Fiery Furnaces/Wye Oak/Screens - Black Cat - August 8 2009

Screens - I am smiling very early in the first song. A guitarist, drummer, keyboardist and singer with two guys harmonizing at rare times. Keyboard lead songs with good guitar textures and powerful drumming. Wailing singing as everyone is intense but not in a forceful way. I am thinking it's a great postpunk kind of sound as if imagining ATV getting music lessons from Can. Strong, beguiling music that I could see visibly convince the crowd that they were seeing a very fine band.

Wye Oak - I have reviewed this duo before and enjoyed them a lot. Nothing changed this time, only new songs from a new album. I still enjoy the drummer using feet and his right hand while keeping his left on a keyboard. The vocals are from the female guitarist who does an excellent job as well. Lots of sound from two people, not just a folk sound, but a fuller indie rock sound with some folk elements. Good things can indeed come from Baltimore and this band hopefully will do very well as they increase their touring this year.

Fiery Furnaces - Third time seeing them and they have a different look every time with slight instrument adjustments between the brother and sister duo. This time, brother is solely on guitar (no keys) and sister is solely on vocals. Jason Lowenstein (Sebadoh) is back, but on bass, not guitar. And the fourth member is a drummer. Good, interesting music as always by the Furnaces, but never quite enough to induce me into buying their music. Smart, thoughtful, quietly unique songs that I do enjoy live which is why I keep coming back. There was an added Jangly garage pop this time around. I think I liked the second incarnation better with Lowenstein on guitar. There was a good crowd, but no bigger and maybe a tad smaller than last time which could be due more to the economy than the band. But the crowd enjoyed it and it was a good night on the whole.

Quote of the Night: "You mean I can't take that in? Can I get it back?" from the guy in front of me who had his huge backpack with him and had two normal water canisters and another one that looked to hold about a gallon. He wanted that back and they held it at the ticket counter for him. Thankfully the line and club wasn't jammed or you would here my rant about backpacks.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros/Sean Bones - DC9 - August 5 2009

Sean Bones - A group with the guitar, bass, drums, keys and one singer. Kind of a lo-fi garage pop with some psyche soca-calypso rhythms going on half the time. This was another one of those sets that began as an "eh" for me and ended up more of a "yeah, ok". So a decent job by a likable little band.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - It looked like about nine musicians playing the usual arrray of rock instruments with an accordian and a trumpet among the unique sounds present. I couldn't make a full accounting as the club was packed most likely due to the band's coverage on NPR's All Songs Considered (hosted by Bob Boilen--see below). The set started well and I felt an Akron/Family kind of vibe at work with this conglomerate. As the set went on, it kind of got a bit cloying for me, although that's a little harsh. Still a little too precious. Immediately after I wrote those notes, the band completed its song dedicated to love (the emotion, not the band) and the singer then asked the crowd "why don't you guys all hug each other?" which a few decided to. The soundman was closest to me and thankfully he was busy.

Quote of the night: "Are you Bob Boilen? You sort of look like him." from a nice NPR fan who came over to me. If I had recognized the name instantly, I may have gone into elaborate fakery which may have gotten me a phone number for my little black book, but I didn't connect the name with the show until she told me and I am ultimately a bit too ethical for that. The only other music person I have been compared to is Dave Grohl which would be far more lucrative were I wildly unethical. Bob Boilen? You decide.

Fear/Agent Orange/DI/Total Chaos/Bloodhook/Unskilled Professionals/The Pogo - Jaxx - August 4 2009

The Pogo - Three piece band were all members "sang". Dull, dull, dull. A very green band that was just a quiet dull set of cliches that didn't inspire much pogoing. Although there was a small moshpit that tried to form, but it looked more like a carnival bump 'em car ride with a dozen cars out of order. Nothing insulting here, just utterly pointless other than allowing some young kids to get on stage and work out aggression while figuring out if they want to become a real band some day.

Unskilled Professionalz - Also a young local band, but much more promising. A three-piece again that actually had songs and variety and some decent playing. Some dead spots of course, but this band showed me young kids can try to do punk at least at a minimally interesting level without sliding into the oh so many dull cliches.

Bloodhook - Well, the cliches are back. A slicker three-piece with a slightly more metal-punk attack. The players were good, vocals dull, only a couple songs stood out, although one stood out because I thought it was a cover of Sabbath's "Symptom of the Universe", but no, just something sounding way to close. Ho-hum. Was that a Toxic Reasons t-shirt on that woman? Yes it was! Note-Toxic Reasons was the punk band I managed thirty years ago in Dayton, Ohio.

Total Chaos - Hopefully they wouldn't be "total" chaos and their set would hold together a bit. It did. They were a raucous four-piece with a vocalist in front of the basic three. Too bad he couldn't sing, but he was loud and powerful, so it fit well enough. Some metallic leads, but good frantic hardcore punk with some glam metal crossover. Fun, at least and better than I hoped.

