Pre-order Phosphorescent: Live at the Music Hall

Exciting news here! Phosphorescent is releasing a triple-LP (holy smokes, Batman!) of live music recorded at the Music Hall in the city of New York featuring a few of my photos from his toasty show in Philadelphia last February. The album drops via Dead Oceans this February (almost exactly a year after his Philly show, in fact), and it's currently available for pre-order here. There are several options including vinyl, CDs and a special T-Shirt. Go check it out!

Concert Review: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers @ Wells Fargo Center

From The Key

If you told me that a dude who’s about to turn 64 was capable of drawing 20,000 Philadelphians out to the Wells Fargo center (that’s right, the place that unabashedly charges about $8.00 for a slice of Lorenzo’s pizza that would normally run you $3.00, but I’m not bitter) on a Monday night during an Eagles game no less, I’d crack a smile and say, “good one”. But that joke is a reality and that dude is Tom Petty, a man who is undoubtedly the world’s most offhand rockstar. But Petty wasn’t alone in his blithe glory; his quintessential almost all-American (drummer Steve Ferrone hails from Brighton, England) backing band, The Heartbreakers, was not just equally old, but equally killin’.

Read More...

Concert Review: Lorde @ The Mann Center

From The Key

It’s been a year since Lorde’s “Royals” topped the musical richter scale, and her streak of teenage stardom has shown no signs of slowing anytime soon. Her show at The Mann Center last night kicked off a second US tour in support of her subsequent Pure Heroine LP, which still has some fans reeling. My first foray into the kingdom of Ella Yelich-O’Connor was thanks to her staggeringly intoxicating performance at The Tower Theater last March, of which I wrote:

It’s easy to doubt that Lorde’s success will continue, especially given the almost absurdly widespread popularity of “Royals”, but her show at The Tower convinced me otherwise. To begin with, she’s an excellent songwriter, and her lyrics address some difficult issues. Her voice, even regardless of her age, is one of the richest, most unique instruments out there. Lastly, Lorde puts on a remarkable show, even if her dancing is a little, well, different. Lorde is one of those rare instances of a truly complete artist, and I doubt this is the last we’ll be hearing of her.

True to my (not-so-bold) prediction, I again found myself amidst a sea of the queen’s subjects drowning in anticipation of what would turn out to be a stellar performance.

Read More...

Concert Review: Yes @ The Tower Theater

From The Key

Epic (adj): heroic or grand in scale or character. It is perhaps one of the most over- and misused words in the English language. Yeah, that grilled cheese may have been tasty, but it wasn’t quite as monumental as Odysseus. But I’ll tell you what was epic: English prog-rock legends Yes’ concert at the Tower Theater. It would have been easy to doubt a group whose 46 years together do not by any means belie them, not to mention that founding singer and frontman Jon Anderson left the group in 2008. I don’t think Yes cared about these things. When you’re the band that played the most attended festival-style show in United States history here in Philly (the “Spirit Of Summer ’76” show at JFK Stadium on June 12, 1976 for 130,000 fans), a few grey hairs (or more precisely, a full head of white ones, but who’s counting?) aren’t going to get in the way of putting on a show of, that’s right, epic proportions.

Read More...