Category Archives: Music

Entertainment, Essential DC, Music, Special Events, The Daily Feed, We Love Music
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Support Underground Music In DC

Flickr Video

Gradually, over the last decade, Washington DC has evolved into one of the foremost cities in the world when it comes to experimental, avant-garde, noise, and improvisational music. There is a thriving underground of DC-based noise and improv acts boiling just under the surface of our fair city. Every year this scene is in the spotlight for one week when they invite fellow noise-mongers and sound-scape artists from around the world to come to DC and jam with them. This wonderfully creative week of far-out sounds is called the Sonic Circuits Festival. This year marks the 10th anniversary for the Sonic Circuits Festival and they need some financial support to finalize their plans for this year’s ambitious schedule. With a little help they will be bringing in musicians from as far away as Ukraine, Japan, and France. If you can spare a few (tax-deductible) dollars to help this unique, home-grown scene plan their festival, please pledge. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Silversun Pickups @ DAR Constitution Hall 6/23/10

Photo courtesy of
‘Silversin Pickups’
courtesy of ‘MudflapDC’

This was one of those concerts that make me love my job.

Silversun Pickups played at DAR Constitution Hall last Wednesday night. They delivered an exuberant display of musical joy that put a big ol’ smile on my face that lasted the entire show. Silversun Pickups are a band with a great sound and a growing fan-base, and yet every time I see them perform they seem completely amazed that people like their music. It’s this “they like us, they really, really like us!” attitude and their genuine appreciation for their fans, that keeps this huge-sounding band grounded and endears them to the listener. When watching Silversun Pickups perform you find yourself rooting for them to succeed while they proceed to melt your face off with their massive, alt-rock attack.

Wednesday’s concert was the best of the three times I have seen Silversun Pickups perform, mainly because it was the first time I have seen them as headliners. The headliner spot gave them time to stretch their legs musically which really added another level to their performance on just about every song they played. Add to this the fact that the longer set gave them the opportunity to throw some slower songs into the mix and Silversun Pickups were able to create an atmosphere that was all their own and not merely shared space with other, larger acts. Silversun Pickups were the main event on Wednesday night and they used their moment in the spotlight to truly shine.

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Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Goldfrapp @ 9:30 Club 6/21/10

Goldfrapp @ 9:30 Club 6/21/10
courtesy of Goldfrapp.

Allison Goldfrapp, the fairy godmother of electro-pop, descended from her pink-chiffon cloud to treat us mere mortals to one hell of a concert at the 9:30 Club on Monday night. The performance was one of the first dates on her U.S. tour in support of her fifth album, “Head First“, but the concert also served as a reminder to the pop-forgetful that she is the best in the biz when it comes to dreamy-vocals set to retro-chic, electro-beats. This summer is ridiculous with its schedule of electro-pop divas visiting DC. From The Golden Filter, to La Roux, to Robyn, and Dragonette each group owes a huge debt to Goldfrapp for putting the pop polish on the synth and keyboard sound that began its revival as the much harsher electro-clash in the late 90’s. Will Gregory and Allison Goldfrapp, the duo that compose Goldfrapp in the studio, have been cranking out great albums since 2000, while Allison and her live band have been putting on terrific live shows full of style and originality that will be hard to forget when seeing their electro-pop descendants perform over the next couple of months. Monday night’s Goldfrapp show took a few songs to really get going but once the band got into their groove it was pure escapist, retroactive, pseudo-futuristic bliss.

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Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: Delta Spirit

The Delta Spirit @ 9:30 Club 7/3/10

As a way to say thanks to our loyal readers, We Love DC will be giving away a pair of tickets to a 9:30 Club concert to one lucky reader each week. Check back here every Wednesday morning at 9am to find out what tickets we’re giving away and leave a comment for your chance to be the lucky winner!

This week we are giving away a pair of tickets to see Delta Spirit perform at the 9:30 Club on Saturday, July 3rd.

Delta Spirit are a tight group of multi-instrumentalists crafting up-tempo, Americana-inspired, indie-rock fronted by a spectacular vocalist. Delta Spirit somehow manage to sound very traditional while also bringing a unique instrumental approach to each and every song. Their music sounds timeless, as if it could have just as easily been produced in the 60’s or 00’s. In a way they make me think of Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker. Delta Spirit make pretty straight-forward soulful rockers but put just enough of a left-of-center spin on them to make for a sound that could be huge for fans of the WHFS-spirited, alternative music radio. Delta Spirit’s secret weapon is their lead singer, Matthew Vasquez. He has a great, unique voice that lends just the right amount of emotion and fun to their songs to keep the listener completely engaged. His crystal clear, articulate, vocal delivery makes for terrific sing-along potential; of which I am sure there will be plenty at the concert this weekend.

