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Railroad Earth (Photo by Shredded Elements Photography)
(Editor’s Note: This show is being postponed due to concerns related to COVID-19. Stay tuned for a new date!)
Railroad Earth, the terrific jam band collective, play 9:30 Club on Friday, Jan. 7.
In 2020, Railroad Earth were poised to release All for the Song, a new studio album, but apparently the band held the release through the pandemic lockdowns that hit the United States that year.
Evan Stephens Hall leads Pinegrove during a performance at Rams Head Live in Baltimore on Oct. 19, 2021. (Photo by Casey Vock)
This country can be an unforgiving place to those in entertainment who makes mistakes, especially errors that anyone with common decency would agree are significant and alarming.
But America, as we have seen throughout history and in recent times, can also provide artists the opportunity to redeem and reinvent themselves if there is still enough support for their craft and what they originally set out to do.
That might be the easiest way for an outsider to rationalize or make sense of Pinegrove, a band originally from Montclair, New Jersey, that played to a packed house at Rams Head Live in Baltimore recently — but a band that saw its rise to fame derailed several years ago by what were and still should be considered serious accusations of sexual coercion against lead singer and guitarist Evan Stephens Hall.
As a fan of live music, going from seeing a show at least twice weekly to no shows at all for about eight months has been rough, but it’s nothing compared to what venues and artists have gone through in that time. It’s been a year of live-streaming, fundraisers, and trying to find new ways of keeping the making of music and the creation of these unique communal experiences alive through these difficult times.
One of those ways that have emerged in recent months is the advent of drive-in concerts.
The Front Bottoms (Photo courtesy Baltimore Soundstage)
In August, The Front Bottoms released In Sickness & In Flames, the band’s fifth full-length studio album. Now, guitarist Brian Sella and drummer Mat Uychich are playing socially distanced drive-in shows, with a date at the Frederick Fairgrounds on Wednesday, Oct. 28, presented by Baltimore Soundstage!
The Smithereens perform at the State Theatre in Falls Church, Virginia, on Jan. 17, 2020. (Photo by Mark Caicedo)
“In sickness and in health.”
Those words are normally reserved for particularly solemn occasions, but those same moments can be joyous, life-affirming and festive… much like a Smithereens concert, come to think of it. Friday night was just one of those instances with the New Jersey-based Smithereens making their 20th appearance at the State Theatre in Falls Church. For many of us battling colds, flu, and various other ailments, The Smithereens energetic, exuberant, and healing music was just the right medicine.
The Smithereens with Robin Wilson (Photo courtesy Lappen Enterprises)
The Smithereens return to the State Theatre in Falls Church, Virginia, on Friday, Jan. 17, with Robin Wilson of the Gin Blossoms on lead vocalist!
The Bouncing Souls (Photo by Danny Clinch)
“We live our life in our own way, never really listened to what they say.”
The Bouncing Souls electrified the large crowd at The Fillmore Silver Spring on a recent, blustery night as they swung through the DMV on the tail end of the band’s 30th anniversary tour.
Dentist (Photo courtesy the band)
Dentist, our new favorite surf-garage band, recently released a Christmas song, covering “Mele Kalikimaka,” written by Robert Alex Anderson and famously covered by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters.
Give it a listen below!
Bettye Lavette (Photo courtesy APA)
Five-time Grammy nominee Bettye LaVette got off to a rocky start when she opened for David Bromberg recently at the Historic Sixth & I Synagogue. After her first number, she pleaded for the tech to turn down the echo and reverb. With it its high ceilings — Bettye called the room a cavern — Sixth & I’s sanctuary provides its own echo. As Bettye remarked, with echo on her mic, it sounded a bit too much like “heaven,” and not in a good way.
Dentist performs at DC9 on Sept. 29, 2019. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)
When a band is named “Dentist,” you may well be tempted to make remarks about the members’ teeth as a way to ease into a review. Well, we are going to chat a little about their eyes instead.
New Jersey surf rockers Dentist dropped by DC9 recently to open Brick + Mortar, and these folks have some damn expressive eyes to accompany their truly catchy tunes.
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