On Saturday, May 27th, Penns Landing hosted it's first annual "HoagieNation", a day long music event with multiple stages and over 15 bands that were there to celebrate all that Philadelphia is. The event had three stages set up for music and festivities, with duo-headlining acts Tears for Fears and Hall and Oates. There was; of course, a hoagie stage sponsored by Dietz & Watson with a Hall and Oats themed menu featuring hoagie selections such as "Maneater" (roast beef) "Sara Smile" (Santa Fe Turkey Hoagie) "I Can Go For That" (Rustic Italian) and even a vegetarian selection named "Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid". What a great combination for the day - music and hoagies! I never really thought about that coupling before, but it sure worked!
The opening bands performed on all three stages and the lineup included Schoolly D, Mutlu, Allen Stone, Kandace Springs,Son Little, Vivian Green, Marah, G.Love & Special Sauce, and In The Pocket. All in all , the festival lasted almost10 hours and was a huge attendance success. Now, onto the music!
The opening bands boasted genres ranging from rap to blues and each band there was a great representation of both their style, and of Philadelphia. Marah had a nice highlight when they closed out their set with "Love Train" and the band members had their pre-teen children come up on stage for the song, some taking instruments from dad to play the song themselves. It was a "brotherly love" kind of moment and not wasted on the crowd.
Tears for Fears; although not playing in the Philly area for more than 20 years, had a huge audience Saturday night and played to the swelling crowds like the pros they are. It was 80's flashback time and the average age of the attendees was much lower than you would think! Tears for Fears played a hopping hour and a half set and included all the sing- a-longs you remember. Some highlights included opening song "Everybody Wants to Rule the World”, a cool cover of Radiohead's "Creep" and a perfect encore selection "Shout". The band was amazing and the energy in the crowd was electric!
Once Tears for Fears finished there was a mass exodus over to the other stage to get ready for Hall and Oates. Although I didn’t think it was possible, there were even more people on that side of the venue! H & O had the Philadelphia experience covered, they were introduced by Ben Franklin (well, a costumed person) and baseball hall of famer, Mike Schmidt.
The show was worth the wait. Hall and Oates were in true form playing hits and even a few cover songs the crowd adored. They opened with a Mike Oldfield song "Family Man" then went quickly into their hit song Maneater. Around the middle of the show they started a huge sing a long when they did The Righteous Brothers "You've Lost That Loving Feeling ". As the show went on the tempo seemed to slow down a bit and that was just a perfect way to end a nine hour day of music and deli meat. Their encore consisted of fan favorites, Rich Girl, Kiss on My List, Private Eyes; You make my Dreams, and a cover song. SURPRISED? Dont be, they aptly selected a song by The Delfonics-"Didn't I (blow your mind this time).
Keep on the lookout for next years HoagieNation, its an event worth experiencing!
Josie Janci