For your chance to win these tickets simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 9am and 4pm today. One entry per email address, please. Tickets for this show are also available through Ticketfly. If today doesn’t turn out to be your lucky day, check back here each Wednesday for a chance to win tickets to other great concerts.

For the rules of this giveaway…
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Entertainment, Music, Night Life, We Love Music
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We Love Music: The Golden Filter @ DC9 6/19/10

Photo courtesy of
‘The Golden Filter’
courtesy of ‘yousayyeah’

On Friday night, DC9 mainstay, Liberation Dance Party brought in New York’s The Golden Filter for a special appearance to amp up the already crazy dance party LDP hosts week after week. Unsurprisingly, the result was an even crazier dance party. The Golden Filter delivered a killer set of sexy electro-pop to a packed house eager to dance, dance, dance! And dance they did, taking to the riser boxes, standing on the booths, shaking and grinding while the band delivered on the promise of their amazing debut album, Voluspa, with a live performance that was a delight to watch through the filter of moving bodies.

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Music, The Features
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We Love Pop Culture: The Blanks

Popular culture makes its way through the District usually on the back of a Bravo series or other cable favorites. Housewives, Top Chefs and Real Worlders, you have had more than your fair time to shine a light on DC in the most recent months. Those of us not of the reality type enjoy seeing other familiar faces appear in town. Sometimes it’s a favorite comedian making a run through one of the theatres, but on occasion, the more niche parts of pop culture make their appearances.

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Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Isis & The Melvins @ 9:30 Club 6/16/10

isis @ 9:30 Club 6/16/10
courtesy of ISIS.

It all began as a simple tour announcement. ISIS playing with The Melvins at 9:30 Club on June 16th. For a few weeks, ISIS fans assumed that this would be an ISIS show with The Melvins as the opening act. Then it turned out that The Melvins were listed as the headliner and ISIS would be opening. And Isis fans let out a collective groan of disappointment. Then ISIS made the bombshell announcement that they are breaking up and that this tour will be their last. And ISIS fans took to the street: crying, breaking stuff, and banging their foreheads against walls like the Ayatollah Khomeini had just died. In reaction, ISIS and The Melvins wisely switched schedule spots for the remainder of the tour. So it was that noise-rock mainstays, The Melvins, opened for post-metal originators, ISIS, when they played together at the 9:30 Club on Wednesday night.

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Entertainment, Music, The Daily Feed
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Photos: Amanda Palmer’s ninja gig

Photo courtesy of
‘AFP ninja gig’
‘erin m’

With just a few hours’ notice to her fans, performer Amanda Palmer managed to draw more than 100 fans to the historic Bethesda theater Wednesday night for what she calls a “ninja gig.” A low-key, free affair meant to reward a loyal fanbase, it offered her a chance to perform beyond  tonight’s highly structured Evelyn Evelyn gig at the 9:30 Club. Last night, as she will be tonight, Palmer was joined on stage by Jason Webley–the Evelyn to her Evelyn, their Siamese twin singers–and Sxip Shirley, a New York-based storyteller and wickedly talented harmonicist, who joins the Evelyn Evelyn family as the twins’ manager. It’s no coincidence that these three all have backgrounds drenched in cabaret performances, busking and all things theatrical.

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Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music, Night Life, The Daily Feed
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psst, wanna see a free show?

Photo courtesy of
‘Amanda Palmer in State Theatre, Falls Church’
courtesy of ‘spiggycat’

Performer Amanda Palmer, formerly of the Dresden Dolls, is scheduled to play the 9:30 Club on Thursday with Jason Webley as their Siamese twin performance art duo Evelyn Evelyn. But Palmer’s special brand of punk cabaret cannot be contained to just one night, so she’s put the word out via Twitter that she’ll be holding court tonight (for free!) at the old Bethesda Theater. Palmer’s got the space for two hours starting at 6 sharp, and she’s urging fans (and curious bystanders) to “expect MADNESS, tell EVERYBODY, bring LOVE.” And really, whose Wednesday night couldn’t use a little more madness and love?

