Philly Rock Blog - Latest Comments

Re: The looney tunes of DANGEROUS PONIES.

koofreh umoren — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 23:34:12 -0000

Hi! How would you like to see south philly 2nd most fun band(besides label-mate the Damgerous Ponies), The Extraordinaires play at Bonnaroo? Do you want to download a FREE SONG? To do this, we need your help. The two bands that get the most downloads will get to play Bonnaroo. You can download the track here (1 download = 1 vote). And make sure to "like" the Bonnaroo and Sonicbids facebook pages. Thank you so much, and we love you all.
http://www.bonnaroo.sonicbids....

Re: The looney tunes of DANGEROUS PONIES.

The Skateboards — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 01:41:02 -0000

Blog needs to get some hi-res photos.

Re: The looney tunes of DANGEROUS PONIES.

Joseph_Rose — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 10:50:10 -0000

Bands need to get some hi-res photos.

Re: ROGUE THIEF is not easy listening.

Jack Cannon — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 11:05:23 -0000

Wow. Brutal! Both the review and the music. Might have been nicer not to print it and just give them some constructive critique. But I did enjoy reading it and makes me think twice before releasing a CD before it's ready.
http://www.reverbnation.com/au...

Re: ROGUE THIEF is not easy listening.

Joseph_Rose — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 10:19:47 -0000

I actually like this. I mean, could I listen to 10 of his songs every day? Hell no. But considering how timid and trendy so much of the music around here is, this is a nice breathe of fresh air. I approve.

Re: THE LIGHTNING BUG SITUATION are wallpaper.

Oriental Rug Cleaning Miami — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 06:44:26 -0000

Great collection there!

Re: INTERVIEW WITH PRB

Joseph_Rose — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 14:26:16 -0000

Ha. I start a blog about bands local to Philadelphia, and people are talking about promoters booking bands from Japan. Love it!

Also, if I'm not aware of all the labels and great bands that they're signing, those labels aren't doing a very good job are they? Shouldn't they be making me (and people in general) aware of them? Isn't that the point of being signed to a label?

Keep the traffic coming, people.

Re: INTERVIEW WITH PRB

Cameron — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 14:19:07 -0000

wow, your so off the map it's not even funny. i bet you barely have two hands dipped in the local music scene. and you're completely biased, whatever 'local' means to you is probably the shit music you're influenced by and people you associate with. there's tons of kids throwing shows in their basements, houses, and getting acts with dedicated followings across the country - and globe - to play these shows too with a full DIY ethic. you probably couldn't even name five of these underground venues that throw monthly shows and have had hundred + people come, a lot of the times with even more people than established venues such as johnny brenda's or shows R5 puts together. and that's not a diss to R5 who have booked some of these bands with acts more legendary than you know. R5 is the one bringing bands who are changing shit in music just in general to our city, if it wasn't for them bringing artists like acid mothers temple just for EXAMPLE over from japan, who would? not livenation who caters to the same old/same old. you probably aren't even familiar with the multiple labels around here signing these bands i'm talking about, and i could throw a ton of links at you. your blog is a disgrace to the philadelphia music scene and philly itself is ashamed for whoever reads it. seriously, get some perspective outside of whatever bullshit you're into.

Re: INTERVIEW WITH PRB

Joseph_Rose — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 13:49:59 -0000

This is irrelevant, but yes and no. R5 hasn't booked my band (which is completely inactive at this point anyway), but I'm not salty about it. My band has played the Trocadero, the Balcony, M Room, North Star, The Note, and countless other clubs in and around the region over the years. If we're "good enough" to play every single local club aside from R5's promotions, I'm completely fine with that. As I said in the article, they have a niche.

Re: INTERVIEW WITH PRB

Joseph_Rose — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 13:43:01 -0000

I'm not sure which part of my views (if any) you are actually arguing with. If you can pick out a sentence from my interview that you feel is wrong somehow, point it out and I can explain it further. But trust me when I tell you that R5 wouldn't have even crossed my mind had I not been directly asked "What do you think of Sean Agnew of R5 Productions?"
To be clear, my stance is as follows:

1. PRB is 100% dedicated to the local scene in/around Philadelphia. Any organization that can't say the same thing is not in competition with me.

2. If there were other blogs, promoters, etc who were 100% dedicated to the local scene in/around Philadelphia, I wouldn't be competing anyway! I'd love to see more focus on the small bands, because they work hard and deserve it.

3. I have absolutely no problem with Live Nation, R5, or any other promoters doing business. I've given money to both of them, and surely will again in the future.

Every band you find here on this site has more exposure than if the article wasn't posted. Therefore I say we're doing a good thing. Am I the only one? No. I might just be the only one doing it for free though. In fact, paying out of pocket to do it. Think about that for one minute... I pay money to give local bands free exposure. If that isn't pure enough for you, I don't know what to tell you.

