Icepack

Amorosi on the news, nightlife, gossip and bitchiness beats.

by A.D. Amorosi

I'll be a crepe hanger — lead with the sad, head toward the cheery. Not the merely sad like 104-year-old newscaster Marc Howard's retirement, or the frank finality of the Eagles' season. (I love reading about how good Howard and A.J. Feeley look, though.) Or how L&I ripped through Old City T-Day Eve and screwed e'rybody's drink-on — Dirty Diamond/Khyber fans in particular who wanted free dildos. I'm talking about the ferocious tearfulness of the holiday. "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" make me cry. Friends remember that it's 10 years now Philly's new-wave-Dylan Joey Wilson died on Christmas Eve. There's Chris Larkin who died this Thanksgiving Eve. Larkin wasn't just an architect of Philly music (Marty Watt, the aforementioned Wilson's Pets) and keyboardist extraordinaire. He was one of Philly's cutest boys throughout the New Wave '80s. That's when his art-pop-electro-trio with Alice DeSoto/Cohen and Charles "Charlie Normal" Hanson, the Vels, signed to Mercury and toured with the Psychedelic Furs. "Whatever band he was in, Chris brought the musicality up not one notch but 10, hence record deals all around," exclaims Kenn Kweder, whose Secret Kidds Larkin noodled with. Chris had big eyes and a shy smile and when I was a kid working at Third Street Jazz, I thought he had just the best hair. There'll be services Dec. 15 I'll tell you about next week. Such a sweet prince. As for deceased dark queen Jennifer Bates — painter/musician/Germ Books owner — her life partner David E. Williams holds a requiem concert ("Igni Natura Renovatur Integra") celebrating her legacy Dec. 1, at 3 p.m. The rarely gigging Williams — along with Kennneth of Radio Eris, David Talento and Bardo Pond's John Gibbons — play an elegiac score of Bates' devising. Light a candle for her and Larkin.

► Rad poet Frank Sherlock drops his new chapbook Daybook of Perversities & Main Events at Chapterhouse Cafe Dec. 1 with Stacy Szymaszek (Director of St. Mark's Poetry Project) reading, too.

► Philly's Jamaican music ambassador, Terry Lee Barrett, believes in fate. For him it's easy to see connection between M. Night Shyamalan shooting a Happening scene in the house TLB grew up in (232 Pelham, West Mount Airy) and the rumor-turned-reality that his screenplays are getting major look-sees. Producers Bob Engelman (The Mask, Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project) and Steve Stabler (Dragonlance) may hook up Barrett's screenplays Kata (The Iron Thorn) and Shady Dawgs, respectively, with cash 'n' cameras. Barrett's used to lit attention, what with his late pop Leonard's the Rastafarians a big seller.

► Comic/silk enthusiast Danny Ozark's Sour Grapes with Jon Connor 'n' DJ Tite Pussy starts its once-monthly jawn Nov. 29 at Mooney's Pub, Fourth and Ritner. What better area in which to hear people bitch about whose gravy's better?

► No sooner do we hear that Live Arts Director of Marketing Heidi Duffey is out of her gig, we run into Duffey and get the 411: She left 'cuz she's pregnant with Silk/Vango DJ Frosty's baby. She'll do some light PR stuff from home. Which reminds me: Joshua Delpech-Ramey bagged on his Balcony event with his bone-rattling art blues band the Extravagant Bastards during the Fringe because his missus, Emmanuelle, had a baby that night. They'll make up the gig Dec. 3 with Emily McGraw's The Sixth Borough sketch troupe doing their "Christmas Is So Special"/Judy Garland TV murder mystery spectacular.

► We hear AIA's bookstore will move to 12th and Arch after Christmas so to make room at 17th and Sansom for a Kimpton's hotel.

► Hard-psych heads Apogee (Eris/Bunnydrum-ers side project) not only rage at Khyber Dec. 2. You show up, you get a burn of their due-2008 Evolve and Destroy. Right next door at Glam, Dec. 2, MC/producer S.O.S. (check out his Summer of Sam mix tape with Patti LaBelle!) and his West Philly All Stars start their rap 'n' rock monthly.

► As RuffNation's in-house director, Rich Murray lensed Nelly and Schoolly D. For his new Invincible Pictures, Murray produced director Chris Lonergan's Disco Biscuits: Progressions (just released by TLA) while readying his own next flick, The Stop Snitchin' Files for '08.

► Kevin Kelly is a mug — like a latter-day Chet Baker. That's a compliment. So's the fact that he's finally opening Drew Lazor's favored spot, the Ugly American, Nov. 29 at Front and Federal's ye old La Vigna.

► If it's up to Dr. Keith Leaphart (and money bags Gerry Lenfest and Peter Buttenwieser), the First District's gonna party like the bashes he's thrown at Dreemz and Patou. He's running for Congress.

HALF OFF DEPOT

Why live life at full price?

► Mark Marek and Dino Minelli were hours from test driving G, their swank 10,000-square-foot lounge at 111 S. 17th, when I grabbed them. Starting Nov. 29, G brings DJs like Vice and Panther to Philly, along with 55 feet of LED digital wallpaper, a membership VIP room in a bank vault and spaces for fashion shows and other luxuries. "G means whatever you want it to," says Marek. Minelli — the ex-Luke & Leroy owner who put Madonna and Yoko Ono to work DJ-ing — promises he'll bring their likes to G. "I'm reaching out to all my contacts for G," says Minelli. "Philly deserves to experience all facets of our concept: after work, after dinner, after midnight."

► "It was never a consideration, not for me," claims Electric Factory's Larry Magid amid reports his concert company, along with Austin's C3, pulled out of plans to stage a summer '08 fest at Belmont Plateau. What Magid's talking about is the Plateau. The festival, one celebrating EFC's 40th anniversary, is still on the table. But, logistically, Belmont, for EFC, was always a no-go. Magid knows of what he speaks. He was doing Be-Ins in the '60s and free mega-shows at the Plateau with 60,000-70,000 people backing up expressway traffic for hours before and after. "I love it there. Got married at Belmont Mansion. But the exit ramps are too close. The area surrounding the Mann is what we want." Only once they learn what and if the city will allow them will EFC decide what and how big EFC fest '08 will be for June. Magid’s probably right to eschew the hilly charms and bad roads of Belmont Plateau. Though they blamed “political things” and “the current administration” on Billboard.com on Nov. 27, the Austin promotions/booking team C3 Presents too has turned their backs on Belmont. They’re heading instead to Vineland, N.J., for a three-day concert festival Aug. 8-10, with British promoters Festival Republic — the brand behind the U.K. Glastonbury affair. C3 does Lollapalooza in Chicago and the Austin City Limits festival. The community of Vineland, including the mayor, is very supportive and excited to have this in their community," C3’s Charlie Jones told Billboard.com. Magid and I spoke before the Vineland-palooza was announced and haven’t followed up on this very recent development. But when I asked Magid how his relationship was with Fairmount Park’s peeps and whether they had been amenable to his requests and suggestions, he answered frankly: “No. They haven’t been amenable. The conservancy has been against us for whatever reason. I don’t know that they’ve taken sides. But they haven’t been on our side. Only the people at the Mann Music center have been on our side.”

(a_amorosi@citypaper.net)