TJ Kong & The Atomic Bomb

The Swollen Fox is celebrating its 3-year anniversary at PhilaMOCA on 7/11

The Swollen Fox has announced a special 3-year anniversary concert at PhilaMOCA on July 11th with TJ Kong & the Atomic Bomb, Swift Technique and Shark Tape. Since its beginnings, the local music blog has diligently and thoroughly covered Philadelphia music scene happenings and now runs the comprehensive XPN Concert Calendar in addition to hosting shows (like July 19th’s collaboration with XPN). Tickets and information for the birthday show can be found here. Check out the bands below and learn more here.

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Artists, Concert Previews, Events, News, PhilaMOCA, Shark Tape, Swift Technique, The Swollen Fox, TJ Kong & The Atomic Bomb

January 23, 2013 | 2:15 PM | By Julie Miller

VIDEO

TJ Kong Presents: An Evening with Tom Waits (tonight at Jose Pistola’s)

TJ Kong (of The Atomic Bomb) wants to share his love of the silver-tonqued and gravelly-voiced Tom Waits with Philadelphia. Performing two hours of material for this first installment, Kong will be joined by Joshua Machiz on bass, Rosie Langabeer on accordian / banjo / keys and Chris Aschman on trumpet and percussion as he rolls through the influential musician’s extensive catalog. The event at Jose Pistola’s is free and the band promises it will be “a lounge lizard, broken sentence, dream in the straw kind of evening” so put on your best Waitsian hat and check out the Facebook event page here. Watch a clip of TJ Kong & The Atomic Bomb performing Waits’ “Way Down In The Hole” below.

FILED UNDER: Artists, Concert Previews, Events, News, Scene, Jose Pistola's, TJ Kong & The Atomic Bomb

December 19, 2012 | 10:03 AM | By Julie Miller

Experience the end of the world with Cirque Skeletique (happening at RUBA on 12/21)

Antique Matter

When the world is about to end, why not live dangerously? With fire breathers, sword swallowers, contortionists and aerial acrobats, Cirque Skeletique is welcoming the apocalypse with a spectacle of dark desires and fanciful fears:

Cirque Skeletique vacillates between conscious and subconscious experiences, portraying the final canto of a dream in security culture infested metropolis, manifesting amidst a city on the periphery of apocalypse; alienated people oppressed by fascism face their dreams, fears, and darker inclinations.

Presenting their ode to mankind with Cirque Skeletique is Antique Matter, featuring members of TJ Kong & The Atomic Bomb, Pig Iron Theater Company’s Twelfth Night and the West Philadelphia Orchestra. The gathering will take place at Ruba Club-Studios this Friday, December 21st at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance (available here) and $12 at the door. Below, watch Antique Matter perform at the Highwire Gallery in Philadelphia.

FILED UNDER: Artists, Concert Previews, Events, Scene, Antique Matter, Ruba, TJ Kong & The Atomic Bomb, West Philadelphia Orchestra

August 15, 2012 | 9:39 AM | By Lauren Thomas

Tonight’s Concert Picks: Jane’s Addiction w/ Die Antwoord at the Mann, Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band w/ T.J. Kong & the Atomic Bomb at Rittenhouse Square and Dom Flemons at World Cafe Live

Legendary alt-rockers Jane’s Addiction are bringing their Theatre of the Escapists Tour to Philly tonight for a show at the Mann Center in support of their latest album, The Great Escape Artist. The show also features the up-and-coming weirdo South African rave-rap duo, Die Antwoord who will make for an interesting show. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the concert starts at 8:30 p.m. Ticket prices range from $29.50 to $55 and can be purchased here.

If you’re looking for some free live entertainment, look no further than the Rittenhouse Square Concerts in the Park Series. Tonight’s show starts at 7 p.m. and features performance by Reverand Peyton’s Big Damn Band and TJ Kong & the Atomic Bomb for a night of Americana and blues music. Below, listen to TJ Kong and the Atomic Bomb’s track “Maximilian,” which is available for free download here. You can also check out the band’s Key Studio Session from Oct. of 2010.

Dom Flemons, multi-instrumentalist of the Grammy-winning old-time string band Carolina Chocolate Drops, along with acoutsic blues guitarist Boo Hanks, will be playing the upstairs stage at World Cafe Live tonight. The pair recently put out the collaborative country-and-blues-influenced album, Buffalo Junction, named for Hanks’ hometown. The show starts at 8 p.m. and tickets are available here for $12. Listen to the duo perform “Move to the Outskirts of Town” in the player below.

