Slipknot performs at Jiffy Lube Live on Sept. 1, 2019. (Photo by Chris Smyth)
The Knotfest Roadshow tore into Jiffy Lube Live recently, featuring a quartet of some of the heaviest metal bands from around the world. The tour’s creators, Slipknot, were joined in support by three bands from Europe- Behemoth (Poland), Gojira (France), and Volbeat (Denmark).
Richie Ramone (Photo courtesy Bowery Electric)
Richie Ramone is the fastest, most powerful drummer who ever played with the legendary punk rock band the Ramones. He joined the Ramones in 1983 and first appeared with the band on their Subterranean Jungle Tour.
One of the few surviving Ramones today, Richie is on tour again with a show at Slash Run in DC on Monday, Sept. 9!
Babymetal (Photo courtesy The Anthem)
Japanese kawaii metal band Babymetal storm The Anthem on Sunday, Sept. 8! The duo of Su-metal and Moametal perform songs from their upcoming record, Metal Galaxy, as well as their previous two albums!
“There are no strangers here, only friends who have not yet met.” — William Butler Yeats.
That quote from Yeats opened the program for the 2019 Appaloosa Festival, which invited friends of all stripes to Skyline Ranch Resort in Front Royal, Virginia, over Labor Day weekend for a gathering of bluegrass, folk, Americana, Celtic rock, and more! Parklife DC’s Chester Simpson captured the action on film.
Robbie Grey fronts Modern English at the State Theatre on Aug. 25, 2019. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)
At some point during the past several years, Modern English entered the upper echelon of bands that I must see every time they visit the DC area.
Dirty Projectors (Photo by Jason Frank Rothberg)
Deerhunter released Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared?, the band’s eighth studio album, earlier this year via 4AD. Dirty Projectors dropped Lamp Lit Prose on Domino Records last year. The two bands now join forces for a tour, and they visit 9:30 Club on Sunday, Sept. 8!
Phantogram (Photo courtesy Republic Records)
Trip hop duo Phantogram last released a studio album, Three, in 2016. But Josh Carter (vocals, guitar) and Sarah Barthel (vocals, keyboards) have been steadily dropping singles via Republic Records recently, and they drop by The Anthem on Friday, Sept. 6, during a stop on a 25-date touring trek.
Lower Dens brings the love to Rituals on Sept. 1, 2019. (Photo by David LaMason)
Although it’s only been four years in between albums and only three years since I saw them perform last, I really missed Lower Dens. They covered the gap recently in a show at Ritual in Baltimore.
OMD performs at The Fillmore Charlotte on Aug. 31, 2019. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)
You could feel the “electricity” in the air long before you heard the song of the same name when Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, or OMD, played a headlining show at The Fillmore Charlotte recently. OMD thrilled the very full house to its core as the quintessential English synthpoppers hit the second of four solo shows in a break from opening for The B-52s.
Fish Narc performs at MilkBoy ArtHouse on Aug. 31, 2019. (Photo by Shedrick Pelt)
The days of the Bone Thugs, Hot Boys, and Triple Six Mafias are long gone, and it’s left a gaping hole in our culture. Today, the search for individual success too often trumps the all-important gang. When did we forget about “all for one and one for all!?” And can we even find our way back? As I reflect on the legacies of these crews, I find hope in three letters: GBC. GothBoiClique gave me that hope in their sold-out show at Milkboy ArtHouse recently.
