Written and Photographed by: Max Bennett
This summer, Philadelphia’s premier public radio station, WXPN, challenged local musicians to write a song in 24 hours. While Khalil Amaru was named the grand prize winner, earning himself a spot on stage at this year’s XPoNential Music Festival, three other artists were named finalists out of the several hundred submissions.
Those artists are Yuneer Gainz, Mackenzie Johnson, and Best Bear, all of whom performed short but sweet sets Thursday night at World Cafe Live for WXPN’s Homegrown Live! show.
The free gig took place in WCL’s upstairs venue, The Lounge, and for a Thursday night show, the crowd was sizeable.
The fun kicked off with Yuneer Gainz, who was joined on stage by guitarist Sam Mandell and Andrew Miller on Keys. Offstage was Tyrell “Ace” Clark, working beats and vocal effect detail.
First was a heavy-hitting track featuring thumping bass and deep peels of a church bell. Yuneer Gainz showed off his skills both in rapping and singing in his first song. The chorus was overlaid with backing vocals, but Gainz’s shined when it was just him on the mic.
Best Bear
That became even more evident throughout his set, which featured his 24-hour song, “Grown Man Tears.” The track’s production is minimal, with just guitar and keys, no drums. He told the audience he recorded the song in just one take, a truly impressive feat.
Gainz later in the set performed his latest release, “Flight,” a song he dedicated to a late friend. This song was a more traditional hip-hop track in which Gainz showed off his ability to spit lyrics quickly.
He went on to play an unreleased track titled “Back Home in Bethlehem,” a song he wrote about visiting his brother in rural Pennsylvania. When Mandell began to play the song’s chords, Gainz was surprised at the key, noting it was different from what was laid down on the record. But Gainz found the key and nailed the vocal performance, and Mandell laid down a slick solo, continuing the motif of peppering crafty guitar licks, riffs, and solos throughout the set.
The last song was another new track and featured a lyric about the galaxy, which was fitting as Mandell and Miller’s guitar and keys were drenched in dreamy effects, complementing the lyrical content.
And it should be mentioned that Gainz told me after his set that Thursday was his first time performing live.
Up next was Johnson.
From the jump, her vocal control was on full display, and I immediately thought she could easily fit on a bill with acts like Phoebe Bridgers, Muna, or Taylor Swift.
Johnson was alone on stage with her guitar. She told the crowd her first open mic experience was at World Cafe Live, which made her set feel serendipitous.
Johnson’s song “The Sisterhood” highlighted her penchant for all things “witchy.” Leading with an eerily finger-picked minor chord riff, the song included word suggestions offered to her by fans, and Johnson put them to good use, evoking supernatural and dark vibes. We were all welcomed into her coven.
Then came a cover, featuring Blue Barnett of Best Bear. They gave the crowd a beautiful rendition of “Dreams” by The Cranberries. The two best friends delivered wildly good vocal harmonies on the classic 90s hit.
Johnson moved on to “Straight to Hell,” which she said will be her next single to release. She taught the audience a singalong section of the track’s chorus, and during the song, the audience participation aspect didn’t quite hit as hard as she surely would have liked. However, the song’s lyrics are relatable to many people: being with someone who just isn’t right for you but still pursuing that relationship. “Straight to Hell” made me think of Taylor Swift a bit, as the pop superstar often waxes poetic about her love life, and the song’s structure felt comforting like a good T-Swift song.
She closed out with “Sunburn,” her contest-winning song. While the song was written in summer, it was about the end of summer. More appropriately, it was about losing summer. “Sunburn” is a breakup song. Johnson performed the song live for the first time Thursday, and given its 24-hour turnaround, she showed true artistry in the composition and performance.
Best Bear finished the show.
The four-piece indie rockers started their set with “Apathy.” The song starts slow, with only Barnett on guitar and vocals. It builds up and includes some tasteful lead guitar work from Gwen McFadden.
Drummer Charles D’Ardenne and McFadden joined Barnett vocally on a few tracks, providing backup singing to make the band sound even more rounded out.
Best Bear’s contest-winning track was “Fireworks,” and it was recorded solo by Barnett. But Thursday, the band played a fully expanded version. The song reminded me of another band; maybe it was Soccer Mommy’s “Circle the Drain?” Either way, it was a great song that had a catchy riff and had the crowd’s heads bobbing along with the brainworm-y vocal lines.
Johnson then joined the band for a song Best Bear dropped that very day, “The Fall.” The song is reminiscent of unavoidable 90s alt-rock that many of us millennials grew up with.
Best Bear then came in with the track “Eleventh Grade.” Barnett’s lyrics tell the story about their coming out and serve as an anthem for anyone in the LGBTQIA+ community. The band seemed to put their hearts in this particular song, given its message of “do whatever’s going to make you happy.” And McFadden again delivered lead guitar work that shined, but not so bright to outdo the rest of the band.
They went on to play “When,” the title track from their 2022 album. I hadn’t looked around the venue in a bit, and I was disappointed to see many people left by this point. I get it was a school night and a free show, but Best Bear was killing it on stage.
I couldn’t tell you what the closing song was, but it was more rock than indie. The band kicked it into overdrive to bring an end to the night that celebrated local artists so well. It was fast and had a driving force thanks to bassists Storm Paul and D’Ardenne holding down the rhythm section.
Yuneer Gainz
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Mackenzie Johnson
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Best Bear
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