KT Tunstall and Shawn Colvin opened their joint performance at the Barns at Wolf Trap Friday with a cover of the Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer.” It was an inspired choice, showing their range; while both have roots in the folk world, they easily move into pop and rock territory. They are unique, colorful characters who embrace a wide range of musical styles and influences.
Soulful powerhouses Tamia and Joe made a stop on their joint tour in Baltimore. The Lyric Theater recently welcomed the duo with open arms as they performed before a sold-out crowd.
This stop marked the beginning of the highly anticipated and requested second leg of the tour.
There was a certain irony in Richard Thompson beginning his performance at The Barns at Wolf Trap recently with “When The Spell Is Broken.” With that first song, the spell was cast, and it began a magical evening of wonderful, dazzling guitar playing, and remarkable singing.
Bad Bunny recently descended upon DC for his highly anticipated Most Wanted Tour, and the sold-out crowd was in for an unforgettable experience. Fresh off the success of his latest album, Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar, fans packed the venue, decked out in cowboy gear to show their support for the Puerto Rican sensation.
Before Bad Bunny even took the stage, his orchestra set the tone with a symphonic intro of some of his biggest hits. It was a tantalizing taste of what was to come, and the audience was buzzing with excitement.
It’s a rare treat to have the chance to not only have a chance to see a musical legend, but to see them in a living room — completely electric and with a full band — is on another level. And that’s just how it felt from the first song Austin-based artist Alejandro Escovedo and his band played at Baltimore’s Club 603.
For the uninitiated, Club 603 is Baltimore’s best-kept secret. The house of Scott and Jean Vieth have been host to 156 (as of Tuesday night) shows that have seen artists like Jesse Malin, Craig Finn, Mark Eitzel, and so many more play there and then return. In fact, Alejandro has played in their living room at least three times that I can remember.
A chair in the corner. No fancy lights, and no high-tech sound system. Just a person with a guitar and a couple dozen onlookers.
Live music in Washington DC, or anywhere for that matter, can’t get much more relaxed. That’s as Jeffrey Martin prefers it. And it’s how his delicate and haunting songs might be best enjoyed.
Adam, Jack, and Ryan Met, better known as AJR, may have released their debut album in 2015, but their musical journey started much earlier than that. The music they created when they were kids became a lifelong obsession. As Jack told the crowd this week at CFG Bank Arena, even in Maryland their popularity has grown from playing to a handful of people at The Fillmore Silver Spring, to packed shows at the Baltimore Soundstage.
And now they are headlining their first arena tour, The Maybe Man Tour, with the Baltimore stop only the fourth arena show so far. For these brothers, it’s a continuing journey onward and upward.
Recently at Jammin’ Java, an image of the face of the late Dallas Good looked out from behind the highly-esteemed Canadian country-rock The Sadies. Dallas, who along with his brother Travis, had been with the unit since its founding in 1994, passed away in 2022 at the age of 48, just after The Sadies released their latest album, Colder Streams. Travis told the audience they were dedicating this show — and all their shows — to Dallas’s memory.
Colder Streams, which won Canada’s Juno Award for best alternative album, may be the Sadies’ finest work, and that’s saying a lot. The band has a large, diverse, and eclectic body of work, including collaborations with Neko Case (she sang on their early albums, and they toured with her and serve as her band on the live album The Tigers Have Spoken), a set of classic country covers with John Doe of X, two albums with the late R&B giant Andre Williams, and a 2014 record with Canadian legend Gord Downie of The Tragically Hip.
Five years without a visit to Baltimore is too many for any band that understands the place and its insatiable craving for live music.
It had been that long since Ratboys made their way to the Charm City, but the Chicago-based indie rock outfit made up for it recently with a sold-out, blasting performance at Ottobar — a venue perfectly suited to the cutting-edge sounds that this four-piece group has sharpened since forming back in 2010.
It’s not Dan Bejar’s fault by any means, but I will forever associate Destroyer with COVID-19. My first-ever Destroyer show was March 9, 2020. Before the show, while I was waiting in line, a friend walked by and he told me he was just getting over the worst case of flu he ever had. This was also the day Rudy Gilbert touched all the mics at his press conference, likely causing him to test positive two days later, shutting down the NBA and soon the country.
