Pierre Kwenders
PIERRE KWENDERSSinging and rapping in Lingala, French, English, Tshiluba, and Kikongo, Pierre Kwenders similarly weaves his stories across the boundaries of language and geography. José Louis and the Paradox of Love is a culmination of personal growth and the musical dexterity he has honed over the years, converging his strong songwriting capabilities with the bravado he possesses as a DJ. The album, which was awarded the prestigious Polaris Music Prize, explores an ongoing search to grasp the universal complexities of romance, sometimes through the lens of Kwenders’ own intimate experiences.ALL SHOWS AT DOLPHIN TAVERN ARE 21+, NO EXCEPTIONS.
Oceanator
OCEANATOR There’s a line on Oceanator’s debut full-length when Elise Okusami belts, “I think I think too much.” It’s a plainspoken yet resounding thesis for an album called Things I Never Said, which sees the NYC multi-instrumentalist hyperbolically equating early adulthood malaise with apocalyptic destruction. The type of anxieties that form when thoughts bottle up and stress gets the best of you. Throughout the record, allusions to intrusive thoughts and depression-induced stasis are weaved in between references to falling skies, rolling fires, and the possibility of the world literally falling apart. “If the sun never came up tomorrow / do you think we would even notice?” Okusami asks in “I Would Find You,” a moody ode to staying out late and sleeping until the afternoon. Or as Okusami puts it, “keeping to the shadows.” However, while her emotional and physical solitude makes for a resilient foe, Things I Never Said is ultimately a record about finding comfort in the face of destruction. Whether it be through appreciating the little things, like “hot tea on a cold fall day / and dressing up for Halloween,” or forming a bond with someone you can mutually confide in about mental afflictions (“I told you I could never be enough / you took me by the hand / and told me you understand”). Complementary to the extraordinarily direct subject matter, the songs themselves are punchy, sticky, and immediately engrossing pieces of heavy grunge-pop. The album opens with pounding power-chords that Okusami tastefully palm-mutes in order to accentuate the hook, and then lets rip by the song’s gratifying climax, adding a simple yet hooky lead riff for extra emphasis. Although she recruited a couple friends/members of the Oceanator touring band to play many of the bass and drum parts, Okusami is the sole songwriter/arranger of her music, and the instrumentation feels intimately connected with her lyrics.QUEEN OF JEANS Hiding in Place, the new EP from Philadelphia’s Queen of Jeans, opens with the springy pluck of a single note on electric guitar, like a ping from a satellite waiting for a response in a long, quiet expanse. Then, Miri Devora’s voice atop guitar and drums: “Hiding in place, conjure your face/Don’t wanna lose my mind.” This is the title track’s invitation to a four-song study of loneliness, alienation, and the unraveling that comes with those states, but it’s also bookended with moments of levity: joy and romance burst through on second track “Why Hide,” a response of sorts to the title track’s cloistered anxiety. Devora wrote the songs at the start of the pandemic in March 2020 when she had just been laid off from her job of almost 10 years. Her partner, guitarist Mattie Glass, worked 11 hour shifts at a grocery store, so Devora was alone in their apartment for months on end. When they were written, these weren’t intended to be pandemic-specific. PAPER BEE’Born initially of the not-too-far north, the West Philly iteration of Paper Bee (ft members of [bands]) extends a dynamic flow of warm vocal harmonies pattering nostalgia and myriad aches to insistent crashes of locomotive distortion. Rock music maybe for fans of Springsteen.’ ALL SHOWS AT DOLPHIN TAVERN ARE 21+
Cancelled – Snacktime Sexy Spooky Halloween Party
SNACKTIME SEXY SPOOKY HALLOWEEN PARTY! We’re ringing in Halloween 2022 with Philly’s favorite band Snacktime performing two sets with special guest DJ Xtina spinning throughout the night!! Make sure to come in costume!!TICKETS ON SALE NOW! THIS EVENT IS 21+, NO EXCEPTIONS.
Concourse Halloween Party
This ticket is valid for entry and all of these amazing perks for the entire night! DJ Ian St Laurent from 10-2Legacy the band from 7pm-10pmDrag queen hosts: Maria Topcatt and Onyx Ondyx The queens will judge a costume contest at midnight. $500 cash prize so dress to impress.Go Go dancersCircus performers from The Philadelphia Circus School.TICKETS ON SALE NOW! Save money and buy ahead! The entry fee for the night will be $25, for those who did NOT purchase this ticket. THIS EVENT IS 21+, NO EXCEPTIONS.
Halloween 2023
Circus Performers, DJ, Gogo Dancers, Cover Band and a $500 cash prize for best costume(s). Happy hour specials from 8pm-10pm.
