October 28th, 2009

And So It Begins!

Our prediction — Phillies in 6. A hard-fought series. Lidge strikes out Mark Teixeira for the clinching Game 6 victory in the Bronx. Cliff Lee MVP. We win it for Harry.

Here’s some Phillies songs to get you in the mood (as if you’re not all going crazy already waiting for this thing to start):

October 27th, 2009

DJ Jazzy Jeff On The End Of The Spectrum

I’ll have a piece in tomorrow’s PW relating to the end of the Spectrum, with several Philadelphia musical luminaries weighing in with their memories of performing at the hallowed, soon-to-be-demolished building, as well as going there as a fan/spectator. One of them is DJ Jazzy Jeff, who played the Spectrum a few times with Will “Fresh Prince” Smith back in the day. Here’s an extra bit from Jeff that’s not in the article:

MMM: Just like when Vet Stadium and JFK came down, a lot of people are sad to see the Spectrum go because of all the memories, while other people say, “Ehh, big deal, it’s just a building…”

DJ Jazzy Jeff: Well, I mean, so’s Independence Hall. It means something. This is a part of Philly history. I don’t care what anybody says, people in New York are gonna be sad if they tear down Madison Square Garden. It’s kinda like, this is our Madison Square Garden. We have our memories. I remember being six years old going to see the circus there. It was for everything. I hate to say it but it has a little more of a meaning to it than Vet Stadium. It was smaller, it was more intimate. You went to Vet Stadium for the biggest concert in the world, or for a football game or a baseball game. You didn’t go for the circus, or the Globetrotters. You didn’t go for the Ice Capades. When you think about it, the Phillies did win the World Series at the Vet, but the Sixers won a championship at the Spectrum, the Flyers won the Stanley Cup there. It’s definitely been a part of my history that you’ll never forget and I wish it wasn’t going. But thanks for the memories, you know?

October 27th, 2009

PHOTOS: Andrew Bird At Electric Factory

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

Sun., October 25. Electric Factory. All photos by Michael Alan Goldberg.

October 23rd, 2009

INTERVIEW: Alec Ounsworth (Flashy Python, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah)

Philadelphia-born and dwelling singer/multi-instrumentalist Alec Ounsworth is probably best known for his time fronting Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (who are on “indefinite hiatus”). But Ounsworth’s also a solo artist with a brand-new album, Mo Beauty — which he recorded in New Orleans with a slew of esteemed local musicians and Los Lobos producer Steve Berlin at the helm, and deftly blends rock, jazz, blues, pop, and soul in a manner befitting the city in which it was created — and he leads local combo Flashy Python, which includes former members of the Teeth. Flashy Python plays the TLA tomorrow night, opening for Dr. Dog; we caught up with the genial Ounsworth this afternoon for a chat:

What are you most looking forward to about tomorrow night’s show?
I’m most looking forward to pulling the rug out from beneath Dr. Dog. Those guys, their heads are getting’ way too big, they’ve gotta get cut down.

And you’re just the man to do it, right?
That’s right [laughs]. I’m just the guy to take on the Dog!

Nice!
You know, it’s such a great opportunity because we’re all…three of the guys in this band are from the Teeth, and we all know and are friendly with Dr. Dog, so it’s gonna be a fun occasion, really. We’ll try not to get too competitive.

As far as the set list goes, is pretty much everything from all the material you’ve ever written over the years fair game?
Yeah, for the most part. I mean, we’re still coming around to learning the Clap Your Hands material. We’ve been focusing on the New Orleans record and the Flashy Python record for right now, but I’m gonna throw in some old Clap Your Hands songs down the line, which should be pretty interesting with this lineup.

Are you looking forward to seeing how that comes together?
Oh yeah [laughs], I think it’s really gonna be something.

