Tag Archives: 9:30 Club

Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music, We Love Music
By

The Winning Ticket: Paul Oakenfold

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 Paul Oakenfold, arguably the most well-known DJ in the world, perform at the 9:30 Club on Tuesday, November 23rd. A major force on the electronic music scene for more than twenty-years, Oakenfold has introduced the world to new scenes and sounds in electronic music over and over again. Oakenfold says that the Facelift tour is all about representing the evolving nature of dance music and to make his point he is bringing along two hot electronic acts as openers, Chuckie and the Nervo Twins, and a sick audio/video set-up that should give Deadmau5 a run for his money.

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…
Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
By

We Love Music: Suicidal Tendencies @ 9:30 Club 11/12/10

IMG_5799
all photos by author.

Thrash veterans Suicidal Tendencies played an early show at 9:30 Club on Friday night to a small but dedicated crowd of punks, skins, skaters, and scene survivors. This So-Cal outfit that carved out the Punk-Metal hybrid sound known as Thrash nearly 30 years ago, has been hyper-active in recent years with several recordings and tours designed to remind the world of the sound that they originated and their place in music history as its trailblazer. Suicidal Tendencies made a strong case with their performance on Friday night that they deserve to be remembered as the godfathers of the skater Thrash sound.

The show was billed as Suicidal Tendencies playing material from their critically-ignored second album “Join The Army” and also from lead-singer Mike Muir’s little-known metal band No Mercy. ST recently released “No Mercy Fool!/The Suicidal Family” on which they re-recorded several tracks by No Mercy and from ST’s “Join The Army”. Was it necessary to re-record this music and tour on it? No, it probably was not. Critically, Suicidal Tendencies’ first and third album are their best and their sophomore release has always been regarded as a misstep. Critical reception is not everything though, especially for hardcore punk bands who often look to the blood and sweat of their fans as the more genuine stamp of approval. Am I glad that ST decided to re-record this material and tour on it? Hell, yes. While not necessarily the defining moment of punk-metal crossover Thrash, this material definitely represents the genre well. The new album of old tunes sounds remarkably fresh in 2010 and the show on Friday night demonstrated just how awesome Thrash can be when played well live.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
By

We Love Music: Jonsi @ 9:30 Club 11/8/10 & 11/9/10

DSC_0721-1
all photos by Mike Kurman.

This week the 9:30 Club was completely transformed by the will, voice, and performance of Jonsi for two nights in a row. This tall, elf-like, painfully shy vocalist stood center-stage surrounded by a four-piece band of multi-instrumentalists whose unusual instruments filled the stage. Behind them and flanking the stage, beautifully produced video elements were projected onto screens in concert with an expertly staged light show to re-invent the club’s space in a way I have rarely seen before. The combination of the show’s next-level theatrical production values and the truly beautiful yet bizarre music made for two of the most audience enveloping, emotional performances I have seen at the 9:30 Club in 15 years.

If you are at all familiar with Jonsi’s original band Sigur Ros, you probably have an idea of how BIG he thinks when it comes to his music and extravagant live performances. Jonsi debuted his solo album earlier this year and has been performing various manifestations of this show with his incredible backing band at outdoor festivals, proper theaters, and large nightclubs. His show adapts well to whatever environment it finds itself in. I saw Jonsi perform at the Coachella Music Festival this past Spring and his performance there was so powerfully unique that I described it as “so other-worldly that I don’t even know if it took place in the same time-space continuum as the rest of the festival.” Allow me to expand on that idea when I describe the two shows at the 9:30 Club earlier this week. Jonsi’s musical alchemy somehow managed to transport the entire club and everyone in it into some sort of shamanistic pocket universe for an hour and a half each night. Both the performance and the performance space became enchanted by Jonsi and his band until they returned the club safely to its perch at 815 V St. promptly at 10:30 each night.*

Continue reading →

Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music
By

The Winning Ticket: Medeski Martin & Wood

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!

Prepare yourself for some sweet, late Friday night, avant-groove jams after you win this pair of tickets to see Medeski Martin & Wood performing at the 9:30 Club on Friday November 12th. (NOTE: This is a late show; Doors at 10pm).

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…
Continue reading →

Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music, We Love Music
By

The Winning Ticket: Black Mountain w/ The Black Angels

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 a pair of modern psychedelic rockers. Enter to win a pair of tickets to see The Black Angels and Black Mountain perform at 9:30 Club on Sunday November 7th!

