Barstool Sports

Philly.com – The Roots will help celebrate our nation’s roots on the Fourth of July as the house band for the Philly 4th of July Jam at Eakins Oval on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Mayor Nutter announced on Thursday. “The Philly 4th of July Jam is the grand finale of our Wawa Welcome America! festival and the largest free concert in the United States,” said Nutter. ““This year, it will be nothing short of spectacular.” The show is the brainchild of Welcome America! musical director Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson, who has invited an array of headliners, including Pottstown native, singer and star of web reality show Live From Daryl’s House, Daryl Hall and superstahs Queen Latifah, Common, and Joe Jonas. “We are very excited to be back again as the headlining band for the Philly Fourth of July Jam. It is an amazing event and we are proud to be an integral part of the show,” ?uestlove said. “You can expect an Independence Day celebration full of music right on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway — Philly is the place to be for the 4th of July.”

I don’t know how many times I have to hear someone tell me how Philly is going to be “THE Spot” for July 4th before I finally snap. We’ve been trying to be “THE Spot” for the Fourth of July for as long as I can remember. Look, I love The Roots. I do. But having The Roots, Queen Latifa, and half of Hall & Oates isn’t ever going to make our city THE Fourth of July destination city. EVER. It takes fireworks.

Stop bullshitting, get us world-class fireworks, and you’ll get a world-class turnout in the city for July 4th. It’s that simple. Pisses me off when less patriotic cities like New York and cities that don’t even have a state like D.C. have better fireworks than we do. Umm, I’m pretty sure Philadelphia is where America started. I’m pretty sure this is where the greatest document in the history of political legislation was signed. So I’m pretty sure we can do a better job of getting the fireworks necessary to be the best Fourth of July city in the country.

Common and Joe Jonas? We can’t even get the other Jonas Brothers to show? I didn’t even think they were famous anymore. C’mon, Philly. C’mon, Nutter. Step it up.

And tell Wawa to break off some free hoagies.