XPN Fest Recap: Dave Hause & The Mermaid rep Philly with a rockin’ Marina Stage set

July 29, 2017

07:07 PM

Dave Hause | photo by Jeremy Zimmerman for WXPN

It’s probably pretty hard to be more Philly than Dave Hause. He was born here and became a mainstay in the Philly punk scene for years, spending time with bands such as Paint It Black and The Loved Ones. Saturday afternoon, he shouted out Strand of Oaks and WXPN’s own Bruce Warren and Helen Leicht during his rockin’ set on the Marina Stage. His current band, The Mermaid, covered The Roots’ “The Seed” in the middle of it all. And their newest album, released in February, is entitled Bury Me In Philly. Like I said, it’s pretty tough to out-Philly this guy.

Naturally, the Philadelphians in the crowd was loving its native son during the nine-song set. The mood The Mermaid induced varied from that of the Marina Stage’s earlier acts of the day — Cliff Hillis, Xenia Rubinos and The Suffers — in that this was punk rock. An Americana twist certainly lingers in the sounds of Bury Me In Philly, which made up more than half the set, but its core influence is far from hidden. They had a keyboard, and its presence too was felt, but the guitars that Hause and the guys flanking his sides sported were the dominant force in the lineup. Their owners bounced around the stage with aggression. At one point, Hause had to push the glasses of his guitarist — which happened to be his younger brother, Tim Hause, who helped write the new record — back up his nose before they fell off.

For the duration of the performance, that is what the crowd got. There was little variation or fatigue. The intensity from The Mermaid did not fade, and they didn’t take much time at all between songs to chat. Hause often leaned over the edge of the stage to get the people to clap along. By the set’s end, he was right back in that same spot, perched over the crowd, shaking hands and slapping five. It was a bond that had roots deeper than the musician-to-fan relationship. Hause showed them love and they showed that love right back, not just because they enjoyed the music, but because they are just as much Philly as he is.