The Philadelphia Grand Jury made a grand return last week to Pianos on the Lower East Side in Manhattan and put on a fantastic show! The Syndicate was on hand to welcome the band as they played the first in a small string of US dates the band was on before headed to their native Australia for a full blown tour in support of their latest album Hope Is For Hopers.

The band opened with their album’s single “The Good News,” as they brought the room to a fever pitch, ripping through perfectly crafted rock songs with big and catchy choruses. Stopping only to tune their guitars or to fire off a pre-recorded spazz out by the band’s frontman Berkfinger. At the end of the night, the band wrapped their set of original tunes and just for good measure brought things to a crashing close with a rendition of Jay-Z’s “99 Problems” for good measure. Complete with voice-throwing foot pedals, instrument trade-offs, and at least one epic drum solo, The Philly Jays truly captured the audience’s attention while reminding us of the importance in having a good time.

The funniest part of the night was when Karen realized lead singer Berkfinger bears a striking resemblance to yours truly and we have the picture to prove it!

The next day we arranged for the band to make a visit to the studios of Goom Radio down the street from The Syndicate offices. Check it out here.

The band just completed their US stint in LA on Tuesday, then it’s back to Australia before hitting up Africa and the United Kingdom!