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Snapshots: Shopping, Gauche, Stef Chura @ Comet Ping Pong — 8/9/16

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Stef Chura
Stef Chura (Photo by Kristie Chua)

Last fall, UK post-punk trio Shopping released their second album, Why Choose, via FatCat and embarked on a worldwide tour in support of it.

And the stopped to play at Comet Ping Pong on Tuesday with openers Gauche and Stef Chura! Guitarist Rachel Aggs, bassist Billy Easter, and drummer Andrew Milk have only a few more US dates on this leg of the tour, including a show for Berserktown III on Sunday in Los Angeles.

Sports Park: D.C. United vs. Portland Timbers @ RFK Stadium, 8/13/16

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United vs Timbers

Season Record: 5-8-9 (24 points)

From defeat to draw! Your D.C. United scored a thrilling goal in stoppage time last Saturday (8/6) and salvaged a point against the Philadelphia Union.

Two home games. Two draws. Two points. Not what the doctor ordered, but any points are needed at this stage. The United remain in eighth place, two points removed from a playoff spot.

Next up, on Saturday, August 13th the United take on the Portland Timbers. Portland (32 pts) is in sixth place in the Western Conference, coming off a 3-0 win on Sunday.

I have a good feeling the United will get it done this weekend. Victory is beckoning.

Buy your tickets here.

Audacious Assertion: United 2, Timbers 1
(My home picks so far: 2-4) Note: Three of my ‘losses’ were because the United tied the game instead of won.

MLS: Portland Timbers at D.C. United
RFK Stadium
Saturday, August 13, 2016
7:00pm
$20-55
All ages

Around Town: Biscuit Jam @ Industrious Warehouse — 8/6/16

Biscuit 04
The Bumper Jacksons perform at Biscuit Jam 2016 in DC on Saturday, August 6. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)

The Mason Dixie Biscuit Co. turned two years old recently, and instead of simply selling $2 biscuits or some other kitschy idea, it threw a proper birthday bash in Ivy City and called it the Biscuit Jam.

Held at the Industrious Warehouse (1900 Kendall St. NE, DC) on Saturday, Biscuit Jam offered up music, drink, food, and art on a sunny day. The full entertainment line-up consisted of a slate of regional bands: Jonny Grave & The Tombstones, Justin Trawick & The Common Good, Oh He Dead, Jahnel Daliya, Brian Farrow & What Got Over, Ampersand Stringband, and The Bumper Jacksons.

Sports Park: Washington Kastles 2016 @ Smith Center, 8/10 & 8/13/16

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Washington Kastles

Your Washington Kastles, of the World TeamTennis (WTT) league, have two remaining home matches this week at the Smith Center at George Washington University.

First, the Kastles play the 1st place San Diego Aviators, who already beat them 21-15 on August 6th.

The last match of the season is against the Orange County Breakers on August 13th, who also beat the Kastles 25-10 on August 5th. Rough weekend.

Yet the Kastles are still the defending champions (five times in a row!) and command respect. Don’t count them out! They look to finish the season strong, even at 3-4 (with 5 matches left) they do have their work cut out to qualify for the Mylan WTT Finals once again.

WTT: San Diego Aviators at Washington Kastles
Kastles Stadium at the Smith Center (600 22nd Street NW Washington, DC 20052)
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
7:00pm
$13-265
All ages

WTT: Orange County Breakers at Washington Kastles
Kastles Stadium at the Smith Center (600 22nd Street NW Washington, DC 20052)
Saturday, August 13, 2016
5:00pm
$13-265
All ages

Music Park: The Go-Go’s @ Warner Theatre — 8/5/16

Go-Go's 01 Belinda Carlisle sings at The Go-Go’s concert at the Warner Theater on August 5, 2016. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)

“We’re going to play a few songs from a time before the producers got a hold of us,” said Belinda Carlisle to the audience at the Warner Theatre on Friday.

It was a favorite moment in a concert that was honestly a string of favorite moments. With that pronouncement, The Go-Go’s launched into the fiery punk “Screaming,” which they dutifully followed up with “Fun with Ropes,” a song about a little bit of innocuous if kinky fun. The two songs appeared in live versions previously on the 1994 compilation Return to the Valley of The Go-Go’s, which I’ve noted previously is a prized possession in my music collection, but otherwise always remained unreleased in a nod to the band becoming more radio-friendly.

Around Town: August’s OutdoorFest Mappy Hour @ Wunder Garten, 8/24/16

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Conquer the mountainMt. Catherine, WA (Photo by: Jeremy Bailey)

This month’s Mappy Hour, by OutdoorFest, will be on the theme of adventure travel. Bring your big adventure ideas.

As always, Mappy Hour is free, but beer will set you back a few of your hard-earned pennies. This month, they partner with REI and move to the outdoor Wunder Garten in NoMa.

Register here.

