[ATTENDED: March 12, 2022] Lowertown
I had a great plan for this evening I would drive into Philly early–this show was at 6:30! I’d stop in at Federal Donuts for treats for the family.
Then I would park near Underground Arts on the street. I would see Lowertown and Wet Leg, then I would hop in my car and drive to Union Transfer–just a few blocks away, and see Daughter of Swords and The Tallest Man on Earth–a double header!
And then it snowed.
I wasn’t even sure if I could make it. But it stopped snowing with enough time for me to get to the venue and do my plan without the donuts. But when I got to Underground Arts, it was packed. There was a huge line out the door and nowhere to park!
I drove around for a few minutes and then panicked that I might not be able to get a spot alter by Union Transfer. So I parked in my lucky UT spot and hiked the six blocks between venues.
By the time I got inside, the venue was super crowded and Lowertown had already started.
So I went to the bathroom and checked out the merch (no poster for our show, only one for Brooklyn??). By the time I settled in I had probably missed half of their set.
I’d never heard of Lowertown. They are from Atlanta and this was their first tour. They have an album and an EP out on bandcamp. They say of themselves:
Hi We’re Lowertown! This is the band of Olivia O. (Olivia Osby) and Avsha the Awesome (Avshalom Weinberg). 🙂
! our music is a blend electronic and lo-fi instrumentation with meaningful lyricism and melancholy, narrative lyrics. Our music has been said to be indie with aspects of folk and electronica.
I enjoyed their set–Olivia had a Courtney Love thing going on–she slammed into Avsha a few times while he was playing. There was certainly a punky element and they got our heads moving along.
The last song they played, however, was a new one and for reasons I’m unclear about Olivia deliberately sang it out of tune. It was a punk move and I think the audience dug it, but I found it kind of painful, which was a shame because I think the words were pretty good.
There was a bassist and a drummer as well, but I couldn’t really see either from where I was. I’m glad that Underground Arts put TV screens on the giant poles in the middle of the floor. But I’d rather not be that far away again.
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