Every Tuesday, Critical Mass sifts through the art blog world so you don’t have to.
— Local music blog Phrequencyreported yesterday that it just turned one, and will be celebrating its time on this cyber Earth with a party at Kung Fu Necktie (1248 N. Front St., 215-291-4919) on Wed., Nov. 11 at 8 p.m. McRad, Dragonzord, Deep Possum and DJ PHSH will be performing, and it’s free. Not including the present.
— If the steep decline of This Is It ticket sales is any indication, MJ hype may have reached its dénouement. Or not: The Piazzaoffers its own take on “Thriller” with a video of the world’s largest simultaneous performance of the dance, which took place last Saturday. The scene is especially set ’cause all the Zombies are wet.
— The medium for most reviews is words, but local artist Todd Marroneexpresses his impressions through art produced during a performance, or what he calls “sketchy reviews.” His newest is a rather enthusiastic portrait of Kyp Malone from his set at Johnny Brenda’s.
— PW Style did the leg work for fashion-conscious fans and found a strange/fun “Phil-box” hat on a Japanese Web site. PW also featured a T-shirt tribute to Utley’s beating of New York last night. His new nickname should be King Kong.
Since 1968, the Henri David Ball has been the most fab Halloween party in town, hosted by the now 63-year-old Henri David and attended by Philly notables like Gov. Ed Rendell and … the Snuggie Twins (see above). Our associate Web editor Neal Santos attended the freak show, shot this video and some photos, and came back relatively unscathed.
If you’re curious about the man behind the ball, this Philly Mag piece really breaks it down — dude lost his virginity at 12, is BFFs with John Waters and makes jewelry for Stevie Nicks. Jealous?
If your weekend went from celebratory to bleak at the flick of a wrist and a missed pitch, things were worst elsewhere. Rumors ran rampant about a suicide attempt at The Fire (true, according to Fire boss Derek Dorsey who said “an individual who was not a regular patron at The Fire made a tragic attempt on his life near closing on Saturday night, he died later at the hospital”) without any further confirmation. There was an injury to a member of Black Landlord (true, but only bad enough to miss the AfroPunk fest). The least physically painful of the rumors was the one that found 941 Theater in Northern Liberties closed due to violations from an incident last week where the venue had allegedly served alcohol.
941’s Doug Sakmann, fresh from setting up a benefit the benefit for his theater/live venue — which will take place November 21 at the Starlight Ballroom (460 N. 9th St., 215-769-1530) — told me there was beer served and L& I indeed did shut them down. Temporarily of course, unless they can’t raise enough money for the violated codes or catch up on the monies missed (not to mention operating expenses like rent or electric). Still, all of November’s shows as well as Halloween’s gig were canceled.
It’s been rumored that 941 had been in danger of closing for a little while due to the costs associated with keeping the facilities up to code and the licenses up to date. But things are tough all over.
”Not wanting to see this happen, before we got shut down we had recently come up with a better business plan and were working on ideas for a fundraiser,” says Sakmann who says that some of 941’s permits had expired and that they were in the process of renewal.
“The building is zoned for industrial use so we have to apply for a use permit for commercial zoning variance, which has to be approved by the Northern Liberties Neighborhood association. In order to regulate our operations and approve this, the NLNA sets forth a number of provisions and restrictions including a one year variance at a time that has to be renewed annually, and also regulations on our liquor policy. Not wanting to see another bar in Northern Liberties, the NLNA did not allow us to apply for a liquor license. But we agreed we could occasionally give out beer or liquor at 21+ events as long as we were not charging for the alcohol, similar to a First Friday type event,” says Sakmann. “We were unaware however that by charging a cover charge at the door, the Liquor Control Board construes that as technically charging for alcohol, even if it is being given out for free. Apparently in order for us to give out alcohol, the event would have to be totally free, which we did not know and obviously we can not afford to do. So the Liquor Control Board got wind of an event we were doing with free beer and sent in undercover cops. They shut us down due to the beer we were giving out and then saw that our permits were not up to date and slapped further violations on the premises, forcing us to close until our permits are processed again which is at the end of November.”