How do you feel all those songs from different parts of your career all mesh together in the live setting? Are the gear shifts really obvious, or is it pretty seamless?
Uhh, I mean, I think they’re distinctively different records, the way that I approach records, the general sonic and arrangement ideas. With Clap Your Hands it was obviously, I was leaning on synthesizers to start, that’s the way I heard that material in my head and that’s how I wanted that. For Flashy Python it’s a little more guitar-oriented. And for New Orleans, I honestly didn’t really know what I was getting into [laughs]. But yeah, I was talking to a couple other people about this and I think to a certain degree I’m starting to…the lines are getting a little blurry and I’m starting to lose the desire to distinguish between things. Playing with these guys and trying to bring my stuff live, I’ve realized that we can go through a set — and we’ve practiced the full set several times– and that plugging in any of the songs from any particular project, it all kind of comes together. It’s all more similar than I realized.

October 23rd, 2009

INTERVIEW: Hall & Oates’ John Oates On Playing The Spectrum Tonight

Earlier this morning we spoke for a few minutes with the one and only John Oates, who’ll join his good pal Daryl tonight for Hall & Oates‘ big sold-out show at the Spectrum with the Hooters, Todd Rundgren, and the Soul Survivors:

So, tonight’s show — are you nervous? Excited?
I think I’m way past the jitters. Excited is definitely a better word. It’s gonna be a great show – the Hooters and Todd, we all go way back, you know, and it’s gonna be fun. We’re gonna do a big group encore and we’re looking forward to that, we’ll do a bunch of classic Philly songs. You know, it’s a building with a lot of history, it made a huge imprint on Philadelphia on so many levels, not only entertainment but sports, of course. It’s a historical building and hey, I guess its time has come. That’s how the world goes. I’m not that nostalgic in terms of that, but it’s gonna be a lot of fun to go out with a bang.

Do you remember what it was like the first time you’d gone to the Spectrum as a fan? You’d probably already been to bigger places to see shows, I guess.
Actually, no. That’s an interesting question because no, I had not. I had never been to Madison Square Garden or anything, that was really the first large venue I ever went to. When it comes to an arena-style venue, that was definitely the first for me. It’s kind of intimidating in terms of the size but it’s funny to look at it now, how small it is compared to the Wachovia Center. It really is amazing what has happened, the scale of things, how the world has changed,. But we played there many times. I cant remember if it’s five or six times we played there, and of course it’s Philadelphia, so we always had incredible shows there.

I know it’s probably a cheesy notion, but when you’re playing there, or you’re even backstage, do you sorta feel the ghosts of all the amazing performers who’ve played there before — the Zeppelins and the Hendrixes and James Brown and so on?
Not in the day, but I think tonight, I think there’s a really good chance that will happen. Because when we’re onstage with Todd and the Hooters, and the Soul Survivors…the Soul Survivors, you talk about full circles! I was actually on the same label as them, before I met Daryl. Did you get the box set [Do What You Want, Be What You Are]?

Not yet.
When you get the box set you’re gonna hear…the first two songs that you hear are the songs that Daryl and I did as teenagers, before we met each other. And the song I did [1966's "I Need Your Love"] was on Crimson Records, which was the label from the Record Museum [record store] on Chestnut Street. The Soul Survivors had “Expressway to Your Heart,” and my record came out, and I think they were pretty much the only two releases ever put out by that label. So definitely tonight is full circle.

It should be great tonight. I also enjoyed the solo show you did last year at the Sellersville Theater, the way you presented the old Hall & Oates songs and told the stories behind them.
Oh, thanks. I’m doing it again at the Lansdale Center for the Performing Arts tomorrow night, and what I do with that show, I try to make distinctly different from what I do with Daryl. It’s fun and I think the audience enjoys that, and it’s definitely a chance for me to perform in a completely different setting. I like that little bit more laid-back, smaller venue kinda thing.

Going from the sold-out Spectrum one day to something like that the next must be bizarre, but then again you guys have played in pretty much every type and size venue over the years, I’d imagine.
Yeah. This week alone I played with Daryl at a club in D.C. on Wednesday night; last night I played in Baltimore at the arena with Brad Paisley and Dierks Bentley in front of 25,000 people; tonight’s the Spectrum; and tomorrow night I sit there with an acoustic guitar in a 200-seat performing arts center. So it’s pretty incredible, it’s a crazy week.

