Rain delayed each nights of the Make the World Higher’s profit live performance weekend, however the crowd didn’t care. They laid blankets on the still-wet floor, took off their footwear and squelched by way of two nights of music — singing, dancing and cheering.
The live performance weekend noticed six artists take over FDR Park, bringing music again to the park for the primary time for the reason that Lollapalooza music pageant 31 years in the past. Lucy Dacus and Remi Wolf headlined Friday’s and Sunday’s live shows, respectively.
The unofficial headliner was former Eagles linebacker Connor Barwin. He’s the co-founder of the Make the World Higher charity, which organized the live performance weekend. The charity’s principal mission is to revitalize dilapidated neighborhood parks in Philadelphia, and earnings from the live performance will go in direction of its newest challenge, Hart Park in South Kensington.
The live shows
Each nights noticed delays on account of climate, with Sunday’s opening being pushed again an hour and a half on account of heavy rain and Friday’s occasion needing a brief evacuation on account of thunderstorms, which induced a two-hour delay.
Perhaps that’s what gave each nights a sure electrical energy. The group was music-hungry after the delays. “I’m OK to get rained on to see these individuals,” Rowe Schepps stated.
Schepps, a Temple scholar, attended the Sunday live performance and was certainly amongst those that acquired rained on as they stood in a line that snaked a half-mile down Broad Avenue simply to get to the official, gated line of the live performance. It then stretched one other half-mile to the precise venue.
Inside, there have been a dozen tents, distributors and meals vans, together with James Beard nominated Tabachoy, catered to the soggy crowd. The jovial environment of collective dampness saved the power excessive as opening acts Magdelena Bay and Hop Alongside (a Philadelphia group) took the stage on their respective nights.
For many, together with Schepps, the music was the primary draw. Schepps knew it was a profit live performance, however was unaware of who the benefactor was.
This modified as Barwin took the stage each nights earlier than the headliner, explaining a bit in regards to the Make the World Higher group and what it does.
Subsequent, a video was performed that went into element in regards to the tasks. The group cheered because the video ticked by way of the group’s tasks, together with an replace of the Waterloo Playground and rebuilding the Vare Recreation Middle.
After the video, Barwin concluded as any good Philadelphian ought to, shouting, “Go Birds!” The group returned the gesture and gave an E-A-G-L-E-S chant for good measure.
The group then turned that power in direction of the headliners, cheering as they entered the stage on their respective nights. Each artists had a pair thousand individuals surge towards the fences in entrance of the stage.
Barwin’s philanthropic flip
Barwin traces the impetus for this weekend’s live performance to a bikeride to the Eagles’ apply facility on the NovaCare Advanced.
“I used to trip by Ralph Brooks Park, which was this small park with a basketball courtroom and a playground. And it was fairly rundown, however there have been at all times children there taking part in,” Barwin stated.
The children’ presence there impressed Barwin to undertake what was imagined to be a comparatively small transformation of the park, however the challenge saved increasing.
“It became a two-year challenge of attending to know all people within the neighborhood and speaking to them about what they needed to see occur in a park,” he stated.
This helped kickstart the full-blown charity, which later merged with Jeffrey Tubbs’ nonprofit, City Roots. Make the World Higher has revitalized 4 parks and is presently engaged on Hart Park and planning a future challenge for 2026. The entire tasks emphasize listening to the neighborhood whereas planning.
The founders “by no means needed to come back in and simply fill the playground and sort of do it nevertheless they needed to and go away,” stated Jesse Rendell, the charity’s govt director of three years. “It was at all times about attempting to grasp what the neighborhood is about and ensure the tasks are reflective of the communities.”
“We all know that these tasks aren’t profitable except you associate with individuals on them. Most significantly, associate with the folks that use the parks,” Barwin stated. “They understand how they wish to use it once they’re going to make use of it. So we attempt to lean in and use their experience to try this.”
Barwin’s dedication to Philadelphia and its neighborhood would possibly come as a little bit of shock in case you regarded on the tattoo on his bicep, which reveals Detroit’s skyline, not Philadelphia’s. He additionally began his skilled soccer profession in Houston and performed extra just lately in New York and Los Angeles.
However the 4 seasons with the Eagles, from 2013 to 2016, had been particular. The stint included his greatest 12 months as a participant, 2014, when he recorded 14.5 sacks and earned an invite to the Professional Bowl, the NFL’s all-star sport. And he discovered a house.
“Me and my spouse and my household, we fell in love with Philly,” Barwin stated. So he’s dedicated his time and power to bettering town, bringing pleasure to as many individuals as he can, by way of music, sports activities and parks.