After 25 years of blown dreams, close calls, not quites, and disastrous hopes. After 25 years of never winning (except in fictional Sylvester Stallone movies), Philadelphia is the center of the world.

TWENTY
FIVE
YEARS.

This year's Phillies didn't just bring home a championship, they brought home hope. If presidential campaigns haven't convinced you that 2008 is the year for "change" and "hope," perhaps these ballplayers from the city that liberty built are an even better example.

How's that Sam Cooke song go? "It's been a long time coming, oh-whoa, but I know a change is gonna come." Of course it would be ignorant to even compare the magnitude of African-American oppression and the civil rights movement--which "A Change Is Gonna Come" is about--to the past quarter century struggle of Philadelphia sports teams, but the uplifting theme of the song carries to any burden that felt too heavy to bare at one point or another. And every Philadelphia athlete and fan has felt that way these past few years, until today. It's been a long, long time coming. But boy does it make the victory taste sweet.

And for a personal added bonus, I used to love a girl who lives in Tampa. This makes us even!

MP3 Ben Sollee - A Change Is Gonna Come (a most excellent Sam Cooke cover)
BUY ALBUM / Myspace

MP3 Robbie Robb - In Time
BUY ALBUM

AND! For readers who loathe when I get all cheery-eyed over these things, here's a more realistic read of what this championship means for Philly.

Here's some pictures from the Battle of the Bands Saturday. All photos snapped by Jamie Ducary.

Come Together: Above, all 10 groups gather before the crowd and judges for one last round of applause. From left to right: NinetyNineNorth, HarpHaven, Dave Spencer (hidden, but I know he was there), Patrick Walsh, Furious Waffle Party, The Final Touch, Rocket 88, Woodland Avenue, Evolv, and My Ebenezer.

NinetyNineNorth: That guitarist on the right? He held it down.

Woodland Avenue: The Wood was good. Scored 3rd place in judge's voting.

HarpHaven: "Alright guys, this is the blues riff in B. Watch me for the changes and try to keep up, okay?"

Evolv: The Philly group's singer took a walk on the wild side, singing from the floor instead of the stage where his band pummeled out something furious.

My Ebenezer: Praising Jesus and earning their own praise from the receptive crowd with uplifting tunage.

Rocket 88: aka Battle of the Bands champs.

Furious Waffle Party: Undisputed crowd favs. And if Redbull needs a new spokesman, look no further than this singer.

NOT PICTURED: Dave Spencer, Patrick Walsh, The Final Touch

I have been wanting to write a novel for a while now.

I've had the whole story in my head since before I started working here at The Mercury. But I've built it up so ambitiously at this point, that I feel I need a year in the wilderness, living off wild berries and rain water, to work it all out. But a homey's got bills to pay (and stacks of records to keep buying. It's a vicious and endless circle).

That's why NANOWRIMO was started in 1999. And no, nanowrimo is not a palm-size super blender made in Japan, though it sounds like it could be. It stands for NAtional NOvel WRiting MOnth. Catchy, ain't it? And that month is about to dawn come November 1.

A pal of mine has conned me into giving up the next month of my life to take up this mammoth challenge headfirst. (My goal is to be less the writer I was in college, where I would spew out 50 pages of word trash in the last 12 hours before deadline.)

And now I'm spreading the disease. If you got a story in you, the only way it may ever get out is if you just binge and purge it all right now. If you need to take it seriously, you can edit and cut and add and edit some more and ship off to a publisher afterwards. But for now, forget about overthinking--you have until midnight Nov 30 to create a 175-page (50,000-word) novel. Think you can do it? I dare you.

Last year, 101,767 writers participated in 2007, yielding 15,335 reported winners. Participants wrote 1,187,931,929 words in 2007, according to the project's website.

Check out the NANOWRIMO site to sign up and for more info. Boy am I ever going to sleep good come December!

From the bright lights of Philly to it's little rustle-n-bustle suburbs, Saturday night was excitedly electric. Sure, south-eastern Pa was awash in torrential downpours, a Who concert, a Flyers game, and--oh yes, a late night MONUMENTAL WORLD SERIES GAME.

But some of the brightest noise to spill forth that night came from a little corner of the 422 Business Center in Oaks.