Entertainment, Music, Night Life, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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N Street Village Night Sessions Comin’ Atcha

Photo courtesy of
‘Setting up at Rock and Roll Hotel’
courtesy of ‘dcjasmine’

There’s a new night-life music event call N Street Village Night Sessions taking the stage at the Rock & Roll Hotel next week. Here’s the run down on the situation:

  • Who: N Street Village, a nonprofit organization in DC that offers a safe, empowering community for homeless women to gain stability.
  • What: Food, drink, live music, and mingling while supporting an important cause for the DC community.  Tickets are just $35 for open bar, food and live music from three local artists: Evan Bliss, Tom McBride and Ro Sham Bo.
  • When: Thursday, June 24, 2010, 7:30 p.m. – midnight.
  • Where: Rock & Roll Hotel, 1353 H Street, NE, Washington DC 20002.
  • Cost: $35, order online at EventBrite.

Here’s “why” you should even attend:

  1. Live music
  2. It helps people
  3. The Rock & Roll Hotel rules
  4. Did I mention live music, helping people, and the fact that the Rock & Roll Hotel is always awesome?
Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: Bettye LaVette

Betty LaVette @ 9:30 Club 6/24/10

As a way to say thanks to our loyal readers, We Love DC will be giving away a pair of tickets to a 9:30 Club concert to one lucky reader each week. Check back here every Wednesday morning at 9am to find out what tickets we’re giving away and leave a comment for your chance to be the lucky winner!

For this week’s giveaway, we have a pair of tickets to see R&B, soul veteran Bettye LaVette perform at the 9:30 Club on Thursday, June 24th.

Bettye LaVette is a true soul warrior. She has been singing in the trenches for five decades; constantly reinventing herself and perfecting her approach to that after hours place where soul, R&B, and jazz blend together into a sexy, humid sound. It is almost hard to believe that this late into a career she can finally be hitting her peak, but that is exactly what Bettye LaVette is doing. For the last ten years, Ms. LaVette has been a recording dynamo; recording and releasing albums with more regularity and consistency than ever before. Here is a performer who seems to have put the insecurities of youth behind her and has emerged a more confident performer than ever before. This is best demonstrated on her latest album “Interpretations: The British Songbook“. On “Interpretations…” Ms. LaVette takes on the daunting task of rearranging classic British Rock songs like The Rolling Stones’ ‘Salt of the Earth’ and The Who’s ‘Love Reign O’er Me’. Ms. LaVette reworks these hugely recognizable songs in a way that transcends the “cover song” tag by completely owning them. Only a real master could accomplish such a thing so beautifully. The chance to see Bettye LaVette perform these interpretations and other songs from her impressive career at the 9:30 Club is a special opportunity for DC music fans.

For your chance to win these tickets simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 9am and 4pm today. One entry per email address, please. Tickets for this show are also available through Ticketfly. If today doesn’t turn out to be your lucky day, check back here each Wednesday for a chance to win tickets to other great concerts.

For the rules of this giveaway…
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Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: This Will Destroy You @ DC9 6/10/10

This Will Destroy You
courtesy of Girlie Action.

The Texan, post-rock quartet This Will Destroy You played DC9 last Thursday. As I type this review several days later, I am still reeling from their titanic performance. I am tempted to free-style gush about it here, but instead I will break the evening down into pieces to help my brain sort out the chaos that is left in the wake of their visit to the nation’s Capital. In other words, rather than shout “Godzilla!” and start jabbering in incomprehensible language as I try to describe This Will Destroy You laying waste to everything in their path; I will try to provide you with a semi-coherent write-up of Thursday night’s show.

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Music, The Daily Feed
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Fort Reno Announces First Show: June 28th

ftreno.jpg

If it’s summertime (and judging by the mercury in my thermometer, it’s summertime) that means it’s time for Fort Reno. The concert series has a storied history, and has featured acts like Fugazi, Q and not U, Ted Leo and others, and remains one of DC’s hallmark summertime social events. The series takes place at Fort Reno Park off Nebraska Avenue, just three blocks from Tenleytown Metro.

The opening concert is set for June 28th, with The Public Good headlining the show, with America Hearts and Tiny Bombs in support. See you there.

Entertainment, Music, The Daily Feed, We Love Music
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Hot Ticket: This Will Destroy You @ DC9 6/10/10

This Will Destroy You
courtesy of This Will Destroy You.

Look at the friggin’ graphic. When I came across the above image while researching the post-rock quartet, This Will Destroy You, I knew that I had found just about everything I would need to convince you to go to this concert. Not only are This Will Destroy You a post-rock band on the rise; they also have awesome taste in artwork. I am as stunned by the hilarious genius of that graphic as I am by TWDY’s soul-stirring, earth-shaking instrumental music.