FILED UNDER: Artists, Concert Previews, Events, Die Antwoord, Dom Flemons, Jane's Addiction, Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band, Rittenhouse Square, RIttenhouse Square Concerts in the Park Series, TJ Kong & The Atomic Bomb, World Cafe Live

July 12, 2012 | 5:30 PM | By Rachel Barrish

Local acts head to Maine for the Caravan Festival, kick off show tonight at Kung Fu Necktie

Blessed to have a huge strip of land in Belgrade, Maine owned by his family, Matt Manser (guitarist of the Philly band Flamingo) chose to use it for something more than just a hang-out spot. He joined forces with the guys from Philly rock trio Penrose – Tom, Pat, and Dan Murphy and their manager, Lynne Krohn – to create a a 3-day music festival on his property, which sits right next to a beautiful lake. And he invited bands from the Philly area to make the trip to Maine to party and play music for 3 days. The Caravan Festival has been going on for four years and it occurs again July 27-29 featuring a lineup of mostly Philly musicians; participating bands include Penrose, The Lawsuits, Cheers Elephant, Levee Drivers, and more.

Tom from Penrose says “the bands coming this year are some of the best Philly has to offer.” They are expecting about 25 bands to play and a 350 person attendance. Brian Dale Allen Strouse from The Lawsuits tells us, “The real beauty of this is how everyone is out of their element. When it’s all over and we arrive back home, we’ll have met new people, created new relationships, and through the power of live performance, we’ll have established future opportunities to play in Philadelphia with the people and bands we met in Belgrade Lakes.”

Tonight at Kung Fu Necktie marks the launch party for the Caravan Fest with performances from TJ Kong & The Atomic Bomb, Penrose, and Izzy & the Catastrophics.

“The big news out of the Penrose headquarters … is that we’re going to unleash a whole hellstorm of brand new songs that’ll be on our upcoming record,” says Tom of tonight’s show. “For most of them it’ll be the first time anyone’s heard them, so we’re looking forward to unloading that.”

Tickets to tonight’s 21+ show are $8, set begins at 7:30 PM. After the performance there will be a party upstairs with DJ Matt Manser, the guys from Penrose, and TJ Kong’s Kevin Connor spinning tunes from the ‘Carabands’.

Interested in making the 8-hour trek to hear some of your favorite local bands play in a new setting? Go here to buy your tickets and check out the line-up.

FILED UNDER: Artists, Concert Previews, caravan tour 2012, Cheers Elephant, Izzy and the Catastrophics, Kung Fu Necktie, Penrose, The Lawsuits, The Levee Drivers, TJ Kong & The Atomic Bomb

July 12, 2012 | 9:30 AM | By Rachel Barrish

TONIGHT'S CONCERT PICKS

Tonight’s Concert Picks: WXPN welcomes Gillian Welch, TJ Kong & The Atomic Bomb w/ Penrose, Black Horse Motel w/ Emily Arin

Happy Thursday everyone! Tonight there are some top notch choices for local shows:

Firstly, WXPN welcomes Tennessee singer/songwriter Gillian Welch to the Grand Opera House at Wilmington. Over the past fifteen years she has come out with five studio albums along with her musical partner, David Rawlings. She also recorded two songs for the O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack which won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2002. Tickets to the 8 PM show are $39, grab yours here.

At Kung Fu Necktie, TJ Kong & The Atomic Bomb, the trio of brothers, Penrose, and Izzy and the Catastrophics perform. The 21+ show starts at 7:30 PM, tickets are $8.

Over at Milkboy Philly, Black Horse Motel and Emily Arin play a 9 PM show. Tickets to this 21+ show are $8-10.

FILED UNDER: Artists, Concert Previews, News, Black Horse Motel, Emily Arin, Gillian Welch, Grand Opera House at Wilmington, Izzy and the Catastrophics, Kung Fu Necktie, Milkboy Philly, Penrose, TJ Kong & The Atomic Bomb

April 17, 2012 | 1:50 PM | By Bruce Warren

AUDIO

TJ Kong and The Atomic Bomb present Kongo De Mayo on May 5th at Underground Arts

TJ Kong and The Atomic Bomb present the first annual Kongo De Mayo on May 5th at Undergound Arts. Billed as a “primal urges hallucinatory dirges underground spring fling dance marathon” the event will feature five bands including Ecce Shnak, Penrose, Lily & the Parlour Tricks, TJ Kong and The Atomic Bomb, The Amazing Kat Kro and a special mystery guest to be announced. DJ Honky Tron will be providing the music mix in between bands. Go here for tickets and more information. Below, listen to a song from TJ Kong and The Atomic Bomb and Penrose.