DI - The first of three old time LA punk acts that I was amazed that I hadn't seen back in the day. DI is lead by Casey Royer who drummed for the Adolescents in the early days. None of the three behind him was in early versions of DI, but they were all good choices. Casey was humorous as I expected in kind of a California-lite version of Tesco Vee. The band rocked hard and tight and really delivered much more than I expected. "Richard Hung Himself" was a bit too sped up and lost some of the cool dynamics it has, but that happens at live shows, it seems. The drummer looked like William Bendix which was scary.

Agent Orange - Speaking of speeding up and losing dynamics... Agent Orange is a tight three piece that does surf, punk and strong emotive rock (Can I say that and avoid labelling someone emo?--probably not, but I'm not changing it). The band was strong, good, engaging, but the sound was poor. Vocals were lost and not expressive when heard, although that may be part aged singer and part soundman. Still, the highlights were quite good, so I enjoyed the set. It just seemed that the old Poshboy-produced recordings are the way to go.

Fear - I pretty much expected Lee Ving to show up with some mediocre support and was hopeful that it would not be dreadful. It wasn't but it was closer to dreadful than good. But, hey, Fear was never that good. They had a brilliant spot on Saturday Night Live, played a couple great songs in Penelope Spheeris's first Decline movie, and really had nothing else. The first album was ok and had a couple killer songs, but after that there was nothing. I will say that Lee's vocals carried through better than almost all the previous bands and he sounded stronger than I expected. So it's nice to finally see Lee, but once is plenty. And what a hairdo! But maybe it is real based on what I now see below.

Quote of the Night -- "Montrose, you remember Montrose?" from
one of the proud parents who were huddling around me early in
the evening as best I could deduce since they were my age and
not in uniform.

Jody Watley - Birchmere - July 30 2009

Jody Watley - Here's my guilty pleasure show of the year. I am not much into celebrated disco divas who move on to smooth pop-R&B charting, although there are a fair number of artists I have some respect for. I have always like Jody Watley more than most and it helped that my post punk industrial dance music singer-composer friend was also a major fan of Ms. Watley. So, off to the Birchmere and see how she is doing as an independent artist in 2009. The show starts with a DJ on stage who played 6-7 songs in a manner that mostly could have been handled at the soundboard. The band enters and gets going with keyboards, drum kit, percussion and the DJ supplying the sound. Jody Watley comes on to a great ovation by the sizable crowd and is stunning (ok that was one reason I was always a fan). Absolutely fabulous hair, great hoop earings. One glove? Well I can guess that one. Devoted crowd that supplied a mostly standing ovation after two cuts. The songs came fast and furious and the band was solid and not even a bit flashy, so the focus was on Jody aside from their introductive solos. She was in fine form, does have a very good voice and great command of her songs. The DJ proved his value during the set as there was a bit of improvisation and some nice handling of recorded bits like backup vocals. The medley jam was good with some spontaneity within and someone walking near me in the parking lot mentioned it was a Shalamar song which Jody said she didn't do that often but the mood was right. Anyway, I had a nice time and it was a solid show where her many fans were happy. Possibly the only negative may have been a pretty short show for $50 or thereabouts. I didn't catch the exact time, but the DJ came on at 7:50, soloed for a while and I ended up home at about 9:45 (15 minute drive or so), so maybe an hour or a bit over. But I am glad I challenged myself by going to this show.

Quote of the Night: After some geeky fan scooted up to the front and was kneeling low pointing a camera straight up to Jody, she quipped (during a song) "Get a good angle. If it doesn't look right, put me on photoshop. Do you promise?" Aside from the fact that her legs probably looked like Manute Bol from that angle, I would guess it turned out fine.

Black Moth Super Rainbow/Dan Friel - Rock'n'Roll Hotel - July 26 2009

Dan Friel - One guy doing electronica. You know, I get one request a week from someone who wants to be my myspace friend and does this kind of stuff from noise to ambient, most likely in their bedroom. This music was somewhere in between noise and ambient. A lot of people stood around and watched and listened. No one danced or bobbed their head. Yet, it wasn't involved shoegazing either, just a mild respect. After a few cuts, I went upstairs to listen to the jukebox blast out Black Sabbath and Metallica and read some more of my Dawn Powell novel. Nothing terrible, just not enough to hold my interest.

Position the dotted box over the person you want to tag. Resize the box by dragging the borders to frame the person's face. Type their name in the input box to the right, select the appropriate person, and we'll make a link to their profile!

