Philly Today: First Look at Broad Street’s Cool New Music Venue, Solar Myth

The bar at new South Philadelphia music venue Solar Myth / Photograph by Chris Sikich

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South Philly Music Venue Solar Myth Replaces Boot & Saddle

Live music lovers in Philadelphia all let out a collective sigh when Broad Street music venue Boot & Saddle announced in November 2020 that it was permanently closed. The place was beloved. You could see all sorts of wild shows there. Did you know Lizzo once performed there? I was lucky enough to get into a surprise Tune-Yards show that has become the stuff of legend. Boot & Saddle was a special place.

Well, Boot & Saddle has now been replaced by another special place: Solar Myth. This is no cookie-cutter Philadelphia music venue. The pre-show music at the bar isn’t from Spotify. It’s all vinyl, played through an analog sound system. And the bookings? Don’t expect to show up here for anything remotely Top 40 or Top 100 or even Top 1,000,000, really. Solar Myth presents avant-garde music. Special music for people with special musical tastes or just open-minded people who are up for anything.

We sent photographer Chris Sikich to Solar Myth on Saturday night for a performance by Marshall Allen’s Ghost Horizons, Marshall Allen being the leader of the wonderfully weird Sun Ra Arkestra. Here are some photos to give you a taste of what the space is like. Better yet, pick up tickets to Tuesday night’s performance of Ethiopia-based ensemble QWANQWA and see for yourself. At this point, shows at Solar Myth are occasional and sporadic; the next currently scheduled shows after QWANQWA aren’t until December. Then again, the Marshall Allen’s Ghost Horizons show was only announced days before it happened.

A first look at Solar Myth:

Mexico Using Photos of Kensington in Anti-Drug Ads

Yay us.

Election Denier Doug Mastriano Encounters Election Results He Can’t Deny: His Own

After governor-election Josh Shapiro basically said he couldn’t care less if Mastriano conceded, Mastriano finally did just that—five days after the race was called.

About That PA House

Control of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives is literally down to two extremely close races in the Philadelphia suburbs. The rest have been decided. Imagine being a person who didn’t vote in the one race that’s two votes apart.

Local Talent: Pink, Quinta Brunson, and Sheryl Lee Ralph

It’s a little hard for me to believe that we’re talking about September 2023, but such is the nature of the concert industry. Pride of Doylestown Pink just announced a massive Summer 2023 tour. And she’s stopping at Citizens Bank Park on Monday, September 18. Special guests include Brandi Carlile, Grouplove and KidCutUp. Tickets go on sale next Monday via LiveNation.com.

Meanwhile, Quinta Brunson continues to be the toast of the town. You may have noticed she’s the face of OLAY (as in Oil Of…) these days. The Hollywood Reporter just named her Comedy Star of the Year. Duh. And Vogue just chronicled Brunson’s ongoing fashion journey.

Speaking of Brunson, Aboott Elementary found itself replaced by the Country Music Awards this past week. But never fear: the show returns this Wednesday with an episode entitled “Egg Drop.” I’m guessing that’s more about the thing where you build a box that can safely land an egg from the roof of the school and less about Chinese takeout. Then again, knowing Brunson, she probably figured out a way to deftly marry the two.

And this last bit of Abbott Elementary news: co-star Sheryl Lee Ralph (she with that wicked Emmy speech-song) wants to host the 2023 Emmys. I could get behind that, though having the entire cast of Abbott Elementary host here and there might be more fun. Just an idea, Sheryl. Don’t hate me too much.

And from the Woah-Dude-What-A-Game Sports Desk …

The Sixers faced the Hawks again at home on Saturday night and looked steadier than they did in that dreadful loss to Atlanta on Thursday. Joel Embiid came out hot, and the Sixers were up 26-13 with three minutes left in first quarter. Embiid hit a nice fadeaway to make the lead 67-51 at the half — the Sixers’ highest-scoring half this season.

