Read previous – Courtney Barnett @ The Fillmore Philly | Lucy Dacus @ Union Transfer | Samia @ Johnny Brenda’s
A triple bill at the Skyline Stage (at The Mann) featuring a spectacular lineup of Courtney Barnett, Lucy Dacus, and Samia is the kind of show that’ll help make your summer unforgettable. The night will still be unforgettable, just not for the reasons I’d anticipated – not as a night of music under the stars with a view of the Philly skyline in the distance, but for being rained out. The only silver lining was that Samia was fortunately able to squeeze in her set before the severe weather advisory. You might recall that Barnett was originally scheduled to play The Met Philly this past February – I can only guess that show got postponed due to COVID. This time around, it was a disaster of a different kind.
Samia was already performing her second song (“Fit N Full“), by the time I made my way into the photo pit (long story). She performed songs from her excellent 2020 LP The Baby including “Big Wheel”, “Stellate”, and “Triptych”. I had a chance to catch her last fall at Johnny Brenda’s (coverage here) and already knew how much she likes to spontaneously break out in dance (esp. jazz hands and ballerina moves). Toward the end of her set, she performed “Is There Something in the Movies?” and did the hype dance before throwing herself on the stage for the song’s climax. Samia closed out her short set by covering “Stacy’s Mom” from the late great Adam Schlesinger/Fountains of Wayne, to which the Jersey contingent in the crowd especially expressed their approval.
As Lucy Dacus’ 7:30pm set time approached, workers began covering up equipment with tarps and plastic on the stage. Shortly after, it was announced that everyone should take shelter in the TD Pavilion to ride out the impending storm. Over an hour later, the rain and lightning finally arrived – at that point, most felt confident that the show would eventually re-start albeit with shortened set durations. The rain finally did stop, but Dacus’ gear was drenched in the process – the announcement came at 9:30 that the show was cancelled. Well, that was unexpected.
One of these days (hopefully soon), Barnett will get to play Philly – I’m guessing it won’t be this year. She will be playing the Sea.Hear.Now festival in Asbury Park next month, though (tickets available here). See all of her upcoming tour dates here. Stream her 2021 LP Things Take Time, Take Time and watch her music video for “Before You Gotta Go” below. And keep scrolling to see photos from Samia’s set.
