Let’s break down the week ahead.

Tomorrow night there’s an Eagles Monday Night Football game against divisional opponent the Redskins. That normally would be about as big of an event on the radar here, but this week it’s small potatoes. Nonetheless, we’ll be watching and we’ll be tired on Tuesday morning.

Just in time for Pearl Jam to begin their 4 night stand to close up shop at the Spectrum. Lots of fond memories there. If you think PJ doesn’t know about the Spectrum’s place in rock history go back to last summer. While launching into a Baba O’Reilly encore to cap a two night run in Camden Eddie says, “Say goodbye to the Spectrum for us.” Little did they know they’ll be saying goodbye to it for us.

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The next night, Wednesday, Pearl Jam continues their shows. And oh yeah, the Phillies play game one of the 2009 World Series at a site yet to be determined. Are you tired yet? Don’t be, cause there’s more.

Thursday night is game two of the World Series. Pearl Jam is off that night. No worries here on what to do. I may be wringing my liver out for a brief respite.

Friday, it’s the reverse. No Phillies game that night, but Pearl Jam brings us show #3 of the Say Goodbye to the Spectrum For Us run.

Thank the lord that week is over. What? We’re just getting going? OK…

Saturday. D-Day. Last night of the Spectrum, home Flyers game at 1 and a World Series game at Citizens Bank Park. And it’s all happening on Halloween.

Now, let’s sandwich this bonanza with an Eagles game at home against the Giants on Sunday afternoon at 1. Then another home World Series game that night.

OK, now I’m tired.

What happens next is yet to be written by the Phillies. Could be more games, could be another celebration.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’m going to take a nap now.

(Go Phils)

Jon Solomon

I’m not sure whether newspapers can have sister stations, but we think of WPRB like family around here. Aw. It’s true, the free-form commercial-free radio oasis up there in Princeton does so much we like — especially on Wednesday nights when Jon Solomon keeps score at home.

Solomon — who hosted CP’s Local Support podcast, back when we could afford such a luxury — is always turning me on to new music, and setting aside blocks of time for in-studio live sets by artists from the Philly-NJ-NYC area.

Tonight, WPRB starts its annual membership drive. I recommend you tune in — Solomon goes on at 7 p.m. with guests/music by like Obits, Jennifer O’Connor, Danielson, Screaming Females, The Spinto Band,  Caterpillar, Bitter Bitter Weeks, Rebecca Gates and Tim Midgett — and consider sending some money to keep the station rocking and pick up a sweet t-shirt.

A while back the Clog was interested in where Phish’s upcoming 3 day Halloween festival would be held. At the time California was eliminated, but we correctly guessed it would be added back and announced as the location.

Phish has a tendency to wear “musical costumes” on Halloween and play the entire album of another band. In 1994 it was the Beatles’ White Album, the next year it was the Who’s Quadrophenia. Other year’s saw them take on The Velvet Underground and the Talking Heads. They even did all of Dark Side of the Moon once, but that is another story.

Well the next part of the mystery is upon us.

If you go to the festival portion of their website you’ll see a slew of covers getting slain. So far, amongst others, Rubber Soul and Who’s Next have been eliminated (I guess they don’t want to double up) but many amazing albums from all eras remain.

From Saturday Night Fever to Ziggy Stardust to Hello Nasty the choices are wide and varied. Will they do Pearl Jam’s Ten as Pearl Jam is closing down the Spectrum in Philly? (I doubt it, but right now it’s a possibility)

My personal hope: Electric Ladyland. Page on Voodoo Chile? Yes please.

CP’s Neal Santos and DJ Nights impresario Gair “Dev79″ Marking were at Philly DJ Day this weekend. Were you?

fastcheapparty.com

Psydde Delicious

Could it really be 10 years since I sat in Lucy’s Hat Shop watching kids strip off their glad rags and dance while corsetiere Psydde Delicious provoked them to further silliness and sexiness? But here we are — Fast Cheap at 10-years-old is happening now.

�The Fast Cheap anniversary will host a cavalcade of our usual stars and celebrity guests, celebrating with many of the original surviving talents and partygoers who started a legend with us,� says Delicious.

He used to have the phrase “Out of Controlâ€� attached to it too. But Psydde’s more compact now — with a men’s store in the Piazza to go with his Delicious Corsets shop on Liberties Walk he hardly has time for extraneous phrasing. “I think back fondly of our humble beginnings at Lucy’s Hat Shop and how we single handedly created a seedy underbelly tarnish on the sterling shine of Old City during those first few sleazy years,â€� says Delicious. “The motorcycle gangs, accountants, punks and strippers all partying together harmoniously — it was great. Funny how it was always the jocks that started any problems there. No matter, it was probably the most genre bending party of its time.â€�

Delicious is celebrating with two events — one tonight at Patou in Old City, the decadent party’s original haunt with the equally haunted and decadent Three-4-Tens. There will be a few Delicious dancers to help brighten the dusk of the high-ceilinged French locale while Psydde DJs.

