June 22nd, 2012
Go See It This Weekend: Turning Violet Violet, Free Energy, Zombie Beach Party, Arc in Round, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Dan Bern and Common Rotation, And Ledisi
Friday, June 22
Turning Violet Violet
Turning Violet Violet has mastered the art of masking heavy lyrics with upbeat pop tunes. The band performs with a ferocious honesty not often seen in the indie scene. The song “Take Away” exemplifies touching, heartfelt lyrics covered by lighter tunes, where lead singer Sarah Gulish croons about the passing of her grandmother. This six-piece lighten things up with melodic guitars and swelling vocals and we wouldn’t be surprised to find a sound bite from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory thrown in, a nod to the origin of the band’s namesake. -Gabrielle Chepurny
8pm. $10. With the Deer Tracks and Nouela. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave. 215.739.9684. johnnybrendas.com
Saturday, June 23
Zombie Beach Party
With face-eaters in Miami and heart-and-brain-munchers in Maryland, it’s just a matter of time before the zombie apocalypse overtakes Philadelphia (and we’re not talking about the walking dead that is this season’s Phillies squad). So you might as well embrace the inevitable and head over to tonight’s Zombie Beach Party at the Troc and get zombified, because it’s much better to be the eater than the eaten. We think. Makeup artists will be on hand to transform the willing into flesh-chomping ghouls, and sets from surf-rockers the Sharkskins and the Slotcars will probably keep you dancing instead of looking for the human smorgasbord. Here’s a bonus joke to help you break the ice with the undead lass or lad of your dreams: What does a vegan zombie eat? Graaaaaaiins!! -Michael Alan Goldberg
8pm. $10-$15. Trocadero, 1003 Arch St. 215.922.6888. thetroc.com
40th Street Summer Series
Venture west this evening for eclectic musical shenanigans in one of West Philly’s picturesque open green spaces. Gypsy accordion meets funk meets Balkan brass in the kick-off event featuring Slavic Soul Party. This Brooklyn, N.Y.-based band is taking time out of their travels—which have spanned Europe, Africa and New York City’s competitive club scene—for a fusion jam session here in Philly. This is only the first of the summer’s monthly concerts that will bring a new cohesive community to 40th and Walnut, where Penn’s unbuttoned summer crowd will mingle with the further West Philly beat, to the tune of renowned musical acts. The early birds will also score free Rita’s Water Ice. So head over early, pack a picnic and rhythmically linger to gospel/reggae/dub/Balkan grooves. If you can’t imagine it, you should probably check it out. -Allyn Gaestel
6pm. Free. 40th and Walnut Streets. universitycity.org/40th-street-summer-series
Dan Bern and Common Rotation
When you’re basically living on the road, it takes a while to commit songs to record. But Dan Bern takes this maxim—like most things—to the extreme. A couple of the best tunes on his brand-new Drifter—“Party by Myself,” “The Golden Voice of Vin Scully”—have been kicking around his live setlists for more than a decade. But a new album doesn’t necessarily mean a predictable setlist for Bern anyway: His shows have always been freewheeling hootenanny affairs, enjoyably whipsawing from ancient unreleased gem to just-wrote-it-last-night tune with the switch of a harmonica. And speaking of unpredictable: Not only did he just drop Drifter five minutes ago, but he’s releasing Doubleheader—an album of all sports-related songs—next freaking month. This show might be a preview of these two stellar new discs, but you should probably bank more on just being surprised. And entertained. -Jeffrey Barg
7:30pm. $22. Tin Angel, 20 S. Second St. 215.928.0770. tinangel.com
Sunday, June 24
Ledisi
Remember those good ol’ days when R&B music was performed by grown-ass women? You know, those mature, adult, seen-it-all sistas who didn’t so much sing songs as belt out melodic life lessons. Back in the day, it seemed like R&B music was full of them: Aretha, Gladys, Patti, Anita. Sure, you can lump full-fledged pop divas Beyoncé and Mary J. Blige in with these legendary ladies. (We’ll just leave that excessively gyrating Rihanna outta this, thank you very much.) But, if you want an old-school R&B songstress who talks directly to the grown and sexy, you can’t go wrong with Ledisi. With a name that literally means “to bring forth” in the West African language of Yoruba, the New Orleans-bred, multiple Grammy-nominated Ledisi is a soul performer who has been known to vocally come with it, whether onstage or on one of her albums, like last year’s Pieces of Me. Before she heads back to the Big Easy to perform at the Essence Music Festival in July, catch her in concert this week, where she’ll most likely be in full, grown-ass force. -Craig D. Lindsey
7:30pm. $53.50-$63.50. With Eric Benet. Keswick Theatre, 291 N. Keswick Ave., Glenside. 215.572.7650. keswicktheatre.com
PLUS R5’s got a free Morgan’s Pier show on Saturday (5pm) with Free Energy and Grandchildren, and tomorrow night they’ve got Plow United at the Church, and Sunday night they’ve got The Copyrights and Dear Landlord at the Barbary, AND Union Transfer’s got Built to Spill on Saturday night, AND The Troc’s got an acoustic Face to Face set tonight with Bonnie “Prince” Billy on Sunday night, AND Johnny Brenda’s will host that momentous Arc in Round Album Release Party on Saturday night and the fantastic Mynabirds on Sunday night, AND Kung Fu Necktie, as always, is packin’ it in with two events tonight and tomorrow night with Wigwams early tonight, then HEARTWELL later on, and tomorrow it’s Freezepop before Fundamentals of House DJ, and on Sunday night they’ve got Empires, AND The TLA’s got Rubblebucket tonight and Porter Robinson on Sunday night, AND Milkboy’s got Psalsmships with Turf War tonight and an Album Release Party for Rone with Don McCloskey on Saturday night.
