Local Music Scene Report 7/27
Sorry this blog is so ridiculously late this week. I’ve been in NYC for my day job and, well, needless to say I haven’t really had a lot of time to sit in front of a computer screen doing personal things. Nonetheless, here we are again. Thank you to everyone who came out to last week’s Ladybug Festival! It was a huge success and we are definitely doing it again. Also, lest you thought I was joking about being the redhead losing her mind at the front of the crowd for OK Go’s set at Firefly last week, take a look at this photo from the Firefly Facebook Page. Purple shirt, next to the guitarist’s mic stand.
On to bigger and more local things, however. I’d like to recommend two Wilmington shows tonight and I believe the adventurous among you will be able to make it to both. First of all, Todd Chappelle and Hot Breakfast! are playing at the Bellefonte Café (Facebook Event Page here). The Bellefonte Café has delicious food and drinks and a great atmosphere; I have played many a show there and I love the place. The artists are some of the funniest musical acts you will find in town. Todd Chappelle is most notable for his song “I’m From Delaware,” a parody of Johnny Cash’s “I’ve Been Everywhere.” [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQcpennlSic[/youtube] However he has many other hilarious tunes, my favorite being one of his new ones, “More Than Bacon.” Hot Breakfast! is Delaware’s Premiere Dork Rock Duo. They insist that they are NOT an 80s cover band, but they do some seriously good covers of 80s tunes. Their originals are very funny too. My own husband prefers their music to mine. This does not bother me. Here’s their cover of “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrLEm-sWmJs [/youtube]
Also this evening at Kelly’s Logan House: The Splashing Pearls, The Hold Up, and New Sweden (Facebook Event page here) New Sweden is one of Delaware’s most notable up and coming bands. They played the Non-Comm festival at The Queen last year, being part of a lineup that included some of the biggest indie acts in the country. They caught the attention of indie radio stations across the country at this event. Tonight will be a great celebration, too. Both New Sweden and The Hold Up will be saying goodbye to band members tonight; New Sweden’s Violist Caroline and The Hold Up’s Bassist Tak are exiting their bands. Plus The Hold Up is releasing their first CD, a long awaited event.
Other events for the weekend:
TONIGHT:
Lickety Split, South Street, Philadelphia: Covered, an evening of Philly artists covering other Philly artists. Show starts at 8. I’m playing this one, covering songs by Venice Sunlight and IKE, and happily sharing the bill with Karley Cohen, Boy Wonder, Nathan Weigert, Emily Marston, Donovan Rice, and Tuba Dan (who is covering one of my songs on the accordion), among others. If you’re up to heading out to Philly this will not disappoint.
Headhouse, Lombard Street, Philadelphia: Rockstar Fridays! On this bill, Mary Scholz, Steve Marchion, Victoria Spaeth & The Spaeth Cadets, and AlyCat. This promises to be a very chill, soulful evening.
TOMORROW:
Tubman Garrett Riverfront Park, Wilmington: People’s Festival Tribute to Bob Marley. This is a huge yearly event. It is a family friendly, full day of music, food, arts, and crafts to celebrate the legacy of a great musician. Details are at www.peoplesfestival.com
World Café Live, Philadelphia: Mid Summer Classic 2012. Doors are at 4pm to see The Better Half, Jackson Rider, Stolen Rhodes, Modern Colour, Half Past Seven, Ray Ward, Rotary, Peter Joseph, and Rodger Delany. This is going to be a kick ass rock show.
World Café Live at The Queen, Wilmington: Revolution, I Love You with The Last Dinosaurs and Sends. R,ILY is a very buzzworthy local band. Think MGMT plus The Cure (they do a killer cover of theirs, too). Show is at 8, Upstairs.
The Grape Room, Manayunk: The Great Socio are playing at 9pm. I like to think of them as a mix of The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rage Against The Machine, but throw in a bit of The Doors (they have a great keys player). This is guaranteed to be a party.
See you all next week, when I’ll be back in Delaware and more on schedule!
…Because there’s absolutely nothing happening in music in Sussex County…
As I said in last week’s post, I’m not involved in the music scene down there and so I don’t know about it. If any of the bands down there want to write me I am MORE than happy to write about their bands.
Or chlorophil could write about them. What’s the music scene in Sussex, Phil?
Not meant as a criticism, rachel, but you clearly reach out across state lines, so why not reach out in your own state? Half the events you listed are in Philly.
Because Philly is a 30-40 minute drive and Sussex is a 2 hour drive.
Good to see you fellow communists keeping it real.
Excellent work Comrades. Now make sure that you Delaware people vote for Obama and let everyone know that the Nazi Romney is scum.
Obama and us Communists. Perfect together.
“Because Philly is a 30-40 minute drive and Sussex is a 2 hour drive.”
From you maybe, but I thought you were writing for an audience? I didn’t realize this was your own private “concerts I want to see” diary.
My bad…as you were.
Здрáвствуй, Димúтрий!
Come on… For Wilmingtonians, Philly is local.
