Juliette Jackson of The Big Moon sings at DC9 on Friday, Nov. 25, 2016.
The Big Moon may have been the opener at DC9 last Friday, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell that by the crowd they drew! DC9 got full quickly and early for the four ladies from London, who shined brightly with guitar jams that crashed and ebbed as furiously as the tides.
Nick Valensi and CRX perform at U Street Music Hall on November 16, 2016. (Photo by Theresa C. Sanchez)
If your live performance is under 35 minutes, you better bring it. Nick Valensi and his new band CRX made every single second count — and then some. They managed to accomplish a similar feat in less time with their debut album, “New Skin,” released October 28 via Columbia Records. Their U Street Music Hall appearance Wednesday, November 16, was part of a several-month tour promoting the record.
Under the cloak of darkness, the 6’4” guitarist stepped onstage with his four bandmates and together they erupted into the power-packed track “On Edge.” All the anticipation and hype suddenly made sense. Like the venerated ’90s Honda model everyone “in your neighborhood tried to steal,” this group of guys named after that sought-after vehicle was absolutely awesome. Their rapid-fire delivery was reminiscent of the Ramones in their heyday and the basement setting couldn’t be more fittingly “alternative.”
Peter Hook performs at the Howard Theatre on Wednesday, Nov. 23. (Photo by Paivi)
Peter Hook, former bassist for Joy Division and New Order, is willing to bet that we are not soon to forget that he contributed significantly to the sound of both bands. If Hooky were a gambling man, this gambit paid off well for him indeed, as he wrapped up a successful US tour of tracks found on the Substance compilations by both bands — a tour where many stops sold out and a local visit to the Howard Theatre last Wednesday drew a very full house indeed.
A patron opens a cabinet for her meal. (Photo courtesy Moki Media)
Tomorrow, hungry DC office workers can step into the future a little with the opening of San Francisco-based Eatsa on K Street.
Jon Bellion (right) poses with a friend on June 16, 2015. (Photo by ccierraa)
Jon Bellion — wow.
Jon and company blew the roof off The Fillmore Silver Spring on Monday. The crowd was hyped and loved every minute of it.
Ingrid Michaelson and band on the Hell No Tour (10/26/16) in LA (Photo Credit: Justin Higuchi)
With notes and remembrances writ large behind the stage, Ingrid Michaelson and her merry band regaled the sold out Lincoln Theatre on November 21st with songs of longing and heartache and empowerment.
In fact, we knew we were in for an entertaining night when Ingrid exclaimed, “DC! So nice, doing me twice.” Referring, of course, to the fact she was playing at The Lincoln Theatre for two nights.
Ingrid’s show was about having fun, and it was clear that she was enjoying herself immensely, with a wry smile on her face at all times and a steady supply of jokes and stories.
Jai Wolf (Photo by Jasmine Safaeian)
Jai Wolf released his debut EP, Kindred Spirits, on Nov. 18 via Mom+Pop. It includes previously released singles “Indian Summer,” “Drive (feat. Chain Gang of 1974),” and “Like It’s Over (feat. MNDR).” Billboard calls the result “grand and glowing.”
In support of the new release, Jai Wolf is touring with a stop at the 9:30 Club on Thursday, Dec. 8.
His EP presents an agreeable blend of electronic, hip hop, and 80s-style pop. Listen to Kindred Spirits by Jai Wolf via Soundcloud:
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/276278222″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
“The idea of Kindred Spirits came to me about a year ago. I have a really good relationship with my fans on Twitter, and I noticed that two of them had befriended each other because they wore the same piece of Jai Wolf merch to one of my shows. This sort of chance meeting really fascinated me — how two people were brought together because of music. My EP is a tribute to that concept. Each song represents a different type of connection: connections between people, places, and memories,” said Jai Wolf in a press release.
Jai Wolf explained that his stage recreates the Kindred Spirits album cover, where two characters are exposed inside of an orb. He promises his audience “a visual journey that accompanies not just my EP but my remixes and personal edits,” adding that it is “dreamlike,” “grand,” and “surreal.”
Jai Wolf
w/ Jerry Folk, Chet Porter
9:30 Club
Thursday, Dec. 8
Doors @10pm
$25
All ages
STRFKR (Photo by Cara Robbins)
Josh Hodges and STRFKR have come dancing back into our lives with a fifth full-length album — Being No One, Going Nowhere — released Nov. 4 via Polyvinyl Records.
The album is full of introspective reflections and expositive synthpop. “Yet, for all its meditative inquisitions, Being No One, Going Nowhere burns brightest in its restructuring of STRFKR’s necessitative, dance-ready songs into opaquely glistening voyages of self-exploration. Sonically, Hodges and company have expanded their booming, slick beats and voracious earworm hooks into a nebula of unfolding instrumentals that embody the album’s philosophical gravity, as much as they accompany it,” said Steven Ward in Impose magazine recently.
STRFKR are touring in support of the new album, and they alight at the 9:30 Club on Tuesday, Nov. 30.
Watch the official music video “Open Your Eyes” by STRFKR, featuring a contest for the fate of the world, on YouTube:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkeOoWquAqk]
Parklife DC is giving away a pair of tickets to see STRFKR at the 9:30 Club. To win, simply leave a comment on this blog. You can leave any comment, but we would like to know your favorite song by STRFKR!
For the rules of this giveaway–
Comments will be closed at 12pm on Friday, and a winner will be randomly selected. The winner will be notified by email. The winner must respond to our email within 24 hours, or they will forfeit their tickets and we will pick another winner. We will email you instructions on claiming your ticket. Good luck!
If you don’t win, tickets also are available online.
STRFKR
w/ Gigamesh, Psychic Twin
9:30 Club
Doors @7pm
$25
All ages
My Jerusalem (Photo by Steve Gullick)
The Sounds are touring on the 10th anniversary of their breakthrough album Dying to Say This to You, and they are bringing along some exciting openers when they appear at the 9:30 Club on Monday, Nov. 28.
The first of those openers My Jerusalem, a post-punk quartet, hails from Austin. My Jerusalem released their third full-length album, A Little Death, via Razor & Tie in June, and they initially hit the road to tour with Eliot Sumner and the Psychedelic Furs.
The new album garnered critical praise for band founder Jeff Klein and company, with Noisey proclaiming, “It is, as Klein’s music always has been, a dark and tormented affair, but it’s also one infused with black humor as well as an infectious sense of emotional defiance.”
Watch the official music video for “Rabbit Rabbit” from A Little Death by My Jerusalem on YouTube:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHoeVJh98-A]
Said Jeff in a press release: “We’ve taken great care to make sure the live show presents the new songs with the intense, heady cocktail of romance and violence they deserve. I can’t fucking wait to leave it on the stage every night.”
Jeff has reason to be excited as he has solidified the band’s lineup with Grant Van Amburgh (drums), Kyle Robarge (bass), and Jon Merz (guitar, keys, horns).
Surely, that should convince you to get to the 9:30 Club early for My Jerusalem! And Zipper Club, featuring Lissy Trullie, are along for the ride as well. (Read our preview of Zipper Club.) Tickets are available online.
My Jerusalem
Opening for The Sounds
w/ Zipper Club
9:30 Club
Monday, Nov. 28
Doors @7pm
$25
All ages
Mitski performs at the Black Cat on Friday, Nov. 18, 2016. (Photo by Kristie Chua)
Mitski stopped at the Black Cat on Friday to promote her fourth studio album, Puberty 2, released via Dead Oceans in June. Music critics universally cheered the hotly anticipated new album from the Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter.
