Category Archives: We Love Music

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Hot Ticket: Gary Numan @ Black Cat, 10/27/13

Gary-Numan-2

Gary Numan has come a long way since he hit number one on the UK charts with “Are Friends Electric” in 1979. He’s hit some highs and lows in that time, and he recently immigrated from England to Los Angeles.

It’s interesting how much music has changed during that time. At the start of his career, Numan received criticism for seeking success—15 years later glory-seeking was an actual characteristic of Britpop bands. In that time, Numan changed his sound quite a bit, traversing from synthpop auteur to gothic acoustic. In recent years, he’s come back around a bit, re-embraced his synth, and still sounds like he’s light-years ahead of the pack.

Numan has a new album, Splinter (Songs from a Broken Mind), released Oct. 14, and he comes to the Black Cat Sunday to tour it. The new album continues a trend of gloomy self-examination but frankly he remains one of the most intriguing artists in any genre.

Numan last came to the Black Cat almost exactly three years ago, and sold-out a highly anticipated display for the 30th anniversary of his album, The Pleasure Principle, which featured his most globally famous song, “Cars.” His recent set lists suggest he hasn’t forgotten that world tour was pretty good for everyone, so this is a great opportunity to catch him explore songs old and new. Don’t miss out!

Gary Numan
w/ The Color Film
Black Cat
Sunday, Oct. 27
Doors @8pm
$25 advance/$30 doors
All ages

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We Love Music: A Love Letter to The Sounds

The Sounds fragment.fi

The first time I saw The Sounds, they were promoting their second album, Dying to Say This to You, with a performance at the 9:30 Club. It was April 10, 2006, and the Swedish new wavers were there with Morningwood and Action Action.

It goes without saying that it was love at first listen—I was instantly hooked by the feminine but tough vocals of Maja Ivarsson and the rock star sensibilities of her bandmates. Guitarist Felix Rodriguez, bassist Johan Bengtsson, drummer Fredrik Blond and keyboardist Jesper Anderberg all are remarkable musicians—and instruments in The Sounds come together from a delightfully cohesive sound. They quickly became my favorite new band.

The Sounds release a new album, Weekend, on Tuesday, Oct. 29, and they leapt over to the United States to play some dates in support of their fifth LP. It’s an excellent mix of some of the raucous dance tunes for which the band is celebrated and some of the softer, reflective ballads that somehow still manage to surprise with their sincerity. Those who like The Sounds for their great dance numbers like “Tony the Beat” and “Dance with the Devil” will welcome the first single, “Shake Shake Shake” and the rebellious “Outlaw.” If “Night After Night” or “Dorchester Hotel” appeal to you, then you’ll likewise welcome the reflective “Hurt the Ones I Love” or the sweetness of “Weekend” (thematically a reflective and forward-looking companion and counterpart to the Pet Shop Boy’s more immediate “Thursday).

Felix, Johan, Maja, Jesper, Frederik

Felix, Johan, Maja, Jesper, Frederik

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We Love Music: Franz Ferdinand @ Strathmore Music Center — 10/17/13

Franz Ferdinand (Photo by Andy Knowles)

Franz Ferdinand (Photo by Andy Knowles)

We expect a lot from certain bands these days. Sometimes it’s not enough to play good music—the musicians must have style, personality and wit.

We therefore appreciate standard-bearers like Franz Ferdinand, who craft their upbeat post-punk songs with clever lyrics and catchy riffs. When you’re four men singing “music for girls,” as they famously say, it’s important to follow through with a certain amount of panache and sophistication.

And thankfully, Franz Ferdinand still maintains a great deal of this fire. Their lyrics are as wry and witty as ever and their energy is high. The dapper gents from Scotland have a new album, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action, which they toured through the Strathmore Music Center last Thursday, Oct. 17. There seems to be a consensus that the band’s last album, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, wasn’t everything that it could be… and frontman Alex Kapranos has said the band was not spending a lot of time together and collaborated a lot over distances instead of working in the same room when making that album.

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We Love Music: Simple Minds @ 9:30 Club — 10/18/13

Jim Kerr - Simple Minds Manfred Menken

A representative of a music production company once told my favorite lady Yasmin that Simple Minds would not be about to mount a tour of the United States. They wanted too much money for their current place in the echelon of UK bands, the rep said.

It was quite satisfying then to see this fellow proved wrong as the 9:30 Club solidly sold out its $40-a-ticket show of the Glasgow quintet, who were in fine form for a 35th anniversary greatest hits tour. Vocalist Jim Kerr and company only hit seven dates in North America, so it was doubly satisfying that D.C. was on the tour bill.