I have seen The Black Angels in concert a couple of times (most recently at All Tomorrow’s Parties NY 2010) and I can vouch for their all-encompassing, heavy, psych-rock sound. They can be absolutely mesmerizing when witnessed live. Their music is a drug in itself. Having never seen them, Black Mountain are the unknown element of this double-bill for me. I hear great things about their live shows, including tales of epic-length extensions of their album tracks when played in concert. It sounds to me like this is a double-bill of kindred spirits; throw-back psych rockers who will stack up to provide one far-out night of tunes, man.

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…
Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
By

We Love Music: Robert Randolph and The Family Band @ 9:30 Club 10/29/10

IMG_7637.jpg

Photos and words by guest reviewer Andrew Markowitz.

I’ll never forget the first time I heard about Robert Randolph and the Family Band: I was at my grandmother’s retirement home reading a People Magazine while waiting to take her out for brunch. The magazine had a section dedicated to up and coming music stars and Robert Randolph was one of those listed. I can’t find the specific quote from the magazine but someone had asked Randolph -who had been trained on the pedal steel guitar as a member of a Pentecostal church- what it felt like to have the Lord in one hand and the Devil in the other when playing his instrument. Definitely intrigued, I went back to my dorm later that day and hopped on my computer to see what I could find.

I came away with a few live songs, some of which were featured on Randolph’s first CD “Live at the Wetlands” and an instrumental version of Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Chile” that absolutely blew my mind. Jimi Hendrix still remains my favorite musical artist of all time, however Randolph definitely inspired a sense of awe that I felt when I first heard Hendrix. Randolph leads “The Family Band” and together they play a powerful combination of funk, blues, soul, and gospel music. I couldn’t stop listening to that Voodoo Chile mp3 for weeks and the other songs remained in my rotation for a long, long time.

I’ve never been able to see him in concert, however. Every time he’s been through the DC area, I’ve always had something else going on and been unable to see him. The thing that bothers me the most is that I don’t remember what else I had to do, but I definitely would have remembered seeing Robert Randolph in concert. So when I was offered photo pass and a chance to write a concert review of Robert Randolph’s October 29th show at the 9:30 Club, I jumped at the chance to go.

Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
By

Hot Ticket: Robert Randolph and the Family Band @ 9:30 Club 10/29 & 10/30

Pedal steel guitar master Robert Randolph and The Family Band is coming to town for two shows on Friday and Saturday night at 9:30 club. Ranked by Rolling Stone as one of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of all time, Randolph is touring to promote his latest studio album, “We Walk This Road”. “WWTR” mainly consists of original music but also features covers of songs by Prince, John Lennon and Bob Dylan.

Citing Stevie Ray Vaughan, Sly and the Family Stone and Earth, Wind and Fire as main influences, Randolph brings an eclectic mix of funk, blues, soul and gospel to the table. Known for lively concerts that are full of crowd interaction, Robert Randolph promises to put on an amazing show. If you’re an electric guitar fan, this is a concert you won’t want to miss.

Robert Randolph and The Family Band
w/ Tauk
10/29 & 10/30
@ 9:30 Club
$25

Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
By

We Love Music: Underworld @ 9:30 Club 10/25/10

IMG_6835.jpg
All photos by Andrew Markowitz.

Okay DC, just this once I’m going to say I told you so. I mean, I tried so hard to get y’all to go to this I even gave away tickets for it. If you are a fan of electronic music and you skipped Underworld on Monday night, even after all my prodding, then there really is no hope for ya.

Underworld came, saw, and conquered at the 9:30 Club on Monday night with a rare club show that made the other “Best Electronic Concert” contenders of 2010 look like a bunch of chumps.* Their show on Monday was operating on an entirely different level from their peers. It was a techno-poetic dream and irresistible beat factory all-in-one. I have been telling my friends and family that 2010 is in the running for the most impressive year of live music of my life, and that if Underworld were to magically be scheduled to play 9:30 Club this year, then that would be the topper. Well guess what folks? It happened and Underworld’s amazing 9:30 Club performance put 2010 right over the top to officially be the best year of live music EVER!

Continue reading →

Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music, We Love Music
By

The Winning Ticket: Zane Lamprey’s “Sing The Booze Tour”

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’ve got a funny one for you. No, really. Comedian and cable television host Zane Lamprey is bringing his jokes, music, and booze expertise to the 9:30 Club on Wednesday, November 3rd for the DC stop on his “Sing The Booze Tour 2010”.

