”
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

Kind of a light month music-wise in November, possibly due to the holiday. Also could be due to the fact that way more people are willing to venture out for a show when it’s nice outside than when it’s blistering cold, as November undoubtedly will be.  Most of the fun stuff seems to be clustered toward the beginning of the month, with a few excellent shows right around Thanksgiving, including Peter Bjorn and John, Queen Latifah, The Mountain Goats, and more– so let’s jump right in!

Right up front in November, the Verizon Center is hosting two HUGE names, but for very different audiences: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band on Monday, November 2 and Miley Cyrus the next day, Tuesday, November 3. I mean, I guess you can party in the USA and still be down with The Boss, right?

‘Peter Bjorn and John’
courtesy of ‘ddkkpp’

The most exciting band I’ve heard of lately, Thao with The Get Down Stay Down, is coming to the Black Cat Friday, November 6 ($15). Lead singer Thao Nguyen’s got this sweet, saucy voice that works perfectly with the pop/rock stylings of the band. Why hasn’t anyone thought of this before?

Dar Williams is doing two nights of shows at the Birchmere, on November 6 and 7 ($35). I used to really dig her raw sound, and her lyrics are really honest and easy to relate to, but for whatever reason she’s kind of dropped off my radar. Still totally enjoyable, though.

Amazingly, the Saturday, November 7 Peter Bjorn and John show at the 9:30 Club is not sold out yet! I totally love these guys’ mellow yet funky sound. If you haven’t heard of them, I highly recommend “Young Folks.”

Sunday, November 8 at the Black Cat, Mae and Jenny Owen Youngs rock your socks off ($13 adv/$15 day of). Mae is a pretty pop-leaning rock band that I saw in college, and I have to say, it was a sweet show. They do an awesome job, and have quite a little following. Plus, Jenny Owen Youngs made an impression on me a few months ago and fellow author Katie’s been loving her too ever since.

‘Jenny Owen Youngs croons to the crowd’
courtesy of ‘dcjasmine’

Monday, November 9 sweet, funky solo artist Lenka comes to the Rock and Roll Hotel ($15). This girl is seriously adorable, as evidenced by her homepage, and I hear she transforms the stage into “Lenkaland” on tour. What is that? Guess we’ll just have to find out!

Queen Latifah is coming to the 9:30 Club (say what?) for an early show on Sunday, November 22 ($35). Seriously, this woman is awesome. She broke down barriers in the rap world, won a couple of Grammys, acts, and is now a CoverGirl model and product developer. What can’t she do??

Wednesday, November 25 weird dude Devendra Banhart hits the 9:30 Club ($30). Did you know he used to date Natalie Portman? Even though he looks like one of the dirtiest New York hipsters you’ve ever seen? I also read that his 2002 album was mostly made of songs he left on people’s answering machines. I mean, all that said, there’s no denying that I dig his groove.

Friday, November 27 The Mountain Goats and Final Fantasy will be at the 9:30 Club. Talk about misleading band names! It took me a little while to get into The Mountain Goats, because the lead singer’s voice does have a distinct resemblance to a goat. But once I embraced the slightly odd sound, I realized that their songs have hands down some of the best lyrics around. And Final Fantasy has nothing to do with the video game– it’s the stage name of a little Canadian dude named Owen Pallett whose songs such as “Horsetail Feathers,” which is truly amazing, are soaring old-school sounding numbers that sound like they belong in a musical.

Anything else I left out that you’re excited about in November? Leave it in the comments! (And yes, I know The Swell Season is coming but the show is sold out– so sad.)

Jasmine Zick

Jasmine is a Spin magazine contributor who is completely obsessed with music and all things new and different. She’s lived in the DC area since 2006, and still has plenty to discover about this great area! Find out why she loves DC.