Then there’s Fast Cheap bash at Fluid on Sunday, September 27 – where the party’s been since Lucy’s asked Psydde to move after the lewdness. The Fluid bash features special guests such as Melissa Bang-Bang, Violet Sweet, Kiki Berlin and LuLu Lollipop and fashion shows courtesy of Delicious Boutique & Corseterie, Crash Bang Boom and Passional.

“We’re older, yes. Wiser, not so sure,â€� says Delicious. “But we’re just as determined as always. I hope to launch Fast Cheap in Space within the next few years if technology still has not caught up with my ideas I will settle for Fast Cheap on Ice. Fast Cheap will move forward into our twilight years or as long as our livers hold out. There’s a whole new generation who needs to experience the legend.â€�

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Fri., Sept. 25, Patou Restaurant, 312 Market St., 215-392-0936, patourestaurant.com.

Sun., Sept. 27, Fluid, 613 S. 4th St., 215-629-3686, fluidnightclub.com

Michael T. Regan

This just in from longtime CP photog/recent Los Angeleno Michael T. Regan via his Bucket of Ashes blog:

It’s official, Tom Waits has chosen five of my photographs to appear on the live album he’s releasing this fall. Tom Waits: Glitter & Doom Live is a collection of songs taken from his recent tour through the US and Europe. ANTI- records has informed me that one of the images will run as a full 12″ panel on the inside of the gate fold LP jacket.

Knowing Regan like I do — the guy is a passionate Tom Waits fan and a collector of Waits vinyl — it’s hard to be any happier for him. As he says in his blog: “This is an innocent dream. Tom Waits has had a huge effect on my creative development .… As a collector of his vinyl LP’s, being included in the history of creative album photography from 1971 - the present is a tremendous honor.”

The shots are from a photo essay Regan did for Phawker from a show in Columbus, Ohio.

This is just really awesome news. Congrats, Mike.

More photos and commentary at Bucket of Ashes.

Photo | Mark Maglio

Daryl Hall and Angelica Huston?

The only good things about The Spectrum’s closing are the memories it’ll conjure the closer to implosion, and the rash of wildly amazing shows (Maxwell with Robin Thicke, Leonard Cohen, Halloween with Pearl Jam) in the wake of its finale.

And though we were excited by the notion of Hall & Oates playing out their hits on Oct. 23 in accordance with its first ever box set Do What You Want Be What You Are. We got triply thrilled when we heard that Todd Rundgren was on the bill.

Not only did the Upper Darby/Philly boy trio form what would be the Seventies Blue Eyed Soul Axis (all due respect to Boz Scaggs and Steely Dan). They all worked as one when the Runt produced H&O’s War Babies album 37 years ago. If you don’t know from this oft-maligned personal fave of mine,  oh ye “Kiss On My List” fans, dig this: Tonight (Wed. Sept. 15) you can catch Rundgren and Hall on the web series Live From Daryl’s House (livefromdarylshouse.com).

Reunited for the first time in eeooooooooooons doing “Better Watch Your Back” from War Babies, seven of each other’s best and a few covers by The Soul Survivors and Average White Band, this promises to be just a lick and a taste of the Philly brand cream cheese to come. Yum.

Don’t know what to do tonight? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

Slo-Mo. How to describe these local favorites? Mike Brenner in his trademark pristine white suite lays down crunched out lap steel mastery with his long time rhythm section holding the flow.

Mic Wrecka belts out poignant and imaginative raps about weed, Philly, weed and life in general.

Backed with percussion, female vocals (on lead and backup) as well as rhythm guitars you get a lush sound that ranges from gentle ballad to blistering rock.

Patrick *knows* he’s in tune.

About three years ago, I picked up a guitar for the first time and set about learning to play. For whatever reason, I dispensed with the rock strumming phase and went straight for fingerpicking — and folk music.

And then I discovered one of the great treasures of the internet — music lessons on YouTube.

In particular, I became a fan – and then a student – of Patrick Costello, a Philly-raised folk musician based in Clearfield, Md., who (besides making and selling banjos and writing music books The How and Tao of Folk Guitar, The How and Dao of Old Time Banjo, e.g.) gives great folk lessons for guitar and banjo on Youtube.

He and his father — Pat “Dear Old Dad,” Costello — host the show together, not only giving lessons but sharing news of musical gatherings and reading letters from Pat’s students around the world.

Amazingly, I was recently telling a friend about Patrick’s lessons, and she said, “Wait, does he host the show with his dad? My dad takes lessons from him!”

Anyway — Patrick, it turns out, has suffered from serious hearing loss since he was a kid. For a guy who’s dedicated his life to music, it’s a pretty bitter twist of fate. He plays guitar holding the instrument to his teeth so he can feel the notes through the instrument wall; he’s designed banjos that have extra-vibrating handles so he, or anyone else who can’t hear, can feel the notes on his fingers.

