Parklife DC

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December 21, 2016

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Garrett Dutton aka G. Love (Photo courtesy Mason Jar Media)

Christmas is on Sunday! While not a holiday we often associate with the blues, sometimes that’s just how Christmas goes. And sometimes only a good bluesy song can capture our mood.

Garrett Dutton aka G. Love is a blues musician who also happens to love Christmas! He recently contributed a track to Amazon Music’s Acoustic Christmas, released Nov. 22. Give a listen to G. Love’s “Merry Christmas to You” on Soundcloud:

Music Park: 10 Top Live Bowie Covers of 2016

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December 20, 2016

Duran Duran perform a medley of “Planet Earth”/”Space Oddity” at the Klipsch Amphitheater at Bayfront Park in Miami on April 1, 2016. (Photo courtesy YouTube)

In the past year, I’ve reminisced much on the passing of David Bowie, whose unexpected death in January marked a year of remembrances of the great musician and his legacy.

And many of these remembrances involved a good deal of dancing and absorbing live performances from wonderful artists that took the time to remember Bowie as well. Here then are 10 top Bowie covers that I saw in my time reviewing shows for Parklife DC in 2016.

Snapshots: The Reminders @ 9:30 Club – 12/16/16

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paivi

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December 20, 2016

The Reminders perform at the 9:30 Club on Friday, Dec. 16, 2016. (Photo by Paivi)

Big Samir hails from Brussels, Belgium, and Aja Black was born in Queens, New York. Together, they are The Reminders, a hip hop/soul duo who got a lot of attention with their first two albums -– 2008’s Recollect and 2012’s Born Champions.

More immediately, The Reminders joined DC’s Thievery Corporation for a run of dates as an opening act on Thievery’s 20th anniversary tour, which ended with three sold-out shows at the 9:30 Club on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. (Check out Paivi’s pictures of Thievery Corporation from Friday night’s show.)

Snapshots: Thievery Corporation @ 9:30 Club — 12/16/16

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paivi

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December 20, 2016

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Thievery Corporation performs at the 9:30 Club on Friday, Dec. 16, 2016 (Photo by Paivi)

Thievery Corporation will release a new studio album, The Temple of I & I, on Feb. 10, 2017, via their own ESL Music. In the run-up to that release, Eric Hilton and Rob Garza recruited collaborators new and old for a 20th anniversary tour, which culminated in three sold-out shows at the 9:30 Club on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday last week.

Don’t Miss: At the Drive-In @ 9:30 Club, 3/20/17

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December 19, 2016

Tickets are available online.

At the Drive-In (Photo courtesy Fearless Records)

After a long silence following their last album, post-hardcore stalwarts At the Drive-In released a new song “Governed by Contagions” on Dec. 8 via Rise Records.

The new song marks a remarkable turn in developments for the El Paso punk quintet, which originally broke up in 2001 and eventually returned to touring in 2012. But now it seems like they are really back with a brief headlining tour in 2017, which includes a stop at the 9:30 Club on Monday, March 20, along with the promise of new music. Indeed, the new full-length album, produced by ORL and Rich Costey, to be released in 2017 will be the band’s first since third album Relationship of Command in 2000.

Watch a lyric video for “Governed by Contagions” by At the Drive-In on YouTube (or download a free MP3 at http://www.atthedriveinmusic.com):

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-NYWzd7JW8]

With original guitarist Jim Ward departing the band, At the Drive-In members Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Paul Hinojos, Tony Hajjar, and Keeley Davis carry on without him. Still, SPIN magazine hailed the new song, saying “The fierce, stuttering anthem is pretty classic ATDI.”

At the Drive-In initially eyed some US dates in June, but the band canceled that tour while Cedric recovered from voice problems. But now they are back for a run of dates that starts in DC and ends in Toronto on March 29.

At the Drive-In
9:30 Club
Monday, March 20, 2017
Doors @7pm
$45
All ages

Don’t Miss: AFI @ 9:30 Club, 2/7/17

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December 19, 2016

Tickets are available online.

