Woods - Quilt -- Rock'n'Roll Hotel - Apr 26 2014

Quilt - There was an important folk band in the 1950s called the Weavers (featuring the recently deceased Pete Seeger). They were a major influence on many folk bands and they began a weaving theme that have yielded the names of some great bands. I have long loved Woven Hand, while the Loom was another vastly under appreciated band. Now with this second Quilt set I have witnessed, I will move them in with these elite 'woven bands' as must see shows when they come to town. They were just here in November at the DC9, so I won't go too much further here as essentially the same thing happened tonight. They performed a great opening set to a very appreciative crowd who treated them as a headliner and deservedly so. Tonight, rather than focus on their 3 and 4 part harmonies and try to figure out their intricate music, I just drifted off into their world of dreamy popsike folk rock. I will be back the next time around and with hopefully the band had paid enough dues and these fans will all be back with even more friends and more people that will finally figure out just how good this band is.

Woods - What a bill tonight. This is another band that has moved to the top of my charts with a bullet. Their album is one of my favorites of the year and the live show was every bit as good and then some. They have added a full time keyboardist to the twin guitar quartet + rhythm section sound. This change fills things out well, especially on the extended instrumental jams. Woods has a fine array of psyche-folk songs that also have enough pop hooks to work on a grand scale. But they are fully capable of stretching these out into fantastic instrumental jams where you can feel the audience excitement building throughout. This is magical music from a band that likely has a lot to offer for a very long time. There is no reason why they can not connect to a mainstream audience while holding their core fans who were smart enough to get on board early. Time will tell, but this type of show tonight will likely be at a much larger venue next time in DC.

Site of the Night:  If you love the sound of the theremin but don't want to buy one and have it take up closet space for much of the time where you will not be playing your sci-fi soundtrack music or trying to jam with 'Good Vibrations', then give this theremin website a look. My FB friends loved it, so will you. It works best in Safari or Chrome. Have fun!