Preview: The Waterboys w/ Anna Tivel @ 9:30 Club, 9/4/25
In April, The Waterboys released a new album, Life, Death And Dennis Hopper, via Sun Records. Now, Mike Scott and his band embark on a USA tour starting at 9:30 Club on Thursday, Sept. 4!
Live Review: Dirty Honey (Opening The Struts) @ The Anthem — 8/17/25
Dirty Honey: Rock Revival Under the District Lights
Words and photos by Michael Sprouse/ Odd Rocker Photography
Walking down Wharf Street on a sticky August evening in Washington, DC, you could already tell who was headed to The Anthem. The place attracts a mixed bag, depending on who’s on stage — jam-band kids, indie heads, EDM ravers, you name it — but tonight it was mostly the denim-and-leather crowd, the ones who know their riffs and don’t flinch when the amps hit 11.
And on this recent night at The Anthem, Dirty Honey used every inch of that room to remind the DC crowd that rock and roll doesn’t need a revival tour — it’s alive, sweating, swaggering, and unapologetically loud.
Live Review: The Struts @ The Anthem — 8/17/25
The Struts: Glitter, Sweat, and a Sunday Night Riot on the Wharf
Words and Photos by Michael Sprouse/ Odd Rocker Photography
The recent performance of The Struts at The Anthem wasn’t just a night out — it was a spectacle, a glitter-soaked sermon of rock and roll excess.
There are concerts that feel like concerts, and then there are concerts that feel like events. The Struts have always been an event band, the kind that struts (their name really is too on-the-nose sometimes) onto a stage and flips a switch you didn’t realize you had inside you. If you’re going to blow the roof off of The Anthem you better come in with teeth bared and sequins gleaming. The Struts knew that, and they came armed accordingly.
Live Review: Ben Rector w/ The National Parks @ The Anthem — 8/16/25
On a weekend where so many weekends leading up to it have been plagued with storms and heat waves, the weather for Ben Rector’s recent sold-out show at The Anthem was mercifully pleasant. Not too wet, not too hot — just the perfect night for dancing up a different kind of storm as Ben Rector and his band took the stage.
Live Review: Katy Perry w/ Rebecca Black @ CFG Bank Arena — 8/15/25
Katy Perry is touring globally and in full force again on a summer world tour and recently played the CFG Arena in Baltimore to a sold-out performance. Her current tour, titled The Lifetimes Tour, is arguably the biggest dance-oriented show of the season.
Perry is a major force in the music world and fully displays why as she sings and dances non-stop during this year’s concert experience.
Live Review: The Fleshtones w/ The Yachtsmen @ 9:30 Club — 8/14/25
The Fleshtones brought the heat during their fast-paced, grinding, and explosive set in their recent show at DC’s infamous 9:30 Club.
Live Review: Spike and the Gimme Gimmes @ 9:30 Club — 8/13/25
“We’re a cover band”
As I made my way to the 9:30 Club’s will call window on this lovely August evening, I figured I’d be hearing that line a lot tonight. After all, it is one of the many schticks that Spike Slawson, ringleader and lead vocalist of Me First and the Gimme Gimmes Spike and the Gimme Gimmes, has consistently employed in the band’s 30 years (yes, you’re reading that right…30 years) of existence.
Snapshots: Newport Folk Festival @ Fort Adams State Park, RI — 7/25-7/27/25
There is no other live music event in America that can really compare to the Newport Folk Festival. Executed each year with precision, providing an inviting experience for both performers and fans alike, it’s become a bucket-list weekend for most serious concert goers.
For three consecutive days every year in late July, artist after artist takes one of four stages at storied Fort Adams State Park, expressing gratitude and pure delight for the opportunity to play one of the most influential gatherings in all the land.
The 2025 edition of Newport Folk, held from July 25 to 27, was one for the ages and, as always, the musical varieties were boundless.
Live Review: AJR @ Merriweather Post Pavilion — 8/10/25
AJR’s Summer in the Sky Tour recently rolled through Merriweather Post Pavilion, bringing vivacity, theatrics, and earworms aplenty to share with everyone who gathered on the lawn and under the pavilion. While the ambiance of Columbia, Maryland’s largest venue is impossible to deny, AJR showed up to bring the mood even higher. And they meant it — the audience erupted as the set opened up with “Way Less Sad.”
As expected, an AJR show is more than just a concert, it’s an immersive experience allowing anyone and everyone to sing, sway, jump, and emote in whatever way the music guides them. By the third song of the set, “Yes I’m A Mess,” even lead singer Jack Met couldn’t resist interacting with the band’s own screen projections.
Live Review: Clipse @ EagleBank Arena — 8/9/25
The rap duo Clipse recenlty returned from a 15-year hiatus and released the most critically acclaimed album of their career with Let God Sort Em Out. The album was released last month, and the guys tore down a jam-packed EagleBank Arena in their home state of Virginia this past weekend as a part of their tour of the same name in support of the album.
As a Virginia boy who remembers copying the “Grindin’” beat on lunch tables in middle school and followed the brothers even after their separation, it was a show that I had to see.
