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Mauricio Castro 11/22/22 Mauricio Castro 11/22/22

Broke Royals @ Songbyrd Music House [DC] - 10/28/2022

DC’s self-proclaimed ‘premium rock and roll’ group Broke Royals celebrated Halloween weekend at Songbyrd with a packed house of local supporting fans and local supporting openers in support of their album, Local Support, produced by local rising star Bartees Strange and released through fellow local supporters Byrdland Records (Songbyrd’s affiliated record label).

Nick Piacente 8/12/22 Nick Piacente 8/12/22

Halocene @ Songbyrd Music House [DC] - 7/27/2022

Fresh off of a negative COVID test, Halocene made their way through Songbyrd Music House in DC this past week, kicking off the beginning of their Summer 2022 HCU tour. Formed 14 years ago, Halocene cut their teeth opening for Blink 182 and Fall Out Boy among others. The group has carved out a space for themselves online, regularly live-streaming performances on Twitch, and delivering original content, covers and more via Patreon and YouTube

Mauricio Castro 9/15/21 Mauricio Castro 9/15/21

Ratboys & Wild Pink @ Songbyrd [DC] - 09/14/2021

Chicago-based Ratboys are a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll, and a whole lot happy to be back on the road. Over the last year and a half, the band pivoted to Patreon, did ‘virtual tours’ on Twitch and connected with fans over countless blog posts and cover song recordings. Their two-night stop in DC was the second leg of their tour, and notably, one of the first shows at the newly relocated Songbyrd Music House.

Mauricio Castro 11/26/19 Mauricio Castro 11/26/19

Mikaela Davis and Southern Star @ Songbyrd [DC] - 11/11/2019

Mikaela Davis may have had to cancel her show the night before in Philly, but she was in high spirits on this night at Songbyrd in DC. The classically-trained harp player has been touring places that her instrument usually doesn't show up, like on the stage of Lock'n Festival performing with Bob Weir. The Grateful Dead admiration goes a long way - in fact, this tour featured a two-set performance from Davis and her band, one of which was dedicated to The Dead.

Mauricio Castro 10/23/19 Mauricio Castro 10/23/19

Bedouine @ Songbyrd Music House [DC] - 10/11/2019

They may be as traditional of a band as they've ever been, trading Mario Kart 64 sound bites for guitars and drums, but Perry and company still have the quirky charm that made them internet favorites in the first place.

Mauricio Castro 9/3/19 Mauricio Castro 9/3/19

Balún @ Songbyrd Music House [DC]- 8/19/2019

Seven people on stage can be a recipe for chaos, but Balún have a method to the madness. The band, originally from Puerto Rico and now based in New York City, melds dream pop, IDM, and the Latin sounds of dembow (a musical rhythm very popular in reggaeton music) to create an exciting addition to the Latinx musical canon, a sound they call "dreambow."

Mauricio Castro 8/20/19 Mauricio Castro 8/20/19

Daughter of Swords @ Songbyrd [DC] - 8/14/2019

Hot off a tour with Appalachian vocal trio Mountain Man (including a stop at this years Newport Folk Festival), Alexandra Sauser-Monnig didn’t waste any time hitting the road again, but this time in support of debut album as Daughter of Swords.

Mauricio Castro 5/17/19 Mauricio Castro 5/17/19

Kingman Island Bluegrass & Folk Festival 2019 Recap - 5/4/2019

For their 10th annual festival, Living Classrooms married some highlights of the local music and food scene with sound great nationally-touring acts like Dustbowl Revival and The Ballroom Thieves.

Mauricio Castro 5/8/19 Mauricio Castro 5/8/19

Sego @ Songbyrd - 5/6/2019

Sego balances the dance-punk energy of The Rapture and !!! with the weird rock inclinations of Mellow Gold-era Beck to create an excitingly electric show.

Mauricio Castro 4/23/19 Mauricio Castro 4/23/19

MorMor @ Songbyrd - 4/16/2019

Last June, Toronto musician MorMor (aka Seth Nyquist) released his debut EP, the self-written, self-produced Heaven’s Only Wishful. At a packed Songbyrd in DC, he played nearly, if not all, of his released discography and more.

Mauricio Castro 4/16/19 Mauricio Castro 4/16/19

Hand Habits @ Songbyrd - 4/12/2019

"I don't like talking loudly, it hurts my voice," Duffy proclaimed shortly after the start of her set. Instead, she let her guitar and loop pedal do the talking at her packed-out Songbyrd show.

Joel Richard 3/4/19 Joel Richard 3/4/19

Liz Cooper and the Stampede @ Songbyrd - 2/22/2019

The Stampede’s rhythm section has an unobtrusive groove that allows Cooper to shine—whether it’s her quieter, finger-picked guitar work, overdriven vocal style, or the fuzzy and psychedelic fringes of her sound that have roots back to The Doors and Jefferson Airplane.

Mauricio Castro 11/5/18 Mauricio Castro 11/5/18

Big Data @ Songbyrd - 10/25/2018

For those that like their catchy tracks with a bit of trepidation peppered in, there was no better place to be on Thursday night than with Big Data.

