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Poll: What Are the Best Bands, Festivals, and Venues in the DC Area for 2023?

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Parklifer
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Rock Band

Welcome to the 2023 Thrushie Awards!

Parklife DC will name the best local band, music festival, and venue of the year with your input. Write-in candidates are welcome in all categories. Parklife DC will honor DC bands and venues with our annual Thrushie Awards program, named for our mascot, DC’s own state bird — the Wood Thrush.

A best local DC band must perform in the continuum of indie rock clubs that we cover around the metro area, and they must have released new music in the past year.

The Thrushie Awards are open to DC-area music festivals. These festivals are in the National Capital Region, and often they occur annually.

The Thrushie Awards are open to DC-area music venues that host touring bands. These venues must be occupied by its owner-operator and not a “for-rent” concert hall operated by an independent agent.

Learn more about each nominee by clicking on their name in keywords.

As always, our Thrushie Awards are inspired by our mission to review live music concerts and spotlight bands and concert halls covered by Parklife DC. Voting for Thrushies runs through Friday, Dec. 15, at midnight, and you get to vote for your favorite DC band.

Live Review: Neal Francis @ The Atlantis — 12/7/23

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Casey Vock
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Neal Francis @ The Atlantis Washington DC 12.07.23 35mm Film Photo by Casey Ryan Vock
Neal Francis and his band perform at The Atlantis in DC on Dec. 7, 2023. (35mm Film Photo by Casey Ryan Vock)

It’s well known that serving up the funk and soul is not an easy business. It takes a dedicated, energetic, and visionary artist to be the spark and to consistently move people to music.

But Neal Francis must be built for it. One of the most exhilarating forces on tour and recording albums these days, Francis’ sound and style are from another time but intentionally tuned for today’s listener, who in many cases needs to be coaxed to let loose at a live show.

Last week at The Atlantis in Washington DC, attendees were more than willing to let Francis and his red-hot band lure them into the groove, and the Chicago-based quartet blew the roof off the new two-floor venue with a scorching set that pulled from the songs he’s been crafting since going solo back in 2019.

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Live Review: Emmylou Harris @ The Hamilton Live — 12/3/23

By
Dan Rozman
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Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell perform at The Hamilton Live in DC on Dec. 3, 2023. (Photo by Mark Raker)

EMMYLOU HARRIS at THE HAMILTON LIVE
An Intimate Performance Benefiting Bonaparte’s Retreat
Words by Dan Rozman
Photos by Mark Raker

The legendary Emmylou Harris recently returned to The Hamilton Live in DC for a magical sold-out charity concert benefiting her animal rescue Bonaparte’s Retreat. The iconic venue, with its pristine acoustics and top-notch food and drink, was the perfect setting for this special night.

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Live Review: Travis Scott @ CFG Bank Arena — 12/6/23

By
Mecie Gold
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Travis Scott
Travis Scott performs at the CFG Bank Arena on Dec. 6, 2023. (Photo by Jordan Sabillo)

Travis Scott recently set Baltimore on fire with his Utopia Tour Presents Circus Maximus, proving why he is known as La Flame. The sold-out crowd at CFG Bank Arena was in for a wild ride, even experiencing two power outages that couldn’t handle the heat of the performance.

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Snapshots: Pokey LaFarge @ Rams Head on Stage — 12/5/23

By
Casey Vock
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Pokey LaFarge @ Rams Head On Stage Annapolis MD 12.05.23 35mm Film Photo by Casey Ryan Vock
Pokey LaFarge leads his band in a sold-out performance at Rams Head On Stage in Annapolis on Dec. 5, 2023. (35mm Film Photo by Casey Ryan Vock)

The events of the past few years have forced musicians to change how they make and bring their songs to listeners, a litmus test of their perseverance in a historically hectic and strange time.

But the most dedicated had long been holding themselves to exacting standards, and in some cases a pivot out of necessity became a path to something new and redeeming.

Pokey LaFarge has been challenging himself as a musician since he was just a teenager. In the early 2000s, he set out on a hitchhiking adventure with the plan to busk and connect with other musicians, a mission that would prove fruitful: before long, he was releasing his first solo album and just a few years later, recording in Nashville.