Halfway through the third, four Sixers were in double figures, and the score was 85-60. Embiid hit 30 points with 5:22 left in the quarter. But with the score 99-84 at the end of the third,  the Hawks went on a 20-3 run, and by the start of the fourth, they’d cut the Sixers’ lead to 12 points.

Maxey’s third triple of the game made it 105-89, but a Clint Capela shot made it 109-100 with five minutes left. The Sixers were up by 27 at one point in the game! With two minutes left, it was 115-107. The Hawks turned it over on a travel, and Matisse Thybulle hit a big three: 118-107. Then Joel hit a bigger three right at the buzzer to exceed his season high of 40 with 42, and the Sixers won, 121-109.

Against the Jazz at home on Sunday night, the Sixers started slow, with lots of turnovers. It was the debut of the new Brotherly Love jerseys:

https://twitter.com/sixers/status/1591928467939106816

And there was a new look for the court as well:

new court, who dis? @cryptocom | #BrotherlyLove pic.twitter.com/vM87jI8QrY

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) November 14, 2022

This game was all about Joel Embiid. The team started out sluggish and was down 39-18 at the five-minute mark in the first. Joel rolled an ankle stepping on Kelly Olynyk’s foot, fans’ hearts stopped, and the refs called a flagrant on Kelly. The foul must have pissed Joel off, because he went on a tear. True, he had five turnovers in the first half.

https://twitter.com/Tide2k/status/1591968801364807680

And Alaa Abdelnaby was irate: “You have to work on that. That’s unacceptable.” Score at half: 57-51.

But the Sixers came back from halftime looking good, and at the end of the third quarter, the game was tied, 78-78.

Embiid would go on to have 26 points in the fourth quarter, ending with 59 points—the most for a Sixer since Allen Iverson hit 60 in 2005. Final score: 105-98. “The fifth most points in a game in Sixers franchise history,” Kate Scott declared. And zero turnovers for Joel in the entire second half! He also had 11 rebounds, eight assists and seven blocks. What a guy. What a game! The Sixers are off now until Friday. Joel needs the rest.

There have now been 194 games in NBA history where someone scored 55+ points. No one ever had more blocks than Joel Embiid tonight (7). Only 14 players had more assists than Embiid (8). Only 9 did it on fewer shots (28).

This was one of the best individual games in NBA history.

— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) November 14, 2022

If you missed the Temple/Villanova men’s basketball game Friday night, you really missed something. Temple took a big lead early on, but Villanova, under new head coach Kyle Neptune — which is our new favorite name — kept chipping away. Two made foul shots by Nova’s Eric Dixon cut it to one point with 11 minutes left in the second half, and the teams went on a one-point-difference seesaw for a thrilling back-and-forth down the stretch. Temple’s Damian Dunn drove the basket for a 64-64 tie with 1.1 second left — and got fouled! He scored both foul shots, and Temple then intercepted the in-bounds pass and won — their first win against Nova in 10 years! Ecstatic Owls rushed the court, only to have the refs declare that there were still .2 seconds left in the game. Back off the floor the students went. Zach Hicks was fouled by Nova and made both foul shots — and NOVA CALLED A FREAKING TIME-OUT!! It was 68-64 Temple, and there were still .2 seconds left to go!!! But the time ticked off, and Temple students got to storm the court again:

Mayhem at Liacouras pic.twitter.com/gwS1YU3F4K

— Dan Gelston (@APgelston) November 12, 2022

In other news, Temple football couldn’t quite pull off a comeback win against Houston:

Fell just short at the end. Back home on Saturday#TempleTUFF pic.twitter.com/W7txinl8mX

— Temple Football (@Temple_FB) November 12, 2022

Penn football got clobbered by Harvard, alas.

The Flyers also played.

Don’t forget: It’s the Eagles vs. the Wentz-less Washington Commanders tonight on Monday Night Football at 8:15. Go Iggles!

All Philly Today Sports Desk coverage is provided by Sandy Hingston.