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Buddy Guy (Photo courtesy The State Threatre)
“Don’t let them goddam blues die,” Muddy Waters once told Buddy Guy. That was over three decades ago, but the eight-time Grammy award-winning blues guitarist and singer hasn’t forgotten. Buddy spent a recent night reminding fans at The State Theatre in Falls Church that the blues are very much alive.
Buddy Guy performs at Wolf Trap, June 23, 2019. (Photo by Ari Strauss)
Legendary blues guitarist Buddy Guy and his band performed to a packed crowd recently at Wolf Trap. The paragon of Chicago blues co-headlined the evening with Kenny Wayne Shepherd; Samantha Fish opened the show.
Patterson Hood performs at Pearl Street Warehouse on Dec. 7, 2018, in one of the best shows of the year. (Photo by Paivi Salonen)
Editor’s Note: This year, we asked our bloggers to name their Top 10 shows of 2018 or choose their Top 10 photos of the year. We will run them over the course of mid-December as our Best of the Year posts.
Mark Engleson, a man who truly loves live Americana, folk, and country, chose his Top 10 concerts of 2018 for Parklife DC.
Buddy Guy performs at ACL Live on Oct. 20, 2016. (Photo courtesy Do512)
By turns funky, salty, entertaining, and educational, legendary bluesman Buddy Guy brought the party to The Birchmere on Monday. Showing off an arsenal of guitar tricks, playing blues classics, both his own and other artists’, Buddy brought the house down. This show was dirty blues with the fervor of a religious tent revival.
Buddy Guy (Photo by Josh Cheuse)
“He’s been called the greatest living guitarist by Eric Clapton, he’s played with blues legends like Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, and his…double album, Rhythm and Blues, is a powerhouse set with guest shots by Aerosmith, Kid Rock, Gary Clark Jr., Beth Hart, and Keith Urban…”—so begins a feature in Guitar World about the legendary Buddy Guy, who will perform at The Birchmere on Monday, Sept. 24.
Dave Grohl (center) and the Foo Fighters, before “breaking a leg” (Photo by Hayley Madden)
Dave Grohl may have taken well-wishers’ call to “break a leg” a bit too literally! On June 12 at Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden, Dave took a tumble — and did just that.
During the second song of a Foo Fighters’ set, Dave fell off the stage. After being temporarily patched up, he completed the show in Sweden, but Camp Foo has seen a flurry of cancellations since then.
However, all major indicators suggest that all systems are go for the Foo Fighters 20th Anniversary Blowout at RFK Stadium, slated for Saturday, July 4.
On the advice of doctors, Dave was forced to cancel shows across Europe on June 14, 16, 19, 20, 23, 25 and 26. (The date of June 26 was for no less than the Glastonbury Festival 2015.)
In a humorous, high-spirited note to fans, Dave apologized for the cancellations on his website.
“So… here I am, recovering with 6 metal screws in my leg, thinking about a lifetime of holding up TSA lines from here to Kalamazoo… damn,” Dave wrote.
“Here’s the not so witty bit… My doctors have advised me to lay low for a while. The most important thing now is for me to recover from the surgery, to keep my leg elevated so as to keep swelling down and prevent any infection/complication that could do long term damage. I’m not out of the woods yet, folks…,” he added.
Despite the European cancellations, the 20th anniversary celebration remains on track. The show features acts that participated in the Foo Fighters HBO documentary series Sonic Highways, as well as a motorcycle rally, BBQ, fireworks and more. Guests include Buddy Guy, Gary Clark Jr., Heart, Joan Jett, LL Cool J feat. DJ Z-Trip, Trouble Funk, and Trombone Shorty.
Tickets for the festival are available online through Ticketmaster.
The party at RFK Stadium starts at 2pm on July 4, but you can start the party earlier with Dave at DC Brau (3178-B Bladensburg Rd. NE, DC) for the motorcycle rally at 9am.
At DC Brau, you can fill upon a breakfast of Chef Geoff’s Breakfast Burritos and Vigilante Coffee and catch some live music. Rally participants get VIP motorcycle parking at RFK as well as a special T-shirt. A portion of the proceeds benefit the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children as well as We Are Family D.C.
You can buy tickets for Dave and Elliot’s 4th of July Rally and Ride to RFK separately, or you can buy them together with the Foo Fighters 20th Anniversary Blowout. You must ride a motorcycle to participate in the rally.
Woo! Well, there you have it. That’s what we know so far. So don’t miss a step, blow out an ankle or take a bad dive, go see the Foo Fighters (safely) instead!
Dave & Elliot’s 4th of July Rally & Ride to RFK
DC Brau
Saturday, July 4
9am
$50-$128
18+
Foo Fighters 20th Anniversary Blowout!
with Buddy Guy, Gary Clark Jr., Heart, Joan Jett, LL Cool J feat. DJ Z-Trip, Trouble Funk, and Trombone Shorty
RFK Stadium
Saturday, July 4
2pm
$78
All ages
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