PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY | SEPTEMBER 30 - OCTOBER 7, 2021

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‘Our

genre is

Philly’

Image | Sebastien Vincent

Son Little will be on stage when Philly Music Fest returns next week

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LISTEN TO THE (PHILLY) MUSIC

Fifth annual Philly Music Fest kicks off next week

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Alex G, Hop Along, Ivy Sole, Son Little, ike music? Want to support Spirit of the Beehive, Control Top, Queen local artists and educational of Jeans and Moor Mother, as well as efforts? Then Philly Music Fest is something you don’t emerging artists Moses Mosima, Barney Cortez, Irreversible Entanglements, Stella want to miss.

Ruze, Highnoon, Moor Jewelry, West PhilPhilly Music Fest returns adelphia Orchestra, Annonxl, Lunch and for its fifth annual music festival Oct. 6-10. Uniquely Kelsey Cork and The Swigs.

Get all of the details, including known for exclusivetickets and lineups, at phillymuly featuring Philly bands performing BY: EUGENE sicfest.com.

ZENYATTA “Look, last year was tough, but at independent venues, PMF is a we innovated and donated over nonprofit in the business of rais$100,000 to musicians, venue staff ing money for kids’ music educaand music education through our virtution and giving opportunity to emerging al festival and micro-grant campaign,” musicians. Noting “Our genre is Philly,” founder and curator Greg Seltzer said.

Philly Music Fest features jazz, rock, hiphop, punk, bluegrass, folk, spoken word “We’re super proud of that, but getting back into venues and having our commuand Americana artists – all of whom call nity safely gather together in-person – the The City of Brotherly Love “home.” excitement is incredible and we’ve worked Venues hosting in-person, musical perhard to ensure that our 2021 lineup matchformances this year include World Café Live, Johnny Brenda’s, Milkboy, REC es the enthusiasm.

“The growth of PMF, from two shows Philly and Ardmore Music Hall. Over the and one venue to six shows and five venpast five years, PMF has featured 96 bands ues, is a testament to the strength and from Philly, and this year will host nationpassion of our local music community,” al touring artists such as The Menzingers,

SEPTEMBER 30 - OCTOBER 7, 2021 | PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY

Camae Ayewa will perform as Moor + Jewelry, Moor Mother and then with the jazz band, Irreversible Entanglements at Philly Music Fest. Image | UV Lucas

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Catch Hop Along at Johnny Brenda’s on Oct. 7 as part of Philly Music Fest.

Image | Jacob Boll

Seltzer added.

In addition to the six PMF shows, PMF will again feature two “bolt-on” events related to music. PMF’s Tech Tour at Guru Technologies in Center City will feature panel discussions on startup, venture capital and tech topics, along with a diverse array of bands playing before, after and in-between the panel discussions.

PMF also will again host Inside Hustle at World Cafe Live. Inside Hustle is a series of panel discussions featuring music industry professionals that conveys content regarding the business and industry of music in Philadelphia.

Check out the website for more details about both of these events.

While much of the attention is focused on the entertainment, the Fest also has an impact on educational efforts around the city.

Philly Music Fest’s impact has grown each year. In 2017, the nonprofit donated $15,000 to music education programs. In 2018, the total increased to $25,000, then $40,000 in 2019 and $50,000 in 2020. Programs that received donations include Rock to the Future, Girls Rock Philly, Settlement Music School, Musicopia, Live Connections, and Play on Philly.

PMF also deployed more than 330 micro-grants in 2020 to musicians and venue staff struggling as a result of COVID-19. The funds for the micro-grants were crowdsourced from the community and through a donation

by WXPN. PW recently caught up with Seltzer to talk about the festival’s history and this year’s event.

This will be the fifth annual Philly Music Fest. How and why did it all begin?

The seed or kernel that spawned Philly Music Fest was really a question: Can an annual music festival exist in Philly that features nationally recognized and emerging bands from Philly? After toying with various spreadsheets, the answer was decidedly, “no.”

There’s not enough profit. That’s when I decided to disrupt the festival business model and form Philly Music Fest as a nonprofit.

Talk a little about the festival’s mission and the people and groups it helps. In other words, where does the money go?

Philly Music Fest has a three-pronged mission – showcase and assist local musicians, host shows at and support independent venues and donate profits to music education programs for children. The amazing byproduct of the mission is that our music community comes together each year for an incredible run of shows, celebrating our artists and our ecosystem, while simultaneously generating capital for music education – the next generation of Philly bands.

How excited are you to have the festival back in the venues and artists performing before live and in-person audiences? How did you decide to keep this year in-person and what kinds of things are you doing to keep the audience safe?

We’re a small team at Philly Music Fest – just me and my wife, so excitement is typically reserved for a few moments during each show.

We’ve been in planning mode for months and want to ensure we are taking every reasonable safety precaution. In-person music has been

back for about six months, but moving indoors is a bit novel. Ultimately, our decision to move forward with Philly Music Fest is because our artists need income, our venues need income and our music education programs desperately need support. We are requiring proof of vaccination and masks at three venues (masks are highly encouraged at the other two). We have collected information for contact tracing and eliminated vendors and reduced media presence to limit the number of bodies in each building.

Talk a little about this year’s lineup. You have some exciting acts scheduled to perform.

I’m in love with this year’s lineup. Each year I focus on a few core aspects. I try really hard to book both nationally recognized headliners and emerging bands. I like to mix and match genres, with the bassline that “our genre is Philly.” And, I love showcasing an artist or two that I think will break-out by placing the artist in a specific slot. The headliners fell into place with The Menzingers, Hop Along, Alex G, Son Little and Ivy Sole. We’ve paired these headliners with emerging bands such as AnnonXL, Stella Ruze, Kelsey Cork and the Swigs, Barney Cortez and Queen of Jeans.

