Parklife DC

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March 21, 2016

John McEntire of Tortoise plays the drums at Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton, Mass., on March 14, 2016. (Photo by Greg Scranton)

Tortoise held sway over the attention of a very crowded room at the Black Cat Saturday night, engrossing the audience in waves of progressive jazz and post-rock melodies.

Seriously, for a show that wasn’t technically “sold out,” the Tortoise concert was among the most full I’ve experienced on the mainstage of the Black Cat, which has been proud to be the DC home to Tortoise since the Chicago-based quintet started coming around in the days of the Cat’s original location.

Promoting their new album The Catastrophist, Tortoise delivered a long and winding set that drew heavily from the latest record, technically their seventh studio full-length although the band has released other recordings of live performances and special projects since its formation in 1990.

Don’t Miss: Angus Tarnawsky @ 9:30 Club, 3/27/16

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March 21, 2016

Tickets are available online.

Angus Tarnawsky (Photo by Gina Garcia)

Tasmanian musician Angus Tarnawsky is a jack of all trades. Dividing his time between Vancouver and Brooklyn, the electronic artist and drummer runs a record label, In Context Music, which explores the intersection of electronic and acoustic music. And he released his first solo EP Pitched via Inner Surface Music in 2014.

Angus is coming to DC to perform some of his music as the opener for Savages at the 9:30 Club on Sunday, March 27. Resident Advisor said of Pitched, “Throughout, Tarnawsky deploys the kind of sound palette you might associate with Raster-Noton—bursts of sculpted static, clear synthetic tones, bass that sounds like amplified ground hum.”

Listen to “Expand Contract” by Angus while watching some hypnotic visuals for the techno track on YouTube:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPgA44ZmVbg]

Angus enjoys improvising, employing heavy bass as well as crystalline ambience, to create a unique performance. He’s sure to deliver an absorbing performance when he’s in town.

Angus Tarnawsky
Opening for Savages
9:30 Club
Sunday, March 27
Doors @7pm
$25
All ages

Don’t Miss: Tortoise @ Black Cat, 3/19/16

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March 18, 2016

Tortoise (Photo by Andrew Paynter)

Post-rock quintet Tortoise released a new album, “The Catastrophist,” in January via Thrill Jockey Records, and they are returning to the Black Cat while on tour to support it this Saturday, March 19.

Tortoise have played the Black Cat a few times over the years since their formation in 1990. The band largely has specialized in instrumental numbers, and the new album is no different. However, on “The Catastrophist,” they recruited Georgia Hubley from Yo La Tengo on vocals for a soulful, dreamy single “Yonder Blue.”

Watch the official music video for “Yonder Blue” by Tortoise on YouTube:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6tpg_FmsiU]

“The Catastrophist,” the seventh studio album from Tortoise, garnered generally favorable reviews, according to Metacritic. Heather Phares of AllMusic distilled the essence of the album: “Fittingly, the title track has some of the closest ties to the album’s beginnings, holding together shifts between knotty, busy electro-funk and the kind of brooding post-rock Tortoise helped define in the ’90s with nimble drumming indebted to jazz.” John McEntire, also known for his drumming with The Sea and Cake, again engineers the album. It seems like a good time to catch the gents in action!

Mind Over Mirrors, a meditative music project by Chicago musician Jaime Fennelly, opens for Tortoise. Tickets are available online.

Tortoise
w/ Mind Over Mirrors
Black Cat
Saturday, March 19
Doors @9pm
$15
All ages

Around Town: Opening Day Fest 2016 @ Bluejacket, 4/7/16

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March 17, 2016

Washington Nationals baseball is almost back! Their home opener is April 7th against the Miami Marlins.

With the reigning National League MVP, Bryce Harper, leading the charge we can only hope the Nats recover from their epic fade last season.

Before the game, celebrate. Trek down to Bluejacket for their annual Opening Day Fest, to commemorate the new baseball season and the Nationals.

This year the Fest will be a block party with games and music, with all the beers from Bluejacket you can handle. They’ll also have Red Apron sausages, along with oysters, burgers and more. They will even have a ‘to-go’ box in case you need to be elsewhere…like a game.

Opening Day Fest 2016
Bluejacket
Thursday, April 7, 2016
12:00-4:00pm
Free Admission (Food/Beer will cost)
All ages

Sports Park: DC United Home Opener @ RFK Stadium, 3/20/16

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March 16, 2016

Your DC United return to DC for their first home game of the season this Sunday, March 20th.

They’ve got off to a slow start, losing one and drawing one on the road.

The first thing to note about this season, the team has a new logo (as seen above).

I’ll be the first to admit that their first logo has been among the best in the league…so a change didn’t really seem necessary. I wasn’t excited about it.

But after viewing this updated badge over the last few weeks, it is actually pretty cool. And maybe even better…? You can decide. I do like that there is more focus on the black over the red. The team name font is cleaner and the eagle bursting forth from the badge is a nice touch.

