FOALS show & VIA AUDIO / SOMEONE STILL LOVES YOU BORIS YELTSIN show

For two days this week, I was an inhabitant of Fishtown as I took in two shows, two days in a row at Johnny Brenda's bar. It was my first experience at Johnny Brenda's and I've had some likes and dislikes about the bar. As a concert venue, it doesn't get any more intimate than their second floor stage. There's also a balcony area that hangs above the stage and has its own separate bar so no matter where you are in the place, beer is always in reach. And Johnny Brenda's prides itself in providing beer from local breweries so you're able to sample different beers at a reasonable price as opposed to being overcharged for the same old shit. One of the major flaws of Johnny Brenda's, especially with the hockey playoffs upon us, was the fact that there was not one single TV in the place. Apparently trendy hipsters don't watch TV.

Enter Murph's Bar, conveniently located across the street from Johnny Brenda's. From having spent two nights there drinking with the regulars, Murph's Bar is now one of my top 5 bar experiences of all time - but that can be attributed to an emotional night of watching Game 7 in which the Flyers scored the game winning goal in overtime. Here's a rundown of my two nights at Johnny Brenda's / Murph's Bar.

On Tuesday night, Marty and I embarked on a night of some upbeat indie dance-type music provided by the british band, FOALS. Unfortunately for us, the Flyers decided to choke in Game 6 of their playoff series with Washington, forcing a Game 7 on the night we were seeing FOALS. So we decided we'd head up early to the show, watch the Flyers game and then seemless transition from the bar area to the stage area for the show. But, since Johnny Brenda's is too trendy for TVs, we decided to take our business elsewhere until the Flyers game / the show started. So we headed across the street to Murph's Bar which Marty was originally afraid to go into because he thought we get some trouble from the locals for not being from Fishtown, but it was the total opposite. They welcomed us with arms wide open, in a sense, allowing us to partaking in the excitement of Flyers playoff hockey. And an added bonus was that during Flyers game, Balantine Pale Ales were only a dollar a piece. So we were getting to watch the Flyers game with a festive crowd, and were able to get sloshed for an extremely reasonable price. But as the Flyers game wore on and showtime quickly approached, it became apparent that we may be faced with the decision of either missing some of the show or the end of the Flyers game. Fortunately for us, the start of the show was delayed and we were able to watch the whole game, even as it went into overtime. As the Flyers scored the game winning goal, we celebrated with our festive crowd, high fives all around and now we were superhyped to see FOALS.

At Johnny Brenda's, I started off the night by giving the doorman trouble for not having any TVs in the bar, pronouncing that they had lost our business earlier because of it. We then hit up the bar and grabbed a couple of Yards Philly Pale Ales which were very good and we set up shop in front of the stages for FOALS to come out. I'd estimate the crowd at maybe about 50 people tops so it was quite the intimate show. FOALS put on an amazing show, with everyone in the crowd seemingly getting into the music as they played the majority of their recently released album, Antidotes. Funny side note of the night, Marty managed to offended some hot blonde chick with a half sleeve on her forearm at the show by making fun of the opening band, Ghosts, who weren't very good... But all in all it was a pretty amazing show and I'll definitely see them again whenever they come back to town.

The second night of my doubleheader brought a change in the lineup of who was going to the show. Marty texted me early in the day to inform me that he couldn't go because he had a sore throat and a fever. Bummer. So the quest was on to find someone to take his ticket and apparently Wednesdays are the absolute worst day to find someone last minute to go the show. In a last act of desperation, I offered the ticket to Coz, who has never been one for going to shows, but still enjoys a night out at the bar. And it was also an opportunity to celebrate, in a sense, Coz's new job that he had gotten the other day. So Coz and I embarked on a night of good indie music from one of my favorite bands, Via Audio and Someone Still Loves you Boris Yeltsin. We got up to Johnny Brenda's at 8:30, only to find that Via Audio wasn't hitting the stage until 10:30. So now we had two hours on our hands to kill and still no TVs in Johnny Brenda's. So it was off to Murph's Bar once again to drink some more Ballantine Ales and take in the Phillies game.

