Philadelphia is home to one of the most vibrant art scenes the States has to offer, and April 27 saw the homecoming of one of its most unsung heroes. Domenic Palermo, Philly-native and frontman of shoegaze titans Nothing, brought the second installment of Slide Away Festival home for a one-night fest of legendary comebacks. The iconic Franklin Music Hall, formerly known as the Electric Factory, was filled with lush harmonies, distortion-drenched guitars, and psychedelic lighting as Nothing brought out both fresh and familiar faces, piecing together an essential shoegaze lineup for the ages. Nothing brought the likes of Whirr, who haven’t performed live since 2015, Swervedriver’s first U.S. shows since 2019, and the original lineup for The Pains of Being Pure at Heart for the first time since 2012. It was a shoegaze family affair, and Glide was right in the middle of it all.
The night opened up with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart performing the entirety of their landmark self-titled debut. The band, which recently released a collection of unreleased material, put on a nostalgic yet urgent performance as they danced through their genre-altering LP. Cuts like “Contender” and “A Teenager in Love” felt fresh, almost as if these tunes hadn’t been readily available since their 2009 release. Along with performing the ten songs from the LP, the band also dipped into more recent releases by performing the recently unearthed title track from their self-titled album. The original lineup brought out the same youthful energy that made their eponymous debut so memorable in the first place, and over a decade after its release, the band’s performance at Slide Away cemented the album as an alt-pop classic.
The mood of the room immediately altered once Swervedriver stepped onto their first U.S. stage since 2019, and the band toyed with this dynamic throughout their nine-song set. The band put on an unforgettable show, jumping seamlessly from one portion of their legendary discography to the next. The band’s jagged tone shifts elevated and decompressed the room at a whim; we were all under the control of Swervedriver’s spellbinding, guitar-driven, heavy rock. The band kicked things off with “Rave Down” before leaping into songs like “Setting Sun” and “Deep Seat.” The complexity of Swervedriver was evident as they transitioned between songs with sweeping speed and a reckless abandon like a honed child’s temper tantrum. Moments like “For a Day Like Tomorrow” allowed the crowd to bask in the sun-kissed guitar tones, while the band’s closer, “Duel,” reminded the audience just how heavy this band can get.
The hometown heroes, Nothing, swaggered onto the stage under the glare of trippy visuals and blasted into a meditative set for the Philadelphia crowd. After spending last year’s Slide Away celebrating the tenth anniversary of their Guilty of Everything LP, Palermo and company were free to bounce around Nothing’s discography, highlighting the band’s ability to craft stunning pop ballads and explosive, heavy shoegaze. The band’s The Great Dismal was shown a good amount of love, with the band pulling out tracks like “Bernie Sanders,” “April Ha Ha,” and “Famine Asylum.” Nothing has to be one of the most exciting bands to see live. With little to no hesitation, the band left the audience in a trance with a firework-style set that had Palermo’s vocals pouring over concrete slabs of neck-breaking drums and warping guitar feedback. Nothing went on to perform classics like “Bent Nail” and “Blue Line Baby,” giving their hometown audience a performance no one will forget.
For the first time in a decade, Nick Bassett’s Whirr performed a set that felt like they were getting ten years off their chest. While their first show of the year was at New York’s Slide Away, and they are set to headline Slide Away’s Los Angeles stop, they performed as if we may never hear from Whirr again. Following the release of their phenomenal Raw Blue LP, the band delved into the new material and drew on nostalgia to unearth some hits. The band opened up with the live debut of “Worries Bloom” from their most recent LP, along with performing the stand-out “Collect Sadness.” The band reached back to 2014’s Sway to perform cuts like “Heavy” and “Mumble.” The performance was a passionate, out-of-body experience that had the 3,000-capacity venue in utter awe. Bassett’s vocals sounded tremendous as they navigated the heaviness of songs like “Wavelength” and “Lines.” Bassett’s refreshingly sweet vocals sound heavenly in a live setting, elevating Whirr’s new material to even more ethereal heights.
Visually stunning and sonically enthralling, Slide Away is becoming one of the most exciting and rejuvenating festivals. The festival’s homecoming show was an astounding success as Nothing put together a lineup of the genre’s impactful and trailblazing bands who seamlessly fell into Slide Away’s unique mold. This year’s Slide Away miraculously surpassed last year’s incredibly special iteration with flying colors as they packed Franklin Music Hall with shoegaze fanatics who were treated to a collection of mesmerizing performances that amazed and inspired.
