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Lil Uzi Vert (Photo by Spike Jordan)
Lil Uzi Vert, born Symere Woods, released his debut studio album in August via Generation Now and Atlantic Records. Love Is Rage 2, the album, followed several critically lauded mixtapes including 2015’s Luv Is Rage. Lil Uzi Vert embarked on a North American tour after releasing the album, and he arrives at The Anthem on Friday, Dec. 15, for a sold-out Christmas show!
George Michael, Bob Geldof, Sting, and Simon LeBon wish you a Merry Christmas. (Photo courtesy Band Aid)
In 1984, Bob Geldof and Midge Ure teamed up to write “Do They Know It’s Christmas,” and they recruited a bunch of pop stars to sing the song for a charity record dedicated to famine relief under the banner of Band Aid. On Thursday, we’ll celebrate the spirit of the song and play some other New Wave-supported Christmas tunes during Careless Memories: A New Wave Party at Dodge City. Get into the holiday spirit with us starting at 8pm!
Reverend Horton Heat performs at 9:30 Club on Dec. 3, 2017. (Photo by Neal Keller)
I don’t consider myself to be a Christmas Curmudgeon; I’m not a hipster Grinch. While I often rise to a level of pretentiousness that rejects many forms of sentimentality, I do embrace the spirit of the holiday season.
Having said that, I will go out of my way to avoid most Christmas music. I’ve got a few faves, but most of it inspires in me the same negative reaction that I feel toward showtunes. But the Reverend Horton Heat very much changed my attitude toward Christmas music at 9:30 Club on Sunday.
Brian Setzer Orchestra performs on their Christmas Rocks! Tour at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Andrzej Liguz)
I vividly remember the friend who put me on to the music of the Stray Cats 30+ years ago, as he was living the zeitgeist of the ’80s rockabilly revival. I was in Rochester, New York, attending RIT, and he’d come up from Jersey to attend school there as well. He had the greaser haircut, the leather jacket, rolled up cuffs on his jeans, cigarettes under his T-shirt sleeve, and designs on marrying his still virginal high school sweetheart once he got his degree.
The Stray Cats were in constant rotation in his dorm room, and he said to me once, “Y’know, even if this whole rockabilly scene fades away tomorrow, this guy Setzer’s still got a job for life.” He was referring to Stray Cats frontman Brian Setzer’s formidable talent as a guitarist. It was clearly evident back then, even if Setzer’s stylistic trappings were a little different from rock hero contemporaries like Eddie Van Halen or Yngwie Malmsteen.
Duran Duran for Melody Maker Magazine in England in 1982. (Photo by Chester Simpson)
This past month, Sting reopened the Bataclan, the Paris concert venue that was shuttered for roughly a year after a horrific terrorist attack. That 2015 terrorist attack occurred during a concert by the Eagles of Death Metal, who days prior to the show performed a cover of “Save a Prayer” by Duran Duran with the band on UK television and then made the cover part of their live set.
In the aftermath of that experience, Duran Duran donated their royalties from the Eagles of Death Metal cover to charity, and then subsequently dedicated live performances of the song to the good in people — as a sort of protest against terror.
The Pietasters (Photo courtesy the band)
It’s officially safe to talk about Christmas after Thanksgiving, right? No matter — it’s always a good idea to talk about The Pietasters. And The Pietasters have an upcoming Christmas show at the 9:30 Club on Friday, Dec. 23.
You’ll want to be there to skank the night away with the (currently) nine-man band under their founder Stephen Jackson, who started The Pietasters back in 1990! Although The Pietasters released their last studio album, All Day, back in 2007 on their own Indication Records, they are still a strong touring act, very much ready to blow you away with their personal blend of ska, rocksteady, soul, and punk rock.
Watch the official music video for “Out All Night,” a popular concert staple from the 1998 album Willis, by The Pietasters:
Parklife DC is giving away a pair of tickets to see The Pietasters in their Christmas show at the 9:30 Club. To win these tickets, leave a comment on this blog. You can leave any comment, but we would like to hear your favorite song by The Pietasters.
For the rules of this giveaway–
Comments will be closed at 5pm 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 are available online.
The Pietasters
w/ Mephiskapheles, Hub City Stompers, Loving Paupers
9:30 Club
Friday, Dec. 23
Doors @ 8pm
$15
All ages
A Christmas-themed cocktail: Gretchen, Stop Trying to Make Fetch Happen (Photo by Joy Asico)
Last Christmas, Derek Brown had an idea! A clever idea!
Derek got a wonderful, amazing idea!
(To be fair, he borrowed the idea from a friend in New York City.)
He would make Christmas even better! And so away he lept with Angie Fetherston and Drink Company and they magically transformed their bar Mockingbird Hill into the super-festival Miracle on 7th Street (named in equal parts for its address at 1843 7th St. NW, DC, and a movie about holiday shopping at the Macy’s department store, Miracle on 34th Street.)
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Andy Jillson
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Chester Simpson
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Chris R. Smyth
Daniel Webb
Ari Strauss
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Jason Nicholson "Le Mouton Flâneur"
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Mark Caicedo
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