We headed over to Johnny Brenda's around 10 to get some more Yards Philly Pale Ales and to set up shop front and center of the stage. On my way in, I picked up the new SSLYBY album which I was able to find anywhere around me. New music to listen to...check. We caught the last two songs from the opening band, whose name has slipped my mind and then it was time for Via Audio to set up their gear. And then Jessica, the lead singer of Via Audio entered the bar and entranced by her beauty and stage pressence. Quick backstory, the last time Via Audio was in town, Marty and I went up to see them at the NorthStar Bar and Jess pointed us out in the crowd as one of the few people that knew their songs and had been singing along. So after that set, we were able to hang out with her a little bit and we were both smitten with her personality and indie girl good looks. So back to Via Audio's set at Johnny Brenda's. They played yet another amazing show, intermixing their classics and even playing what I deemed to be a couple of new songs. And once again I was singing along to all their songs, seemingly the only one in the crowd doing so. So after their set, Coz and I were just hanging out and Jess B-lined right for me, proclaiming, "Hey, you know our songs." And so I got into a quick conversation with her about how I love their music and had met her previously at their last show in Philly. She was extremely appreciative and thankful that I was a fan and had come out to the show and that just enhanced my ongoing crush on her...

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin closed out the night and they put on a pretty good show. I had only been exposed to their music through their myspace because I couldn't find their album anywhere, but I was still able to get into the music nonetheless. The highlight of their performance had to be when they brought everyone from Via Audio on stage to join them for a cover of Nirvana's Heart Shaped Box... pretty awesome.

So my two nights spent down in Fishtown at Johnny Brenda's / Murph's Bar involved a lot of drinking and a lot of great music... can't wait to go back again

With the first pick in this year's NFL Draft, the Miami Dolphins select...

Jake Long - Offensive Tackle out of Michigan!!


As a Dolphins fan, I'm pretty psyched and committed to this pick. They've got him signed to a deal already so there won't be any notions of holding out so he'll be with the team from the start. And the Dolphins will be able to draft a possible franchise QB early in the second round or trade up into the late first round to take Chad Henne or Brian Brohm...

Prospect Park Celebrity Gossip...

This just in from the AP wire aka the gossip my Moms brings home from school board meetings:

An indie-drama movie, "Happy Tears" is going to be filmed at a house right down the street from my house starring Demi Moore, Parker Posey, and Rip Torn! Not really sure when it'll be going down but apparently filming is starting at some point next month.

No word yet on whether A) I'll be having a guest role in the movie or B) Parker Posey will be staying at my house when she's in town...

THE STARTING LINE, BAYSIDE, & FOUR YEAR STRONG... AMAZING SHOW

On Friday night, Dusty, Pattitude, and I attended The Starting Line's farewell tour at the Electric Factory, as TSL prepares to go on a "hiatus" which basically means they're breaking up and won't be getting back together any time soon. Well they made sure to go out with a bang by lining up Bayside and Four Year Strong as their opening acts (Steel Train was the first opening act, but they were horrible so I won't bother acknowledging that they actually played). And an added bonus for this show was that The Starting Line were filming this show to eventually be put on DVD so automatically we wanted to go out of our ways to be seen on this DVD.

We started off the night up in the bar area of the Electric Factory for a pre show beer (which by the way was one of the worst beers I had ever had because I was grotesquely hungover that day from the previous night's engagements which involved Molson Golden). As soon as the the first band was done, we set off for the front of the crowd so we could adequately be able to get into Four Year Strong's set. We had seen them one previous time at The Troc but were sitting up in the bar area so we couldn't get into the music. As the band took the stage, Dusty and Pattitude rode the wave to basically the very front while I got a little more to the side which actually worked out for the best once crowd surfing commenced and I didn't have people dropping in on my head.

Four Year Strong played an amazing set (basically their whole cd that's out right now) which the crowd was definitely getting into. I was surrounded by an equal number of people who either extensively knew FYS's music and those who had no idea who they were... but everyone was getting into it. Throughout the whole show, there was a constant current going through the crowd. I was continually pushed back and forth as crowd surfing commenced and attempts were made to get a pit going. From my vantage point, I was never able to see a pit going on but the bands were reacting as if there were one so I'll go ahead and assume people were trying to dance.

Bayside came on next and their music seemed a lot more mellow sitting between Four Year Strong and The Starting Line. Bayside has been a long time favorite of mine and this was my first chance to see them live and they did not disappoint. Musically and vocally, they were on par with their records and with their live show, they were able to get me to end my embargo on their self-titled album, which had long been my least favorite of their albums. It's all I've been listening to in my car the last few days...