I went to the show hoping that the band would not neglect its earlier material in favor of radio staples that got them noticed in the United States after “Don’t You (Forget About Me),” the number one hit they logged from The Breakfast Club soundtrack. As the band broke through here, their sound shifted direction to my ear away from the synth-driven music they embraced in their earlier albums toward soulful arena rock. While pleasing nevertheless, I do not find those radio hits like “Alive and Kicking” as satisfying as some of the material more obscure to Americans.

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The Winning Ticket: The Waterboys @ 9:30 Club, 10/22/13

WaterboysF

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 periodically. Keep your eyes open for opportunities to find out what tickets we’re giving away, and leave a comment for your chance to be the lucky winner!

Today, we are giving away a pair of tickets to see The Waterboys at the 9:30 Club on Tuesday, Oct. 22.

For your chance to win these tickets, simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 9am and 4pm today. Feel free to leave any comment, but perhaps share your favorite song by The Waterboys! One entry per email address, please. Tickets for this show are also available through Ticketfly.

For the rules of this giveaway…

Comments will be closed at 4pm and a winner will be randomly selected. The winner will be notified by email. The winner must respond to our email within 24 hours or they will forfeit their tickets and we will pick another winner.

Tickets will be available to the winner at the 9:30 Club Guest List window one hour before doors open on the night of the concert. The tickets must be claimed with a valid ID. The winner must be old enough to attend the specific concert or must have a parent’s permission to enter if he/she is under 18 years old.

The Waterboys
w/ Freddie Stevenson
9:30 Club
Tuesday, Oct. 22
doors @7pm
$35
All ages

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Hot Ticket: The Dismemberment Plan w/Paint Branch @ 9:30 Club, 10/20/13

The Dismemberment Plan (Photo courtesy the band)

The Dismemberment Plan (Photo courtesy the band)

How excited is DC about the honest-to-gosh return of The Dismemberment Plan, who dropped their first new album in 10 years this past week?

The new album Uncanney Valley recaptures the classic wit and fun of The Dismemberment Plan, according to critics. Friday, they perform in New York City and then hit the 9:30 Club for two shows in a row on Saturday, Oct. 19, and Sunday, Oct. 20.

The shows are generating a lot of buzz around town. (Take a look at a personal D-Plan playlist from bar critic Fritz Hahn of The Washington Post posted today!) And it seems only appropriate that The Dismemberment Plan have recruited two rising local bands to open up for them this weekend.

On Saturday, Deleted Scenes open and on Sunday, Paint Branch take the reins.

Paint Branch presents a particularly intriguing opportunity to catch some veterans of the DC music scene as John Davis and Chris Richards of Q and Not U reunite to try something different. Richards, a music critic at The Washington Post, muses, “Maybe we could sound like CSNY or Harry Nilsson or other bands John had gotten me into. There could be guitar solos and vocal harmonies and lyrics about personal bummers – common things that felt too common for our old band, or maybe just too self-indulgent. (Funny how common things could feel thrilling now.)”

Sunday then may present a rare opportunity to check out something new and interesting from two sets of musicians who have made our city home.

The Dismemberment Plan
w/ Paint Branch
9:30 Club
Sunday, Oct. 20
doors @7pm
$25
All ages

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The Winning Ticket: The Dismemberment Plan, 10/20/13

DismembermentFAs 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 periodically. Keep your eyes open for opportunities to find out what tickets we’re giving away, and leave a comment for your chance to be the lucky winner!

Today, we are giving away a pair of tickets to see The Dismemberment Plan at the 9:30 Club on Sunday, Oct. 20. The D-Plan actually are playing two shows in a row at the 9:30 Club–Saturday, Oct. 19, and Sunday, Oct. 20–but our giveaway is specifically for the Sunday show.

The Dismemberment Plan have officially reunited to the delight of their many fans, and the band has its first new album, Uncanney Valley, in 10 years coming out tomorrow, Oct. 15. The new album, which I have not yet heard, is said to sound a lot like The Dismemberment Plan we know and love, but perhaps a little older and a little wiser. The Plan’s well-received shows over the past few years already demonstrate the emo rockers still sound great, so you know you’re in for a good time.

For your chance to win these tickets, simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 10am and 4pm today. Feel free to leave any comment, but perhaps share your favorite song by The Dismemberment Plan! One entry per email address, please. Tickets for this show are also available through Ticketfly.

