Spiritualized (Photo by Sarah Piantadosi)
Following 2021’s acclaimed reissue of their classic first four albums, Spiritualized released their latest studio album, Everything Was Beautiful, earlier this year via Fat Possum.
In celebration, Spiritualized launched a North American tour that heads to the 9:30 Club on Thursday, Sept. 8.
As the lights dimmed, the familiar bagpipe and drum march of “Scotland the Brave” recently rolled across Merriweather Post Pavilion, heralding the return of Sir Rod Stewart, and kicking off a great evening of classic Rod Stewart numbers and few covers that kept the crowd dancing in the aisles and on the lawn.
Having been postponed from the previous year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the double bill of Rod Stewart and the power pop kings Cheap Trick has been one of the most anticipated shows in the area for some time. So it was no surprise to see lines snaking around Merriweather in the hot summer evening, eventually turning to rows of folding armchairs packing the lawns of the pavilion.
Emmylou Harris (Photo by Mark Seliger)
DC can claim a special place in Americana music. It’s the point of origin for both Emmylou Harris, who’s been dubbed the “queen of Americana,” as well as Mary Chapin Carpenter.
In each of their recent sets at Wolf Trap, they made a point of acknowledging the venue as a sort of home base. Harris said, “We owe the Washington, DC, area a lot, because that’s where we cut our teeth,” and she talked about attending elementary school in nearby Dumfries, Virginia. Carpenter spoke of her struggles working temp jobs and playing solo acoustic gigs in the city’s small clubs all those decades ago.
Peaches (Photo by George Pitt)
A NSFW warning on Peaches photos is a bit redundant, but there it is anyway. There are plenty of photos of Peaches’ recent performance at 9:30 Club below, and we ask that you click through to see them inside.
Celebrating 20 years of The Teaches of Peaches, Merrill Nisker aka Peaches hobbled out on stage with a walker and vulva hat. Mocking agist criticism, porn granny was still going to give us a show.
Peter Hook performs at The Fillmore Silver Spring on Aug. 25, 2022. (Photos by Jason Nicholson)
Peter Hook, the former bassist of New Order and Joy Division, made a welcome return to the DC metro area for a concert with Peter Hook & The Light at The Fillmore Silver Spring recently. The focus of Hooky’s return was a performance through Joy Division albums Unknown Pleasures and Closer.
Parklife’s Jason Nicholson photographed the show!
The Decemberists perform at Wolf Trap on Aug. 24, 2022. (Photos by Jason Nicholson)
“Never applaud a guy putting on a harmonica,” The Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy joked as he prepared for “Down By The Water” near the end of their set at Wolf Trap recently. It was the indie-meets-folk-rock band’s first time at the venue, which Meloy repeatedly referred to as “The Trap.” Reflecting on this verbal tic, he pondered, “Does anyone call it ‘The Trap?'”
To answer his question, I don’t know I’ve ever heard it said out loud. I’ve definitely thought of both the larger national park and the music venue itself as ‘The Trap,’ but it’s not something I’ve said.
Sleigh Bells perform at 9:30 Club on Aug. 23, 2022. (Photo by Katherine Gaines)
Last fall, NYC noise poppers Sleigh Bells released Texis, the band’s fifth studio album, via Mom + Pop. They set about touring it in the past year, and they recently visited 9:30 Club with opening act N3ptune. Katherine Gaines was there to photograph the show!
Simon LeBon fronts Duran Duran at Merriweather Post Pavilion on Aug. 23, 2022. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)
Calm, Cool, and Collected: A Show of Confidence from Duran Duran
Do you know that feeling of joy that springs from unbridled confidence? You can see everything coming together, and you’re calm, cool, and collected. You’re ready to win, and everything unfolds as it should.
A Duran Duran concert flawlessly captures that exact feeling every time.
In their recent appearance at Merriweather Post Pavilion, Duran Duran once again won the day with a show in conjunction with Future Past, the band’s 15th studio album (released not long ago by BMG), and they did so with support from their friend and mentor Nile Rodgers.
Blondie (Photo by Danielle St. Laurent)
As a boy, I experienced no finer thrill than sitting in front of a boom box with my pile of Blondie cassettes, playing them through and flipping them over to enjoy the hits and dig further into the lesser-known songs. (Why too weren’t these wonderful tunes also hits?) I possessed seven neat matching blue little boxes issued by Chrysalis Records — the band’s first six albums and the ubiquitous Best of Blondie — playing through the band’s exciting and varied mysteries.
One of those wildly alluring and underrated tracks for me was “Detroit 442,” which appears on 1978’s Plastic Letters. It is a raucous song that captures the spontaneity and expressiveness of Blondie’s punk side. The band resurfaced the rarely performed track live for a recent show at The Anthem as part of an initiative to highlight some of these really strong tracks that didn’t receive enough love back in the day. The show was part of a new Blondie tour billed as Against the Odds, named for a comprehensive Blondie retrospective package being released tomorrow.
Melissa Carper (Photo by Aisha Golliher)
I can relate to Melissa Carper. My partner lives out in Rockville, Maryland, and her apartment is among much green space, and there are many animals around. We often stop to watch rabbits or dear. On Sunday, when we came back from brunch at Silver Diner, a fawn was just off to the side of parking lot, munching on leaves, displaying no fear or anxiety of us humans. For all the craziness and the edge in our personalities, we are soft, gentle souls; on her dating site profile, my partner said the job she would do for no pay was taking care of an orphaned elephant.
Melissa Carper is another weirdo with a heart of gold — and a thoroughly wonderful one, judging from her recent appearance at Pearl Street Warehouse. “Would You Like To Get Some Goats,” a song that appeared in the setlist, wasn’t actually about her dream — it’s about a ex-girlfriends’ dream. Goats, Melissa said during the show, are “a little high maintenance.” She does want to live on a farm of her own some day. For now, she lives on someone else’s farm, which she says is “okay.”
