The Cactus Blossoms (Photo courtesy High Road Touring)
The Cactus Blossoms, fronted by brother duo Jack Torrey and Page Burkum, performs at Pearl Street Warehouse on Friday, Oct. 18, supporting their acclaimed new album, Easy Way.
Luna brings Penthouse to the 9:30 Club on Oct. 5, 2019. (Photo by David LaMason)
Luna have been making great music for nearly 30 years, but for some reason even after being on major labels, having had songs featured on major movie soundtracks, and the critical praise of not only their peers but of big name music publications (Rolling Stone famously named them “the best band you’ve never heard”), Luna isn’t a household name, though it should be!
In fact, one of their best albums, Penthouse, which celebrates its 25th anniversary next year, was named one of the best 100 albums of the 1990s by Rolling Stone recently. And it’s that same album that was performed in full (plus some, but I’ll get into that in a moment) at the 9:30 Club recently.
Styles P performs at The Fillmore Silver Spring on Oct. 4, 2019. (Photo by Shedrick Pelt)
As a graduate of the School Of Hard Knocks, the course Science of Speech was probably one of my favorite classes. The importance of linguistics when presenting an idea or just involving yourself in casual conversation cannot be emphasized enough. Pairing complex thoughts and ideas into 16 bar verses has been studied for ages but only perfected by an elite few. Honorary professors Talib Kweli, Styles P, and Dead Prez are among those blessed enough to harness the power of speech, which they did at The Fillmore Silver Spring recently.
David Schelzel fronts The Ocean Blue at Union Stage on Oct. 4, 2019. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)
Here’s how I like to imagine it happened: Teenaged David Schelzel stood on an overlook above Hershey Park in Pennsylvania and pondered the decade that was coming to a close. “I’m going to take the very best of the ’80s and synthesize it into one band,” he said, reaching deep into England, where the very best new wave and psychedelia had emerged, and scooping all of those sounds into one impossibly sweet band.
And so was born The Ocean Blue, which published its first self-titled album in 1989, and captured the zeitgeist of cool alternative music in one quartet (or so we say!). Quite active in recent years, The Ocean Blue again reminded us just how cool they are in a sold-out show at Union Stage last week.
Sneaks (Photo courtesy Black Cat)
Local acts Sneaks and Clear Channel team up for a double bill at Black Cat on Saturday, Oct. 19. You can win tickets to go with Parklife DC!
Taylor Hicks (Photo courtesy Adkins Publicity)
Taylor Hicks performs will hits from his American Idol songbook as well as new tracks off his upcoming album due out later this year at City Winery DC on Sunday, Oct. 13.
Jeremy Ivey (Photo by Cal & Aly 8)
Playing solo acoustic, Jeremy Ivey began his show at Songbyrd Music House recently with the title cut (and last song) of his debut album, The Dream and the Dreamer, a bittersweet song of love not come to pass.
Ian Noe (Photo by Kyler Clark)
Singer-songwriter Ian Noe displayed his authentic Kentuckian bonafides as well as a shrewd sense of the greater world in a fantastic set at the Songbyrd Music House recently.
Doug Martsch of Built to Spill performs at the 9:30 Club on Oct. 4. 2019. (Photo by Matt Ruppert)
Fresh off a four-night run in New York, Built to Spill carried their trademark sound to a sold-out crowd at the 9:30 Club recently. With the band fast-approaching its 30th anniversary and celebrating the 20th anniversary of their seminal record, Keep It Like a Secret, Doug Martsch and friends offered a riveting a freewheeling reinterpretation of that record mixed with a few choice cuts around it.
Agnostic Front performs at Cafe 611 on Oct. 3, 2019. (Photo by Rashad Polk)
The Godfathers of hardcore, Agnostic Front, recently graced the stage at Cafe 611 in Frederick, Maryland, during a DC-area stop of their tour celebrating the 35th anniversary of their debut studio album Victim in Pain. Throughout the years since their first release, the New York Hardcore legends’ sound has evolved while still retaining the essential elements that have cemented their status as a band whose style is so often emulated.
