Opeth/Enslaved - 9:30 Club - May 27 2009

Enslaved - Norwegian death metal sets the stage for Swedish death metal. Scary? No, actually a lot of fun with engaging, funny commentary from both bands. Enslaved performed fifty minutes of creative progressive metal that had all the usual sounds with keyboards (almost always needed to be called progressive metal I guess). Nice soundscapes, melodies, and a pretty good pulse throughout. It was the last show on tour and they survived the hijinx of Opeth taking a sampling machine and piping fart noises in their monitors which they had to explain as to why they were giggling. Satan rules? Good band.

Opeth - A near sell-out crowd was very pumped for Opeth who delivered a strong two hours of creative metal. Mikael Artedt did his usual gutteral-to-normal vocal switches and it reminded me of how good the sound was in that the vocals were not over the top of the mix (which I appreciate with the guttural vocals) but were very distinct and worked as an instrument. Great guitar interplay, keys and at least one song with some very inventive drumming. Another strong outing since the last time I saw them on a boat between Stockholm and Helsinki.

Quote of Night - Since it was the last show, both bands did a lot of "credits" of band members and crew. Three of the guys in Enslaved were taking their turns when they got near the end and the bassist/singer turned to the even more Viking-like guitarist and had him introduce their tour manager by saying "You can do your wife"... "I can do my wife?"

White Noise Supremacists/The Dig/All the Kings - The Red & the Black - May 17 2009

White Noise Supremacists - Best named band nomination goes to this solo black female guitarist/drummer/singer who did the basic one-man band guitar loops with additional guitar or drums and vocals. Very song oriented and not half-bad. Not quite fully realized, but a nice start. She's from Brooklyn, shock of shocks.

The Dig - Also from NYC, this four piece was a good standard guitars/bass/drums/keys/2-vocal pop-rock band. Likable songs, aggressive hooks, good singing, a decent blend of positives. As is often the case, the last song was the most manic and brilliant song in the set making me desire more in that vein. Still, I'll see them again, especially since they some how found me through Myspace and marketed their gig to me. Good job and important since they hit the peak attendance at 10-16 people, not counting the three club workers but counting other band members.

All the Kings - Nothing really clicked here. I took no notes and politely stayed until they kind of ended a song when the drummer stopped and thanked us all for coming. There were about three of us at this point, six maximum. Their stuff on Myspace sounded better, but there were just too many disparate parts at work and the songs simply were not that good. They are from Boston and I hope they aren't relying too much on the door here for gas money. Good luck.

Quote of the Night - Sometimes I am not sure if I hear these correctly, but I think I got this one word for word from someone not named Carmen SanDiego: "It's a college town, it's not far from Chicago, not far from DC, well it's far from New York."

Rodriguez/War on Drugs/Donny Hue and the Colors - Rock'n'Roll Hotel - May 13 2009

Donny Hue and the Colors - Three piece guitar/bass/drums with some harmonica. Even though the music seemed a bit light at times--countryish folk, I had to move back because the bass was pounding in my ear a bit much. Maybe if the songs moved me more, I would have stayed. Nothing too exciting, but not insulting. A few more intriguing moves at the end so there is hope, but nothing to bring me back anytime soon.

The War on Drugs - This Philadelphia trio had an electric rhythm section (although the drummer was sans highhats) and a guy who sang played two acoustic guitars and one electric. Even when acoustic, the music was strong, pulsating and vibrant. Good vocals and good songs as well. Just a good strong modern rock band that is a bit psychedelic, but in a song oriented, jamming setting. A highly likable band that could do well. Keep at it.

