Parklife DC

Sports Park: Capitals Fortnightly Report Card — 11/23-12/6/15

Around Town

Jeremy Bailey

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December 7, 2015

Sports Park: Capitals Fortnightly Report Card — 11/23-12/6/15

Fortnightly Record: 5-0-1 (11 pts)
Overall: 18-5-2 (38 pts)

The Capitals are hot now, winning six straight games before finally succumbing to the Winnipeg Jets on the road in overtime.

But they have won five of six games over the last two weeks and sit only 1 point behind the New York Rangers for first place. The Rangers have also played three more games overall, so it should be easy for the Capitals to regain first place.

Alex Ovechkin is tied for 10th place in goals scored in the league (12), while Nicklas Backstrom (9) and Evgeny Kuznetsov (8) are close behind. Kuznetsov also leads the Capitals with 26 offensive points (8 goals/18 assists).

It is suddenly looking bright for DC sports. The Washington Football Team is in first place (pending tonight’s Monday Night Football game outcome vs. Dallas) and the Capitals are looking like the cream of the NHL so far.

They knocked off the powerhouse, Montreal Canadiens, on the road last Thursday. An impressive feat against the current #1 team in the Eastern Conference.

An exciting few months of hockey are in store.

Results

November 23, 2015: Oilers at Capitals – Win (1-0)

November 25, 2015: Jets at Capitals – Win (5-3)

November 27, 2015: Lightning at Capitals – Win (4-2)

November 28, 2015: Capitals at Maple Leafs – Win (4-2)

December 3, 2015: Capitals at Canadiens – Win (3-2)

December 5, 2015: Capitals at Jets – Loss (1-2 OT)

November 23-December 6 Fortnightly Report Card: A

2015-2016 Fortnightly Report Card Archive

Music Park: Jack Ladder and The Dreamlanders @ DC9 — 12/3/15

Live Review

Mickey McCarter

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December 7, 2015

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Jack Ladder performs at TEDxSydney 2015 on May 21, 2015. (Photo by Vicky Benko)

Jack Ladder’s new album is the most amazing thing I’ve heard from a newly discovered artist all year. It’s his fourth studio album overall, but his first release in the United States.

The Aussie crooner and his band, The Dreamlanders, stopped by DC9 on Thursday to perform the album for DC, but we largely didn’t get the memo. So only a small crowd turned out for some big glam, keeping Jack Ladder and The Dreamlanders a secret gem in our city for now.

But that did not deter the band from playing a wonderfully full set, full of great songwriting and powerful guitar hooks. Drawing largely from the new album Playmates, Jack Ladder and The Dreamlanders preceded to deliver the audience back to an earlier time when skillful rock musicians sang of love while wearing smart suits from the very first song.

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Don’t Miss: 9:30 World’s Fair @ 9:30 Club, 1/5-1/7/16

Live Review

Mickey McCarter

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December 4, 2015

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Don’t Miss: 9:30 World’s Fair @ 9:30 Club, 1/5-1/7/16

The 9:30 Club itself (Photo by Dan Reed)

For days, the 9:30 Club posted cryptic notice of a big event, scheduled to happen during the first full week of January, a traditionally dead time for nightclubs.

Well, yesterday on Facebook, the 9:30 Club revealed its plan to liven up that week with a three-day observance of its 35th anniversary called 9:30 World’s Fair.

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Don’t Miss: Jack Ladder and The Dreamlanders @ DC9, 12/3/15

Live Review

Mickey McCarter

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December 3, 2015

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Don’t Miss: Jack Ladder and The Dreamlanders @ DC9, 12/3/15

Jack Ladder (Photo courtesy Girlie Action)

The press surrounding Australian musician Jack Ladder is quite fascinating.

Is Jack Ladder himself a cross between Nick Cave and Bryan Ferry?

Could you describe his band Jack Ladder and The Dreamlanders as the Temptations stepping in for Sparks as the #1 band in heaven?

These questions seem valid given the release of Jack’s fourth album, Playmates, and his first in the United States, published last month via Fat Possum. Jack Ladder and The Dreamlanders are touring in support of that album with a stop at DC9 tonight, Thursday, Dec. 3.

“On his fourth album and second outing with backing band the Dreamlanders, Australian singer/songwriter Jack Ladder transforms himself once again, this time from shadowy goth crooner to lush synth pop romantic,” said Timonthy Monger of AllMusicGuide.

The sparse pacing of the song along with Jack’s baritone vocals belie the sparkling sythesizers around the corner of his recent single, “To Keep and to Be Kept,” which features backing vocals from Sharon Van Etten.

