A&E

Concerts In Philly: A Teen’s Perspective

February 14, 2013 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Ryan Harris

Staff Writer

Philadelphia — known for it’s large amount of history and diversity, is also known for it’s multiple concert venues; with the many teens who frequent them.

Philadelphia is home to such concert venues as Union Transfer, World Café Live, The Blockley, and Philadelphia’s oldest: The Electric Factory.

“The diversity of genres and acts that the city brings in is incredible” stated Sophomore Dylan Long.

These venues have welcomed artists ranging all genres of music from hip-hop/rap, rock, metal, indie, jazz, folk, etc.

Even the same venue can host a wide range of musicians.

“I’ve rap and hip-hop concerts in the same venue I’ve seen bluegrass concerts.” said Senior Tucker Bartholomew.

The venues can range from smaller, for a more intimate vibe, to large stadium concerts for many big name solo musicians and bands.

“I love The Electric Factory, but The Northstar Bar is nice too because it’s a really intimate scene.” replied Senior Sasha Sapp.

But some people can feel differently.

“All the events get sold out in an hour since the venues are so small. There are huge venues but they are too huge.” stated Senior Marley Utzig.

Yet the fun almost always comes with a cost.

Tickets can cost anywhere from as low as eight dollars, for places like Kung Fu Necktie, or jump to as high as fifty dollars for places like The Electric Factory.

While some scrape together their ticket money from things like allowance, babysitting, and Christmas money; others are much more fortunate.

“I pay nothing, because someone buys them for me. But the prices aren’t too crazy, around thirty-forty bucks for the people that I want to see.” stated Sapp.

In addition to these multiple venues, other public spaces within Philadelphia have also been used as concert venues over the past few years.

The Ben Franklin Parkway has been the home of the annual 4th of July celebration hosted by Philadelphia’s own, The Roots and backed by artists like Hall & Oates and Jill Scott.

The celebration is one of Philly’s largest outdoor events, raking in nearly 500,000 each year and all for free.

Just last year, Philadelphia had the pleasure of housing the Made in America concert, hosted by Jay-Z himself.

Taking place in the Parkway as well, acts such as Pearl Jam, Drake, Kanye West, and even Run DMC played in a two-day concert all to an audience totalling around 80,000 people, from all over the country.

The concert only cemented the Philadelphia’s already large appreciation for live music, making it a “must-see” for many musicians as well and a great convenience for the citizens that love them.

“We have tons of awesome fans that make artists love coming to Philly.”

DJ Phaze Takes Over

February 12, 2013 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

By Jamie Murphy

Staff Writer

SLA has a big reputation for its dances. When we’re in need of a fundraiser and bake sales just aren’t enough, dances seem to be always the way to go. The most recent dance, held on Friday February 1st, was a fundraiser for the Liverpool Exchange program as well as the Junior Prom.

The previous DJ for the school was Alumnus Rashaun Williams (’12)–known as the famous DJ Reezy. Now there is a new DJ who is ready to take Rashaun’s place: Sophomore Adam Feliciano, otherwise known as DJ Phaze.

Feliciano promotes his events by making and putting up flyers.

“In order for me to meet up with the previous DJ’s standards, I’ve simply had to make my mark and make my name known,” he said.

Junior Lexy Babcock, who was working at the dance, liked what she saw.

“He looked like he really cared about everything he was doing while he was up there,” she said.

Another dance attendee, Junior Dalena Bui mentioned, “When the dance was over, Adam went up to almost everyone personally and thanked them for coming to the dance.”

But what is it that makes our dances so popular? – The music! DJ Phaze played hits including, “Gangnam Style” by Psy, “Cupid Shuffle” by Cupid, as well as a lot of Dubstep style music.

What is his key to success? –

“Always staying up to date with the hottest songs in the market,” he told SLAMedia.

Locker Talk: Alumni homecoming, How did SLA help prepare you for college?

January 29, 2013 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

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Alumnus, T.j. Nicolella attending Temple University: I think the benchmarks prepared me for school, they teach you how to get organized.

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Alumnus, Josh Martin Corrales attending Temple University: "Projects at SLA are like homework, and more difficult than finals."

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Alumna, Maxime Damis attending Drexel University: "SLA prepared me for a lot of the group projects Drexel gives me, I really learned collaborative skills from SLA that help me every day."

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Alumni, Mike Dea attending UPenn: "I feel like SLA taught me how to learn and how to retain knowledge." Emma Hersh attending The New School: "I've been better at writing papers and I know how to participate in discussions."

