DC’s top blog for live concert reviews
Logan Smith (Photo courtesy the artist)
With a soulful maturity and melodic expertise, Logan Smith presents himself with musicality beyond his years and a voice you’ll never forget. Drawing from a wide variety of influences such as The 1975, Phil Collins, Billy Joel, and Harry Styles, his music puts forth a powerful and noticeable presence.
Catch Logan in a livestream direct from the stage of DC9 on Tuesday, Dec. 8!
Cris Jacobs performs at the Frederick County Fairgrounds on Oct. 21, 2020. (Photo by Casey Vock)
Cris Jacobs, a Baltimore native and arguably one of the Charm City’s top songwriters and performers, took the stage recently in support of Grace Potter way out at the Frederick County Fairgrounds.
His appearance was announced just a few weeks back as part of what has become the unexpected gift of the fall season — the Showtime at the Drive In series of performances hosted by All Good Presents and Baltimore Soundstage. It was Cris’ first time performing at a drive-in style concert and his first live gig since February.
Pigeons Playing Ping Pong performs at Showtime at the Drive-In in Frederick on Oct. 15, 2020. (Photo by Casey Vock.)
While the memories of live music as we once knew it slip more distant into our collective memories, it’s likely that no one will forget their first experience watching a drive-in style pandemic performance.
Originating in Europe and cropping up shortly thereafter throughout the United States, drive-in concerts have already become, for some, a norm in times of required or suggested social distancing. And thanks to the work of All Good Presents and Baltimore Soundstage, music fans in the DMV this fall are being offered a somewhat unexpected harvest of live music by way of the Showtime at the Drive-In series being held at the Frederick County Fairgrounds.
Future Islands (Photo by Justin Flythe)
Baltimore new wavers Future Islands release As Long As You Are, the band’s sixth studio album, this week via 4AD. That same day, Future Islands livestreams a special concert performance, titled “A Stream of You and Me” via Noon Chorus on Friday, Oct. 9.
OAR (Photo courtesy the artist)
LAW Records, in conjunction with The Nowell Family Foundation, are due to release a very special compilation, The House That Bradley Built, on Sept. 4. The new compilation features never-before-released acoustic covers from the catalogue of Bradley Nowell’s band Sublime performed by 20+ bands.
From that compilation, today’s Song of the Day is Rockville roots rockers OAR’s cover of “Badfish,” which hails from Sublime’s first album, 40oz. to Freedom (1992).
Eze Jackson performs as part of the Creative Alliance’s Sidewalk Serenades on July 4, 2020. (Photo by David LaMason)
On a hot afternoon recently, right outside of my house in East Baltimore, the amazing Eze Jackson gave a spirited Sidewalk Serenade.
Sidewalk Serenades is a program through the Creative Alliance in Baltimore that helps local musicians provide socially distanced performances as a way to provide a vital line from artists to audience in the age of COVID-19. But it has the added benefit of highlighting the best musical artistry in and around Baltimore. And Eze Jackson is certainly one of the best.
YungManny (Photo courtesy Audible Treats)
A prodigious talent with charisma to spare, YungManny switches between off-beat flows and candy-coated melodies with ease. Flashing his million-watt smile as he causes havoc in his town, Manny shares “The Road,” his latest video.
Billy Price (Photo by Christopher Myers)
DMV concert venues in Virginia continue to lead the way in reopening as The Birchmere in Alexandria returns after its COVID-19 closure with the Billy Price Charm City Band on Friday, July 10.
Bill Frisell Trio (Photo by Monica Jane Frisell)
Acclaimed guitarist Bill Frisell has announced his newest project Valentine — the debut recording of his trio with bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Rudy Royston — for release Aug. 14 on Blue Note Records.
Bill has also released the album’s closing track “We Shall Overcome,” the Civil Rights anthem that he holds dear as a message of hope in all dark times. “I’ve been playing the song for years, and I’m going to keep playing it till there is no need anymore,” he said. “I can’t help but hope that day will come.”
The Creative Alliance (Photo by David LaMason)
There is such a rich variety of music throughout both Baltimore and DC, but it’s a rare thing to find places that are so in love with the arts that the place itself becomes part of that artistic experience.
Baltimore’s Creative Alliance, which formed back in 1995, has become a vital force in East Baltimore, expanding into the old Patterson Theater (itself over 100 years old) back in 2003 right when I, myself, moved into the neighborhood.
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