Then, we mix genres. West Philadelphia Orchestra, a jazz-influenced conglomerate, will open for The Menzingers, a hard-charging indie rock band. Similarly, Barney Cortez’s palette of Americana and rock is paired with the hip-hop of Ivy Sole. Son Little’s smooth rock and R&B is locked in with the pop punk of Kelsey Cork and the Swigs and roots-influenced Stella Ruze. And then there’s the mashup that is the show at World Cafe Live.

A critical part of my vision for PMF21 was highlighting Camae Ayewa. Camae’s main project is Moor Mother, but she has several side projects that are incredible, mostly focusing on Camae’s poetry and spoken word artistic delivery. I offered Camae the upstairs stage at World Cafe Live – three sets, all to herself – to feature three of her projects. Camae will perform as Moor + Jewelry, Moor Mother and then with the jazz band, Irreversible Entanglements. The three sets will showcase punk, hiphop, electronica, jazz and funk. She’s a wizard, and her recent release as Moor Mother is going to break Camae as one of Philly’s newest stars.

And, as that is unfolding upstairs at World Cafe Live, the downstairs stage will feature the experimental indie rock of Spirit of the Beehive, which is already getting break-out worthy reviews of their latest release, and then headliner Alex G will convey his unique style of rock, folk, experimental and punk.

For those interested in attending, what do they need to know? Where should they go to learn more about schedules, tickets, etc.?

Our website (phillymusicfest.com) has all the information. Venues may be releasing additional tickets to the sold out shows in the next week or so, follow our Instagram (@PhillyMusicFest) for updates. And, please remember – Philly Music Fest is a registered nonprofit, so please consider making a small donation via Venmo (@PhillyMusicFest) or through the Donate tab on our website.

Please arrive at the shows with proof of vaccination and a matching ID, along with a mask.

PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY | SEPTEMBER 30 - OCTOBER 7, 2021

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he pandemic has been hard sures, but instead SEPTA focuses on pleasing on SEPTA like it has been for the political bosses who exercise power over many SEPTA riders. With reve- it. It results in a group of executives who may nue down, the transit authority be good at many things, but who are not exneeds to save money while main- perts in their own company’s business. taining or expanding service to When things go south, they spend millions those who rely upon it. It’s not an to find someone who is. easy task.

This is not the first time SEPTA has gone But SEPTA management makes that task down this road. In 2012, they spent $2.8 million even harder when they throw money away on on a different set of consultants whom they things that do not help riders get where they hired in a no-bid contract. And for what? So need to go. One example of waste: Spending that bright young people from Harvard and $7 million on consultants and then Yale can tell SEPTA what they’re refusing to implement their recomdoing wrong and SEPTA can ignore mendations. At a time when SEPTA them? Why would anyone waste is plagued by a shortage of drivers, money in this fashion? that money would be better spent If they needed to figure out what on hiring and training new workers. to do in a crisis, the people hired to Ryan Briggs of WHYY’s Planrun the agency should know best Philly wrote earlier this month of how to do it. Need more advice from SEPTA’s self-defeating consultant outsiders? SEPTA already has a Citcosts. With money bleeding out of izen Advisory Commission! the agency left and right in 2020, What does McKinsey give SEPTA SEPTA’s management did what that their own managers, workers, many corporate officers do in a crilawyers, and advisors can’t? The essis: ask someone else for answers. tablishment stamp of approval.

Briggs quotes Erik Johanson, SEPThe guy who drove a bus for 30 TA’s director of operating budgets, years might have some ideas on as saying, “We basically hired them how to make the process better, but @KYLESAMMIN to take us through the same sort of he doesn’t have what a thousand rigorous process that any Fortune Pete Buttigieg clones in Manhat500 company, or all of our peers, had been go- tan do: a credential from an elite university. ing through.”

(Transportation Secretary and McKinsey That is a big part of the problem. alumnus Buttigieg himself did not consult Every company is different, and tax-sup- on either of these boondoggles — though if ported transit agencies are especially differ- he had, it would at least mean he would have ent from private corporations. Yet, somehow, gained some experience in the transportation the standard choice in all of these boardrooms industry). is to hire a bunch of people who have never When everything is run by financiers and worked in your industry to tell you how you’re politicians, it is natural for those in charge to doing it wrong. look elsewhere for actual expertise. When the Companies and bureaucracies (and things bright young things with the hefty price tags like SEPTA, a hybrid of the two) were once come along and look competent, it is easy to run by people who had worked in that indussay “let them do it.” But what SEPTA’s experitry for years. Boeing was run by engineers, ence shows — twice now! — is that no matter GM by car guys, Pfizer by scientists. Who bet- how impressively credentialled the consulter to run an enterprise than people who had tants are, if they make suggestions that the spent their careers in that line of work, pos- workforce and management will never accept, sibly even at that very company? When some it’s just throwing money down the drain. crisis emerged, the people in charge would SEPTA’s crisis of management is not know how to deal with it because they would unique, but they don’t have to go along with have more experience in the job than nearly the rest of the government and business world any outsider. in fixing it.

Today, CEOs are interchangeable finance Look within for expertise, promote people guys, good at maximizing shareholder value who understand the business, and let them without learning from the ground up how find solutions that the union and management their product actually works. A public transit have a chance of actually accepting. Spend agency should be immune from such pres- millions on riders, not consultants.

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THE RUNDOWN Image | Nathan Ansell

LISTEN UP!

Vacation Manor

Fresh off of their self-titled album release, Vacation Manor is ready to hit the road and bring their vivid, anthemic indie-pop sound back to the stage. They’ve amassed millions of streams and captivated listeners with shimmering guitars, glistening keys, and upbeat sunny grooves. See them Oct. 10 at Kung Fu Necktie. Tickets & info: kungfunecktie.com.