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Live Review: The Allman Betts Family Revival @ Capitol One Hall — 12/5/23

By
Mark Engleson
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Allman Betts Family Revival
The Allman Betts Family Revival performs at Capital One Hall in McLean, Virginia, on Dec. 5, 2023. (Photo by Steve Satzberg)

The Allman Brothers Band were known for their marathon, three-hour concerts and long, stretched-out jams that could go upwards of 30 minutes. We got both of these things recently at The Allman Betts Family Revival at Capitol One Hall, as The Allman Betts Band was joined by a variety of guests to celebrate the music of the godfathers of Southern rock.

With some of these reviews, I have to introduce the band to my readers, as I cover some obscure stuff. But The Allman Brothers hardly need an introduction; they’re a big enough deal that even my mother, who is largely ignorant of popular culture after about 1970, is aware of who they are, though she couldn’t think of any of their songs.

But bear with me: Formed in 1969 in their hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, The Allmans were led by Greg Allman, who sang and played organ. But, in some ways, the real stars of the band were the twin-guitar attack of Gregg’s older brother, Duane, and Dickey Betts. Tragically, just a few years into the band’s early ’70s run — a legendary period that influenced nearly every band south of the Mason-Dixon line — Duane passed in a motorcycle accident.

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Snapshots: Tab Benoit w/ Dirty Dozen Brass Band @ The Birchmere — 12/4/23

By
Steve Satzberg
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Tab Benoit
Tab Benoit performs at The Birchmere on Dec. 4, 2023. (Photo by Steve Satzberg)

Acclaimed Louisiana Bayou blues guitarist Tab Benoit continued his yearlong 2023 tour with a recent date at The Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia. The Dirty Dozen Brass Band were along for the ride to open the show.

Parklife DC’s Steve Satzberg was there to photograph both bands in concert!

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Live Review: Susto @ The Atlantis — 12/3/23

By
Casey Vock
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Susto @ The Atlantis Washington DC 12.03.23 35mm Film Photo by Casey Ryan Vock
Susto entertains a sold-out The Atlantis crowd with an acoustic segue on Dec. 3, 2023. (35mm Film Photo by Casey Ryan Vock)

Talented songwriters who double as band leaders tend to redirect praise, more often crediting those who’ve come together to help them achieve a vision through music.

But the best can only evade ovation for so long and so far — at some point even their bandmates will heap the praise back onto them for bringing it all together to begin with and guiding it forward.

Justin Osborne might not revel in the admiration he’s drawn over the course of nearly 10 years writing and performing as Susto, but he’s most certainly earned it through vividly revealing, straight-ahead songs that emotionally convey his impressions on life, death and whatever comes next.

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Live Review: A Flock of Seagulls @ The Fillmore Silver Spring — 12/2/23

By
Nalinee Darmrong
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A Flock of Seagulls
A Flock of Seagulls perform at The Fillmore Silver Spring on Dec. 2, 2023. (Photos by Nalinee Darmrong; Words by Mickey McCarter)

The crowd at The Fillmore Silver Spring recently knew they were in for a good set at the very start of the show when synthesist Mike Score and his bandmates began with “Modern Love Is Automatic” from the 1982 self-titled debut album by A Flock of Seagulls. The thrilling signature AFOS electronic sound rippled like a shockwave through the packed music venue from the first first notes.

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Live Review: Lydia Loveless w/ Reese McHenry @ The Atlantis — 12/4/23

By
Mark Engleson
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Lydia Loveless
Lydia Loveless performs at The Atlantis in DC on Dec. 4, 2023. (Photo by David LaMason)

At just 33-years old, Ohio native Lydia Loveless already has an impressive body of work, and they showed it off recently during a great set at The Atlantis in DC. It was their first headlining appearance in the DMV in several years; they last played in the area when they opened for the Drive-By Truckers at the 9:30 Club.

It makes sense that Lydia would’ve opened for the Truckers, as they overlap stylistically. Though they have broadened their sound to embrace a wider range of pop, there’s still plenty of twang in Loveless’s songs. Their mix of twang and punk rock energy endeared them to Chicago indie label Bloodshot Records, who are known for championing what they called “insurgent country.”

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