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Notes from Last Night

Last night, I went to the Black Cat and saw British twee band Allo Darlin’. I wouldn’t ordinarily identify as a fan of twee, but I do really dig the Field Mice and Camera Obscura, and I find Allo Darlin’ to be very much in line with those two bands. (Also, I recently reviewed the band’s latest album, Europe, for the Washington Post). I was pleasantly surprised to see that the show was packed (and packed with people who knew a lot of the band’s lyrics, too!). Live, the band really captures that “just exuberant enough to be slightly off-kilter” brand of indie-pop; I don’t think the bassist stopped jumping up and down for the band’s entire ~45-minute set. Another pleasant surprise: frontwoman Elizabeth Morris’s solo ukulele song “Tallulah” during the encore was performed to….complete silence! So great to hear DC crowds keeping quiet after a whole slew of chatty shows.

An unrelated story from last night’s show: I got an iPhone a few weeks ago, and I’m still warming up to it– sure, some of the apps are cool, but I’m not a fan of its email functionality, and that’s what I want a smartphone for, more than gadgets and doodads. Anyway, last night at the show, one of those apps came in handy: a flashlight app I’d recently installed helped a woman find her contact lens on the floor of the Black Cat. I kind of wanted to ask if she actually planned on putting it back in her eye– no amount of rinsing could possibly get nightclub grime off of that thing.

Weekend/Week-Ahead Planner

Planning guides:
• DC Music Download’s Weekend Hits.
• Washingtonian’s Music Picks.
• Smithsonian Mag’s events around the mall this weekend.
• We Love DC loves weekends.
• Local DC writer Steve Kiviat’s end-April International, R&B, and more music events.
• Washington CityPaper’s Jazz Setlist.
• TBD points you to shows of nostalgia.

Tonight – 27 April 2012
• Preview/Interview: Siriam Gopal talks to Orrin Evans [DCist], who plays both tonight and Saturday at Bohemian Caverns on U St.
• Lots of press around tonight’s Ted Leo show at the Black Cat, where he will play The Tyranny of Distance in its entirety. Also on Sunday. Both nights are are sold out. Interview by Leor Galil [Washington CityPaper] and preview by Chris Porter [Express].
• Punch Brothers at the 9:30 Club: Press includes an interview by Stephen M Deusner [Express] and Mike Joyce’s review of their new album Who’s Feeling Young Now? [Washington Post].
• Preview: Nicos Gun [All Things Go]. At Water Street Warehouse [3401 Water St NW, WDC].
• Preview: Marie Gullard on Moscow Soloists Chamber Orchestra [Washington Examiner]. At Strathmore.
• Preview: Michael J West on McCoy Tyner and Savion Glover [Washington CityPaper]. At the Howard Theatre.
• Preview/listen: Reese Higgins writes about Insect Factory‘s song “Radio Forecast”. Performing tonight at Artisphere.

Saturday, 28 April 2012
• Sweetlife Festival at Merriweather Post Pavilion: Lots of press here too, including a preview by Rudi Greenberg [Express], set times [Washington CityPaper], and a Spotify playlist [Washington Post Going Out Guide]. David Malitz interviewed Avicii [Washington Post]. You can also stream the whole festival on the Post’s Style Blog.
• Good Old War plays at the Black Cat. Press includes Moira E McLaughlin’s review of the band’s album Come Back As Rain [Washington Post] and an interview by Tanya Pai [Washingtonian].
• Preview/interview: Stephen M Deusner talks to Miike Snow [Express]. At the 9:30 Club.

Sunday, 29 April 2012
• CD Review: Dailey & Vincent‘s The Gospel Side of Dailey & Vincent. Reviewed by Geoffrey Himes [Washington Post]. At Brunswick High School [101 Cummings Dr., Brunswick MD].

Monday, 30 April 2012
• Preview: Steve Kiviat on Stacy Brooks Band [Washington CityPaper]. At Westminster Church [400 I St NW, WDC].

Tuesday, 1 May 2012
• CD Review: Nanci Griffith: Intersection. Reviewed by Geoffrey Himes [Washington Post]. At the Birchmere.

Thursday, 3 May 2012
• Preview: Mike Madden on Washington Jewish Music Festival, which runs May 3 to 21 [Washington CityPaper].