Over the last year, Patrick’s shared his experience with his students. He’s also kept us up to date on his journey to remedy the hearing problem by getting a “Baha implant,” a hearing aid implanted into the skull, which transmits vibrations straight to the hearing nerve, skipping the ears altogether.

I got home last night, checked my e-mail, and found that Pat had posted a new video a few days ago — of the successful activation of his implant.

Patrick can hear his own music again.

He wrote on his and his dad’s blog, dailyfrail.com, a few days ago:

So I wandered down to the work boat harbor for a while, and then wound up walking along the edge of the marsh. There wasn’t anybody around. I listened to the birds  and the crickets for the first time in years. A mosquito buzzed by the microphone of my Baha and I found myself marvelling at the sound. It has been ages since I have been able to hear something like that.

The world is suddenly so much larger. Tomorrow we are running up to Wal-Mart so that I can wander around and get used to all of the new sounds jumping out at me. I have to admit that it is a little scary being surrounded by so many new experiences, but at the same time it is kind of neat. I mean, at the ripe old age of 39 I have the chance to reacquaint myself with the world.  Everything is new and wonderful except for top 40 country. That stuff is just as bad as it was back when I went deaf. Yeech.

Here’s the video. It’s long and a little slow as the Johns Hopkins medic explains the less-fascinating aspects of Patrick’s implant to him. But I, for one, was reaching for the ol’ tissue box when — still at Johns Hopkins — he picked up his guitar, then his banjo, and could hear them while he played.

Congratulations, Patrick!

photo Shawn Brackbill

We were so psyched about the Pissed Jeans show this weekend, even though they were kinda on mute when John Vettese talked to them. Sadly, Sub Pop says it’s not happening.

The Pissed Jeans van broke down on the way back from the west coast…so they won’t make it to Philly by tomorrow to play Pi Lam!  I’ll be sure to let you know if another show is scheduled in the near future.

Tonight I’ll be at the judges’ table at the Beta Hi-Fi Festival finals at World Cafe Live. It’s like a battle of the bands, except there’s nobody saying woo and the music is usually pretty awesome and diverse. For the past week, audiences have been picking their favorite acts each night. It all ends tonight. The contenders are High Hearts, Liat, The Beekeepers, Levee Drivers, Tim McGlone and The Turn and whoever won last night. I was there two years ago when Cage the Elephant Cheers Elephant won it all (that’s them in the pic). You should come to this. It’s free, fun and casual.

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Tonight, Friday, 7 p.m., free, World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St., 215-222-1400, worldcafelive.com.

A heads up and a hand out meebee, kids. Our good friend Ramon Martinez, host of Saturday’s Y-ROCK Internacional clued me into yet another crime against musicians touring Philadelphia. No, not the one that sends them to Geno’s or Pat’s over Jim’s. This is the one where all their equipment gets stolen here. This time, the band is Satellite District from Atlanta, the opening act for Monte Negro on Kung Fu Necktie’s Monday night (Aug 17) bill.

It was Satellite District’s second night staying at the Microtel Inn & Suites by the Philadelphia International Airport. After going to bed around 4 a.m. and waking up around 9 a.m., the Satellite’s found that their van had been broken into and an estimated $20,000 of gear stolen including a set of lights, lasers, and a light console.

WOW — these guys had lasers. Whoever robbed them must like Hawkwind circa 1974. Among the stolen guitars there was an Ivory Squire Strat, a Guild Blue Bird and a VOX AC30 amp. There’re no details on the bass and the drum kits.

When Martinez asked what could be done to warn touring bands about the five-finger discount local robbers seem to take on unsuspecting out-of-towners, my take is to tell them NOT to play Philly. This happens all the time and at different motels and hotels that aren’t Sofitel or somewhere pricy. Martinez started a fundraising drive for these guys on Facebook.

“I am bummed and I wish I knew how to prevent these things from happening in this city,â€� Martinez wrote me last night. “One thing is for sure, every time a band stays overnight, I’m hiring two burly dudes and sitting them outside their van. That’s the only way to keep these bastards away.â€�

But what if they steal the burly dudes?

OK, no more jokes. Help these guys out.

Rest in peace, Les Paul.

Perhaps more than anyone else, you defined the music of the 20th century. You invented the electric guitar, and played the hell out of it, creating an entirely new sonic realm. You were the first person to experiment with recording as a medium, pioneering the techniques (from reverb to overdubs) we still use today. You left behind you a large and diverse body of recordings that has influenced nearly everyone who ’s picked up an instrument, a microphone or a tape recorder up to the present day. You are among the truest and greatest of artists — an engineer, a scientist, an architect. You will be missed.

Don’t know what to do tonight? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

We’re seriously digging this girl’s hip-hop, Brazilian jazzy, psych rocky, just overall pretty-sounding music. Not to mention her style and that fly cover up top. Listen here.

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Tue., Aug. 11, 9:30 p.m., $10, Silk City, 435 Spring Garden St., 215-592-8838, silkcityphilly.com.