October 21st, 2009

INTERVIEW: Annie Clark (St. Vincent)

Annie Clark, the musical brains behind the fabulous St. Vincent, comes to Electric Factory this Sunday in support of Andrew Bird. The singer and guitarist extraordinaire — along with her four-piece band — will be playing songs from her recently released gem of a second album, Actor, as well as from her 2007 solo debut LP, Marry Me, that really put her on the map after a few years of playing in the Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens’ band. We caught up with the quite gracious Clark the other day over the phone to talk about the tour, as well as “Rosyln” — her new duet with Justin Vernon (a.k.a. Bon Iver) that appears on the soundtrack to Twilight: New Moon — and more:

How’s this tour with Andrew Bird been going so far?
It’s going really well. It’s kind of an easy one. Andrew is so nice and all of his crew is so nice, and the whole thing is very, very pleasant [laughs].

Have you been in unpleasant touring circumstances to compare this one to?
Umm, well, some tours are harder than others. The amount of driving or the spacing of the show schedule and things like that. And I think it’s always — for stress purposes — it’s easier to be a support act than a headliner because you have a shorter set and you show up to venues later. If you’re the headliner you get there earlier and you leave last. So this has been a great one and an easy one.

It seems like you’ve opened for lot of other acts — the National, Grizzly Bear, John Vanderslice, the Arcade Fire — where their audiences would probably be more likely to embrace your style of music as well. You’re not really putting yourself in situations to be abused by an audience, like if you were opening for Slayer or something.
Right. Although for the record, I would love to open for Slayer. That’s a great band.

So, have you spent any quality time in Philadelphia?
Umm, I’ve hung out in Philly a little bit. This past U.S. tour I did with Pattern is Movement, from Philly, and I love that band. They are so good. I’ve spent some time with them in Philly. I remember a tour a long time ago, before St. Vincent was anything, where we stayed in a giant Victorian gutter-punk, bike messenger squat. There were like eight bedrooms, at least. It was a giant home, but I think someone had bought the building for something like $30,000.

Yeah, that sounds about right.
Does it? It was this massive, beautiful home…

Yeah, certain areas of Philly, the old houses are extremely beautiful and large, but maybe they’re run down or in a sketchy neighborhood so they’re kind of cheap. Do you remember what part of town? Was it West Philly?
Yeah! It was West Philly!

Yeah…so just from hanging out there, you got a pretty decent sense of the city?
Yeah! Yeah. I really like that part of town. And we always get bubble tea in Chinatown when we go to Philly.

October 21st, 2009

Eric Bazilian On The Hooters’ Spectrum Show On Friday

Just got off the phone with singer-guitarist Eric Bazilian of the Hooters, who are playing a farewell to the Spectrum show this Friday night along with Hall & Oates and Todd Rundgren.

“It’s sad to see it go,” Bazilian says of the Spectrum’s imminent demise. “There really is a lot of history there and I had some amazing experiences there. A lot of people did.”

As for what he’s looking forward to about Friday’s sold-out show: “It’s gonna be big. I’m gonna see a lot of old friends, aside from seeing Daryl and John, who I haven’t seen in a long time, and Todd, who I really…Todd would not remember meeting me. I mean, we’re going back 40 years. When I saw him live, I was a little kid and he was first with Woody’s Truck Stop and then with the Nazz. It’s gonna be like a big reunion, and in a way the fact that we’re playing it just complicates it because my mind has got to be first and foremost on that. I can’t allow myself to be overly preoccupied with the social aspect of it. It’ll be special being on that stage, but it’s gonna feel like a Hooters show. Through all these years, all the shows we’ve done, from living rooms to stadiums, from the first note we’re in the music and we’re in the moment, and it really doesn’t matter where we are.”

Look for more Spectrum talk with Eric Bazilian, and others, in next week’s PW.