Two incredible additions to Fairmount

This is the best news I’ve heard in a while- I heard rumors earlier, then AD Amorosi wrote about it in the City Paper so it must be true: Fergus Carey and Tom Peters of Monk’s Cafe are opening a restaurant in the sometimes-maligned Tavern On Green at 20th and Green St. in my hood. Tavern on Green had what it takes to succeed and it lasted a long time (since 1979!), but it just couldn’t do it WELL. Pretty good beer, nice dining room, outdoor seating, cozy location, but so so food. It’s gonna be a hit but I’m sure there’s going to be some complaining about the (soon to be lack of) parking.

The other news is the old Cuvee Notredame on the same street down a bit on 17th St. is being renovated by the owners of Bishop’s Collar and The Darkhorse/Blacksheep. ALL highly regarded restauranteurs/tavern owners. According to posts on Phillyblog.com, “The Cuvee spot is planning to open the second week of April. It’s going to be called “tàbhairne” which is gaelic for tavern.”

It’s a guarantee that the Monks 2 space will be done well. Everything those two touch turns to gold. I can’t even think of any suggestions. But for the Irish bar spot: PLEASE guys, You do not have to have a strictly Irish/English tap lineup just because it’s an Irish bar. PLEASE mix in some American micros. Except for Guinness, all that English Ale tastes the same!! They’re one step up from Bud. I’m betting they will since Jeff Keel keeps an interesting mix on tap at Bishop’s. I just wish he’d change it a bit– Acme IPA is wonderful, but there are 100’s of other IPAs out there waiting to get in the door!

Can’t wait!

World Cafe Live Beats Brews & BBQ

About the venue first: I’ve got mixed opinions about World Cafe Live: I’m not a big fan of XPN, if fact, everytime I turn the dial to 88.5, I can’t turn it back to 91.7 WKDU fast enought. I appreciate what it’s done for the philly music scene, but the music is so damn…SAFE. Ditto for (most of) the shows at World Cafe Live. I’ve seen some good ones there, but they’re just a bit too few and far between. Anyway, the venue itself is quite impressive. It’s just really done well. Nice layout, nice bars, stage, soundsystem, etc.

So it was a really great indoor place to hang out on a cold February day for the third annual beer tasting. If I had to pick a REAL beerfest, I’d have waited till next wknd. for the Philly Craft Beer Fest at the Navy Yard, but a bunch of friends were all goin to this, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get drunk and hang out with everyone. I heard they oversold it last year so it was impossible to move. It was sold out this year, but they limited attendance to 1,000 so there was plenty of room and no lines.
Brewery-wise there wasn’t anything special- mostly locals, with a couple west coasters thrown in. I stuck to mainly my faves; pale ales and IPA’s. Some of the standouts included the usual suspects: Troeg’s Nugget Nectar, Stone IPA, Lagunita’s IPA, Great Divide IPA, Dogfish Head 90 minute IPA, Victory Hopdevil, blah blah blah. The one that took the prize (who’s prize? mine I guess) was Baltimore’s Clipper City Heavy Seas Loose Cannon Hop3 Ale (yeah, that’s a mouthful). made with Magnum, Centennial, Chinook, Amarillo and Palisade hops, It had the nicest hop flavor and a really floral nose. Sorry, no geeky descriptions from me. If you want that, get it here.
My award for the worst beer goes to Stone Mill Organic Pale Ale from the Green Valley Brewing Company. Does the name sound just a little generic? The website just a little slick? Of course; It’s really just a pseudonym for Anheuser-Busch. Microbrews make up a measly ~4% of the total beer market, but that’s too much for Bud to let go of, so they try to sneak their new brands into my fridge by giving them warm and fuzzy names. Hey Bud, I have an idea. Spend less on advertising and more on flavor.
If you plan to go next year, Save the extra 20 bucks and forget the VIP pass. The only benefit it had was an hour head start on the drinking.

The Skatalites at the Trocadero Theatre, Philly

Check out this list of names:

Tommy McCook
Rolando Alphonso
Lloyd Brevett
Lloyd Knibb
Lester Sterling
Don Drummond
Jah Jerry Haynes
Jackie Mittoo
Johnny Moore
Jackie Opel
Doreen Shaffer

Even if you’re just a slight music geek, chances are you’ve heard of at least of couple of ‘em. All of them were original members or members of the Skatalites at one time. Now only Lloyd Knibb and Lester “Ska” Sterling remain (pictured). Their website lists Doreen Shaffer as a member in 1964, but I think that’s stretching the truth a bit. We’ll let it slide since she WAS a contributor/singer on many Jamaican classics of the that time. The site also lists Lloyd Brevett as still with them, but he wasn’t there last night.
The show at the Troc was OK; the crowd was a little thin- I was able to walk right up front and center stage to take this shot. They also didn’t do any encores due to some 11 pm curfew for all-ages show (according to the boards at phillyska.com) which was pretty lame.

Speaking of lame: Hey Trocadero, can you tame those apes you call bouncers? This was a low key, friendly show, barely anyone drinking, no one smoking, just kids dancing, and you got this musclehead standing there wearing BLACK LEATHER DRIVING GLOVES. WTF? You shoulda called him at home before the show and told him to take the day off. Cmon. And get rid of the attitude. The TLA used to be the same way, but they’ve REALLY gotten better. They’re actually really nice folks, even on sold-out shows. The doormen/doorladies even say “have a good show” when they take my ticket! In Philly!?

MP3:The Skatalites & Toots-Split Personality

I always liked Madeleine Albright and Jimmy Carter

Albright says next president must `restore goodness of American power’

Some quotes from Albright and Carter:

“I think that Iraq is going to go down in history as the greatest disaster in American foreign policy”

“there has been a reduction almost all over the world in trust and esteem by foreigners toward Americans.”