Re: INTERVIEW WITH PRB

dereksentence — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 12:56:54 -0000

"In fact, I have first hand experience with them skipping over local bands and pretty much ignoring them"

Translation:

"r5 hasn't booked my band and i'm salty about it"

Re: INTERVIEW WITH PRB

livingend287 — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 12:45:47 -0000

Big Act Example: Best Coast(whose album debuted at 36 on Billboard this summer) just did an R5 show and had local band support. And don't act like bringing up Live Nation when asked about R5 isn't a insult. R5 isn't in the ticket gouging business, which is Live Nation's game. Go check out some R5 shows man, they flat out do support local music and pretty much saved the Philly Music scene from being passed over by a lot of national acts...which in turn means more shows where local acts can (and do) open.

It sounds like you have more of a problem with the lack of a "scene" in Philly(which I don't agree with) than anything else. And the article reads as if you're projecting that onto promoters when you can't really blame anyone other than bands which don't even exist.

Re: INTERVIEW WITH PRB

Joseph_Rose — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 11:02:59 -0000

Red the article. I didn't bring up R5, I was asked what I think. And "big acts" is an extremely subjective term. Given the context, most people would say that "big acts" are not playing any R5 promoted shows at all.

And why is Live Nation the worst? Who are you comparing them to? What exactly are they doing wrong? They promote concerts for "big acts" generally. No one is forced to buy from them or support their venues, just like R5. So what's the problem?

I'm not "calling out" R5, Live Nation, or anyone else. They all have businesses to run, and they are free to run them however they see fit.

Think about any well-documented "scene". Take Seattle in the early 90's for example. Was that scene all about the random national bands that came to play in cool venues in Seattle? No. It was the "Seattle Scene" because there were a bunch of cool bands from Seattle, playing around the city at the same time, and they had a network of clubs and fans supporting them. My response in the interview speaks to the fact that R5 and Live Nation are simply not comparable to what this site is about. Apple and oranges, that's all.

Re: INTERVIEW WITH PRB

livingend287 — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 10:49:39 -0000

You have nothing against R5? Obviously you do if you've supposedly "seen them skip over local acts firsthand." and feel the need to air that out publicly. For the record every R5 show I've ever been to has had a local band opening. Even for their biggest acts. And to be honest it's a huge favor for some of those bands to be opening for big acts given they weren't all that great. Truthfully, R5 is probably up there as the best thing to happen to the Philly music scene in the past decade. Don't slyly try to compare them to the worst (Live Nation) to try to gain attention for your blog. Which by the way needs a lot more effort put into it if you're going to be calling people out.

Re: INTERVIEW WITH PRB

Joseph_Rose — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 09:30:33 -0000

I have nothing against R5, Live Nation, or any of those other blogs. I don't compete with them in any way whatsoever. Look at the calendar of artists who pass through any R5 or Live Nation promoted shows through the course of a year, and tell me what percentage of them are original bands from in/around Philadelphia. If it isn't between 98-100%, then they really don't belong in a conversation about Philly Rock Blog, or the Philadelphia music scene.

This site is about giving bands from this region some extra exposure. It's a good thing that costs them nothing. Leave it to anonymous blog posters to try and turn it into something negative. THAT is why our scene is sad.

Re: INTERVIEW WITH PRB

tosht — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 04:34:31 -0000

I would have to agree with Fart Noise. You've posted like 15 times in the past year. Philly blogs like The Swollen Fox, The Pistola Press, The Walrus, Phrequency, etc, contribute way more to the Philly's music scene. They cover both local and non-local acts. Sure, they blog about touring acts more, but that's because, like you said, the 'scene' around here is lacking.

Re: INTERVIEW WITH PRB

FartNoise — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 04:20:17 -0000

Sean Agnew and all the R5 people do more in one day for the "sad" Philadelphia scene than you or your "blog" has done in its whole 1 year of existence.

Re: INTERVIEW WITH PRB

jesselun — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 13:06:53 -0000

Great article...nice to get some perspective

Re: DA COMRADE! are straight up nutballs.

Living Room Furniture — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 21:05:10 -0000

Pretty nice band.

Re: BRIGHT SMILE BLACK EYES is a cool name.

Grace Kelly — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 10:54:52 -0000

The way this article is written makes me want to learn all about bright smile black eyes!

Re: More pop punk in the form of ELECTRIC SHAPES.

MonstersInMyPocket — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 11:40:12 -0000

Great Review. I saw these guys the other night at Murph's for their CD Release, it was incredible. They're fun as hell live and everybody in the room was dancing like crazy!

Re: WIN PASSES TO BAMBOOZLE ROADSHOW!

Philly Rock Blog — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 11:02:44 -0000

Just testing the comments here...

Re: TOY SOLDIERS are derivative as hell, but good.

Geenapie — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 23:45:20 -0000

Gotta love Toy Soldiers. I love Ron Gallo's voice and his lyrics have this amazing honest quality. I do agree that they have their roots in some jazz and blues and are able to make it their own.

Re: TOY SOLDIERS are derivative as hell, but good.

Natalie Dickinson — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:51:03 -0000

I definitely have to agree with this review. The deep rooted yet almost whimsical sound of TS is refreshing. They have a fresh vibe that is sure to turn heads once the album picks up speed! I recommend everyone to pick up a copy of Whisper Down.

Re: The dynamic duo: GEMINI WOLF

Enhance Dog Food — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 10:06:11 -0000

Thanks