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Alumna, Marcia Johnson attending elizabethtown college: "There is a lot of free time in college and at SLA, but because of SLA I already knew how to manage my time. Also, nobody knows how to do a reflection in college."

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Alumna, Marina Stuart attending Connecticut College: "I was very well prepared for the two presentations I had to do in college and I know how to write papers well because of SLA."

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Almuna, Rita Willer attending: Wilks "Sla taught me how to work with people in large and small groups."

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On December 21, 2012 many of SLA’s alumni graduates came back for their Alumn Reunion. They were asked the Question “How did SLA help prepare you for college?”:

By Isabela Supovitz-Aznar

Jovan Lewis Show Preps for Premiere

January 18, 2013 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

By Abe Musselman

Staff Writer

Junior Jovan Lewis is hard to miss. At six feet, four inches, he’s the kind of guy who has to duck to avoid low doorways. Jovan is a model student and can often be seen hanging out in the SLA library, but most people don’t know that he also has a deep love of comedy and sees it as the most important thing he has to offer.

Screen Shot 2013-01-18 at 11.25.45 AM — Host Jovan Lewis

“I’ll tell people jokes to make them laugh when they’re feeling upset,” he said with a smile during our interview.

Jovan just likes to cheer people up with a little laughter, which is exactly what he hopes to do with his newest project, The Jovan Lewis Show. He describes the program as a comedy talk show that is part reality, part fantasy.

Along with his co-creator and cameraman Pierce Meier, Jovan has a unique vision for his new show. “It’s not going to be super-professional. Most of the comedy will be improv.” He added, “I seem the funniest when I’m not actually trying to be funny.”

The show will feature guests from SLA who will interact with the cast, some of whom play fictional versions of themselves. Other members of the show will include characters that Jovan dreamed up with his production crew, including an obnoxious stagehand and a racially insensitive high school student.

The creators plan to tape a live showing every other week using the video production equipment from Mr. Herman’s Digital Video class, then release the recording the following Friday. Each episode of the show will then be edited using FinalCut and posted online in the tradition of other student projects such as Senior Stephen Holts’s The High School Office and Senior Dylan Cordivari’s Dylan’s Dumpster.

Jovan has high hopes that his show will become a success among SLA students, and that he will be able to continue during his senior year. He dreams of becoming a filmmaker after high school, and sees this project as a chance to learn the basics and sharpen his skills before college.

More than anything, Jovan just wants to have fun doing something that he enjoys. He’s not giving too much away for now, but you can catch the first live performance this Friday January 17th in the Drama Studio after school.

With its unique blend of strange characters and relevant discussion topics, The Jovan Lewis Show is giving SLA students one more reason to pay attention to one of our most unique personalities.

Do musicals annoy you?

January 10, 2013 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Staff Writer

Sara Nesbitt

After just two weeks in theaters, the movie version of Les Misérables has brought in over $71 million in ticket sales, and was nominated for four Golden Globes.

This is the first movie version of “Les Mis” — it is based on the original play that appeared on broadway in 1987, which in turn is based on the book of the same name by Victor Hugo. Because the story has been around for a while, the movie’s audience has a large spectrum of people aged from teens to adults — including plenty of students at SLA.

So why do people think this recent musical is so good?

Maybe Hugh Jackman’s good deed adopting a child? Or the love triangle between Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne and Samantha Barks?

Sophomore Leah Kelly was a big fan of the movie. “I enjoyed it so much, I would definitely say it was the best movie of 2012,” she said. “I thought that all of the actors were spectacular, especially Anne Hathaway. She was so emotionally into her character.”

Sophomore Nomi Martin-Brouilett had also seen the play.

“I thought that the movie did the play justice,” she said. “The actors were all perfect! I was expecting the movie to ruin it, like books usually are ruined by movies, but I thought it did a great job!”

Not everyone is into the whole musical aspect of the movie, however.

Junior Abou Hinson went to the movies wanting to see anything but Les Mis. Since there was nothing in theaters to his liking, he decided to give it a try. After the first few minutes, Hinson walked out and asked for his ticket to be refunded.

“I went in when the girl was getting her teeth ripped out.” he said. “Within two minutes of being in there, I fell asleep. That movie was ridiculous.”

Junior Jake Lotkowski also wasn’t a big fan of the movie. “Once I heard it was a musical, it made me not want to see it even more.”

Musicals always get mixed reviews, purely because they involve singing actors. Whether it’s Le Mis, Hairspray, or Sparkle, good luck to all of the musicals out there.