June 10-16, 2004

cover story

Photosynthesis!

Madonna (duh)

Rock, roots, jazz, hip-hop, blues and world music that gets its energy from the sun.

by Mary Armstrong, Kyle Parker and Patrick Rapa

John Hollenbeck's Claudia Quintet, June 17, Slought Foundation, 4017 Walnut St., 215-222-9050. On their sophomore album I, Claudia (Cuneiform), these downtown musicians meld klezmer, chamber classical and rock to mesmerizing effect. Texture and pulse are rarely so intelligently matched.

Y-100 FEZtival, June 18, Tweeter, Mickle Blvd. and Riverside Dr., Camden, N.J., 215-336-2000. Ch-check it out: Cypress Hill, The Darkness, Courtney Love, The Strokes (look for them on our cover next week), The Burning Brides — they're all worth the dehydration. But it's the Beastie Boys that have us excited.

Janis Ian, June 18, The Point, 880 Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr, 610-527-0988. Ian does all the sensitive, revealing stuff that a singer/songer is supposed to do, but without making us squirm.

The Bigger Lovers, June 19, The North Star, 27th and Poplar sts., 215-684-0808. After touring the hell out of North America, Philly's little pop supergroup will headline with grand stories to tell.

Diana Krall, June 19, Mann Music Center, 52nd and Parkside, 215-893-1999. Beneath the cosmetic "golly gee" lies a tough girl. Who knew? Apparently hubby Elvis Costello, who co-wrote the better songs on her refreshingly saucy The Girl in the Other Room (Verve).

Tomasz Stanko Quartet, June 19, Slought Foundation. The Polish trumpeter is a master colorist, and his band has the ECM shimmer down pat. Suspended Night, their second disc for the label, is a work of almost subliminal nuance.

The Paperchase, June 23, Pontiac Grille, 304 South St., 215-925-4053. Don't dismiss this as regular ol' boy-hates-world emo. This Kill Rock Stars band is psychotic.

Sonny Rhodes, June 23, Sellersville Theater, Main and Temple sts., Sellersville, 215-257-5808. He was a blues fixture in PHL for years, so old friends and fans may want to make the schlepp to the Sellersville to be part of his live DVD taping.

The Shocker, June 24, Pontiac Grille. You will certainly recognize frontwoman Jennifer Precious Finch from '90s grunge legends L7. At least when she starts playing you will.

Dave Burrell, June 25, July 24, August 28, Philadelphia Art Alliance, 251 S. 18th St., 215-545-4302; July 2, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 26th and the Parkway, 215-763-8100. Philly's most innovative solo pianist has been in residency at the Art Alliance, playing every fourth Friday of the month. He's also doing a First Friday at the Art Museum. Expect a mix of stride, slash and swing.

Time for Three, June 25, Art Museum, 26th St. and the Parkway, 215-763-8100. Curtis musicians playing bluegrass? You're probably expecting something a bit stiff. But Time for Three actually love bluegrass and swing as much as any of the classical canon, if past performance is an indication. The blissful little smiles as the two violins and bass segue seamlessly back and forth among the genres show these men love their work.

Summer Solstice Celebration, June 26, Kimmel Center, 300 S. Broad St., 215-893-1999. OK, it's several days beyond the traditional all-night St. John's eve wakes, but hey, is Philly really ready for a midweek all-night party? Drumming at sunrise sounds a lot more plausible when it follows a Saturday of concerts ranging from the Philadelphia Orchestra to Phil Roy, Irish-American super group Solas back to rising stars Time for Three.

Sting and Annie Lennox, June 27, Tweeter. The only show at the Tweeter this summer where even Bacardi Silver wouldn't have the gall to release beach balls on the audience.

Popnoise Festival, June 27, Rotunda, 4014 Walnut St., 215-573-3234. The name says quite a bit. Check out Philly bands Stellarscope, Collette Carter, Carson's Machine, Scattered Planets, Graze, The Defog, Plastron and Starter Culture plus outsiders Brasilia, Lockgroove, Sciflyer and more.

