Nalinee Darmrong

Live Review: Bat for Lashes @ Sixth & I — 2/18/20

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Bat for Lashes performs at Sixth & I on Feb. 18, 2020. (Photo by Nalinee Darmrong)

When Natasha Khan moved to Los Angeles not long ago, she quickly made arrangements to travel north to Santa Cruz to see The Trestle Bridge made famous by The Lost Boys movie, a favorite film. She then began reflecting on an artistic endeavor around a group of Lost Girls, and thus was born the concept for the latest album by Bat for Lashes.

Natasha reflected on the inspiration in concert at Sixth & I recently, where she presented half a dozen songs from the album along with several from her previous four records and covers of several artists who “made her the woman she is today.”

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Live Review: Midge Ure @ City Winery — 2/5/20

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WMmidgeure02052012 Midge Ure performs at City Winery DC on Feb. 5, 2020. (Photo by Nalinee Darmrong)

Midge Ure, the gregarious former frontman of Ultravox, answered questions and performed tunes from his solo career, Visage, Ultravox, and even the Rich Kids, in a recent evening of story and song at City Winery in Washington, DC.

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Live Review: The Cactus Blossoms @ Pearl Street Warehouse — 10/18/19

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The Cactus Blossoms perform at Pearl Street Warehouse on Oct. 18, 2019. (Photo by Nalinee Darmrong)

What’s classic has a vintage, but not everything old is a classic. Lots of music released in the ’50s and ’60s doesn’t rise to the level of classics. But the close harmonies of the Everly Brothers, a clear precedent for The Cactus Blossoms, certainly rise to the status of classics.

Great vocals, great songwriting, great playing are classic, and The Cactus Blossoms demonstrated their classic qualities in a recent show at Pearl Street Warehouse.

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Live Review: Ride @ 9:30 Club — 9/22/19

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Ride performs at 9:30 Club on Sept. 22, 2019. (All photos by Nalinee Darmrong, courtesy of RIDE and the 9:30 Club; Words by Mickey McCarter)

Like a reassuring embrace, guitarslingers Ride strode onto stage at 9:30 Club recently, largely to play songs from a thoughtful new album but also to remind us that smart psychedelic vibes are here to stay.

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Live Review: Wovenhand @ U Street Music Hall — 9/15/19

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Wovenhand performs at U Street Music Hall on Sept. 15, 2019. (Photo by photos by Nalinee Darmrong, courtesy of the 9:30 Club and U Street Music Hall)

Gothic folk/alt-country band Wovenhand, led by David Eugene Edwards, put on a somber, heavy performance at U Street Music Hall recently. They let their hard-rocking songs speak for themselves, moving directly from one dark piece into another without addressing the audience.

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Don’t Miss: The Smiths: 1985-1986 @ Studio 1469

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TheSmiths01 Nalinee Darmrong with some pix in her exhibit at Studio 1469 at an opening reception on June 17. (Photo by Mickey)

“Towards the summer of 1985, The Smiths were creating a buzz in the US, with the release of their second album, ‘Meat Is Murder’ earlier that year,” Nalinee Darmrong wrote in the introduction to her remarkable book The Smiths, printed recently by Rizzoli New York.

She continued: “They had done a short US tour previously, and news was circulating that they were coming to the US once more. I was graduating high school that year (I was 17), and Tony, for a graduation present, got me a ticket to see The Smiths at the Warner Theatre in Washington, DC on June 11, 1985.”

Thus began the adventure of a girl and her camera, as she spent some 17 shows tailing Steven Patrick Morrissey, Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke, and Mike Joyce around the United States and to the United Kingdom. Using a beat-up 35mm camera, Nalinee captured her experiences on film, and those pictures remained hidden from the world until now.

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