For the rules of this giveaway…

Comments will be closed at 4pm and a winner will be randomly selected. The winner will be notified by email. The winner must respond to our email within 24 hours or they will forfeit their tickets and we will pick another winner.

Tickets will be available to the winner at the 9:30 Club Guest List window one hour before doors open on the night of the concert. The tickets must be claimed with a valid ID. The winner must be old enough to attend the specific concert or must have a parent’s permission to enter if he/she is under 18 years old.

The Dismemberment Plan
w/ Paint Branch
9:30 Club
Sunday, Oct. 20
doors @7pm
$25
All ages

 

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We Love Music: The Naked and the Famous @ 9:30 Club — 10/7/13

The Naked and Famous | October 2013 nan palmero

When I first heard “Punching in a Dream” by The Naked and the Famous, I thought, “Well, what a catchy dreampop song!” The ethereal voice of Alisa Xayalith over the layered electronics struck me as a sonically aggressive take on the genre but I was comfortable with that categorization nonetheless.

Coming to know the band quite a bit better recently, I’ve come to appreciate the bite in their music that lends their sound to the more rock-and-roll bent of post-punk. Yet I’m not entirely comfortable fully placing them there myself—and this is what makes the band an exciting listen. The Naked and the Famous are different. They play outside of boundaries, and they are surprisingly versatile while doing so. This was evident in two sold out shows at the 9:30 Club this past Sunday and Monday, where the crowd fully embraced the duality of the band, dancing and singing along with great enthusiasm.

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The Winning Ticket: Lee Fields & The Expressions @ 9:30 Club, 10/17/13

LeeFieldsFAs 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 periodically. Keep your eyes open for opportunities to find out what tickets we’re giving away, and leave a comment for your chance to be the lucky winner!

Today, we are giving away a pair of tickets to see Lee Fields and the Expressions at the 9:30 Club on Thursday, Oct. 17.

Mr. Fields, a southern soul singer, has been on a resurgence lately, putting out several well-regarded albums with The Expressions in the past decade. It seems he’s drawn quite a few comparisons to James Brown over the years, so this has got to be quite a fun and funky show!

For your chance to win these tickets, simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 10am and 4pm today. Feel free to leave any comment, but perhaps share your favorite song by Lee Fields! One entry per email address, please. Tickets for this show are also available through Ticketfly.

For the rules of this giveaway…

Comments will be closed at 4pm and a winner will be randomly selected. The winner will be notified by email. The winner must respond to our email within 24 hours or they will forfeit their tickets and we will pick another winner.

Tickets will be available to the winner at the 9:30 Club Guest List window one hour before doors open on the night of the concert. The tickets must be claimed with a valid ID. The winner must be old enough to attend the specific concert or must have a parent’s permission to enter if he/she is under 18 years old.

Lee Fields & The Expressions
9:30 Club
Thursday, Oct. 17
doors @7pm
$25
All ages

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We Love Music: Daryl Hall and John Oates @ Warner Theatre — 10/2/13

Hall and Oates rocking out at a different show in September 2012 transistr_sistr

Daryl Hall and John Oates sailed into DC on Wednesday night, wowing a robust crowd at the Warner Theatre with so much soul that we all couldn’t help but leave feeling very spiritual.

These two talented gentlemen came to croon, and boy did they ever. They made me a happy man opening with “Maneater” and closing the last song of their second (!) encore with “Private Eyes,” satisfying my inner MTV child. Their hypnotizing blend of soul, funk, rock and electronics made for a pleasing musical cocktail.

But they really grabbed my attention and that of the room with the sheer power of their 70s ballads. Forty years ago, the duo released the platinum album “Abandoned Luncheonette,” their second album and two of three on Atlantic Records (for which Hall was surprisingly nostalgic Wednesday night). That album included the super smooth “She’s Gone,” a heartfelt ode to lost love so powerful that it eventually catapulted the two young musicians from Philadelphia to stardom and a permanent place in the American pop culture psyche, where they have continued to sit comfortably for four decades now.

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Hot Ticket: Daryl Hall & John Oates @ The Warner Theatre, 10/2/13

Hall & Oates play in Saratoga, Calif., on Sept. 18, 2012 Becky

Private Eyes/
They’re watching you/
They see your every move!

If hearing that song out and about makes you want to clap along (clap! clap CLAP!), you know you have to go see Daryl Hall and John Oates when they stop at the Warner Theatre in DC this Wednesday, Oct. 2.

Nominally, Hall and Oates are touring on the 40th anniversary of their platinum album, Abandoned Luncheonette, which included ’70s jams like “She’s Gone.” But reports have it that this tour includes a roundup of hits, including those like “Private Eyes” and “Maneater” — songs that caught the zeitgeist of the 1980s and put the duo in heavy rotation on MTV.

The two are still very active, touring together and recently releasing their first box set, Do What You Want, Be What You Are: The Music of Daryl Hall & John Oates. Catching them at the Warner is a nice opportunity to see them play a career retrospective in a classic theater.

Daryl Hall & John Oates
Warner Theatre
Wednesday, Oct. 2
show @8pm
$63-$123
All ages

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We Love Music: Pink Jams Under:40 Music Marathon at the Hard Rock Cafe DC 9/27-9/29

Photo Courtesy of Pink Jams

When Pink Jams! Founder and President Christa Floresca lost a 35-year-old friend to breast cancer in 2007, she learned the hard way that the disease does not discriminate based on gender, race, or age.  That realization is what inspired Floresca to find a creative way to raise money and awareness of breast cancer’s effects on people under age 40.

“Jen was the first person I had ever met that was around my age that had been diagnosed with breast cancer,” Floresca said, “I always thought that was something that you worried about as you got older.”

Founded in 2009, just two years after Jen’s passing, Pink Jams is currently doing all it can as an organization to raise funds and engage in community discussion about breast cancer affecting people under age 40. “It’s not really about the money,” Floresca said. “It’s about the awareness. It’s about reaching thousands and thousands of people,” and that’s what the 2nd Annual Under:40 Music Marathon at the Hard Rock Café this coming weekend will help to do.

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We Love Music: A Q&A with Andy Suzuki of Andy Suzuki & The Method

Photo Credit: TalismanPHOTO

Photo Credit: TalismanPHOTO

Smooth melodic vocal lines in the spirit of Amos Lee and Sara Barellies with a touch of soul and an energetic blend of folk-rock rhythms reminiscent of John Mayer — that’s what Andy Suzuki & The Method bring to the table.

The band, fronted by the songwriting trio Andy Suzuki, Jason Gorelick, and Kozza Babumba (the grandson of Grammy Award-winning Nigerian percussionist Babatunde Olatunji), is an independent New York City-based group that recently released their highly anticipated album Born Out of Mischief as a result of a crowd-funding effort.

In the fall of 2012 they played internationally with a wildly successful 3-week tour in Southeast Asia and now Andy and the guys are on a U.S. tour with a stop at Ebenezers Coffeehouse in DC this Friday night.

The band’s sound — especially on your most recent release Born Out of Mischief — has a catchy yet familiar feel to it. It’s a pop rock album with elements of folk. Who are your biggest influences and how do you pay homage to them in your music?

We feel like we have finally found our sound in Born out of Mischief. A little bit of folk. A little bit of pop-rock. With a little but of a country-bluesy vibe. As far as our influences, they are all over the map, but to pick a few. We love how Ben Howard creates bridges through builds and repetition. We love how Amos Lee makes everything sound soulfully-bluesy. And we love how Peter Bradley Adams arranges his songs to sound incredibly lush. Hopefully you can hear some of these influences in our Born out of Mischief. We also kinda like to think of ourselves as similar to Tracy Chapman. But a little more Asian. And a little more country.

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The Winning Ticket: The White Mandingos @ U Street Music Hall, 9/27/13

WhiteMandingosF

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 periodically. (In this case, it’s actually a concert at U Street Music Hall presented by the 9:30 Club!) Keep your eyes open for opportunities at 9am once a week or so to find out what tickets we’re giving away and leave a comment for your chance to be the lucky winner!

Today we are giving away a pair of tickets to see The White Mandingos at U Street Music Hall on Friday, Sept. 27.

The White Mandingos is a bicoastal supergroup, featuring MURS, Darryl Jenifer from Bad Brains and Sascha Jenkins. The hip hop/rock fusion trio released their debut album, The Ghetto is Trying to Kill Me, on Fat Beats/Fontana on May 28.

For your chance to win these tickets, simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 10am and 4pm today. Feel free to leave any comment, but perhaps reveal your favorite composition by MURS, Bad Brains or Jenkins, or this new supergroup! One entry per email address please! Tickets for this show are also available through Ticketfly.

For the rules of this giveaway…

Comments will be closed at 4pm and a winner will be randomly selected. The winner will be notified by email. The winner must respond to our email within 24 hours, or they will forfeit their tickets and we will pick another winner.

Tickets will be available to the winner at the U Street Music Hall Guest List window after doors open on the night of the concert. The tickets must be claimed with a valid ID. The winner must be old enough to attend the specific concert or must have a parent’s permission to enter if he/she is under 18 years old.

The White Mandingos
w/ 301
U Street Music Hall
Friday, Sept. 27
doors @ 7pm
$20
All ages

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The Winning Ticket: El Ten Eleven @ U Street Music Hall, 9/21/13

ElTenElevenF

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 periodically. (In this case, it’s actually a concert at U Street Music Hall presented by the 9:30 Club!) Keep your eyes open for opportunities at 9am once a week or so to find out what tickets we’re giving away and leave a comment for your chance to be the lucky winner!

Today we are giving away a pair of tickets to see El Ten Eleven at U Street Music Hall on Saturday, Sept. 21.

The post-rock duo have an unusual story for the today’s world of electronic music. Bassist Kristian Dunn and drummer Tim Fogarty formed the band in 2002. They say they’ve been influenced by their life experiences, including having divorces and child(ren). And they got known partly by lending their talents to documentaries about graphic design, like Helvetica. (One awaits the examination of the rise corporate mass design, Calibri. Kidding.)

Anyway, El Ten Eleven put out a new album, Transitions, last year, so they have fresh instrumental goodness to share in their performance at U Street Music Hall next week!

For your chance to win these tickets, simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 10am and 4pm today. Feel free to leave any comment, but I would be curious as to your favorite composition by El Ten Eleven? (This is how I learn things!) One entry per email address please! Tickets for this show are also available through Ticketfly.

For the rules of this giveaway…

Comments will be closed at 4pm and a winner will be randomly selected. The winner will be notified by email. The winner must respond to our email within 24 hours, or they will forfeit their tickets and we will pick another winner.

Tickets will be available to the winner at the U Street Music Hall Guest List window after doors open on the night of the concert. The tickets must be claimed with a valid ID. The winner must be old enough to attend the specific concert or must have a parent’s permission to enter if he/she is under 18 years old.

El Ten Eleven
w/ Eliot Lipp
U Street Music Hall
Saturday, Sept. 21
doors @ 6:30pm
$14
All ages

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We Love Music: A Q&A with Bleu

Photo Credit Casey Curry

He’s served as co-writer and producer for chart-topping acts like The Jonas Brothers, Hanson, Selena Gomez, and Demi Lovato but before all of that, Bleu started as a solo singer-songwriter out of Boston. A big break of sorts came in 2002 when the song “Somebody Else” off his upcoming 2003 major label album Redhead was released as part of the Spider-Man soundtrack.

When relations with his label were severed, Bleu took to new musical projects. Over the past few years, Bleu has worked hard to garner support from his fans through crowd-funding campaigns like Kickstarter (he won their 2010 award for Best Music Project) and most recently Pledge Music. And now, he’s embarked upon the first-ever Pledge Music sponsored tour with Will Dailey as of this week in anticipation of his newest album To Hell with You being released.

You can check out one of his two DC area tour stops by visiting Ramshead Onstage in Annapolis, Md. on Monday September 16 or Jammin’ Java in Vienna, Va. on Tuesday September 17.

On your last album Four, the themes ranged from death to God to the afterlife and even your legacy. For your upcoming release To Hell with You, what would you say the themes are and why?

I’m not sure if I’m sad or happy to say that the themes haven’t veered that much. I’m just as obsessed with self-obsession, mortality and spiritual-pitfalls as ever…but I think the musical-settings are quite different on this record, and I’m personally excited about the new juxtapositions that have come out of that.

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We Love Music: Blondie w/ X @ 9:30 Club — 9/9/13

Chris Stein, Exene Cervenka and Debbie Harry (Photo by Mark Weiss)

Chris Stein, Exene Cervenka and Debbie Harry (Photo by Mark Weiss)

Maybe it’s true that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but sometimes there is remarkably more to be found in those old tricks than you might think.

Such might be said to be the case with Blondie, the iconic new wave group that now refuses to go away despite a 15-year break in the 80s and 90s. Recharged and on a roll, the band is back with a 10th studio album dropping this fall–Ghosts of Download–which comes only two years after their last album, Panic of Girls. The group took to influences from the current world of electronic dance music (EDM) when coming up with songs for the new album. And the EDM-flavored material blends very well with a group that was equally comfortable putting out disco smashes and space-punk rockers. In that way, Blondie were well ahead of the game when it came to adapting to the times.

