Canceled -Flock Econo
Flock Econo – “Flock Econo emerges from an alternate timeline scored by Musica Popular Brasileira and ‘80s sophisti-pop. Sprung from his hermetically sealed chamber, a fool croons over bubbling syncopation and harmonies which meander, serpentine, before finding their way home.” – matt loretti https://flockecono.bandcamp.com/album/bluebells Laurel’s Features – “she was my girlfriend first!” – ruby joy Bird Dog & Pond Mime Troupe: “what we do: mime. what we are: mimes” – the mimes ALL EVENTS AT DOLPHIN TAVERN ARE 21+
Shadowplay pres. LIGHT ASYLUM/HEAVY HALO [LIVE]
SHADOWPLAY pres:LIGHT ASYLUM & HEAVY HALOLIVE! at The Dolphin++JULY 16TH 2025++plus DJ set from G I N A playingGOTH // NEW WAVE // DARK DISCO // POST-PUNK // 80’s // EBM // INDUSTRIALdoors at 7:30pm$15 ADV/$20 DOOR LIGHT ASYLUM:Captivating audiences with cathartic performances LIGHT ASYLUM emerged in 2009 at the forefront of a movement turned full blown revival of 80’s and 90’s electronic music inspired by pioneers of Detroit techno, Belgian new beat, EBM, deathrock, Chicago houseHeavy Halo: Heavy Halo is a Goth-Grunge blood pact forged in the NYC underground.The band takes the existential angst of Alternative and Industrial and beams it through the shattered prism of the internet age, refracted and made new. All events at Dolphin are 21+
Trash Knife
Trash Knife: Trash Knife is dirt-baggy punk from South Philly Academy Order: Academy Order masterfully blends goth, death rock, post rock, new wave and hints of hardcore to create a special sound that is simultaneously a revival and a revolution. Though these songs sound like the work of a band at the peak of their career, one can tell the band is just getting started. Brandish: Brandish is a Thrash/Punk band from Philadelphia M.SYS: M.SYS is post punk from Philadelphia All events at Dolphin Tavern are 21+
Solar Sounds w/ Lady Lavender, Firestone, & Waycool Junior
Precision selectors with deep devotion – Lady Lavender, Firestone, & Waycool Junior will keep the room energized Friday August 22nd. LADY LAVENDER, Baltimore-based, hails from Southern California, with her formative DJing years spent in New Orleans where she established herself as a formidable selector. A DJ and party-starter with a formal dance background, her selections & musical style go back to the source: the dance floor & the dancers. With an expert and measured touch, her sets are precisely crafted for the setting & the hour. FIRESTONE is a Philadelphia-based engineer, DJ, and the founder of the event series Polari: A Queer Agenda, which celebrated it’s 3-year anniversary last August. heard lending a major influence on their work. WAYCOOL JUNIOR is a DJ, event promoter and producer from Philly that blends their classical training with a broader knowledge of electronic music history. With roots farther back in the city’s DIY scene, they recently passed 2 years and 10 editions of hosting their party series “Hotel Canal”, a function with an underground leaning sound that showcases the city’s rising talent alongside more established artists.
Jonathan Toubin’s NY Night Train Soul Clap & Dance Off Party!
JONATHAN TOUBIN’S NY NIGHT TRAIN SOUL CLAP & DANCE OFF PARTY W/ SPECIAL GUEST JUDGE EDDIE B. GIEDA III AND PERFORMANCE BY THE OUT-SECTTurning up hundreds of times on five continents since 2007, New York Night Train’s SOUL CLAP AND DANCE-OFF is 21st Century’s most popular soul party and 45 party – playing to more people in more places than any other. The concept is simple – all night dancing to the exciting and exquisite 1960s soul vinyl of world famous 45rpm rock and soul DJ Jonathan Toubin and, in the middle, a short dance contest determined by a community panel of judges.THE OUT-SECThttps://theoutsect.bandcamp.com The members of The Out-Sect all met while living in a Philadelphia junkyard. On weekends, they would gather to drink beers inside a broken down 1982 GMC Caballero with a copy of Back From The Grave stuck in the car’s cassette player. Instantly being drawn to the trashy sounds of those pimple-faced mid-60s punks, they figured they could write a song half as good as any of them. And that’s just what they did! Using instruments they, quite literally, found in the trash, the band has managed to write a handful of deranged “songs” that will leave you asking yourself “What is that smell?” and “Dear god, can they just stop playing!?”ALL EVENTS AT THE DOLPHIN TAVERN ARE 21+, NO EXCEPTIONS
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+
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.
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