PhilaPhile

Reggie Watts

I saw Reggie at Pop!Tech 2006. He's inventive, funny and very entertaining. A nice combination of musical talent and humor. You can check out some of his unique work at The Reggie Watts Channel on Vimeo. Hopefully, he'll post on a regular basis.

tags: Reggie Watts music

Paolo Nutini

We went to see Paolo Nutini on Friday night at World Cafe Live. A very nice show from a young, Scottish singer. He's a big hit with the young ladies who screamed to Paolo throughout the concert, "I Love You." He has a gravely, sometimes cracking voice that is different in a good way. It's funny listening to people compare his voice to different artists. One person said they thought he reminded them of David Bowie. I heard a little Simply Red. My wife heard bits of Joe Cocker, Van Morrison, and Joe Walsh from The Commitments. Whatever we think we hear, I think we all agree that he has his own, unique sound.

His concert was fun but a little short. During the encore they covered a Gnarls Barkley song which made me think they were out of material after performing all of the songs on their CD. For about 3/4 of the concert it appeared as if the band was there merely as back-up to Paolo. The last 3 or 4 songs they were finally allowed to perform some solos and I was left wanting more from the entire band.

I have one question about World Cafe Live, "Who's running this place?" After purchasing my tickets fairly early I get an email telling me about parking. In the email they mentioned something for those who "upgraded to the mezzanine level". I didn't have the option of upgrading when I purchased the tickets. How does that work exactly? Since my wife and I wanted to have dinner before the concert the mezzanine would have been an option that I would have chosen. Eventually we were seated at a table in the Upstairs Dining area after sitting at the bar for awhile during happy hour. During our dinner we couldn't hear each other because of the music blaring from the DJ on stage. We ordered a salad and a Crab Cake sandwich. We were served our food without utensils. How does that happen? At the bar downstairs I purchased a beer and a glass of wine. The wine was served in a small plastic cup that was barely half-full.

Despite these somewhat minor inconveniences most of the people who work there are extremely nice. And they do bring in a lot of good artists. I was excited about the possibility of seeing the John Butler Trio performing there March 5th. Tickets went on sale at noon Saturday, February 3rd. I got back to the house Saturday afternoon at 12:20 to purchase tickets but I was to late it was sold out. Oh well I messed-up. I checked the John Butler Trio Web site only to learn that the tickets actually went on sale on January 27th through musictoday.com. The local club only gets the tickets that haven't been sold up to that point. This is not mentioned on the World Cafe Web site. I know they probably don't control the ticket sales but they should let you know the real purchase date. Well that's my rant. I don't think any of these problems will hurt them in the long-run as long as they keep the talent coming in. But my wife, the business consultant, believes they will pay in the future if they continue to be mismanaged. We'll see.

tags: Paolo Nutini World Cafe Live Philadelphia University City

Phil Roy at Puck

What a great time we had last night seeing Phil Roy at Puck, a fairly new music venue located in Doylestown. Puck is small and intimate with a great sound system. I'm looking forward to returning soon.

I first saw Phil Roy this summer at Pastorius Park where I thought he was great. Seeing Phil and his band last night at Puck was a real treat. He has such an easy manner about him and his performance is playful and highly entertaining. All that is good but the reason I was there was to hear him play and sing both of which were exceptional. His singing is so soulful and spritual (I think I'm repeating myself) and his lyrics are incredible. He's playing in West Chester tonight at The Arts Scene. If you're in the area you should check him out.

tags: Phil Roy Puck Doylestown

Rodrigo y Gabriela

I had a great time at PopTech 2006 this year. As always many great speakers, interesting attendees, and this year exceptional musical performances. Jason Moran solo was fantastic but I would have liked to hear more from him with his band. By far the best performance was Rodrigo y Gabriela. Two Mexican thrash metal band guitarists who now play acoustic guitar in Ireland. How they got from Mexico to Ireland is a fun story that resulted in them having the number one song in Ireland. There CD sold out quickly at PopTech. I can't wait to get my hands on it.

tags: Rodrigo Y Gabriela PopTech 2006 Jason Moran

Phil Roy at Pastorius Park

What a great night for a concert in the park. The Chestnut Hill (the CHill) Community Association hosts the 58th Annual Pastorius Park Concert Series on Wednesday nights throughout the summer. Last night Phil Roy and the band El Dinero performed. I hadn't really listened to much of his music other than his version of "Hope in a Hopeless World" which I really like. After dropping my daughter off to procure a good spot I arrived a little late as they were playing "Hope...". Settling down with my pizza and soda I was really surprised at how soulful Phil Roy sings and plays. His lyrics are thoughtful and sometimes funny, and his singing was described best by my daughter who said, "Daddy he sounds much better live than on his recording." An artist live performance is how I determine (and now so does my daughter) who I like best.

