Photos by Tear-n Tan
For London UK's The Rifles, their first show at Philadelphia's Kung Fu Necktie was a mixture of fans who had previously seen the band live and opening for Paul Weller on a previous tour, and new fans aware of the buzz on the group's latest album, "The Great Escape". Newly signed to Nettwerk for the group's second album, the band played a surprisingly modest set for their first show in the sense that their on-stage banter was confident, but their playing was reserved with tracks like "Great Escape" running a bit slow. The set came together especially on "Romeo & Julie" with this becoming the raucous sing-along hit of the night. It ended the night on a great note and added a great flourish to their finish, especially because Lucas Crowther was wearing the shirt of the same slogan and rocking it. The set was fun, with several fans dancing supported by the group's jubilant punk-pop vibe and with Joel's eerie Jam-era vocals stealing the show; fists were pumping. Lead singer Joel Stoker remained talkative with the crowd while they featured tracks from the new album as well as their previous LP "No Love Lost". Overall, this was a fun show, and they were fantastic to hear live for the first time; of course, a group is allowed to have warm-up jitters, and maybe this was the one set that the group needed in order to warm up for their NYC dates to come. We sent our NYC contributor Tearn-Tan to photograph the show at Mercury Lounge (view more photos here) for what we heard was a smash success follow-up to their date here in Philly.
Kung-Fu Necktie Set List:
(01) Science in Violence, (02) Standards, (03) Repeated Offender, (04) I Could Never Lie, (05) Great Escape, (06) Peace and Quiet, (07) Out in the Past, (08) History, (09) Hometown Blues, (10) Spend a Lifetime, (11) Toe Rag, (12) Robin Hood, (13) When I'm Alone, (14) The Arrival, (15) Local Boy, (16) Romeo & Julie
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