Concert Recap - JUSTICE (3/20/21012)

Having seen Justice once before in New York a few years back, when I saw they were coming to The Electric Factory I was excited enough to get the presale tickets (for something crazily low like $25.00). When I saw them before it was one of the better shows I'd been to at the time, and with equally insane opening sets from DJ Medhi (R.I.P.) and Busy P it filled up a solid 4 hours of madness. This, however, was not the case here in Philadelphia on March 20, 2012... instead we were treated to a 1 hour 15 minutes performance (INCLUDING BUSY P AS AN OPENER) that was essentially made up of two of their big songs and their new hit single Audio, Video, Douchebag. As with most concerts many people don't both showing up until a little of the ways in to the show, and despite the doors opening at 8:00, when 10:30pm rolled around there were still people arriving at the show only to find an entire parking lot full of slightly confused, very pissed off fans who had their rage-tastic tuesday night taken from them.

I realize this is more of a rant than anything, and I think what makes this so aggravating is the fact that for the 45-60 minutes I DID see them, it really looked like it was shaping up to be a bitching night! Its true that I have zero idea about the circumstances or whose fault it was that this was even allowed to happen, but what the fuck?! This is not the age of d-bag rock stars who get to walk off the stage because its the bad-boy-image thing to do. This is an age where music survives ENTIRELY on concert sales, and when you have a SOLD OUT venue in a city thats still kind of figuring out this EDM thing, its a seriously dick move to throw up a peace sign and walk off stage to chants of your name at TEN FUCKING THIRTY. I'm sure this won't affect the majority of people reading this blog, but for all the people who were using a big name like Justice as their first EDM show I can only hope that they realize it was an incredibly RARE incident that I have never seen before.

So until i hear a valid reason (such as dying family members or terminal illnesses... in which case I apologize): Justice, consider yourselves OFFICIALLY on notice. You owe us one!

You can find more of the probably-rare photos from this event here: http://on.fb.me/GXi2JJ

Justice MySpace Page: http://mysp.ac/1H20Ya

Justice Facebook Page: http://on.fb.me/hqg19b

Venue Spotlight - UNION TRANSFER (Philadelphia, PA)

Those of us who've been in Philadelphia long enough probably know this venue better as 'The Spaghetti Warehouse', but with all of the musical growth this Philly's been seeing The Union Transfer is a more than welcome addition to the venues of the city. From the days when we had basically just the TLA and Electric Factory, we've grown to have multiple clubs and enough attention-worthy venues to have nights where there are legitimate big name acts conflicting with one another (like 2/18/12 or 2/23/12)! Admittedly, the Union Transfer transfer is hardly "breaking news", but after a great few experiences there its really proven itself to be an exceptionally well run venue, and in addition to being one of the more physically attractive spaces in the city they've been managing to land some very impressive talents from across many different genres. With and interior slightly reminiscent of the nearby Trocadero  (albeit significantly less worn in), the Union Transfer boasts great acoustics, an awesome sound system, super high ceilings, and one of my favorite balcony spaces in Philadelphia!

As with many non-club venues in town, drinks seem to hover around 5-7 dollars and barring the occasional super-wasted couple getting in to a shouting match (which you may have seen this past weekend at Zed's Dead) the service is pretty quick and the drinks are very well made! The security and coat check staff are all great (or at least have been all 3 times I've been there), and the box office line varies in speed depending on the night. When its a smaller show or a slower night like a Tuesday or Wednesday the place can feel a little extra empty due to its impressively large interior, but on Zeds Dead-esque nights it gets as crazy as anywhere else in Philly (if not more so)!

Some notable upcoming acts (as of early March, 2012) include Skream & Benga, as well as Feed Me and M83. Check out The Union Transfer on Facebook & Twitter, as well as the Philadelphia Dance Music Collective's full album and videos from the Zeds Dead performance of March 9, 2012.

Union Transfer Website: http://www.utphilly.com/
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/xAauwC
Twitter: http://bit.ly/xwpJI9