And now, 941 is not able to do business for a month, in addition to mounting legal fees for processing and expediting the permits. “If we don’t pay the city’s expedite fees we wont be able to open until February, keeping the fire security and other aspects of the theater in good standing so we pass inspection when we do reopen along with all of our other weekly and monthly bills associated with running the theater,” says Sakmann. Either way, Sakmann adds, it all adds up to a lot of money — like $12,000 before the end of the month.
The aforementioned November 21 benefit takes place from noon to 6 p.m. at the Starlight Ballroom. It’s still in the planning stages but bands will definitely be on the bill. Previous to that Sakmann says: “Anyone who wants to lend a hand, donate money or has any ideas on how we can raise more money can contact us at booking@941theater.com.”
Don’t know what to do tonight? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
The last time you saw Night Moves, it was a different time. And a different place. But I promise that here, at Critical Mass, is where I’ll stay — forever. Now onto tonight’s options …
— If you haven’t been to the free Science on Tap series at National Mechanics (22 S. Third St., 215-701-4883), you should go — it’s like a good, toasty conversation with a very intelligent friend. Tonight at 6 p.m., Flashpoint Theatre Co. director Noah Herman, along with several of his actors, will discuss their current show boom. And what does it have to do with science? Sez the press release: “Playwright Peter Sinn Nachtrieb is a former bio major who examines science through the lens of theatre. The darkly funny play imagines the creation story of the next form of life on Earth.”
— Today marks the beginning of J. Karma’s (62 N. Third St., 215-627-9625) annual jewelry exchange, in which you give up your gently used shoes, handbags, scarves and jewelry to The Career Wardrobe, and the boutique gives you $10 off your next purchase of $50 or more or $20 off your next purchase of $100 or more. Like a pawn shop, but cuter. J. Karma’s open until 7 p.m. today, and the exchange lasts until Nov. 30.
— The Showdown’s Catherine Grubb says you should go to tonight’s 7:30 p.m.World Café Live (3025 Walnut St. 215-222-1400) show to see Heavy. I say go to see local indie act Illinois, despite their confusing name. It’ll cost you $10.
I went to the opening reception for Jason Hackenwerth’s exhibit, “The Titan and the Fireflies,” at 2424 Studios (2424 E. York St., 215-423-1800) this Friday. And I worried. (For some reason, senior editor Patrick Rapa didn’t.) Making Time Halloween was going to be held there the very next night, and Hackenwerth’s enormous, fragile pieces are made completely out of balloons. Sweet, tempting, pop-able balloons. Surely some drunk Where the Wild Things Are character would wreck the whole thing. Which would be a shame, because the work is weirdly cool. The pieces look like giant underwater creatures, or something Wayne Cohen would whip out at a show … and when you look inside them, it’s like peering into something’s guts.
Thankfully, the folks over at 2424 Studios have some sense, and lifted the artwork via pulley away from all the dancers’ grubby hands. “We raised them completely, so nothing happened,” leasing manager Jessica Ruck told Critical Mass.
The show will be up through Nov. 28.
And if you’re curious about how the hell Hackenwerth creates these huge balloon specimens — let alone what art class he took to learn such things — the video below helps.
What do you all think? See some any other excellent pumpkins? My landlord’s kids had a pretty sweet Phillies pumpkin, which didn’t give off the right karma but was still a stellar job.
941 Theater’s Nick Esposito, Zafer Ulkücü and Doug Sakmann.
Back in September, we featured the 941 Theater in our Choice Issue, highlighting their niche-filling ability to give local filmmakers a chance to screen their work:
There’s no agenda. In addition to having the cheapest rental rates in the city, 941’s setup is tantalizing: A night can start in the venue’s considerably roomy lobby and move to the 100-seat screening room, which can also be converted into a 200-capacity concert venue.
