Black Masala performs at Pearl Street Warehouse on Oct. 6, 2018. (Photo by Ari Strauss)
Some bands possess a bevy of talent and personality which cannot be fully appreciated unless seen live. DC-based Black Masala is such a band. The Balkan- and funk-inspired brass band recently put on an energy-packed raucous performance at Pearl Street Warehouse, one of the cozy new live music venues at The Wharf in Southwest DC.
Priests (Photo courtesy Pitch Perfect PR)
DC punk quartet Priests have hit the road through September with stops at Pitchfork Music Festival, Pickathon, Basilica Soundscape, and more! Tonight, the band are in Knoxville, Tennessee, as they make their way to Ottobar in Baltimore on Saturday, July 22.
Darkest Hour (Photo by Pete Duvall)
DC metalcore quintet Darkest Hour come screaming back into our streaming services with their ninth studio album, Godless Prophets & The Migrant Flora on March 10 via Southern Lord Records. In support of the album, Darkest Hour will launch a tour at the Black Cat on Friday, Feb. 17.
Ginuwine (Photo courtesy The Howard Theatre)
It’s been nearly six years since a new solo album from DC R&B superstar Ginuwine. He’s been slowly working on an eighth studio album, tentatively known as “Same Ol’ G…the Bachelor,” referring both to the title of his debut album and his recent divorce.
While Ginuwine may not yet have a new album, he’s certainly been busy, and he’s putting up a concert performance at The Howard Theatre on Friday, Jan. 27.
Let’s get cheeky, we have our own ‘State’ Fair in DC!
It comes to Storey Park in NoMa on Sunday, August 28th.
You can find agriculture and artists and food and music and workshops and contests.
This will be the seventh annual DC State Fair, it started in 2010 at the Columbia Heights Day festival and has been held in different parts of the city since.
Check out the schedule of workshops and music/live performances here.
DC State Fair 2016
Storey Park @ NoMa (1005 First Street, NE)
Sunday, August 28, 2016
11am-8pm
Free Admission (pay for food and beverages)
All ages
A Right Proper Astral Weeks sits on the handle of a Foeder oaken fermentation vessel.
Looking for weekend plans? Like beer? You’re in luck! Remarkably, limited tickets are still available for general admission to the annual SAVOR: An American Craft Beer and Food Experience event at the National Building Museum (401 F St. NW, DC) for Friday, June 3.
Time Is Fire perform at The Howard Theatre on April 20, 2015. (Photo by Kay Said/Courtesy Time Is Fire)
Back in July, I went to the Black Cat to check out the noir cinema pop of Brooklyn band KATIEE. However, like everyone else there, I was rather stunned by the opening act, DC psych quartet Time Is Fire.
The four men in Time Is Fire cite DC punk as an influence on their band, and occasionally they marry some post-punk guitar structures to their upbeat musical style. However, when they really get rolling, they become a full-blown psychedelic jam ready to enthusiastically throw down as a wandering dance party all by themselves.
Sometimes frontman Kamyar Arsani sings in English and sometimes Farsi, and the instruments in the band tend to move with him from more traditional rock to hazy Middle Eastern rhythms. It’s totally appropriate given that Kamyar is a daf player and Sufi poet who grew up in Tehran, where he absorbed both Western and Persian music. He is joined by drummer Jim Thomson (CSC Funk Band, Bio Ritmo, GWAR, Alter Natives), guitarist Matt Perrone (Alma Tropicalia), and bassist Ashish Vyas (Thievery Corporation, GoGoGo Airheart).
In November 2015, Time Is Fire released their self-titled debut EP, produced by Fugazi’s Brendan Canty, via Electric Cowbell. You can listen to the EP, and buy it, on Bandcamp:
Time Is Fire really come alive in concert. When they play, they are fully in their own world, weaving a sort of hypnotic field, but they also enjoying themselves so fully that it’s downright infectious.
Watch the official music video for “Fetneh,” which really manages to capture the energy of Time Is Fire in performance:
The band have announced two shows in the coming months. They open for Social Station at DC9 on Thursday Jan. 28, and then they appear with Prince Rama and SISTR MD9IGHT in a lineup at Comet Ping Pong on Saturday, March 5. Tix for the DC9 show are available at the door; tix for the Comet Ping Pong show are available online.
It’s well worth your time to check them out!
Time Is Fire
Opening for Social Station
DC9
Thursday, Jan. 28
Doors @8pm
$8
All ages
Time Is Fire
w/ Prince Rama and SISTR MD9IGHT
Saturday, March 5
Doors @10pm
$12
All ages
