Memorial Day weekend is filled with block parties, barbecues, picnics and family. If you get tired of your perverted Uncle or nosy Aunt, then head over to Tower Theatre to see Rocco Deluca and the Burden opening for Keane. Rocco Deluca and the Burden hail from Long Beach, CA and just released their debut album I Trust You To Kill Me. "Colorful," their new hit single, has wowed critics in both the magazine and......

I must admit, I'm usually wary of early Beethoven. For me, it lacks the drive and passion of his middle and late periods. I was pleasantly surprised last night, however, by Miklós Perényi (cello) and András Schiff (piano) in their all-Beethoven program presented by the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society at the Independence Seaport Museum. Both Perényi and Schiff hail from Budapest and tour the world with vibrant solo careers. Schiff, while known more for his......

Bands I Caught: Public Record, Feather Mills, Phil Moore Browne, Hail Social Venue: Northern Liberties Block Party After the idle talk and identically polished wood floors, after the occasionally tired heads draped over banisters at 1 o’clock and often stiff legs standing in stuffy bars for sets that last a bit too long, after loads of manicured details that so easily lend themselves to overwrought introductions, it was nice to just relax outside for once.......

Walking down Walnut this past Monday, on my way to see Wholetrain, I stopped at the light at 11th Street. There were two men across the street from me, who looked like they'd been in the same place for a while. One seemed considerably happier about this than the other. The jollier of the two was an older gentleman with a long grey beard, who was wearing a black leather bomber jacket and a giant......

It was a urban photographer's dream. Having seen my Comcast Center construction documentation page, one of the men working on the skyscraper's construction invited me on site and up the elevators to improve the collection. So on January 2nd, this Phillyist was on the very raw 43rd floor of the Comcast Center for an ironworker's view of the construction progress and amazing views of Philadelphia. We began by climbing a few staircases and ladders to......

Less than twenty-four hours after Tony Romo committed one of the most embarrassing, costly blunders in football history, not much else will be talked about after the Eagles defended Lincoln Financial Field in a 23-20 Wild Card Weekend triumph. The final 137 yards of Tiki Barber’s career—now overshadowed. Brian Westbrook’s leadership, not to mention his forty-nine-yard touchdown dash despite stomach cramps—no longer headline making. Jeff Garcia continuing to lead the Eagles to an improbable six-game......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Hail Social: Philly locals Hail Social with Forward, Russia and Snowden at Johnny Brenda's (1201 Frankford Avenue) at 9PM. $8. (21+) More info Spinning Lucy: Spinning Lucy with Jupiter One and Zodiac at the Manhattan Room (15 W. Girard). $8 Kyle Andrews: Kyle Andrews with Red Heart The Ticker & Clare Burson at The Tin Angel (20 S. 2nd Street). 8:30 PM. $8 Got a frugal tip? Don't......

¡Forward, Russia! Giveaway
11/24/06-11/27/06...

Have you voted yet? No? What the hell are you sitting at your computer for then? Note to our readers: if you don't vote, you're not allowed to complain about politicians in the comments section. Austinist: Other cities' Craigslist Missed Connections are so much better than ours. Parisist: Ah, so that's why it's a city for lovers... Bostonist: This is not a reason not to vote for someone. No, really. SFist: Embrace your inner......

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week. Presidential Address (Mon; 9PM-9:15PM; all network affiliates) - Incredibly, it's already five years since the tragic events of September 11, 2001. W addresses the nation on the anniversary of those events and "is expected to discuss what the day means to the U.S. and the lessons Americans can take from it." ABC Sneak Peeks (Wed; 9PM-10PM; ABC) - The first half hour will cover ABC's comedy and......

Phillyist is, of course, just as patriotic as all of our other Ist brethren out there. And while we might not go crazy flouting it the way we suspect our friends at Londonist will over the next few weeks, we'll still be rooting hard for the good ol' U-S-of-A. Specifically, we'll be rooting for two players on the U.S. roster who hail from Philadelphia: Bobby Convey and Chris Albright. Convey, who plays on the......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Philly Bands at the Church: Hail Social, US Funk Team, Liam and Me and The Tiddies play The First Unitarian Church (22nd and Chestnut Street) at 7:30 PM. $8 (More info) Word 4 Word: Art Noir Gallery (7175C Ogontz Ave) hosts Word 4 Word, an open mic for "poetesses, freestyle cyphers, singers, rappers." Performances begin at 9PM, open mic list closes at 8:15PM. No cover. Cordus Mundi: A......

Funny thing about blogs: if you don't hit the "publish" button, nothing gets published. That's what happened with Elite -ist yesterday. But to make it up to you, we're giving you a double-length edition today! DCist: Our new goal in life: press releases every time we get a haircut. Or lose hair in the shower. Gothamist gives Philly band Hail Social some love. Torontoist: This makes us a little nostalgic. We can't wait to......

Best of the week is compiled and edited by Seattlest's Dan Gonsiorowski. DCist helps us make more sense of the world this week. Posts like this concert review are the reason for Scott Stapp. DCist also enumerates the reasons for playing ultimate frisbee, Condi's tight buns, their love of a local convenience store, and their jealousy of a person in Seattle calling the city. LAist documented graf artist Banksy's most recent visit to LA in......

Dear Philadelphia Taxi Drivers: We grew up in two-cars-per-family country. Taxis are pretty foreign to us. We’d been living in Philadelphia for a few months before our first trip to Manhattan. And it wasn’t until then that we learned exactly what those lights on top of taxis are supposed to do. You see, Philly drivers, that little light on the dome of your taxi is supposed to mean that you’re available. When it’s turned off,......

Dear Mother Nature: We get it already. You like playing with our heads. After two weeks of gorgeous Indian summer, it’s suddenly turned to fall overnight. We were shocked yesterday to walk out into the chilly wind and see our sidewalks paved with fallen foliage. Where the day before, we could get away with a light trench, yesterday we had to return home to change coats and grab a scarf and hat. (Granted, the hat......

By Daniel J. Linehan Phillyist is a little ashamed of how we spent last weekend. We prefer not to admit in public that we ignored friends and family to watch murders, mutilations, maiming, mayhem, and a woman performing what may be the most personal castration ever committed to film. (Personally, we hope she had a toothbrush handy.) The good people at International House (3701 Chestnut Street) held a retrospective dedicated to director Sam Peckinpah, and......

Dear Philadelphia: We just wanted to say thanks for loving us so much so much that you don’t want to let us leave you. You mean you don’t? Then why do you always hold us hostage at the Philadelphia International Airport? As we write this, we’re high in the air somewhere west of Philadelphia. Three hours and forty-eight minutes later than our scheduled departure. You see, we were supposed to get on one plane,......

Ali G, though, isn't driving Phillyist around in a limo, so we'll have to slum it by providing you with some concert previews for the upcoming week. A reunited (and it feels so good) Dinosaur Jr. is touring this Summer with a set that we've heard is gritty, dynamic, and just plain good. No doubt aging hipsters will be flocking to the Electric Factory to revisit their youth and the recently rereleased first three Dinosaur......