday; our conversation follows:

From the sound of things, you’re not looking to settle [this suit], are you?
I’m going to the wall on this one because the industry in town is really full of vipers and they’re doing their damnedest to stomp out competition. And you know what? I’ve got a woman here who has been able to accomplish something — just from an industry perspective she was really successful and she was a woman. The way Alexis has been treated smacks of a particular prejudice. We’re not interested at this point in settling…this is a do-it-yourself city, and a City Hall jury is going to respond very well to a do-it-yourself entrepreneur — and that’s precisely what Alexis is — and we’re going to make sure as best we can that Live Nation doesn’t behave like this anymore.

In the suit you talk about [Live Nation’s] “domineering” business practices, but there’s no allegations of sexism in there.
That’s correct. As a good liberal, in my experience, it has proven to me that rather than shout allegations of sexism, you present the evidence and a certain patina will arise, and that’s precisely what’s going to arise here, particularly when we disclose e-mails, particularly when Alexis testifies about the tenor of their conversations, particularly when we bring in other witnesses from government offices who can talk about how Live Nation treated many of the issues here, how they addressed many of the women here.

So you’re prepared to go to those lengths in a court of law?
Oh sure. Absolutely. The lion in charge never has to roar, so when it comes to things like this, the evidence will speak for itself.

July 30th, 2009

PHOTOS: Yeah Yeah Yeahs At Electric Factory

[Click twice on any photo below for full view.]

Weds., July 29. Electric Factory. All photos by Michael Alan Goldberg.

July 30th, 2009

Tonight In Shows

Well, we gotta start off with the week’s worst:

Elton John + Billy Joel
7pm, $51.50-$177. Citizens Bank Park.
Pack the kids in the station wagon for a trip to the old folks’ home, where wrinkling has-beens relive past glories so far gone they’re invisible to the naked eye. Join Uncle Billy in polishing the fender of a Cadillac mortgaged with his talent long ago for a brief Harley ride on a prime piece of ass. There’s not enough Windex in the world to clean the dingy windows of his dilapidated glass house, dirtied by decades of smoldering cheese lacking even the spark to start a grease fire. Witness the withering queen hunting a horny black toad like Elmer Fudd in garish duck garb, a pantomime that grows sadder and more laughable each passing year. Ghosts are more substantive. (Chris Parker)

And then it gets a lot better:

Co-op Funstival
9pm, $10. Barbary.
Slightly off the Berks stop on the El, lies Mascher Space Co-op, a hub for the local arts community. Mascher gives artist’s a space to create work, whether it’s rehearsing for Fringe shows, teaching puppetry workshops, painting or busting a move. Tonight, the Co-op folks take over the Barbary to raise money to help the organization become a certified nonprofit. Mascher Space Funstival will showcase an eclectic mix of musical performances, including folk rockers TJ Kong and the Atomic Bomb, prog-jazzer Agent Moosehead and DJs Paulito and JHN RDN. Mascher artists-in-residence Pink Hair Affair and Dawn Ann Bryant, choreographer Daniele Strawmeyer and experimental-flamenco master Tomas Dura will bring some dance into the mix. “We want to expose more people to the work we do. This is just the beginning of a call for support, new artists-in-residence and for fun,” says Mascher member and Funstival organizer Christina Gesualdi. (Shahida Muhammad)

Also, much-loved Seattle indie-folkers Fleet Foxes return to town, headlining Electric Factory with Espers opening [8:30pm/$25-$27]; tortured alt-rapper Cage drops some heavy shit at First Unitarian Church, along with Yak Baliz and Bucks County’s LTC [8pm/$13]; jazz/fusion legend Herbie Hancock plays the Mann Center [8pm/$15-$75]; and reunited North Carolina noise/math-rock pioneers Polvo play Philly for the first time in forever, headlining Johnny Brenda’s along with Obits, which features former members of Drive Like Jehu/Hot Snakes and Edsel [9pm/$14].