I’ll be backpacking four days in Colorado next week. Can you come up with bigger adventure goals?

Mappy Hour – August 2016
Wunder Garten in NoMA (1st and L Street NE)
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
6:30-9:30pm
Free (must register)
21+

Don’t Miss: Echo & The Bunnymen @ 9:30 Club, 9/9/16

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Echo & The Bunnymen (Photo courtesy the band)

The legendary Echo & The Bunnymen have been no strangers to DC in recent years, performing shows at venues like the Fillmore Silver Spring and the Black Cat.

However, arguably, a local Echo & The Bunnymen show belongs at the 9:30 Club, the perfect venue to capture the timelessness of the band’s hazy neo-psychedelia. Thankfully, justice and opportunity are about to meet as The Bunnymen are hitting the 9:30 Club on a perfect date: Friday, Sept. 9.

Led by founders in vocalist Ian McCulloch and guitarist Will Sergeant, the Liverpool iconoclasts have been doing some great work lately, publishing their most recent album Meteorites in 2014 via 429 Records with some signature production assistance from Youth and Andrea Wright. The result was 10 terrific songs of super-psych pop that recaptures the glory days of The Bunnymen.

Watch the official music video for “Lovers on the Run” from the latest album by Echo & The Bunnymen via YouTube:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7bDBcJAGTU]

Said Ian of the album, “At long last, we’ve made the worthy successor to Crocodiles, Heaven Up Here, Porcupine, and Ocean Rain. Meteorites is what Echo and the Bunnymen mean and are meant to be up there in heaven — untouchable, celestial, beautiful, and real. It has changed my life.”

If that doesn’t get you excited, I don’t know what will. Go see this show!

Tickets are available online.

Echo & The Bunnymen
9:30 Club
Friday, Sept. 9
Doors @8pm
$40
All ages

Music Park: Garbage @ Lincoln Theatre — 8/3/16

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Garbage 18Garbage performs at Lincoln Theatre (Photo by: Mickey McCarter)

Garbage descended on DC for the second time in a year on August 3rd, this time at the seated Lincoln Theatre (although no one actually sat).

For this tour they are promoting their sixth album, Strange Little Birds, released in June. Of the 22 songs they played to the rapt crowd, only four were from the new album. “Even Though Our Love Is Doomed”, which Shirley Manson (lead singer) described as ‘the centerpiece of our new record’, is introspective and moving played live, and focuses more on the vocals.

Other new songs included the hard-charging “Blackout” and later during the encore, “Empty” and the slow, take-it-down-a-notch “Sometimes”.

Don’t Miss: Diet Cig @ DC9, 8/10/16

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Diet Cig (Photo by Andrew Piccone)

Vocalist and guitarist Alex Luciano and drummer Noah Bowman met in New Paltz, N.Y., in 2014 and promptly formed a band together. They soon released their debut EP Over Easy on Father/Daughter Records. And then last fall, the released a 7-inch single, Sleep Talk.

Diet Cig put on a high-energy show, kicking up a storm with a kind of music they have labeled “slop pop.” In practice, Diet Cig seem to have an appetite for sunny jangle pop. You can hear it for yourself when they stop at DC9 to play a show on Wednesday, August 10!

Watch the official music video for “Sleep Talk” by Diet Cig on YouTube:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVUcgmnm2GQ]

Diet Cig is working on their debut full-length album, which will come out in 2017 via Frenchkiss Records.

Montreal indie rock duo Solids open for Diet Cig. Tickets are available online.

Diet Cig
w/ Solids
DC9
Wednesday, August 10
Doors @8:30pm
$12/14
All ages

Don’t Miss: Shopping @ Comet Ping Pong, 8/9/16

Shopping by  Jenna Foxton
Shopping (Photo by Jenna Foxton)

Last fall, UK post-punk trio Shopping released their second album, Why Choose, via FatCat and embarked on a worldwide tour in support of it.

Now the fantastically catchy band are returning to the United States for a spate of shows in 2016, with a date at Comet Ping Pong on Tuesday, August 9. Guitarist Rachel Aggs, bassist Billy Easter, and drummer Andrew Milk are making their way to the Athens Popfest on Thursday, and they will wrap in a show for Berserktown III on Sunday in Los Angeles.

Why Choose is full of hot riffs and cold relationships, such as with break-up song “Straight Lines.” Watch the official music video for “Straight Lines” (featuring the band getting naked) by Shopping on YouTube:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8kkAl64I9s]

The New York Times pretty much nails it when they say, “Jagged guitar truncheons joust with stomping bass lines while the front woman, Aggs, howls like she’s descended from Ari Up and the Slits. The jocularity of the B-52’s bubbles up from time to time.”

This should be a great show for such an intimate space! Tickets are available online and at the door.

Shopping
w/ Gauche and Stef Chura
Comet Ping Pong
Tuesday, August 9
Doors @9pm
$12
All ages