Located in Northern Liberties, about a mile and a half from my home, the Piazza at Schmidts is a beautifully landscaped, 80,000 square-foot, open-air plaza with free events year-round, surrounded by three new buildings including 35 artists’ studios and boutiques and four new restaurants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a short video about the Piazza.

Click here to view the embedded video.

 

Last night, I walked through Fishtown into the Piazza in hopes of hearing live music. To my disappointment, no one was playing. Before I left, I went inside a music shop in the Piazza called Creep Records.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For 11:00 p.m., there were quite a few customers. The employees behind the counter seemed to know the customers who were casually looking through records in between heckling one another. I asked if there were any bands playing nearby. One of the employees was eager to tell me about a concert at a local venue called Ortlieb’s. The main act was a blues/psychedelic/rock/pop band called “The Blurry Nights.” Before he left, he gave a free copy of their latest album, a poster advertising their show, and a few free local music magazines.

Here is the poster he gave me:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I immediately left Creep Records in hopes of finding the concert. As you can see by the map below, I was within walking distance.

 

 

 

 

 

The Ortlieb’s night club has had a long, iconic history of music in Philadelphia. Throughout the decades Ortliebs has been “the local place” to see Jazz, Funk, and Soul music. This is the front of the venue:

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to various websites, the venue also had a brewing company that is now abandoned in Northern Liberties and is also a local hotspot for photographers who take pictures of “Ruin Porn.” The abandoned building that almost encompasses an entire block traces its roots back to 1869. An extensive history of the brewing company can be found here: http://pabreweryhistorians.tripod.com/OrtliebFinalEdit.htm

The following are images of the inside of the abandoned factory:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, I didn’t make it to see the opening act “Fishtown Beats” but I made it in time to see Blurry Nights. They were a psychedelic blues band that covered several songs from Seattle in the early 90’s. I have noticed that a lot of bands play covers from the grunge era. Several bands that have been suggested to me by my coworkers (several of which are art and music majors at Temple University outside Fishtown) are signed to Sub Pop records in Seattle. Two of these bands are Metz and Piss Jeans. Although the bands started out side of Philadelphia city limits, several of the members from both bands live here in Fish Town.

Here is a crude recording of Metz playing at the The First Unitarian Church in Philly.

 

Here is a crude recording of Pissed Jeans Sub Pop Release party on February 13, 2013.