Watch the official video for “To Keep and to Be Kept,” which was shot on vintage video equipment:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIsYk3-sP0A]

Jack Ladder and The Dreamlanders seem like they belong to another era -– which in this case is a good thing. It is as if they stepped out of a hazy period between 1970 and 1985, but you cannot quite pin them down.

So of course such a band would mix the familiar with the unfamiliar, such as with their cover of “So Far Away” by Dire Straits.

Listen to Jack’s cover of “So Far Away” by Dire Straits on Soundcloud:

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/233276184″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

DC soul and reggae artist Caz and DC post-punk quartet Shooting Down Asteroids open for Jack Ladder and The Dreamlanders. Tickets are available online and at the door.

Jack Ladder and The Dreamlanders
w/ Caz and Shooting Down Asteroids
DC9
Thursday, Dec. 3
Doors @8pm
$12
All ages

Don’t Miss: Mariachi Flor De Toloache (Opening for The Arcs) @ 9:30 Club, 12/14-12/15/15

Live Review

Mickey McCarter

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December 3, 2015

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Don’t Miss: Mariachi Flor De Toloache (Opening for The Arcs) @ 9:30 Club, 12/14-12/15/15

Flor de Toloache (Photo by Andrei Averbuch)

The Arcs are the new band helmed by Dan Auerbach, guitarist and vocalist of The Black Keys. They are a bit unusual in several aspects, being a kind of large garage chamber pop band.

One of the unusual aspects of the band is that they are backed by members of Mariachi Flor De Toloache in concert. The all-female mariachi band from New York City provides vocals, horns, and strings to the bluesy ensemble.

The Arcs are touring in support of their debut album, and they are bringing Flor De Toloache along with them as the opening act with two nights at the 9:30 Club on Monday, Dec. 14, and Tuesday, Dec. 15.

Founded by Mireya Ramos, Mariachi Flor de Toloache themselves released a self-titled debut album in April. The band today includes up to 13 rotating members who play traditional mariachi instruments: violin, trumpet, guitarrón (bass), and vihuela (five-string guitar). Mireya and co-leader Shae Fiol provide vocals, and Shae also designs the band’s outfits.

Watch Mariachi Flor De Toloache play Blue Note’s Subrosa in New York City for their record release party on April 4, 2015:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHy_NPd-1lI]

Taking its name from a poisonous night flower used as a love potion in Central America in the past, Flor De Toloache infuse various musical genres into their mariachi mix, including salsa, bachata, cumbia, gypsy music, and Latin jazz as well as pop, hip-hop, and soul, according to a profile of the band in the Wall Street Journal published earlier this year.

The first show on Monday, Dec. 14, sold out, but tickets are still available online for a second show on Tuesday, Dec. 15!

Mariachi Flor De Toloache
(Opening for The Arcs)
9:30 Club
Monday, Dec. 14
Tuesday, Dec. 15
Doors @7pm
$40
All ages

Don’t Miss: Gun Outfit @ Cafe Saint Ex, 12/7/15

Live Review

Mickey McCarter

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December 2, 2015

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Don’t Miss: Gun Outfit @ Cafe Saint Ex, 12/7/15

Dylan Sharp and Carrie Keith of the Gun Outfit (Photo courtesy Pitch Perfect PR)

Los Angeles-based “cowboy” psych band Gun Outfit is coming to town.

The ~~duo~~ quartet, originally from Olympia, Wash., released an extremely listenable new album, Dream All Over, via Paradise of Bachelors, on Oct. 16, and they have launched their very first headlining tour of U.S. East Coast cities in support of it. The Gun Outfit stop in DC on Monday, Dec. 7, to play a show at Cafe Saint-Ex (1847 14th St. NW, DC), an unusual but welcome location for a rock show to be sure.

The Gun Outfit recently published a video for the single “In Orbit,” directed by the band’s Dylan Sharp. In the video, various “alien life forms disintegrate into washes of colors,” according to the band. The music is a wistfully hazy psych-folk march.

Watch the psychedelic official video for the Gun Outfit’s “In Orbit” on YouTube:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qJbT45BR3w]

Apparently, Dylan and fellow vocalist Carrie Keith bring a punk aesthetic to their psych guitars, and I’m eager to hear some more from them. Says The New York Times: “This band has a punk aesthetic deep at the center and, especially now, slow and drifting, double-guitar desert-rock psychedelia at the surface. Dream All Over is the latest installment in the output of a band that’s remained open-ended, slow and steady.”