Area concert venues are packed with great musicians and artists.

Here are a few upcoming shows you’ll want to see for yourself.

Alec Benjamin

Alec Benjamin, who Ones To Watch called “one of our generation’s great storytellers,” will be bringing his North American headlining tour to the Franklin Music Hall on Oct. 8. On his rise to fame, Baldwin promoted his music by performing in parking lots outside of concert venues and handing out business cards leading up to the release of his 2020 debut album “These Two Windows.” bowerypresents.com

Kevin Morby

Kevin Morby’s new album “A Night At The Little Los Angeles,” a four-track demo version of last year’s “Sundowner,” is out Oct. 8 on Dead Oceans. You can hear the music live and in-person when Morby plays Union Transfer on Nov. 22. utphilly.com

Horrendous

The metal entity from Philly/D.C. was named one of the “50 Best American Metal Bands from the Past Decade” (No. 17) via Kerrang. Find out for yourself when they play Milkboy on Oct. 9. Learn more at: facebook.com.

SEPTEMBER 30 - OCTOBER 7, 2021 | PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY

Cloak

This black metal and rock ‘n roll outfit with gothic, thrash, and death metal influences hails from Atlanta, and has drawn comparisons to Tribulation, late-era Dissection, Watain, UADA, and more. They roll into town Nov. 5 for a show at Kung Fu Necktie. Learn more at: facebook.com.

City Girls & 42 Dugg

Dope Shows will host a live concert at The Met Philadelphia with headliners City Girls and 42 Dugg. Attendees can expect show-stopping hiphop performances, independent brand vendors, sponsorship activations and much more. Nov. 6 at 8pm. Dopeshowsonline.com

THE RUNDOWN

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ts.

Tokyo Police Club

Canadian quartet Tokyo Police Club is out on their twice delayed Champ 10 tour, celebrating the 10th anniversary of their acclaimed and beloved sophomore album, which they will perform in full each night. “Champ” was issued for the first time on vinyl, along with an expanded digital version this past March. Catch the band Nov. 17 at The Fillmore. thefillmorephilly.com

Image | Taylor Ohryn

Joey Alexander

Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio

Rival Sons

Gus Dapperton

Indonesian jazz prodigy Joey Alexander headlines Chris’ Jazz Café Oct. 8 and 9.

Alexander’s debut album, “My Favorite Things,” was released when he was just 11 years old. By the time he turned 18 (on June 25 of this year), Alexander had accrued a lifetime of accolades and experiences of which a jazz pianist could only dream. ChrisJazzCafe.com

Two-time Grammy-nominated group Rival Sons are hitting the road on their North American Pressure and Time tour. The six-week headline run will see the band celebrating the 10th anniversary of their 2011 album, “Pressure and Time,” by performing the landmark long player live in its entirety. The tour will make a stop at The Fillmore on Oct. 23. thefillmorephilly.com

On Oct. 14, the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio will play World Cafe Live in West Philly. DLO3 conjures the smoky 1960s jazz stylings of Jimmy Smith and Baby Face Willette, and the snappy soul strut of Booker T. & The M.G.’s and The Meters, along with dashes of Motown, Stax Records, blues, and cosmic Jimi Hendrix-style guitar. worldcafelive.com

Gus Dapperton released his sophomore album “Orca” earlier this year, and recently shared a deluxe version of the album. Now he will be hitting the road and bringing it to Philadelphia at Theatre of Living Arts on Nov. 19. The new album explores human pain and suffering, but also healing and redemption. venue.tlaphilly. com

Starset

Starset has announced their fall 2021 U.S. demonstrations. This immersive voyage comes to Theatre of Living Arts on Nov. 17.

The band has just announced their fourth studio album, “Horizons,” due out Oct. 22. Learn more at venue.tlaphilly.com.

PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY | SEPTEMBER 30 - OCTOBER 7, 2021

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THE RUNDOWN

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Dine Latino Restaurant Week

The Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has announced the return of Dine Latino Restaurant Week, taking place from Oct. 11 to Oct. 15. The restaurant week comes at the close Hispanic Heritage Month, encouraging patrons of all palettes to embrace the bold flavors of Latin cuisine.

The five-day event will offer patrons one complimentary appetizer or dessert with the purchase of two dinner entrees.

The promotion will take place during dinner service only, with options for takeout, delivery, and indoor/outdoor dining at various restaurants. For a list of participating restaurants and more information, visit Philahispanicchamber.org.

Halloween is just around the corner, and we’ve got spooky events – along with some others – that should be on your calendar.

Dining, spooky stuff and more Tina Burner

Rupaul’s Drag Race’s Tina Burner will bring her hilarious cabaret comedy show, Maybe This Time Live, to Franky Bradley’s Oct. 7-8. Maybe This Time Live is a lot more than a traditional drag performance. With full orchestrations and arrangements, it is a theatrical production that uses classic Broadway standards and stand-up comedy to tell the story of the ups and many downs of Burner’s personal life, from when she realized she was gay to her life today. For tickets and more information, visit tinaburner.eventbrite. com.

Casey James Salengo

Actor, writer and comedian Casey James Salengo (“Comedy Central Presents,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live”) comes to Philly for one magical night at Franky Bradley’s. With special guest Brandon Mitchell and hosted by Nate Jones and Alejandro Morales. Oct. 6 at 8pm. frankybradleys.com Image | @thegingerb3ardmen

SEPTEMBER 30 - OCTOBER 7, 2021 | PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY

Gravedigger’s Ball

Join the fun on Oct. 15 at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology for the most spirited party in the region. Proceeds raised help fulfill the mission to preserve, promote, and protect both Laurel Hill and West Laurel Hill cemeteries. Tickets include admission, open bar, delectable food, an always-amazing costume contest, a night full of dancing, and many fun memories for years to come. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit gravediggersball.org.

