As a editor of Root Down In The Shadow, I make all the decisions about deadlines and features and such. I also get stuck sometime and fail to put a piece out. Maybe it wasn't the right time, maybe a "dealine" is missed. Whatever the case is sometimes things just don't happen. But, the musicians didn't fail to play the show, the contributors don't fail to show up. There's always a good time to post a review, even if it is eight months later. So, I present another piece "FROM THE NOTEBOOK."
Divers, now know as Arc Divers play tomorrow for what stands to be an amazing show with Israel Nash at the Malvern Summer Stage. So, there's no better time than now to share Wayne's free flowing piece.
Presented in it's original form:
Divers.
Johnny Brenda's.
Friday night in Fishtown Philadelphia.
I arrive early, too early. The sun is still out, the street bounces with people on their way out or coming back home. I park my 1998 jeep cherokee sport with the fabric coming off the ceiling, bad tires and on the wrong side of 200000 miles next to a nice little park where some of the natives play with their kids and drink coffee and chat. These are the times I love living and being apart of Philadelphia before the moon goes up and the c.h.u.d.s. (cannibalistic humanoid underground dwellers) come out ooorrrr maybe that's my favorite time to be in Philadelphia. We aren't the prettiest city, and yes we have some people here who may take themselves to seriously but god dammit we know how to have fun and we aren't full of shit like some other places. And we have world class music venue here.. Johnny Brenda's. god I love this place, pool table downstairs, good food, good evolving beer list, just that would make me want to come here. The upstairs is a cathedral to music. 2 stories of bar and sparse seating house all to see the new up and coming artist of the world, those who have grown too big to play the small clubs. but wait Johnny Brenda's is pretty small I mean it's not a huge room capacity must only be about 200( and I am making a very loose ballpark number on this) but it has a big feeling to it, you know that you are going to be apart of something special there even if there are 5 people there or 500(another ballpark number to throw out there).
As I walk up the steps I spill my coffee all over myself, oh thank you thy god for bestowing this gift unto me. I make way in, I've never been on a guest list before...felt good.
I sit at the bar. 2 goals: enjoy the show and don't get too drunk.
Satellite hearts start of this evening, these guys are amazing, energetic and spontaneous. In line with the other acts tonight they have been playing together for a long time and it shows, one of my favorite moments tonight was when their guitar player and lead singer needed to run backstage to grab a guitar and the other 2/3rds of the band played a jaunty little waiting around tune(ala jeopardy or a vaudevillian number played between acts) And after a few bars he was back on strange plugged in and they jumped immediately into the next song. This is what I love about music, it isn't perfect, shit happens it's how you roll with it and how you take it which sets the real pros apart and these guys slayed it thoroughly.
Purples... I've never heard of them till I got into the show(how prepared am I!!!), I had introduced myself to a couple of the members before the show and as my own personally mysterious dark horse of the evening was genuinely excited to hear them for the first time( little did I known that they are a band I should totally be aware of and are an evolution of the very well known band "the teeth"a fact of which was revealed to me after the show). Tight harmonies, grooving, fast paced, this band was electric sugar and I loved it, fuck I would go back for seconds.
Hmmmm a feeling begins to creep over me, familiar and warm, I'm happy but maybe a little bit to happy....my god I've broken my 2nd oath of the evening..I'm drunk, like real drunk(let me step outside the evening and say looking onto my notes while typing this up that I had kept a long linear line of conscious thought writing throughout the entire evening, this profanity ridden and rambling manifesto this will most likely be burned after I piece together the greatest hits from them). I start to sober up after purples and have about 20 min of guzzling water and walking around to have a clear head to complete my main objective cover divers set.
Now, I made it my intention to not binge listen to "divers"before this. I wanted to be fresh, I wanted this to be the first time I've ever really got to listen to them: full band good venue beautiful crowd untainted by any feeling or any pre-conceived thought of what they will sound like or be like.
Lights go down, Lights go up, I accidentally get another beer(whoops!) but Jesus what a great set. I didn't want this article to be a play by play of their set just a an analysis of the experience I had and what I felt during the show.
This feeling was bliss, the band was tight, like really tight. They played simple and sparse, the space that was left was filled with the haunting and beautiful voice of their lead singer Emily. Now yeah, they fucking rocked, they were everything stompy, risk taking and chaotic I love about rock music. But there was something else there a spiritual and harmonious feeling in the music. The songs were anthemic, moving, vulnerable, hypnotic I felt like for that hour or so they played I wasn't in a crowd of people but all alone in there and that I was witnessing something special. I loved every second of it. The way their set moved and weaved from song to song even sprinkling in a stones cover which was almost unrecognizable in the best way, they made it their own, this is what I'm talking about creating a mood or setting the tone for the evening and they did it flawlessly. It was fun, it rocked and I was genuinely moved by the whole evening.
That is how I wanted to walk away from it, that's how anyone should or who have had the pleasure of seeing live music feel after seeing a great show.