Seriously, Phil and Sussex Anon. Why don’t you write up something about the music scene in Sussex? I’ll post it.
Phil, I noticed you haven’t answered Pandora’s question. What’s the music scene down in Sussex?
im sure they are too busy rockin out at the Rudder. *smirk
Seriously, I don’t want to start a huge war here. I’m doing the best I can with the time and resources I have. I’m sure there are loads of awesome things down in Kent and Sussex; it’s just that between my day job and my music career (which is a business that I own and run), I don’t have time to drive down in that direction.
Please, downstate, don’t take it personally. I truly would love to write about you. If you know a downstate band who wants some press, please send them my way. I’m not really sure how I can make that any clearer.
I almost posted two websites where you could start to learn about what’s happening in Sussex, but I changed my mind. I actually don’t want you to report on our happenings. I have too many fucking tourists to deal with already.
And you are doing a great job, Rachel. We all blog about what interests us, and what is available to us. Until George Soros comes through with those paychecks, cover what interests you. It isn’t as though you didn’t specifically invite folks from Sussex and Kent to let you know what was going on.
Thanks, Cass. 🙂
Chlorophil, I’m not sure what I did to deserve so much ire and anger from you, apart from not being completely omniscient. I’m sorry you’re frustrated with the influx of people during beach season. That’s one of the reasons why I always find myself in beach towns off-season (that and the fact that I burn very easily). Nonetheless if you decide that, during the off-season when you aren’t overrun with tourists, you’d like the music scene down in your part of the state to have some press, I’d be more than happy to write about your favorite local bands. I hope you have a great time getting out and supporting local music this weekend down in Sussex.
That does sound bad.. tourists at the beach in the summer, on vacation, spending money.
Rachel – I don’t give two figs about any local music scene. I don’t care for live music at all. But consider that writing about the “local music scene” means different things based on where you live. You’re on a blog called Delaware Liberal, not New Castle County/Wilmington/Pretending We’re Part of Philly Liberal.
OFFICIALLY NOTHING IS WORTH REPORTING ON IF IT DOESN’T INCLUDE SUSSEX.
Not if you want to have any credibility as a statewide entity, no.
V, you are wholly correct, as usual.
SussexWatcher, I’m sorry that my inability to be omniscient has upset you as well. My question, however, is that if you don’t care about any local music scene, why did you click on this post in the first place? It hardly seems a good use of your time.
Now, in just about all of my comments and posts up to this point, I have stated that I would be more than happy to talk about any bands from Kent and Sussex looking for press and publicity. I’m sorry that none have come forward yet. When they do, you have my word that I will give them the attention they deserve as part of the Delaware Music Scene as a whole. I hope that once I do give them that publicity, you’ll go out and buy a CD to help their career develop. I only suggest that since you’re not interested in live music; perhaps recorded music is more your style.
OK folks – I too had this issue – but Rachel has invited all to let her know about downstate events and will gove them equal time I am sure – she just needs to be made aware of them
so lets drop it – the point was made – Rachel is a good egg – thi isnt politics – its music – let it go
as for the tourists – well, if they didnt freakin invade – clog the roads, be ignornat jackasses, let the kids run wild, drive like imbeciles, and act like they OWN the place it might not be so bad
but they do – I cannot leave my home on a Saturday after 9am – I am literally trapped – i wont go to the beach Sat or Sun anymore due to rude drunken assholes, i had some guy nearly run over the kids one day on the beach coz by GOD he was gonna park there
they are rude and disrespectful – an money is not the answer – I dont care how much fukcin money they bring in – manners would go a lot further!
Oh noes! The credibility of our blog has been besmirched! Our salaries will be cut in half, as of right this moment.
Update: …or doubled, same thing.
song- whose was it
nothing from nuthing leave nothing
you gotta have something, if you wanna be with me…..
anyone for music trivia??
Ah… Billy Preston. Who, incidentally, wasn’t from Sussex. 😉
Come on out to the Peoples Festival tomorrow at Tubman Park in Wilmington. Bob Marley Tributes and Red Star Beer! Stop in the Green Party of Delaware Booth for some very special brownies! See ya there. https://www.facebook.com/events/190658707723493/
Seriously… musically, there’s not much happening in Sussex County, especially if you’re looking for something unique. I usually end up going to DC, Philly, or Baltimore. Notice I bypassed Wilmington. The last good show I saw there was Ani Difranco at The Grand. Frankly, there’s not much local talent above, or below, the canal.
I enjoy this thread, though.
Miscreant, I hope we can change your mind over time about local music. The Ladybug festival, for one, was a big hit.
I checked out the lineup, and it looked interesting. I’ll check it out next time.
Hey Miscreant, I agree with what xstryker said, but I’d like to share a little local music with you specifically. http://music.venicesunlight.com/track/miscreants
Venice Sunlight is one of my favorite local groups, although they’re mostly based in Philly. They’re actually going to be backing me up on my next album. And they have a song with your name on it.
(And not to open a can of worms here, but Ani DiFranco is from Buffalo. When was the last time you saw a band that was actually from Delaware? Give us a shot.)