Spooky Twilight Tours

Spooky Twilight Tours kick off Oct. 8 at the Betsy Ross House. Travel back to Philadelphia in the 1700s and learn about the city’s gruesome history of infection and inoculation. Hear true, macabre tales about bloodletting, smallpox, yellow fever, and other gross experiences. Then head into the House for a spooky, shadowy tour. The tour will run every Friday from Oct. 8 to 29, 6- 9pm.

Tickets must be purchased in advance at historicphiladelphia.org.

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Maid Looking to spend some time with Netflix next month? Here are some new arrivals you’ll want to be sure to see and the date they will be available.

Head over to netflix.com for more shows and details.

Inspired by the New York Times best-selling memoir, “Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive” by Stephanie Land, Maid follows the story of Alex, a single mother who turns to housecleaning to – barely – make ends meet as she escapes an abusive relationship and overcomes homelessness to create a better life for her daughter, Maddy. Seen through the emotional yet humorous lens of a desperate but determined woman, this series is a raw and inspiring exploration of a mother’s resilience. Oct. 1.

Netflix in October The Guilty

Stuck Together

You

Found

The film takes place over the course of a single morning in a 911 dispatch call center. Call operator Joe Baylor tries to save a caller in grave danger – but he soon discovers that nothing is as it seems, and facing the truth is the only way out. Oct. 1.

In Season 3, Joe and Love, now married and raising their baby, have moved to the balmy Northern California enclave of Madre Linda, where they’re surrounded by privileged tech entrepreneurs, judgmental mommy bloggers, and Insta-famous biohackers. Joe is committed to his new role as a husband and dad but fears Love’s lethal impulsiveness. And then there’s his heart. Could the woman he’s been searching for all this time live right next door? Oct. 15.

Seven families live in the Parisian apartment building at 8, Rue de l’Humanite – and they didn’t escape to the countryside at the arrival of the coronavirus. Three months of life under lockdown will reveal the best and worst of these neighbors. Oct. 20.

In Amanda Lipitz’s documentary film, three adopted American teenage girls discover that they are blood-related cousins. Their online meeting inspires the young women to confront complicated and emotional questions, and embark on a once in a lifetime journey to China together in search of answers, connections and their lost history. Oct. 20.

Bad Sport

Bad Sport looks at six unbelievable stories at the intersection of sports and crime, as told by the athletes, coaches and law enforcement officials at the center of the controversies.

Episodes include the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic figure skating scandal; superstar Indycar driver Randy Lanier’s marijuana-smuggling operation; the Arizona State University basketball point-shaving scheme; the horse hitman at the center of an insurance fraud ring; Calciopoli, the biggest matchfixing scandal in Italian football history; and South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje’s tragic fall from grace. Oct. 6.

PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY | SEPTEMBER 30 - OCTOBER 7, 2021

10 STATE OF OUR CITY

PHILADELPHIAWEEKLY.COM @PHILLYWEEKLY

HAPPY HOUR RETURNS AT FORSYTHIA

STATE

OF OUR

CITY HOWL FOR

A GOOD CAUSE

Forsythia, Old City’s contemporary French bar and restaurant from Chef Christopher Kearse, has relaunched happy hour service after more than a year hiatus with a robust menu of new craft cocktails, small plates, wine, and local brews, available Wednesday through Friday from 5 to 7pm. The restaurant is currently open five days a week for dinner from 5pm to 10pm. It all takes place at 233 Chestnut St. Call 215-644-9395 or visit forsythiaphilly.com for details.

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Image | Courtesy The Bourse Food Hall

Image | KC Tinari

The Bourse Food Hall is partnering with Morris Animal Refuge to host Howl-o-Ween – an outdoor pet costume contest featuring fall-themed photo opportunities, music, games, and more on Oct. 16 from 1 to 3pm. All tickets include pet entry into the contest, a walk down the red carpet, plus one fallthemed photo of pets dressed in their Halloween best with Halloween-themed decorations such as a “Ghostbuster” car. Tickets for Howl-o-Ween are priced at $10 online ($12 at the door) and can be purchased at eventbrite.com. All proceeds from ticket sales will benefit Morris Animal Refuge and larger donations can be made on-site at the event.

The current number of homicide victims year-to-date under Mayor Jim Kenney and District Attorney Larry Krasner’s leadership. This represents an 19 percent increase over the same time last year and is higher than the annual number of homicides that took place in 2007 through 2019.

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Contributors: A.D. Amorosi, A. Benjamin Mannes,Jesse Bunch, Paul Davis, Timaree Schmit, Ryan K. Smith, Stu Bykofsky, Eugene Zenyatta.

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CRIMEBEAT

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11

LESSONS

FROM

DAD I

n a previous column, Republican candidate for Philadelphia District Attorney Chuck Peruto told me how the late legal legend Richard Sprague had influenced him as an attorney.

There was another local legal legend that also influenced A. Charles Peruto Jr, – his late father, A Charles Peruto Sr. I reached out to Peruto and asked him what kind of man and defense attorney his father was.

“He was a workaholic, such as I am. He was a man who was completely honest. His word was his bond. The district attorneys and U.S. attorneys that he dealt with knew that. So if he told them something, it was the real deal,” Peruto said. “He taught me that you can’t get slippery or shady on any dealings, otherwise you’ll get a reputation for being slippery and shady and you won’t get anywhere. It was very valuable advice.”

In his career, Peruto Sr. successfully defended police officers, businessmen, judges, gangsters and others in many high-profile cases. But his son noted that, like many famous lawyers, his father became famous by losing a case. Peruto spoke about the 1964 case of Jack Lopinson, a Center City nightclub owner who hired a man to murder his wife and business partner.

