Wire - Julian Lynch -- Black Cat - Jun 6 2015

Julian Lynch - Heady textural guitar music is the formula here from this solo performer. I liked how he slowly built his sound to the point where it was not clear where the set began. But the guitar bursts and following vocals made it clear that song were evolving from the soundscape. Ultimately it was more about the overall tone and textures of the music more than the song, although he had separation and slightly altered moods. A decent tune-up for a Wire set.

Wire - The legendary band returns yet again, as they continue to work hard with excellent new albums and steady touring thereafter. We are blessed to have them around as such a hard working bunch. The three original members remain and Matthew Simms has now been around long enough to flex even more guitar muscle into the unit known as Wire. He works up magical guitar parts around Colin Newman's guitar in creating new forms furthering their signature, yet varying styles formed on their brilliant first three albums. Their set pulls from there along with much recent material, which still sounds fresh and brilliant as the creative spark has not passed by this band, as it does so many as they age. They really worked up a droning style that increased steadily through the set, although Wire's songwriting always has much more clarity and feeling than that of many drone bands. The DC fanbase was here as always and was revved up throughout. They were even treated to a three song encore beginning with the sub-minute song from Pink Flag, 'Brazil'. There are always a few surprises with Wire, but the dependable sound and brilliance in their songs will get what you come here for. They will stop doing this on their terms and I am happy to see that their final day has not happened yet. And this was one of the precious few bands I was willing to see after learning what I write about below.

Obit of the Night: It is with great sadness I announce that the woman who posed for this classic album cover has died. She was one of my closest friends, which almost sounds pale in describing the deep and complicated relationship we had. She worked for me and with me and got me through many challenging times over the last quarter of a century. She was so private, I still dare not write her name and very few who knew her, connected her with her former life as a model. There is a large hole in me right now that I will eventually refill with the memories; and some carefully chosen music...