1851 Entertainment: Halloweekend at The Grape Room
Copyright © Dylan Eddinger Photography
On October 27th, 1851 Entertainment hosted its annual Halloween show at Manayunk’s Grape Room to kick off the holiday weekend. The Grape Room is a cozy, bi-level venue tucked into the corner of Grape Street. The stage sits in the front corner in front of the wraparound bar so all spectators can see the performances. The lineup this year consisted of all Philly bands: Heavensake, Parius, Minka, and Razor Boomarang.
Heavensake kicked off the night, all members dressed as the memorable Ken Bone in hard-to-miss matching red sweaters. Their sound is inviting and upbeat with heavy elements from the singer’s occasional screams when the songs pick up. They’re a lively act, reminiscent of Blink 182.
Parius followed, and I don’t think anybody in the room was ready for what they were about to hear. This show was an “all genres welcome” kind of night, so next to take the stage was a death metal group. 1851 member George Fenton broke out his guitar for the night. The singer is a small, charming guy with a voice so unreal that it’s hard to believe it’s coming out of his mouth. He screams, he growls, he sings, he howls, he chants. He does it all and this was my first experience with a band that sounded even close to what Parius sounds like. It’s hard to deny the talent they possess, though. Watching both guitarists intricately work their fingers quickly up and down the fretboard all while banging their heads in the air to the beat is incredible to watch. Though lyrics were hard to make out, as expected, Parius put on a next-level act.
Parius, Copyright © Dylan Eddinger Photography
It was easy to tell who the crowd favorite of the night was, and that was by far Minka. The band ascended the stage dressed as the characters from Seinfeld, and began their act with the bass-bopping TV show intro and a comedy sketch. The audience was eating it up. It was a hysterical performance, totally on par with their Bowie-esque look and sound. The singer had a voice similar to the Talking Heads, and I picked up on that immediately. He was grooving the whole night, jumping up and down in his classic Jerry Seinfeld Nikes and puffy shirt. Their set was the longest and I wished it hadn’t ended.
Razor Boomarang, Copyright © Dylan Eddinger Photography
To close the show was rap duo Razor Boomarang, a group I’d heard quite a bit about. The president of 1851, Kaley Allan, dates one half of Razor Boomarang and always does her best to promote their work. Dressed as Batman and Deadpool, Jeff and Lyric played us their beats and had the whole crowd ending the night on a super mellow note after Minka riled everyone up.
The Grape Room is always one of my favorite 1851 events, and each band said the same thing after their performance. Small scenes are always the best scenes, and there will be plenty more shows coming your way as the year goes on.
Keep up with 1851 Entertainment events on Instagram, and give us a follow @brotherlylovelivemusic for more photos from the show.