August 14-20, 2003

music

icepack

by A.D. Amorosi

With Ozzfest, Warped Tour, Justin Timberlake, Marilyn Manson and Bruce Springsteen -- to say nothing of homeboys Ween -- in town all at once, my week got stickier than my makeup bag. Here’s how it went. After their sets at Ozzfest, Manson (who supped at Morimoto) and members of Disturbed, Chevelle and Korn (who also hung with producer Swizz Beatz at Whiskey Dix after recording at Larry Gold’s studio) stopped in to see A Perfect Tool at TLA. After Warped, The Used and Good Charlotte joined Cameron Diaz backstage to see boytoy Timberlake play a 1:30 a.m. set at TLA wherein the bobbing blond (I mean Timberlake) took off his Hustler baseball cap, played keyboard and guitar and brought Black Eyed Peas and Rampage on stage before he and Diaz left town. Shame neither Manson nor Springsteen showed up, though both were invited. Double shame: Those holding Timberlake/Christina Aguilera tix for the duo’s A.C. gig. It was canceled when lighting rigs fell on crew members. Timberlake’s and Springsteen’s road crews made Bar Noir their official hang, and hoped to bring Miami Steve Van Zandt to the Noir before leaving town Aug. 11. There’s more: At the Ween show at Festival Pier, Rufus Wainwright was backstage with new jeans, a scruffy haircut, a baseball tee, a boy pal and french fries in tow. Ice-T wound up at Liroy’s on Aramingo Avenue, with Met Thies, C4 and Schoolly D. Meanwhile, Thies has been busy, renaming his Chord label (through Ryko) King Met and taking on The Shotblockers (Lethal of Limp Bizkit, Danny Boy from House of Pain, members of Lordz of Brooklyn).… Keep an eye on not-for-the-faint-of-heart Philly painter David Aaronson. After showing at Eyes Gallery’s Second Sunday Art Festival, Aaronson’s work will appear on the new CD by Six Feet Under (Metalblade) as well as on their upcoming animated videos.… After playing the last Vet show, Jon Bon Jovi got sports fever, telling friends he’s buying an arena football team whose home base is Philly.… 32º and Cuba Libre partners Barry Gutin, Larry Cohen and John Frankowski are beginning work on Cuba Libre 2, set to open in the expanded portion of A.C.’s Tropicana Hotel/Casino. The expansion is a $225 million dillio, opens March 2004 and will include a new hotel space, Havana Tower and a retail/dining center, "The (Latin) Quarter," a 200,000-square-foot space featuring an IMAX theater, a Comedy Stop, Jeffrey Chodorow’s Red Square (with or without Stephen Starr) and the Gamble & Huff TSOP Music Hall.… My fave not-yet-released CD title? Taking Northern Liberties from Three 4 Tens.… A trend? The just-opened Goosebumps on Seventh (celebrate the opening Aug. 16 with Brian Nagele and Jeff Buckner’s "Posh Saturdays") and a still-under-construction Pontiac have -- as did ye olde Hot Club -- a red-and-black decor. How Gary Numan.… Anthony DeMarco has taken one of my fave restaubars, Stazi Milano, and turned it into the Station Grille of Jenkintown.… Who doesn’t dig a human frappé: The boys of Done Deal take Glam by storm (or something moist) with Thursday "Hot Tub" nights. Swimwear is a must.… Another Stein restaurant? Not that one. It’s Scott and David Stein, who, in a few weeks, will open the two-tiered Red Sky at 224 Market St., once the safe haven for puppies known at City Critters.… Brendan Gallagher -- behind the skins for Cream Chargers (who have a new CD soon) and 1929 -- is now bar managing at Low Bar.… Cool gig of the week: Dub dude Pete Moss (Ovum) and the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra take on the Moshulu Aug. 16, with DJs Jugo, Willyum, CP’s own Sean O’Neal, VJ Kaboom and the Gravy-Brendan team (also starting Thursday DJ jams at Parkway Diner featuring live stuff from Gravy’s Phil Moore Browne).… Whiskey Dix stays no stranger to celebrity when, Aug. 15, Poison (huh) show up for an after-party for their Electric Factory gig. Visiting Dix on Aug. 19 are Reggie and The Full Effect, who’ll join Schoolly D, Get Up Kids DJ James Dewees and Skyline Drive, the new configuration of Tidewater Grain and Mushmouth exes.… Look now: Soul chanteuse Stef Renee and trumpeter Jafar Baron are selling their smooth single "Philly Skyline"/"Femme Fatale," from their soon-due CD, New Beginnings.… Say hello to Ms. Nicola’s electro-mmm-bopping Plastron and goodbye to the West Philly duo Just Go No Texas, who end it all Aug. 14 at Plain Parade’s jam at Doc Watson’s.… Goodbye to The Bridge’s Ben Spinelli, who is moving to Sarasota, Fla., to join Philly expat John Ganley (of Cutters fame) in a new posh restaubar enterprise. Happy b-day to me, A.D. -- I’ll be knocking off celebratory DJ jams Aug. 15 at Manayunk’s Bourbon Blue and Aug. 18 at the evil Bar Noir. And a good-night kiss to my virtual grandmother, Mary Tropiano, who passed away last week -- a woman who has inspired me since the days of the Broadway Theater and John Wanamaker’s.