If you order tickets online from Jammin’ Java, you may have noticed that they now have some new ticket options for all shows:
• VIP: Reserved seating in elevated, set apart area. (~25 seats)
• Premier: Reserved seating at one of the eight tables closest to the stage. (~64 seats)
• General Admission (GA): All other tickets in seated rows or standing, depending on the show, first come first served.
Looking at the layout for one of their upcoming shows, it looks like the “VIP” section is the little seated dining area on stage right, halfway between the stage and the bar, and it looks like they’ve added tables in front for most shows, which will be the “Premier” seats. It looks as though there aren’t “Premier” seats for every show, though. For most shows, the GA/Premier/VIP seats are identical in price or very close, but for “big name” acts (like American Idol‘s Kris Allen), the VIP seats are significantly more expensive and also come with a “Meet & Greet”.
• If you’ve ever gotten “Moves Like Jagger” (Maroon 5) or “Tik Tok” (Ke$ha) stuck in your head, you’ve got a Northern Virginia guy to thank: Reston native Benny Blanco aka Benjamin Levinhas co-written 15 Number One songs [Washington Post]. There’s more about him in this LA Times piece.
• Bob Boilen from All Songs Considered lists his favorite concerts of 2012 [NPR.org]. Even better, he gives ShowlistDC a nice shout-out!
• New music blog Musiceum has a nice video interview with Paul Vodra of HometownSoundsDC about the DC music scene and the Hometown Sounds showcase at 9th & Beats.
We’re bringing back our daily Music Notes blog, but we’re doing it slowly. Here are a few links to get you started.
New Concert Series
We’ve just updated the ShowlistDC concert listings with the newly-announced Indie Adams Morgan series, which is taking place at Club Heaven in Adams Morgan (2327 18th St NW). We’re really impressed with what IAM has got set up so far: they’re hosting shows every Thursday night, and they’ve got some structure around it (Indie Rock on the 1st Thursday, World Beats on the 2nd Thursday, Jam Bands on the 3rd Thursday, and Roots/Americana on the 4th Thursday). This is brought to you by a group of folks including Anders Thueson, who organized the Songwriters & Poets series at the Black Squirrel last year. The IAM collective has already announced that it’s going to do Songwriters & Poets again this year from April 13 – May 25. We’ll continue to keep their concerts updated on our site, but you can throw them a “like” on Facebook on the Indie Adams Morgan page (here) or the Songwriters & Poets page (here). You can also visit Indie Adams Morgan’s web site at indieadamsmorgan.com.
• Thursday, 3 January 2013 – Vasuveda, TheRuinCity, and Heather Mae & the Make Believe – Indie Adams Morgan Series Launch Party
• Thursday, 10 January 2013 – Thirteen Towers, Without Warning, Stereosaurus, and Shuma – Ska Punk Showcase
• Thursday, 17 January 2013 – the Funk Ark, Buster Brown & the Get Down, and Chrissi Poland – 3rd Thursday Jam Bands
• Friday, 18 January 2013 – Ten Feet Tall, Chrissi Poland, and Caleb Hawley
• Sunday, 20 January 2013 – Watermelon, Chrissi Poland, and Caleb Hawley
• Thursday, 24 January 2013 – Amber Rubarth & the U-Liners and Allie Farris – 4th Thursday Roots Thread
• Thursday, 31 January 2013 – the 9 Hip-Hop Series
• Thursday, 7 February 2013 – Stereosleep, the Dead Women, and the Mariner Project – 1st Thursday Indie Rock
• Wednesday, 13 February 2013 – Town Mountain and Big Chimney
• Thursday, 21 February 2013 – Peoples Blues of Richmond, Sol Roots, and Camryn Wessner – 3rd Thursday Jam Bands
• Thursday, 28 February 2013 – the Woodshedders and Alex Culbreth & the Dead Country Stars – 4th Thursday Roots Americana
• Thursday, 7 March 2013 – the Mean Season, Black Checker, and the Dead Women – 1st Thursday Indie Rock
• Thursday, 14 March 2013 – Higher Hands, Moonlicious, and Willis Light – 2nd Thursday World Beats
• Thursday, 21 March 2013 – Higher Hands, Moonlicious, and Willis Light – 3rd Thursday Jam Bands
• Thursday, 28 March 2013 – the U-Liners – 4th Thursday Roots Americana
• Thursday, 4 April 2013 – Laws of Average, the Grey Area, and May Tabol – 1st Thursday Indie Rock
• Thursday, 18 April 2013 – Dangermuffin and Stomp Status – 3rd Thursday Jam Bands
• Thursday, 25 April 2013 – the Family Hammer – 4th Thursday Roots Americana
• Thursday, 2 May 2013 – Ugly Purple Sweater – 1st Thursday Indie Rock
• Thursday, 16 May 2013 – Kings of Belmont, Covered with Jam, and Moogatu – 3rd Thursday Jam Bands
Articles
• 2012 wrap-up of the local and national metal scene by Metal Chris [DCHeavyMetal.com].
• The Washington CityPaper has a huge article on the zine chickfactor. CF’s 20th anniversary shows (featuring the return of Black Tambourine) are this weekend at Artisphere in Rosslyn.
• Watch: Locals Borracho have released their first video. It’s for the song “Concentric Circles” from their debut album Splitting Sky (which I reviewed back in December for the Washington Post).
• A brief guide to Windian Records, whose showcase is Friday/Saturday at Montserrat House [Express].
We’ve gotten some feedback that we should change our section headers on this blog, so we’re going to be testing out some formatting over the next few days. If you like (or hate!) what you see, feel free to let us know, either with a comment on this blog or an email to showlistdc@gmail.com.
Notes from Last Night
Last night, I went out to the Black Cat to see Bowerbirds. The show itself was lovely, but I really couldn’t hear much of anything above the audience chatter. I guess that’s becoming the norm now, but seriously: especially at quiet shows, if you want to talk, please just move to the back! I couldn’t understand why so many people were holding loud conversations right underneath the stage. Maybe people figure that once they’ve paid their $15 cover, they can do whatever the hell they want to, even if it’s completely disruptive to everyone else in attendance– and to the band on stage. I went to over 130 shows last year, and I don’t remember a single one being as chatty as the show last night, which is a disappointment for sure.
Articles/Videos
• Sweetlife Festival has announced the lineup of its second stage: Delta Spirit, Twin Shadow, Zola Jesus, the Knocks, RAC, U.S. Royalty, Yuna, Corey Haim, LP, Cut Copy’s Ben Browning, and Bluebrain. Jonathan L. Fischer reacts [Washington CityPaper].
• Scott Crawford is putting together a documentary of the D.C. punk scene from 1980 to 1990 and needs your help, says the Washington Post. The film is slated to be called Salad Days, and you can check out their facebook page for ways to get in touch.
• Speaking of nostalgia, Melinda Newman tells us that the boy band is making a comeback [Washington Post]. She cites One Direction, Big Time Rush, and the Wanted.
Over the past few years, the pop airwaves have been hip-hop-dominated but, during the past several months, the music has segued into rhythmic-leaning pop and then into straight-ahead pop. “Acts like Katy Perry and Rihanna have paved the way for pure pop music’s return,” says Keith Caulfield, Billboard’s associate director of charts. “What’s been missing were girl groups and boy bands. It’s such a good environment for this kind of act in pop music right now.”
