Read previous – Japanese Breakfast at Asbury Lanes // Shadow of the City 2021
Founded by former Eagles defensive lineman (and current Director of Player Development) Connor Barwin, the Make The World Better foundation has been working with Philly communities to plan and implement urban revitalization projects (e.g., playgrounds and recreation centers) since 2013. Their latest (and largest) project, a multi-million dollar renovation of Vare Recreation Center in South Philly (being achieved through the City’s Rebuild Initiative), is expected to be complete next year.
Now in its 6th year (after a 2-year pandemic hiatus), the annual benefit show was held at the Dell Music Center in East Fairmont Park and featured hometown hero Michelle Zauner (aka Japanese Breakfast) along with Jersey indie legends Yo La Tengo and Welsh artist Cate Le Bon. Occurring on one of the hottest days of the year, gate/set times were pushed back an hour to reduce the crowd’s exposure to the heat. While much of the outdoor amphitheater was already in the shade by the time Cate Le Bon took the stage at 7:30pm, it was still sweltering.
If you can believe it, this was my first time catching Yo La Tengo live. As a frequent patron of the former Maxwell’s in Hoboken, it makes it all the more unbelievable as the band had a tradition of playing the venue on each of the 8 nights of Hanukkah since 2001 (until Maxwell’s, as we know it, closed in 2013). With a career spanning over 30 years and 15 studio LPs, immersing oneself in their discography is daunting – a sentiment not unlike committing to watching all 20 seasons of One Piece. I first became a Yo La Tengo fan after the release of their 2006 LP I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass and I still have yet to listen to every one of their albums. They set the mood right off with “Big Day Coming (Second Version)” from their 1993 LP Painful. Yo La Tengo are no spring chickens, but they rock hard and kept up the intensity for their entire set – that is until the final song when they performed their stripped back cover Sun Ra’s “Somebody’s In Love”.
Having sold out 5 nights at Union Transfer last year, it’s an understatement to say Japanese Breakfast can draw a crowd. Zauner’s memoir Crying in H Mart just celebrated one full year on the NYT bestseller list, so you can say she has that market cornered too. Never short on surprises, and just in time for their performance at the Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival in South Korea, they also just released the Korean language version of “Be Sweet” featuring So!YoON! (stream below). I’ve been to my fair share of Japanese Breakfast shows and they never disappoint. For their set at the Dell, it was my first time seeing them perform “Glider” (from Sable) – I was absolutely giddy upon hearing the opening instrumental part to the song. IMO, Zauner’s work on Sable is among her best and “Glider” is one of my favorite pieces of music ever. Also from Sable, Zauner recently did a live in-studio recording of “Better The Mask” and it’s absolutely beautiful and moving (watch below).
Japanese Breakfast will be back in the area again this October for a show supporting Yeah Yeah Yeahs at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens (along with The Linda Lindas). Tickets for that show are still available here. See all of their upcoming tour dates here and keep scrolling below to see more photos from the show.
