Living in Philadelphia

I kind of miss it though I couldn't wait to leave. If I were to move back, I'd try to live in west philly near like 49th. that's where we had radio volta, at the knotsquat.

Any folks in Philly on ilXor ever meet up?

I'm moving here on Friday. This thread needs updating anyway. Can someone recommend the best:

restaurants
bars
venues
record stores
museums
general things to do (sights, parks, whatever you can think of)

I've literally spent like 24 hours total in the city so I'm pretty much in the dark here.

stevie D to thread

restaurants

my fav is the pho place on 6th and washington, its the first one you see when you drive into the parking lot (on the right hand side if youre driving down 6)

don't really go to restaurants that much tbh

bars

no clue

venues

used to go to shows a lot at the first unitarian church, heard johnny brendas is good too

record stores

repo records on south street, some others on south street

museums

dunno, maybe try to go see the barnes collection before the city steals it all?

general things to do (sights, parks, whatever you can think of)

dunno

oh, I like tony luke's for sandwiches (cheesesteaks and otherwise) too

Restaurants (vegan): loving hut on south is cheap and good, new harmony on 9th is default for Chinese, HomeSlice is grebt vegan pizza, and Horizons is expensive but also te best meal you will ever have

Bars: I adore Tattooed Mom on 5th and south; it is kitschy, cozy, inexpensive, fun, all around tops. The Barbary in fishtown is also p cool. Predictable bit still fun indie dance night on Mondays seems to be the thing to do these days. El Bar in fishtown also rules

Record stores: Repo Records on 5th and south is my favorite ever. Aka music on 2nd above market is bigger and has a larger selection, but the staff at repo is way more friendly and informed and fun to talk to; it feels like *your* local record store

I also like to go to chestnut hill to see how the other half lives

Venues: the tla, the trocadero, electric factory, starlight ballroom, first unitarian church basement, Johnny brenda's, Kung Fu necktie (the last 2 are also cool bars; brenda's has a killer beer selection)

R5productions.com is your friend

How is the cost of living in Philly? I'm seriously thinking about picking up sticks and moving across the river from NJ if I can convince my boss to let me do my customer service bullshit from a home-office setup. Probably won't be able to, of course, but I am sick to death of being within spitting distance of city life for the first time in years and only getting to visit as a tourist on weekends.

Museums/etc: Phila museum of art is great, mütter museum is creepy and morbid medical oddities, Franklin institute is this kickass science museum where you are a kid again

The magic gardens on south and 10th is tiny but an absolute must-see, and also the first friday of every month is First Friday where all the galleries have openings, and you bike around and see them, and it is fun

The last drop on 13th and pine is nice for coffee too. 2 more rad bars: POPE in south Philly and north star in fairmont. Also if you dig punk/hardcore there's a really great warehouse space in north Philly called The Ox; I saw Lightning Bolt and Pissed Jeans there in June or July

Where generally did you move to?

The thing about Philly: it is dirt fucking cheap. Last night I met a guy with a nice studio at 13th and pine and it was just over 700. If you do north/south/west Philly you will be paying between 2 and 500

academy of natural sciences is really dope too btw

Ps telephone where in nj do you live?? I thought me and dyao and Los blue jeans were the only south jerseyans

The thing about Philly: it is dirt fucking cheap. Last night I met a guy with a nice studio at 13th and pine and it was just over 700. If you do north/south/west Philly you will be paying between 2 and 500

....................oh man no fucking way

I'm in Mount Laurel, and I pay almost $1000/month for a one-bedroom after my last lease renewal jacked up my rent.

mount laurel is a pretty affluent part of NJ no?

Oh totally. Everyone I know pays less than I ever did in New Brunswick

More etc:
Wooden Shoe, an anarchist bookstore on south st
Monday is $3 movie night at the trocadero and you get a free beer
Essene on 4th and bainbridge is a totally kickass local food co op
Philly aids thrift on 5th and bainbridge is the best thrift store I have ever seen. If you need any misc household items or kitchen shit, go here. Dirt cheap too
The book trader on 2nd above market near AKA is a very very nice used bookstore with a very very knowledgable staff

Theres also Making Time which is where all the cool kids go to dance their asses off the last fri of the month. It's at Voyeur I think. The great thing abt Philly (vs NYC) is that in addition to everything bein so affordable (drinks, covers/ticket prices, food, etc), no ones afraid to dance at shows. I love this so much.

mount laurel is a pretty affluent part of NJ no?

Yeah. What's sad is that even the really sketchy places I looked at while apartment-hunting in other townships were barely any better...this was almost a steal (it started at $850/month when I moved in).

Yeah dude gtfo! Just move to Philly and commute

i "lived" in Philly for about 3 months back in'06. loved it! i don't think I had a bad meal the entire time was on the company dime tho and could go medium-upscale without much flak)

saw great shows at the first unitarian church basement and at the Troc; seconding Mutter, and uhhh, that's all i'm remembering right now.

anyway, had no idea you could snag rents so cheaply...

i don't think I had a bad meal the entire time (was on the company dime tho and could go medium-upscale without much flak)

I'm living in West Powelton. Rent in a nice house is $350 all utilities included. Philly's been great so far. Thanks for the tips.