The first Roctoberfest Battle of the Bands held at Sports Extreme's Cisco Arena was a sure success; a fine display of showmanship, respect--and of course--music. The 10 bands amassed a wide variety of sound and style, bringing together a collection of about 100 fans from Reading to Downingtown to Philly. There was a song for everyone there, from Dave Spencer's coffeehouse blues to the uncanny Philly funk of The Final Touch to the classic rock finesse of Rocket 88 to the emo punk of NinetyNineNorth.

Stan Huskey (editor of The Times Herald), Samori (Lil Drumma Boy Recordings) and I got to be Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, and Paula Abdul to the battling bands (rest assured, none of us owned up to being the Paula of the group.)

Hometown heroes-Rocket 88-took home the crown, but it couldn't have been closer. Furious Waffle Party put up a close and valiant fight, bringing their rabid fanbase in full tow. Woodland Avenue's impressive guitar solos and funky style scored well with us judges. Evolv gave the most impassioned performance of the night--also bringing a drove of fans. Dave Spencer, who looked the most comfortable on stage, also came close to claiming the crown.

Battle of Bands Champions, Rocket 88

But in the end it was the shockingly talented and tight performance from Rocket 88 that won us all over. Though the high schoolers were probably the youngest guys to take the stage and still raw eggs in the pan, they totally cooked. How often do you find guys their age that even know "Rocket 88" is arguably the first rock n' roll songs written? Or how often do you find a drummer that young who can also provide lead vocals?

Rocket 88's stage energy was surely upstaged by a handful of the other groups, but they were also the only group to really take anyone out of the moment and out of their seats.

The drummer/singer performed with Jagger-swagger and a strong sense of confidence. With his denim sleeves rolled up Boss style, enormous Blues Brother shades and a Ray Charles head bob from behind the kit, he had the most personality of anyone to take the stage. When the foursome launched into their closer--a cover of The Allman Brothers' "One Way Out"--jaws dropped from anyone there who knew the original. The music was nearly note for note and their center staged guitarist (I haven't caught their names) took over on vocals bearing a haunting resemblance to Gregg Allman's pipes. Stunning.

But what about other show highlights?

Well, the night's ultimate rad moment goes to Pottstown's HarpHaven for their swamped up and totally sick cover of Johnny B. Good. Heck, the drummer even kicked it off Back To The Future style--"Alright guys, this is the blues riff in B. Watch me for the changes and try to keep up, okay?" Frankly, if the singer had gone feedback ape nuts during the song, and then finished saying "Guess you guys aren't ready for that yet...but your kids are gonna love it," I would have given them perfect marks across the board. Their original tunes showed promise, but have a ways to go before they can match their Johnny B. Good cover.

While NinetyNineNorth didn't offer anything new from the teen-emo scene (which is the general repeating problem with the teen-emo scene) I did enjoy watching them blow up with Rise Against's "Injection" and Brand New's "Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows." Their lead guitarist wielded some fancy moves, but they seemed a little disjointed. If they take the time to find their voice, I think they have a future.

Last minute additions to the battle, The Final Touch came from Philly to sub in for From The Balcony who bowed out at the last minute. And boy did they bring a fantastic set to kick off the show; very Philly-funkified. Their drummer--wow. Sickest skin pounding I've ever seen from 15 feet away, if not ever. It's amazing those drums still stood when he was done. Their bassist--laid some of the funkiest funk down. The lady singers and key player--stunning and talented and rode the beat well. It's comforting to see Philly still turns fiery soul groups like this.

All in all though, it was a great night all around. Every band should be proud of what they produced that night. It never got boring and it really was hard to say some groups were better than others. It's remarkable that talent this good is tucked into the area here and so many of us aren't hearing them. Check out all these bands at www.rockaroundphilly.com.

Thanks Daryl Hall, you made my blog a liar! But Phillie fans should have seen the wet and muddy mess ahead when our resident soul machine bowed out of the national anthem due to being "under the weather." Frankly, Daryl, everyone that did show up in Philly last night was under a LOT of weather themselves. So... you better put up an awesome new collaboration on Live From Daryl's House soon to make up for it. Or else!

So now we sit indoors until the rain washes away, waiting to get back to Game 5. Aw, but it's not that gloom. This is just a lull that gives you the perfect opportunity to spin some tunes and forget about ! Here's the wax I'm spinning today.

BJ Thomas - Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head
Blind Melon - No Rain
Slayer - The whole "Reign In Blood" album
Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks
Bob Dylan - The Levee's Gonna Break
Modest Mouse - Float On
Guns N' Roses - November Rain (eh, it's close enough)
Daryl Hall - Starting All Over Again

And if you have no idea what's going on with Game 5--here's some light on the matter.