Plena Libre

Plena Libre, June 30, Kimmel Plaza. Direct from Puerto Rico, Plena Libre plays the old-school plena along with the breadth of contemporary Caribbean in a free dance concert.

Pretty Boy Floyd, June 30, North Star. You probably think they're an '80s band, but they've actually put out more sex-and-drugs-worshipping since 1999 than they ever did back in the day. So they're an '80s band but they don't know it.

Dizzee Rascal, July 2, Transit, Sixth and Spring Garden sts. If you think Brits can't do hip-hop then you've been listening to The Streets. Dizzee's new-school grime is faster, squeakier and spazzier.

Jessica Simpson, July 4, Tweeter. Everyone concentrates on how stupid she is when it's really her bad music we should be making fun of. Come together, people!

Madonna, July 4 and 5, Wachovia Center, Broad St. and Pattison Ave., 215-336-3600. Wow! The Material Girl keeps reinventing herself! How do you like Played-Out Lady? Oh, you like it? OK, we'll shut up then.

Les Yeux Noirs, July 7, Kimmel. LYN bring the ferocious drive of rock to klezmer and Gypsy tunes from their native France.

The Roots, July 9, Festival Pier, Penn's Landing. The new CD is nowhere in sight, but we don't need the script. Black Thought and crew always put on a good show. Plus, since 311 is headlining, we get to leave early to avoid the traffic/incidents in the parking lot.

Britney Spears, July 12, Tweeter. Made of space-age polymers!

Kiss, July 13, Tweeter. Kiss sucks. Always has.

"Weird Al" Yankovic, July 13, Keswick, Easton Rd. and Keswick Ave., Glenside, 215-572-7650. Unabashedly corny and relentlessly schticky, sure, but a Weird Al show is also a theatrical and clever mix of pop-culture satire, food humor and costume changes.

Matthew Dear, July 15, First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., 800-594-TIXX. Leave Luck to Heaven came out right at the buzzer, but still managed to find its way onto City Paper's top 20 for 2003. They call it "micro-house," but you'll dance big.

Hall & Oates, July 16, Tweeter. Philly classic.

Keith Frank and the Soileau Zydeco Band, July 16, TK Club, Conshohocken, 215-576-0839. By mid-July the humidity and heat around here rival southern Louisiana, so these guys will feel like they never left home.

Kenny Werner Trio, July 17, Chris' Jazz Café, 1421 Sansom St., 215-568-3131. He's a bit of a mystic, and it bodes well for the music. The pianist recently issued Peace: Live at the Blue Note (Half Note), a strong trio CD with drummer Ari Hoenig.

The Snow Fairies, July 19, Tritone, 1508 South St., 215-545-0475. Philly's resident pleasure-pop rock fellowship has been resting, lurking and plotting their return. After months in the cocoon, Rose Bochansky and co. should be ready to fly.

D-12, July 21, Trocadero, 1003 Arch St., 215-922-LIVE. They're pretty damn funny, you gotta admit. Plus, seeing Eminem in such a small room is a rare opportunity.

Sticks and Stones, July 22, Slought Foundation. This trio — saxophonist Matana Roberts, bassist Josh Abrams and drummer Chad Taylor — keeps the AACM flame alive. And their latest disc Shed Grace (Thrill Jockey) proves that they've been developing their own personal aesthetic.

Evanescence, July 23, Festival Pier. If Ozzfest allowed women, this is what it would sound like. The music's like, "rarrr rarr rarr," but the frontwoman's more like, "Ooh, I just had a pretty Goth dream!"

Mum/Slowblow, July 23, First Unitarian Church Sanctuary. Iceland is very cold, but the music is hot.

Camera Obscura, July 28, North Star. Yeah, they're sort of Belle & Sebastian Junior, but they're cute and Scottish and folk-poppy, and that's close enough.

Ojos de Brujo, July 28, Kimmel. Gypsy culture is the root of flamenco, which Ojos de Brujo blends into an urban style that could only come from Barcelona.

Sarah McLachlan, July 31, Wachovia Center. She has a new album, Afterglow, but you know everyone's just waiting for her to do that ice cream song.

