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The Light perform live At 02 Academy Leeds on July 1, 2022. (Photo by Neil Chapman / Unholy Racket)
As a stop on a massive cross cross-continental journey, taking them across the United States and Canada in August and September 2022 for their biggest and most extensive trek to date, Peter Hook & The Light’s “Joy Division: A Celebration” visits The Fillmore Silver Spring on Thursday, Aug. 25.
The Psychedelic Furs perform at The Fillmore Silver Spring on July 17, 2022. (Photos by Jason Nicholson; Words by Mickey McCarter)
The music of The Psychedelic Furs is the haze of a muggy summer day. It hangs in the air, and you can see wafting up it as you move through it. Their music is the gentle breeze that breaks through that haze, and it’s the downpour that happens when the humidity becomes too much to bear. The cool air that follows is also the music of The Psychedelic Furs — crisp and refreshing.
The sweet relief does not come without a bit of unpleasantness, and that is a key ingredient of The Psychedelic Furs’ compositions. We were reminded of such on a particular muggy day recently when The Psychedelic Furs showered The Fillmore Silver Spring with fuzzy earworms, wrought in extraordinary confidence and competence.
The Psychedelic Furs (Photo courtesy Sonic PR)
The Psychedelic Furs, English neo-psychedelic legends, released Made in Rain, their first album of original material in nearly 30 years in 2020. Since then, the band have hit the road as the touring force of nature they remain in support of their Maid in Rain 2022 Tour.
With special guests X, The Psychedelic Furs headline The Fillmore Silver Spring on Sunday, July 17!
We Are Scientists (Photo by Danny Lee Allen)
Last fall, NYC indie vets We Are Scientists released their new LP HUFFY via Masterswan Records. After a delay due to the pandemic, We Are Scientists are now on tour in support of the album, and the band appears at DC9 for a show on Friday, July 8!
Martin Fry of ABC (Photo courtesy of ABC)
Martin Fry, consummate English showman, fronts disco/new wave collective ABC in a run of USA tour dates across the country, including a marquee show at Sony Hall in New York City on Wednesday, July 6! Fry celebrates the 40th anniversary of ABC’s debut album as well as other career hits in these wonderful and rare concerts.
They Might Be Giants (Photo by Sam Graff)
They Might Be Giants released the dazzling album and coffee table art book project, BOOK, last Fall. And now they are finally hitting the road for an oft-delayed tour, rescheduled due to pandemic lockdowns.
Many dates on the tour are sold out, including three DC dates — at 9:30 Club on Thursday, June 9, and at the Lincoln Theatre on Friday, June 10, and Saturday, June 11. For those of us attending, these are sure to be shows to remember!
Sleaford Mods dance in the dark at Black Cat on May 21, 2022. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)
When you first ever see Sleaford Mods, you might not know exactly what to make of them. Are they aging hipsters? Roadies who found their way on stage? A few pissed off guys who want to dance?
It turns out that the duo — Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn — are serious artists who make compelling music. They recently filled Black Cat in DC with a lengthy set of about 23 songs, presenting an engrossing act that makes you reconsider what exactly constitutes a concert.
The South London band Dry Cleaning are a bit of a mystery. They seem to have appeared suddenly, out of nowhere, but that’s not quite true. In 2019 alone, they released two fantastic EPs and then followed those up last year with the band’s first LP, New Long Leg — a brilliant record that’s hard to not listen to constantly. And in that short time they’ve created a buzz that’s hard to ignore.
On their first full US tour, Dry Cleaning recently made its way to a completely sold-out Ottobar. (Right before the pandemic, the band did play a short swing through the states.)
DEVO steals the show at the inaugural Cruel World Festival on May 14, 2022. (Photo courtesy Cruel World)
Last weekend, California mega-festival organizer Goldenvoice finally fulfilled its pandemic-delayed vision of presenting a gala event consisting solely of alternative new wave and post-punk bands of the ’70s and ’80s coupled with younger bands who have adapted a similar sound in the 2010s and 2020s.
And so it was that an estimated 50,000 people (the capped capacity of the park) streamed into Brookside at the Rose Bowl for the first day of the newly minted, annual Cruel World Festival on Saturday, May 14.
Here is a recap of five of the best acts to play that day.
Interpol performs at The Anthem on May 10, 2022. (Photos by Casey Vock; Words by Mickey McCarter)
Interpol came to The Anthem in DC recently to turn on the bright lights!
The trio have a new album, The Other Side of Make-Believe, due in July, but you wouldn’t have known it for all of the love lavished on the band’s 2002 debut record. But that made sense when you consider it’s given us 20 years of frontman Paul Banks and company!