Sampa the Great performs at 9:30 Club on March 29, 2022. (Photo by Will Colbert)
Freedom is a concept that has bent nearly to its breaking point in recent years — the freedom of movement, financial security, and sovereignty. During a recent show at DC’s 9:30 Club, Zambian rapper/singer Sampa Tembo, better known as Sampa the Great, had one rule — be free!
Mike Campbell performs at The Birchmere on March 28, 2022. (Photo by Marc Caicedo)
“I was born to play guitar and I sure do love my job!”
One might think that a Monday night is a time for quiet reflection and preparation for the week ahead: planning dinners, work schedules, going to bed early. But this time was a little different. Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs recently rolled into town and delivered a performance that, for nearly three hours, rocked from beginning to end at The Birchmere. No quiet reflection or getting to bed early this night!
Wiz Khalifa headlines the concert performances of The National Cannabis Festival on April 23, 2022. (Photo courtesy Atlantic Records)
The sixth annual National Cannabis Festival, the East Coast’s largest ticketed cannabis gathering, returns to Washington’s RFK Festival Grounds on Saturday, April 23, with performances from Wiz Khalifa, Lettuce, and Ghostface Killah, a wide range of exhibitors, and a brand-new culinary pavilion complete with cooking demonstrations led by top chefs, talks and eating contests, among many other attractions.
DC-based ForestPlanet, a 501c3 organization supporting forest restoration projects around the globe, produced an awesome ’80s Immersion Dance Party in February 2020, i.e. right before the shut-down.
Now, ForestPlanet aims to replicate success, but do so online at least for now. ForestPlanet is launching a new series called Progress360, and the first installment will stream live Thursday, April 21, Earth Day Eve, via Twitch. RSVP for free via Eventbrite!
Zachary Williams of The Lone Bellow (Photo courtesy Grandstand Media)
Before he found success as a member of the Americana trio The Lone Bellow, singer-songwriter Zachary Williams made his bones as a solo performer. He put in hard times singing in bars in New York City, where he was not even shown the courtesy of having the basketball game turned down. In 2009, he managed to scrape things together to record and release an album on a shoestring budget, and the printing contained not one but two typos.
During his set at the Miracle Theater on Tuesday evening, the similarity of his name to Christian artist Zach Williams was a bit of a running gag. When he discussed that first solo record, Zachary mentioned that Spotify has misplaced under that other Zach. He also brought up Zach’s recent duet with Dolly Parton, and someone in the audience joked, “Living vicariously!” Zachary wryly observed, “Living vicariously, indeed. He’s a Christian artist, so God only knows what he has to put up with.”
Michael Alden Hadreas leads Perfume Genius in a performance at 9:30 Club on March 25, 2022. (Photo by Casey Vock)
Though they’re unfortunate in the first place, calamitous life experiences can in rare cases provide the motivation for what become some of the most remarkable forms of artistic expression.
Michael Alden Hadreas is one of the many gay people in America who, as an adolescent and then even more so as a teenager, suffered deplorable treatment from cruel peers who were part of a nation struggling, and still to this day, with its own homophobia.
Tom Odell (Photo by Netti Hurley)
English singer-songwriter Tom Odell overcame some personal darkness to publish his fourth studio album, Monsters, last year via Columbia Records. He hits the road again and performs in DC at the Lincoln Theatre on Wednesday, April 20.
Parklife DC is giving away a pair of tickets for you to see the show!
Watchhouse (Photo courtesy Shore Fire Media)
The debut album from Watchhouse, the duo of Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz formerly known as Mandolin Orange, shot to No. 1 on Billboard’s Bluegrass Albums Chart last year. The harmonic duo drop by 9:30 Club for a show on Friday, April 15.
Andy Frasco (Photo by Andrew Hutchins)
Andy Frasco & The UN recently announced their forthcoming LP, Wash, Rinse, Repeat., due April 8, 2022.
The band hit the road in April, and they perform at Baltimore Soundstage with Twiddle on Thursday, April 14!
Back in 2019 after two successive tours following a massive LP, Be The Cowboy, Mitski took a step back from touring to focus on her own self. But time and distance has a way of changing perspective, and soon songs started to work their way back out again. With a global pandemic that put the brakes on touring, that focus ended up creating the brilliant Laurel Hell, with its name taken from thickets of rhododendron bushes that sprout white fragrant blossoms in the summer heat but are toxic. And that mirrors the complexity on the album of the same name.
Over the break between albums and touring, Mitski also found herself in the strange world of TikTok and videos that have highlighted works like “Washing Machine” and “Nobody” from Be The Cowboy, creating a groundswell of new fans that sing along to every word. And this was no more evident than at the second of two sold-out performances at The Anthem Monday night.
