Home Blog Page 3

Live Review: Mitch Rowland @ 9:30 Club — 3/11/24

0

With his smooth Americana style music and skillful powerhouse of an accompanying band, Mitch Rowland recently engulfed DC’s 9:30 Club in his transformative swell of sweet melodies. 

Snapshots: Swirlies @ Songbyrd Music House — 3/8/24

The Swirlies debuted in the ’90s from Boston to some acclaim as an American band adopting the shoegaze sound that captivated indie rockers in the United Kingdom.

Now based in Malmö, Sweden, and Alexandria, Virginia, the Swirlies continue to perform self-proclaimed “sneakyflute” music, and in fact opened March with a trio of sold-out shows in Norfolk, Virginia, Washington DC, and Philadelphia!

The band’s recent DC show was at Songbyrd Music House, and Nalinee Darmrong was there to photograph the show.

Snapshots: Peter Frampton @ The Hall at Live! Casino — 3/10/24

0

The amazing *Peter Frampton* performed recently, celebrating 60 years of touring, at The Hall at Live! Casino and Hotel. Steve Satzberg was there to photograph the guitar legend in concert.

Live Review: King’s X @ Tally Ho Theater – 3/9/24

0

When I started thinking about writing the review for the King’s X concert at Tally Ho Theater in Leesburg, Virginia, last weekend, I thought I had a pretty good theme in mind. I was going to write about the fact that when you see King’s X, you know what you’re going to get. They’re damn professionals, after all. They’ve been together since the early ’80s, for crying out loud!

But when I got there, I realized that wasn’t going to work at all.

Live Review: Grahame Lesh & Friends w/ The Mother Hips @ The Hamilton Live — 3/7/24

0

Bands grow together like families — when one member of the team is faced with hardship, the whole group suffers, and its fans do, too.

When Midnight North recently announced that vocalist and guitarist Elliot Peck, one of its co-founders alongside Grahame Lesh, was going to miss the current tour due to a medical emergency, it broke the heart of anyone who’s seen this San Francisco-based outfit come into its own over the past few years.

MAGFest: Where Music and Gaming Collide

0

If you’re looking to try new arts and entertainment experiences around the city, you may want to consider a music and gaming festival. Recently, the 2024 MAGFest was held in the Gaylord National Hotel in National Harbor, Maryland. The Washington Post wrote about the weekend as part of the best things to do in and around DC, describing the event as “nonstop action” featuring gaming showcases, discussion panels, stage performances and live jam sessions, LARP, and other hands-on activities.

Ticket Giveaway: Drop Nineteens @ The Atlantis, 4/17/24

0

Drop Nineteens are a Boston-based indie rock band, one of a few US-based bands who styled themselves on England’s distinctive shoegazing sound, taking inspiration from bands such as Ride and Lush.

In 2023, Drop Nineteens returned with their first new album in 30 years — Hard Light (released via Wharf Cat). And now they perform at The Atlantis in DC on Wednesday, April 17.

You can win a pair of tickets to go to the show as well as a signed vinyl record of Hard Light by Drop Nineteens.

Live Review: Gruff Rhys @ DC9 — 3/9/24

0

In the reviews for his new album, Sadness Sets Me Free, I’ve seen quite a few outlets mention that this is Gruff Rhys’s 25th album in 35 years of releasing music. Britpop, psychedelic rock, Welsh folk songs, album soundtracks, dance music, Welsh pop with a couple of verses of Zulu…the man can do it all.

Bill Pearis at Brooklyn Vegan put it perfectly when he described how Gruff “consistently manages to do something new every time while only ever sounding like himself.”

Live Review: Michael Nau @ The Atlantis — 3/6/24

0

Most reasonable concert goers can and recently have persevered through long stretches without visits from their favorite artists.

But some musicians are simply so terrific and talented and their music so nurturing that even the most patient of fans become antsy in their extended absence.

And after all, it has been more than four years since Michael Nau last embarked on a tour of familiar towns scattered about the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast — his last scoot through the region was in the fall of 2019, just a few months before the onset of the pandemic.

Live Review: Thus Love @ Comet Ping Pong — 3/8/24

Thus Love opened their recent appearance at Comet Ping Pong with a new song, “On the Floor.” The band have been releasing music since late 2022, including a debut album, Memorial, via Captured Tracks, and today they are touring the country with a slate of new songs.

And these new songs like “On the Floor” are remarkable for their ability to capture the zeitgeist of late ’70s post-punk, particularly English post-punk, as these young adults from contemporary Vermont sound a helluva lot like young English people from 45 years ago. And that is fantastic.