Tune in to Game 5 of The World Series tonight to catch our home town boy, Daryl Hall give the world some National Anthem, Phill-ay style.

This means we've won more games (series is 3-1, if you for some reason are wicked out of it) AND had way better anthem singers than Tampa Bay in this series. I mean, seriously. Backstreet Boys? Fail. Los Lonely Boys? Strike 2.

So let's kick Game 5 off right, with the Philly anthem in today's YouTube Monday clip. Here's to hoping the Phils get to dance at the top of the steps tonight, Rocky style.

Go Phils!

It's time to decide who you're voting for, and I'm not talking about Obama or McCain.

I'm talking about rock bands.

More specifically, I'm talking 'bout RockAroundPhilly.com's vote for the Roctoberfest Battle of The Bands this Saturday. And while such events are often a yawning affair for a Friday night at a firehouse, this is not your average Battle of the Bands. Taking place in Sports Extreme's Cisco Arena, the event has roped in a surprisingly excellent and eclectic crop of 10 local groups stretching from Reading to Philadelphia who wield some surprisingly excellent chops. And I'm not saying this because I'll be a judge at the event or because The Mercury is helping sponsor it--I really, truly am impressed by the wide variety of talent brimming among this group of bands.

And since this blog is the only place I get to be impartial with work related things, here's the rundown on my favs vying for the Roctoberfest crown this Saturday.

Rocket 88
Fuzzy, vintage rock from a tight-knit group of high school brothers. Most bands their age sound like 1 of 3 things these days; generic emo, generic singer songwriter drivel, or absolutely dreadful noise. And that's what makes these 4 bros a remarkable breed of young musicians; they are none of the above. Instead, Rocket 88 is fluent in the classic rock language, stemming from groups like The Allman Brothers, Tom Petty and The Who with Bill Haley-like execution. They aren't quite Pete Townsend or Duane Allman yet, but they definitely got the heart. Of all the groups vying for the Battle crown this weekend, Rocket 88 has the most comfortable and natural feel with their songs. They have 2 excellent originals on rockaroundphilly.com, but check out their cover of The Allman's "One Way Out" to really get a whiff of their chops. More tunes on their Myspace, including a cover of Tom Petty's "All American Girl."
MP3: Rocket 88 - One Way Out (Allman Brothers cover recorded live)


Dave Spencer
Again, another remarkable participant who seems to be completely cut off from most young musicians 'round these parts. His soft and feathery style of acoustic serenading takes it's cues from Nick Drake-style blues and percussive bluegrass. His songs are the most poignant I heard from the stack of demos sent to me for this Battle of the Bands. It'll be interesting to see if these pensive coffee shop blues (he works and performs at Steel City Coffee House) can translate to the Cisco Arena stage, but I have faith his soft blues blows will knock the unsuspecting crowd on their butts. There are two originals up for download at RockAroundPhilly.com, but his stripped cover of the Great Lake Swimmers' "Your Rocky Spine," is too mind-numbingly gorgeous to pass up.
MP3: Dave Spencer - Your Rocky Spine (Great Lake Swimmers cover)


Furious Waffle Party
You obviously shouldn't expect to take this Reading group seriously, but that's exactly the point. Times is uber serious right now; with all the economic, political, and global chaos whirring around 2008 (not to mention Madonna's getting divorced too, what's next!?) we need some unhinged goofballs to pull us out of the fire, if only for a breather--and FWR do that better than any group around here that I can think of. Mainly because, their buzzing guitar style of songwriting is quite good, whether they are singing about aardvarks (Aardvark National Anthem) or serenading their friend Will who likes to play Halo and Guitar Hero (The Will Song).
MP3: Furious Waffle Party - The Will Song

These are my 3 favorites for the battle, but there are 7 more you can download music from and read up on at www.rockaroundphilly.com. So go do that. Please vote and let us know who you want to see duke it out Saturday night.

The Battle of the Bands and Halloween Party is 7 - 11 p.m., Sat night, Oct. 25. Don't miss it.

Well, the obvious new item on the inter-waves this Monday morn is the instantly classic Palin rap courtesy of one of the weirdest SNL episodes in recent memory. I still can't watch this clip without LOSING it when the moose waltzes onto the set, but dang did Poehler own that. Without further adieu..