Alex and I go to several concerts a year at Pastorius Park, it's becoming something of a tradition. It's nice to hear music that I know I wouldn't listen to ordnarily. But it's most fun to enjoy a summer evening in my neighborhood with family and friends while lying on a blanket looking up at the night sky. It really doesn't get much better.

tags: 19118

Bruce Hornsby

My wife and I went to see Bruce Hornsby at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday night. Before the show we had dinner at Bliss, located at 220 S. Broad St., about two blocks from the Kimmel Center.

Bliss was very good and, by our standards, expensive. The bill came to $133 before tip. We arrived 20 minutes late for our 6:30 reservation. We failed to call ahead and they gave our table away. They managed to seat us within 10 minutes of our arrival. The hostesses and waitress were very pleasant and helpful. Attire ranged from wranglers to suit and tie, most people were dressed casually.

For appetizers we had Tuscan Tomato Bread Salad, Mozzarella, Manodori Balsamico, and Baby Butterhead Lettuce, Sweet Gorgonzola, Pear, Walnut Salad, both quite good. Appetizers are in the $8 to $10 range. For entrees my wife had Achiote Marinated Lamb Loin, Wild Mushroom Fregala Sarda, Sweet Garlic Jus which she thought was excellent. I had the Peppered Beef Tenderloin, Crispy Polenta Cake, Wild Mushrooms, Pinot Noir Sauce which was also very good. My only complaint was that there weren't any vegetables. I guess I was in such a hurry I didn't see any side dishes on the menu that I could include with my entree.

Each of us had two glasses of wine, generally $8 to $10 a glass. Unlike World Cafe Live, Bliss poured a generous glass of wine. For dessert I had whatever the chocolate dessert was that night which was great.

We left hurriedly and got to the Kimmel while Bruce was playing some solos. I had not been to the Kimmel Center and was very impressed. It is beautiful. The sound is excellent and there is literally not a bad seat in the house. We sat on the second level towards the center, tickets were $40 each. The first thing that I noticed was how wide the aisles are and how much seating space you have. The next time we go to the Kimmel center I will try and get a seat on the floor or the second level on the side. Along the side the seats are a single row in many places with only a rail in front of you. You can look directly down on the performers.

Bruce and his band put on a tremendous show. I had heard a few of his songs but only recently did I start listening to him. I bought his latest CD and liked it so I bought tickets for the concert. He's an excellent pianist and appeared to really feed off of the audience. He played two sets, and 3 songs for the encore. After the first two songs of the encore he said, "We're not going to go off and come back on. We'll just stay here and play this last song." I think everyone was more than satisfied with the length and quality of the concert. He has an excellent band and a drummer that, at times, just took over the show. I think I would describe them as "tight."

It was a great night.

tags: 19102

World Cafe Live

My wife and I went to see Jonatha Brooke on Saturday at the opening of World Cafe Live. It's located on Penn's campus and it's a great venue for music. The upstairs is open 7 days a week with live music everyday. The downstairs seats 300 at tables and a bar. There's a mezzanine with tables and seating, it was closed for a private party so I didn't have a chance to look at it. I think the mezzanine would be my preference for seating.

Tickets were $50 for the show, $40 if you were a member of WXPN. The price does not include dinner. I've heard some of J.B.'s songs on the radio but had not bought any of her CD's. I will now. She was fantastic. Her band was also very good. The yardstick I use for evaluating perofrmers is comparing their live performance to their recordings. She's much better live. At one point Eric Bazilian came out and played two songs with her and the band. They were good together. He's very familiar to folks in Philly because the Hooters were a local band. Back in the day we did some good partying with the twinbill of Cafe Ole and the Hooters.

The dinner part of opening night was incredibly disappointing. As our waiter must have said to us at least 10 times, "but you have to remember it's opening night and we're still working out the kinks." But there's no excuse for not having enough food on opening night. My wife and I came ready to eat good food and listen to good music, in that order. Our waiter was a bit slow and apparently new at his profession. But that is usually forgiven as long as the eats and drinks are sufficiently good and plentiful. It was neither. We ordered a glass of Chardonnay at $9 and a glass of Pinoit Noir for $8. The wine was fine but the amount was disappointing. We received 1/3 of a glass. The next time it was 1/4 of a glass. We complained and were told that the manager would be sent over at the break, he never showed.

We ordered dinner and were told we should also order back-ups because they may have run out of our first choice. They didn't have either of our choices on their limited menu. We then received our appetizers, one of which we did not order, but we accepted it because we were hungry. The crab cake appetizers were $14 a serving. It was somewhat dry. The hommous with crispy wedges of pita bread cost $7. It was O.K. but the size of the serving was small. In the end we ordered 5 glasses of wine and 3 appetizers. Our bill before tip was $79.

Next time I'll try the upstairs cafe. For my wife's view of the concert and dining experience check out her blog.

tags: 19104