Misjudging the amount of time it would take me to walk to Kung Fu Necktie from my house, I arrived at the venue a bit too early. Surprisingly, I wasn't the only one who showed up just before the doors opened. In the time it took me to grab a drink from the bar and head back toward the stage, KFN was already filling in for Loose Panic's start at 7:30 pm. In fact, all three acts that played the stalwart Fishtown dive bar Friday night had a loyal base of supporters, with many, if not all, of the audience members staying through to the end.

Loose Panic

The honor of getting the crowd into the weekend headspace was bestowed upon Loose Panic, a band that began as lead vocalist and guitarist Jarret Crawford's 2018 "noise project" (his words). For Loose Panic's 2022 EP In Hindsight, Crawford recorded all of the instrument stems himself, except the drums. Now a fully-realized band (ft. Crawford, Anthony Carlisi on bass, Liam Hare on drums, and Max Blauer (lead guitar, background vocals), Loose Panic is preparing to release their first LP, Weightbearing, in the coming months. The band began their set with two tracks from the forthcoming release, opening with "Ancora," a dreamy tune that bubbles with nostalgia, hearkening back to early post-grunge (think shades of Foo Fighters and Incubus). The second song of the set, "The Cruelty is the Point," was a standout; a drum-and-guitar-driven track that features whispers of mid-'90s Metallica and a harder edge. I found myself wishing my hair were longer so I could bang my head along more enthusiastically. I'm very excited to hear more from their new record.

Lydia Blair was next on the bill, and she immediately pulled the crowd in with her brand of pop music, which is in a class of its own. Blair takes bits of funk, pop, rock, electronic, and even jazz (saxophone solo included); sticks them in a blender, and creates a musical cocktail that forces your body to move and your emotions to be moved. She is an immensely talented vocalist with an expansive range, as showcased by her cover of The Darkness' 2003 hit, "I Believe in a Thing Called Love." Blair absolutely commands the stage from behind her keyboard. She connects with her audience authentically–no shtick, no wildly different stage persona. I'm talking like... Mandela Effect shit, where someone would be like, "What do you mean she was playing the keyboard the whole time? No, she was definitely jumping all over that stage." It's that kind of stage presence–something I haven't seen since Lady Gaga was performing under her eponymous Stefani Germanotta Band; before the elaborate sets and costumes, it was just her and her keyboard.

By now, the audience was primed, ready, and warmed up for the evening's headliners, Adventure Lost. The Adventure Lost journey began in 2016, when lead vocalist Jack Faracchio and drummer Larry Iaccio started the band as a trio. After releasing their first LP, 2017's Going Back to Sleep, the group's forward momentum began to pick up until the world shut down in March of 2020. Faced with a new reality that made it impossible for any artist to perform live, Faracchio embarked on a five-month backpacking trip that took him around the world.

Upon his return to Philadelphia, Faracchio and Iaccio began working on Adventure Lost's second album, 2024's Before The Memory Fades. The material drew heavily on Faracchio's experience traveling the globe, and explored the overwhelming feelings of existentialism we experience at some juncture in our lives (for me, it was a 2023 trip to Ireland that triggered my own existential spiral, which ultimately led to Music Jawn). Referred to as a period of "rebirth" in Adventure Lost's official biography, the band's lineup expanded to include five additional musicians–Alex DiPasquale on guitar, Karena Crutchfield on keyboards, and Tucker Pendleton on bass.

Friday evening's performance (in celebration of the release of the band's new single, "You Better Watch Your Back") was my introduction to the Adventure Lost experience. Yep, I said experience–and to be quite honest, the word falls short of accurately describing the show this band puts on. Each song is a story in itself, and the entire set is a carefully crafted musical narrative with a beginning, middle, and end–equal parts rock show and rock opera. Sweeping soundscapes, lyrical excellence, and dynamic performances–the set was so electric that I forgot I was standing in Kung Fu Necktie.

"You Better Watch Your Back" is a protest song that Adventure Lost describes as "lambasting the state of American wealth inequality & healthcare (or lack thereof)." Only two days before the single's release, a handful of Democrats in Congress gave in to the GOP's refusal to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits–placing millions of Americans at risk of not being able to afford health insurance in 2026. To say the lyrics of "You Better Watch Your Back" hit harder on Friday is an understatement. An extra dose of catharsis came from the song that followed, a cover of Green Day's "Holiday," from their 2004 protest album American Idiot. The crowd became a sea of movement, screaming the lyrics in unison and raising a collective middle finger to the establishment.

My biggest takeaway from this show? Community building. There are plenty of ways to spend a Friday night in Philadelphia, but throngs of people from different backgrounds packed into a dive bar under the El to support local music. This group of complete strangers danced and cheered, and threw back some citywides in the process. We enjoyed each other's company during one of the most divisive times in American history. This is the local music scene of Philadelphia. I left feeling a bit more hopeful than I did when I arrived.

Adventure Lost's Jack Faracchio said it best, "I love doing this shit. This is how I want to spend a Friday night."