You may know Lamprey from his globe-trotting drunken adventures on his cable series “Three Sheets”, or from any number of appearances on Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, and the occasional Girls Gone Wild video. Did I really just type that? Anyway, Lamprey is bringing his absurdly diverse resume and a bunch of friends to 9:30 Club for what he describes as, “drinkin’ songs and comedy. It’s not stand up comedy. It’s songs about drinking. Stories about drinking… And drinking. Of course the whole show’s a drinking game.” Be aware that this show’s an early one folks. Doors are at 5pm, just in time for Happy Hour.

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…
Continue reading →

Adventures, Entertainment, Essential DC, Food and Drink, Fun & Games, Life in the Capital, Music, Night Life, People, Special Events, The Daily Feed, The District
By

Local Band Scythian Takes Over The 9:30 Club

Photo courtesy of
‘Group Shot’
courtesy of ‘DDFic’

Washington DC’s very own Celtic punk-rock band Scythian, pronounced (sith-ee-yin), which usually haunts Fado’s in Chinatown, will take their high-energy, adrenaline-peddling, interactive brand of music to the 9:30 Club on December 4th. The $15 general admission show will also feature Canadian world Celtic rock band, Enter The Haggis (I love the name and I love me some haggis).

The Washington Post says, “Scythian’s enthusiasm is contagious, and shows seem to end with everyone dancing, jumping around, or hoisting glasses.” And with the 9:30 Club’s draft list which includes Bass, Guiness, Newcastle and Smithwick’s, this sounds like a ripe ‘ol good time to me. Cheers!

Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music
By

The Winning Ticket: Robert Randolph

RobertRandolphP

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!

Another cool one to give away this week! Enter to win a pair of tickets to catch the master of Sacred Steel soul himself, Robert Randolph and his Family Band at 9:30 Club on Friday October, 29th!

In case you didn’t know it, Sacred Steel is what the Pentecostal Church music circuit calls the pedal steel guitar. My recommendation to the winner is to snag a spot near the front of one of the balconies to watch Randolph’s fingers flying all over that thing. He is one of Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time after all. Oh yeah, did I mention Randolph and The Family Band have one of the toe-tapping-est sounds around? Just check out the tunes on their Myspace page and try to resist their funky soul sound.

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…
Continue reading →

Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music
By

The Winning Ticket: Underworld

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 one of my most anticipated concerts of the season: Underworld at 9:30 Club on Monday, October 25th.

Underworld are an incredible experience live. Every fan of electronic music owes it to themselves to see Underworld live every chance they get because Underworld are quite simply the best live electronic dance act ever. I have been to some massive live parties in my time, I have seen just about all of the big names in electronica perform live, and I have never had as much fun as I have had at the three Underworld concerts I have attended. If you can’t tell by now, I am totally losing my sh*t over the fact that not only are Underworld performing in DC for the first time in years, they are doing it INDOORS at the best club around!!! With their latest album “Barking” (their best in a decade) Underworld are set to dominate the dance floor in two weeks. I am so excited to hook up some lucky reader with tickets to what I am sure will be the electronica concert of the year.* See you on the dancefloor!

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…
Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
By

We Love Music: The xx / Warpaint / Zola Jesus @ 9:30 Club 10/5/10

I’ve got some good news and I’ve got some bad news. Which do you want to hear first? I suppose I will begin with the good news because there is much less of it to share than there is bad news to break. But first some simple facts to set the scene.

The xx played the 9:30 Club on Tuesday night. It was their fourth(?) concert in DC of 2010. This time they were fresh off a prestigious Mercury Prize win (British album of the year) for their debut album and performing as headliners to a sold out 9:30 Club. Midwestern, indie-Goth revivalist Zola Jesus and L.A. art-rockers Warpaint were the opening acts. Zola Jesus played first.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music, We Love Music
By

The Winning Ticket: Built To Spill

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!

Up for grabs this week, we’ve got two tickets to see legendary indie-rockers Built To Spill perform at 9:30 Club on Friday, October 8th.

Built to Spill were one of the best indie-rock bands of the 90’s and their show on Friday is the latest concert in their mid-00’s reunion tour that never seems to end. Not that anyone could complain about having one of the best guitar bands ever cranking out new albums and playing hundreds of new shows. Led by Doug Martsch’s inventive and expansive guitar melodies, Built To Spill in concert is a guitar lovers dream come true.

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…
Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
By

We Love Music: James @ 9:30 Club 9/27/10

IMG_0411.jpg
all photos by Andrew Markowitz.