Fuck it's late, I check my phone, almost midnight....well I guess I could grab another drink a nightcap perhaps..... I can't wait to hear their album.
Yours truly,
Wayne Everett Gallagher
Divers, now know as Arc Divers play tomorrow for what stands to be an amazing show with Israel Nash at the Malvern Summer Stage. So, there's no better time than now to share Wayne's free flowing piece.
 |
| Arc Divers - Photo by Wayne Gallagher |
Presented in it's original form:
Divers.
Johnny Brenda's.
Friday night in Fishtown Philadelphia.
I arrive early, too early. The sun is still out, the street bounces with people on their way out or coming back home. I park my 1998 jeep cherokee sport with the fabric coming off the ceiling, bad tires and on the wrong side of 200000 miles next to a nice little park where some of the natives play with their kids and drink coffee and chat. These are the times I love living and being apart of Philadelphia before the moon goes up and the c.h.u.d.s. (cannibalistic humanoid underground dwellers) come out ooorrrr maybe that's my favorite time to be in Philadelphia. We aren't the prettiest city, and yes we have some people here who may take themselves to seriously but god dammit we know how to have fun and we aren't full of shit like some other places. And we have world class music venue here.. Johnny Brenda's. god I love this place, pool table downstairs, good food, good evolving beer list, just that would make me want to come here. The upstairs is a cathedral to music. 2 stories of bar and sparse seating house all to see the new up and coming artist of the world, those who have grown too big to play the small clubs. but wait Johnny Brenda's is pretty small I mean it's not a huge room capacity must only be about 200( and I am making a very loose ballpark number on this) but it has a big feeling to it, you know that you are going to be apart of something special there even if there are 5 people there or 500(another ballpark number to throw out there).
As I walk up the steps I spill my coffee all over myself, oh thank you thy god for bestowing this gift unto me. I make way in, I've never been on a guest list before...felt good.
I sit at the bar. 2 goals: enjoy the show and don't get too drunk.
Satellite hearts start of this evening, these guys are amazing, energetic and spontaneous. In line with the other acts tonight they have been playing together for a long time and it shows, one of my favorite moments tonight was when their guitar player and lead singer needed to run backstage to grab a guitar and the other 2/3rds of the band played a jaunty little waiting around tune(ala jeopardy or a vaudevillian number played between acts) And after a few bars he was back on strange plugged in and they jumped immediately into the next song. This is what I love about music, it isn't perfect, shit happens it's how you roll with it and how you take it which sets the real pros apart and these guys slayed it thoroughly.
Purples... I've never heard of them till I got into the show(how prepared am I!!!), I had introduced myself to a couple of the members before the show and as my own personally mysterious dark horse of the evening was genuinely excited to hear them for the first time( little did I known that they are a band I should totally be aware of and are an evolution of the very well known band "the teeth"a fact of which was revealed to me after the show). Tight harmonies, grooving, fast paced, this band was electric sugar and I loved it, fuck I would go back for seconds.
Hmmmm a feeling begins to creep over me, familiar and warm, I'm happy but maybe a little bit to happy....my god I've broken my 2nd oath of the evening..I'm drunk, like real drunk(let me step outside the evening and say looking onto my notes while typing this up that I had kept a long linear line of conscious thought writing throughout the entire evening, this profanity ridden and rambling manifesto this will most likely be burned after I piece together the greatest hits from them). I start to sober up after purples and have about 20 min of guzzling water and walking around to have a clear head to complete my main objective cover divers set.
Now, I made it my intention to not binge listen to "divers"before this. I wanted to be fresh, I wanted this to be the first time I've ever really got to listen to them: full band good venue beautiful crowd untainted by any feeling or any pre-conceived thought of what they will sound like or be like.
Lights go down, Lights go up, I accidentally get another beer(whoops!) but Jesus what a great set. I didn't want this article to be a play by play of their set just a an analysis of the experience I had and what I felt during the show.
This feeling was bliss, the band was tight, like really tight. They played simple and sparse, the space that was left was filled with the haunting and beautiful voice of their lead singer Emily. Now yeah, they fucking rocked, they were everything stompy, risk taking and chaotic I love about rock music. But there was something else there a spiritual and harmonious feeling in the music. The songs were anthemic, moving, vulnerable, hypnotic I felt like for that hour or so they played I wasn't in a crowd of people but all alone in there and that I was witnessing something special. I loved every second of it. The way their set moved and weaved from song to song even sprinkling in a stones cover which was almost unrecognizable in the best way, they made it their own, this is what I'm talking about creating a mood or setting the tone for the evening and they did it flawlessly. It was fun, it rocked and I was genuinely moved by the whole evening.
That is how I wanted to walk away from it, that's how anyone should or who have had the pleasure of seeing live music feel after seeing a great show.
Fuck it's late, I check my phone, almost midnight....well I guess I could grab another drink a nightcap perhaps..... I can't wait to hear their album.
Yours truly,
Wayne Everett Gallagher
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