Aerosmith performs at MGM National Harbor on Aug. 8, 2019. (Photos by Zack Whitford)
It’s fair to expect that anyone who has been working in the same job for nearly 50 years may have lost a step. The muscles aren’t as reactive, the passion for the job may have waned; father time is undefeated, and old age just catches up to everyone. Or maybe not.
Drivin’ N’ Cryn’ perform at City Winery on Aug. 7, 2019. (Photo by Rik Goldman)
Georgia rockers Drivin’ N Cryin’ invaded City Winery recently, celebrating the release of their new album, Live the Love Beautiful. Their first full album since 2009, Live the Love Beautiful follows a series of four EPs released between 2012 and 2014.
Bones UK performs at 9:30 Club on Aug. 7, 2019. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)
Vocalist Rosie Bones and guitarist Carmen Vandenberg formed Bones UK in England then moved to Los Angeles, similar to their friends The Struts, and the punk duo opened for their glam contemporaries at 9:30 Club recently.
The Glorious Sons perform at 9:30 Club on Aug. 7, 2019. (Photos by Chris Smyth; Words by Mickey McCarter)
The Glorious Sons whipped up a frenzy in a stirring demonstration of glam meets gospel as a thrilling opener for The Struts at 9:30 Club recently.
Luke Spiller fronts The Struts at 9:30 Club on Aug. 7, 2019. (Photo by Chris Smyth)
The Struts returned to the 9:30 Club less than one year from the last time they performed there. But while there hasn’t been a long passage of time since their last performance in October, much has happened.
Jon Anderson performs at The Birchmere on Aug. 5, 2019. (Photo by Mark Caicedo)
Getting older, aging, maturing — whatever you’d like to call it — does have its upsides. Like wine or whisky, guitars and violins, aging produces deep tones and a richness that can’t be duplicated any other way. The same can be said for music, the timelessness and appeal that cuts across space and time.
Sonic Youth (Photo courtesy Ticketfly)
Sonic Youth released their sixth album, Daydream Nation, on Oct. 18, 1988. The album was an immediate critical success. In celebration of the album’s 30th anniversary, Sonic Youth bandmember Steve Shelley presents a screening of the concert film, Daydream Nation, and a panel discussion at 9:30 Club on Friday, Aug. 16.
Dawes performs at Lincoln Theatre on Aug. 6, 2019. (Photo by David LaMason)
Dawes treated a full house at the Lincoln Theatre to an evening of pure rock ’n’ roll magic recently. Their muscular grooves and tender lyrics echoed vestiges of the great Americana and folk-rock tradition, bringing to mind Crosby, Stills, and Nash, The Band, and Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers.
As Dawes jammed out, traces of the Grateful Dead colored their sonic palette. When bassist Wylie Gelber crossed his ankles and almost leaned into his monitor, his lithe frame and wide shoulders resembled the figure of the Dead’s Phil Lesh.
Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles perform at Jammin’ Java on Aug. 4, 2019. (Photo by Mark Caicedo)
Oh, the things we do for love… and I do love Sarah Borges’s music. Last Sunday, she and her band, the Broken Singles, made their way to Jammin’ Java in Vienna, Virginia on her current east coast run. Though my predicament may not have been worthy of a Game of Thrones plotline, I nonetheless felt a sense of desperation, as I raced the clock, and New Jersey Turnpike, attempting to make the 6+ hour trip from Connecticut to Virginia in five hours.
Ritual Howls perform at 9:30 Club on Aug. 3, 2019. (Photo by Paivi Salonen)
Ritual Howls stormed through an intoxicating rumble of post-punk gems when opening The Faint at 9:30 Club recently. The Detroit trio won many new admirers as they performed selections from Rendered Armor, the band’s fourth full-length album, released earlier this year via Felte.
