Leo Kottke is quite the character. During his recent show at The Birchmere, the acoustic guitar virtuoso’s stage banter went all over the place — at one point, he somehow got to talking about aardvarks. (Perhaps anteaters would have made more sense.) And yet, somehow, it worked, making for an entertaining evening of originals, covers, and instrumentals.
JJ Grey & Mofro’s fans in the DMV had been waiting a while to see the northern Florida roots-rock band. “It’s been a minute since we played DC,” he recently said at The Fillmore Silver Spring. “This is the longest we’ve been out,” JJ said of their current tour.
The longer tour swing, JJ explained, was necessary to do the show he wanted to do, with a horn section and chorus of backup singers. “We normally do this at home,” he said, referencing Jacksonville, where nearly all of his band came from. He alluded to people talking about “JJ Grey 2.0”, but said, “This is the way it’s always been, since 2007.”
The Howard Theater was the recent site of a concert experience unlike anything I have ever experienced before. It was the musical equivalent of a nuclear bomb.
There are not many bands that can claim that kind of description; however, Swans is one of them. They opened the American leg of their tour to support the latest album, The Beggar, in DC.
The recent 69 Eyes concert at the Tally Ho Theater in Leesburg, Virginia, was a dark and electrifying experience. The Finnish gothic rock band brought their signature blend of melancholic melodies, haunting lyrics, and powerful stage presence to the forefront, captivating everyone in attendance.
The mighty Adam Ant is crossing America on his 2024 Antmusic Tour, where he is performing a big set of his greatest hits! He’s on his way to the 2024 Cruel World Festival, where he will end his tour in Los Angeles on May 11.
On his way there, Adam recently visited the Warner Theatre in DC for a career-spanning selection of 20 amazing songs. Adding to the excitement, Adam enlisted fellow Englishman Dave Wakeling and his latest iteration of The English Beat (via California) to open the show! The resulting evening was an old-school new waver’s dream.
Artists who enjoy their lives together on the road, on the stage and away from it as romantic partners can forge a dynamic that is a pleasure for fans to behold in the live setting.
Shovels & Rope is one of the better-known song-writing couples out there today — Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent have officially been a duo since 2008, and in that time they’ve won awards and enamored fans of folk and alternative country with a long list of heart-wrenching tunes that can only come from two people who fell madly in love through music.
Earlier this month, Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors teamed up with their Spring headline tour opener and Juno Award winning Canadian artist Donovan Woods for a new single, “For Some Reason.” The song was among the new tunes that the band played when it recently visited 9:30 Club!
Steve Satzberg was there to photograph the show.
After a (too) long absence, Kris Delmhorst returns to the Pacific Northwest for dates in Portland (April 25) and Seattle (April 27), wrapping up at Bellingham’s New Prospect Theatre on Sunday, April 28.
Heilung perform their ritual live at DAR Constitution Hall on Wednesday, April 17! And opener Eivør adds to the potent elixir of this unique live performance.
Indie rockers Smallpools drooped a new EP, Ghost Town Road (east), this month, and they embarked on The Night Shift Tour, coheadlining with Philadelphia pop-punks Grayscale, to showcase a few of its songs.
The higlights of the band’s recent performance at 9:30 Club, however, were their kinetic showmanship and a high-concept theme that likened the show to listening to late-night adult contemporary radio.
