[ATTENDED: September 18, 2018] Don Babylon
I rather enjoy when there are two opening bands. Especially if the first opening band is a local band. Philly has been producing some great bands in recent years and I like getting exposed to them.
Don Babylon are a Philly-based band who I’d never heard of before. They play loud songs. Or as they describe their music:
“Drunk, sad rock’n’roll in between kitchen shifts and last call.”
They were terrific.
Lead singer Aubrey Neeley had this wonderfully “whatever” attitude while he was talking to us, but he totally rocked and sang with intensity when they played.
Their music is probably a combination of garage rock with really distorted guitars and intense vocals. But at least for the show I saw, they played a small variety of styles. And their lyrics are darkly funny without being laugh out loud funny.
I particularly enjoyed the twisted sense of humor the band had. The bassist, Leland Bickford, told a terrible joke. “Why do Philadelphians never cry? Because they have “wooder eyes” (water ice, the Philly Italian ice desert). Everyone groaned (rightfully), so he just shouted Go Birds! and everyone cheered.
So Neeley explained that he is originally from Baltimore and is a Ravens fan (booo). He went into a Philly bar wearing his Ravens sweatshirt and a guy in there looked at him and said “you’re a long way from Baltimore” and Neeley looked at us and said, “not really… it’s like an hour down the highway.” Then the guy looked at his sweatshirt and said “this is bird country.” Neeley looked down at the Raven on his shirt, and just shrugged at us. Probably funnier to hear than read, but I enjoyed it.
I enjoyed it more later when he said “you can find us on all social media, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter… and you can find me on OK Cupid.”
I walked in as they were finishing their first song. Then they played “Country Song” a kind of swinging bluesy song about living the life of a country song. I was a bit confused about what they really sounded like. But the rest of the songs continued in a kind of loud sorta screamed vocals style. 
The bass was solid, not just following the guitar but adding its own distinctive sounds. Meanwhile the drumming was loud and precise.
Neeley said that they moved to Philadelphia and within a couple of day their place was broken into. Then a few days later the Eagles won the Superbowl. And of course they wrote a song about it. Which I think was called “Started a Band.”
Most of their songs came from their currently released album, Babe, an album described as running the gamut from a pastiche of outlaw country to a winding epic built up brick by precarious brick to a satisfying conclusion.
But a couple were from their soon to be released second album, Foul (love the cover–right).
I wanted to chat with them after the show–they were sitting at their own merch table–but they were in a terrible place and the press of the crowd was forcing everybody past them (and I was going against the flow).
Check them out on bandcamp, and be sure to arrive early if they’re opening.
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