Icepack

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

by A.D. Amorosi

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Published: Jun 23, 2010

SEPTA's selling the naming rights to the Broad and Pattison stop to AT&T, and the mind reels at the messy possibilities ahead for your commute. (Not mine — I haven't taken public since grade school.) Will rail service be more intermittent? Will there be greater issues with privacy? Phone humor.

► I've been remiss in mentioning that The Carriage House, the 13th-and-Alter home of the wack and manic Great Vibration and first-time shows from Philly's most adventurous acts, has closed for now. Long live C-House. I mention this because one of C-House's most delicious dwellers, Virtual Virgin, is out, about and playing the Troc, June 30, with vocalist Dena Miranda's sweet-ass Jass Ensemble. Imagine Arcade Fire brutalizing Pet Sounds: That's Virtual Virgin. Recognizable Philly bandmates Kyle Minnick, Benjamin Matin, J. Delpech-Ramey, Kate Foust (from Lady, about whom we can never write enough) and Bill Blaise Dufala are all Virgins.

► CROLF. It ain't a pretty acronym. It stands for the Coalition of Restaurant Owners for Liquor Control Fairness, a group that includes Washington Square Westies and restaurateurs from Le Bec-Fin, Tria and Fergie's (?!?). The CROLF is still so pissed about Garces Trading Co. being allowed to have a liquor store in its BYOB eaterie/shop, it filed a lawsuit against PLCB. Jose should hang at his new Bucks County farm until CROLF chills out.

► On June 28, Sam Mink's Oyster House gets all sea-sidey as seven Philly mixologists (Adsum, Noble, Franklin Mortgage bartenders) craft ocean-inspired drinks. Make mine a "Say Goodnight Gracie" — rum, crème de violette and rhubarb bitters.

► Bobby Startup, Philly's legendary-est DJ on the punk tip (and beyond) has been a lion in winter of late. But you'll be hearing more from him now that the Rave Up label (Dionysus' only distributor), which released '70s locals The Warm Jets' sessions on vinyl (Wanna Start A War), does likewise to the Autistics, Startup's mangling rawk band with Joe Ankenbrand. "This is 30-plus years after the fact," laughs Startup. The eponymous LP will feature Autistics music from a live WXPN session with the late Lee Paris, a show at CBGB's taped from the sound board and photos by Rose Polino. Speaking of photos, Startup took a lot of them when he stage-managed the original Electric Factory nightclub in the '60s. Now some of his shots are scheduled to be in Temple University Press' upcoming Electric Factory book next spring.

► Jeff Beck is rock's best guitarist; June 24 is his b-day; and "Rock Yr Plimsoul" at M-Room is his party, starring Chris DiPinto, J. Cecil Price, Chuck Treece and Yeah Clementines.

► A variation on the old-world beef-n-beer theme occurs June 24 at Bar Ferdinand. Moo. Chef David Kane used P.A.-grown meat (from Green Meadow Farm) teamed with craft beer from River Horse Brewing Co. of N.J. for five courses of steer-n-beer goodness.

➤ WHOWHATWHERE: Peter Frampton has been coming alive ever since his Tower Theater stop here last week, hanging around the Ritz Carlton bar and wandering around World Café Live after a David Dye session. Phillies great and barbecuer Greg Luzinski got a surprise from Tim Picunis of the Hired Guns Blues Band on Father’s Day at Citizens Bank Park. The guitarist handed the baller a Hired Guns CD and a hot-off-the-presses T-shirt of the band, available now at Hired Guns’ Facebook page. After a Wired 96.5 FM interview and a sold-out TLA megashow, Drake hung out at Vango. Why? Mac’s Tavern got a pre-red carpet visit from its owners — It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Rob McElhenney and Kaitlin Olson — on Saturday. Days later, the pair, along with Danny DeVito, were drinking in the lobby bar at Sofitel. The cast is in town to shoot exteriors with a few Phillies (Ryan Howard, Chase Utley) and officially open Mac’s. Star of The Office and Ardmore-ian Kate Flannery was spied with fellow comedian Doug Benson and Butch Patrick (?!) at T.A. Flannery’s after their respective Helium gigs. Eddie Munster. We don’t know why he was here, either. Courtney Love wound up way late to her 104.5 FM pre-show event Tuesday afternoon. How come? She told the crowd that she was texting some dude she’s really into and blamed that level of l’amour for her tardiness before launching into several separate conversations about venereal disease and Trent Reznor.

➤ Coming up in WHOWHATWHERE, you’ve got two chances to get with movie folk. The Philly-filmed The Last Airbender stars Jackson Rathbone and Nicola Peltz, who’ll sign autographs at June 26’s Taste of Philadelphia at Penn’s Landing. Ask them if they knew what the frig director M. Night Shyamalan was talking about during The Happening. Before that, June 24, Robert Redford stops by Suzanne Roberts Theatre to meet up with Robert Lynch (CEO of Americans for the Arts) about the culture of business and the business of culture. 

(a_amorosi@citypaper.net)

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