But while that's as fantastic as it is, I spent more time this weekend memorized by this wacky little music video from Phoenix, Az band Miniature Tigers. A fun little indie band to keep an eye on, no doubt, but this quirky little Michel Gondry-style vid directed by JD Ryznar (Yacht Rock infamy) is one of the more poignant musiv vid's to catch my eye recently. Like seriously, how can you deny any video with a mustachioed brute who makes a guitar appear out of spontaneous combustion to rip into a killer solo? So sick!

Any other good music videos floating around recently? Please share in the comments. I'm hungry for that sort of thing right now.

The Dodgers were a bell and we just sent a crack up their big iron side! Let Phreedom ring!

Finally, FINALLY, Philadelphia is where it belongs; at the top of the world, (don't worry, it's still grounded firmly along the waters edge in Pa, I'm just speaking metaphorically here) on the way to the World Series.

And this isn't just any ol' championship march. This is a HUGE deal for us. I mean, yea, we're celebrating the sluggers, but more importantly, we're celebrating us-our heritage, our patience, our city, our history. It's like when the class nerd shows up at the high school reunion as a genius millionaire body-building model. There is no place more proud right now than Center City. It's a really avenging feeling.

It's a total Philly thing; you wouldn't understand.

But if you want to try to understand, here's some Philly music to add to the sweet sound of cheer and victory that will no doubt be ringing throughout Philly and it's extended suburbs tomorrow.

*Click song title links to download.

MP3: McFadden And Whitehead - Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now (Phillies version)
Play this song loud and raise your bottles and glasses in unison, friends.

MP3: Slo Mo - My Buzz Comes Back
Their fresh sound is so Philly. And this song is about getting your groove back. And frankly, The Phils are the new "How Stella Got Her Groove Back."

MP3: Bill Conti - Gonny Fly Now (Rocky training theme/Philadelphia theme song)
A must have song for such an occasion, obvy!

MP3: Otis Redding & Carla Thomas - Bring It On Home To Me (Sam Cooke cover)
Not a Philly song, but hey Phils! Bring that title on home to us. Yeaaah! (Yeah!) Yeeeeeeeah! (Yeah!)

MP3: Boyz II Men - End of the Road
This one is for you, Dodgers fans! We're looking at you, Mike Piazza. pwnd!

Well, I don't have to point out that I'm an entertainment junkie, not a sports fiend. But I do fancy romanticizing the air of sports fandom in Philly, especially considering how ferocious our city is getting for a championship. It's more about celebrating who we are than home runs and ground rule doubles. And with The Phils building some big hopes up around here, I wanted to re-share a post I wrote about them last year when they were knocked out of the playoffs that I feel has some relevance to this year's NLCS series. Cheers.

http://www3.allaroundphilly.com/blogs/pottstown/chrism/2007/10/curve-balls_08.html

Well, after digging up the High Fidelity clip in my last post, I felt obligated to start this week off right; with another High Fidelity clip. This one being the infamous Monday Morning mix tape scene.

"C'mon, don't you want to hear what's next?"

Some of my favorite all time records have come from groups like The Clash, Against Me, and Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. And while these 3 firecracker groups are often regarded as scathing political preachers when it comes to their music; politics have absolutely nothing to do with what I admire about "London Calling," "Born In The USA," "Sandinista" or "New Wave."

I mean yea sure, I occasionally like raging against the machine, wearing skinny ties and railin' the man, but what really magnetizes me to a band is pure unbridled passion. Gut emptying, veins busting in your forehead, eyes bleeding delivery.

But I hear less and less of that fury and passion these days. Blood and guts is so hard to find anymore! I wasted so much money on new releases this year that ended up bumming me out about the state of the music biz that I actually stopped paying attention for a while. Even the new Nada Surf and Subways records let me down. But then I got a wake up call from a young Jersey foursome with ringing guitars, big dreams, loud hearts and no money.

The Gaslight Anthem's much-buzzed about record, The 59 Sound, is everything you heard about it. Fertile, hungry, powerful, instantally classic, and sopping with maxed-out soul-on-fire songwriting. If you've waited this long to check it out, you need to stop that. It's one of those that will not leave your player for a long time, because it's still in mine and I can't remember the last record that fired me up like this.

It's as Joe Strummer as it is Bruce Springsteen. Energy, energy, energy, with warm and melodic delivery. Heck, you could even say it's like a good Alkaline Trio album without all the goth, blood, and self-loathing. Think of Springsteen's "The River" with a shot of adrenaline in the arm. And for a group that clearly worships Strummer and Springsteen with equal twinkle, there is nothing political and nothing to preach on a single song; just love, struggle and hard blue collar work from corner to corner.

