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Ian Anderson (center) celebrates 50 years of Jethro Tull at MGM National Harbor on March 11, 2019. (Photo by Chester Simpson)
I first saw Jethro Tull on the Aqualung Tour at Civic Center in Roanoke, Virginia, on April 18, 1971. I most recently saw Ian Anderson and company at MGM National Harbor when they visited to celebrate 50 years of the band.
Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull (Photo by Travis Latam)
Famed progressive rock band Jethro Tull released This Was, their first studio album, in 1968, and founder Ian Anderson last year began a series of concerts to commemorate the band’s 50th anniversary. The Jethro Tull 50th Anniversary show arrives at MGM National Harbor on Monday, March 11. We’re looking forward to hearing early favorites like “Aqualung,” “Thick as a Brick,” and “A Song for Jeffrey,” among others.
Parklife DC had the distinct honor of chatting with Ian about what to expect during the Jethro Tull show, how his personal experiences with the flute have evolved, and what it’s like to be a witness to key historical events and even a catalyst for cultural change.
Anderson .Paak performs at MGM National Harbor on Feb. 20, 2019. (Photo by Will Colbert)
Federal government offices in DC closed for a day due to snow recently, but icy evening conditions didn’t deter fans from venturing out to see Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals. The sold-out show at the MGM National Harbor was part of the “Andy’s Beach Club World Tour” that kicked off earlier this month.
Anita Baker (Photo courtesy Blue Note Records)
Anita Baker is one of few leading R&B acts to garner critical and musical acclaim with a husky ember tone and jazzy tempo, a pleasant contrast with many of her contemporaries. These traits afforded her a 30-year career, which is now its on farewell tour — a tour that visited MGM National Harbor recently.
“You may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?” David Byrne ponders being my No. 1 concert in 2018. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)
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.
Hi, I’m Mickey, editor of Parklife DC. I’m an MTV-bred New Wave and Post-Punk kid at heart, and it will come as no surprise to you that my Top 10 concerts of 2018 mostly burst right off your television screens in 1985.
Keith Sweat performs at MGM National Harbor on Oct. 27, 2018. (Photo by Chris Castillo)
Keith Sweat released Playing for Keeps, his 13th studio album, on Oct. 26 via Red Music. The very next day, the Harlem soul singer was at MGM National Harbor for a show, and Chris Castillo got some pix.
Maxwell performs at MGM National Harbor on Oct. 4, 2018. (Photo by Will Colbert)
Grammy award-winning R&B singer-songwriter Maxwell made a recent stop at The Theater at MGM National Harbor as part of the 50 Intimate Nights Live Tour. It has been over 20 years since the release of his debut album, Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite (1996), but the silky soul singer showed that he’s still got it!
Maxwell, along with artists like Erykah Badu and D’Angelo, have been credited as the originators of neo-soul. The genre that dominated the late ‘90s and early aughts incorporated jazz, funk, and hip-hop into a contemporary R&B sound.
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