"I know it's weird," Tanya Tagaq said of her music on Friday night at National Geographic. Tagaq's emotional stage presence was both a strength and weakness, as she vacillated between cathartic release while throat-singing and vapid philosophizing while singing conventionally. Despite the low points, the performance, which mostly consisted of a single long [...]
About three songs into the performance last night, a fan somehow got onstage—"I don't know where the hell he came from," a Verizon Center staffer said afterward—and rushed Jay-Z, before being unceremoniously thrown off the high stage by a bodyguard (he was shaken up, but fine). If you're looking for photos of that excitement, they're [...]
Atomic plays what I like to think of as free jazz for prog fans—relatively accessible avant-jazz that revels in stop/start dynamics, abrupt thematic shifts, bizarre time signatures, blazingly intense solos, and the juxtaposition of beautiful melody with raucous dissonance. Despite the near-destruction (twice!) of a borrowed upright bass, the quintet successfully ran through a [...]
Annie Clark and St. Vincent have played the D.C. area five times in the past two years, but that didn't stop them from packing the 9:30 Club last night. The highlight was the encore, featuring a solo rendition of "Paris Is Burning" and a noisy, chaotic version of "Your Lips Are Red." Setlist and more [...]
I'll never be able to forgive the Black Eyed Peas for inflicting "My Humps" on the world, but they sure put on a pretty fun show. More photo evidence after the jump and at the full gallery.
A couple years ago, Rockville's Hotspur was the subject of an award-winning City Paper cover story about the difficulties of making a living as a musician. Last Friday, the band played its first headlining show at the 9:30 Club, at the top of a bill featuring a slew of up-and-coming local pop-rock groups. More photos [...]
Tegan and Sara managed to fill up the vast majority of seats at the cavernous Warner Theatre last night, with concertgoers that looked decidedly different from Monday's Yes show. More photos after the jump and at the full gallery.
The highlight of Yes' set last night at the Warner Theatre might have been singer Benoit David—whose voice is a dead ringer at times for Jon Anderson's—introducing a song by saying, "This next one is a beautiful song from a beautiful album... Tormato," followed by half the audience trying not to snicker. Still, when the [...]
For those with the belief that The Blues is nothing more than 3 bars repeated; that The Blues has done nothing for music since the city of Chicago hit its stride; or that there are no Blues like the old Blues, you owe it to yourself to see Corey Harris.
He manages to mix the best elements of classic Blues while giving nods to where it has gone in the world of jazz, and where it has come from via its African roots.
And backed by a tight group that truly belongs in a small jazz club and truly knows how to have fun with the music.
He's still in town folks. Don't let the snow stop you!
The last show the Magnetic Fields played before last night was at Lisner Auditorium at the end of their 2008 tour. Here's their return to GWU's campus, kicking off a two-month-long 2010 tour, in photos. More after the jump.