The second thing to note is the new players. For example, we have Marcelo Sarvas (of Brazil) transferring over, after missing a good chunk of last year’s MLS season. At age 34, his best days are likely behind him, but the trend of great players switching to the MLS when they might otherwise retire, is good thing to bolster attention to the league.

Finally, the quest for DC United to take up new residence at Buzzard Point is taking shape. And I love the name of the area. I hope they keep it in the stadium name like clubs in the UK often do. Stamford Bridge or White Hart Lane. Very cool. Check out the latest renderings here.

Let’s kick off the season. Home Game 1 of 17 starts on Sunday! Get your tickets here.

If you can’t make it this weekend, have a peek at the season schedule here and choose a few. How about we go to the match-up with the Sounders on June 1st?

MLS: Colorado Rapids at DC United
RFK Stadium
Sunday, March 20, 2016
5:00pm
$20-55
All ages

Around Town: ShamrockFest 2016 @ RFK Stadium Festival Grounds — 3/12/16 (Part 1)

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March 16, 2016

ShamrockFest goes green

What is ShamrockFest? Held every year at the RFK Stadium Festival Grounds (aka the parking lot), it presents an interesting enigma.

If you take your cue from the revelers that attend every year (now 17 editions strong!), then you can easily look around and say it is about having fun with friends and letting go of inhibitions.

It is about dressing up in bright green, with shamrock logos, kilts or skimpy outfits. It is about basking in the waves of sounds, with fiddles, horns, guitars and drums. It is about dancing. It is about loitering with friends and enjoying yourself. It is about helping those said friends stand when they had just a wee bit too much… It is about hoisting a pint and saluting those about to rock. It is many things and more.

2016 was my 4th foray into the odyssey that is ShamrockFest (including three of the last five years).

Music Park: Metric @ The Fillmore Silver Spring — 3/13/16

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March 15, 2016

Emily Haines strikes one of many triumphant poses during the Metric show at The Fillmore Silver Spring on March 13, 2016. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)

Emily Haines steps onto the stage and the room lights up.

Well, it literally does light up with intense shades of red from an explosive light show that her band Metric have orchestrated at the Fillmore Silver Spring on Sunday night. But it also lights up in the way that you cannot help but smile and gasp when Emily bounds onto stage to take her place alongside her bandmates.

Ebullient and effervescent, Emily engaged the audience throughout the evening in a show worthy of the band’s consistently strong material. Metric performed for nearly two full hours for a stop in their “I Can See the End” Tour, a name lifted from a line in “Breathing Underwater” from their 2012 album, Synthetica. The set list drew heavily from the last two albums (Synthetica and sixth album, Pagans in Vegas), but the band touched on all six of their records, kicking things off with “IOU” from their very first album, Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?

Sports Park: Capitals Fortnightly Report Card — 2/29-3/13/16

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March 14, 2016

2015-2016 Fortnightly Report Card Archive

Fortnightly Record: 4-2-1 (9 pts)
Overall: 49-14-5 (103 pts)

The Capitals lost two games in a row for the first time since February 2nd. They haven’t lost three games in a two week span since November!

Are they slowing down? Time to get worried?

No. It’s a long season and they still are playing better than most teams. Luckily both New York teams behind them in the standings have lost two in a row as well. The Caps remain 18 points clear of the Rangers in their division and still have the best record overall by a whopping 12 points.

Part of the problem could stem from the fact that Alex Ovechkin hasn’t scored in five games, three of which the Capitals lost. So, once Alex gets back to form things will turn around. Also, Evgeny Kuznetsov hasn’t scored in six games either. Hard to win if your two top players aren’t producing goals.

The Capitals next play at home against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday, March 15 and then play Nashville on Friday, March 18.

Get your tickets to the games here.

Results

March 1, 2016: Penguins at Capitals – Win (3-2)

March 2, 2016: Maple Leafs at Capitals – Win (3-2)

March 4, 2016: Rangers at Capitals – Loss (2-3)

March 5, 2016: Capitals at Bruins – Win (2-1 OT)

March 7, 2016: Capitals at Ducks – Win (2-1 SO)

March 9, 2016: Capitals at Kings – Loss (3-4 OT)

March 12, 2016: Capitals at Sharks – Loss (2-5)

February 29-March 13 Fortnightly Report Card: C+

Music Park: Nap Eyes @ DC9 — 3/11/16

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March 14, 2016

Nap Eyes (Photo by Colin Medley)

It was a concert on a Friday night, and some pretty girls and guys were there.

And they were there to see Halifax quartet Nap Eyes, who along with Irish guitarist Cian Nugent on a double bill, charmed with some occasionally folky/occasionally psychedelic guitars.

Apologies to Nap Eyes for borrowing the opening line from their song “Mixer,” from their new album Thought Rock Fish Scale, there — but it was true that they drew a fair crowd at DC9 on Friday night on their tour to support the new release, published in the United States on Feb. 5.