AFI (Photo by Jiro Schneider)

Northern California punk rockers AFI return with a 10th studio album on Jan. 20 via Concord Music Group. The self-titled album is alternatively titled the “Blood Album” because of its cover artwork (featuring drops of blood), and it will include four limited vinyl color variants matching the four blood types (A | O | B | AB), according to a press release from the band.

Meanwhile, the quartet will launch “The Blood Tour” in Los Angeles on the day the album drops, and they will hit DC to perform at the 9:30 Club on Tuesday, Feb. 7.

A week ago, AFI released a video for “White Offerings” from the Blood Album. Watch the official music video on YouTube:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC93KhZRxUw]

Vocalist Davey Havok, guitarist Jade Puget, bassist Hunter Burgan, and drummer Adam Carson have been going strong since their sixth studio album, Sing the Sorrow, raised their national profile in 2003. The gents certainly have their own sound derived from hardcore punk, but they are first and foremost rock-n-rollers who put on a lively show.

Davey said AFI developed the Blood Album without an initial concept, noting, “No, that’s never really the case for us. We sit down and we begin writing and whichever direction the writing leads us, we follow, and if something comes out of us that we feel is too familiar, we generally don’t gravitate towards it, and conversely, when we’re writing something that comes out that is fresh and different for us within the context of AFI, we generally go in that direction, and that leads us to different places and different songs, and that was the case with the ‘Blood Record.'”

AFI
w/ Souvenirs
9:30 Club
Tuesday, Feb. 7
Doors @7pm
$30
All ages

Music Park: Seu Jorge @ Howard Theatre — 12/13/16

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December 19, 2016

Seu Jorge performs at the Howard Theatre on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2016. (Photo courtesy the Howard Theatre)

In a year with David Bowie, I’ve participated many tributes, wakes, and remembrances of the man. Soon into 2016, David passed unexpectedly, and the DC metro area was promptly greeted by a concert by former Bowie drummer Woody Woodmansey and his Holy Holy tribute to Bowie’s early years.

That was a great show, boisterous and fantastic, with a remarkable group of musicians that included longtime Bowie producer Tony Visconti on bass. It was cathartic to attend their concert only days after David’s passing. But it’s been equally affecting in the past month to hit two DC performances by Seu Jorge, an unassuming Brazilian musician who broke through to a new audience a bit more than a decade ago with his acoustic covers of Bowie classics in the cult film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.

Music Park: Den-Mate @ Songbyrd Music House — 12/14/16

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December 16, 2016

Jules Hale of Den-Mate sings at Songbyrd Music House on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016.

Jules Hale seems to sing of a sort of spiritual liberation in her song “For Free” by Den-Mate. Delivering a hazy vocal over a steady beat, she weathers emotional attacks as if they were physical missiles in the song with a metaphorical shrug.

In concert on Wednesday at Songbyrd Music House, Jules opened for Laura Burhenn of The Mynabirds, delivering seven mesmerizing songs in a deliberate state of dreampop. (Read our Parklife DC review of Laura Burhenn’s concert.) Affixed to the center of stage, Jules played a keyboard while beating a drum and singing, an impressive display of efficiency that may have discouraged some impulses to dance during the show (as she has expressively done in the past).

Music Park: Laura Burhenn @ Songbyrd Music House — 12/14/16

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December 16, 2016

Laura Burhenn of The Mynabirds performs at Songbyrd Music House on Dec. 14, 2016.

Laura Burhenn came home to DC for the holidays.

She even brought with her a Christmas song in her visit to Songbyrd Music House on Wednesday. Of course, despite a jingly medley, that song turns out to have some bite as Laura tackles climate change, dishonest politicians, and a search for truth in “All I Want Is Truth (for Christmas),” a holiday offering from her project The Mynabirds released by Saddle Creek in 2012.