The definitive record of live music in Washington, D.C. and beyond for the 2010’s
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TV On The Radio - Live @ The Jefferson Theater - Charlottesville, VA
Well I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that thanks to some new friends at Red Light Management, we were able to get in a position to make this piece FULL of fantastic and stunning imagery to record the night. The bad news? Our camera totally s!@# the bed, so while we were able to get some OK shots off of our digitals we are ensaddened by what could have been. Next time will be different though. I promise.
Now that that's out of the way.
TV On The Radio, despite or maybe because of their punkish roots have never quite seemed comfortable on the stage. That isn't to say they haven't been good, because they are. Insanely good in fact. But when you have to live up to the ridiculously high bar that they set with their records well...you can see where I'm coming from. Having seen the band once before on the Dear Science tour I knew pretty much what to expect going in...and I also had my hopes up for what I wanted to see them do. The question then is did they deliver? The answer?
A resounding "holymotherofgod" yes.
How To Say Goodbye - LCD Soundsystem's Final Show
When I say I love this band I mean I love this BAND. Sure, James Murphy might be the driving creative force, but without this wonderful group of friends that he has assembled to perform his music, we wouldn’t be talking about any of this right now.
Taking the late 70’s/early 80’s New York art/rock/punk scene and throwing it into a blender with the dance/electronic sounds of a more modern New York wasn’t anything new. Acerbic wit with a “fuck you” attitude wasn’t anything new either. In fact, nothing that LCD Soundsystem did was technically new except for one thing:
How goddamn well they did it.
Live Music: Apex Manor @ The Red Palace 2.21.11
Fresh off SXSW, Apex Manor made their DC debut at The Red Palace Monday night. I’ll get to their performance in a minute but first let’s talk about the room. The remodeled space that combines the upstairs of both Red and The Black and Palace of Wonders has been flying under the radar since it was repurposed, but one glance a their upcoming schedule and it’s clear that they gunning to attract business from some of the larger clubs (Black Cat, 9:30 Club) in the area, and after finally catching a show in this room, it’s clear that they are going to succeed in that.
This is a room where memories are going to be made for both the audience and the bands. It’s small, dark and simple, with an easily accessible bar in the back corner. The sound, as far as I could tell, was impeccable and overall it feels like a tiny club should. This room is built for rock, and so it was that Apex Manor was obliged to bring it.
Live Music: Wye Oak @ The Black Cat - 3.11.11
The first time I saw Wye Oak, they were opening for Blitzen Trapper at Ottobar in Baltimore. I can’t recall if it was the last night of their tour, or if it was just the first time the duo of Jen Wasner and Andy Stack had been home for a long while. But either way, they made it a point to let us know that this was a sort of homecoming show for them. The two musicians then proceeded to tear through a set that was as ferocious as it was joyful. Blitzen Trapper, as great a band as they are, quite literally ended up as sort of a happy afterthought to the night.
In the two years since that night, Wye Oak has not only managed to hang on to all of that power and all of that joy, they have managed focus it to the point that hearing them play now is akin to standing in the eye of a controlled hurricane.
Live Music: Wild Flag @ The Black Cat - 2.10.11
When talking about Wild Flag, it’s hard to ignore the ghost of Sleater Kinney. Disregarding the fact that half of Wild Flag is comprised of two-thirds of Sleater Kinney, both bands are made up of all female members who play a unique brand of sludgy, aggressive, almost stoner punk, rock. Add to that the fact that both bands have it in them to blow just about anyone off the stage they care to, and it’s completely understandable, if not valid, that many could walk away from this show feeling a longing for the return of Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss’s previous group. But Sleater Kinney is dead, so long live
Live Music: Beach House @ The 9:30 Club - 2.26.11
I caught Beach House for the first time at the ACL Festival this year, and all I can say about that is that the sunlight isn't exactly kind to these guys. The performance that day was anticlimactic, a little awkward, and all in all just sort of disappointing. Beach House's hyperatmospheric take on surf music doesn't belong outdoors. Hell, it barely belongs outside of your headphones, so if you put them on a stage in front of a couple thousand people in the middle of a field, in the middle of the day, IN TEXAS...it's proably not going to work out to well. And it didn't. Needless to say, it left me with some feelings of trepidation. Fact is, some bands just don't do it live. It happens, and it's OK. Making a record and then PERFORMING that record are two entirely different skill sets and while I love Teen Dream the record, if Beach House just couldn't pull it together in a live setting then that was how it was going to be.
Luckily, when in the correct setting, they not only pull it together...they knock it out of the f@#@ing park.
Live Music: Review - The Civil Wars @ Jammin' Java
The Civil Wars take the stage at Jammin Java.A little over a week ago, Joy Williams and John Paul White, collectively known as The Civil Wars, performed to yet ANOTHER sold out crowd, this time at Vienna’s Jammin Java. It’s becoming a common thing for them lately. With a sound that attempts to subvert the pop sensibilities of bands like Allison Krauss and Union Station or The Swell Season as much as it seeks to honor them, The Civil Wars are something entirely their own. The easy way out would be to describe their music as sort of a Gothic take on folk music, but that would be selling the duo short. It keeps being repeated that there is some sort of magic going on between Williams and White, and after seeing it for myself firsthand, I can’t help but repeat it again:
There is some sort of magic going on here.