Results tagged “johnnybrendas”

The first time I heard these words, I was in a nightclub in North London. My first reaction was, "Europeans really do listen to some weird shit...and I dig it." At the time, I had no clue that what I was hearing wasn't really European at all, but decidedly American, as these were the opening lines of "Danger! High Voltage" by Detroit rockers Electric Six (MySpace). That was the beginning of a four-month long borderline obsession with the disco-funk-pop-rock outfit responsible for such catchy, politically incorrect numbers as "Gay Bar" and "Infected Girls."

Phillyist's quick-picks for a rock your socks off start to the weekend.

Phillyist's quick-picks for your evening agenda.

Phillyist's quick-picks for your evening agenda.

Phillyist's quick-picks for your evening agenda.

Phillyist's quick-picks for your kickoff-to-Labor-Day-weekend evening agenda.

Phillyist's quick-picks for your evening agenda.

Phillyist's quick-picks for your evening agenda.

In case you missed this past weekend's XPoNential Music Festival, you missed out on a lot of great music. (Unfortunately, so did we.) But luckily, many of the great artists featured at the festival are local acts who play frequent gigs in the area. And one of those artists is Bucks County's Illinois (MySpace). Just coming off a Saturday afternoon set at XPoNential, Illinois will be playing at Johnny Brenda's Wednesday night along with The Builders and the Butchers (MySpace) and The Horse's Ha.

Fun around town, for $10 or less:

Fun around town, for $10 or less:

Nichole Canuso Dance Company's Wandering Alice was, far and away, one of the best pieces of the 2008 Philadelphia Live Arts Festival. And when we see performances we like, we want to support the organizations that produce them—so take this post as Phillyist's official endorsement of NCDC, which will be having what sounds like a pretty kick-ass fundraiser.

Fun around town, for $10 or less:

Fun around town, for $10 or less:

Fun around town, for $10 or less:

Fun around town, for $10 or less:

Fun around town, for $10 or less:

Fun around town, for $10 or less:

First things first: The Broken West’s I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On is a great warm weather record. Its sunny harmonies, anthemic rock and roll, and pop single after the next. Listen to it as soon as the weather turns a corner for the better. For now, take a listen to their follow up Now or Heaven. It runs down a different lane of pop presentation, mostly shrugging off the rock and roll parade for a more personal touch that still makes you move.

Before we delve into the review, your Phillyist would be remiss if we didn't tell you about how we almost didn't get into this show Saturday night. Since the show was sold out (seriously), we knew it was important to get like double-confirmation that we were on the press list or else it was no-dice-see-ya-later time. Which we did, since we're cool thorough obsessively meticulous like that.

Can you get much better than a Saturday night at Johnny Brenda's? Two dozen local brews on tap and one of the best concert venues in Philly, this time featuring some fresh-sounding indie sensations. I think not.

Fun around town, for $10 or less:

Fun around town, for $10 or less:

Fun around town, for $10 or less:

Fun around town, for $10 or less:

Fun around town, for $10 or less:

Fun around town, for $10 or less:

We like Ben Kweller (MySpace), and not just because he's from Austin and we love 90% of the music coming out of Austin these days. He's painfully clever and brutally honest in his lyrics, which accompany all kinds of catchy hooks and thumping beats. Plus, he toured with Ben Folds and Ben Lee as The Bens a couple years ago, resulting in one of our favorite Off-Broadway covers ever. He'll be entertaining the masses in advance of the upcoming release of Changing Horses tonight at Johnny Brenda's, along with Australian-based Whitley. It's a late-ish show for the oldheads on the Phillyist staff, but at JB's? We think we can handle it.

Fun around town, for $10 or less:

Dear Business Week: