Entertainment, Music, Night Life, The Features, We Love Music

We Love Music: September Music Preview

Justin Jones live at the 9:30 Club's 30th Anniversary Show / Photo by Rachel Levitin

Fall has a distinct smell. It’s crisp and brisk, bitter but gentle, and refreshing. It’s not here yet, but sweater weather will be in full-swing in a matter of weeks. Sandals and shades go back in the closet while boots and cute little penny-loafers make their triumphant return.

No matter your personal preferences, fall is the end of care-free summer days, which leaves quite a few folks down in the dumps. Don’t fret! Fall isn’t that bad.

Pretty soon, you’ll be able to cozy up with your favorite blanket, rent a movie, make some hot apple cider (with hint of caramel), and relax. The steam from your mug will cling to each pore on your face while you catch a whiff of apple and cinnamon. That’s fall at its finest.

If you’re not the indoorsy type, I urge you to make the best of this season transition by taking advantage of the wonderfully talented local singer-songwriter and acoustic acts in town. There’s a nice spread of home-grown performers who are slated at spots all around the District in September. Here are some of the top pickin’s: Continue reading

Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music, We Love Music

The Winning Ticket: Marina and the Diamonds

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’re raffling off two tickets to catch rising star Marina and the Diamonds at the 9:30 Club on Monday, September 6th.

Marina and the Diamonds is for the most part the pop vocalist persona of singer-songwriter Marina Diamandis. Or as her Myspace page suggests, “I am Marina. You are the Diamonds.” Under this guise, Marina covers a inventive range of dance-pop that solicits comparisons to an equally wide-range of peers. Marina takes on the comparisons to big girls like Christina and Britney by frequently singing cover versions of their tunes in concert. It’s this kind of gutsy move combined with her musical inventiveness (she writes all of her own lyrics and music) that gets her compared to the more inventive, indie-friendly, pop-divas like Robyn or Dragonette. Marina and the Diamonds have been around for awhile, but 2010 seems poised to be her break-out year as her long-anticipated debut album receives rave reviews and her recent tour dates have been raising eyebrows and quickening pulses here and in the UK. This show is going to be a really good time and probably your best chance to see Marina and the Diamonds before her name is on the tip of everyone’s tongues.

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.

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Adventures, Entertainment, Music, We Love Music

We Love Music: Amphetamine Reptile Records 25th Anniversary Bash

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all photos by author.

I think it is obvious, from all of my writing about it, that I love music. As you probably know, I try to share write-ups of all the great concerts that I go to in the DC area with you here at We Love DC. The shows that I share here represent about half of the shows that I see annually. I also spend a lot of time traveling the country and sometimes the world attending special concert events like Spiritualized at Radio City Music Hall, or Hallo Gallo (Michael Rother + Friends of Neu!). These shows don’t always get written about because I consider them my vacations. Some shows though are just so rare and unique that I feel compelled to share them here, even if they have nothing to do with DC. Such is the case with my trip to Minneapolis last weekend to attend the Amphetamine Reptile Records’ 25th Anniversary Bash.

Amphetamine Reptile Records is an indie record label that specializes in a particular brand of aggressive, depraved, barrier-busting rock and roll known as noise-rock. The bands on Am Rep pushed the noisier tendencies of hardcore and metal into a thousand different directions at once, producing some of the most creative, exciting, and challenging music known to man. Infamous for their crazed personalities and stage antics and famous for their musical innovation, the artist stable at Am Rep contains some of the most influential rockers you’ve never heard of. Grunge, alternative metal, and math-rock (just to name a few) would not be the same (or possibly have even existed) without Am Rep path-finders like The Thrown-ups, Hammerhead, Helmet, and Today Is The Day. Am Rep consistently put out amazing records that defined the noise-rock genre during their 15-year golden age. Since 2000, the label has been semi-retired, returning to the deep underground, releasing the occasional 7″, 12″ or album. Noise-rock is a genre near and dear to my heart, and Amphetamine Reptile Records is without question my favorite record label of all time. So when they announced that a slew of defunct Am Rep bands were reuniting in Minneapolis to celebrate the label’s 25th anniversary, I had the trip booked before my wife even had a chance to return my call to discuss it. If there is one concert worth being in doghouse for, it was this one.
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Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music, We Love Music

The Winning Ticket: Kele

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’re giving away a pair of tickets to see Kele on Thursday, September 2nd at the 9:30 Club. (Note: Doors are 6:30pm)

Formerly known as Kele Okereke, the Bloc Party front man is touring to support his first solo album, “The Boxer”. On “The Boxer” Kele offers up a little more emotion and a lot more electronics than his mainline gig usually does. Listening to his album a few times, I’m having a difficult time imagining what this concert experience is going to be like. Judging from Kele’s choice in tour-mate, Does It Offend You Yeah?, it is probably safe to assume there will be a healthy does of danceable beats. This show is worth attending just to hear “We Are Rockstars“. No matter how over-played that song was a few summers ago, it still destroys.

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.

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Music, We Love Music

We Love Music: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones at the 9:30 Club

Photo courtesy of
‘Bosstones’
by ‘erin m’

There’s a unique tension that exists between the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and the fans in the crowd: for the guys on stage, a good show requires precision, in dress and musical performance, even movements; a good night for the mass of people rests upon the successful implementation of the exact opposite — moshing into a hot sweaty mess, riding the crowd, letting go of inhibitions and being OK with looking like a fool. The music has to be tight; the fans cannot. By that measure, and a few more, the Bosstones appearance at the 9:30 club on Saturday was a good night.

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Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music, We Love Music

The Winning Ticket (Ska Day Bonus): The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

The Ska fans here at We Love DC are so stoked about this weekend’s plethora of Ska concert options that we decided one giveaway to celebrate this good-time genre just wasn’t enough! So I got on the horn with my good buddies The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and finagled a pair of tickets to give away to one lucky reader for their concert at the 9:30 Club on Saturday, August 21! (Well, actually I had to trade Dicky my lucky pair of braces for ’em – but the less said about that the better!)

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones are without a doubt one of (if not THE) most important American Ska / Ska-Punk bands. Coming out of the Boston hardcore punk scene in the mid-80’s The Bosstones introduced Trad and 2-Tone Ska sensibilities to that harder-edge sound. They slugged away in the trenches for years, gaining respect in both punk and ska circles, until the 90’s when their moment had finally come. Their popularity exploded as the 3rd-Wave Ska revival took hold in the US. A movement of ska and ska-tinged punk bands that the Bosstones were largely responsible for inspiring with all those years of hard touring and legendary concerts. On Saturday night The Mighty Mighty Bosstones make their return to DC and to the 9:30 Club. Between this show and Sunday’s Bad Manners/English Beat double bill this weekend is ska heaven.

Since this is bonus giveaway, let’s make this one a little more interesting.

For your chance to win these tickets leave a comment on this post with the most ridiculous, outrageous Ska performer name or band name you can imagine. Make sure you use a valid email address, so we can find you if you win. This contest will run between Noon and 4pm today; at which time the winner will be selected at random. 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.

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Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music, We Love Music

The Winning Ticket: The English Beat & Bad Manners

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 weekend DC has a boatload of Ska bands coming to town, so we thought it would be fun to make today Ska Day on We Love DC. To that end our 9:30 Club ticket giveaway this week is for a pair of tickets to see The English Beat and Bad Manners perform at the club this Sunday, August 22nd.

These titans of 2-Tone Ska have been providing rude boys and rude girls with skanking good times for over 30 years in the UK and the US. Bad Manners led by their infamous front-man Buster Bloodvessel are legends in the ska world known for their manic live energy and Buster’s larger than life stage presence. The English Beat (or The Beat) make up one-third of the 2-Tone Ska holy trinity and really should require no introduction to all the proper gangsters out there. Along with The Specials and Madness, The English Beat was one of the biggest Ska bands of the 1980’s. They were hugely successful in the UK and along with Madness and The Specials were responsible for breaking 2-Tone’s sound and style in the US. These days The Beat operate on both sides of “the pond”, but are much more active in the US thanks to the seemingly endless energy of band-leader Dave Wakeling. If you’re sitting there reading this trying to think of a song by The English Beat, allow me to help you: ‘Mirror in the Bathroom’, ‘Hands off, She’s Mine’, and ‘Twist & Crawl’ are just some of the essential 2-Tone hits on their seminal album “Just Can’t Stop It”. Together these two bands are going to put on one hell of a party. So dust off your pork-pie, don your finest threads, strap on those boots, and enter for your chance to be there. I was originally thinking of making this giveaway for Rudies only, but you civilians reading should feel free to take a shot too! (PS- Tune in here at Noon for a Ska bonus giveaway!)

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.

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Entertainment, Music, We Love Music

We Love Music: Dragonette @ Rock & Roll Hotel 8/15/10

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photo by author.

Electro good time gal Martina Sorbara and her synth-savvy husband Dan Kurtz brought their attitude drenched, dance-pop band Dragonette to Rock & Roll Hotel on Sunday night to keep a party-packed weekend rocking into Monday morning. Joined by beat-maker and human time-piece, drummer Joel Stouffer, the husband and wife team wowed the small but dedicated crowd full of electro fanatics, pretty boys, and dancing queens. Their late-start set covered the deepest cuts from their albums, “Galore” and “Fixin’ to Thrill”, and blew the roof off when they launched into the three excellent new songs from their latest EP, “Mixin’ to Thrill”.

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Entertainment, Music, We Love Music

We Love Music: Public Enemy @ 9:30 Club 8/14/10

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photo by author.

Public Enemy returned to DC at the 9:30 Club on Saturday night bringing a show billed as a live performance of their album “Fear of a Black Planet” that turned out to be a two and a half hour performance of most of “Fear…”, most of “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back”, and select tunes from other albums. It was a sneak attack, classics-spanning set of high-energy, politically-driven, old school hip-hop by arguably the greatest hip-hop group of all time. This was one of the very best sets in DC of 2010, of that their is no question; what is slightly confusing though, is where were all the people? Playing to a less than sold-out club, with a crowd that thinned as their awesome set progressed, Public Enemy performed with enough passion, conviction, and energy to entertain thousands.

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Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music, We Love Music

The Winning Ticket: The Saw Doctors

Saw Doctors @ 9:30 Club

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’s giveaway is a great treat from the Emerald Isle: two tickets to see The Saw Doctors at the 9:30 Club on Thursday, August 12th (Tomorrow!)

The Saw Doctors are a great Irish rock band. In Ireland these guys are superstars with 18 Top-30 singles and 3 #1-singles over the last 25 years. I’d bet a pint or two that there are some fans over there who would kill to see The Saw Doctors in the intimate, indoor setting of the 9:30 Club. If you’re unfamiliar with The Saw Doctors, they specialize in a great story-telling pub-rock sound. In some ways they play like an Irish-version of The Stranglers. Their lyrical style is full of great Irish humor and whimsy, but can also deliver some real bar-keep wisdom too. Also of entertainment value on Thursday night will be The Saw Doctors’ legendary fan-base, made up of enthusiastic Irish diaspora of which DC has plenty.

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.

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Entertainment, Music, We Love Music

We Love Music: Unsane & Keehaul @ Ottobar 8/7/10

Unsane @ Ottobar 8/7/10
courtesy of Unsane.

I drove up to the wonderful Ottobar in Baltimore to catch a noise-rock double-bill so too-good-to-be-true that it was as if the lords of aggression themselves had forged it. I imagine these mighty creatures in their red-glowing cave, dipping their battle-scarred fists into molten iron, before plunging them into icy mountain rapids to cool and harden. The first fist of fury they named Keelhaul. The second they fastened to the end of a tree-trunk to fashion a warhammer; this they called Unsane. For decades these two mystic weapons of pummel made their way through the mortal world wrecking havoc on any and all who encountered them. Separated for many years by the fog of war, on Saturday night these two legendary forces reunited in a furious concert that stirred the blood and let slip the dogs of war.

Noise-rock is mostly about the musical expression of one thing: aggression. It isn’t pretty music, it isn’t nice. Noise-rock doesn’t ask politely and noise-rock never ever says “I’m sorry”. Noise-rock karate-chops you in the throat and knees you in the groin. Noise-rock throws you to the ground by your shirt-collar and pummels you with telephone books. It’s angry man music and it has been too damn long since this area’s tapped into the real old-school source of the stuff. The other night Boris and Russian Circles put on an amazing display of thinking man’s metal; at Saturday night’s Keelhaul/Unsane show you were too busy dodging blunt sonic jabs and throwing fists of your own to do much thinking. While you experience a post-metal show; with a good noise-rock show you are lucky to survive. Saturday night’s concert was so damn good I barely made it out alive.

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Entertainment, Music, We Love Music

We Love Music: Robyn & Kelis @ 9:30 Club 8/2/10

Robyn @ 9:30 Club 8/2/10
photo by author.

Robyn and Kelis announced their unlikely tour pairing via (a staged?) Twitter conversation back in May.

Kelis: Love to. Thinking it’d be fun 2 hit the road together?

Robyn
: That’s what I’M thinking. I got my strobes ready & some new dancing shoes as well. We could do this!

Dubbing their team-up the “All Hearts” tour, the soulful, hip-hop, songstress and the Swedish, former teen pop star set out across the country to introduce America to their re-invented selves. On Monday night “All Hearts” converted the 9:30 Club into a glitter-drenched, sweaty, pop-disco as the two very different divas delivered two very different sets. Kelis, up first, provided the evening with a heavy dose of glitz, glimmer, and confetti with a set that was musically uneven but enough fun to forgive its shortfalls. Robyn ditched the glam and opted instead to kick some serious tail by hitting the stage with more energy than I’ve seen on-stage in maybe forever. Musically Robyn’s set reigned supreme over the adoring crowd by mixing electro force, positive attitude, and an awesome voice.

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Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music, We Love Music

The Winning Ticket: Galactic

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’s giveaway is a funky jazzy good time with two tickets to see Galactic featuring Cyril Neville and Corey Henry at 9:30 Club on Friday, August 6th.

Galactic is touring in support of their latest album “Ya-Ka-May”, a mash-up of New Orleans music styles and influences featuring a slew of vocal collaborators, who each bring their own genre’s influence to the mix. In other words Galactic are still the great, genre blending, jam band that they have become known around the world as. The most intriguing thing to me about Galactic’s new project is their inclusion of “bounce” inspired hip-hop, New Orleans’ emerging hip hop brand. Friday night’s concert will feature plenty of Galactic’s trademark funk/jazz mega-jams, hopefully some of their new album material, and the guest vocals of a living legend, Mr. Cyril Neville.

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.

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Entertainment, Music, The Features, We Love Music

We Love Music: August Music Preview

Photo courtesy of

courtesy of ‘erin m’

It’s August. It sure doesn’t feel like August, but the calendar says it is. That means summer is slowly slipping away and the days of sweater weather, sweltering lattes, and crispy leaves is inching closer.

This is quite possibly my favorite time of year. Baseball’s still being played, we’re on the cusp of a drop in daily temperatures, and as always — there’s plenty live music being played.

Here the shows for the month of August that I definitely wouldn’t miss.

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Entertainment, Music, Night Life, We Love Music

We Love Music: Deadmau5 @ 9:30 Club 7/28 & 7/29

Photo courtesy of
‘Deadmau5’
courtesy of ‘Max Cook’

Joel Zimmerman aka Deadmau5 played 2.5 concerts at the 9:30 Club last week. After delivering stunning shows on Wednesday and Thursday nights, Deadmau5′ set on Friday night was cut short when he vomited and passed out on-stage. Immediately after his performance the night before, Deadmau5 posted “God damn… What’s wrong with me now? Ugh… Me no feely so good” on Twitter. Sources indicate that on Friday Zimmerman had been vomiting back-stage before the show and that he tried to tough it out before collapsing. After passing out, Zimmerman was immediately hospitalized, diagnosed with exhaustion, and the next day it was announced that the remainder of his world tour has been canceled.*

I was not at the Friday night show. I was, however, at the concerts on Wednesday and Thursday night to witness the Deadmau5 techno-spectacle road-show first hand. Since debuting his new stage show at the Coachella Music Festival back in April, Deadmau5 has been touring hard around the world with an incredible show that blends electronic music and digital visuals better than almost anything else I have seen.** His aggressive campaign to take the crown for best electro-concert experience has been relentless and I’m afraid has now taken its physical toll on him. With each show, Deadmau5 makes his case for best dance concert experience with an astonishing display of visual fireworks that envelopes and overwhelms you while his bass-heavy House/Electro beats toy with you like a sadistic cat would a dead mouse. For fans of performance spectacle, the tour is a visual feast. For dance music fans, Deadmau5′ current tour is about as close to nirvana as it gets.