Black Moth Super Rainbow - The set begins with a funny video introduction on a screen in front of the stage. The band comes on and the music begins with video. The screen was a bit distracting cutting off a lot of viewing although the video was well above average. Musically, it was electronic, although instrumented as opposed to computer and it seemed fair at first. But as it played on, I really got involved and found it quite catchy. The crowd was large and supportive with some dancing and swaying this time. The singer had a crazed angora suit with a mask/wig that looked like Abbie Hoffman, no wait more like Tommy Chong. He was out in the crowd a lot mingling while singing which everyone enjoyed including an enthusiastic 12-ish year old boy there with his dad. I thought the staging reminded me of the Flaming Lips and what do you know, I now read that they toured with them (I try to do more research after my observations than before and enjoy making the connections on my own). This is music I am far from an expert on, but I think they do it admirably. And one key was having real people play bass, drums and keyboards. It really makes a difference.

Quote of the night: "This band is a bunch of douche bags and anyone who likes them is a douche bag." I'm paraphrasing a bit from the very funny intro video that had a seemingly real rant by a guy who talked about his five most hated non mainstream bands which included Black Moth Super Rainbow. Then there was a funny rebuttal of sorts. A nice way to open things off.

Caverns/Paul "Spirit Walker" Michel/Hammer No More the Fingers/Vinnie Vegas -

Vinnie Vegas - Classic five piece with keys. Decent harmonies when they chose to use them I would say it was a decent rock sound with some psyche and singer songwriter touches. Set built nicely. I will say they are not without talent which mathematically equals talented, but perception-wise, just a wee bit moderated.

Hammer No More the Fingers - This three piece did a nice job in the second time I have seen them. SOme good songs emerge amidst the reverb heavy rock. Even some Adverts/999 style punk is present within the general indie psyche-rock sound. Good variety, solid band.

Paul Michel - Being that the show started late which is totally as expected here as my usual lunch with a certain attorney, I had hoped for an acoustic act. No, a guitarist-singer, drummer, and keyboardist. And they took a long time as they were using a computer for the first time for bass parts and more. I could not stifle the yawns and I really did not enjoy the set. There was just something annoying in the style and stage patter. A few good songs at the end very enjoyable, so I will withhold full judgement.

Caverns - The fifteen to twenty people left (about 40-50% of earlier crowd although much of that was band members) enjoyed another fine set by one my local favorites. I've seen this band four times now and although the shock of the sound has worn off, I still can really get deep into the groove they create. A band everyone who likes assertive rock music should check out. I am still reminded by the sadly neglected MX-80 Sound for the few of you that want to search out obscure interesting bands.

Question of the Day - No quotes, so I'll do my Cecil Adams impersonation: "Why would anyone want to name their band after a lousy Kevin Nash wrestling character?" Good question. Let's see how many we can find that were inspired by "Big Lazy". Nash first started as Steel which seems too simple to be a band name. I don't know of one out of the garages that went with just "Steel". Next up is Oz and there was a prog band from England called Oz, although they got to the name first. Next is Vinnie Vegas a bad gimmick (maybe better than Oz) that didn't last too long. Hope this band lasts longer. Last we have Diesel (not counting his own name) which was a band in the Netherlands in the early 80s, again predating Nash's character. So there's only the one knowing Nash usage at this point and they opened the bill tonigh. Hopefully they'll come back some time under a better wrestling name like Mikey Whipwreck or Mankind (well that would work if they go metal).

Stellastar/Wild Light/Postmarks - Rock'n'Roll Hotel - July 17 2009

Postmarks - The winning haircut by the female vocalist/slight guitarist catches my eye quickly. It's the Louise Brooks look (with a wee bit more on back and sides) that is at least the second such haircut I've seen this past year on a stage. Backing are guitar, bass, drums and keyboards w/synth. I would say the starting point was a 60s pop-psyche style, but it really hit the modern indie rock-shoegazer-light psychedelic style a bit more as it went on. Yet another band that rocks it out at incredible power on the last song making me wonder if they could only have a bit more of that more often. But still a good band and an enjoyable set from this Miami-based band.

Wild Light - I first thought this may be the first New Hampshire band I've seen, but I seem to recall saying that already, but it has to be a short list. Slicker sound than Postmarks, but that is not necessarily a good thing and quite specifically here it was not. A good pop-rock sound from this four-piece who made me dizzy switching between bass/one or two guitars/keyboards and rotating lead vocal duties. An accomplished band that is just a bit too mainstream for me, but I would gladly watch them again some day and see how they do.

Stellastar - Where has this band been hiding from me? Oh, in New York City between 800 other touring bands. This four-piece is the real deal. Strong two guitar attack, great rhythm section and surprisingly original songs in a very established straight ahead rock style. The sound absolutely roared but didn't cause any wincing because it was a powerful mid-range roar. I was surprised at what a large crowd there was tonight until this band kept playing. Then I realized I should have been up on this band long ago. Yes, over 28,000 myspace friends, ok I'm slow here.