The Bad Plus, July 31, Zanzibar Blue, Broad and Walnut sts., 215-732-4500. So they've been more hyped than they deserve. That's not reason enough to ignore the most convincing jazz upstarts of the past few years.

The Cure, Aug. 1, Tweeter. Robert Smith has put together a hipper, kinder Ozzfest (more Goths and punks, fewer jocks). Besides The Cure's first Philly gig since the resurrection, the Curiosa tour also has Interpol, The Rapture and Mogwai, plus a second stage with Cursive, Auf Der Maur, Thursday and more.

Vans Warped Tour, Aug. 6, Tweeter. Grind to Simple Plan, Yellowcard, New Found Glory, Bad Religion, Lillix and not less than 93,000,000 other bands in nice sneakers.

Pat Martino, Aug. 6-7, Zanzibar Blue. The guitarist's machine-gun delivery and bop-fusion tastes are as solid now as they've ever been. And he has a knack for assembling very worthy bands, usually with Philly compatriot Jim Ridl on piano.

Alanis Morisette/Barenaked Ladies, Aug. 8, Mann Center. See? All Canadians know each other. And they sit around in their icehouses plotting little mix-matched tours to see if the same person who wants to hear "One Hand in My Pocket" wants to hear, you know, something even sillier.

Xiu Xiu, Aug. 10, North Star. Hold still. These indie nutcases want to perform experiments on you.

Tony Bennett, Aug. 12, Mann Music Center. He's still happy to be here, still searching for his heart, and still the consummate entertainer. And his backing trio is still tops.

Phish, Aug. 12, Tweeter. After 21 dirty years, it's time to say goodbye, hug, bury the novelty flying discs and hit the showers. For a long time. Yes, this is the farewell tour for the living Dead jam band. Aw. Everybody act real surprised when they reunite in five years.

Bryan Adams, Aug. 13, Mann Center. Oh, tell me, have you really ever really ever really ever ever really really really loved a woman? At all?

Lollapalooza, Aug. 18 and 19, Tweeter. Day one's all uptight cult acts: Morrissey, Sonic Youth, PJ Harvey, Modest Mouse, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Le Tigre and The Von Bondies. Day two's gonna smell like Otto's jacket: String Cheese Incident, The Flaming Lips, Gomez, The Polyphonic Spree and Michael Franti & Spearhead. So many bands! Such expensive water! So many hours without a decent place to take a poop!

Michael Kac and Linda Cohen, Aug. 20, Tin Angel, 20 S. Second St., 215-928-0978. This rare treat — Kac on harpsichord, Cohen on classical guitar — should provide summer refreshment.

Kenny Loggins, Aug. 25, Keswick. Bet he doesn't even know where the onramp to the highway to the danger zone is.

Ozzfest, Aug. 26, Tweeter. The Ozzman is back in front of Black Sabbath for the last time ever again! He's even more immobile than ever these days, but Tony Iommi still kills. Also on the bill are Judas Priest, Slayer and ex-Ozzy axeman Zakk Wylde. Might wanna follow Ozzy's lead and start drinking early.

Stefon Harris & Blackout, Aug. 27 and 28, Zanzibar Blue. This is the vibraphonist's answer to Roy Ayers and his maligned funk-fusion of the '70s. It's an imperfect tribute, but there are reasons to catch 'em live, beginning with the sparkling pianistics of Marc Cary and Terreon Gully's tight go-go beats.

Philly Folk Festival, Aug. 27-29, Schwenksville. The Folk Fest remains a can't-miss for its mainstage flanked by giant video screens and as well as its intimate workshops. La Bottine Souriante, big band pride of Quebec, brings trad French singing and foot percussion. Natalie MacMaster also provides foot percussion while fiddling Cape Breton-style. Bill Kirchen is a rockabilly legend. Brave Combo is like Spike Jones on a polka jag. Taj Mahal one of the earliest bluesmen to deliberately reach back to Africa for his roots. He's been coming to the festival forever, as have Chris Smither and John Prine. Ollabelle, grandchildren of the great folk revival keep the traditional sounds vibrant.