Rodriguez - This guy from Detroit had two obscure records from about 70-71 era. Kind of a psyche-folk band, ergo I knew about these records for some time (and have the vinyl). I was surprised to see the show announced as I wasn't sure many people had heard of him. Well, the music is reissued and there is a bit of a cult following. Rodriguez showed up with a four-piece band behind him and three fairly superfluous brass players who were only lightly used and just as lightly audible when used. There were about a hundred people or so that mostly enjoyed the show(and rightly so). Rodriguez was engaging in a very burnt out stoner manner and appeared pretty frail as he was helped on and off the stage by the bassist. But he stood there, played guitar and sang just fine although the voice was a little thin. Still, a good full head of hair belying his age, a cool silver peace sign buckle on his belt, and oh yeah, some nice songs from his albums. The band was good which was essential and a pretty fun evening. Not one of those ultimate life defining moments, but worth the effort on everyone's part. Healthwise, I would put him in the better than Shane MacGowan and Roky Erickson category, but not quite up to Arthur Lee (prior to his death obviously) or Tom Rapp or countless others. Maybe a more spaced out Clive Palmer? Whatever, I hope his tour goes well as it's great to get to see another cool, "lost" artist.

Quote of the Night: In an exchange between an audience member and the guitarist/singer of the first band...

I like your (mus)stache.

Thanks, I really appreciate that. You want to come up and play shakers for us?

No, not really.

The Damned/Mastodon/Kylesa - Black Cat/9:30 Club - May 12 2009

No this isn't a cool punk/metal show, but more of a basic screw-up. I ended up with a Mastodon ticket and a Damned ticket for the same night. I leaned more toward wanting to see the Damned but headed to the 9:30 to try and sell the ticket to the sold out Mastodon show. No luck, but I noticed the times were all early for the three bands and the doors were opening at 6:30. Walking by the Black Cat, they hadn't opened the doors at 5 minutes to 8:00 (Eight was the intended time), so I figured the Damned wouldn't be on until 11:00 with their two openers, so why not head back to the 9:30 and do both shows? So that's the plan!

Kylesa - I got there just in time for the middle band's set. Kylesa started with a decent but nearly cliched metal cut and then quickly moved into better territory. Very much like the headliner, being based in strong metal sound, but exploring more territory than most. So a set that made me happy as well as the progressive metalhead fans of Mastodon.

Mastodon - I just had to look up some details to see what five sold out shows in Copenhagen meant for this band. The venue can hold 10,000 people! What? Oh, further research shows that a band called Metallica is also playing. Alright, this band isn't quite that big, but good powerful songs, regular touring, no nonsense non-stop playing, and good buzz may get them in Metallica's neighborhood some day. But they are big enough now, catch them while you can. I left after about an hour-ten to catch my other show.

The Damned - Arriving at the Black Cat at about 10:35, I wasn't sure what I missed. A couple minutes later, the lights dimmed and the Damned hit the stage. Hmm, where's Vanian? I heard he missed some Europe or Far East shows with some family illness or something. Ah, here he comes right on cue to hit his vocal cue on "Love Song". It's just him and Captain Sensible with three newer guys on Bass/Drums/Keys. So the rightful focus is on Machine Gun Etiquette which provided six songs tonight by my count. First two albums supplied four and few other mid-period "hits". They covered Love's "Alone Again or" which they have recorded and makes I believe the fourth band I've seen do this (Love, UFO, and someone earlier this year I've forgotten). Sensible was in fine comedic and engaging form and the band was very good. Quite a bit better since the last time I saw them in early 1982. That had me thinking... 27 years between sightings? I think that exceeds or ties my record with Blue Oyster Cult which was about 26 or 27. I'll see if I can come up with something else. Vanian did his usual crooning and was in fine form still. Band was good, a bit apart at the seems at times, but this is the Damned. Nothing bad and the wreckless abandon is part of the charm and success. A good crowd was having a very good time. Most were like me, visiting old friends from many years ago. A great show where Sensible commented that they should get back here again soon. So in the battle between classy, slick prog-metal and classic punk, I have to go with my heart and stay Damned to eternity.

Quote of the Night - Captain Sensible was trying to recall a riot twenty years ago. "I was doing nothing, just standing on stage and a riot breaks out". pauses to listen to guy in front row. "This man has a story to tell, ladies and gentlemen, meet Malcolm McClaren!".

