Preview: Dougie Poole and Bottled Up @ Comet Ping Pong, 4/8/23
Dougie Poole (Photo by Kevin Condon)
New York City country troubadour Dougie Poole and funky DC rockers Bottled Up share a bill at Comet Ping Pong on Saturday, April 8!
Live Review: King Tuff @ DC9 — 3/21/23
Kyle Thomas leads his band, King Tuff, in a performance at DC9 on March 21, 2023. (Photo by Casey Vock)
Like the best storytellers, the most gifted songwriters acknowledge that some kind of enriching life experience is necessary, even critical, to crafting compelling songs. And, oftentimes, an artist has to create that experience on their own accord.
Though his spirit has never truly left his small hometown in Vermont, Kyle Thomas would afford himself a wealth of understanding and enhance his youthful curiosity when he moved across the country from Brattleboro to Los Angeles more than a decade ago.
And by going through that brave relocation, he would also widen his network and boost his profile as the member of various remarkable musical projects. But perhaps more importantly, he’d give himself the opportunity to evolve and enrich his most widely known musical persona: King Tuff.
Preview: Molchat Doma @ 9:30 Club, 4/9/23
Molchat Doma (Photo by Stas Kard)
Belarusian post-punk band Molchat Doma sold out a first night at 9:30 Club on Saturday, April 8. So, they added a second night, and there are still tickets available for their show on Sunday, April 9!
Catch these popular dark wavers on their way to the Cruel World Festival in Los Angeles.
Ticket Giveaway: Titus Andronicus @ Black Cat, 4/4/23
Titus Andronicus (Photo by Nicole Rifkin)
With their seventh studio album, revered rock institution Titus Andronicus invite you on a journey from fear to faith, from anger to acceptance, from grief to gratitude, chasing the mythical ideal of Ultimate Rock, all in hopes that you will find The Will to Live.
The band also invite you to see them perform live at Black Cat on Tuesday, April 4. And you can win a pair of tickets to go with Parklife DC!
Preview: The Church @ The Birchmere, 4/4/23
The Church (Photo by Hugh Stewart)
The Church, the Australian psych-rock masters fronted by vocalist Steve Kilbey, recently released THE HYPNOGOGUE, the band’s 26th album, via Communicating Vessels.
Now, The Church return to The Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia, for a show on Tuesday, April 4!
Preview: EXTC (XTC’s Terry Chambers and Friends) @ Pearl Street Warehouse, 4/3/23
EXTC (Photo courtesy the band)
For almost four decades, XTC fans could only dream of witnessing the sensational XTC classic songbook played live. That dream has now become a reality. XTC’s legendary drummer, Terry Chambers, is back on the road with his band EXTC (named and approved by XTC frontman, Andy Partridge).
EXTC perform live at Pearl Street Warehouse on Monday, April 3.
Live Review: The Messthetics (and Quasi w/ James Brandon Lewis and Bat Fangs) @ Black Cat — 3/18/23
The Messthetics thoroughly rock the Black Cat on March 18, 2023. (Photo by David LaMason)
Some days you just luck out, and Saturday night at The Black Cat can be counted as an embarrassment of riches with an eclectic mix of some of the best musicians not only under one roof but in one show!
DC’s own The Messthetics co-headlined the evening with Quasi, old friends, as drummer Brendan Canty told the crowd, from Portland, Oregon, in an evening that, as I overheard one person in the crowd say, “All killer and no filler.”
The Messthetics — for the uninitiated — include Canty, Joe Lally on bass, and Anthony Pirog on guitar. The instrumental trio are a powerhouse of rock, groove, and jazz. It’s loud but subtle. Take, for instance, the tune “Pay Dust” — it kicks in right from the start with Lally and Canty having this groove and Pirog’s lyrical melody lines before there’s this distorted freak out just to come back to that motif. A perfect example of those elements — the jazz, the punk — in one composition.
Live Review: alt-J @ Rams Head Live! — 3/15/23
alt-J dazzle a sold-out Rams Head Live! in Baltimore on March 15, 2023. (Photo by David LaMason)
The Leeds-based trio alt-J (also known by the Δ) has been celebrating the 10th anniversary of their debut LP, An Awesome Wave with a host of packed concerts that have sold out across the globe, and their recent night at Baltimore’s Rams Head Live! was no exception. In fact, as I walked up to the venue over an hour before doors, there was a huge line that had already formed to see this band who, until this past year, had been on an indefinite hiatus that began in 2018.
Live Review: Aoife O’Donovan w/ Hawktail @ The Birchmere — 3/15/23
Aoife O’Donovan (Photo by Omar Cruz)
As an artist, Aoife O’Donovan told the audience during her most recent show at The Birchmere, she is “always chasing the concept of the album as a complete story,” where all the stories told by the individual songs come together in a cohesive narrative. Bruce Springsteen’s dark, brooding classic record Nebraska, she said, is a “perfect example.”
The Birchmere was Aoife’s first stop on her current USA tour, playing Nebraska in its entirety. It was also her first time doing this on American soil since performing it in New York in 2011. During the pandemic, she livestreamed a performance of the album for her fans, and she now has released it as a limited edition LP.
Live Review: Inhaler @ 9:30 Club — 3/13/23
Inhaler performs at 9:30 Club on March 13, 2023. (Photo by Lewis Evan)
Bono of U2 may be the biggest male rock star in the world. So if any of his children were to follow him into the rock star business, it would be understandable to ask if their success might stem from actual talent or from dad’s showbiz connections.
Well, Elijah Hewson, son of Bono, demonstrated he does indeed have the goods in two recent sold-out shows at 9:30 Club. Also like his dad, Elijah made the magic happen as a team with three talented friends, in his case as frontman of the band Inhaler, on tour from their home in Dublin, Ireland.