Quote of the night - "Is this water?" someone asked me about the two large containers next to me. I answered yes although how would I know if it wan't monkey urine? Well, that would probably cost $8, but anyway we had a nice chat as I tried to convince her that her son and a friend can go to most good clubs in DC at underage shows, because it's pretty well enforced and DC was one of the originators of the all ages show courtesy of the Dischord bands.

Occidental Brothers Dance Band/The Moderate - DC9 - July 16 2009

The Moderate - Ok, we begin with a young band composed of a couple guitars, bass and drums with the guitarist singing. I smell the blood of an indie band. Yes, that's what we have alright in kind of a pop-rock vein with a nod to Neil Young/Tom Petty/alt country once in a while. Started kind of off-kilter early on, but eventually did pretty well. One guitarist broke out a sax a couple of times which worked well. Their Black Keys cover wasn't much help to the set, but I am guessing they still are in need of songs. I think in a year, they'll be just fine.

Occidental Brothers Dance Band - A couple guys from Ghana on drums and vocals/percussion/trumpet teamed up with a guitarist, saxophonist, and a guy playing electric stand-up bass. They all live in Chicago and immediately described themselves as a Central African Jazz Indie Rock band. That's about right. Guitar lines were African styled and the music varied within their description. I didn't feel a wildly compelling drama in the music but it was very well played, fun, and easy to move and dance to. A couple songs did allow me to really soar with them in very high places. Certainly a nice night out for this small to moderate DC crowd tonight.

Quote of the Night: "You don't have to stay in line, you're a regular, come with me." from a server at Ben's Chili Bowl. This 50 year old U Street establishment has been even more packed since Mayor Fenty took the Obamas there for one of their first pre-inaugural meals in DC as president elect family. So 8:00 seating is pretty tough and I was quite surprised that me coming in every three weeks or so for a few months qualified me as a regular, but I'll take it. Now if they will only let me eat for free like Bill Cosby (who last discussed this restaurant on a Sunday morning news show). I am a regular at a couple other places, too, but I will consider the Full Kee in Chinatown my true regular spot.

Sonic Youth/Entrance Band - 9:30 Club - July 7 2009

The Entrance Band - Saw this three piece at Terrastock last year and was impressed. I enjoyed them again. They aren't a perfect fit (who is other than a wannabe clone?) with Sonic Youth but they are a good act and went over well, although a bit politely. The guitarist/vocalist plays a right handed strung guitar left handed ala Dick Dale and Albert King. I always find that fascinating for a start. He and his rhythm section perform spacey west-coast psychedelic jams that seem to be more of an updating of the San Francisco scene rather than Los Angeles where they hail. Solid set and he even handled a broken string without a hitch--must be something to do with the upside down/backward style.

Sonic Youth - Fourth time for me. Third time at this club, well second as the first was at the old 9:30 Club locale in 1987. I seem to hit a winner on the even number shows. The second was at CBGBs and they were breaking out Daydream Nation at that show which I really enjoyed. I found their show a couple years ago adequate, but being that it was the first of two shows in one night, it felt light and crammed into a tight timeslot. No problems here as they did their two sold out shows on successive nights and had plenty of time to do everything they wanted. Their energy was good, the songs really rocked--some good newer ones and a few from the classic back catalogue. The sound was very good--maybe a tad light on vocals, but it roared while allowing me to hear the intricate parts. A classic band still with plenty of fire.

Quote of the Night - From a guy near me directed toward the opener... "I saw you at Terrastock!" Yes, so did I. I was hoping to chat with him a bit, but I missed him. And then you become a sardine in a sold-out 9:30 Club show.

Jay Reatard/TV Smith - Black Cat - July 5 2009

TV Smith - Devoted (ha ha) readers of my blog will note that the vast numbers of bands covered here often come from the tricky to define psychedelic field and the easy to define classic punk field. And we begin with one of my favorites who I am seeing for the first time, Mr. TV Smith. TV was singer for the Adverts, a second tier UK punk band who wrote first tier songs. The Adverts first lp was once described as a series of A side singles on top of each other. Two albums and several singles and they were finished. TV has carried on sporadically playing acoustic guitars and writing songs in a Billy Bragg vein. He began with the Adverts "No Time to Be 21" and also played "New Church". His solo songs pretty much sounded like Adverts songs with power chorded acoustic riffs and punk style lyrics. Great energy, great songs and a respectful and enthusiastic audience lead by yours truly.

