Take your live music pick, Philly! The ‘Night of 1000 Kates’ Kate Bush tribute, with live gigs by Algiers and Kiwi Jr. & 2nd Grade
The best shows in town, with power-pop and stoner-rock, plus avant-garde legends and a Philly celebration of the "Running Up That Hill" singer.
This week’s live music highlights include a power-pop and stoner-rock weekend at Johnny Brenda’s, a legendary avant-garde rock band at the Foundry, a Kate Bush celebration at Union Transfer, and a politically charged Atlanta quartet at PhilaMOCA.
And here are your bonus picks: Cosmic Guilt and Garcia Peoples team up at Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia on Friday. There’s a sold-out tribute to late Philly jazz great Joey DeFrancesco at the Clef Club with Terrell Stafford, Orrin Evans, and more on Saturday. That same night, Philly blues singer Deb Callahan celebrates her new Backbone at the Fallser Club in East Falls. Scottish pop star Lewis Capaldi plays a sold-out Met Philly on Tuesday. And it’ll be a busy midweek at Solar Myth with Xylouris White on Tuesday and Fujita & Claire Rousay on Wednesday.
1. Kiwi Jr. & 2nd Grade
A terrific double bill of indie power pop bands. Both experts at crafting tried-and-true sweetly melodic bittersweet songs tinged with melancholy. Both reminiscent of revered greats of the genre like Big Star and the Raspberries. Headliner Kiwi Jr. are a Toronto band fronted by witty singer and lyricist Jeremy Gaudet, who has punkish leanings on the band’s fine new Chopper, produced by Dan Broekner of Wolf Parade.
Philadelphia’s own 2nd Grade are power pop purists led by Peter Gill, the songwriter-guitarist who also plays in the American-leaning Philly band Friendship. 2nd Grade made hook-filled music of the first order on Easy Listening, their terrific 16-song 2022 album that’s full of pop culture references and inviting earworms. Kate Davis opens. $15. 8 p.m., March 31, Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 Frankford Ave., johnnybrendas.com
2. The Residents
The Residents was formed in 1970 in Shreveport, La. The avant-garde performance troupe and experimental rock band have made over 60 albums, starting with 1974′s Meet the Residents. They usually perform wearing giant eyeball masks, along with top hats and tails. On Friday, they’ll play two shows on their “Faceless Forever / Dog Stab!” tour, with a Free at Noon show at World Cafe Live followed by an evening show at the Foundry at the Fillmore. The tour is a rescheduling of their postponed 2020 50th anniversary tour, which will combine music from their 1978 album Duck Stab with songs from their 2020 album Metal, Meat & Bone: The Songs of Dyin’ Dog. Free, noon, March 31, World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St., xpn.org; $37, 8 p.m., Foundry at the Fillmore, 29 E. Allen St., thefillmorephilly.com
3. Night of 1000 Kates
This year’s Night of 1000 Kates has extra juice. Starting at the Barbary in 2014, the event has featured artists of many stripes — musicians, actors, drag performers, and various other storytellers — creating works inspired by British songwriter Kate Bush. But now that Bush is all the rage since her 1985 song “Running Up That Hill” topped the charts last year after being featured on Netflix’s Stranger Things, the show is being staged at Union Transfer. Over 70 mostly Philadelphian acts will perform. $20, 8 p.m., April 1, 1026 Spring Garden St., utphilly.com.
4. Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs
The British stoner-rock band that also answers to the name Pigsx7 knows how to get their point across. Songs like “Ultimate Hammer” and “Atlas Stone” on the Newcastle upon Tyne quintet’s fourth album, Land of Sleeper, revels in dense, body-quaking heaviness. But contrary to the band’s name, there’s more to their music than repetition. They weave plenty of variation in texture and tempo into what sounds poised to be their breakout album. $15, 8 p.m., April 1, Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., johnnybrendas.com.
5. Algiers
In the opening song on Shook, the fourth album from the Atlanta band Algiers, lead vocalist Franklin Fischer references historical examples of violence directed against Black people from the 1981 Atlanta child murders to the MOVE bombing in Philadelphia. “On Osage in ‘85,” he sings, “they’re sure enough gonna take you, but not alive.” That’s but one highlight on an album in which the quartet are joined by an intriguing group of guests: Zach de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine and underground rapper Billy Woods, but also Samuel T. Herring of Future Islands and Southern rocker Lee Bains. It’s one of the standout releases of the young year. $15, 7:30 p.m., April 5, PhilaMOCA, 531 N. 12th St., philamoca.org.