Philly's Electric Factory

After the sheer awesomeness of Wilco in Bethesda last week, my partner and I made the decision to catch Wilco at the Electric Factory in Philly this Saturday.

If anyone has been to the venue before, can you give any advice?  Is there a balcony that affords a great view from the railing like at the 9:30 club? 

From pictures it looks like the balcony is sort of stuffed in a corner or something.  If the balcony is not well placed, we'll probably just try to get as close to Nels Cline as possible on the floor.

Also, can anyone recommend a great place for brunch in the downtown Philly area on Sunday?  Also, if anyone has any general Philly recommendations, please let me know.  I'm not familiar with Philly at all?

Thanks!

Electric Factory is pretty god damn big, there is a balcony in the back, like 930, and then off to the right. I was only down on the floor and I went to see Gogol Bordello so my experience might be different. Every punk assholes in Philthy was out that night too, I dug the venue but hated the crowd. And I hate that god damn city. Their sign has Ben Franklin on it though, so that's cool. Get a cheesteak from Chino's. Or at least that's what I think it was called…

I'm also interested in these responses, since I am seeing the National there this summer (instead of the DAR gig)

I caught DCFC there a couple of years ago and really loved the place.  The sound was excellent, the floor/stage set up allowed easy viewing, and was otherwise a good venue.  My only complaint, if I am remembering correctly, was that you had to buy/drink booze upstairs, and the floor area was "all ages" in this regard.  I wasnt drinking, since i had to drive back to MD, but it did strike me as a possible annoyance. 

I went a number of years back, and was on the floor.  Interesting setup re: over 21 section.  The middle of the floor was all ages, but if you were 21 or over, you could flash an ID and get into a roped off section stage left that was the full length of the floor.  This was for Keane/Zutons/Redwalls, though, so not sure if for rowdier shows they'd have that kind of a setup. 

One of my least favorite Philly venues. It's kind of big…really crowded shows can be MISERABLE. Get there early, stake out a good spot, you'll be fine. But it's pretty cavernous. It'll be an OK venue. Good luck.

Much bigger than 9:00 - a big warehouse.  Been there plenty and never had any sound issues.  The bar and balcony area upstairs is fairly big but horribly over-packed for sold-out shows.  If you're drinking, your best best is to buy your drink at the super-stacked bar upstairs and then scoot downstairs to the always-less-crowded-and-closer-to-the-stage downstairs bar area, although make sure you use the middle staircase to do this, near the restrooms (not the staircase you come up on), as they won't let you carry beers into the general admission area. I don't know what you have in mind for eats but its about 5-6 blocks from Chinatown (Trocadero) and there is tons there.

It's a good venue for seeing a show as there is a lot of room on the main floor.  The upstairs area is always too crowded and, like 930 or Rams Head, if you aren't on the rail you can't see anything.  At least there are seats upstairs if you get there early.

Only time I've had a cabbie get lost was when I took one to the Electric Factory from maybe a mile away.  And the a-hole had the audacity to start an argument with another cabbie after he started the meter on us.  >:(

Thanks y'all for your replies.  Really looking forward to Wilco this weekend in Philly.

One question about the balcony at the Electric Factory, is it only in the back of the floor or is it also along the sides? 

I'm wondering if trying for the balcony railing might be the best spot for the show.  That's usually what I go for at the 9:30. 

The energy of the floor is great, but I love the security of knowing that some big dork who will end up screwing with their iphone the whole show isn't going to butt in front of me at the last minute.

The stairs are near the back where you enter, the rail is on the right side of the floor.

place is huge - capacity is like 3,000 i think.  definitely get there early if you want rail on the balcony.