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| From | Doremi Fasolatido <markwayne61@yahoo.com> |
| Subject | Philly IPO in review |
| Date | Mon, 22 Nov 2004 08:30:53 -0800 (PST) |
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Good Monday Morning to all!
Just wanted to drop some mail on IPO Philly which took place last week from Wed - Sat. Mr. Bash put on another great line-up of bands and no act disappointed! Big thanks to Ira Rosen for the drums and amps and to Mrs. Ira Rosen for the chicken and veggies! Also, many thanks for the 2 stops Dave and I made at New Brunswick's Vintage Vinyl....my wallet is a lot lighter because of that!
Night #1 - The Khyber - Greatly enjoyed the solo performances of Matthew Ruddell and Paul Crane. Tim Butler's (former Hoppers13) new band was real good. Great songs and very tight musically. Manta Ray, local Philly Pop-psych from Rainbow Quartz, subbed for "Pop is Art" and just killed! They've got the hooks, looks, amd music that cooks! They got is all! Heath Haynes and the Cryin' Shames were a pleasant surprise. These guys rock with the best of them! And, their new CD is outstanding. A very well done set! Local guys Blank Pages played a great set of pop from their super CD 45 and 33!
Night #2 - The Khyber - This night was filled with local Philly flavor and some not-too-distant relative from the Harrisburg area. When I say this was almost a family reunion, I;m not kidding as virtually every band on this bill hand a strange "Kevin Baconish" relationship to each other! Dan Kilber started off the night with a typically outstanding solo set. He's just has killer songs and presents them so well! Stephen Lawrenson followed with a very good melodic pop set that had a few people runing to the merch table to pick up his new CD! The Jane Anchor, fronted by the wonderfully talented Kara Lafty (fighting an illness, but what a trooper...ya know, if troopers looked like Kara, tickets would not be so hard to swallow!) were just too good! Killer pop rock with a killer band! Parallax Project were next. I love the live show from these guys as they are not only musically hot, but they are entertaining to watch doing it! Their CD, Oblivious, is pop candy to my ears and
comes across great live! Their cover of McCartney's "Jet" was outstaning as well! The JellyBricks are always good form jaw dropping in your face power pop and they didn;t disappoint. Hit me over the head with a power chord and knock me into Jellybrickland! Next were The Queue, and I will go out on a limb and predict that Audities will be talking about this band in the not too distant future. They are a Philly band that, until that night, I had not even heard about. However, they were easily noticeable when they walked into the room. First, they were all like, 7 foot tall. Second, they were all dressed in vintage neo-glow paisley. C) They had some cage dancing quality beauties circa late 60's Laugh In babes dressed in Paisley mini-skirts and white vinyl knee length boots in tow! Thsi act looked promising, at least visually... They lived up to the look with an outstanding set of mod / psych pop. Great musicianship from all lead by Jeff Thomas on keys and vocals. The
bass player was phenominal as well! They were sold out of a limited pressing of their CD, but it's being rework and repackaged for a near future release. Keep a look-out for these guys!! The final band was IKE. Tough to say more good things about this band because they are always great! John Faye is a hookmeister with a voice that can knock a wall down. Cliff Hillis's guitar work is superb, the drumming rock solid, and the bass....well, okay, so I have a big crush on Joann Schmidt, but she also is a wonderful bass player. The songs are simply fantastic! Great way to end the night.
Night #3 - The Pontiac Grille - I like what they did with the rehab of the venue. Very cool vibe! South Street was hoppin' and the weather was great. The Smile opened with a great set of bright and sunny guitar pop. Milkshake Jones was th eonly band to cancel for the week. Bicycle Thieves from Washington, DC were a big surprise. I knew very little about them, and hearing comparisons to early Weezer didn't do much for my anticipation of their set, but they converted me! Good songs, good hooks, good vocals, very good playing! A lot of energy from these young guys! The CD is really good as well. I'd recommend these guys anytime! The Villas, from my old stomping grounds of Allentown, Pa, are always top notch. Bill Villa's has been around for many years and certainly knows how to play pop music! Great songs and great stage show! Their CD "Set For Life" is a must have! Up next was another pleasant surprise from yet another Philly band that I had only heard a small buzz about
but not much more...BC Camplight. Whew, where have I been??? This guy / band was awesome! Blew me away with their brand of jangle keyboard pop. Just keys, bass, and drums. A bit sparse sonically, but it worked so well. They had only 2 CD's left to sell and there was a rush to the stage as soon as they were finished with their set. Two lucky patrons got the CD's and about a dozen or so asked at the merch table if we had any. Acme Rock group was next and played a great set of Pop / Psych. Eric Rex writes good hooks and the set was hot! Great to see Eric back on his feet after a bizarre elevator accident mashed him but good! The Gripweeds ended the night by bringing down the house! Some bands are just money in the Bank quality wise, and the Gripweeds never, ever disappoint! They RAWK!
Night #4 - Doc Watson's - I'm not used to being out late for many nights in a row, so I was draggin' a bit come Saturday night (S A TUR D.....ahh, yawn.....) but the music brought me "around again". The Brilliant Mistakes were, um, er.. BRILLIANT! Storng set of piano based pop! Wanted to pick up the CD, but they cashed out and left before I could think about it! APEHOUSE was good, not my cup of tea as they were a bit heavy for my taste, but good performance overall. The Sixfifteens had a good following at the show, and, were another band that were not my cup of tea, a bit heavier than I like, but a good performance overall. The Breakup Society were very good. Much heavier and edgier than their IPO Vol 7 track "Robin Zander" would suggest...but, in a good way. Rich Cox is always very good. He's a true pro and his pop songs are pristine! Picked up his latest batch of songs on CD-R and they are fab! His wife is very good at marketing as well!!!! The Dipsomaniacs RAWK! Even
though they needed the help of a last minute substitute drummer, they still kicked power pop butt! "Black Cloud" is a personal fave of mine and they just killed with that track Saturday night! Stewkey's Nazz finished up IPO in their typical over the top way! Classic songs, great voice, and a very tight band!
Overall....4 fantastic days in Philly.. Sure, the crowds could have been bigger, but I think that that is a problem all over the USA these days! But, I think everyone who did make it out to the shows thoroughly enjoyed themselves!
Thanks for making it happen again Dave! Thanks to all of the bands for being part of the action!
Mark Hershberger
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