Late in 2024, we organized our first-ever WXPN Homegrown Live concert — a free showcase of Philadelphia talent performing onstage in The Lounge at World Cafe Live. The lineup was made up of three finalists from the WXPN 24 Hour Song Challenge, and to kick off 2025, we’re bringing you video of each of those performances.
This week, the Homegrown Live series continues with Philly indie rock four-piece Best Bear, who previously appeared on The Key Studio Sessions in 2022 following the release of their terrific album When. They’ve refined their slow-burn post-emo style of storytelling songwriting in the time since, and it shone last summer in frontperson Blue’s entry into the Song Challenge, a hooky and hopeful tune called “Fireworks.”
That song got its first-ever band performance at Homegrown Live, and sounds stellar; Best Bear also played its latest single, “The Fall,” in collaboration with Mackenzie Johnson, who was also on the bill. Watch the full set above, and see photos from it below. It was a bittersweet show too, as well, since it marked the final performance of this configuration of Best Bear, which has been together since the project emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. Blue will carry the project forward, with possible new collaborators down the road, and they’ll team up with guitarist Gwen McFadden this Saturday for a Best Bear a duo set at World Cafe Live opening for Stone Cold Grace. Details can be found at the WXPN Concert Calendar.