Sixteen Jackies and Kelsey Cork & The Swigs played Sunflower Philly; MOBBLUZ, Britt Thomas and more added to their calendar

Last night, Mattie Klauser of Good How Are You Records told The Key’s Paige Walter that Sunflower Philly was giving them strong “Johnny Brenda’s summer edition” vibes. It’s a perfect description, especially with Marley McNamara of JBs booking a recurring Philly-centric concert series at the beautiful outdoor space at 5th and Cecil B Moore.

That series continued last night with two stylish, retro-leaning rock bands. The punkish garage outfit Kelsey Cork & The Swigs was up first, now featuring Klauser in the fold on second guitar, adding nuanced leads and atmospherics to compliment Cork and her bandmates’ already-compelling playing and stage presence. Headlining were Sixteen Jackies, playing their first live show since the pre-COVID days to a fervent crowd, and though frontperson Jody DeMarco still brings macabre theatrics to the stage (a Friday the 13th-style hockey mask, fake blood), it felt like the focus of last night’s performance was the tightly-crafted songs more than ever before; the cool new “Just Kids” had a groove reminiscent of Philly International Records, and DeMarco said that song is going to be out on streaming services in a couple weeks.

The Human Robot concert series at Sunflower has been plotted out through mid-September, with exciting new additions including the hip-hop collective MOBBLUZ on September 2nd and Britt Thomas on September 16th. Check out the full itinerary below, along with photos from last night’s show.

Human Robot Concert Series at Sunflower Philly
Monday 8/16: Dominic Angelella with Lizdelise and Koof
Thursday 8/19: Scantron with XIXIX and Luke Rinz
Friday 8/27: Minka with Barney Cortez
Thursday 9/2: MOBBLUZ with S.A.G.E.S
Thursday 9/16: Britt Thomas with The Dawn Drapes and The Squawk Brothers

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