Notes from Last Night (and this weekend)
Last night, I went to the U Street Music Hall for the first time, for what I believe was their first metal show: old-school thrashers Onslaught (on their first US tour) and ex-Venom M:Pire of Evil, who played a ton of Venom songs including, of course, “Black Metal”. On Friday and Saturday nights, I was at Artisphere for the Chickfactor 20th anniversary shows (along with everybody else in DC). Best set: Stevie Jackson backed by Honeybunch. Most disappointing: the Lilys‘ set was just Kurt Heasley solo– not that the songs still aren’t good, but they were missing a lot without the sound of a full band. All around great weekend, with surprise sets by the Pines and Magnetic Fields guest vocalist LD Beghtol.
Articles
• The District is busting record stores and vintage shops [Washington CityPaper], citing the need for a secondhand business license. Being regulated as a pawn shop (instead of a general business) means that the business would have to undergo the onorous process of recording every purchase of secondhand goods and file it with MPD’s pawn unit– the idea, of course, being to safeguard against re-selling stolen goods.
• The Howard Theatre is reopening today, and lots of people are writing about it: Washington Post (with a nice photo gallery) and Washingtonian.
• Chris Richards on DC’s new generation of go-go, “bounce beat” [Washington Post].
• DC writer Marcus K Dowling is quitting writing about DC musicians [2two.tumblr.com]. The internet has ruined so much of what drew me to music and so many musicians I appreciate to the point where writing about both it and them makes me feel impotent. It’s as though I’ve been made into well meaning window dressing in the local scene, a passionate critic whose ideas are thought to be substantive, but not to the point of having any heft or consequence.
If you’re wondering why the name Marcus K Dowling sounds familiar, you can read his about.me page or check out his sites moombahton and DC Mumbo Sauce. We’re unclear about the future of those sites in light of Dowling’s retirement.
• Michael Birnbaum on how Leipzig’s St. Thomas Boys Choir is dealing with voices deepening at a younger age [Washington Post].
• The NSO is eliminating matinee performances next season [Washington Post].
• Rah Diggah fires back at Fat Trel [Washington CityPaper].
• CD Reviews: DC writer Zach Kelly on Magic Bullets‘ Much Ado About EP and oOoOO‘s Our Love Is Hurting Us EP [Pitchfork].
• CD Review: Nova Metal Review on Furyon, Gravitas.
Live Reviews
• Mike Paarlberg on Kevin Costner at Strathmore [Washington CityPaper].
• Katie Willmott on Of Montreal and Loney Dear at the 9:30 Club [the Vinyl District].
• Chris Klimek on Budos Band at the 9:30 Club [Washington Post].
• Stephen Brookes on Janus Trio at the Atlas Center [Washington Post].
• Stephen Bradley on the Temper Trap at the 9:30 Club [Washington Times].
Contests
• The Vinyl District is giving away a copy of The Vespers‘ The Fourth Wall on vinyl. Winner must have a North American mailing address (contest ends today).
• The Vinyl District is giving away a copy of The Mark Lanegan Band‘s Blues Funeral on vinyl. Winner must have a North American mailing address (contest ends Tuesday 4/10).
• NEW The Vinyl District is giving away a pair of tickets to see The Cult at the Fillmore Silver Spring on 6/12 (contest ends Tuesday 4/10 at noon).
• The Vinyl District is giving away three copies of Portugal the Man‘s In the Mountain In the Cloud on vinyl. Winners must have a North American mailing address (contest ends Thursday 4/12).
• NEW ShowlistDC is giving away two pair of tickets to Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds at the Hamilton on 4/19 (contest ends Friday 4/13 at midnight).
• DC101 is giving away a pair of tickets to Creed at the Warner Theatre on 4/24 (contest ends Sunday 4/15).
• DC101 is giving away a pair of tickets to Nickelback at the Verizon Center on 4/30 (contest ends Monday 4/23).
• DC101 is giving away a pair of tickets to the sold-out Radiohead show at the Verizon Center on 6/3 (contest ends Sunday 5/27).
• DC101 is giving away a pair of tickets to Dave Matthews Band at Jiffy Lube Live on 6/16 (contest ends Sunday 6/3).
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