Ghost/Magik Makers - Velvet Lounge - May 10 2009

Magik Markers - A band with a lot of buzz that I've seen once before. A three piece with Singer-Guitarist Elisa Ambrogio with bassist and drummer/keys/guitar/whatever. I enjoyed the set more this time around with really nice driving psychedelia, both quiet and moderately raucous (if there is such a thing). I couldn't put my finger on a good comparison until I thought of the unclassifiably punk band, Flipper. The Markers do some of the same fierce originality and odd playing that the Flipper oddballs did many a year back. Good set.

Ghost - The regular six gentlemen from Japan had Helena Espvall of Espers and all kinds of other projects on cello. No surprise as singer Masaki Batoh and Espvall played for me at Terrastock last year prior to touring Europe and around. Ghost was a little more stripped down instrumentally without a lot of the electronics and timpani, but still created the usual great sounds. Batoh did start the show by blowing into something that looked like a loosely closed umbrella with burnt out Christmas tree lights on it. Michio Kurihara more than filled in any missing sounds with his usually brilliant searing lead guitar work. Nice mix of songs, although one jam got a little long on the jazz which is usually ok, but I wanted as many songs as they could pack in from their vast catalogue. Ultimately they played a lot and played great and I hope they come back again next year.

Quote of the Night: "Have you ever heard of the Fall?" I was asked while dining in Ben's Chili Bowl. Generally, the counter is good for some throwaway conversation, but that one surprised me. However, I was reading a Mojo and the guy next to me noticed the headline was a play on words on a Fall album. I did tell them that I had heard of them and seen them once in Cleveland (opening for a pre-Zen Arcade Husker Du, no less). Anyway, we do owe it to John Peel to talk about the Fall now and then. So here's my Fall story for this year.

Valient Thorr/Shokker/Hull House - Rock'n'Roll Hotel - April 28 2009

Hull House - Thrash metal with tough vocals. Reasonable if well short of inspiring. The 30 people there enjoyed it at a detached, but respectful level.

Shokker - Kind of a young hair metal band (although two of them didn't have the hair) but the style was toward the higher end of the hair bands, at least what little I know of what I've been force fed over the years. Good set with traded leads, double leads and reasonable music. They seemed young and get bonus points from me for supporting the other bands and no visible tattoos (scratch that, the shirtless bassist turned around and has one on his back). I'm not totally against tattoos, just cliches.

Valient Thorr - Smoking hot metal hard rock. They still remind me of the MC5 doing metal. Strong, rocking and avoiding cliches. Crowd grew in size, although not as big a crowd as I expected (ended up under 100 easily). Still, the crowd dug it and the band kicked in big time. Great band for people wanting it heavy but want to avoid straight metal or even straight punk for that matter.

Quote of the Night 0f V.T.'s front man "How about the news about Spector? Killing a woman and producing the Ramones, eh?" He then went into his confusion of Arlen and Phil which I had done earlier with a friend on the phone when he asked me about (Arlen) Spector and I answered about (Phil) Spector. I guess my ultimate answer is that everybody has gotten what they deserve with all Spectors.

AvantFairfax Festival 2009 - Old Town Hall - April 25 2009

Very enjoyable festival featuring ten, eleven bands/artists? I lost count and missed I believe one act on each end. Lovely building, very comfortable and good sounds abounded. It was also criminally under priced at $5. In a nutshell, here's a quick glimpse at the proceedings.

Kuschty Rye Ergot - Three guitars, bass, drums and a mac twisted and contorted in feedback reminiscent of early Sonic Youth perhaps. Saw them a while back in DC. Good act.

Insect Factory - Guitar and percussion create nice psyche atmosphere. Saw a version of this at Terrastock last year and this was enjoyable again.

Ezeetiger - This is the bass player (and guitar and drums) for the mighty Paik. He layed down guitar and bass lines in loops and then drummed along. Well done by a creative musician. Good energy, great sound.

Stag Hare - From Utah, a one man Mac user. Sounds were mostly synth drone with guitar and harmonica (first time I've heard this and it wasn't live). A bit long for me, but ok.

Outpost - Solid bass with synths and a touch of guitar and vocals. Almost Kraftwerkian but there are probably better comparisons. Decent songs, good set.

