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Undertow
Terry O’Brien’s legendary column... social satire, shameless plugs — and general self-indulgence
T
he good news is it’s been a relatively
boring couple of weeks here at
Undertow Central. The bad news is that
that makes for very boring reading. So
prepare yourselves for 1250 words on
“Things I Picked From My Belly Button”...
One super-cool thing I did last Sunday
was scoop Owen up at Rowan (I’m a poet,
didn’t know it) and head to Wiggins Park in
Camden for the Xponential Fest, sponsored by
and featuring many very, very WXPN artists. As
a newly minted Dawes fan (I really can’t recommend
them enough) I was STOKED to see them
close the show, right up until the moment they
canceled at 10 o’clock Saturday night. (Covid.
UGH!) I almost didn’t want to go, but I’m glad
I did because, first and foremost, it was a day
with my son, and also because the rest of the
acts were pretty amazing. Sierra Ferrell, Jade
Bird and Nicole Atkins on the Marina Stage,
Devon Gillfilian, Cimafunk and Shovels & Rope
on the River stage. Just… wow. Put all of these
people in your YouTube or Spotify playlists and
I guarantee you will hear songs you like. ’Twas a
beautiful day filled with wonderful music and I
can’t wait to go back next year.
I missed Tommy Conwell & the Young
Rumblers because of traffic, but caught them
on the radio and man, those guys cooked.
Remember 1987 when they tried real hard to
make him a rock star? MTV videos and opening
the Grammys? Didn’t quite work out, but he’s
still had a good run.
I wore my cool Gojira (Godzilla) T-shirt
which received many compliments, and it
was confirmed the Japanese symbol beneath
the rampaging nuclear lizard did, indeed, say
“Gojira” and not some horrible racial slur, as I
long feared.
Upon returning from what felt like my 100th
trip up and down 47 & 55 in the last month,
I popped in to 5 West to unwind with a delicious
Poco Diablo martini (or four) mixed by
the lovely Jordan, and kibbutzed a bit with Man
About Town Ed McDonough about our lovehate
relationship with the Phillies (currently on
love, but check back in a week). A great way to
end a weekend.
I caught up with Studmeister General Zack
Baron outside my Rusty Nail gig. I told him
I’d just deleted a bunch of contacts I don’t use
anymore, his included, because, “I haven’t seen
Zack in three years, when’s the next time I’m
going to need his number?” Turns out it was two
days later. Oh, universe… how you toy with me.
Underrated Breakfast Spot of the Week:
Erma Deli is known primarily for subs, steaks
and pizza, but their breakfast is top tier. Nothing
too fancy-shmancy, just good, solid breakfast
fare that’s consistently delicious. One suggestion
— a No Green Peppers option for your
September 30, 2021 EXIT ZERO Page 19