Entry tags:

dhp, yrock

Y-Rock Radio Resurrection, recapped rejoicingly
Weeks ago, the Y-Rock staff had its first music meeting and a tour of both WXPN (also offered to Radio Resurrection attendees!) and World Cafe Live's main facilities. I never really discussed the building's bells and whistles in depth here. Suffice it to say that the place is a marvel of planning and technology, on Wednesday allowing WXPN to have Y-Rock Program Director and on-air DJ Jim McGuinn simultaneously put the first "Y-Rock on XPN" radio show on terrestrial radio at 88.5 FM, stream it out over the Internet, and pipe it into WCL's main downstairs venue... have Jim walk across the hall during a few long songs and say hi to about 600 fans in said venue... then have that venue host the free Spinto Band concert, pipe said concert live to radio and the Web, and collect all of the studio and stage content for on-demand streaming at XPoNentialmusic.org. Phew!

I got to break bread, er, happy-hour appetizers with a number of fellow DJs, where we were marginally entertained by a string quartet that insisted on playing progressive and disturbing non-dinner music by the likes of Ligety (whose music shows up in Kubrick films fercrissakes). I also discussed giving props to SportsCenter's John Buchigross for dropping in an old-school R.E.M. reference (Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s pit crew takes too long? "Driver 8, take a break!") and Scott Van Pelt for doing the same with Schoolly D ("Lookin' at Iguchi, it's about that time").

With the official move and launch of the Y-Rock radio show on XPN, what was missing? New t-shirts, of course! You'll see them throughout the following items, below the cut. Why a cut? GIP! Pictures! Video! And long!

Whatever artwork hung outside Downstairs at WCL was replaced with a Y100 "memory lane." The first shot shows mounted promo posters for CDs of the old Y100 Sonic Sessions, exclusive acoustic (and a few electric) performances, as well as an old-school screenprinted poster for one legendary electrified Sonic Session by Weezer at Philly's Blue Horizon boxing arena. The second and third show off posters for Y100's Feztival and Feastival concert blowouts. #2 is significant for the upper-left poster, with one of the station's best concert lineups-- Foo Fighters, Beck, Oasis and Moby -- as well as sweaty Spinto drummer Jeff Hobson at their merch table. #3 is significant because the blue poster in the center of the X on the wall features what in hindsight might be the most cringeworthy lineup -- Blink 182, Bush, Sum 41, Lit, and Nickelback (hey, they were all big at the time!) -- and the young man in the picture holds one of this night's splendiferous posters printed by my company. (Kudos to Hypno Design on the artwork, too.) The framed posters were covered in musicians' autographs; no doubt they came from Jim's own collection.


The powers-that-be at WXPN were kind enough to arrange a welcome message for Y-Rock to be displayed atop the Peco Energy building in Center City. If you're not from around this area, let me assure you: that is a certified Big Deal. How big? I captured a video of it; my colleagues wanted to see it and I wanted to share it, so gee whiz, I now actually have something in my YouTube account.

Early on in the night's festivities we discovered that channel 10, Philly's NBC affiliate, was covering the event. So who gets pulled up in front of a camera but our resident rapscallion tireless coordinator Josh T. Landow?


Whom might you meet in the lobby outside WCL? The first picture suggests you might meet WXPN General Manager Roger LaMay and Program Director Bruce Warren. The second suggests my own personal DJ recruit and good friend Terri, known to El Jay as sucked_out. While there is no photographic evidence, let me also suggest all-around good guy John Faye from a band called Ike, who went from playing our sad little bunker to opening for some dudes from Jersey calling themselves Bon Jovi.


Throughout the night, Josh and Joey O. (Y-Rock's de facto music director, though not employed by XPN) went onstage to announce raffle winners. [Picture 1] Joey was also kind enough to discover that the folks at the soundboard had Internet access and had tuned their Web browser to -- but of course! -- updates of the Phillies-Nats game. Big moment: After the second raffle giveaway, all of the volunteer DJs were called up on stage and recognized for their service. [Picture 2] Let the record show that I was not the only staffer up there with a camera, but I was the only one with a tasty beverage, with which I toasted the crowd and their applause. And what a crowd it was, estimated at about 600. [Picture 3]


After Roger gave a dignified middle finger to corporate-controlled radio, Jim came out again to say hi, give thanks to the crowd, WXPN, and us volunteers, and introduce the Spinto Band.


During the course of the evening I had glommed myself onto a posse organized by guitarist Jon Eaton (girlfriend, girlfriend's sister, high school friend from the "Direct to Helmet" video, etc.) with help from the blond fashion student in the group, Kimberlee, and her boots covered in '50s pinup girls. She and a few others were intent on helping me get drinks from the bar, even going so far as to treat me to one. She and I spent most of the show admiring how good the band was on this night. I was really high on bassist/vocalist Thomas Hughes, as herky-jerky and entertaining as they come; he's on the left. I also was floored that they played the deleted "Japan is an Island," which didn't make their short New Year's Eve set at Tritone. Kimberlee was surprised at how energetic they were -- and I think they're nothing but energy. Jon even led a makeshift conga line through the crowd, up to our balcony location and back down again to end the show; the ass-end of said line dance is at right.



All in all, a fulfilling and wildly successful night. I suspect fellow DJ mystrywhiteboy will have better pics (as one of the night's two "official" photogs) and more/other observations.