Carolina Correa Caro 10/19/18 Carolina Correa Caro 10/19/18

Amyl and the Sniffers @ Songbyrd - 10/13/2018

A mix between Sid Vicious, Cherie Currie and Angie Pepper took over Songbyrd on Saturday night.

Mauricio Castro 9/25/18 Mauricio Castro 9/25/18

Trash Boy @ Songbyrd - 9/15/2018

The Philly-based Trash Boy has got a lot to get off their chest in the nation’s capitol. What better way to do it than through some boisterous and rage-filled punk rock?

Mauricio Castro 8/28/18 Mauricio Castro 8/28/18

The Chamanas @ Songbyrd - 8/27/2018

Hailing from both sides of the Rio Grande, The Chamanas meld the musical traditions of multiple countries into something uniquely their own. They’ve played alongside the likes of Odesza, Beach House, and Portugal. the Man for good reason.

Mauricio Castro 3/22/18 Mauricio Castro 3/22/18

Soft Glas @ Songbyrd - 3/17/2018

While St. Patrick's Day revelers roamed about from bar to bar around Adams Morgan, Songbyrd alongside local music site Capitol Sound DC took concertgoers to beachier, more care-free locales, courtesy of multi-instrumentalist Soft Glas (AKA Joao Gonzalez). He recently completed a tour with Overcoats as their backing drummer, but his musical ability goes much further than that - his album Orange Earth is a textbook example of nostalgia as a mission statement. His upbringing isn't hard to discern in his music: he grew up in the South Florida suburb of Coral Springs and his father is a Grammy Award-winning Cuban jazz pianist. The album brims with sunny nostalgia and little flourishes of flutes and saxophone throughout. Gonzalez plays most of the instruments heard on the album, and his attention to detail in crafting a singular vision of dreamy, sunset-soaked music is a treat for the ears.

Mauricio Castro 12/21/17 Mauricio Castro 12/21/17

Best Of 2017: Mauricio's List

In the world of DC live music, there was a lot to write about in 2017. I.M.P. made its broad presence even broader with the 6,000-capacity Anthem. Songbyrd solidified its niche in the up-and-coming R&B/hip-hop scene with clutch bookings like Xavier Omar, Jamila Woods, and Noname (and booked its first show at The Fillmore, with more co-bookings to come). Competition in the 200-500-capacity space increased with new venues like Union Stage, Pearl Street Warehouse, and The Miracle Theatre. Mount Pleasant DIY venue OTHERFEELS hosted its first DMV music showcase at 9:30 Club, with a second coming in late December. There really is no shortage of opportunities to catch live music in our nation's capital.

I covered 47 shows and one three-day festival for ChunkyGlasses this year, and it’s been a wild ride covering shows in venues big (Capital One Arena) and small (Dew Drop Inn). While most of there were a lot of great shows, the following ten best showcase why the live music experience is so essential. These artists convey emotion and energy in a way that can’t be contained within the confines of an album. With these shows, it was hard to walk away without the lingering feeling of ‘holy shit, they REALLY put their heart and soul into it tonight.’

So with that, here are my ten favorite shows of 2017. Click the headers to see more pics and a full recap of that show.

PS - And if you're still interested in knowing what my favorite songs from this year were, here's my Spotify playlist - Mauricio's Favorite Fifty of 'Seventeen!

Mauricio Castro 10/18/17 Mauricio Castro 10/18/17

Alex Cameron @ Songbyrd - 10/2/2017

There are two sides of Alex Cameron that fans need to know: the calm, collected leader of a six-person band, and the schlocky, insecure character he channels in his music who wants to stuff losers into school lockers. Why? If you haven't listened to "Marlon Brando" yet, off of Cameron's latest album Forced Witness, you'd probably get the wrong idea: "So I'll tell you something sister, I'm feeling mighty fine / You tell that little faggot call me faggot one more time." It's strange hearing lines like these in 2017, but it’s all part of the hilariously insecure persona he’s crafted for these songs. His lyrics are so pointedly sharp that if you didn't know any better, you’d assume he was an internet troll who decided to make some music about it. But if you dismissed him, you'd be missing out on one of the funniest and most straightforwardly 80s pop albums of the year, drawing inspiration from the likes of Rick Springfield or Eddie Money to great effect.

Mauricio Castro 9/19/17 Mauricio Castro 9/19/17

Dent May @ Songbyrd - 9/10/2017

If you take the laid-back, nerdy charm of Rivers Cuomo and combine it with the retro-pop grooves of Tennis or even Foxygen (minus some of vocalist Sam France’s bombast), you would probably get something in the vein of Dent May. The musician from Oxford, Mississippi has made his name creating warm and breezy pop songs with a distinguishable throwback croon and falsetto. His latest outing Across the Multiverse has more indie-pop polish than ever before - his croon is as good as ever, and so is the instrumentation surrounding it. The space-themed setting and the lapel pin on the album cover says it all - it's an indie-pop escape, and he brought his flight of fancy to Songbyrd for an entertaining Sunday night.