Looking back at 2nd Street Festival 2013 - Bailey Hounds, New Sweden and more!!

Here's a look back at the wildly successful 2nd Street Festival!

Every day covering Philly music, I find yet another song, band, artist, festival, etc. to be excited about.  Sunday's find was the #2ndStreetFest.  I hadn't done all that much exploring in Northern Liberties, but hey The Bailey Hounds and New Sweden were playing, what else did I really need to know?

Getting to the festival, I was a little nervous as I didn't know where the stages would be, but, ummm.. It is the 2nd Street Festival, so it couldn't be that hard right?  Walking to the Piazza at Schmidts, on 2nd street from Girard, the first stage became glaringly obvious.  Right smack in the middle of the street!  With logistics out of the way, it was time for fun!

The next big show for Brad Hinton Band

Looking back, I have the day split into two categories: Before Johnny Brenda's and After Johnny Brenda's.  The Johnny Brenda's bar/venue wasn't involved in the fest, but my side-kick for the day and I were hungry, so some fries and a burger were in order at JB's.  It was going to be Brad Hinton band, the Bailey Hounds before our snack.  Post JB's it would be some wandering while soaking in the scene and watching DJ Slowpoke, The Low Anthem, and New Sweden.  Whatever else we would find would be bonus.

Each portion was filled with intrigue and surprises, both with great music and great sights.  The "before Johnny Brenda's" portion started off wonderfully, as we hung out near the Germantown stage.  Brad Hinton Band kicked off and sounded great.  A little old-bluesy country, early-day fest-music party down, rockin' was taking place on stage.  I had no idea how many talented cats Brad had in his band.  Kevin Killen, Phil D'Agostino, Hezekiah Jones, and more.  I'm not sure if this is the regular line-up or not, but I'm certainly intrigued to find another show (and downloading the Kettle Pot Tracks - On The Hill Session).

Next up was the Bailey Hounds.  After catching them in a few neat places earlier this year with small crowds (Folkadelphia session, North Star Bar), I was excited to see them outside on a large stage with a large audience.  The weather really cooperated and anyone within earshot enjoyed the set. 

The Bailey Hounds brought their smokey, bluesy, murder ballads to the fest, bringing in more and more fans as the set went on.  After teasing the crowd with a sound check version of 'Mother' (yeah the Danzig song), the Bailey Hounds started their set.  Expecting to get in four songs, the guys were thrilled when they pulled off six, showing off the best of Along the Gallows(2011) and All the Blood in the World(2013).  It was entertaining to watch them play.  The gritty tracks sounded great unleashed to the crowd.  Vince Federic had some sweet solos and Chris Cardillo the bassist is just so damn happy with his guitar.  There's a distinct possibility they are sociopaths considering how at peace they are while playing songs about murder and death.

The Bailey Hounds "Hell Ain't Forever" from Bob Sweeney
The Bailey Hounds "Hell Ain't Forever" from Bob Sweeney on Vimeo.



Set List - The Bailey Hounds
  2nd Street Festival, Philadelphia, PA August 4th, 2013
    Track                                           RELEASE
1. 'Dead and Gone'                          All the Blood in the World
2. 'Those Devils Don't Scare Me'   Along the Gallows
3. 'Hell Ain't Forever'                    All the Blood in the World
4. 'Along the Gallows'                   Along the Gallows
5.  'Late Demon Rum'                    All the Blood in the World
6.  'Skeleton Dance'                            ** new/unreleased **

DJ Slowpoke a.k.a Birdie Busch spun some tunes for the Germantown Stage crowd

the "buzz" band of the day - Vacationer on the Piazza Stage

The post Johnny Brenda's portion of my day was for wandering the fest and see to what happens next.  I was going to see who I stumbled upon, see what kind of set Low Anthem had brought, and see how long I could last through the late New Sweden set.

After checking out all the vendors, the buzz amongst the crowd was all about Vacationer.  These Philly based rockers did a great job introducing themselves to the crowd, who were already pumped up from the West Philly Orchestra and positioning for the Piazza headliners Low Anthem.  

After I moved on from watching the disappointing Low Anthem set at the Piazza, back to the Germantown stage, I was introduced to Blayer Pointdujor and the Rockers Galore.  A little hip hop, a little punk, a lot funk.


 



Three new bands were now on my radar, and New Sweden was finally up.  Wilmington, Delaware's finest brought their rowdy folk to the Germantown Stage.  New Sweden is a band that is best heard loud and in person.  The six piece outfit has a great stage presence, showing off their intensity and forceful percussion (see Eggshells video).  They play their instruments hard (not quite Avett Brothers hard), to match the intensity and hard-working motifs of their songs.

Eggshells by New Sweden @ #2ndStreetFestival

Some have argued that they're just another band on the Mumford bandwagon, but this gang of musicians play this style as it's in their roots.  Just as you can't make up the feelings deep in their lyrics, you can't make up the passion that comes with the songs.   

The set itself was great.  The one-time all guy line-up seemed to be a step rowdier for the show and nearly caused a disturbance when they started handing out free albums.

Overall, I was quite impressed with the festival.  Musically they did a great job getting bands in that I wanted to see and bands that I needed to see!