Friko and Peel Dream Magazine Live in Philly

It was a beautiful spring day yesterday. Chicago based art rockers Friko and LA dream- pop rockers Peel Dream Magazine played energetic sets at the foundry, the smaller venue inside the Fillmore, in Philadelphia. Peel Dream Magazine opened up the show. The majority of the set was from their 2024 album ‘Rose Main Reading Room’. The soft song ‘Four Leaf Clover’ was a highlight. They played as a four piece, including a keyboard player who did vocals as well, drummer, guitarist and bassist. Joe Stevens fronts the band, and they dropped their most recent album on Topshelf Records. They’ve been active as a band since 2019.

After Peel Dream Magazine finished up, Friko took the stage. Niko Kapetan (guitar and vocals) and Bailey Minzenberger (drums) make up this Chicago duo, although they played live as a four piece with another guitarist and a bass player. They released an album in February of 2024 called ‘Where We’ve Been, Where We Go From Here’ on ATO Records. Niko and the other guitarist’s playing was electrifying and energetic, as they played a few new songs including one called ‘Hot Air Balloon’ and another named ‘Dirty Diamond’. The rest of the set was mainly songs from aforementioned record and ‘Cardinal’ and ‘Get Numb To It’ were standouts. The crowd was smaller, it wasn’t sold out, but the audience was respectful and engaged with the music. They didn’t do an encore, instead Niko said they had two songs left. The final song ‘Dear Bicycle’, another new song, was lovely and Niko switched from guitar to play piano on it. Glad to be able to catch Friko and Peel Dream Magazine, Friko’s album was a favorite for me last year and it was awesome to finally see it live.

Photos by Jay Leiby

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