DC bands Flashers and Broken Grids open for the Gun Outfit. Tickets are available at the door on the night of the show.

Gun Outfit
w/ Flashers and Broken Grids
Cafe Saint-Ex
Monday, Dec. 7
Show @9pm
$8
All ages

Music Park: Dragonette @ U Street Music Hall — 11/25/15

Live Review

Jeremy Bailey

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December 1, 2015

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Music Park: Dragonette @ U Street Music Hall — 11/25/15

Dragonette (Photo by Mackenzie Duncan)

If your goal was to let loose and enjoy a night on the town before Thanksgiving since you were still in DC anyway, you could have done no better than to start famously at the U Street Music Hall.

Martina Sorbara and Dan Kurtz, of Dragonette, were on hand to make you dance, in every way possible. With Dan’s keyboards and Martina’s golden voice, they electrified the crowd with a frenzy of their songs played to match the DJ-inspired venue, as house and club beats.

Dragonette hails from Toronto originally, and also includes Joel Stouffer on the drums.

Let’s call much of the crowd’s response to their infectious songs, the ‘super dance’, bouncing up and down in unison.

The crowd grew to a respectable size (almost full), given that you might expect many potential revelers to be out of town for the holiday.

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Music Park: Glen Hansard @ DAR Constitution Hall — 11/28/15

Live Review

Mickey McCarter

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December 1, 2015

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Music Park: Glen Hansard @ DAR Constitution Hall — 11/28/15

Glen Hansard sings with a young lad live at Vicar Street in Dublin on Nov. 25, 2013. (Photo by Silvia Pititto)

Glen Hansard was determined.

“I have a friend who always ruins the moment,” Glen told an audience at DAR Constitution Hall on Saturday night. “He’s the kind of person that finds the fault in everything even when everything is going well. He’ll find that one thing that will ruin it for everybody.”

So to brighten his friend’s spirits, Glen said, he brought him along on tour. Glen also wrote a song dedicated his American friend, Thomas Bartlett, called “My Little Ruin,” which captures the spirit of being able to find that fault in everything.

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Ticket Giveaway: Darwin Deez @ Black Cat, 12/9/15

Live Review

Mickey McCarter

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November 30, 2015

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Darwin Smith (Photo by Krista Schlueter)

Brooklyn-based quartet Darwin Deez released a third studio album, Double Down, in September via Lucky Number — and the band, led by Darwin Smith, has been touring in support of it. They hit DC with a stop at the Black Cat on Wednesday, Dec. 9.

Last month, Darwin Deez produced a clever video for the single “The Mess She Made,” which features Darwin singing as various international currency is superimposed over his head.

Watch the official video for “The Mess She Made” on YouTube:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r40tpNUQMC8]

Joined by Charly Bliss on the current tour, Darwin Deez promises smart choreography and high energy to accompany their blend of soulful and bluesy pop.

And you have a chance to see it for yourself, as Parklife DC is giving away a pair of tickets for this show. To win, follow us on Twitter, or retweet or like the tweet announcing this ticket giveaway. (You can follow us at http://www.twitter.com/ParklifeDC!)

For the rules of this giveaway–

We will choose a winner at random from Twitter follows, retweets, and likes by 5pm on Wednesday, Dec. 2. The winner will be notified by Twitter! The winner must respond to our communication within 24 hours or they will forfeit their tickets, and we will pick another winner.

Tickets also are available online!

Darwin Deez
w/ Charly Bliss
Black Cat
Wednesday, Dec. 9
Doors @7:30pm
$15
All ages

Music Park: English Beat @ 9:30 Club — 11/25/15

Live Review

Mickey McCarter

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November 30, 2015

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Music Park: English Beat @ 9:30 Club — 11/25/15

Dave Wakeling of The English Beat performs at Bumbershoot 2010 in Seattle on Sept. 6, 2010. (Photo by Dave Lichterman)

Calling all rude boys and rude girls!

The venerable English Beat have been revitalized this year with a new toaster — King Schascha. For a 2-tone band, a toaster isn’t mechanical, but in King’s case, he’s certainly electric.

The reggae rhymer from San Diego effectively got the very full house at the 9:30 Club dancing right away on Wednesday, Nov. 25, paving the way for band leader Dave Wakeling and his time-tested repertoire of ska and reggae. They kicked things off with “Rough Rider” from the debut album by the English Beat, 1980’s I Just Can’t Stop It, and the entire audience was moving and grooving from the very first note.

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