Anduin - ANother one man with computer. Very laid back and I was getting a little drowsy at this time, so the timing was not good for me.

Bomongi - So much for being tired. Wide awake here for Paik's drummer doing his solo act in the manner of his playing partner as shown above. Loud, rocking, but slippery post-rock feel here, too. So see Paik as a group or the solo acts, you can't lose.

Mike Tamburo - Hammered Dulcimer player creating nice music, but pretty much what you would expect in a non-trad fest.

Kohoutek - Reviewed many times before and always fun to see. Check them out yourself.

Quote of the Night - "What would you describe that music as?" asked the homeless lady in front of me, hiding from the sun within the festival. "I would say ambient".

Meatmen/The Electricutions/American Speedway/Meatmen - DC9 - April 22 2009

Copstabber - This set begs the question is a cliche hardcore act worse than a cliche metal act? I will let you more after a trip to Jaxx. Stay tuned. I didn't recognize their hardcore cover song and I know my hardcore. Maybe they should have tried the band on the guitarist t-shirt, Gang Green.

The Electricutions - Ok, the show officially opens now. A bit of early XTC/999 through a tougher Wire like sound and you get something in the vicinity. Nice set.

American Speedway - Great blistering fast and hard rock, not unlike Valiant Thorr, but not as metal and not quite as good. But good enough for me and the jam packed crowd. This is a good choice to precede the Meatmen.

Meatmen - Tesco Vee is back out of retirement (his son wanted to see what the Meatmen were like) at age 50. I used to trade records with him and found him a pretty basic midwestern guy like myself, except for his crazed non-PC (before that term was around) lyrics and wild stage persona. He entered in full bullfighter dress and had lots of the classic Meatmen props, masks, towels with sayings printed on them and a new 3 piece, young backup band. Musically solid and covering all the hits and many covers--oh there's the Gang Green cover I wanted. Good fun and I haven't seen a mosh pit like this in a long time. And it's ok if I never see one again. Kudos for the bands in delivering 4 sets and getting me home a few minutes after midnight. Lots of music in a short blistering window.

Quote of the Night - Sorry Tesco, you were amusing as always but the winner goes to a guy before the show. A couple guys walked from the downstairs bar up to the upstairs stage. The quote: "So, this is the upstairs." Yes and if I were writing for MAD Magazine, I would respond:

a) No, it's an MC Escher painting and we are on a continuous loop.
b) No, it's the downstairs. Our inept contractor installed the staircase backwards.
c) No, it's very downstairs. Can't you tell by the Meatmen t-shirt with "I love Satan" on it?

Richard Lloyd & the Sufi Monkey Trio/Ottley!/The Moderate - Velvet Lounge - April 21 2009

The Moderate - Four young guys who I was thinking were making some nice moves in search of an identity. While still true, they grew on me with some nice songs. Still a bit scattered, but a nice job and plenty of time to gig and practice and keep developing into a strong unit. There is more right than wrong in getting a set like this as an opener.

Ottley! - A three piece, female singer, guitarist and drummer that are a cult supergroup from DC. The singer and guitarist were in the Slickee Boys way back in the day and the drummer was in numerous bands including Nils Lofgren's Grin. The style is close the classic revved up garage rock that the Slickee Boys did so well. Excellent set by a great band well worth seeing at any time.

Richard Lloyd - Oh my, how do I tackle this one. At the beginning, Lloyd treats us to a surly chat with the sound man as he (correctly) points out that this is a line check and not a sound check and to just move it along. He then launches into Television's Friction and some more recognizable cuts, ultimately varying the material with Hendrix covers and other more recent originals. He tells the digital camera lady to turn it off because he had a new song to play without a copyright yet. Yes, the forty people in attendance were all set to steal original Richard Lloyd songs in 2009. Actually he was friends with the woman recording so it wasn't as bad as it sounds. Lloyd had other rambling semi-hazy comments throughout the night and many were amusing. His guitar playing was strong and exceeded my expectations. He does dabble with the new Rocket from the Tombs so I shouldn't be too surprised. The drummer was Billy Ficca also from television. I saw Verlaine a couple years back with Television's bass player, so I have unofficially seen Television (even saw Richard Hell back in the days I could have really seen Television). As Lloyd said, he's paying for his past sins, but it's a pretty small investment from the audience and worth the money for sure.

