Alvvays (Photo courtesy Grandstand Media)
Alvvays release their sophomore album Antisocialites tomorrow, Sept. 8, and one month from today, the band performs at Rock and Roll Hotel on Saturday, Oct. 7.
Toronto
Ticket Giveaway: Broken Social Scene @ 9:30 Club, 9/20/17
Broken Social Scene (Photo courtesy Ticketfly)
Experimental Canadian rock band Broken Social Scene released Hug of Thunder, its fifth studio album, via Arts & Crafts in July. The 17-person collective then launched a world tour that included a stop at 9:30 Club on Sept. 19. That night quickly sold out, and the band added a second show at 9:30 Club on Wednesday, Sept. 20. You can win tickets to attend that show with Parklife DC.
DJ Park: Deadmau5 @ Merriweather Post Pavilion — 4/8/17
Deadmau5 atop his technologically advanced 2.1 Cube at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on March 29, 2017. (Photo by Charles Kang.)
The spring night began in anticipation as fans awaited from high in the lawn to deep in the pit for Joel Zimmerman’s performance. And Joel, better known as Deadmau5, delivered a performance I’ll always remember at Merriweather Post Pavilion on April 8.
Ticket Giveaway: Deadmau5 @ Merriweather Post Pavilion, 4/8/17
Deadmau5 (Photo by Matt Barnes)
Electronic music superstar deadmau5 is going to tour 21 dates with his “lots of shows in a row” tour! He visits Merriweather Post Pavilion in nearby Columbia, Maryland, on Saturday, April 8, and you can win tickets to go see him.
Music Park: Austra @ Black Cat — 1/28/17
Katie Stelmanis of Austra sings at Vida Festival 2014 in Barcelona on July 5, 2014. (Photo by scannerFM)
“This is an appropriate place to play this song,” suggested Katie Stelmanis at the Black Cat in DC on Saturday.
Don’t Miss: Austra @ Black Cat — 1/28/17
Katie Stelmanis of Austra (Photo by Renata Raksha)
Canadian vocalist and producer Katie Stelmanis has been receiving praise with the upcoming third album by her band Austra, which is visiting the Black Cat on Saturday, Jan. 28.
“Stelmanis’ personal satisfaction derives from artistic validation… and having a voice… and with ‘Utopia’” she’s found both in the form of a steely cold and cascading swirl of a track. One that’s anthemic, too, in a way that encourages you to find your own resolve, as well,” said Stereogum in praising the song “Utopia” from the upcoming album, Future Politics, due Jan. 20 via Domino.
Watch the official music video for “Utopia” by Austra via YouTube:
In a statement, Katie said the new album has a point: “a commitment to replace the approaching dystopia.”
The goal then is to inspire hope and thus spur individual people to make the right decisions (and while offering good dance music, of course). “Not just hope in the future, but the idea that everyone is required to help write it,” she said.
Austra
w/ Lafawndah
Black Cat
Saturday, Jan. 28
Doors @8pm
$18/$20
All ages
Music Park: Dragonette @ U Street Music Hall — 12/9/16
Martina Sorbara of Dragonette shines literally and figuratively in her disco jacket at U Street Music Hall on Dec. 9, 2016.
New wave trio Dragonette kicked off a show at U Street Music Hall on Friday with some new songs — and they were really rather good tunes as well!
After the release of their fourth studio album Royal Blues in November, Dragonette launched a US tour that brought them to DC. The band started their show with the title track from the new album — a sweetly sad song that has really great synth melodies. Immediately, I’m reminded of the impressive partnership between vocalist Martina Sorbara and her synthesizer player husband Dan Kurtz. They write and perform together in a way that simply flows in a very natural way, and in performance her voice and his synthesizer dovetail in a way that truly augments the other.
Don’t Miss: Dragonette @ U Street Music Hall, 12/9/16
Dragonette (Photo by Gabe Ayala)
Synthpoppers Dragonette are about to release their fourth album “Royal Blues” this Friday, Nov. 11, via their own Dragonette Inc. label. And the Toronto trio have launched a tour in support of it.