This Will Destroy You are a band that beautifully harness subtlety in their music while obviously discarding it completely to market themselves. Just look at their name: THIS WILL DESTROY YOU. Now look at that awe-inspiring graphic again. It tells you everything you need to know about the band and what they will bring to their live performance at DC9 tonight. TWDY’s guitars will sound like the howl of a wolf, the roar of a mountain lion, and the scream of an American eagle combined! This show will be mighty and the audience will quake under the sonic assault of This Will Destroy You. Come to DC9 tonight and watch as they unleash material from their forth-coming album “Tunnel Blanket”.

This Will Destroy You are joined by Chicago psych-rockers, Light Pollution and Brooklyn atmospheric strings act, Slow Six. These three bands playing together should make for one crazed evening of majestic guitar and sonic bliss.

This Will Destroy You
w/ Light Pollution & Slow Six
$12 @ DC9
Doors at 8:30 / Show at 9:00

Entertainment, Music, People, Special Events, We Love Music
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We Love Music & Comedy: Conan O’Brien – The Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On Television Tour

Conan O'Brien Legally Prohibited Tour

Tuesday night had me back at DAR Constitution Hall to witness the madcap hilarity of the Conan O’Brien Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On Television Tour. I don’t think I need to recap how Conan lost his Tonight Show gig to its former host, other than to mention how that extremely public NBC scheduling conflict resulted in one of the oddest forms of comedic revenge I have ever witnessed. The whole point of Conan O’Brien taking his variety show on the road is to keep America laughing while exacting sweet revenge on the ratings dead-weight that replaced him on air. For two months now, Conan O’Brien, his writers, and his band have been criss-crossing America delivering knock-out evenings of comedy and music. Tuesday night’s stop in DC was no different and provided the sold-out Team CoCo crowd with a non-stop night of comedic genius.

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Entertainment, Music, The Features
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We Love Music: Five Reasons To Check Out The Columbia Pike Blues Festival

Photo courtesy of
‘Guitar being played by Tom Walton: White Springs, Florida’
courtesy of ‘State Library and Archives of Florida’

The Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization is celebrating the Columbia Pike Blues Festival‘s 15th year on June 19. Jazz and music lovers alike are in for a hands-on, interactive, outdoor musical experience should they chose to embark upon the event. Here are a few reasons to not miss the 15th anniversary of Arlington’s famed CPBF.

1. There’s an instrument petting zoo

Sounds fun, no? Ever wanted to try and be big a rock superstar. Live large? Have a big house? Five cars? Well, whether or not you’ve ever wanted to shine bright in the limelight is of no consequence. Try something new or revisit the glory days of your musical youth by partaking in the instrument petting zoo. If anything else, how awesome would be to go into the office on Monday and say “What did I do this weekend? Oh nothing really, except rock out at an instrument petting zoo!” For those about to rock, We Love DC salutes your efforts should you choose to partake.

2. These folks are serious about music education

This year, the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization is trying something new – a partnership with Guitars Not Guns. GNG is a non-profit specializing in guitar education. Their mission is to ensure that all children, no matter the circumstances, receive the opportunity to learn and play guitar. Which leads directly into reason #3. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: Blitzen Trapper

Blitzen Trapper

As a way to say thanks to our loyal readers, We Love DC will be giving away a pair of tickets to a 9:30 Club concert to one lucky reader each week. Check back here every Wednesday morning at 9am to find out what tickets we’re giving away and leave a comment for your chance to be the lucky winner!

For our first giveaway, we have a pair of tickets to Blitzen Trapper at the 9:30 Club. These experimental folk rockers will be playing the 9:30 Club on Monday, June 14th.

Blitzen Trapper are touring in support of their latest album “Destroyer of the Void”; a sprawling, electric-folk album that plays like the perfect soundtrack to an imagined Super-8, vacation film shot by a bored, sixteen year-old on a family road-trip across Kansas. It is an album that sonically hearkens back to late 60’s folk-rock while evoking classic mid-western imagery with an undercurrent of uneasy tension. It makes me think of grainy film images shot from the backseat of a moving station-wagon: leaning barns, tilted telephone poles, rows of corn, gravel roads, and weather-worn faces. Blitzen Trapper are currently a sextet of very serious looking men who I am sure will employ all manner of inventive instrumentation to recreate their imagination-inspiring music when they play the best sounding club in town next week.

For your chance to win these tickets simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 9am and 4pm today. Tickets for this show are also available through Ticketfly. If today doesn’t turn out to be your lucky day, check back here each Wednesday for a chance to win tickets to other great concerts.

For the rules of this giveaway…
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Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: The National @ DAR Constitution Hall 6/6/10

The National @ DAR Hall #2 6/6/10
“The National at DAR” courtesy of Samer Farha.