As a music writer, I love using the pandora premium free membership to keep up with the latest songs which are being released. I carry an arsenal of rubrics with me with which to measure the success or failure of a show. How did the crowd respond? How did the performance measure up against other bands in the genre? And so and so on. For the most part, the biggest gun I’ve got is my music nirvana test; close my eyes, let the club lights dance on the insides of my eyelids, and see if the music can or can’t take me to another place. These are all conscious thoughts I have at a show; when a band can get me truly experiencing their music rather than thinking about it, they are passing my ultimate test. It is rare when a band can meet and then blow past that high standard, but James at the 9:30 Club on Tuesday night did just that.

There are very few concerts that have brought tears to my eyes. When James came out for their second glorious encore to answer the emotional, joyous demands of the crowd-that-would-not-leave and launched into ‘Tomorrow’, I was shocked to discover that tears of joy and empathy were streaming down my cheeks. Great live music is as close to having religion as I get and concerts like this are what make me a believer. This concert was a transcendent good time and easily one of the very best of 2010.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music, We Love Music
By

The Winning Ticket: Rogue Wave & Midlake

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 catch Midlake and Rogue Wave co-headlining at the 9:30 Club on Friday, October 1st.

I have to be honest here. I don’t have a clue who these bands are or who their fan-base is. So rather than insult your intelligence with some phony write-up (because that’s just not my style, you dig?), I’ll simply direct you to their Myspace pages and let you sample their wares for yourself: Midlake and Rogue Wave. If you like what you hear, take a crack at those tickets! Or if you happen to be a huge fan of one or both of these bands, then say it loud and say it proud in your comment.

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…
Continue reading →

Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music, We Love Music
By

The Winning Ticket: James

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 contest is so good, I’d enter it myself if they would let me! Today we are giving away a pair of tickets to see Brit-pop legends, James perform at 9:30 Club on Monday, September 27th.

Not only is it incredibly rare to catch James live stateside (even though DC is lucky enough to get them twice in two years) but their new album “The Morning After The Night Before” is also their best work in years. I have been listening to the new one non-stop since it dropped last week and I am stunned at how “peak of their powers” James sounds after all these years. Everyone knows James from their big early 90’s hit “Laid”, but I’m here to tell you that as great as that song is, James have produced a deep catalog of even more stunning music over the years. Tim Booth and the band are without a doubt some of the best live Brit-pop performers I’ve ever seen and this concert is one of my most anticipated of 2010.

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…
Continue reading →

Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music, We Love Music
By

The Winning Ticket: Billy Bragg

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 prize is two tickets to catch legendary, political singer/songwriter Billy Bragg in concert at 9:30 Club on Sunday September 19th.

Billy Bragg needs little introduction. His 30-year career writing and performing punk-tinged alt-rock and folk music full of conscience-challenging political observations and honest love songs has made him a legend in the UK and an underground hero in the United States. Known in the UK for his far-left political leanings and never one to censor himself when discussing his take on the current state of world politics, Bragg’s shows in the nation’s capital have a reputation for stirring the audience’s political passions as much as they entertain.

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…
Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
By

UNDERWORLD

Hey DC, I don’t know if you noticed but Underworld at the 9:30 Club quietly went on sale this week. Yes you read that correctly. Underworld are playing the 9:30 Club on October 25th!

Simply put Underworld are the best electronic live act I’ve ever seen. Even though I have seen them three amazing times in the past – seeing Underworld perform on the 9:30 Club’s soundsystem is one of my wishlist concerts. I’m announcing this onsale now because I don’t want any DC fans of this amazing, legendary electronic act to miss out on what is sure to be an incredible show.

Buy tickets.
and
Listen to their new album (instant classic) streaming for free on Myspace.

The Daily Feed
By

Kele Concert Canceled!

This just in – Kele (of Bloc Party) has canceled his show at the 9:30 Club tomorrow night. Judging from a quick Google search, it looks like the rest of his US tour has been canceled as well. This comes just a few months after Kele abruptly post-poned his tour. Much like that postponement, today’s cancellation has come sans explanation. The 9:30 Club hasn’t received a press release or a reason and neither have we. Is it now safe to say that Kele is a little bit on the flaky side?

Perhaps the greatest casualty of Kele’s canceling is the DC area is deprived the chance to party down with excellent openers Does It Offend You, Yeah?. Sorry to all of you fans of Bloc Party and/or “The Boxer” who were looking forward to this one.

According to the 9:30 Club website: refunds are available at your point of purchase until 9/16/10.