Low Cut Connie gives love to South Philly’s diversity and toughness at steamy, free street show
Low Cut Connie | Photo by George Murphy
“We’re getting down here with the people,” quite literally. That’s the first line of the chorus of Low Cut Connie’s “Boozophilia,” the breakthrough hit that landed them on President Barack Obama’s Summer Playlist in 2015. It’s also where you could find the beloved South Philly rock-n-roll band Wednesday evening, playing on a stage outside of the iconic Ray’s Happy Birthday Bar at Eighth and Federal streets.
When exuberant frontman Adam Weiner took to the stage after a brief rain delay, the energy was palpable. People of all walks of life were drawn into a performance as sweltering as the humid air they shared. The band fired off the hits alongside a few covers and several cuts from their latest record, Livin In The USA.
Weiner took a moment to get serious before firing into the title track of the new album: “I’ve had some people telling me I can’t use that word anymore: diverse. Well, baby, that’s exactly what this is.”
“South Philly is a melting pot, and that’s exactly what Low Cut Connie’s all about: kind of bringing all these different walks of life under one umbrella,” WXPN’s DJ Robert Drake, who was broadcasting live from the show, said.
His songwriting takes a definitive stance on this new record, a protest-party record in the vein of Sly and the Family Stone’s “There’s A Riot Going On.”
The show also celebrated marked several major wins for the band, with their latest single “Can’t Be Wrong” hitting the top 30 of the independent radio charts alongside a performance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” set to air next week.
The band also paid their respects to Lou Capozzoli, the dynamic steward of Ray’s who booked Low Cut Connie for their second-ever show (their first was at the nearby Old Swedes’ Episcopal Church). Capozzoli passed earlier this year, but not before recording a raunchy EP produced by Weiner himself. The night was dedicated in his memory.
The show reached a fever pitch as Weiner climbed to the top of his piano during the show’s finale to rip his iconic white undershirt—a very familiar sight to anyone who has seen the band over the last few years or caught one of his “Tough Cookies” livestreams. The crowd, crammed like sardines from Geno’s all the way to Federal, let out a roar of appreciation as the band sent them home happy with a raucous take on “Rio” from the band’s debut album, which turns 15 this year.
WXPN Programming Director Jim McGuinn caught the show in person.
“The overriding thing is it was such a joyous celebration of the music, of the band, of the neighborhood,” he said.
The soulful frontman told the crowd they were tough cookies, hard on the outside but soft on the inside, echoing the idea that Philadelphians kind, but not necessarily nice all the time. Weiner also
“I love each and every one of you,” Weiner told the crowd, nearly out of breath and as drenched from his own sweat as fans were from the downpour earlier. “Stay tough. Keep punching.”
