Dada Life perform at an Adidas Store in Paris on June 21, 2012 (Photo by S. Camelot)
Hey everybody welcome back! This week I had the pleasure to review the high energy, banana-enthused duo DadaLife! The Swedish duo, Olle Cornéer and Stefan Engblom, took D.C by storm at Echostage on Saturday, and I was delighted to be apart of what will surely go down as one of the most eventful, jaw dropping shows I’ve reviewed this year thus far!
Time Is Fire perform at The Howard Theatre on April 20, 2015. (Photo by Kay Said/Courtesy Time Is Fire)
DC’s Time Is Fire released a second EP, Angels, on March 31 via Electric Cowbell, and the psychedelic dance quartet perform next at Comet Ping Pong on Saturday, May 13.
Franz Ferdinand (Photo by Andy Knowles)
Parklife DC previously filled you in on the headliners at Firefly Music Festival 2017, scheduled for June 15-18 at The Woodlands in Dover, Delaware. But as festival revelers well know, it’s the acts that lead up to those headliners that make for a complete day at any given music festival. Here then are our picks for acts you shouldn’t miss at Firefly 2017.
T.I. (Photo courtesy Howard Theatre)
Atlanta rapper Clifford Joseph Harris, better known as T.I. has become quite a hip hop impresario with his Grand Hustle Records label. In addition to publishing T.I.’s own records, including December’s extended EP, Us or Else: Letter to the System, Grand Hustle Records has cultivated a crop of new talent in recent years.
T.I. is on the road with some of those artists with the Hustle Gang — including Yung Booke, London Jae, Shauntrell Pender, RaRa, Translee, and Young Dro — and they stop at the Howard Theatre on Thursday, May 4.
Twin Peaks (Photo by CJ Harvey)
Chicago garage rockers Twin Peaks are hitting a peak this year with the release of a live album, Urbs in Horto, released digitally March 31 and due physically on May 5 via Grand Jury. Twin Peaks are sweeping the nation with a concert date locally at 9:30 Club on Tuesday, May 9. You can win a pair of tickets to go see them, courtesy Parklife DC.
Russian Circles performing live (Photo courtesy Stephanie Marlow // Publicity)
Chicago post-metal trio Russian Circles lit up Belgium’s Dunk! Fest with a live performance on May 7, 2016, which has now been captured to an LP, Live at Dunk! Fest 2016, released April 14. Russian Circles are now bringing their live show closer to us with a performance at The Fillmore Silver Spring on Tuesday, May 2, opening for Mastodon.
DMX (Photo courtesy The Howard Theatre)
Editor’s Update: DMX canceled this show due to health issues.
Earl Simmons, better known as DMX, debuted with his 5X Platinum album …And Then There Was X in 1999. The rapper last released a full album in 2012 with Undisputed, but he has been making new music recently. In January, DMX released a new song “Bain Iz Back,” and he is coming to the Howard Theatre for a show on Thursday, May 18.
Gorillaz (Portrait by Jamie Hewlett)
Gorillaz, the world’s must successful virtual band, will release Humanz, this Friday, April 28, via Parlophone and Warner Bros. Records. And your favorite animated band — Murdoc Niccals, Noodle, Russel Hobbs, and 2D – will hit the road for their first US tour in seven years, including a stop at Merriweather Post Pavilion on July 17. Tour venues in Chicago, Boston, and Philadelphia already have sold out, but tickets remain for Merriweather!
Dan Andriano and Matt Pryor perform at Songbyrd Music House on April 15, 2017. (Photo by Daniel Webb)
Former member of Tuesday, bassist of The Falcon, bassist and co-singer of Alkaline Trio, and one talented solo singer-songwriter, Dan Andriano is a complete badass and my personal favorite musician since I was an angsty punky preteen.
Betty Who performs at 9:30 Club on Sunday, April 16, 2017.
Confident and carefree, Jessica Anne Newham, better known as Betty Who, sashayed onto stage at 9:30 Club on Sunday for a sold-out performance that showcased her sex appeal and poise.