Finally, the cameras were put in place and The Starting Line came out to a ruckus crowd. There was a camera on a dolly floating above the crowd for most of the show getting crowd shots so that'll be my best chance to be on camera but the fact that I was more towards to the left might hinder that. Dusty and Pattitude were front and center so they probably got more camera time but they paid the price by having people landing on top of them via crowd surfing.

Considering that this was their last tour, TSL pulled out all the stops in their song selections playing a lot of their older stuff while still mixing in some of their newer songs. They were very business-like, not really talking too much in between songs, which probably can be attributed to the fact that the show was filmed. But, it was funny seeing how many of the young Starting Line fans didn't know any of their old stuff, which I consider to be their best stuff. Dusty was intent on hearing "Greg's Last Day", one of their oldest songs and had planned on yelling for it until they played it. Unfortunately for him, that was the second song they played so he was able to fulfill the role of "that guy"...haha.

All in all, it was an amazing show and as an added bonus, I was able to grab one of the TSL guitar picks they were throwing out to the crowd after the show. What can I say, I got caught up in the frenzy...

We're talking Politics...blah

With the Pennsylvania Primary coming up next Tuesday, the Debate between Hillary and Obama had my full attention because I'm still on the fence as to who to vote for. After that less than festive debate, I find myself leaning a little more towards Hillary but I'm not completely satisfied just yet. I thought that some of the questions that were debated were pretty trivial and shouldn't affect who we vote for. I don't really care if Obama accused small town Pennsylvanians of being bitter about losing their jobs and clinging to religion and guns. It's the truth in a sense. That's what religion and guns are - a means of salvation for those less fortunate. And why should this topic dominate a half hour of the debate when there are more important things to discuss like the economy, Social Security, and Iraq. It's funny that those topics took second stage to questions about Obama's pastor and Hillary's jaded account of arriving in Bosnia under sniper fire. Topics like that and abortion are what seem to dominate people's decisions as to who to vote for anymore and it's one of the reasons that we've been stuck with someone who drove our economy into the ground for eight years...

Also on an interesting side note, Rep Jim Sestak's people placed a call to my house last night while I was watching the debate asking whether myself or my mom would be interested in working the polls on Tuesday... shouldn't they be watching the debate instead of placing phone calls that will distract their constituents from the debate??

Recently Purchased Albums That I Can't Get Enough of...

It's been a slow year so far in regards to releases but I'm finding some hidden gems out there / picking up on what the latest "it" bands are so give all of these albums a listen:

Vampire Weekend - Self Titled
Yes Marty I know you had been talking about them for weeks but they didn't get my full attention until their performances on SNL... now I can't get enough of them
A Day To Remember - For Those Who Have Heart
Another one of those pop-punk hardcore hybrids along the same lines as Four Year Strong
Kate Nash - Made of Bricks
A lovely British songbird with infectious lyrics and an adorable British accent which I love
FOALS - Antidotes
Another Marty recommendation, I haven't given the album a full listen yet, but I'll be seeing them with Marty at Johnny Brenda's next week... should be a good show from what I've heard thus far
Foxy Shazam - Introducing Foxy Shazam
Some piano-centric music with vocals reminiscent of Chiodos
Panic at the Disco - Pretty. Odd.
They've dropped the exclamation mark from their title and that's not the only thing that's dropped out. It seems that they're trying to distance themselves from pop-punk and instead trying to cop off The Beatles with a Sgt Pepper's-esque change of music... still haven't been able to fully bond with this album yet

Upcoming Album Releases I'm Anticipating - New Found Glory / International Super Heroes of Hardcore (NFG's hardcore alter-ego), Paper Rival, Forever the Sickest Kids, Neil Diamond, Flight of the Conchords, REGGIE AND THE FULL EFFECT

John McCain - a fan of reality TV

Here's another reason why I find John McCain appealling as a person, not necessarily as a politician. It's not enough that he spent five years in a POW camp or that he's a Maverick Senator - he's also a fan of The Hills, MTV's reality spin off of surreal soap opera Laguna Beach. When told that Heidi Montag of The Hills had endorsed him for President, he responded that he never misses an episode of the show.

So it looks like I share a common interest with John McCain - we both enjoy uber-crappy MTV / VH1 reality tv shows. Come on! you know you love Rock of Love II