Quote of the Night - Gads, too many to do, but I'll choose the one from Ottley's drummer describing their namesake... "He said that this was the first obituary I have been in where I wasn't dead".

Acid Mothers Temple/Sonic Suicide Squad - DC9 - April 19 2009

Sonic Suicide Squad - A psyche noise jazz outfit featuring drums as the anchor, sax as the main instrument and a guitarist and electronics guy to create atmospheric noise. Ok, now with that established, I have to admit I really have not much of an idea how to critique noise bands like this. They were modestly effective but not overly moving. There was nothing to give me cause to go running downstairs, nor anything to have me buying a CD or even listening the free stuff at their Myspace page. But if you really like this genre, feel free to explore.

Acid Mothers Temple - A 4-piece this time with the core members I've seen before. I forgot how good the bass/vocalist is and I really enjoyed his interplay with Kawabata on guitar. The drums and the rhythm guitar anchor the songs with the rhythm guitarist also doing a lot of nice work on his Roland. Middle got a little less interesting, but the beginning and end was exciting enough to really make the set work. Always a fun true psychedelic band with a sound that goes from Saucerful of Secrets to Algarnas Tradgard to Hawkwind. I am always happy they make it over from Japan for our entertainment.

Whine of the Night - A good sized crowd came to the DC-9 (Band played Rock'n'Roll Hotel previously). In spite of that, I didn't hear a single memorable quote all night although the bass player for AMT kept welcoming Washington DC by inventing a different meaning for the DC acronym about 6 times which showed pretty amusing use of English I thought. But I didn't have my notes, so instead of a quote I will sound like the resident old guy bitching about the guy doing a text message in front of me while the band was playing. If you want to ignore them, fine, but don't blast that light in my face for that long a time or one of these days, I will be talking to you. I always avoid making a scene as I think it will be just a few seconds, but sometimes it is not. I know, I know, a tiresome complaint, but some of you people out there ought to really learn to focus and what is good and immediate and what can wait.

Dengue Fever/Chicha Libre - State Theater - April 17 2009

Chicha Libre - LA buddies of the headliner, the band comes in with a similar polyglot of nationalities and/or styles in its music. Featuring guitars, electric upright bass, two percussionists and an accordion, it stressed more rhythms and guitar textures to go with its steady vocals. A nice cover of "Alone Again or" reminded me of seeing Love on this very stage a few years back. Quirky Westernized salsa world beat for the most part (oh yeah, that). Good band, nice set received respectfully by another laid back State Theater audience.

Dengue Fever - This band has been a favorite of mine since the early days and I was pleased to hear them playing cuts from their first lp such as my all-time favorite "New Years Eve". Gorgeous Cambodian singing courtesy of Chhom Nimol, great soft-psyche organ, guitar with tasteful effects, and great rhythm made for an invigorating enjoyable set. The crowd slowly moved forward and moved more and by the end had a great time. The venue was a little too big for where Dengue Fever is right now, but they are steadily growing and more people will be joining the bandwagon as they move on. Excellent band, highly recommended.

Quote of the Night: "This song's called Shave Your Beard" said by the guitarist who has a beard that looks about as long as Billy Gibbons' beard. Ok, simple laugh line, but good enough for me in a relatively quiet night--even the long metro rides were amazingly tame for Friday night.

Robyn Hitchcok & the Venus 3/Jennifer O'Connor - Black Cat - April 9 2009

Jennifer O'Connor - One woman with microphone and acoustic guitar. You get the drill. Nice set, pleasant but I have a feeling it won't be memorable.