The National are blowing up huge in 2010. Of that there is no question. Their latest album “High Violet” debuted at number three on the Billboard Top 200 when it dropped last month. It has been nearly impossible to avoid their massive campaign of television and festival appearances, rave album reviews in print and online, and their inventive use of web-isodes and internet video exclusives. When a band gets pushed this hard it gives one pause. Do they have the chops to back it up or is this all a smoke screen to sell shoddy product? In the case of The National it is readily apparent to the listener of “High Violet” or the attendee at one of their concerts that this is a very talented band that has hit their stride.

“High Violet” is the fifth album by The National. Their style has evolved over the years from alt-country inflected pop albums to a darker and emotionally huge sound (that frankly suits the band better). “High Violet” rounds out a trilogy of excellently written and performed albums. It is preceded by “Boxer” and “Alligator“. Vocally all three albums have just the right balance of melancholy, introspection, and frustration to provide a wealth of emotion to the listener. Musically The National have become more and more interesting with each of these three albums. “Boxer” may represent a lush musical peak for the band, but it is on “High Violet” that they employ just the right measure of restraint to their large sound, lending real gravity to their lyrics.

The National performed to a sold out crowd at DAR Constitution Hall on Sunday night. Like their last three albums, their live show proved that The National are seriously talented and exciting performers. The show heavily mined “High Violet”, “Boxer”, and “Alligator”; perfectly blending great songs from all three to balance moments of emotional honesty, musical cacophony, and pop brilliance. For a band that features lyrics of such introspection and woe, The National provide a surprisingly powerful and energetic concert that more than once had me thinking of The Cure and U2. After experiencing The National live on Sunday night, I imagine, that much like those two long-running and massively successful bands, The National could have a long and successful future crafting ever-evolving emotional pop music.
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Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Fear Factory & Prong @ Jaxx 6/3/10

Fear Factory @ Jaxx 6/3/10
courtesy of Fear Factory.

Last week I took the trip out to Jaxx in Springfield to catch the industrial-metal, throw-back, double-bill of Prong and Fear Factory. Motivated mostly by nostalgia for two bands that I was a fan of in the 1990’s, I trekked out to suburban VA’s, heavy metal, bunker, Jaxx to head-bang and mosh with one of the most aggressive and devout crowds I have seen in a decade. The entire experience felt like I had tripped into a space-time continuum hiccup and teleported back to 1995.

In 2010, Heavy Metal is still a hugely popular genre but inside the beltway its fans trend toward a more intellectual appreciation of the heavy stuff. I would say that I fall into this camp as I greatly enjoy post-metal bands and the more experimental and envelope-pushing a Metal band gets the more interested I become. Unfortunately, DC is also home to an enclave of hipster Metal “fans” who listen to the older stuff with sly ironic grins; a position I loathe because it seems to be more about mocking the music than appreciating it. While I have been enjoying the Metal experimental frontier for years, I believe a true Metal fan’s love of the genre must be founded in the classics of the genre; loud as an air raid, heavy as a ton of bricks, and finger-bleeding fast.
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Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Mono @ 9:30 Club 6/2/10

Copyright 2010 Randolph A. Smith

I have been tossing around the word “epic” an awful lot in conversation lately when describing concerts that I have attended. I do that on occasion; get stuck on a word or phrase that is an easy descriptor. A verbal short-cut to get to the gist of what the listener missed by not attending a particularly good show. For a long time it was “rules!” and “kicked ass!”. I still fall back on those now and again. It annoys me when I catch myself repeating these things over and over again. It annoys me because it slightly devalues these phrases and robs them of their power when they are truly applicable in writing. Lately my word has been “epic” because I truly feel that I have been lucky enough to recently attend some epic events. Epic in either sound, significance, or both.

Wednesday night’s visit to the 9:30 Club by Japanese post-rockers Mono was EPIC. Note the use of all-capital letters. I use them because there is no other word to describe Mono’s first-ever concert at the 9:30 Club and I want you to really appreciate the magnitude of EPIC-ness I am talking about here. I use all-caps in an attempt to jump-start this word that I have been over-using of late, because I have no other word to describe how huge and impressive it was when Mono performed on Wednesday night.

In 2005, I saw Mono perform in a space no bigger than a living room on a patch of worn carpet as a stage. That show was my pick for best set in-and-around DC in 2005. It was an evening of true music nirvana. The intangible thing that I spend my life in search of. I was so shocked, enlightened, and blown away by that show I couldn’t even bring myself to write about it for months. I was speechless. I have seen Mono perform many times since and they have become one of my favorite bands of all time to watch in concert. However, none of their shows quite matched the greatness of that 2005 set – until now.
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