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Live Review: Garth Brooks @ Capital One Arena — 9/18/26

By
Matt Bailey
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Garth Brooks
Garth Brooks (Photo courtesy the artist)

The spaceship sent a fierce tremble through Capital One Arena, the hum of its engines whipping the crowd into a frenzy before its commander had even appeared or sung a word.

And by “spaceship,” I mean the lighting rig, lowered to the floor of the in-the-round stage in a shape vaguely reminiscent of a shuttle’s thrusters. And by “commander,” I’m speaking, of course, about Garth Brooks.

By the time Brooks’ Blame It All on My Roots Tour reached Washington, it had already carried at least 100,000 people into an orbit of music, nostalgia, and timelessness.

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Live Review: Tyler Ballgame @ DC9 — 9/16/26

By
Casey Vock
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Tyler Ballgame @ DC9 Washington DC - 09.16.26 Digital Photo by Casey Ryan Vock
Tyler Perry, who records and performs as Tyler Ballgame, leads his band during a live show at DC9 on Sept. 16, 2026. (Digital photo by Casey Ryan Vock)

A lot has happened for Tyler Ballgame in a short time.

The Rhode Island native’s been on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! show and CBS Saturday Morning. He was at the center of a reported label bidding war won by Rough Trade. He’s played the prestigious Newport Folk Festival in his home state. And he’s collaborated with an impressive list of artists, including Vulfmon last fall and, more recently, Belle & Sebastian.

Taking a name that he made up one night on the spot and making it known far and wide, he’s broken out with his crooning abilities and his impassioned delivery. But for all he’s accomplished, he’s still making his way through small venues across the country as part of his current tour.

The LA-based vocalist brought his band to the nation’s capital last week, jamming a set full of his most soulful tunes and treating a packed DC9 audience to a beautiful night of music.

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Live Review: Danny Elfman @ The Fillmore Silver Spring — 9/14/26

By
Mickey McCarter
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Danny Elfman
Danny Elfman performs live at The Fillmore Silver Spring on Sept. 14, 2026. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)

Danny Elfman has spent decades moving among seemingly incompatible musical worlds — new wave, film scores, industrial rock, orchestral music, and the manic art rock of Oingo Boingo. But at The Fillmore Silver Spring on Sept. 14, he demonstrated that they belong together far more naturally than one might expect.

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Live Review: Annapolis Songwriters Festival @ Annapolis, MD — 9/10-9/13/26

By
Steve Satzberg
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Judy Blank
Judy Blank and Kristen McNamara perform live during Annapolis Songwriters Festival at Rams Head On Stage on Sept. 11, 2026. (Photo by Steve Satzberg)

Annapolis Songwriters Festival: Of Magic Potions and Superpowers
Words by Liz Wyatt
Photos by Steve Satzberg

For four talent-packed days, the Annapolis Songwriters Festival filled the historic streets, bars, restaurants, and music venues of downtown Annapolis with giants — and not just Young the Giant.

From Sept. 10-13, songwriters from around the country converged on Maryland’s capital for performances stretching from late morning well into the night at venues including 49 West, Rams Head On Stage, The Garden on Market Space, Blackwall Hitch, Stan and Joe’s Saloon, Galway Bay, and the festival’s large Calvert Street stage.

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Preview: The California Honeydrops @ 9:30 Club, 10/3/26

By
Sean Spannuth
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The California Honeydrops
The California Honeydrops (Photo courtesy the artist)

Few touring bands today channel a joyful, soul-stirring energy of street-corner party music quite like The California Honeydrops. On Saturday, Oct. 3, the Bay Area-based outfit brings their mix of Bay Area R&B, New Orleans second-line brass, southern soul, and delta blues to the iconic 9:30 Club for a night guaranteed to transform the room into a dance floor.

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Live Review: The Secret Sisters w/ Caleb Elliott @ The Birchmere — 9/18/26

By
Mark Engleson
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The Secret Sisters
The Secret Sisters (Photo by Alysse Gafkjen)

When close relatives (especially siblings) sing together, the result is often what is called “blood harmony,” the similarities in the two voices almost melding together into a single instrument. Lydia Slagle and Laura Rogers, who perform as The Secret Sisters, are part of this long tradition in country and folk music.

They’re also fantastic songwriters; they may have only released five albums (they’re recording a new one soon), but they already have a number of gems, and they delighted the audience at The Birchmere with a selection of their best material on Friday evening.

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Live Review: Angine de Poitrine @ Lincoln Theatre — 9/17/26

By
Sean Spannuth
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Angine de Poitrine
Angine de Poitrine perform at the Lincoln Theatre on Sept. 17, 2026. (Photo by Sean Spannuth)

If you’ve been paying attention to the underground circuit lately, you already know that Quebec’s microtonal math-rock duo Angine de Poitrine is currently delivering some of the most bizarre, exhilarating, and technically jaw-dropping live music anywhere on the continent. Wrapping up their two separate nights in Washington DC at the historic Lincoln Theatre, Khn de Poitrine and Klek de Poitrine delivered a masterclass in controlled sonic chaos.

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Live Review: Cheekface and Apes of the State @ Black Cat — 9/16/26

By
Andrew Goodwin
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Cheekface (Photo by Miriam Brummel)
Cheekface (Photo by Miriam Brummel)

On this humid September eve, our fearless reporter braved the not so mean streets of Northwest DC to catch two very different performances at Black Cat: Lancaster, PA – based folk-punk act Apes of the State, and Los Angeles’ sardonic pop-rock favorites, Cheekface.

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Live Review: Steve Winwood and John Fogerty @ Wolf Trap — 9/15/26

By
Mark Engleson
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Steve Winwood
Steve Winwood performs live at Wolf Trap on Sept. 22, 2026. (Photo by Ari Strauss)

Steve Winwood and John Fogerty might not seem like the most natural pairing. Winwood’s career, which began in the ’60s with the British invasion band The Spencer Davis Group, ranges from blue-eyed soul to progressive rock. Winwood was a teenage prodigy, an immensely gifted vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. As the driving force behind Creedence Clearwater Revival and beyond, Fogerty has always drawn on old-school American rock, country, and blues. Revered for his songwriting, he towers over roots, heartland, and even punk rock.

While it may have been an unlikely pairing, it worked out splendidly on last week, when Winwood and Forgerty shared the bill at Wolf Trap.

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Live Review: Jeff Rosenstock w/ Jer @ Ottobar — 9/14/26

By
Casey Vock
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Jeff Rosenstock @ Ottobar Baltimore MD - 09.14.26 Photo by Casey Ryan Vock
Jeff Rosenstock leads his band in a sold-out performance at Ottobar in Baltimore the night of Sept. 14, 2026. (Digital photo by Casey Ryan Vock)

Some artists just seem custom-built to play certain venues. If his batshit-delightful appearance there last week was any indication, Jeff Rosenstock is most certainly a perfect match for Baltimore’s Ottobar.

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