Jay Reatard - Hadn't heard a note of this act but had read many good things. I had mainly come for TV Smith anyway. Surprise! Brilliant set! A power trio of three guys at various stages of King Buzzo's hair growth put on a masterful display of classic punkrock with post punk, psyche, and power pop nods. Blistering pace with no quiet time between songs (ala early Husker Du and Honor Role) had me enjoying each song more than the last. This band deserves all the accolades and I only wished it was in the upstairs stage of the black cat as opposed to the packed, smelly downstairs room. I know, a packed club is more fun for all, but hopefully they will have even more fans for their return and fill the club even further. If anyone listens or sees them, they will be converted.

Adverts/Jay Reatard - Jay Reatard's encore featured TV Smith singing for Adverts songs with Jay Reatard. What an amazing bonus! Worthy of a set unto itself. Gary Gilmore's Eyes, One Chord Wonders, Bored Teenagers, and... ugh, this is what I get for fogetting my notebook, maybe it was We Who Wait? Whatever, it was brilliant and seeing TV Smith thrash around to these songs really made me feel I was at the Roxy in 1977.

Quote of the Night: TV Smith introuction... "This is a song I wrote for Lords of the New Church called Lord's Prayer". This kind of confirms my theory that Stiv Bators and his Dead Boys cronies really weren't writers and faded hard when they ran out of Rocket from the Tombs songs to claim as their own. I really don't know Lords that well and maybe Brian James could write well enough, but Lords was a big disappointment in the end. But this is a long discussion...

The Church/Adam Franklin - State Theatre - June 28 2009

Adam Franklin - I saw a good review of Franklin (singer from Swervedriver, one of those big bands in the UK that don't necessarily translate to the US... Stone Roses, Primal Scream, etc.) in Jack Rabid's Big Takeover Magazine (essential reading for you uninitiated out there). The CD of Franklin was excellent as was this live set. He plays good straight rock music with a psyche-shoegaze vibe ever present. Tasty guitar interplay, good songs--nary a wrong note to be found in his set. And he plays a nice really beat up Fender. Check him/them out when they come to a town near you!

The Church - This Australian band drew a good crowd tonight and seemed to deliver the lush pop rock the masses wanted. I found them a little bit samey with something vacillating between college rock and mainstream rock. Not at all bad, just not enough for me to really sink my teeth in. But if you want some good catchy songs and you lean a bit toward the mainstream, do check out the Church.

Quote of the Night - A guy telling the merch. stand attendant... "The last time I was here, I was watching a movie... mid seventies... I think it was The Cat from Outer Space".

Ozric Tentacles/Big in Japan - State Theatre - June 26 2009

Big in Japan - Three piece with a drummer, keys/flute/sax vocalist, and a bass player who played a bit of guitar. Kind of simple rhythms for a prog looking band with one song even reminding me of Flipper (not an insult). Bass a bit buzzy, vocals cloudy but they were very infrequent anyway. I enjoyed the music and the flute and sax were nice touches. I'll give them passing grades for establishing a nice sound for the evening.

Ozric Tentacles - These little known, but long time UK space rocking psyche progsters hit the State Theatre for the second time that I've seen. I missed the last show which had around 45 people, but tonight's was much better attended. They are lead by their guitarist/programmer/synth writer Ed Wynne (and if I create a joke about his name it will show you how really old I am, so I'll spare you). His wife Brandi places bass and more synths/sequencers/samplers etc. They have a drummer too to keep things thrusting forward. The sound was very good and the music is more fun for me live than the couple of records I've heard or own. After a while, some young lad looking way too much like Ed Wynne came on to play keyboards while Brandi focused on bass. Yes, he is their son and he really punched up the set quite a bit to my liking. Ed switching to acoustic guitar also gave some different results to keep the set from being too much of a smooth prog muzak feel. I am not sure I want to go buy the records, but it is nice to see this family jamming away from time to time.

Quote of the Night: Quiet night, so it will be quote from the previous show. While buying some future tickets (still waiting for those comps, clubowners), I overheard a guy say "I've lived within a couple blocks from this place for x years (3? 5? forgot the number) and I've been to like one show, but now I'm hitting three in less than a week--Vander Graff Generator, The Church, and Peter Murphy".

Van der Graaf Generator/Acoustic Strawbs - State Theater - June 24 2009

Acoustic Strawbs - Third time in recent years that I've seen these hard touring veterans. They tour as a five piece full band and promised this version next year (with former Strawb Rick Wakeman's son replacing John Hawken). But the acoustic version is Dave Cousins and Dave Lambert on guitars and lead vocals along with bassist Chas Cronk also supplying backup vocals, 12-string and not quite acoustic foot pedal Roland effects. Even acoustic, this trio plays great, strong progressive songs from their wonderful back catalogue. Cousins has one of the finest voices anywhere and I'm always surprised at how good a singer Lambert is as well. Lambert plays excellent leads and the sound is quite full. They played Lay Down/Grave New World/Oh How She Changed (and I have gotten my money's worth at this point of the evening)/ A new song about Norway/Hangman and the Papist/Autumn. The set ended kind of early for me, but it was 45 minutes which tells me how involved I was in the songs. The Strawbs are an excellent still undiscovered band for many who still can deliver great music.