Republican D.A. candidate Chuck Peruto on his father’s impact

“I’m the only of his five children who “Ironically, it was against prosecutor Dick Sprague. The prosecution had everything. watched him in court. Through high school, They had the hit man that Jack Lopinson college, and law school, I just couldn’t get enough. It was a better education than anyhired. They had the girlfriend of the defendant say that he was going to kill his wife so thing you could get in law school. It was like that they could be married. It was a case going going to law school twice.”

How would the younger Peruto nowhere, but it put my father on describe his father’s courtroom the map.” manner and technique?

In another case that made in“You read articles about him, ternational news, Peruto spoke of but when you watch one trial, his father defending Tony Boyle, you’re not getting the full picture,” the Mine Workers Union president Peruto said. “Depending upon who murdered his union rival. what the guy is charged with, dePeruto lost that case, but his son pending upon where the trial is, said proudly that later his father what county, he is a different kind was the only lawyer to ever beat of lawyer. He adapted to the case.

Sprague in a murder trial.

He might be a comedian in one “They were a thorn in each othcase. He might be overdramatic in er’s side,” Peruto said. “They were another. It depends on the facts.” very competitive back then, but Would that describe the younger then they got very friendly as they Peruto’s style as well? got older.”

“I believe so.”

Sprague endorsed his former I asked what lessons in life rival’s son for D.A. just before he PAULDAVISONCRIME.COM and law his father passed on that passed away last April at 95. helped him become a successful “My father hated politics, but he defense attorney and possibly a good D.A. had an idea to run for D.A. in 1969,” Peruto “It is not just what he taught; it is me emsaid. “But he was endorsed for city comptrolulating what he did, such as his mannerisms ler, which he never wanted to be. He never and facial expressions. Sometimes you don’t campaigned, and he hated it. He really wanted even ask a question. Picking a jury is of parato be the district attorney,” Peruto said.

PAUL DAVIS

Republican D.A. candidate Chuck Peruto says his father, A. Charles Peruto Sr., had a profound impact on him. Image | Courtesy of Chuck Peruto mount importance, and he really spent a lot of time with me on picking a jury and cross-examination.

I learned a lot about cross-examination at the dinner table. You could not lie to the man,” Peruto said. “I never realized what a head start I had practicing law. I started picking juries the day after I got sworn in. I tried a jury trial before I tried a non-jury trial.

Finally, I asked Peruto how his campaign for D.A. was doing.

“It has vastly improved. It was really a disaster after the primary because Carlos Vega took such a beating, and no one wanted to help me.

They thought it was a lost cause,” Peruto said. “But now I’m gaining momentum every day. I’m tickled pink with the endorsements that I’m receiving from well-known law enforcement people and others.”

Peruto said that if his father, who died in 2013 at the age of 87, were alive today, he would be supporting his son’s candidacy for D.A. Peruto said that when people compliment him on his trial ability, he always says to himself, “You didn’t see anything unless you saw Senior.”

Paul Davis’ Crime Beat column appears here each week. He can be contacted via pauldavisoncrime.com.

PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY | SEPTEMBER 30 - OCTOBER 7, 2021

12

OPINION

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MONEY FOR NOTHING Gun buyback programs don’t reduce crime

I

f you pay for something, you get lie: these gun buyback programs, tried across more of it. Of all the ironclad laws the country over many years, have absolutely no effect on crime. Brian Doherty of of economics in governReason magazine wrote about a reing, politicians should pay cent study by the National Bureau of attention to this one more Economic Research earlier this year. than most. But they don’t.

The results are clear: “Controlling No matter how much for ‘demographic, socioeconomic, elected officials talk of and policy controls measured at the The Science or The Math, county and state levels’ that might they will ultimately enact affect the gun crime and gun death policies that please their rates no matter what was going on constituencies, whether the numbers with buybacks, the researchers conmake sense or not. cluded that ‘with 95 percent confiGun “buybacks” are one such prodence, we can rule out gun crime gram. declines in the 12 months following a The very name is a lie – the gov[buyback] of greater than 1.3 percent ernment cannot buy a gun “back” @KYLESAMMIN and gun crime declines of greater unless they were the ones that sold than 2.2 percent’ more than a year afit in the first place. The government ter they happen.” is not buying anything “back,” they’re buying Crime does not go down. Neither do gun something that they never owned before.

That semantic fib covers up a much bigger deaths: the researchers found “no evidence

KYLE SAMMIN

SEPTEMBER 30 - OCTOBER 7, 2021 | PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY

that firearm-related suicides and homicides declined in the years following” a buyback.

Part of the problem, as Ben Mannes wrote here at PW recently, is that in dealing with “gun crimes,” the government focuses too much on the “gun” and not enough on the “crime.” After all, a man was murdered with a trash can lid in Philadelphia recently. Crime is crime, murder is murder, and perpetrators aren’t picky about the tools of their trade.

Focusing on the criminal and not his tools reveals the flaw in buyback logic. The only guns likely to be collected in such a scheme are those that are not functional – and thus no threat to anyone except their owners – or those that are unwanted. Someone who is likely to commit a crime is not going to sell his gun anymore than any person in a legitimate trade would sell the tools he needs. The gun does not make the criminal, and “buybacks” don’t un-make them either.

At least until now, the price paid for these guns is low — usually around a hundred dollars. But as with every failed program, there are those who say it would work, we just need to spend more money. Earlier this year, Jonathan Wilson Jr., the executive director of the Fathership Foundation, penned an op-ed in the Inquirer calling for higher rates of compensation for guns – much higher. Wilson wants the city to pay “at least $1,000 for automatics and ghost guns and $500 for revolvers.”

