I Just Read About That…

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 19-20, 2022] Champagne Jam 2025

Every year for quite some time, The Front Bottoms have been doing a Champagne Jam at the close of the calendar year.

I got tickets in 2022 but we didn’t go.  This year I didn’t plan on going although my daughter surprised me by saying she wanted to go to one of the days.  Then I explained what all was involved–that it wasn’t just a headliner and opener and she agreed that she didn’t want to deal with all that.

So who was there this year?  It was much smaller than the 2022 edition, which seemed to have several venues involved.  This one was just the Fillmore and the Foundry.

Friday, December 19, 2025 at The Foundry 

• Family Dinner “creates alternative rock that makes you want to dance, with lyrics that take some dark twists.”  I listened to a couple of songs and I really liked their fuzzy guitars and Natalie’s vocals.  I would absolutely see them live, but not in this setting.
• Leisure Hour is a three piece emo band who’s stirred up attention in the midwest music scene by playing loud, looking slay, and building an intimate community around their band.  Looking slay makes me laugh.  Obviously I didn’t write that.  They’re from Muncie, Indiana and the band members are Leisure Hour is Grace Dudas, Raegan Gordon, and Isaiah Neal.  I really like Grace’s voice and it sounds like they put on a great show.
• Palomino is based in Brooklyn with members Elijah Campbell Amitin, Mike Sweeney, and Pat Deeney. They play indie rock inspired by the 90s. A band that likes certain kinds of music and processes them in their own way. It becomes an interesting fusion. There’s rock, a little bit of alt-country, some punk and so forth.  Sounds like The Front Bottoms a bit.

Friday, December 19, 2025 at Fillmore Philadelphia

• Alex Orange Drink is Alex Zarou Levine, is a Brooklyn-based musician recognized for his work as lead singer and songwriter of the punk band, The So So Glos.  His bio says “Alex is known for his “streetwise and irreverent lyrics”, which have drawn comparisons from William Wordsworth to the Beastie Boys.”  Wordsworth AND the Beastie Boys?  Well then.  His music is kind of slacker folk.
• This is Lorelei is Nate Amos who also sings in Water from Your Eyes who I’ve heard of but don’t know.  His records seem like simple bedroom pop, but I gather that when he plays live he has a band with him.
• Balance and Composure (from Doylestown, PA).  I didn’t know them but apparently everyone else was super psyched that they released a new record in 2024 (it had been 8 years since the last one).  I’ve listened to a few clips of songs and liked them. But I don’t think I would have enjoyed the show with a huge amount of big fans. But I should probably listen to them a bit more to see what the fuss is about
• The Front Bottoms are the stars of the night and the main attraction.  They were, no doubt fantastic, and I love that they coordinate this big party with lots of good bands.

Saturday, December 20, 2025 at The Foundry

• The Lunar Calendar is the project of Philly-based Saher Khan. The songs are somber, hopeful prose-poems of fractiousembodiment and a home-seeking.  Their lineup involves a crew of friends who bring their cheeky vignettes to life.  So says their bio.  The music is folkie and quiet, far more suited to The Foundry than the Fillmore.
  
• Public Works the Turn & Work website says “Public Works has four songs out, and each one is more striking than the last. He’s a bit of a mystery, but probably not for long.”  Which is not terribly helpful.  But it goes on: What a songwriter. What a voice. No website, no bio anywhere, no lyric sheet. Here’s what’s in his bio on Spotify: i used to smoke crack and now i don’t. i like to make the music i want to make. eastcoast emo folk alt indie rock or whatever.”  He remains a mystery, unless you were there.

Saturday, December 20, 2025 at Fillmore Philadelphia

• Funambulist is a new band featuring Kevin Devine and Caroline Glaser of Brother Bird.  Kevin played a song when I saw him last week, but he said it would sound much better with Caroline.  This was their first public performance.  Would have been fun to see, but I wasn’t going to a festival for one opener.
• Annie DiRusso is an interesting young musician who veers to the noisy while writing poppy songs.  She also sings about college and wrote a song called Ovid.  So she appeals to that side of my musical appreciation.  The Harvard Crimson (!) review says “The album is an evolution of her usual guitar-heavy rock instrumentals, experimenting with incorporating different genres while still maintaining a cohesive sound across the record.” I hope she opens for someone I’m seeing one of these days.
• Aaron West & The Roaring Twenties is the solo project of The Wonder Years frontman Dan Campbell. According to the project’s Facebook page, it is defined as “a character study conducted through music”, with Campbell taking on the persona of Aaron West in each song’s lyrics.  That’s a fun idea.  I actually don’t know The Wonder Years (even though apparently I should).  I like this guy’s voice for these songs and they rock more than I imagined they would.  Sounds fun.
• The Front Bottoms headlining a second night.

This seems like a really fun festival.  It was all mooot anyway as I had just had surgery.