Van der Graaf Generator - A rare, rare appearance from this cult progressive band from the classic prog days. Like King Crimson, they play a hard assertive progressive music that is darker than most and was very influential amongst many different styled bands. John(ny Rotten) Lydon has always cited VDGG and Can as key influences and you can really hear that in the vocal stylings of Pete Hammill and what Lydon did. Hammill's writing and vocals are exciting and unique in any genre and he still delivered searing vocal lines tonight. He also played guitar and a Roland. He was accompanied by long time key early members Hugh Banton on Hammand/Roland and Guy Evans on drums. Early in the set, I was really missing the sax attack from David Jackson who played with them a few years back but retired. Hammill moved to guitar after three songs and there was a bit more attack which livened things up. By the end of the set (where he ultimately played 4 songs on guitar, 6 on keys), I got used to the three piece sound and felt they delivered a still credible set of strong VDGG songs (Scorched Earth and Lemmings included, although not all the "hits"). Probably the best of the set was a Pete Hammill solo album song (missed the title but I'll find it sometime) that he promised that although solo, it was still pretty extreme. It certainly was and got the best ovation from the many hardened VDGG fans in attendance. Great show.

No, he won't.

Quote of the Night: I'll do two. Early in the set, the crowd was yelling thanks for coming and various welcomes and one guy yelled "Finally - it's been 36 years!" Hammill responded "well, forever actually."

But the annoying three guys on the metro (and I wasn't alone based on the eye contact I made with a woman just as they exited) gave all of us within earshot various highlights of their favorite company Christmas parties of years past. I'm not sure I needed this in December let alone June.

Vieux Farka Toure/Elikeh/Farafina Kan - Rock'n'Roll Hotel - June 22 2009

Farafina Kan - A local ensemble comprised of six men drumming with one playing an exotic African stringed instrument and five women singing, dancing and percussing. They play the music of Mali and other West African countries. Obviously the rhythms are key, but melodies come through. The vocals are call and response style as I try to sound like the expert I am not (although I recognized some traditional dance moves as I've seen some dance companies many moons ago). The performers were excellent and the music was moving and had the large crowd off to a great start.

Elikeh - Three guitars, two drummers (one trad, one kit) Bass and two brass players took the stage and played kind of a Soca-rock thing as best I can describe. I really need my world-beat expert buddy from Dayton (DJ Rev. Cool aka Jim Carter) to help me with the details. Another nice effort from this local band.

Vieux Farka Toure - Between Bonaroo and festivals in SF and Detroit, Mr. Toure is touring the country and is not to be missed. He's a great guitarist playing snakey and ringing lines in an African fusion rock style which is hard to describe. It reminded me of George Clinton with the interesting style combinations and guest musicians moving in and out of the songs (some from the opening bands, others from parts unknown). His basic band is himself on vocals and electric guitar with an acoustic guitar, bass, drummer on kit and drummer on traditional drums. Big sound even with the smaller lineup and strong powerful music. Not always intricate, sometimes focused on power, other times on mood, but it had me hooked from beginning to end.

Quote of the Night: Quiet night and I can't hear in loud clubs even though I am sure there is bizarre conversation going on around me. After getting assistance with the English wording(?), Vieux Farka Toure said that "everyone's the same, brother-sister, you know..."

Vandaveer/Lost in the Trees/Englishmen - DC9 - June 16 2009

Englishmen - The keyboardist from These United States joined a m/f guitar/vox duo for a nice set of folkish songwriter material. Nothing exploded off the charts but it was quite accessible and pretty high quality to my ears. In this genre, there isn't much difference between a nice opening act and some of the big-label headliners. Although one thing would help this band's chances--picking a name that can be quickly found in Myspace or Youtube.

Lost in the Trees - Eight people crowded the stage playing various instruments including: 2 violins, 2 cellos, acoustic guitar, mandolin, electric guitar, accordian, glockenspiel, tuba, keyboard, and drums. The singer mentioned that this was the "lite"version as 14 of them will hit the stage when they are home in North Carolina. Excellent music and a lovely set well arranged and well received by the sizable crowd. They reminded me of one of the surprise sets at last year's Terrastock Festival, an oversize band from Louisville called Sapat. My radar goes up when I see a mini-orchestra headed to the stage at a rock show, but after these two bands, it's time to worry less and be open to great music from bands of any size.