Robyn Hitchcock - I haven't seen Hitchcock in decades. He played with a violinist then. Now, he has two axemen and a drummer with him. I enjoyed the full band. They never hit the tempos of the old Soft Boys, but gave a good flavor to the songs with even a touch of light psychedelia. Hitchcock was in fine form delivering his wry songs which had all the hooks you would want without venturing to far into pop music. And note to all other bands/frontmen. Please study Robin Hitchcock stage patter and determine if you are maybe 1/2 or 1/4 as good, then continue. If not, stick to cliches and quick breaks between songs. Because frankly, Hitchcock could stand up there and do spoken word and be worth the cover. And how exactly does he know to use Tyson's Corner to Annapolis as a reference to some quirky strip mall point he was making. No matter, songs were excelent as was the host.

Quote of the Night - "Thank you and my shirt likes you, too" - Hitchcock responding to obvious audience shout. He did have a great colorful shirt with his band mostly in black. Too many additional great quotes, but I would have needed a recorder.

Obits/Points - Black Cat - April 5 2009

The Points - A grungy Misfits sounding band with a farfisa making some noise over the top. Vocals more guttural than Mr. Danzig. A nice 25 minute blast that may wear audiences out if it goes longer.

Obits - Am I standing in a bad spot or are the vocals way too faint tonight at the Backroom of the Black Cat? Too bad, because this NYC band proved very interesting. A couple of guitars slowly becoming more interesting as the night went on with a very solid driving rhythm. Nothing all too fancy, but steadily building into a compelling set. Maybe a lesser version of a band between the Nils and the Replacements. A good pickup for SubPop. A 45 minute set plus a couple of encores made for a quick and entertaining night. My cat thanks both bands and the club since I had lots of time to play with him unlike when I get home at two or three.

Observation of the Night: What is it in DC with all the soccer jerseys I see at shows? I've seen Ronaldinho, Crespo (nice!) and Ronaldo if I think back. I suppose I should dust off my Henrik Larsson jersey and join them. The quick answer is the international flavor of my fair city which works for me. Still more soccer jersey than Washington Redskins jerseys or whatever that alleged baseball team is that plays in front of a few people here from time to time.

YaHoWha 13/Kohoutek/Afterhours/Dark Sea Dream - Velvet Lounge - March 27 2009

Dark Sea Dream - Lush, loud droning with bits of melody sneaking through. Two guitars, one doing vocals and drums. Thick, solid opener. Avert thy gaze shoeward.

Afterhours - From Milan, Italy. Hmmm, sounds familiar, looks a bit familiar too. Oh yeah, by the third song I remember them from the Gutter Twins show last November (see below). Excellent then and still delivering the goods tonight.

Kohoutek - There are two good things about a Kohoutek set in DC. First, you will get a solid heavy psychedelic set. Second, there almost always is a very special band to follow there set. No exceptions here as they did their usual slow dramatic build of interesting psychedelic meanderings. Enjoyable as always.

YaHoWha 13 - As intriguing a band as you will find and their is a book on the band and its late leader, Father Yod. For a quick biography, check here. They played their spontaneous psychedelic music as a three piece with the key members all present. They led the audience in a breathing exercise which was helpful as it was getting to about 2:30am by then and I needed something to refresh my system. A very fun set by a band I wasn't sure I would ever see. Happy travelling, guys.

Quote of the Night: "They had like 30 roadies, man". Well, I doubt that, but Afterhours had to be one of the few bands ever in Velvet Lounge history to pull up in a full tour bus. I have always had trouble figuring out the money in this business.

Efterklang/Peter Broderick/Bellflur - DC9 - March 26 2009

Bellflur - Beat happy pop rock with too many instruments for synth pop and they seem too nice and poppy for shoegaze. Nice Banshees guitar in one song, good strings. Lightly entertaining beginning to the night which helps as they started quite late.

Peter Broderick - Not only did he complain/apologize/take a few minutes to fix some distortion that was annoying him (I barely noticed), but through extensive use of his recording/playback device he employed, he actually looped one of his complaints. Ugh, play through it. A good voice akin to Nick Drake with ego or confidence, but the drones tired me a bit. The crowd enjoyed it and there was some talent here.

