My Favorite Albums: 2019 Records for the Lockdown by Chris

Posted on March 31, 2020 by Chris R. Smyth in Live Review and tagged Alitudes and Attitude, Anthrax, best albums, blues, Dirty Honey, Duff McKagan, Fever 333, Frank Carter and The Rattlesnakes, Gary Clark Jr., glam, Guns N Roses, hard rock, heavy metal, Megadeth, rap rock, Rival Sons, The Glorious Sons, thrash metal.

Duff McKagan (second from left) and Shooter Jennings (center) with their band (Photo courtesy BWR)

It’s difficult being stuck inside, unable to interact with others face to face. We here at Parklife DC are feeling that along with everyone else. I am regularly looking at my calendar, trying to guess when I’ll be able to get back in a club or arena and do what I love, photograph concerts.

I certainly don’t have the answer to when we’ll all be back to our normal lives, but one thing that is helping me get through this time is listening to music. We are fortunate that so much great music is still being created. Even in these trying times, bands and artists are finding ways to entertain us with live streams and basic recordings from their homes.

But it can be difficult to keep track of who will be performing and when. And if you’re like me, you may just want to throw on an album and let it play. So I have put together a list of some of my favorite albums that came out in 2019.

Best of the Year: Top 10 Photos of 2019 by Chris

Posted on December 11, 2019 by Chris R. Smyth in Live Review and tagged 9:30 Club, Alter Bridge, Andy Grammar, Best of 2019, best of the year, blues, Gary Clark Jr., hard rock, heavy metal, In This Moment, Jiffy Lube Live, Judas Priest, Mark Tremonti, MECU Pavilion, Rams Head Live, Rival Sons, Sevendust, Skillet, Slipknot, The Anthem, The Fillmore Silver Spring.

Judas Priest made the list of Chris Smyth’s Top 10 photos of the Year (but not this particular one). (Photo by Chris Smyth)

Editor’s Note: This year, we asked our bloggers to name their Top 10 shows of 2019 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.

It is an odd feeling when you love and hate something simultaneously. The emotions don’t make sense, yet it’s fully real. That is how I feel each time I am tasked with creating this year-end list. I love looking through my old photographs and remembering each concert that I was fortunate enough to attend, and reliving each show through the images that I was able to capture along the way.

Live Review: Gary Clark Jr. @ Merriweather Post Pavilion — 8/25/19

Posted on August 28, 2019 by Will Colbert in Live Review and tagged Austin, blues, Gary Clark Jr., Merriweather Post Pavilion, R&B, soul, Texas.

Gary Clark Jr. (Photo courtesy Warner Bros. Records)

Genres are BS! The need to categorize was how blues became rhythm & blues and R&B was rebranded into rock ‘n’ roll — clever window dressing for marketers! Gary Clark Jr. would have none of it during a recent show at Merriweather Post Pavilion. The “guitar man” defied categorization as he traveled a continuum of American music that included blues, rock, and soul.

Preview: Gary Clark Jr. and Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats @ Merriweather Post Pavilion, 8/25/19

Posted on August 19, 2019 by Parklifer in Preview and tagged blues, Gary Clark Jr., Merriweather Post Pavilion, Nathaniel Rateliff, Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats, neo-soul, Nicole Atkins, soul.

Gary Clark Jr. (Photo courtesy Warner Bros. Records)

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats team up with Gary Clark Jr. for a performance, one night only, at Merriweather Post Pavilion on Sunday, Aug. 25.

Live Review: Gary Clark Jr. @ The Anthem — 3/30/19

Posted on April 2, 2019 by Chris R. Smyth in Live Review and tagged Austin, Gary Clark Jr., R&B, soul, Texas, The Anthem.

Gary Clark Jr. performs at The Anthem on March 30, 2019. (Photo by Chris Smyth)

Trying to paint Gary Clark Jr. into a box is an exercise in futility. When you started to believe that he’s “just” the next great guitar virtuoso, Gary dropped a soul song that featured a vocal range showcasing his falsetto. When you could not stop dancing along with one of his upbeat and catchy rock hits, Gary played an R&B number that would fit into Motown. And if you ever dared to think that Gary doesn’t have something new to say, he went ahead and released This Land in February, an album and title track that tackles racism in America.

Don’t Miss: Foo Fighters 20th Anniversary Blowout @ RFK Stadium, 7/4/15

Posted on June 17, 2015 by Mickey McCarter in Live Review and tagged Buddy Guy, DC Brau, DJ Z-Trip, Foo Fighters, Foo Fighters 20th Anniversary Blowout!, Gary Clark Jr., Heart, Joan Jett, LL Cool J, motorcycle rally, music festival, RFK Stadium, Trombone Shorty, Trouble Funk.

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