I Just Read About That…

[DID NOT ATTEND: July 29, 2023] ALT 104.5 Fishtown FestivALT Block Party

I received a notification that Portugal. The Man were going to be playing at The Fillmore.  They are a band who are high on my “wanna see” list.  So I grabbed a ticket even though I had a ticket for another show that night.

Then I learned a short time later that the Portugal. The Man show was part of this ALT 104.5 Fishtown FestivALT Block Party.  It’s an all-day affair in three locations.  Much of it is free, although the Portugal. show is not.  Well, then it turned out that we were picking up my daughter from camp that day–so that knocked out going into town early.  And then we got invited to a farewell party for a friend who was leaving the area.  So there went the evening show.  I tried to resell my tickets but I guess Portugal. The Man is not on the top of everyone’s “must see” list.

As for the free bands, it’s amazing how much TikTok is making new bands into favorites.

There are three venues involved.

THE FOUNDRY

Max Davey is a Phialdelphia native who sings mellow folkie songs.  Her voice is quite nice.

I had not heard of Voilà. Their description here amused me:

an LA pop-duo consisting of Luke Eisner and Gus Ross. The band has racked up over 10 million streams over the past couple years, winning fans over with their catchy melodies, candid lyrics and dapper good looks.

I listened to one song and it was okay.

David Kushner is a singer with another interesting bit of detail about him:

Kushner’s song “Miserable Man” (2022) went viral on TikTok and peaked at number 11 on the charts in Norway and number 19 in Ireland, additionally reaching the top 40 in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

I listened to “Daylight” and aside from having a comically deep voice, I couldn’t help but think he sounded an awful lot like Hozier.

BROOKLYN BOWL

DJ Reed Streets is a DJ and I don’t really know what that means other than that he plays music?

Cafuné is an American indie pop duo consisting of singer-songwriter Sedona Schat and producer Noah Yoo. It was founded in 2014 after the two met at New York University. Their single “Tek It” from their 2021 debut album, Running, went viral on TikTok in 2022.

I really enjoyed the songs I listened to.

Grouplove is a band I’ve known for a while.  Actually I know their song “Tongue Tied” which I see is over  ten years old.  They seemed like a really fun band to see live–or at least they did about ten years ago.  I don’t know anything about them these days, although I really like their rowdy and fun attitude.

FILLMORE

Snacktime is a seven-piece brass band from Philadelphia.  Their songs, which feature the band performing on the fly, improvising and messing around with their hip hop and funk-influenced sound, are reminiscent of what you’d hear walking past the group while they perform in public spaces.

This seems like it would be more fun as a free show.  Maybe switch them with Grouplove?

Portugal. The Man.  I listened to their most recent album and didn’t really like it all that much.

I guess there’s not much that I really want to see at this Block Party. So, no big loss.