Vandaveer - Married folk duo with Mark Charles Heidinger singing and playing guitar with his wife (portraying a latter day Diana Dors look) adding excellent harmonies. Solid enough and occassionally transcendant. A local act that is worth going out of your way for. I enjoyed the set and the night very much.

Quote of the Night: Ok, the set up... After 8 musicians left the stage, the two members of Vandaveer step up, position two microphones and plug in an acoustic guitar. The guitarist spends several minutes working with the soundman to get his monitor correct singing "1-7, all good boys go to heaven" or somesuch ditty. After several minutes of tweaking the soundman asks the patiently seated female singer for a check giving us the quotes "Check-sounds good". About half the audience chuckled and prompted the guitarist/husband to add "You're not supposed to show me up until the third song, that's what we agreed on." All in good fun, I might add.

The Dillinger Escape Plan/3 more bands - Rock'n'Roll Hotel - June 11 2009

Four bands tonight, at least they are starting early, which they pretty much have to in compliance with local laws and all...

Octaves - First, does the Royal Praetorian Guard (aka security with a chiseled head) have to stand guard front and center of the fairly low stage so the lead singer's head is only a couple feet above his? Well, yes, as this was his spot the rest of the night. He needn't worry as this band didn't exactly rev the crowd into a frenzied mosh pit. Thrash-rock, some rocking, some ringing guitars, dull vocals, inane chatter, but sincere and I think he could do better. Band isn't there yet.

Knife the Glitter - "I know what you're thinking, this is the best name ever". That from one of the members. Well, he can look back at the end of the year to see if he makes my best name list. Until then, maybe they can come up with some more interesting songs. Instrumental prog-metal, choppy rock that stayed well below the heights of Caverns or Kinski. Something was missing and I am not talking about the vocals.

The Number Twelve Looks Like You - Prog-thrash. Some good moves among banal singing, even a couple psyche moves. Still, just not consistently compelling even on a low expectation scale. Still, not terrible.


The Dillinger Escape Plan - A very popular band, at least out east. More of the thrash, metal, prog, creative moves kinds of things that the other bands sometimes approached. In this case, the Dillinger guys have it a bit more together. To be fair, I was pretty well exhausted at this point, so I'll defer to the crowd who enjoyed them much. I doubt I would want to hear their CDs or MP3s too often, though. You could do worse (and I did earlier that evening).

Quote of the Night: While walking along H Street, two women got out of their car and walked up and asked "Could you tell us how to get to Washington DC?"

Dark Meat/Vomit Lasers Family Band - The Red & the Black - June 10 2009

The afternoon began with me getting an early start to beat rush hour traffic out of DC and get to Vienna, Virginia to see Luka Bloom, a classic Irish folker. I was surprised at the traffic trying to get onto Constitution and begin heading west and took a U-turn only to get into another jam. Fortunately I had the radio on NPR and I hear about the shooting by some archaic white supremacist who this planet had to suffer with for 88 years. So, another U-turn and I got out of the way of traffic through several road closures and a bridge closure. But there was another good show, closer to home, so off I went...

Dark Meat/Vomit Lasers Family Band - Actually two of this band opened with another guitarist whose name I failed to catch. It was a nice set with a George Clinton cover and several other psyche-rock jams. But Mr. Soundman, next time watch the painful vocal bursts. I mean, there was only one guitar amp mic'ed along with one vocal mic. How hard can it be?

The full, and I mean full band hit the stage later. Well, the trumpeter stood in front of the stage, but the other seven members were there. I was worried when the singer/guitarist didn't really explain how many microphones they needed until the bass player got there. It started pretty messy, but decent and then it all sort of made sense by the next song. There was the trumpet with a faint piccolo, and trombone (also doubled with keys and percussion) in addition to 2 guitars, bass, drums, backup vocals. Kind of a post-rock sixties psyche-garage band sound. Very reminiscent of a band I enjoyed a lot called the Linus Pauling Quartet. Raucous, unique and lots of fun. A really fun band I will go see again anytime they come through.

Quote of the Night: After explaining to the booker/money taker that Luka Bloom's loss was his gain tonight, he said that yeah, someone dies like that and bridges and roads lock down and someone dies on this side of town (Northeast) and nobody blinks...

TV on the Radio/Dirty Projectors - 9:30 Club - June 9 2009

Dirty Projectors - The wind and rain abated just as I pulled into the club prior to the opener's set. They started as a electric guitar and female singer duo which was good but it should have been acoustic. I hoped for change and got a full band of three women, three guys. One guy sang, but the women all sang even better including some really magical and very weird vocal work--very rhythmic to the point where I wasn't sure it was voice or synthesizer. Could've been both, but mostly voice I think. Unfortunately the music was noodling guitar clashing with funky bass, sometimes working other times making my mind wander. Overall, not too bad, but a reconfiguration could produce some real magic. Oh, and flip a coin, heads they're from Brooklyn, tails they are from somewhere else. It's heads!