It surely doesn't break any rules or create any new musical conventions or subgenres. It's just plain ol' empassioned rock, strong on tradition and made with genuine soul and heart. Check these songs out.

MP3: The Gaslight Anthem-The 59 Sound
Irony would have it that this here title track about death is the song full of the most life on the album. It's an ode to singer Brian Fallon's friend who died in a car wreck, but I love the imagery and notion of what song we'll hear when we pass along to the afterlife. I'd die to hear this song (and I almost do every day at work, waiting and waiting and waiting till 6 pm when I can dart to the car and crank the speakers up with this tune full blast)

MP3: The Gaslight Anthem-Here's Looking At You, Kid
This slower, sweeter kissoff to all the girls that Fallon lost through the years bangs my head up just as hard as the louder songs on the album. It's as potent as Springsteen's "I'm On Fire" and reminds me of High Fidelity where Rob Gordon nostagically retraces his steps with his "Top 5" ex-girlfriends, which not-so-ironically features a cameo from The Boss. And that's why me, John Cusack and The Gaslight Anthem all get along so well.



"Give that one final good bye and good luck to your all time top 5, and move on down the road."

Thanks, Boss.

Annnnnnnd now that I'm back, I need to prove my silver and post again before you all call my bluff.

Let's just cut to the chase. Go to the Schuylkill River Festival this Saturday, 11 AM - 4 PM. Plain, simple.

It's along the river at Riverfront Park. And I want some friends to come hang out with me since I have to work The Mercury table all day. And I don't want to look like that lonely wallflower stuck behind a table all day long.

It's the ideal community celebration with live music, food, kayaking, adventure, arts, crafts, nature, family, friends, educational insight, etc etc etc. Sure, there are tons of these sorts of things every year (even one in Spring City on the very same day at the same time), but I really believe this one has some remarkable magic to it. The event is kind of like it's own little arts community, and that's so cool. It's exciting to be a part of it, and I really believe it's something you should check out. And I'm not getting paid to say that, so obviously I mean it.

I'm stoked to catch sets from Beaucoup Blue (father son blues duo) and Burning Bridget Cleary (some fun amped up Celtic tunes) and just sit back and watch the community mingle in all this fantastic atmosphere. The weather has an amazing forecast too.

If I don't see you there, I'll hate you. Do you really want that hanging over your conscience?

Hi, I'm the guy who blogs here. Remember me?

Pale, scrawny, lame, has an affinity for cute bassists in British punk bands? Yea, hi.

Well, allow me to apologize for the long and painful absence I've left you in. I know it's been hard. But these trying times of un-blogging from Scene & Heard's HQ have been caused by me living some good ol' fashioned life. Don't cry for me, Argentina.

When I started blogging, oh, about a year ago here at The Mercury, it was right after I had suffered a big loss in my personal life that left me in a state of pouring out, instead of soaking in. I wanted to get everything outside of me, and put it all over notebook paper, HTML, etc. The soul needed some emptying and cleansing. Everything inside me was coming out and I was taking nothing new in, and that was that.

So I finally got over the overly dramatic this summer, and decided it was time to be a sponge again (see spongebob). Suck everything back in! New and old and exciting and wild. Which has an enormous effect on getting your blog on. So instead of sharing, I've spent my days consuming. I disappeared on a random and solitary road trip up through the Northeast part of the country, just driving around and listening to music and sleeping in my car. I bought dozens of cheap used CDs. I dug up all the old mixes I had from my college years and re-discovered the joy of what brought me to music in the first place. I rekindled some good friendships gone bad. I played best man to my best friend at his wedding, and gave a speech that apparently went over well (An older guy came up afterwards and said, "It's speeches like that that actually give me some faith in your generation. Thank you.").

In other words, I've been selfish. Keeping all of the finer fruits of life to myself. And now I'm full of all the good stuff again.

So you know what that means? Lots of good blogging ahead. And I know I have ushered in these sentiments for the past 5 blog posts or so throughout the summer, but it's true this time. It really is. I plan on making this blog more of an mp3 blog, where I share with you the music that I'm going through and defining life through, but with all the good stuff from before too. Which means I'm reinstating "YOU TUBE MONDAYS" and "TOP FIVE TUESDAYS" as well.

So, in short. I'm back.