Psycho Killers (Photo courtesy DMK Publicity)
Here’s a picture: You on a warm spring day at an open-air stage, beer in hand, watching three local cover bands covering the Talking Heads, The Police, and Paul Simon. What a great way to spend Saturday evening, right? Head to The Bullpen, conveniently located outside the Navy Yard Metro Station, on May 4 to do just that.
Odetta Hartman (Photo courtesy the artist)
Living Classrooms of the National Capital Region invites you to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Kingman Island Bluegrass & Folk Festival on Saturday, May 4 at a family-friendly music event on the banks of the Anacostia River. The festival will feature an incredible roster of musical talent from throughout the city and surrounding regions, representing diverse backgrounds, cultures, genders, and ages covering bluegrass, folk, and Americana with headliners Dustbowl Revival, The Ballroom Thieves, Hackensaw Boys, and more.
Experimental country/folk artist Odetta Hartman also will perform, and Parklife DC’s Mark Engleson chatted with the New York City singer prior to the Kingman Island Bluegrass & Folk Festival. For more information, including the full lineup and ticket information, visit the Kingman Island Bluegrass & Folks Festival website.
Martin Gore chats at Moogfest 2019 on April 26, 2019. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)
Mute Records founder Daniel Miller first met Martin Gore of Depeche Mode in October 1980 at the Bridge House Pub in Canning Town, London, during a show when the young band supported Fad Gadget. For roughly 40 years now, Daniel and Depeche Mode often have worked closely together. The two old friends met again recently to talk about Martin’s music career at Moogfest 2019 at the Carolina Theatre in Durham, North Carolina.
Visit the Moogfest website for more information on the Moogfest conference and festival.
Joan Osborne (Photo courtesy Paradigm Agency)
In 1995, Joan Osborne’s hit song “One of Us” was inescapable. Joan’s powerful vocals imprinted on teenagers like me, and I can see still her face from the music video on MTV rotation. That face appeared again to pay homage to Bob Dylan at City Winery recently.
Death performs at the Howard Theatre on April 25, 2019. (Photo by Andy Jillson)
The legendary proto-punk rock band Death stopped at the Howard Theatre in DC recently, and I cleared my calendar to catch these revolutionary rockers in action.
Snow Patrol brings hope to The Anthem on April 26, 2019. (Photo by David LaMason)
Five, six, seven, even 20 years seems like a long time between albums — but over the past few years, bands have been making albums that defy what the industry would say are the prime years to make follow up records. And some of my favorite records lately have been from bands who haven’t put out a record in stretches of time and then deliver some of their best. Case in point: the Northern Ireland band Snow Patrol, who appeared at The Anthem on Friday.Â
Zepparella performs at City Winery on April 25, 2019. (Photo by Ari Strauss)
An entire generation of Led Zeppelin fans have grown up deprived of the opportunity to see the supergroup perform its legendary material live. A temporary reprieve from that disappointment was enjoyed by a sold-out crowd at DC’s City Winery one evening recently when Zepparella, an all-female tribute band, took the stage for a two-hour set of Led Zeppelin’s greatest songs.
Blue October performs in the HEB Center in Cedar Park, Texas, on Dec. 14, 2016.(Photo by Ralph Arvesen)
I recently had the privilege of going to see one of the great bands of the aughts at 9:30 Club — Blue October. This was a band I listened to in high school and got back into recently. And Blue October is now on tour promoting their most recent album — I Hope You’re Happy.
STOMP dancers create notes with brooms. (Photo courtesy STOMP)
STOMP: The Visual and Vicarious Workout!
STOMP is a variety where show silent comedy, intercultural performative art (stepping and part), marching band precision, and go-go-adjacent percussion intersect to leave an audience full of suspense to follow bombastic sounds with slick movements.
Laura Jane Grace performs at the Rock and Roll Hotel on April 23, 2019. (Photo by Paivi Salonen)
Laura Jane Grace & the Devouring Mothers released Bought to Rot, the band’s debut full-length record, last year via Bloodshot Records. The band visited the Rock and Roll Hotel recently to play those songs, and Paivi was there to shoot the show.
