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The Weather Station (Photo by Jeff Bierk)
It’s been a remarkable year for The Weather Station. Ignorance is one of 2021’s most beloved albums, earning Tamara Lindeman a Polaris Music Prize nomination, a gorgeous Tiny Desk (At Home) Concert, and her US television debut on CBS This Morning: Saturday. On Nov. 19, The Weather Station released a two-disc deluxe edition of Ignorance.
The Weather Station now visits Union Stage for a performance of the new material on Sunday, Jan. 30.
CHVRCHES delivered a top show of the year at The Anthem. (Photo by Katherine Gaines)
Parklife DC invites our staff to list their Top 10 concerts of every year. Although this was a different kind of year, our love of music remained strong, and we definitely caught our share of shows once pandemic lockdowns eased. Some homegrown shows began popping up indoors around May, and events really made a remarkable return by August. Although we live with additional requirements, such as vaccinations, to attend live shows, we happily rise to the moment to do what we love to do — experience live music.
Here are my Top 10 concerts of 2021.
In the nearly two years of no live music, the act of witnessing someone who has a mastery of the stage puts everything into perspective. The importance of live music and the strength of what an artist can make you feel in that moment which makes what could be lost all the more tangible. Watching David Shaw, singer for the band The Revivalists, performing the final show of his debut solo album release at the Union Stage Saturday night I couldn’t help but think how vital live music is to -– if anything -– the emotional strength of so many.
Produced by Jack Splash (Kendrick Lamar, Alicia Keys, Solange, Valerie June, St Paul and the Broken Bones), Shaw’s self-titled debut is filled with personal songs but ones that can make you move. And on a chilly Saturday night, David Shaw and his band did just that — got things moving — at Union Stage in DC.
Preoccupations perform at Union Stage on Dec. 13, 2021. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)
In my chosen listening experiences, synths usually deliver bright treble to a pleasing harmony. Canadian post-punks Preoccupations sought to expand my horizons a bit in a recent concert at Union Stage, where the quartet wielded their synths in a tight rumble that augmented the urgency of their music.
David Shaw (Photo by Alysse Gafkjen)
The Revivalists frontman David Shaw stops at Union Stage on Saturday, Dec. 18, to perform songs from his new solo album!
Earlier this year, David released his debut self-titled solo album, available via his own imprint Yokoko Records in partnership with C3 Records, and it’s “full of songs that tell stories with a full heart and a dance-able beat,” said NPR World Café.
Preoccupations (Photo by Pooneh Ghana)
Canadian post-punks Preoccupations are on tour! And they hit DC to play Union Stage on Monday, Dec. 13 in a double-bill with punk rockers Metz.
Yasmin Williams performs at Union Stage in Washington DC on Nov. 22, 2021. (Photo by Casey Vock)
The hero the DMV might need is hanging out just across the Potomac, and she’s got a guitar in her hands.
And at just 25 years old, Yasmin Williams is on a trajectory to capture the attention of listeners far and wide as a multi-dimensional guitarist with an otherworldly skillset far beyond her years.
A full house greets Tokyo Police Club at Union Stage on Nov. 20, 2021. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)
Happy and relaxed, vocalist Dave Monks beamed at the capacity audience at Union Stage in DC recently, wrapping a tour that celebrated 10 years of his band Tokyo Police Club’s sophomore album, Champ.
Dave had a lot to be happy about and the jangly, singalong songs of Champ set the perfect mood for celebration on the last night of a North American tour.
Wolf Alice performs at Union Stage on Nov. 15, 2021. (Photos by Jason Nicholson; Words by Mickey McCarter)
Ellie Rowsell grabbed the microphone and sang in a manner both hypnotic and snarling. With “Smile,” a recent single and the concert opener at Union Stage on Monday, Ellie declares her intent to do things her way, and she doesn’t give a damn if you don’t like it.
To her side, guitarist Theo Ellis wrapped Ellie’s snapping mission statement in wonderfully layered psychedelia, ad Wolf Alice was officially on the prowl for the first of two-sold out shows in DC.
Tokyo Police Club (Photo by Taylor Ohryn)
Tokyo Police Club hits the road on their Champ 10 Tour, celebrating the 10th anniversary of their beloved and acclaimed sophomore album, playing the album in full on Saturday, Nov. 20 at Union Stage.
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