The terminology he uses is a little unclear, but it sounds like he would pay $1,000 for a semi-automatic pistol.

There is a fable in economics, possibly apocryphal, that when the British ruled India, they wanted to solve the problem of cobras in the city. A reasonable thing to want, after all. So to get the problem under control, they offered a bounty on cobra skins. People turned in lots of cobra skins. But there were still as many cobras as ever.

The reason: the bounty was so high, it became profitable to raise cobras on the outskirts of town, skin them, and claim the re-

OPINION

PHILADELPHIAWEEKLY.COM @PHILLYWEEKLY

ward. This is exactly what would happen in Philadelphia if we paid $500 or $1,000 per gun.

We would collect lots and lots of guns, some of them brand new and fully functional, because the person turning them in could just go and buy more. When guns like the Hi-Point C9 Yeet Cannon G1 (yes, that is its real name) retail for $199, any enterprising person could make a small fortune buying low and selling high and the number of guns in the hands of criminals would not decline at all.

The city would end the program before going bankrupt, but that would make things worse. The second part of the British cobra story is that the government realized their error and stopped paying. Cobra-herders were

13

left with a massive amount of now-useless snakes, which they released into the wild. Gun buyers in this carry trade would not do that – the guns still have value – but they would sell them cheaply to recoup their losses, and one can easily imagine where those weapons might end up.

Gun buybacks are a favorite among lefty politicians, but they simply spend your money on something that does not reduce crime or death. But that won’t stop them from doing it. City Council president Darryl Clarke, when confronted with the NBER study’s results, simply said it wasn’t true and continued to tout the policies. Philadelphians are owed a more serious response than that.

PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY | SEPTEMBER 30 - OCTOBER 7, 2021

14

GOSSIP

PHILADELPHIAWEEKLY.COM @PHILLYWEEKLY

ICEPACK

Image | Jay Rembert

Getting one thing right No World Series or World Cup, but Philly aces murder

W

elcome to the week where Philadelphia jumped over the 400 murders mark. The Phillies may still be breaching an uncertain, but probably bad battle into the National League East title with an improbable outcome, and I’m pretty sure we’re not going to get that desired 2026 World Cup host role no matter how many FIFA delegates dine at, and dig, Jean-Georges, honeynut squash agnolotti with amaretti crumble and all. The most murder thing though, we’ve got that down, done, won and covered.

Move on from Simmons Speaking of non-wins, or non-starters what-have-you, I’m feeling really bad for the Philadelphia 76ers’ president of basketball operations Daryl Morey, coach Doc Rivers and the ball players who were set to jump on a plane to Los Angeles to visit Ben Simmons to get him to come to the Sixers’ training camp.

Like a bad high school prom date, point guard Simmons is, over and over and repeatedly telling – and not softly signaling – his disgust with all things Philly and his unwillingness to participate in any way ever in extracurricular activities. And yet, here is Morey, Rivers and our ballers in hot pursuit to get Simmons to

SEPTEMBER 30 - OCTOBER 7, 2021 | PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY

Amos Lee album, show wear the corsage and join in on the team fun.

Please let this man go. Call the deal you made We really don’t and didn’t hear enough from a pricey mistake, send back the tux and the gold-plated Philly singing-songwriting sifu limo, and move on.

Amos Lee during the 18 months and counting Talking food of COVID. Shame, that. So it is nice that Lee Proving again and again that he refuses will remedy that with the announcement of to be derailed by the horrible hand dealt by a seventh studio album, Dreamland (due Feb. a fateful 2015 Amtrak accident that severely 11, 2022, on the Dualtone label) and a show at injured his spinal cord and slowed his role as The Met Philly (April 15, 2022) whose tickets an overseer (with Ellen Yin) at the kitchens go on sale this Friday, Oct. 1. at Fork, a.bar, a.kitchen and High Street on Trump Plaza redevelopment Market, Eli Kulp has made the sweetest of Because Atlantic City will never be comlemonade from the sourest of circumstances. pletely free of giving Donald Trump its money First, in 2020, Kulp launched his own show, in some way, shape or form, the Jersey shore The CHEF Radio Podcast, that town just awarded a $50,000 grant dealt with serious personal, pro(a grant?) to redevelop the one-time fessional and social issues within (and longtime eyesore) Trump PlaBY: A.D. the Philadelphia and national food za casino and hotel site that has sat AMOROSI and restaurant scenes. Emotive and vacant growing weeds since the depowerful, The CHEF Radio Podcast crepit property was demolished in proved how effective a broadcastFebruary of this year. While the acer and interviewer Kulp could be. tual demolition raised over $16,000 As of last Wednesday, Kulp has added anoth- for the Boys & Girls Club of AC, the promise er broadcast/podcast credit to his resume by of development has been mentioned in the show-running and co-hosting Delicious City, same breath as adding a new retail space to a set-in-Philly-culinary-cast with the chef the sea and sandy city. Also unwise, but hey. joined by Philly food scribe Sarah Maiellano Chef happenings and local radio producer Marisa Magnatta I know I mentioned this last week with Icefrom WMMR’s Preston & Steve Show. Noted pack’s Masked Philly tribute to visiting Chef

by Kulp to be an “audio food blog,” Delicious Phila Lorn, but, chef and co-owner Bobby SaCity (recorded twice a month and available at ritsoglou’s Stina BYO Newbold monthly Guest all podcast platforms including its host site, Chef + Benefit Dinners just expanded with Radio Kismet) will feature a call-in line be- Chef David Ansill and more fellow local cookyond the trio’s recommendations. This phoneers after its Sept. 30 debut. Details are surely up, call-in feature is either going to be truly at stinapizzeria.com and 215-337-3455. brilliant or really dangerous, but definitely Terror proves too terrifying and most outrageously Philadelphian – like a Philly Mag caught this first, so mega kulive Yelp with every dialect known to the area dos to them, BUT: no more Terror Behind and beyond. I love this – as the only things the Walls Halloween seasonal performances locals like to rant about more during call-ins at Eastern State Prison? Because the show is than sports, is food. too frightening? How will every bloody gauze