To prove the point, Debbie Harry and her cohorts opened their super sold-out show at the 9:30 Club on Monday night with the crowd-pleasing “One Way or Another” from their very excellent third album Parallel Lines, released in 1979. They then rolled into a song from the new album called “Rave,” a dance number that with a crisp upbeat tempo that pairs well with Harry’s voice. The discoesque number melded very well with Blondie classics and also sounded like it would be a welcome new song to mix in with new EDM beats.

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Hot Ticket: Blondie and X @ 9:30 Club, 9/9/13

Chris Stein, Debbie Harry and Clem Burke (Photo courtesy of Press Here)

Chris Stein, Debbie Harry and Clem Burke (Photo courtesy of Press Here)

As a young music collecting kid, I undoubtedly came across the sixth studio album by Blondie, The Hunter, in the cassette selection of a retailer like K-Mart or Ames. “Neat!” I probably said while snapping it up in 1982, little realizing that the band already had broken up and this likely was their last album.

Flash forward to 1997, and I’m living here in DC, so I get to go the HFStival at RFK Stadium, where Blondie stage an unlikely reunion to play their first public show in 15 years. Wow! And then the band awakens to put out a few more albums before continuing to tour for many more years.

Recently, the band has surprised me yet again with another burst of creative activity, releasing the calypso-flavored Panic of Girls in 2011 and now returning with a new album, Ghosts of Download, to be released this fall. The first single, “A Rose By Any Name,” featuring The Gossip’s Beth Ditto on guest vocals, is a welcome dance number with nu disco flourishes. The album reportedly holds quite a few tracks influenced by today’s electronic dance music (EDM) movement.

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The Winning Ticket: Black Prairie @ U Street Music Hall, 9/15/13

BlackPrairieF

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 periodically. Keep your eyes open for opportunities to find out what tickets we’re giving away, and leave a comment for your chance to be the lucky winner!

Today, we are giving away a pair of tickets to see Black Prairie at U Street Music Hall on Sunday, Sept. 15 (presented by the 9:30 Club).

What are two members of an already prolific band The Decemberists supposed to do in their downtime? Why, start another band and start pumping out more records in a few short years! And so indie rockers Chris Funk and Nate Query rounded up a few other musicians and formed bluegrass band Black Prairie. Well, jazz-klezmer-bluegrass band Black Prairie, perhaps? No need to keep it simple when you have this much energy!

For your chance to win these tickets, simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 9am and 4pm today. Feel free to leave any comment, but perhaps share your favorite song by Black Prairie! One entry per email address, please. Tickets for this show are also available through Ticketfly.

For the rules of this giveaway…

Comments will be closed at 4pm and a winner will be randomly selected. The winner will be notified by email. The winner must respond to our email within 24 hours or they will forfeit their tickets and we will pick another winner.

Tickets will be available to the winner at the U Street Music Hall box office window on the night of the concert. The tickets must be claimed with a valid ID. The winner must be old enough to attend the specific concert or must have a parent’s permission to enter if he/she is under 18 years old.

Black Prairie
U Street Music Hall
Sunday, Sept. 15
doors @ 6:30pm
$15
All ages

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We Love Music: R.I.P., That Guy at the 9:30 Club

Matt Nathanson @ 9:30 Club Matthew Straubmuller

Regulars of the music scene in Washington, DC, awoke to shock Monday morning — an important face among them was among them no longer.

Josh Burdette, popularly known as “That Guy at the 9:30 Club,” passed away of unknown causes, apparently sometime late Sunday night. A spokesman for the 9:30 Club confirmed his death in a posting on the club’s website forum at 7:13am Monday morning.

For many attending concerts at the 9:30 Club, Burdette was an integral part of the experience. The man’s imposing figure and his many tattoos and piercings made him impossible to miss. But instead of being scary or weird, Burdette was simply nice.

In 2006, Burdette explained his attitude toward his work to Chris Richards of The Washington Post:

“It’s really a customer service job. We’re the face of the club, and we have to do our best to be as friendly, polite and accessible as we can. It’s not an us-versus-them mentality here — we want to avoid that antagonism. If you need our help, ask us. Some of us look big and scary, but we’re just people, too. We’re just working our jobs. Then on the rare occasion when we have to do something more on the security end of things, we’ve already established that we’re there to help.”

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