Ice Cream Man

Free Yr Radio Philadelphia with The Secret Machines

Words by Ice Cream Man
Photos by CraSH

The Free Yr Radio concert series has been going on for a couple years now but the only ones I had been able to hit prior to Philadelphia were the two parties in Austin for SXSW. We drove a FYR Yaris around New York for CMJ last year but it was after the concert series had already wrapped up for the year. I’ve always been a big fan of Free Yr Radio because the main purpose is to raise funds and awareness for non-commercial radio stations. Hosting free shows… with free ice cream… AND helping local radio stations is a slam dunk in Ice Cream Land. For this event Toyota and Urban Outfitters donated a car to WPRB who was the (somewhat) local station they were partnering up with.

After rocking Virgin Festival in Baltimore, Crash and I headed north to Philly so I could reunite with Bessita who I hadn’t seen, or driven, in months. We had Newt too and she was loaded with cream so it was easy to sling all over the place then just restock from the mothership. The first stop was the Urban Outfitters Headquarters in the Naval Yard. After we gave away a few hundred creams our friend Dryw showed us around then we hung out in their cool coffee shop/newsstand before playing some whiffle ball in the parking lot.

The local radio station that was participating in FYR Philly was WPRB in Princeton, New Jersey. It was about 45 minutes north so we headed up there on Monday night with plans to stop by the radio station the following morn. There were only a few folks at the station so we headed over to Princeton Record Exchange, which was just off the main drag, and parked out front and give away some cream. It was a huge success and Crash got some amazing photos from out front.

Once we got back to Philadelphia we pulled up and parked Bessita right in front of the GOOD photo booth Yaris at Urban Outfitters. People instantly started checking out the Yaris and we were loaded with cream so it was ON! The Secret Machines weren’t starting for a li'l while so we chatted it up with a bunch of the locals and police officers. I could hear Secret Machines when they went on but wasn’t really close enough to feel their sonic goodness. Craig headed in to shoot some pics and I kept telling people about the free show that was going on upstairs. I also did my best to keep the local PD happy with a couple dozen creams too. I swear, everyone loves free ice cream.

Since we were leaving from the event to drive to Oregon, I was a bit anxious to wrap things up and get on the road. There’s something about leaving a place at 10:30 at night on a Tuesday and needing to be 3000 miles away on Friday that had me a bit worried. Bessita and Newt and Crash and I made it a couple hundred miles east that night then rested up for a handful of hours for getting back on the road west. Be sure to check out the upcoming Free Yr Radio events in Omaha and Salt Lake City.