Tommy Newport at The Foundry
Opening for Lime Cordiale in the first U.S. leg of their Facts of Life world tour
July 7, 2022
The Foundry and the Fillmore share a building. I recognized this on the map, but I still managed to walk through the wrong line and into the Fillmore. My ticket didn’t scan though, and a security guard re-directed me on my proper way to the Foundry — the concert hall next door with a smaller stage, and usually a younger crowd.
I get pat down again, scan my ticket, and run up the stairs to a growing sound of electric guitar and that definitive bright piano. I’m late (parking is noxious in Philly) but Tommy Newport is here and the room is lit up.
The Venue
Tommy Newport, whose real name is Oliver Milmine, beams under a spotlight of bright pink lighting. His bandmates stand playing under their own chromatic colored lights. Pink, blue, green, they remind me of the Powerpuff Girls. Aesthetically, the show was a spectacle. Musically, it was out of this world.
I take a second to scan the room since I’ve never been to the Foundry before. The stage area is more intimate, and there’s something theatrical about the velvet curtain that curves the wall behind it. The space itself is otherwise rustic. Of course, since this is Philadelphia there’s an exposed brick wall stamped with the Foundry’s logo. Separating the concert part of the hall from the social side of it is a large, rectangular bar serving tall Bud Lights and petite vodka sodas. You can comfortably lean against it and watch the show go on only 20 ft away from you. I spot the disco ball hanging above the crowd and wonder whether we’ll see it spinning tonight (spoiler alert: tragically no).
It’s worth noting that the sound system was top notch. The music wasn’t abrasive to my ears, and the instruments were each perceivable in the musical blend that played out. Quality speakers should not go unappreciated.
The Show
I immerse in with the crowd, which is starting to wake up. It wouldn’t be hard to get closer to the stage, but I decide to stay back a little bit. While the dance floor isn’t vast, the crowd is gracious with space. Maybe because we’re still adjusting to a few years’ worth of social distancing. I post up in the center left of the floor.
This was the first night of Tommy Newport’s tour, and the first U.S. leg of Lime Cordiale’s world tour. From where I’m standing, I can take in the excitement of both the band and the crowd.
A few couples are swaying. As the beat picks up, hands start to rise. Tommy Newport tells us to make some movement! A group of boys who were standing in front of me make their way to the very front and center stage. I wonder if they’re going to start a mosh pit. The boys start jumping and soon, the rest of the crowd melts into the music.
Tommy Newport’s discography could be the soundtrack to a coming-of-age movie for a kid in space. With songs like Future Man, Oliver channels an explorer of some kind living in 2083. When I first listened to it, I thought the chorus admitted he “don’t know who I am.” But maybe it’s a story of projected confidence. The chorus actually boasts “I’m a future Man / and I roam this land / Cause I’m a future Man / and I know who I am.”
The tone of the song is optimistic — the beat is a bop. It appealed to one of the most creative companies in the world, which made Future Man the featured song in an iPad commercial. A melody of synths underlays Oliver, who swoons in and out of falsetto. You want to sing along to a song like Future Man, or Movie Screen, or anything else from Tommy Newport’s debut EP Tommy Gun. And a lot of people are joining in now.
Spotlights continue to beam down onto the stage like a UFO disco. After the show, I told Oliver I admired everything about his style tonight. He wore orange sunglasses and a cropped suede jacket with fringe across the chest, which he thrifted just before the start of tour. Maybe he snagged it somewhere in his Kansas hometown. The colors of the equipment also stood out to me. A bright green microphone, an orange guitar, and a cream-colored bass player who wore a Michael Cera-esque Juno fit with matching gym socks and all. Like I said, the show was an aesthetic pleasure to watch.
When the band played Tommy Newport’s most recent release, Tongue & Cheek, everyone was shaking some part of their bodies. At least your heart was jumping with the electric guitar solo that played the song out. Together, the dream pop band fortified into something more like rock.
Live renditions of Tommy Newport’s songs transformed them into anthems. The performance was invigorated with a clashing of drums, electric guitar, musical synths, and Oliver belting with an energy that transcended his record tracks. You knew that the band rocked it because we all felt triumphant by the end. What a way to kick things off.
Oliver Milmine will be traveling with Tommy Newport and Lime Cordiale for the rest of this week. He’ll join for two more nights in Canada before a show in Chicago and a grand finale in Denver, Colorado.
I think we’ll see him in the future.
