Brotherly Love Set in Drop D

Bromances aren't hard to find in a city known for it's "brotherly love."

And with close-knit bands like Circa Survive and August Burns Red citing the city as home, it's obvious that there is more to this town than just cheesesteaks and TastyKakes.

Apparently, there are lots of dudes walking around with guitars screaming about their feelings.

PREM!ERE is no exception. Comprised of CAPA High School peers and long-time friends Will Tham (guitar), Jimmy Nghieu (guitar), Gary Le (bass) and Brand Ho (drums). Fully formed in the fall of 2009 with my addition as lead vocalist, it wasn't long before we were relentlessly composing songs and practicing on a weekly basis. 

But as all good things, my time with the band came to an end a year later in 2010, leaving the remaining members to continue where they left off. In the subsequent years, they've secured vocalist Chris Lee and have been promoting themselves across the internet incessantly while booking shows at local venues such as The Legendary Dobbs and the Troc.

Recently I caught up with Jimmy and Chris to discuss cutting their first [self-produced] demo, opening for Hawthorne Heights and the collapse of the local scene:

 
Their first demo is being recorded in their practice space, which affords a lower production cost but comes with it's trials and tribulations.

"It takes Will like two weeks to do recording for just guitar parts [for one song]...It sucks that we don't have like an actual room for recording," Jim stated.

But that's the least of their worries. Booking shows seems to come pretty easily, except for the fact that a lot of their fans can't come.

"The people that like us are either too far away, or they're under twenty-one," Jimmy explains.

But there are good times to be had as well.

The boys revealed their most absurd moment backstage at a show and internet haters (we're looking at you Think Basic). Being an all Asian band, there have been some good and bad reactions. At a show a few months back, some random guy in another band approached them with, "Hey, look, a bunch of Asians! We're gonna do some karate!" Chris recalled.

Laughingly, Jimmy recounted, "We made some guy break another band's clipboard over his head. There were some other bands upstairs and they were doing mailing lists or something. So we were like 'fuck them.'"

And apparently, members of the local rock outfit Think Basic, spammed the PREM!ERE facebook wall with some racist bullshit. But of course, that's the card that gets pulled when the band in question sucks. PREM!ERE's musicianship and instrumentals alone put Think Basic's to shame.

It's like telling Hugh Heffner he's old.

He's still Hugh Heffner.

All in all, PREM!ERE are just a bunch of South Philly kids trying to make something out of nothing. They're on the right track so far and if you jump on the bandwagon now, you can be one of those fans that knew them way back when.

For more info on the band, check out their Facebook, Twitter and Reverb Nation, where you can download free tracks.

Now Playing: Back and Fourth (Demo) 

Venue Spotlight: The River Stage at Great Plaza

The River Stage at Great Plaza is located on the Delaware River Front at Penn's Landing. Located at Chestnut and Spring Garden Streets, it is a premier outdoor venue for summer concerts in Philadelphia. With it's unique location right near the waterfront, it definitely deserves more buzz than it's getting. Afterall, there's nowhere you'd want to be when it's the peak of the summer than next to a large, cool body of water. So allow VC to break down the pro's and cons of this venue. 

Pro: The setup of the venue is that the stage is right in front of the river with ascending smooth concrete stairs acting as seating.

Con: The stairs do make it harder to see the stage because some attendees prefer to sit while others prefer to stand. Depending on the show, one might be more considerate and make more sense than the other.

Pro: At night, this is a really cool and open space. You're not worried about shoving or moshpits or someone sweating all over you unless you're closer to the stage. Then it's like any other concert but with more spontaneous bursts of wind.



Childish Gambino, Aug 2012
photo credit: Jess Dooley



Con: You're outside. Any of the elements can have an effect on your experience. And this venue does cancel concerts while you're in line due to rain.

The concert pricing is moderate. On average, you'll spend $35/ticket. Buying from the box office is always the best because you won't pay as many service fees as online.

Another general rule of thumb is to arrive and wait in line for at least an hour and a half. It sounds crazy but the majority of concert goers arrive anywhere from 15-30 minutes before the doors open. You do not want to show up and get mixed up in that throng.

It. Is. Awful.

For more information, check out the venue's website, Ticketmaster or Livenation.

--J