August 19-25, 2004

music

icepack

by A.D. Amorosi

In between packing for the Randall's Island garage-band fest (couldn't let mahself get caught in the rain wearing suede roach-killer boots) and planning this weekend's birthday of mine (note to self: Buy body bags), I took a reading break. I'm perusing my copy of On the Road by Jack "Cadillac" (from the Scott Peterson book-of-the-month club) when, suddenly, everything stops. No, no one bombed the Pentagon, stole my Natura Bisse Amino Acid Free Form face creme or disturbed me to ask for bits for Stu Bykofsky's Candidates Comedy Night for the Variety Club. Everything froze when Joisey Gov. Jim McGreevey stated he was gay, had had a consensual affair with another man and was resigning. Dag, thought I. Good for him. To come out is a brave move. I also thought it was a good thing it was McGreevey and not ex-Gov. Tom Kean. You don't want to have to picture warty duck-face, you know, doing anything gay. Or straight. But the alleged paramour, Golan Cipel — former counsel on homeland security, Israeli sailor and a published poet — claims he's not gay and that McGreevey's advances were unwanted. Don't all poet/ sailor/homeland security specialists say that? These are the jokes, kids. … On a serious note, I caught flak from readers who thought I dissed party planner Marion Leary last week in favor of her ex-partner Amanda Leahy in their G-Room split. No dis. If I wrote about people I favored, I'd only write about myself (Oh. That is what I do). Leary states she owns the trademark for the name G-Room ("the concept, the logo, the mailing list were all products associated with that venture," she claims in an e-mail). "I have requested that she [Leahy] no longer use the name G-Room nor anything associated with G-Room in any future parties she may produce," says Leary. "G-Room is over." Though G-Room Listserv users received a message about it, Leary is not a producer of Elevate — pal Tracy Buchholz's every-third-Saturday party at Goosebumps starting Aug. 21. "I agreed to send a promotional e-mail to the G-Room Listserv because I am supporting her," says Leary. … The bad news: WMMR 93.3 hired Twisted Sister's Dee Snider for daily 7 p.m.-to-midnight shifts. The good news: He's broadcasting from his studio on Long Island. … My best b-day present: Despite the fact they'll soon be splayed across their pre-series special (Aug. 24), MTV's Real World: Philadelphia is out of here after nearly four months. Before they left they recorded sound bites at Maja Studios, whose employees are contractually bound to silence. (But they weren't bound to not poisoning their power drinks!) Yaron Properties is currently looking to get ye olde Seamen's Church Institute occupied by businesses, possibly even private renters. Let me know who the first jackass is that bites. … While John Falcetta and David Carroll close their Walnut Street Magazine for a lounge-conscious overhaul, risque painter/Cream Charger Dean Rosenzweig will redo the entirety of Carroll's Bar Noir. It'll be ready in time for the Monday Night Club's pre-Fringe showcase with Brat Productions' Madi DiStefano and Needles Jones, Aug. 23. … How sad is this? We are doubling for Baltimore when the next film with

Spider-Man's James Franco, Annapolis, begins shooting in October. … Hyper-sounds: In between gracing the main stage at Tweeter for the Warped Tour and recording their self-released debut in September, Phil Moore Browne hits Fergie's Aug. 21. Also stepping out is Jason Killinger's Trauma Queens, who play their first Philly show since February on Aug. 20 at The Khyber. … Going corporate: While United Soul graces the opening of Ikea on Delaware Ave. on Aug. 25, Silvertide's rockin' for broadband at an AOL-sponsored show Aug. 21 at the Factory. … When guitarist Tim Motzer's Fractal Ark hits Silk City on Aug. 25, ask him about his recent recordings with Can's Jaki Liebezeit and David Sylvian. … WHOWHATWHERE: Viggo Mortensen was spied around Morimoto on Friday. No word whether he made the commitment to go in and eat. Now that Ben Arnold's Calico is taking off (one of those albums had to, B!), he left his brethren (Jim Boggia, Scott Bricklin, the other guy) in Four Way Street after final shows at the Point last Friday. A Philly contingent of bands (Beretta 76, Blessed Muthas, Helen Back) and Dummytowners (led by Sara "Miss Kitty" Sherr) were spotted at Randall's Island, dancing underneath Dunkin' Donut-colored fringe. Oh, and New York Dolls, the Pretty Things and the Stooges were there. They were brilliant. Big ups to Little Silvio, I mean, Steven, and co-host Kim Fowley. … If you're buyin' gifts for Philly Leos — me, Peter Santa Maria (whose Jukebox Zeros play Aug. 19 at The Pontiac), Nylon's Larry Rosenblum, Dozia, Freddie Sutton, Julia Othmer, Hoagie Wing or even Rich Fravel (who just had a baby girl Lucy Jane) — no re-gifting.