Articles

• Interview: Metal Chris talks to Evan Harting, co-founder of Maryland DeathFest [DCHeavyMetal.com]. You can either listen to the interview via MP3 (~20 minutes) or read its entire transcript (or both!). Metal Chris talks both about festival logistics (parking, food) as well as the merits of downloading (Metal Chris rightly points out that many of the bands on the DeathFest schedule wouldn’t be known enough to come to the U.S. if not for the availability of their music online). Teaser from this cool interview: I think having at least some of your music available online for free is great and it gets your word out there. If you’re in metal to make money then you’re doing something wrong anyway.

• Local band profile: Stephanie Williams on Heavy Breathing [DC Music Download].

• Save the Date: 17 June is the next DC Record Fair [The Vinyl District]. It’ll be held at the Fillmore Silver Spring.

• Preview: Capital Bop looks at this year’s DC Jazz Loft Series at the DC Jazz Fest. Performers include Marc Cary with Cosmic Indulgence, trio Tarbaby, and bass clarinet player Todd Marcus.

• Preview: WPAS announces its 2012-2013 season [Washington Post].

• Metallomusikum continues her countdown to Maryland DeathFest with a preview of Black Witchery.

• Watch out for disco balls! In April 2010, a woman was allegedly hit by a falling disco ball at the Franconia Moose Lodge in Alexandria. Now she’s suing [Washington Post]. The horrific incident happened in April 2010 at a Sweet Sixteen dance, according to Robert M. Somer, the lawyer who filed the suit. He said the victim, Ana Guevara Blanco, suffered a concussion, a fractured nose and facial bones, was hospitalized, and ran up about $15,000 in hospital bills. After some plastic surgery, her nose still doesn’t look the way it once did, Somer said.

Live Reviews

• Siriam Gopal on Me’Shell N’Degeocello at the Howard Theatre [DCist].

• All Our Noise recaps Cloud Becomes Your Hand at 52 O St.

Contests

• Heavy Uber Alles is giving away a pair of lawn seats to Megadeth and Rob Zombie at Merriweather Post Pavilion on 5/13 (contest ends today at noon).
• The Vinyl District is giving away a copy of I Break Horses‘ Hearts on vinyl. Winner must have a North American mailing address (contest ends Tuesday 5/1).
• NEW The Vinyl District is giving away a copy of Megan Reilly‘s The Wall on vinyl. Winner must have a North American mailing address (contest ends Thursday 5/3).
• 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).
• DC101 is giving away a pair of tickets to see 311 and Slightly Stoopid at Jiffy Lube Live on 7/28 (contest ends Sunday 7/22).
• DC101 is giving away a pair of tickets to see OAR at Merriweather Post Pavilion on 8/10 (contest ends Sunday 7/29).

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Notes from Last Night (and this weekend)

Last night, I was at local band Fuchida‘s first-ever show. The Black Cat’s tiny backstage was packed, which was particularly awesome: it was so great to see so many people out to support a local headliner– and a metal(ish) band at that!– especially at a venue that’s not pay-to-play, as so many of the area’s local metal-friendly venues are. I guess it’s no surprise that there were so many people there, since the members of Fuchida used to be in other bands (Tone, Bronze Age, and Blue Tip), and the group’s frontwoman often DJs at the Black Cat under the name DJ Lil’e. There were certainly a lot of instruments on stage– three(!) guitars and an eight-string(!) bass plus (of course) drums– which certainly created a voluminous sound. The group refers to itself as ‘New Wave of American Black War Metal’, and while it was certainly obvious that this was their first show, they sounded good, and I look forward to hearing more from them. Also, the Black Cat now has New Belgium’s black ale 1554 on tap, which is delicious.

The night before, I was at Empire (formerly Jaxx) in Springfield for A Sound of Thunder‘s CD release show. I’ve already gone on record that I like the album, Out of the Darkness [Washington Post] (you can check it out on Amazon). The female-fronted power metal group sounds great on record, and they bring a lot of energy to the stage– singer Nina Osegueda is a great frontwoman, running all over stage and getting the crowd revved up– but one of the best parts of their live show is guitarist Josh Schwartz, who’s just awesome to watch.