“We don’t have to be loved, But we shouldn’t be feared. We should be respected.”

Isn’t sad how FAST Bush and company ruined our reputation? I would have thought it would take at least a decade or so for a 200+ year-old country’s reputation to go down the toilet. It only took Bush a few months.

Dick Cheney is a Dick

Article- Cheney’s al-Qaeda dig riles Pelosi
Biggest prick of the last 25 years? 50? What a tool. Quote he: “I think if we were to do what Speaker Pelosi and Congressman Murtha are suggesting, all we will do is validate the al-Qaida strategy,”
He’s still using that same, tired excuse for the hole he’s dug us into. That bastard will be saying this on his deathbed. It’s the kind of argument a grade school kid would make.

I’m glad Pelosi isn’t taking it: “You cannot say as the president of the United States, ‘I welcome disagreement in a time of war,’ and then have the vice president of the United States go out of the country and mischaracterize a position of the speaker of the House and in a manner that says that person in that position of authority is acting against the national security of our country,”.

Listen Dick: You fucked up. You lied. We’re in control now, and we want out of the mess you got us into. Stop the playground name-calling. Wait. I just got done calling HIM a name. Well, I’m not the VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

Walking, eating and drinking in Austin, Texas

I haven’t travelled in a long, LONG while, so I decide to get away and see Austin TX the day of the worst ice snow of the year. I got stuck on the plane, sitting on the runway for four hours while we waited in line for de-icing.
It doesn’t sound all that bad, but considering the VERY LAST TIME I flew, the same thing happened for a tiny rainstorm. Four hours that time too. With a child. That doesn’t even count the 4-5 hour trip after takeoff. Fucking Philly airport. It happened another time a year before that too, but I’ll quit bitching for a sec. and get on with the story about Austin. Wait. OK. One more bitch: Austin’s temp. was averaging in the 50-60’s F in the past few weeks. I show up and it doesn’t break the 30’s the whole time until the day we had to get back on the plane. Christ.
We had fun anyway. We walked and took FREE public buses all over town. We were also about the only ones who did.
Austin’s all about the live music, but there wasn’t much goin on at all while I was there, probably because of the upcoming SXSW, so I didn’t much live music. I ate lots of good tex mex and I got away from the kids for a while which was enough for me.
If you ever go you have to see the Whole Foods store (it originated there). There’s one in the works that’s supposed to be about the same size here in Philly at 17th and Callowhill, but we’ll never have what impressed me most about it: The beer and wine selection: It had the biggest walk in beer cooler I’ve ever seen(see pic), with sfuff from all over, and at great prices. I picked a few that I liked and DRANK THEM RIGHT THERE AT THE IN-STORE CAFE.
Also spent a LOT of time at the Gingerman, which had Rogue I2PA on tap. Shiner Bock was pretty much everywhere, much like Yuenling is here in PA, and its actually has a lot in common with Yuenling; both being small, independent, pre-prohibition regional breweries.
I also saw a LOT of DogfishHead beer on tap and in bottles. I thought it was odd I guess, seeing that it’s not that old of a brewery and it’s way up here in Delaware. I actually even brought home a bottle of their limited edition Burton Baton oak-aged IPA. I’ll let you know when I open it.
On a completely unrelated side note: I was standing in the Gingerman early in the day and there was only one other guy in the place. Turns out to be my brother’s best friend in high school back in Michigan. Haven’t seen the guy since the 80s. Live’s in Illinois. Man it’s a small world.

better than the wobble bike

Link courtesy of Sunshine. The Sideways Bike. It’s a bike that you ride side-saddle and steer with both wheels. It reminds me of the wobble-bike. Also check this rarity also sent from sunshine.

Dr. Dog live in-store appearance @ AKA Records, Philadelphia

There’s not many details online, but from what I gather, Dr. Dog will be doing an in store appearance at AKA Records in Old City, tonight (2/20) @ 6:30. I guess they’re still hanging around their hometown after their JB’s show last weekend, relaxing before their long upcoming tour.

Other Dr. Dog news: Pre-order the new album from Park the Van Records, get a sticker, tshirt and poster for just 18 bucks.

They’ll also be appearing on Conan O’Brien March 12. More details here.

Short review of Lily Allen show in Philly

I’m only exactly a week late to report on the Lily Allen show at the TLA in Philly last Monday and the US leg of the tour is already over!

Here are some of my thoughts:
I expected at least a mixed crowd, with at least a few younger people, but it was all 25 and up, and at least half the crowd was 30 and up, so now I don’t feel so weird liking a bublegum teenpop idol. I’m betting she will remain unknown to the younger crowd here in the states.

The backup band was spot on. The horn section and keyboard player were great, and the whole band matched the album sound perfectly, with no sampling machines, except for one that Lilly played with a few times in passing.

All of her songs sounded great; the only tunes that lacked were her covers; she did The Specials “Blank Expression” and the Kooks song which I’ve heard online but didn’t care for much.
She played just over an hour for a packed house and the crowd was pleasant but somewhat subdued.

Apparently the tour was sponsored by MTV, and there are a few Lily podcasts and fluff there, but I searched for a few minutes but couldn’t find any actual concert footage from Philly.

She’s already back in Europe, but will return to the states for the SXSW festival in Austin next month and the Coachella Festival in April.

Cure for your winter blues

Greeting. I’m David. I’m a contributor to badluckcityblog. I’m a native Delcan, but have been in and been assimilated by the dirty north for about 10 years. This has nothing to do with shows, or bikes, or beer, or even Philadelphia… but… if you missed it in the drive-ins back in the day… I present to you American Hippie in Israel.