TV on the Radio - First time for me and I purposely didn't listen to anything by them which means almost everything was new as I hadn't heard anything in over two years. They start strong, went stronger, slowed a bit and finished up with a vocal wallop with the opening band assisting in a huge choral finale. Great dreamy psyche into pulsating throbs of acid rock and soulful flourishes. A really excellent set and a creative band. I enjoyed it lots as did the sold out crowd that had their tickets the day they went on sale.

Quote of the Day - "Somebody get that man in the sound booth a drink" from TV's guitarist. Yeah, he was doing a good job, I'll give him that, but I'll be damned if I'm wading through the sardines to get to the sidebar and come back with his $8 drink when a band of your size and stature has enough of a rider to give me a diet coke and him plenty of the hard stuff.

X/Steve Soto and the Twisted Hearts - 9:30 Club - June 6 2009

Steve Soto and the Twisted Hearts - Soto is the bass player for the Adolescents and was integral in creating the great LA backing vocal style in the punk scene. This just preceded Bad Religion's "Oozin' Aahs". So I looked forward to seeing him at lead vocals and rhythm guitar with a band I did not know. He was augmented with guitar, bass, drums, and keys/accordian. They played a rootsy rock music that is pretty common in California. Many of the songs were well above average if not very good and the musicians were excellent as well. Soto was in fine voice as well. The crowd grew during the set and had a good time.

X - The original four members tour as X and many of them play and tour in various other bands as well. Apparently, they played the 30 songs voted on by DC people visiting their web site. So no classic was skipped and it was fun to see what made it through or was missed. If memory serves, this may be the first time I heard "When our Love Passed Out on the Couch". Musically it started slow (with John Doe saying that if there were too many slow songs, we were to blame and having Exene snap back that the slow songs are ok), but it really built and the magic of the X style came through winningly in the end. I was worried that turnout was going to be weak, but it did pack out by the time they played, although the stage was moved forward. There music doesn't quite have that dangerous edge that they had in the day, but maybe that's due to seeing Billy Zoom's constant beatific grin while the dark lyrics are sung. Zoom had a bandage on his forhead, covering his third eye no doubt, but was his usual grinning, affable self spending the time between closer and first encore staying on stage taking photos of the crowd, chatting, shaking hands. He's in his own world, but he's one of the friendliest guys you'll see. Great band, still. Catch them when you can.

Quote of the Night: Steve Soto told the story of the Adolescents first US tour playing the old 9:30 Club with a straight edge band who baffled them when they did stretching before the set, while the only thing the Adolescents stretched was the boundaries of substance use and partying. He then said he'd hang out and exchange war stories by the merch stand. So I did make it over later and chatted with him as I saw that tour in Chicago. He remembered it was with the Bad Brains at the Cabaret Metro. He also remembered them getting stuck in Dayton for a bit and staying with Ed Pittman. I chatted with his guitarist from Dayton even who had the Toxic Reasons first single (I managed Toxic Reasons in 1980 and a bit after). So it was fun rehashing old memories and it is amazing he remembered all the details he did, but that's the way it was for me as well. Good times, challenging, but certainly rewarding now.

Love is All/Real Estate/Ra Ra Rasputin - Black Cat - June 4 2009

Ra Ra Rasputin - Good dance/pop band four-piece. Nice groove got the crowd hopping and swaying and even a restart of the last song was quickly forgiven. They seem to gig quite a bit and will earn their following. Although it has hard for me not to think of the Boiled in Lead song that their name reminds me of.

Real Estate - Ok, I swear I've seen these guys before or is it just the singer's hair and glasses? I, of course, am writing this without doing any research on my own blog. But to the music... I was pleasantly surprised that such a dully named band could come up with such good music. Really good rock music with a touch of Americana, but kind of psyche-pop-rock I would think. I believe they realize their vocals aren't their best attribute (but not bad) as they do a couple of instrumentals. Very enjoyable in spite of the name (I may be biased as I've just retired from 25 years of reviewing businesses in the mortgage and real estate industry and I'm still enjoying my separation).

Love is All - Now this band I know I saw recently at the Rock'n'Roll Hotel (See December entry below). I liked them then, like them now. I wouldn't mind seeing them again as I can always use a dose of their infectious new wavey pop songs done on the sunnier side of the X-Ray Spex street. They both take me back and allow me to just have fun in the moment. Two things I always like to do.

Quote of the Day: Love is All's singer... "I don't want to be rude, but it's more fun without the cameras in front as I'd like to be able to see people, too". This in response to massive flashes by two cameramen the whole night long that kept me half blind and looking down a lot. I'll have to remember this when I compile my list of ten things that annoy me at clubs.