Efterklang - I have heard this band before but couldn't remember the details. Ok, the singer has an accent I can't place, they look foreign. They have seven members and trade lots of instruments. Hmmm, maybe they sound like the new Canadian scene--Arcade Fire, et. al. No, they are from Denmark augmented with someone from Sweden (if I heard correctly, probably didn't) and two Americans (heard that right). Well that sort of adds up to Canada in a way and the sound was very fitting with the northern scene. It grew stronger and more fun as the night went on. My mood brightened considerably and I really enjoyed the quality and attitude of this band. They played lots of brand new material that had more electronics than their older material, but still had that eclictic pop-rock-prog sound. Recommended.

Quote of the Day: Connecticut basketball coach Jim Calhoun who wasn't sure what Yahoo was and insisted is "something I probably couldn't get ahold of." He went on to quote sports books published between 1948 and 1965. If he can't handle the internet (where Yahoo investigated major recruiting violations at his school), he should at least try reading the NCAA Guide to recruiting which he also says confuses him. That's enough March madness for this column.

Flower Travellin' Band/Gondola/Kuschty Rye Ergot - Velvet Lounge - March 17 2009

Gondola - A nice late start on a Tuesday evening as Gondola hits the stage at 10:15 or thereabouts. I'm still tired from the Pogues, but am alert enough to enjoy this non-stop 40 minute assault to the senses. Pretty much power-trio material with about 8 lines of throwaway vocals, so pretty much instrumental hard psyche rock music. Good stuff, not memorable, but there is some potential here.

Kuschty Rye Ergot - A little more interesting sound with this band. A kind of spacey psychadelia that was even a bit grungy at times. The drummer for Kahoutek is in this band and that is a good anchor. I enjoyed the set, but it kind of ended with a thud as some feedback was out of control or they were out of time with this late starting show.

Flower Travelin' Band - This long running Japanese band is playing about five shows in the USA which is a first and maybe a last? So this one was a must-see for me. They had a great fusion of styles beginning in Psychedelia and including jazz, blues, rock and maybe a bit of Japanese traditional sounds. I heard nice rhythms, a singer that could hit Robert Plante notes, and the best sitarla player I have ever seen (check it out on their site). This band was on Atlantic Records once in the day, so it's nice that they were finally able to make it over on this side of the Pacific. Nice to see a packed house for the show, albeit in the tiny Velvet Lounge--a small club, but one with good taste.

No pithy quotes, comments or stories happened to me tonight. I will have to remember that when two or three happen to save them for these occasions. That may be taking journalistic license, but hey this is a blog. It is the 21st Century of storytelling.

The Pogues/Marseille Figs - 9:30 Club - March 16 2009

Marseille Figs - A three piece with singer/guitarist and two guys that switched around from various keyed instruments or brass. A twisted folk-blues Americana sound pretty much was the main course. A couple of songs, Caesar's Revenge and Jumbo were intense standouts. Some of the material was a bit duller, but still a good opening set. The musicians helped out on brass for a few Pogues songs, too, which was a nice complement.

The Pogues - The first of three nights in DC for the Pogues seemed like the best night to catch them for two reasons. First, Shane MacGowan may have more voice and coherence. Second, it avoids the St. Patrick's Day crowd. And that seemed to be a successful formula for another fine Pogues show. MacGowan still can hit most cues and sometimes focus his growl into hitting notes. Aside from one time where he started to wander off in the middle of a two song encore and had to be redirected back, he was in good control of himself (great head of hair, too). The band was solid and is all original from its second lineup. I am always impressed with Terry Woods, now 61 in his 42nd year of being in professional bands and still playing with great dexterity and style. The Pogues may not have that killer raucous edge that they had as youngsters playing original punk tinged Irish music, but they still are a great night out and a classic one of a kind band.

Quote of the Night: "And the address on this is what?" queried to me by the ID checker at the door while studying my drivers license. Now, I am 49 years old, look like the photo, so why are secure quality control procedures employed? I don't even drink, but the stamp washes out easier than the "x" so I answered. I have news for the 9:30 Club. Perhaps the DC Government is incompetent enough to send a 49 year old tester to see if Clubs are following ID procedures, but they would be laughed out of any courtroom if they decided to take action.

