Another Dagger Slammed Into Philadelphia Rock N' Roll Heart
Philadelphia is a rock n' roll town down to it's core. It has fantastic dive bars that cater to the up-and-coming, the down-and-out, and the never-going-anywhere. Each club has it's own unique style, persona, and charisma. But with corporations and creditors, Philadelphia is slowly losing that Rock N' Roll culture, attitude, and places to hang/listen.
The Trocadero, a fantastic venue that started as a strip club, has filed for Chapter 11 seeking to get out of their "burdensome" Ticketmaster contract. No word on what will happen to the venue, but it was the Go-to venue for smaller nationwide touring acts. I saw Motorhead literally rip the roof apart at the venue. The roof was crumbling and dusting onto the crowd below. I saw local Philadelphia, turned Nationwide touring artist, Silvertide sell it out in minutes. Danzig, Glorious Frankenstein, Scott Weiland, Airborne Toxic Event, A Day to Remember, the list goes on and on. I hope Chapter 11 protects the club from going under, but it is a rough going right now. (link)
The Trocadero, a fantastic venue that started as a strip club, has filed for Chapter 11 seeking to get out of their "burdensome" Ticketmaster contract. No word on what will happen to the venue, but it was the Go-to venue for smaller nationwide touring acts. I saw Motorhead literally rip the roof apart at the venue. The roof was crumbling and dusting onto the crowd below. I saw local Philadelphia, turned Nationwide touring artist, Silvertide sell it out in minutes. Danzig, Glorious Frankenstein, Scott Weiland, Airborne Toxic Event, A Day to Remember, the list goes on and on. I hope Chapter 11 protects the club from going under, but it is a rough going right now. (link)
Last year we saw the pinnacle of rock bars go under, The Khyber. The Khyber had so many great rock show that put the artists right with the fans who came to see them. I first met The Union Dead when they opened up for Nashville Pussy at this club. It had a wonderfully musty smell from when the bathroom upstairs would flood and cool the stage, and those in front, with it's refreshing turd water. PBR's were a buck on most Saturday nights helping you stumble out at 2am drunk as shit for just 20 bucks. (link on the last show at Khyber)
Finally, announced just hours ago, 94.1 WYSP will turn to an all sports talk radio format leaving behind 40 years of rock culture. WYSP has been dead for a while, losing listeners to the other rock station WMMR. Those in Philadelphia remember the epic battles between WMMR and WYSP trying to get the shows, artists, and actors to promote their station. WYSP was the harder, rougher alternative to the older "dad's music" of WMMR. WYSP brought Nashville Pussy, Drowning Pool, American Head Charge, System of a Down, and Metallica's rarer tracks to the masses. These are bands WMMR wouldn't touch since they relied heavily on The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, and Crosby Stills Nash/Young.
But over the years, WYSP decided to jump on the Opie and Anthony/Howard Stern bandwagon. From 6am-6pm they were a legitimate talk radio station and alienated their listeners to the point they just couldn't recover. After taking it back to a music format, it changed to "The Rock You Grew Up With" and played older songs similar to WMMR was doing....except WMMR moved to more contemporary artists.
On September 6, WYSP will turn to an all sports talk radio format and Philadelphia loses another rock station. As much as I would like to continue to remain disillusioned about the state of rock n' roll, we are losing ground to pop, hip/hop/rap, and now all sports talk. I used to laugh at those in other markets who had to buy a satellite radio to get the rock n' roll they love. I laughed and kid because we in Philadelphia had two fantastic rock stations, but now we have one major one and a real punky upstart alternative station (104.5) who I am rooting for. But Young The Giant sucks hairy hole. They are Jimmy Eat World folks, wake up!
I know there is great Rock N' Roll out there and I intend to open your eyes to those bands. Rock has gone underground right now, but like everything, the music industry is cyclical. Rock will return, but who will helm the ship? Only you can decide.
As a quick Post Script, part of me is glad that Spike of WYSP is not allowed to work as a rock DJ in Philadelphia anymore. Here was my take on Spike. Maybe there is an upside to the loss of WYSP.
Don't worry about Spike, he'll be a board op for his dad's national show
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