DC’s top blog for live concert reviews
Black Marble (Photo by Ashley Leahy)
Cold wave musician Chris Stewart, best known as the creative force behind Black Marble, released a third Black Marble full-length album, Bigger Than Life, recently via Sacred Bones Records. He’s hitting the road with a date at Black Cat on Sunday, Nov. 24, and you can win tickets to go with Parklife DC.
Peter Hook performs at Union Transfer on Oct. 24, 2019. (Photos by Jason Nicholson; Words by Mickey McCarter)
If you’re a new wave lad like myself, Peter Hook, famed co-founder of Joy Division and New Order, is one of the top bassists alive. He has an unmistakable groove rooted in the glam, and I daresay even blues, of the 1970s — but one that grows and spreads forward into the digital age and beyond.
Hooky remains today a singular and unmistakable musician, keeping his work alive with Peter Hook & The Light, which kicked off a North American Tour in Philadelphia recently to pay tribute to the New Order albums Technique and Republic. Jason Nicholson took some pictures of the band at Union Transfer.
Peter Hook performs at Union Transfer on April 26, 2018. (Photo by Jason Nicholson)
Peter Hook, former bassist of Joy Division and New Order, pays tribute to both acts with a 15-date tour that begins in Philadelphia on Thursday, Oct. 24. Appearing at Union Transfer, Peter Hook & The Light revisit New Order’s Technique, the band’s 1989 album, as well as Republic, their 1993 record, in concert.
Helen Marnie fronts Ladytron at Brooklyn Steel on Oct. 2, 2019. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)
Ladytron opened the show with “Black Cat,” sung in Bulgarian by Mira Aroyo, and you could be excused for believing you were watching the timeless synthpop band eight years ago — when the quartet visited last visited Brooklyn.
But no, it was indeed 2019, and Ladytron also played a host of new songs from an exciting new self-titled album released in February. It was a very welcome return indeed when the band performed at Brooklyn Steel recently!
Marina performs at The Anthem on Sept. 18, 2019. (Photos by Katherine Gaines/ ambienteye.com; Words by Mickey McCarter)
When examining the whole of pop music through a rear-view mirror, it becomes clear that most musicians have little new to say after their first and second records.
Marina Diamandis, known eponymously as Marina and formerly known as Marina and the Diamonds, doesn’t have that problem. The Welsh chanteuse released Love + Fear, in April via Atlantic Records, drawing from some study she did on psychology and how the two emotions in the title of the record drive all of human behavior. She broke it down for her audience in a very crowded show at The Anthem recently.
The B-52s perform at The Anthem on Sept. 17, 2019. (Photos by Jason Nicholson; Words by Mickey McCarter)
“Forty years ago, we used to stay up all night and drink coffee to make big plans about the future,” said Kate Pierson of The B-52s. “We called ourselves the Deadbeat Club.” With that, the band launched into the song bearing the title “Deadbeat Club” from 1989’s Cosmic Thing in the middle of their concert at The Anthem recently.
Touring on a 40th band anniversary, which coincides with Cosmic Thing’s 30th anniversary, The B-52s could have stuck to that sunny album of earworms and pleased the bustling crowd at The Anthem. But delightfully, The B-52s took the opportunity to celebrate their entire career with the anniversary show, and played selections both familiar and quirky from across six of their seven studio albums.
Joined by openers Berlin, the California new wave collective, and English synthpop quartet Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, The B-52s tour proved consistently entertainingly and downright beguiling while turning The Anthem into a nonstop dance party.
Marina (Photo by Zoey Grossman)
Marina, formerly known as Marina and the Diamonds, released Love + Fear, her fourth studio album in April via Atlantic Records. The Welsh pop siren returns to DC on the Love + Fear Tour for a show at The Anthem on Wednesday, Sept. 18.
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