Dragonette are no strangers to DC, where they have performed frequently since the release of their 2007 debut album, Galore. They visited U Street Music Hall in November of last year, and they are set to return there on this tour with a show on Friday, Dec. 9.
After two albums of fantastic new wave music, Dragonette started to lean more into house, inspired (I’ve long said) by their collaborations with well-regarded DJs — most notably Martin Solveig, who guided them into the 2010 hit “Hello.” Their third album, 2012’s Bodyparts, certainly favored electronic beats over guitar, a trend that continues on new songs like “Darth Vader.”
Listen to “Darth Vader” by Dragonette on Soundcloud:
All the same, vocalist Martina Sorbara, bassist Dan Kurtz, and drummer Joel Stouffer always deliver a terrific, high-energy show. Martina’s fantastic voice and frenetic dancing make for a great performance, but Dan’s extraordinary turns on the synthesizer truly take Dragonette to the next level.
This is certainly a show worth seeing! Tickets are available online.
Dragonette
w/ Gibbz
U Street Music Hall
Friday, Dec. 9
Doors @7pm
$20
All ages
Don’t Miss: Dilly Dally (Opening for Grouplove) @ Echostage, 11/9/16
Dilly Dally at Rough Trade on January 6, 2016 (Photo Credit: Paul Hudson)
If you’re planning on hitting the Grouplove show on Wednesday, November 9th at Echostage, make a point to get there early and catch the opener, Dilly Dally.
Even if you don’t currently have designs on the Grouplove show, still give Dilly Dally a listen and see if that 1-2 punch doesn’t change your mind!
Dilly Dally’s latest EP is titled fkkt, a remix of many of their songs from their debut album, Sore.
These alternative rock Canadians (from Toronto) haven’t been around long, they released Sore in 2015 but band members Katie Monks and Liz Ball were first connected in high school. Some have likened their sound to Sonic Youth or Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but either way it’s loud and growly, yet manages to include a pop-like sound, as evidenced by “Desire”.
Should be a good time for music discovery, so buy your tickets before it’s too late!
Dilly Dally (opening for Grouplove)
w/ Muna
Echostage
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Doors 7pm
$44.45
All ages
Don’t Miss: Crystal Castles @ Black Cat, 10/8/16
Crystal Castles (Photo courtesy The Windish Agency)
Fans of Toronto electronic outfit Crystal Castles let out a collective gasp when Alice Glass left the group to go solo in 2014. But producer Ethan Kath shrugged and suggested he always intended to collaborate with singers other than Alice, and he promptly recruited Edith Frances as the new Crystal Castles frontwoman.
On August 19, the electronic duo released a fourth Crystal Castles studio album, Amnesty (I) via Casablanca Records. Admirers of the band are likely to find it very reassuring as it hits all of the upbeat glitchy notes you would expect from Crystal Castles and Edith’s washed out vocals on songs such as “Concrete” dovetail nicely with the noise.
Watch the official music video for “Concrete” by Crystal Castles on YouTube:
In support of the new album, Crystal Castles hit the road on Tuesday, Sept. 6 in Carrboro, NC, and perform in a show at the Black Cat on Saturday, Oct. 8. It’s already sold out.
Other singles from the new album – “Frail” and “Deicide” — hit #1 on The Hype Machine, suggesting a reinvigoration of the Crystal Castles mythos. NME ranked the band’s self-titled debut album in 2008 at #39 in its list of Top 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade. In 2010, the second Crystal Castles album, (II), gave us the memorable “Not in Love,” which featured vocals by Robert Smith of The Cure. And in 2012, the third album (III) was the #1 album of the year on The Hype Machine.
The show is sold out!
Crystal Castles
Black Cat
Saturday, Oct. 8
Doors @8pm
Sold out
All ages
