Panda Bear (Photo courtesy Ticketfly)
Panda Bear, born Noah Benjamin Lennox, released a Day with the Homies, his third EP, in January via Domino Recording Co. The founding member of Animal Collective will tour the new songs with a stop at 9:30 Club on Monday, May 7. You can win tickets to go with Parklife DC!
Arctic Monkeys (Photo by Zackery Michael)
Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Arctic Monkeys, and The Killers will headline the 2018 edition of the Firefly Music Festival, set in The Woodlands in Dover, Delaware, on June 14-17. This ever-expanding music festival makes for an easy weekend trip from DC while offering access to an all-star lineup of musical talent that also includes Odesza, Lil Wayne, Logic, Martin Garrix, SZA, Alt-J, Portugal. The Man, Foster the People, MGMT, Mike D (DJ set), and more.
General admission and VIP tickets are now onsale for the entire weekend, and daily passes recently became available as well.
Calexico (Photo by Jairo Zavala Ruiz)
Calexico, the seven-man Arizona-based Americana band, released The Thread That Keeps Us, their ninth studio album in January via Epitaph Records. Led by founders Joey Burns and John Convertino, Calexico are touring their new material with a stop at the Lincoln Theatre on Friday, April 27.
Steven Wilson (Photo by Lasse Hoile)
English singer-songwriter Steven Wilson released To the Bone, his fifth full-length solo album, in August via Caroline International. Described by Planet Rock as “one of the most prolific and unrivaled artists of our time,” Steven begins a spring tour that begins in Albany, New York, on April 19 and lands at 9:30 Club in DC on Tuesday, April 24.
They Might Be Giants perform at 9:30 Club on April 14, 2018.
The delightfully unpredictable They Might Be Giants jammed the night away at 9:30 Club on Saturday, spotlighting a cool new record but also leaping fearlessly across time and space when moved to do so.
In short, John Flansburgh (“Flans”) and John Linnell (“John”) enjoyed themselves immensely, and they took a very packed, sold-out 9:30 Club along for the ride.
Ellie Rosswell fronts Wolf Alice at Rams Head Live on April 13, 2018. (Photo by Shantel Mitchell Breen)
Back in 2013, my very musically advanced 13-year-old daughter shared a song with me that she had heard on a Spotify-curated playlist. She instantly fell in love with this song, and she could not wait to share it with me. I heard the song and said, “This song is great. Who is this? I need to look them up!” The band was Wolf Alice, a new band out of London, and the song was “Bros.”
Mikky Ekko performs at Union Stage on April 13, 2018. (Photo by Will Colbert)
Mikky Ekko — widely known for “Stay,” his 2013 ballad duet with Rihanna — wasted no time Friday night letting the Union Stage crowd know that he was there to rock. Let’s mother f@#ing party!
The alternative music veteran began his set of Sirius XM Alt Nation’s Advanced Placement Tour with “Moment.” The up-tempo song of the Advance Copy EP will appear on Fame, his forthcoming sophomore album on Interscope Records. Continuing the energetic vibe, Mikky performed “What’s It Like Now” and “Not the One.”
David Byrne (Photo by Jody Rogac)
David Byrne, former frontman for the Talking Heads, remains one of the most remarkable and fascinating musicians making music today. David released American Utopia, his 11th studio album, in March via Todo Mundo and Nonesuch Records. It was his first solo album since 2004, and it hit a career-high #3 in the Billboard Top 200 upon its release.
The legendary performer holds court in a sold-out show at The Anthem on May 12, but tickets are still available for another performance at Merriweather Post Pavilion on Saturday, July 28.
Cypress Hill (Photo courtesy Primary Wave)
Groundbreaking hip hop group Cypress Hill, perhaps forever best remembered for 1994’s “Insane in the Brain,” will headline the National Cannabis Festival at RFK Stadium Festival Grounds on Saturday, April 21.
Hand Habits (Photo courtesy the artist)
Singer-songwriter Meg Duffy, guitarist for Kevin Morby, launched Hand Habits, a solo project, a few years back, and last year she debuted a full-length album, Wildly Idle (Humble Before the Void), via Woodsist. Hand Habits is on tour now, opening for Kevin, and the show arrives at Ottobar in Baltimore on Friday, April 20.