We've had a running thing for about 8 years that's almost become a joke at this point where every time we visit certain friends in Philly we say for like the next week that we're going to move to Philly and then it wears off. I really like the city and it's cheap as hell. My friends are mostly in West Philly right now and it's a great area -- the big park (whose name I am blanking out on) has a good farmer's market on the weekends and giant all-ages larper battles which are kind of amazing to watch. There's a decent but small food coop. There's a decent vietnamese place that I think is called Vietnam. A few good ethiopian places. Once, Gojo, also has an upstairs bar that frequently gets used as a jazz venue (more by the west philly post-college crowd than the local ethiopian community). In general there always seem to be a million house and warehouse shows, art events, etc. and people seem friendly so if you just talk to enough people you will find out what's going on.

Green Mile is a pretty good west philly coffee shop - two locations iirc.

Guys can we have one big fun PhillyFAP plz

so, stevie got most of 'em, but...

the South Phila. Tap Room has amazing beers and food. a little pricey, but worth.

the Abyssynia(n) at 45th & Locust has amazing cheap ethiopian food, as well as a bar upstairs that is nice if it isn't crowded by terrible UPenn students.

i also highly rec the Ox and the First Unitarian Church. for dancing, making time isn't bad.

Wooden Shoe, however, is a mere shell of what it used to be, and it made me terribly sad to see it turn into such a shitbin.

Where else is good for dancing? Coz I also think Making Time "isn't bad" but I mean what is there that's awesome and great?

the Abyssynia(n) at 45th & Locust has amazing cheap ethiopian food, as well as a bar upstairs that is nice if it isn't crowded by terrible UPenn students.

This is the place I was trying to think of -- really fucking good.

oh, park I was thinking of is Clark Park

Horizons is expensive but also te best meal you will ever have

yeah, this place is amazing.

oh yeah I gotta rep for NIFTY FIFTY'S which is the most amazing greasy food joint ever

their milkshakes are A++++++++++++++++

Where else is good for dancing? Coz I also think Making Time "isn't bad" but I mean what is there that's awesome and great?

people seem to like banana clips. i don't know if that's still ongoing. robotique was good but the last one was this past wknd. people seem to get excited about broadzilla, night train, ten commandments (reggae, soul), england belongs to twee (indiepop, oi! wtf?), sex dwarf

they have dj's, dancing upstairs some nights at the dive and at teri's in the italian market. maybe some of that totally fun and awesome and great, i have no idea

phrequency, fiftyonefiftyone, philebrity btwn the three of them seem to do a good job of listing stuff

is fiftyonefiftyone a Philly thing??? I remember they took pix at this one basement show in New Brunswick 4 years ago. I always saw flyers for Robotique but never went--it's over now?? And yeah the Broadzilla DJs are everywhere.

Dell do you want to go to Bouffant Bangout wed. night @ the Barbary sometime?

yes, they are. yeah, rbtique it's over, probably to be reconstituted in some future night, i'd imagine. dj scene here seems pretty incestuous, which is good up to a point but the blud gets stale, i think

yeah, that would be cool. i'm going out of town for several days, but i hope after i get back we coordinate a hangout of some sort!

When you gone/when you get back? I'm AWOL for a while because I have $0 to spend but like infinite more space on my phone to take dancing pictures. And yeah the DJ scene is like... Dave P, Dave Pak, Adam Sparkles, Broadzilla DJs, Rock Tits, ALL OF THEM ALL THE TIME.

i think i'm leaving tomorrow, be back after the wknd.

i guess i was straining to be positive about the same names everywhere, like it probably makes it easier for them to form a united front or access their collective wisdom when it comes to dealing with venues or city regulations or something, but yeah i don't think it's the healthiest ecology to say the least

So what are we going to call our DJ collaboration?

Passajunk, Rock Boobs, Hoagie Beats...

Frankford Crystal Breasts

yes!

that or SEPTAreola Nites

Hey Dell and other ilxors, do you wanna go to Bouffant Bangout this Wed night? Or is anything else fun going on?

OK guys my friends Marc and Tony are DJing tonight at Silk City and I have a feeling it's going to be really kickass so I think I'm going to go tonight. $5 cover, $2 High Life bottles. Does anyone else want to come?

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=130228083694933

i am maybe for that!

Will call you later. I am going to try to buy some fake blood and douse myself in it because I am out of time for good costumes; are you mabes down for that as well or not so much?

http://images.clubzone.com/events/images/318007/318007-1.jpg

ugh

Who is that??

the band that the record release thing is for

Ughghg hopefully that won't last long and Tony and Marc will kill it. All the times I've heard Tony DJ solo he's been incredible, and if you'll notice all the shittiness of T1g3rb3ats happens after he stops DJing.

ah, ok, cool

any phillixors wanna see manchester orchestra @ fillmore on oct 1?

man i gotta get back to philly. last time i was there i stayed at the conv center days inn right near Chinatown & Reading Term and i must have gained 10 lbs

I'm touring Andrew Wyeth's studio as I type, outside Philly where I grew up.

let me know if u want to meet up for a drink at tired hands

upcoming stuff i'm def going to:

10/1: manchester orchestra @ the fillmore
10/18: brand new @ electric factory
10/29: julien baker @ union transfer

i haven't been to any shows since before the baby was born so i'm v excited for oct

anyone else planning on going to julien baker tmmrw nite???

I just saw table at the Low show last night!!!!

I know I never post anymore but any philadelxiors at comet is coming tnite? Would love to chill if so!

I was there! I wish I'd seen this earlier LOL. Fuckin killer show

Mordy, start posting again!

lol I half (most) expected this to be about the Melt-Banana show last night, which I WOULD have gone to if Ibibio Sound Machine wasn't also playing