Rachel Wynkoop | April 25, 2025
On April 21st, Ben Kweller made his 5th stop in his Cover the Mirrors tour at Underground Arts in Philly – what a way to spend a monday night.
Ben Kweller is an American singer-songwriter with a sound I find a little hard to place into a genre but I would best describe as indie rock. I first heard of Ben Kweller through his single “Dollar Store” where Waxahatchee (who I’ve been a fan of for a while) has featured vocals. I was blown away. The song felt familiar, like a song that used to play on the radio when you were young, but found again and really heard for the first time. I found out that the album featuring that single, and the reason for this tour, Cover the Mirrors, is the artist’s first album since the tragic passing of his son. The name itself reflects the content of the album with covering mirrors being part of the mourning process in Jewish culture. I’ve kept up with the singles he’s been releasing with features from The Flaming Lips and Coconut Records as well as slowly working my way through his prolific previous work as I impatiently wait for the album release (May 30th – his son’s birthday), and this performance only solidified my anticipation.
Ryman
The opener for this event was a singer-songwriter from Nashville, Ryman. I learned after his set while chatting with him by the merch table that it was his first time in Philly and that he unfortunately had gotten food poisoning the night before. Despite his misfortune, he was there with a positive attitude. Honestly, if he hadn’t mentioned it I would have had no idea, his performance was delightful. He brought a very personable presence to the performance which really backed how much emotion he put into his songs. The music was fun but it was also very honest. He’s freshly 21 and his songs feel like that, which for someone around the same age felt relatable. My favorite song he performed is one I have yet to be able to track down on Spotify so I suppose it’s not yet released, but his latest single “Lucy” was also a favorite of mine with a soulful melody that slowly builds, paralleling the story the lyrics that tell of the trouble of accepting you likely deserve more than what a relationship is offering you. Overall stellar start to the show.
Ben Kweller
Now I’ll be honest, I didn’t know what to expect going into this show – the new album dealt with some pretty heavy themes and it was a Monday night – but the crowd and Ben brought the energy. As soon as he stepped on stage the room electrified, people teeming with excitement. He started off the set solo on the keys with “Thirteen” which is a bit of a slower song but only played into building the anticipation of the rest of the show. That song also features a harmonica solo so it won me over instantly. He brought out the rest of the band he would perform within a smooth transition during the second song “Falling.” Everybody, both on stage and in the crowd, really felt like they were having the time of their lives and the energy was completely infectious. You could tell many of the people there had been fans for quite some time now and had a firm dedication. Now Underground Arts isn’t the largest venue with a capacity of 650 people, but it felt like every person in that room knew every lyric. Playing into that Ben led the group in a sort of three-part harmony for “Family Tree” and I’ll be honest the crowd sounded really good, as also noted by the bassist who happened to be Chris Mintz-Plasse (McLovin from Superbad, of whom I seem to have gotten no pictures of). The show alternated between songs with the band and solo performances and even when some of the heavier and slower songs were played the concert never felt like it was dragging or disconnected but rather took those moments and stride and quickly got right back to the excitement. He played the new singles, some requests from the crowd, and even an unreleased one off the new album. Intermixed with the incredible performance were little anecdotes –how the unreleased song was originally written with his son and what it was like finishing it after his death. The concert was rounded out with an encore of “Dollar Store” and one of my personal favorites “Wasted and Ready” (maybe not the most polite song, but it’s really fun and catchy). Overarchingly the concert felt like a testament to the themes covered in his upcoming album, a testament to a long-lived career and feeling your grief but not standing in it for too long, rather carrying it with you as you continue to move forward and live despite it all, relying on love to keep you moving.