On Friday night, I went to a completely non-metal show: a cappella groups Cartoon Johnny, Euphonism and Vox Pop did a benefit for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at Williamsburg Middle School in Arlington. This is the second year I’ve been to this event (they’ve been doing it for 4 years), and it’s always a little surreal to be at a concert full of children– I’m really short, so it’s rare that I can see over the heads of the entire audience! Still, despite the chaos of the children (I never thought I’d see a mosh pit at an a cappella show, and yet the kids just go crazy right in front of the stage), the musicianship at this show was fantastic. Cartoon Johnny has just added a new member, Guye Turner (who is a teacher at Williamsburg Middle School), and this is the first time I’d seen the group perform a full set with him. They sounded fantastic– Guye gelled so well with the group, it’s hard to believe he’s only been singing with them for a few months. Can’t wait to see where they go from here. Euphonism were enjoyable as always, and I’ve become more and more impressed with Vox Pop every time I see them. CJ and Euphonism are both small groups (CJ has 6, Euph has 7), while Vox Pop is an 11-member group. Having once been an a cappella singer, I know the challenges of performing in a larger group– but Vox Pop sounded so good. They are by far, to my ears, the most cohesive and interesting large a cappella group in this area, and it’s always fun to see them perform.

Articles

• Bruce Springsteen doesn’t lip-synch, but he uses a teleprompter in concert [Washington Post]. Springsteen is such an exciting performer precisely because his art has always seemed to lack artifice. He is exuberant but also sincere, and he makes his fans believe it, too. His tunes aren’t just tunes; they’re mini-anthems of hope and possibility and unrealized dreams. They’re little musical novels. Which is why a teleprompter tampers, ever so slightly, with the spell Springsteen has cast for nearly 40 years. If he believes as deeply as we assume he does, why the need for a cheat sheet?

• Paul Matthews writes a profile of eighth blackbird, who are performing at the Kennedy Center tomorrow and the Library of Congress May 20 [Washington Post].

• Unusual instrument alert: Mayumi Miyata plays the Japanese reed instrument called the sho [Washington Post].

• Interview: Michael J West talks to Andrew D’Angelo [Washington CityPaper].

• Interview: Julyssa Lopez talks to Delta Spirit [Washingtonian].

• Venue info: Utopia on U Street is closing for renovations, but it will reopen in June 2013 and will continue to host jazz shows [Capital Bop].

• Like metal? DCHeavyMetal.com offers an update on recent and upcoming metal shows, with concert photos.

• Thought you were done with SXSW coverage? You were wrong. Chris Richards has a lengthy article on Robert Glasper and his performance in Austin [Washington Post]. The Robert Glasper Experiment is at the Warner Theatre tomorrow (4/3).

• Profile/interview: Megan Buerger on Kishi Bashi [Washington Post], performing with Of Montreal on Tuesday at the 9:30 Club.

• Joan Reinthaler on the University of Maryland’s School of Music’s “The Art of Argento” Festival, which celebrates the work of Dominick Argento [Washington Post].

• Anne Midgette on Bach Sinfonia’s re-creation of the 1723 auditions for the post of Leipzig’s cantor [Washington Post].

Live Reviews

• David Malitz on Perfume Genius at IOTA [Washington Post].

• Stephen Bradley on Band of Skulls at the 9:30 Club [Washington Times].

• We Love DC on Sleigh Bells and Liturgy at the 9:30 Club.

• Joan Reinthaler on Midori and the Alexandria Symphony at Schlesinger Concert Hall [Washington Post].

• Pamela Squires on Savion Glover at the Warner Theatre [Washington Post].

Contests

• The Vinyl District is giving away a signed copy of Rufus Wainwright‘s Out of the Game. Winner must have a North American mailing address (contest ends Tuesday 4/3).
• The Vinyl District is giving away a copy of Nirvana‘s Incesticide on vinyl. Winner must have a North American mailing address (contest ends Friday (4/7).
• The Vinyl District is giving away a copy of Donovan Quinn‘s Honky Tonk Medusa on vinyl. Winner must have a North American mailing address (contest ends Tuesday 4/3).
• 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 Marilyn Manson at the Fillmore Silver Spring on 5/1 (contest ends Sunday 4/1).
• 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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