GOSSIP

PHILADELPHIAWEEKLY.COM @PHILLYWEEKLY

Image | Courtesy of Arik Victor

ARE YOU READING THIS? GOOD. SO ARE YOUR CUSTOMERS.

donning actor and musician looking to make a buck on the side do now for cash now that the prison is opting for more menu choices, and surely a DJ. End of an era, folks. Nothing was more heartwarmingly disturbing than being in a dank hole with the drummer of your favorite band or a ballet company dancer making un-merry for Halloween.

Masked Philly: Arik Victor In Icepack’s way too-long and now way overly complex and continuing saga of asking mask-donning local celebrities what they’ve been up to, beyond the pale, during C-19 – from lockdown to the current reopening, present-day unmasking and re-masking, worrying about Delta variants, freaking out about Fauci’s call for a potential third round of vax shots mere five months after the last, and new mask and vax card mandates – I reached out this week to Arik Victor.

Victor, the longtime and legendary owner of Creep Records – the stores in Fishtown at The Piazza’s 1050 N. Hancock, and West Chester, as well as the hardcore-centric label – did the same thing most of us did when the pandemic first hit, then quelled: he slowed the roll on his store’s vinyl, cassette and CD sales (“CDs are going to start selling big now that new vinyl is so pricey”), his indoor live appearances and his label’s recording and releasing efforts. Until he didn’t.

“We rebuilt the whole of our recording studio at 5th & Girard,” says Victor, of what and how he occupied himself during Covid’s closedown. “We had so much time that we really dedicated ourselves to making Creep Studio right. We didn’t have anything else to do. It was a facelift with new soundproofing. New coats of paint. It probably was no different than all of the people rushing to Home Depot to re-do their houses. We just also happened to buy a new 24-track, two-inch tape machine.

We also bought guitars for the studio. Though sad, it was a good time to buy studio and re-

cording gear from people looking to get out and in need of cash.”

Along with re-configuring the Creep recording studio, Victor states that the record stores too kept busy whether the sales were in-store or online. “I also managed to get up to Asbury Park too many times, probably out of boredom. It was the easiest place in which to get out of town, but not be on the beach. I’m fascinated too by the gentrification of Asbury Park and the same thing happening up here in North Philly. Of all the things I did to waste time, that was probably the most wasteful but fun.”

As far as masks go and vaxes go, not only does Victor buy it and wear them (“It’s a small task”), his Creep Records silk-screened, self-printed and sold their own branded masks. When audiences and artists come into the store for play-in events, everyone is masked and those who sing into microphones find their mics quarantined and disinfected.

“We put those mics away for a few days and use new ones.”

As to what is next, Victor is currently riding the vinyl boom by working in tandem with RuffNation Entertainment on a series of new and vintage hip-hop recordings (stay tuned on this count), as well as pushing his Creep Records label to issue and reissue a handful of new and old hardcore and punk recordings this winter. “The first thing we’re doing is a pushing out a record from The Ergs! from New Jersey – they actually sell records,” says Victor, pointing to the punk rock toast of South Amboy, N.J., with Mikey Erg (Mike Yannich), guitarist/vocalist Jeff Erg (Jeff Schroeck), and bassist Joey Erg (Joe Keller), and the re-release of “Okay, Enough Reminiscing/ Hindsight is 20/20 My Friend Volume Two.” “That’s the jumping point for the Creep label coming back out of its shell.”

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NICE RACK

SEX WITH TIMAREE

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Question

PALOOZA! REACH OUT TO US. Carry PW’s at your spot. drops@philadelphiaweekly.com.

as are handles and footrests. If you have a reI love reader questions! Some are complex and emotionally charged, but others don’t removable shower head, take advantage of that quire as much explanation. Today we’ll see and/or consider bringing a water-safe vibrahow many can fit into a single column! tor in with you. And if the situation becomes My boyfriend has enjoyed shower sex in more stressful than pleasurable, just hop out previous relationships. I’ve never done it. and move to a more comfortable environment.

It seems weirdly difficult to pull off and inSettle something for me: what do you say evitable that I’ll slip and bust my ass. Any to pets in the room during sex? My dog gets advice? really excited and barks a lot. A LOT. I can Totally legit concern. Injuries ignore him, but my partner says in or around the bath account for it is too distracting and awkmore than two-thirds of emergency ward and insists that we kick room visits. Just getting in and out him out. of the shower is one of the riskiest Personally, I don’t give a damn. activities people do, and that’s true My cats have seen … plenty. And I of all ages. think they respect me more for it.

Plus, there’s the increased risk But it makes sense that someone of your boyfriend’s dick fracturing, would find it disconcerting. Not evsince you’re more likely to end up in eryone loves an audience, especiala precarious angle – all while holdly when that audience is loud and ing on to slippery surfaces. That agitated. Pets are also kind of like said, being in a hot, steamy enviour kids, which can be a real mood ronment can be sexy as hell and a DR. TIMAREE killer. really good opportunity to explore In this case, I’d side with your each other sensually. Perhaps the @TIMAREE_LEIGH partner – the dog certainly doesn’t first time you try this, you’ll want to need to be present, and the envilimit the activities to ronment should add erotic touching and to the sexy vibe, not massage, which is detract. not only much safer I had a spinal but, quite frankly, cord injury many underrated. years ago and even Some things to though I was able keep in mind: if to recover a lot of you’re using a conmobility, there are dom, put it on bestill sexual side effore getting into the fects. I can get and water and keep bath maintain erections, oils away from it. but it’s rare that I That will decrease am able to finish. the odds of it slipping off or the latex being It’s maybe once every few months. How do eroded. Use a silicone-based lubricant – the I prepare a girl before a hookup that it shower will ironically make it more challengmight not happen, and she shouldn’t take ing to maintain natural lube. Definitely don’t it personally? grab shampoo or any other random product It sounds like you’re already pretty clear on and try to use that. Your orifices will thank what to say. At some point you can mention you. the injury and your recovery – hopefully you Obviously, a non-slip shower mat is helpful, feel comfortable talking about that in general

SCHMIT

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“Not everyone loves an audience, especially when that audience is loud and agitated. Pets are also kind of like our kids, which can be a real mood killer.”

