June 15th, 2012
Go See It This Weekend: Ramona Falls, Tom Paxton, Bootsy Collins, Birdie Busch, Get Behind Me Satan, Yellow Submarine, Philly Punx Block Party, Verse, And Destroyer
Friday, June 15
Tom Paxton
When Dylan plugged in at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, most of the folk world followed, but not Tom Paxton. Paxton has continued to make eccentric, politically-charged but acoustic folk music for the last five decades, earning the respect of his peers (Sandy Denny and Joni Mitchell have covered his songs) and multiple Grammys, including a 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award. But even as one of folk’s grand old men, Paxton retains a sharp partisan edge. His set list spans old favorites like “The Last Thing on My Mind” and “Ramblin’ Boy,” vintage lefty ditties like “What Did You Learn in School Today” and up-to-the-minute skewerings of current political figures. -Jennifer Kelly
8pm. $29.50-$45. Sellersville Theater, 24 West Temple Ave., Sellersville. st94.com
Get Behind Me Satan
Since 1996, Brat Productions’ mission has been to expand the boundaries of theater and to create shows for young, adventurous audiences. This season, the company introduced Jess Conda’s acclaimed Rock & Awe “guerilla cabaret series,” which concludes this week with its fourth and final installment, Get Behing Me Satan. Directed by the inventive Lee Ann Etzold, Satan is inspired by the White Stripes album of the same name. Performing the album in its entirety, the show is structured as a church service led by a traveling Evangelical family with Conda playing the religious clan’s “Mother Mother.” Letting the music create the story, the songs emerge as parables of sorts, with the album functioning as a catalyst for the show’s theatricality that includes obliterating the fourth wall and bringing the audience into the frenzied performance as participants rather than passive observers. J. -Cooper Robb
10:30pm. $12. Underground Arts, 12th and Callowhill sts. 267.586.9093. bratproductions.org
Yellow Submarine
For reasons that defy logic and taste, the Beatles were not terribly pleased with Help!, their second theatrical motion picture. Throw in the more or less deserved hostility that greeted their Magical Mystery Tour TV special, and the quartet were understandably leery of completing their three-film contract with United Artists. Hence, their painfully limited involvement with Yellow Submarine, an animation spectacular that recycles some song favorites—plus drops a couple unreleased tracks, including the George gems “Only a Northern Song” and “It’s All Too Much”—while voice actors rock passable Fab Four imitations. Alas, United Artists deemed this insufficient, thus necessitating the disastrous Let It Be documentary. Bad for the Beatles, good for humanity: Though Submarine, newly restored (again), is more fun before returning to hippie Pepperland—and debatably peaks early with the grim, photo-realist “Eleanor Rigby” segment—director George Dunning and crew create psychedelia whose playfulness doesn’t require drugs. Partly because it is drugs. -Matt Prigge
7pm. $5-$9. International House, 3701 Chestnut St. 215.895.6535. ihousephilly.org
Saturday, June 16
Philly Punx Block Party
While the annual Philly Punx Picnic is well over a week away, it’s never too early to start running on party mode. The Punx Block Party offers food, music and a DIY flea market with hoards of vendors selling records, crafts, new and used clothes and punk accessories. Grab something to eat and wander around the block or stick around for live music from bands with names that would make your parents cringe: Rubbish, the Shakes, Artificial Limbs, Dead People Screaming and more. Grindcore House, Creep Records, Crash Bang Boom and other rad institutions will be giving away prizes to support the 2012 Punx Picnic fundraising raffle. -Ashley Kole
Noon-8:30pm. Free. 1500 block of S. Taney Street. phillypunxpicnic.blogspot.com
Verse
Some breakups just aren’t meant to last. In February 2009, Providence, R.I. hardcore outfit Verse went kaput after a six-year run. But by last December, the foursome were together again, citing burnout and problems on the home front as the cause of their short-lived death. Although Verse hasn’t added any original flourishes to the hardcore scene, it’s good to have the band’s not-too-raw, gruel-and-grits style back inciting mosh pits and sweat-soaked dog piles. Next month, Verse releases Bitter Clarity, Uncommon Grace, which vocalist Sean Murphy says focuses on life lessons and problems his friends and family have experienced. The self-flagellating staccato riff and avalanche of a chorus on “The Selfless of the Earth” show serious promise, but we’ll wait and see if the potential of their fourth record materializes. -Reyan Ali
3pm. $12. The Barbary, 951 Frankford Ave. r5productions.com
Sunday, June 17
Destroyer
Vancouver’s Dan Bejar is going on two decades of writing ramshackle, whimsical indie rock under the nom de guerre Destroyer. Over the span of nine albums, plus a few EPs, the sometimes-collaborator of the New Pornographers has written slightly odd, often atonal, tunes that are uplifting and full of vim and vigor. With his inimitable voice—an earnest, gravelly, quasi-falsetto—omnipresent, Bejar has morphed from the noise-rock/folk-troubadour of his early days to shoegaze-inspired Happy Mondays dance beats to the new-age and easy-listening influences found on his most recent album, 2011’s Kaput. Bejar’s verbose lyrics, full of vignettes and non sequitors, tie together his guitar- and key-driven melodies and dynamic vocal stylings. -Katherine Silkaitis
8:30pm. $16-$18. With Sandro Perri. Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St. utphilly.com
PLUS R5 has a lot going on this weekend: they’ve got Ramona Falls at Kung Fu and Tim Barry at Johnny Brenda’s tonight, tomorrow afternoon they’ve brought Birdie Busch to Morgan’s Pier, and both Jeff The Brotherhood and Keith Fullerton Whitman will be at the Church and Church Chapel, respectively, tomorrow night, AND The Troc’s packed it in again with Divided Ultimatum tonight, Drake City tomorrow afternoon and then a Date Auction Dance Party For Charity (PAWS) at night, plus a local metal showcase Sunday afternoon followed by the Modern Suits at night, AND The TLA’s got Marillion tonight and an Evening with Lisa Hannigan and Joe Henry tomorrow night, AND this is awesome, Bootsy Collins is at the Keswick with Black Landlord opening TONIGHT, AND Johnny Brenda’s is hosting a CD Release party for Goodnight Lights tomorrow night, AND Oh, Union Trasnfer’s got Langhorne Slim tonight.