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Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music, We Love Music

The Winning Ticket: Deadmau5

Deadmau5 @ 930 Club

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’s ticket giveaway is so hot it’s making the sun jealous! This week we are giving away a pair of tickets to the SOLD OUT Deadmau5 show at the 9:30 Club on Friday July 30th!

Deadmau5′ current tour is THE dance music event of the Summer. The man in the mau5-head has been throwing down spectacular live sessions all over the world and for the next three nights he will be taking up residence at the best club in the country! Deadmau5 has elevated his game from simply spinning beats to creating a mind-blowing audio/visual experience complete with jaw-dropping digital light-shows, a custom built DJ-booth that has to be seen to believe, and most importantly his excellent custom-blend electronic music. Missing Deadmau5 is perhaps my biggest Coachella Festival regret this year. Every report that I’ve read out of Coachella indicates that Deadmau5′ 2010 show is an unforgettable, electronic music experience. This week DC is lucky enough to get a triple-dose of Deadmau5 shows. Thanks to the techno-savvy however, all three shows are already sold out! But fear not dear readers, one of you still has a shot at catching Deadmau5′ stunning show this Friday night!

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. 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.

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We Love Music

We Love Music (and Photos): Drive-By Truckers at 9:30 Club

Photo courtesy of

‘Patterson Hood’
courtesy of ‘erin m’

Around 10:00 Friday night, Drive-By Truckers strolled out onto the 9:30 Club stage. Singer Patterson Hood raised his arms, puffed out his chest, and screamed: “Goddammit, I feel GOOD.” By 1 a.m., Hood and his fans were drenched in sweat twice over, the band was wrapping up a raucous cover of punk hero Jim Carroll’s “People Who Died,” and “good” had become an understatement of epic proportions for the way the night felt.

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Entertainment, Music, We Love Music

We Love Music: HEALTH @ Rock & Roll Hotel 7/24/10


courtesy of HEALTH.

As I predicted last week, Los Angeles noise outfit HEALTH smashed Rock & Roll Hotel into a million tiny pieces on Saturday night with a spectacular show of guitar and drum demolition. Constantly shifting gears between raw noise, power electronics, and their unique brand of danceable noise-pop HEALTH kept the audience gleefully off-balance for the duration. Their set was an audio killdozer, rolling over the crowd with its well-timed dual percussion, mad scientist guitar sounds, and deranged vocal manipulation. It was the most joyous and inventive celebration of controlled noise that I have seen come through DC so far this year.

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Entertainment, Music, We Love Music

We Love Music: Star Wars In Concert @ Verizon Center 7/17/10

Star Wars: In Conert Verizon Center 7/17/10
photo by Don Whiteside.

Earlier today you may have read my interview with David Iskra, the curator of the Star Wars: In Concert traveling props and costume exhibit. While it is not necessary to read that article, I do suggest reading it first for two reasons. One, this article is a review of the musical half of Star Wars: In Concert experience; all of our exhibit photos and most of the information about the traveling exhibit are contained in this morning’s post. Two, the prop exhibit greets the audience as they arrive for the concert and provides at least an hour of entertainment before the music even begins. To better put yourself in an attendee’s shoes, I suggest checking out our exhibit photos to get yourself ready for the adventure that lay ahead!

The original Star Wars trilogy is composed of three of the most beloved films of all time. The prequel trilogy that followed many years later is made up of three of the most divisive. Two common threads connect these six films and Star Wars: In Concert is an event designed to celebrate them. First and foremost, the event is about celebrating the brilliant music of composer John Williams; who scored all six films over a 30-year period. Even the most critical fan must acknowledge that Williams’ music is the most beautiful, artistic thing to come out of the prequel trilogy and that his themes from the original trilogy rank among the most memorable and effective film scoring of all time. Second, the event is about the lineage of characters that populate the six films and the human themes that they evoke in the viewer. Another Planet Touring created Star Wars: In Concert to celebrate John Williams’ music and to explore how it was as important in creating these characters as the writing and acting. It is a touring multimedia event unlike any other film music event I have ever attended. It was a great afternoon full of nostalgia, visual delight, and thrilling music.

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