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SEX WITH TIMAREE

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– and then just share how it impacts your life today.

Some folks make the association that orgasm is required for a “successful” sexual venture, but that’s a somewhat narrow, goal-oriented idea about sex. Sure, we want to make sure our partners are experiencing pleasure, but that is not synonymous with coming. Some of the most engaging, satisfying encounters don’t involve an orgasm, and some of the most disappointing ones do.

Valuing someone else’s pleasure is important, being willing to explore each other and

try new pathways to enjoyment is great. It’s not a good idea, however, to tie our egos to the ability to get someone else off. That has far less to do with skills or attraction than we are often led to believe.

Any reasonably mature person will be able to deal with this and instead focus on connecting, pleasing and being pleased.

Anyone who can’t handle this is probably not a great partner for you – at least not right now.

Have a question for Dr. Timaree? Send an email to asktimaree@philadelphiaweekly.com.

“Some of the most engaging, satisfying encounters don’t involve an orgasm, and some of the most disappointing ones do.”

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18

VOICES

OF OUR

CITY

EVICTION MORATORIUM PANIC Pennsylvania Democrats in Harrisburg and in Washington, D.C. are worried about eviction moratoriums, but there should be no mistaking that this panic is largely of their own making.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court of the United States declined to overturn an eviction moratorium issued under the Trump administration, but at the same time strongly hinted that the moratorium was not truly legal.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh was the only justice who wrote a concurrence, pointing out that any future similar moratorium would likely need to be passed by Congress, not issued by fiat through an agency under the executive branch.

In the face of these circumstances, Biden issued a tweaked moratorium anyway backed by new reasoning from the justice department. However, on other occasions he also admitted he was hoping that his moratorium, like Trump’s, wouldn’t be declared illegal until it was too late.

Several media outlets, court followers and legal scholars expressed serious concern about the legality of the maneuver, given Kavanaugh’s warning. Broad + Liberty asked congressional Democrats from the Delaware Valley if they had any rule-of-law concerns about Biden’s moratorium. None responded.

Local Democrats acted shocked and unprepared when SCOTUS snuffed Biden’s moratorium about three weeks later.

According to State Sen. Nikil Saval (D-Philadelphia), Pennsylvanians awoke the morning after “to the news that the last thin thread of protection keeping them housed was eliminated overnight, cut with the quick and cruel precision of a justice system that cares nothing for the devastation it leaves in the wake of its decisions.”

Led by Saval, Harrisburg Democrats began asking the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania (SCOPA) to issue a statewide moratorium similar to what it had done early in the pandemic.

Undoubtedly, some Harrisburg Democrats will point out they don’t have majorities in either chamber, so they can’t author a statewide moratorium without Republican help. But Republicans know that landlords have backstopped this crisis for too long, and are also claiming Gov. Wolf isn’t giving them a clear ask on legislation.

The call from Senate Democrats asking the SCOPA to create the new eviction moratorium

is unfortunate in that it further politicizes our courts and does so in an election year for SCOPA justices.

Senate Democrats have effectively dropped a political grenade in the court’s chambers. If the justices grant the request, some may have no choice but to run on an agenda in which candidates must freely admit that they will legislate.

If the court doesn’t grant the request, it’s possible some Senate Democrats will demonize the justices for not doing their bidding, adding to the erosion of trust.

Compounding all this bad governance is the fact that money remains available for rental assistance across most, if not all, of the commonwealth right now.

“Chester County residents who are worried about being able to make rent and pay their utility bills still have resources available to them to ensure they can remain in their homes,” a press release from the county said, as an example.

Of the $34.5 million the county received from state and federal funds for this purpose, only $14.5 million has been doled out. Numerous other examples exist.

In the earliest days of the pandemic, Democrats found out just how effective cutting red tape could be, for example by allowing nurses to come in from out of state and work without immediately applying for a Pennsylvania nursing license.

That same attitude would be the most helpful one now. Get back to work with county commissioners to dispense the rental-assistance money that’s available right now and cut all obstacles that are slowing the process.

Biden’s feint probably allowed some to ignore this work while whistling past the graveyard.

Some Democrats say a moratorium that prevents any eviction for any reason — whether for rent or not — is important to prevent stoking the pandemic and the emerging variants.

We say it’s an argument made in good faith, but not a good argument. It lets the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Regrettably, greasing the skids for hundreds of people in a small state House district to get rental-assistance checks from pre-existing programs is less sexy and grabs fewer headlines than passing a full-on moratorium.

Good governing tends to be mundane like that — what a pity.

From the editors at Broad + Liberty. This article was originally published at Broad + Liberty. Follow them on Twitter @BroadAndLiberty.

SEPTEMBER 30 - OCTOBER 7, 2021 | PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY

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Philadelphia recently topped 400 murders for the year, a number that was 18 percent over last year at the time.

Your turn: Who’s to blame for the skyrocketing rate? What should be done to reduce it?

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