Tag Archives: shoegaze

Music Park: This Will Destroy You @ Black Cat — 5/9/18

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This Will Destroy You performs at Black Cat on May 9, 2018. (Photo by Mark Caicedo)

Although I’m a late arrival to the post-rock party, I started following This Will Destroy You a couple years ago. With their sonic power, strong sense of melody and extreme technical abilities, this band’s music spoke to me in a way I’d never experienced before. So I jumped at the chance to see TWDY live at the Black Cat recently. As a bonus, to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the release of the eponymously named first full length album, the band would be performing it and the 2006 EP, Young Mountain, in their entireties.

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Music Park: Wolf Alice @ Rams Head Live — 4/13/18

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Ellie Rosswell fronts Wolf Alice at Rams Head Live on April 13, 2018. (Photo by Shantel Mitchell Breen)

Back in 2013, my very musically advanced 13-year-old daughter shared a song with me that she had heard on a Spotify-curated playlist.  She instantly fell in love with this song, and she could not wait to share it with me.  I heard the song and said, “This song is great.  Who is this?  I need to look them up!”  The band was Wolf Alice, a new band out of London, and the song was “Bros.”

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Don’t Miss: Japanese Breakfast @ 9:30 Club, 5/30/18

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Japanese Breakfast (Photo by Ebru Yildiz)

Michelle Zauner, better known as Japanese Breakfast, will perform at Ottobar on April 2. The show’s all sold out, but there’s good news: She’s already coming around again for a show at 9:30 Club on Wednesday, May 30.

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Snapshots: Wolf Alice @ 9:30 Club — 12/8/17

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Wolf Alice @930Club, Washington DC, 12/08/2017
Ellie Rowsell fronts Wolf Alice at 9:30 Club on Dec. 8, 2017. (Photo by Paivi)

Wolf Alice released Visions of a Life, the band’s sophomor record, in September via Dirty Hit/RCA Records. The quartet scheduled some North American dates and performed at 9:30 Club in a sold-out show on Friday! Paivi was there to get some pix.

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Music Park: Slowdive @ Rams Head Live — 11/16/17

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Slowdive brings cosmic bliss to Rams Head Live on Nov. 16, 2017. (Photo by David LaMason)

In the early ’90s, shoegaze had an underground appeal that ended up becoming an influential blueprint for many bands being formed today. And for me, personally, songs by the Catherine Wheel, My Bloody Valentine, and Slowdive were the soundtrack to relationships, careers, and those ups and downs in life — peaks and valleys like the rhythmic washes of guitar or the lilt of those harmonies buried beneath.

And I still find myself going back to those same sounds, like an old book you’re drawn to again and again, as I did with Slovedive in a live performance at Rams Head Live on Thursday.

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Interview: David Nicholas of Spectrums (@ We Fought the Big One — 11/3/17)

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What if guitarist Steve Kilbey of The Church decided his life wouldn’t be complete until he formed a band with Robin Guthrie?

“Robin, I’ve long admired your work and would love to play with you,” I imagine Steve saying. “There’s just one catch,” he would quickly stipulate. “No vocals. Oh, and let’s dial back on the reverb – we don’t need it.” At this point, I imagine Robin enthusiastically agreeing, with the talented Cocteau Twins guitarist pointing out he’s always wanted to demonstrate what he’s capable of without his armada of effects pedals.

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Don’t Miss: Warpaint (Opening for Depeche Mode) @ Capital One Arena, 9/7/17

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Warpaint (Photo courtesy Beggars Group)

Last year, Warpaint released Heads Up, their third studio album, and the shoegazing quartet took their album on the road in a successful tour that hit 9:30 Club. This year, ladies from Los Angeles return to DC as the opening act for Depeche Mode at Capital One Arena (formerly Verizon Center) one week from today on Thursday, Sept. 7. If you’re going to see Depeche Mode, get there early to catch Warpaint!

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