Two influential experimental rock bands headline festival — sort of

At just 19, Lucas Myers has booked more than 40 performances in Philadelphia in the past year alone, at both established music venues and DIY spots around the city. Last year he started Smilin’ Ambassador, an artist promotion and concert management company.

Though Myers has been organizing shows since he was 14, the festival he’s planned for this weekend may be the one he’s most excited about: a two-night event headlined by influential rock bands This Heat and Faust. Or at least sort of.

The first night is headlined by This is Not This Heat, which features the two surviving members of the innovative British band. The second is an iteration of the pioneering krautrock band Faust, featuring founding members Jean-Hervé Péron and Werner “Zappi” Diermaier.

Both bands got their start in the 1970s, developing eclectic, oftentimes abrasive styles (This is Not This Heat will have two drummers, and Faust will have a cement mixer) that were way ahead of their time. In the four decades since, entire genres —post-punk, post-rock, industrial — have bloomed, with countless bands citing these two as primary influences.

But even though the world is only now starting to catch up, this is hardly a victory lap. Both Faust and This Heat continue to follow their iconoclastic impulses as boldly as they ever have.

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