But, as reported by Philebrity, L&I is hating on 941 for their free-wheeling ways and have heavily fined the theater and shuttered it for the next month. The Philadelphia Friends of the Projected Arts, the theater’s non-profit umbrella company, have a letter up on their site describing the situation and announcing they will hold a fundraiser in order to keep the dream alive. If you are able to donate your time or services, hit them up at booking@941theater.com or you can simply donate your cash via PayPal. We’ll give you more info on the fundraiser when we hear about it.
It’s a real shame that this has happened. While places like the Ibrahim Theater at International House have done an excellent job with high-brow repertory programming, 941 hosted down, dirtier and frankly sillier fare, which is in no way a slight. In addition, the theater was the homebase for the always-fun Backseat Film Festival, which takes place in March, and served as host to smaller fests like the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival.
But this is really a blow to the independent film community. There are not a lot of places in this city where cash-strapped filmmakers can show their work. As 941-er Nick Esposito pointed out in the Choice piece, giving filmmakers a place to show their work allows them to cover costs and start on their next project.
“Every project people do is theoretically better than the last one,” Esposito told me about the importance of the theater’s economic model to indie filmmakers. Hopefully, the closure (and eventual re-opening) will signal a fresh beginning for the 941 team and they can apply that sentiment to themselves.
Monday: The Heavy has soul. The British indie-funk outfit is this generation’s answer to Curtis Mayfield. Think P-Funk, but whiter. With Illinois, 7:30 pm, $10, World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St. 215-222-1400.
Tuesday: Nick Diamonds decided he needed a “more mature” project than the Unicorns, and Islands is what came out. An indie rock band from Quebec that doesn’t sound nearly as pretentious as Mr. Diamonds does. With Jemina Pearl, Toro Y Moi, 8 pm, $13, First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St.
Thursday:Thao Nygyen & the Get Down Stay Down is some of the best indie-folk I’ve heard recently. The front-lady and her group feel like an Asian Regina Spektor, but with less piano and more mandolin. With Portland Cello Project, David Schultz, 8 pm, $12, First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St.
Friday: You need soulful beats and socially conscious lyrics, all delivered by an albino who’s sick enough to tour with Atmosphere? Brother Aliis the man for the job. With Evidence, Toki Wright, BK-One, 8 pm, $15, First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St.
Saturday:Seizure 17 is Nirvana-esque group from Philly. The songs on their MySpace sound suspiciously like they were recorded in Garageband with the built in Macbook mic, but they appear to deliver an energetic live show. Go forth and support your local shit. With My Mind, Mikingmihrab, Molting, Jodienda. 8 p.m, Danger Danger Gallery, 5013 Baltimore Ave.
Sunday: Did anyone see the movie Once? I didn’t know this until just now, but apparently Glenn Hansard and Marketa Irglova (the girl and the guy from that movie, you can read Sam Adams’ interview with them here) are a pre-existing folk duo called The Swell Season. Hell yes. With Doveman. 8 pm, $35, Merriam Theater, 250 S Broad St., 215-732-5446.
Mark Maurer talks to director Tom Quinn about his very Philly film, The New Year Parade, about a family torn apart by divorce set against the Mummers parade:
When Tom Quinn approached the Mummers for feedback on the script for his feature-length debut, The New Year Parade, they reacted with “friendly ball-busting.
“They just wanted to tear it apart,” Quinn says, who grew up in Bucks County and attended La Salle and Temple but is otherwise far removed from the string and fancy bands that set The New Year Parade scene. “They know this world so much better than I ever will.” Quinn saw value in letting the Mummers retain their own voice, so he encouraged ad-libbing with the mostly first-time actors.
Staff Blog
THE CURATOR: Phrequency’s 1st birthday, “Thriller” worldwide zombie dance, sketchy reviews, Japanese Phillies hat
