July 8-14, 2004

music

icepack

by A.D. Amorosi

There's gonna be gambling, right here in River City… OK, don't imagine me singing The Music Man, despite how dashing I look in red military gear. All I'm saying is you better be excited Pennsylvania's getting slot machines and "racinos." 61,000 to 14 are good odds. (That's how many machines will go to those many gambling locations.) You have to be excited: That's all you're going to hear about. If you thought having to put up with stories about bottle bars and Karim and Hani Rashid was enough to make you wretch, wait until you hear the once-grand schemes of red-nosed gamblers, pockmarked men who make Bukowski look like Hugh Grant. One day, you're tan and agile with money to burn, watching "Jimmy" Caan in Las Vegas. Next thing, you're broke and sucking cock for slot change remembering Robert Urich in some similar TV show. … Who do we hate? Riot Grrrl, the Daily News' Web-only protesterrr. Not because the unnamed reporter is coverrring rrrage at arrrea protests. Rrrather because she's saddled with a sobriquet more '90s than Shannon Hoon. … The first benefit for Adam Boxleitner — Trocadero bouncer/singer for Rupert Speed, banged up in a recent motorcycle accident — will be July 12 at The Khyber with Angus Khan, Burning Brides and Stinking Lizaveta. "He's one of the nicest guys on the scene," says Sloan Ricci, whose North Star hosts another benefit on Aug. 14. … Who's behind Philly Late Night Promotions, the group that'll start the weekly "Don't Miss the Boat After After Party" aboard the Liberty Belle every Saturday, serving alcohol — legally — from 4 a.m. to 7 a.m.? Joe Dougherty and some pals at Emerald City. "It was a lot of work getting the licenses," says Dougherty. "It should be great."… When Metro Lounge's multitude of private VIP spots, cubbyholes and English pub rooms opens at 626 N. Front St., the space'll look familiar. It's the old Paradise Alley, re-imagined by Del Juhasz and Andrew Pitcairn of the Pitcairn land-baron empiiyahh. … WHOWHATWHERE: I didn't find Madonna and co. making any spa appearances as she's done in the past during her several-day stay at Four Seasons. But another '80s icon, Annie Lennox, hit up Michele DiMarcello at Kiehl's for lotions and potions during her tour. When Jerry Blavat celebrated his birthday at Memories in Margate, the Geator was toasted by a slew of Sopranos, such as Stevie Van Zandt and Frankie Valli, who, Blavat says, was amazed when the crowd sang along with each of his hits. "Five hundred people singing "Big Girls Don't Cry' — marrone!" Blavat was also joined by Arlen Specter, who may or may not be on the Sopranos. Check those body bags. Despite the attendance of Y100 crew, Electric Factory-ites, Cordalene and MOXIE/Headlong dancers, Y100 music director Jim McGuinn and Christine Meeks managed to keep their Quaker wedding at the Clef Club a secret from me until after the fact. But I was there in spirit. "You were actually referenced in Mike Martinovich's reading, something about tipping off A.D. to our budding romance," says McGuinn. Congrats. Brandon Boyd and the rest of Incubus traipsed along South Street before their Wachovia Center gig. After hanging with Colin Quinn and acting as boozy MC for the Borgata's PAPERstreet/Maxim mag afterparty at Mixx ("nothing like a live mic in your hand and a few thousand people listening to your drunk ramblings," he says), P-Street's Tommy Up schmoozed at Taj Mahal's new StarBar with Kid Rock. After playing John & Peter's in New Hope, Ween ran around the corner for the closing jam at legendary head shop Now & Then. The Roots head home to host a signing for The Tipping Point at Tower Records on South Street on the day of its release, July 13. While "expect surprises" is all Geffen reps will say, I say they'll gig live on the block they started on 15 years ago. Maybe they'll give out pizza like Marah did at their Tower-on-Broad in-store appearance. Cuba Gooding Jr. was all over Angelina — the restaurant, not a person — the other day with Lee Daniels and Macy Gray filming Shadowboxer. And while Daniels had The Woodsman picked up by Manhattan film company Newmarket, that same group also acquired another area filmmaker's work: Dan Argott's Rock School documentary on Paul Green. While Green's tales were rumored to have inspired Jack Black's School of Rock, Green also inspired High Anxiety Productions' already-in-production documentary on Ruin, the greatest of Philly's socio-spiritual hardcore acts. "They closed a recent show with "He-Ho,'" says filmmaker Chris Franklin, who'll shoot footage of the students as well as anyone who has fliers, videos or photos, or were "affected by Ruin and the "scene.'" Want in? Check

www.highanxietyproductions.com. Speaking of Green, he's taking his students on tour through the hinterlands of rock — Vegas, L.A., San Juan Capistrano — in August. Hey, how old are these doggone kids? Where are their moms?