Hey, Nothing win over Philadelphia at TLA

Hey, Nothing might be from Georgia, but after their show at the Theatre of Living Arts, I’m ready to make a case for honorary Philadelphia-band status. Between Harlow Phillips sporting an Eagles jersey, several Eagles chants, and even more declarations of love for the city, the duo made quite a compelling case.

The night started with Brother Bird, who opened with a stripped-back set built around her voice and a drummer. The simple arrangement suited her soft-spoken delivery, even as she admitted to being more talkative than usual between songs.

By the time Hey, Nothing took the stage, the room was ready for the Georgia duo. Childhood friends Tyler Mabry and Harlow Phillips built Hey, Nothing around a shared love of music, and their candid songwriting makes even their most lighthearted songs feel deeply personal. Their sound moves between folk and indie rock, pairing vocal harmonies with lyrics about the messier parts of growing up. 

The pair opened with “Hound,” the title track from their latest album, which was released this August. It was a fitting start to a set that balanced the weight of their songwriting with the easy chemistry between two friends who seemed just as happy to make each other laugh as they were to play in front of a crowd. That chemistry extended to the audience, as well, filling TLA with laughs throughout the set. At one point, their stage banter turned to Philadelphia sports, with the duo asking whether Jalen Hurts was in the crowd, joking that they had saved him a seat. A mandatory Eagles chant followed, and the band once again made it known how much affection they have for Philadelphia.

Their jokes and dry humor never felt like a distraction from their music; instead, they made the performance feel all the more personal, like spending an evening with two friends.

That sense of closeness was especially fitting given the rough stretch of touring the duo had experienced in the past few weeks. Earlier dates on the Hound tour were disrupted by illness and injuries, including a serious injury that forced their drummer to leave the tour and return home. At some shows, the band had to rework its arrangements into acoustic sets, with other musicians stepping in to help fill the gaps.

The setbacks came after a period of personal and creative uncertainty for Mabry and Phillips. Following an exhausting run of touring, the longtime friends questioned whether they could continue making music together. Hound emerged from that period of reflection, exploring change, personal growth, and what it means to keep moving forward. Watching them joke with the crowd in Philadelphia, it was difficult not to see the value of that renewed perspective. Even amidst the unpredictable challenges of touring, the duo was upbeat. At the end of their main set, with “Arteries” ringing out, the duo held hands and walked off, called back by the crowd.

When they returned for the encore, “Hound” brought the night full circle. The song that opened the set became its closing statement, sending the crowd out with one more reminder of the album at the heart of this tour. Hey, Nothing’s Philadelphia show felt like a celebration of what brought them there in the first place: the songs, the friendship behind them, and the people who came to sing along.