DJ America Loves Me
DJ Korpen
Warm Drag (mems Of Oh Sees And K-Holes)
WARM DRAG As Warm Drag, Los Angeles’ Paul Quattrone and Vashti Windish blend their garage rock roots with a record store’s worth of influences — including dub, hip-hop, harsh noise, and minimal synth — into a sexy, subterranean sound on releases such as their 2018 self-titled debut album. Quattrone, a drummer for Thee Oh Sees and a former member of !!!, reconnected with Windish, a vocalist formerly of Golden Triangle and K-Holes, by chance in Los Angeles. The pair soon began mixing her commanding vocals with his sampling skills, and Warm Drag were born. After spending some time gigging and DJ’ing around the city, in August 2018 the duo released Warm Drag on In the Red. LADY HD Based in Philadelphia, Lady HD is a Funk and Psych/Soul band conceived by songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ciaran Wall. Originally a collaboration with LA producer, Dusty Moon, the band has taken on a life of its own. With Ciaran at the helm – alongside an incredible team at a local recording studio, Kawari Sound – he has spent months writing and recording. Alas, “La Chifa” is born a 2 Part Release. Not only is that the name of the newest EP to be dropped in early December, it is also the embodiment of musical elements of this project that include dashes of 70’s Philadelphia Soul and Funk, psychedelic soundscapes, and growling guitar tones. A once pop-heavy, production focused direction has shifted into an earthy mix of Philly soul, distortion and Hispanic polyrhythms. Brought up in an Hispanic home, the music derives stylistically from his Latin, Peruvian roots. With a live performance not to be missed, Lady HD is making some noise in the Philadelphia Music Scene.HALF SISTER ALL SHOWS AT DOLPHIN TAVERN ARE 21+
Rachel Angel With Depression, Mom
RACHEL ANGEL Voted best songwriter of 2021 by Miami New Times, Rachel Angel’s music straddles the elusive line between alt-country and rock; synthesizing the nostalgia of the classics with a modern sound that is playful, heartfelt, and sincere. A Miami native, Rachel’s travels have taken her around the world and back again. Personal roadblocks obscured the way; embattled by emotional and spiritual hardships, she reckoned with an inner angst, finding home and equilibrium within herself. Through changing landscapes and behind moving windows, she began to see the value of the tried and true saying, “wherever you go, there you are.” Angel just released her first LP, Midnite Heart Attack (9/9 on Ruzafa Records) after a string of EP’s and tours. DEPRESSION, MOM Depression, Mom is a band from Philadelphia formed in 2020 by singer songwriter Madalean Gauze. The band draws inspiration from The Virgin Suicides and Girl, Interrupted. The band consists of Adam Shumski (Vita and the Woolf/ The Lunar Year) and Ali Dundovic (The Madalean Gauze Band). Depression, Mom released their self titled EP with Nick Krill in March 2022. The album channeled music from the 1950’s, specifically The Lawrence Welk Show, The Ronettes and Bing Crosby. CARVANASide project of longtime Philly favs Honey Radar ALL SHOWS AT DOLPHIN TAVERN ARE 21+
Another Michael And String Machine
ANOTHER MICHAEL It should come as little surprise, then, that ‘New Music and Big Pop’ is Another Michael’s most collaborative work yet. Recorded in a small A-frame house-turned-makeshift studio outside Ferndale, NY, the record finds the trio pushing their sound in a dreamier, more folk-influenced direction, building songs around vulnerable, intimate performances using an ethereal palette of breezy guitars, subtle keyboards, and layered harmonies. As on the band’s early EPs, singer and songwriter Michael Doherty’s mesmerizing voice is front and center here, calling to mind Robin Pecknold or Ben Bridwell in its reedy, crystalline timbre, but it feels more at home than ever before amidst the album’s lush, Technicolor landscape, which the band partnered with producer and fellow housemate Scoops Dardaris to create. The result is a masterfully understated record that belies its status as a full-length debut, a thoughtful, poetic, collection all about growth and change, hope and faith, endings and beginnings, delivered by a band that’s only just begun to scratch the surface of their story. STRING MACHINE The music of String Machine is rapturous and inviting. You’ll find an undeniable magic within each note, a palpable energy owed in part to its creative process. Hallelujah Hell Yeah (released February 25th, 2022) is an album of joy, vulnerability, and forgiveness. Through this inventive indie rock, seven friends manage to transport you to the bedrooms, basements, and home studios in which this was all created, conceptualized, and recorded. This recording is the band’s representation of what it means to be grateful that one is alive, regardless of whether that carpe diem spirit is sourced in optimism (“Hallelujah!”) or nihilism (“Hell Yeah!”). It’s a powerful statement that rings especially poignant in such uncertain times. String Machine isn’t shy about sharing their heart with you, and that confessional spirit continues on Hallelujah Hell Yeah. “The album was inspired by moments of dealing with anxiety surrounding a lot of personal stuff. Usually, my instinct when anxious is to keep myself busy. Writing songs was the middle ground where I could solve inner-turmoils while feeling productive,” Beck said.SHANNEN MOSERWith a rustic quality to her material, including lilting vocal lines, Shannen Moser is an indie singer/songwriter originally from Berks County, Pennsylvania. A self-taught guitarist and by then habitual songwriter, she moved to Philadelphia in 2014 to join the city’s thriving music scene. The folk and country music of her youth seeped into the short D.I.Y. confections of her debut, All Dogs Go to Heaven, released later in 2014. Again with only one song hitting the two-minute mark, 2015’s You Shouldn’t Be Doing That offered another batch of her rough-hewn, introspective songs. Moser’s third LP, Oh, My Heart, was recorded and mixed by Eric Muth and presented a clearer, more expansive sound without redefining her style. First issued in January 2017, it received a multi-format release by Lame-O Records that spring.ALL SHOWS AT DOLPHIN TAVERN ARE 21+