The Feelies/Shrubs - 9:30 Club - March 14 2009

Shrubs started it off with pretty light power pop. More jangly pop, I suppose. They did a Feelies song which they intro'ed by saying the Feelies have never played it live. At the conclusion, I saw why. Somehow "Where Have all the Flowers Gone" became "Eve of Destuction" by the end, unless I dozed off. It wasn't all bad, just kind of Feelies Light and then some. And then Shrubs did what so many mediocre bands do--they closed with a scorching cool song with great lead guitar noise that still retained their basic style. I just wish that bands who are smart enough to know to close with their best song, could write a few more of them in that style.

The Feelies - Hoboken's finest comes to town for the first time in many years. They had the two drummers/percussionists working with the two guitars and bass. Like the Pixies, REM, and even Husker Du, the Feelies created a nice niche back in the punk/post-punk day and it still sounds great. Very nice songs from beginning to end with some good dynamic lead guitar. Crazy rhythms throughout and just a real thoughtful quality band at work. They still have it, catch them while you can.

Quote of the Night: "What a good looking crowd... You know, I can't see anybody." --Shrubs.

The Airborne Toxic Event/Alberta Cross/Henry Clay People - Black Cat - March 12 2009

Henry Clay People - This young band hit the stage and earnestly layed out its Americana flavored SoCal rock. Perfectly nice, but not overly compelling. Still, likable people get more of a chance from me and these lads were likable. I will recommend the drop Honkytonk Woman from the set. They played it like the original which I've heard far too many times. Do what Gary Louris did when I saw him. He picked a song by Relatively Clean Rivers where I was probably the only person in the audience with the album and even I didn't remember the song.

Alberta Cross - An anglo-Swedish ensemble from Brooklyn? Not as surprising to me anymore as Brooklyn seems host to the most non-scenic diverse set of bands anywhere. The band started off with some really good Americana music, folky, light rocking, etc. (It kind of went from between Crazy Horse and Vetiver for me) But it really kept building and building into some of the more exciting music I've heard in a while. It's hard to say where they fit into the best bands I've seen, but I thought their set was so well executed in terms of drama and momentum which I normally don't think about a whole lot. This is a band to keep an eye on. Do you hear me SxSW industry types and Bonaroo attendees? Of course not, this is just a Blog, not Billboard or Rolling Stone.

The Airborne Toxic Event - A good crowd had built up by now and the band was pretty well known by most. I thought their good songs stood out and captured my attention. But any others just drifted on by. If the playing is strong enough, that doesn't mar the set, but in this case it did. Still, a good band that did indeed nail some really nice songs. I'll keep both eyes open.

Quote of the Night: Airborne's singer... "Here's one for the Krishna girls" Ok, I eventually figured out it was Christian girls, but hearing things incorrectly is much more fun.

These Arms are Snakes/All the Saints/The Coathangers/Caverns - Rock'n'Roll Hotel - March 11 2009

Caverns - Another fine show and the last one for a while. I have written about them twice before and everything is still good.

The Coathangers - I believe in this century that there isn't any need to point out whether a band is all women or some percentage as there has been enough "integration" to make it far less unique than when I was young. But this band does take me back to the post-Slits world of early punkrock. This band reminds me of the crazed fun you could experience when seeing Milwaukee's Ama-Dots or LA's Frightwig. Coathangers had exhuberance to burn and this set was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. It is nice to be able to feel this primal joy again.

All the Saints - Three piece shoe gaze from Atlanta. Nice sound, but the songs didn't jump out at me. Maybe this isn't my favorite style, but I don't mind it in small doses. Fair effort, but this set couldn't challenge the diverse fun of the openers.

These Arms are Snakes - Heavy, powerhouse songs in the Nine Inch Nails neighborhood. Very modern, intense and well received by the revved up crowd. This band knows what it wants and delivers the goods and I'm reduced to cliches, so check them out for yourself.

Quote of the Night: "We suck, good night" from The Coathangers as their last song fell apart. Really that was the only one, except for the bass breaking down in the first song with the replacement bass being plugged in just in time for the last four notes. Didn't hurt their set a bit, with their attitude and style being so good.