Tag Archives: 9:30 Club

Entertainment, Interviews, Music, The Features, We Love Music
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Q&A with Hank 3

all photos courtesy of Hank3
Shelton Hank Williams, III, who now goes by Hank 3, is a rebel and an outlaw in the music world. The grandson of country music legend Hank Williams, and son of pop-country singer Hank Williams, Jr., Hank 3 has always gone against the grain. He refuses to conform to one style of music, or any set of rules, and tries to set himself apart, make his own name for himself. He recently broke free from the shackles of his former record label, Curb Records. In what could be seen as his declaration of independence he recorded and released four albums simultaneously on his own label- Hank 3 Records. Ghost to a Ghost/Guttertown is a double LP of Hank 3’s blend of country music, Attention Deficit Domination is his tribute to sludge/stoner/doom-rock, and 3 Bar Ranch Cattle Callin features Hank 3’s newly created genre- Cattlecore, a blend of auctioneer vocals and hardcore metal guitar. He is on tour now supporting the four records, and will bring his ambitious production to the 930 club this Thursday, March 15th.
 
We Love DC’s Alexia Kauffman got to chat with Hank 3 over the weekend, and here’s what he had to say.
 
Alexia Kauffman:  When you were growing up what music moved you; what were some formative artists for you growing up?
 
Hank 3: Heart, Ted Nugent, ZZ Top, KISS, Walt Disney. Queen, Adam Ant, Gary Numan, April Wine, all kinds of stuff.
 
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Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: The Kaiser Chiefs @ 9:30 Club — 3/9/12

Photo courtesy of sergione infuso
Kaiser Chiefs @ Magazzini Generali, Milano – 13 novembre 2011
courtesy of sergione infuso

Could it be? Could it be that you’re joking with me and you don’t really see you with me?

The Kaiser Chiefs weren’t joking at all as they pummeled the sold-out 9:30 Club Friday night with a one-two punch in a testosterone-fueled new wave rampage. The lads from Leeds (UK) never missed a beat as they rocked out through songs about hanging out with their fellows, scoffing at the lack of intelligence among the masses, and questioning the veracity of women, the best testosterone booster without a doubth.

I always absolutely loved the music of the Kaiser Chiefs after being introduced to the upbeat songs from their first album Employment, which skillfully married punk sensibilities to new wave dance tunes. The Kaiser Chiefs delivered great advice for men by men on that album: watch your back, love your friends, mind your diet, and keep a wary eye on women. Indeed, the band writes music primarily for men while many of their new wave contemporaries create music for girls.

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Entertainment, Music, Night Life, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: The Darkness @ 930 Club, 2/8/2012

photo by Nicole Geldart

Tight pants, long hair, moustaches, falsetto and acrobatics abounded onstage Wednesday night at the 930 club. Freddie Mercury would have felt right at home. British glam-rock extravaganza The Darkness blended sex-appeal, silliness and virtuosity into a delicious pop explosion at their sold-out show. They were joined by outrageous openers Foxy Shazam.

Cincinnati rockers Foxy Shazam took to the stage with theatricality, lead singer Eric Nally swooping on draped in a black-sequined cape. (When he removed his cape to reveal his tight black pants and cropped leather jacket, combined with his Prince Valiant haircut he somehow looked to me like what Sonny Bono might have looked like as a member of The Ramones.)  Continue reading →

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo

David Wax Museum- 930 Club- 9/14/11
David Wax Museum- 930 Club by sightlyworn
As a guy who has photographed many musicians, I know the challenge in capturing the intensity and energy of a live show. Slightlyworn nailed it with this photo. The motion blur is what really makes this photo, because you can just see the guitarist moving and howling into the mic, pouring his heart into every verse. It’s a strong composition; he didn’t focus too closely on the musician, which left plenty of room for the purple and blue divide caused by the stage lights, which is one of the most important features of the photo. Adding a second singer to the frame and including part of the drum kit definitely frames the context of a musical machine working together. Well done, sightlyworn.

Remember to contribute your best shots of DC to our flickr pool. You may just get noticed for our featured photo or weekend flashback.

Entertainment, Music
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The Winning Ticket: DCWeek Opening Night Party

Today we are giving away a pair of tickets to attend the opening night party for DCWeek at the 9:30 Club on Friday night. Digital Capital Week is a week-long conference focused on bringing together designers, developers, entrepreneurs, and social innovators of all kinds. DCWeek offers an impressive schedule of lectures, discussions, and social mixers between November 4th and November 11th. To kick things off they are throwing a party at the 9:30 Club on Friday night with entertainment provided by some of DC’s finest up-and-coming bands. The party runs from 1030pm to 3am; featuring music from Teen Mom, Gregg Hammond Band, Modern Man, Ra Ra Rasputin, Drop Electric, The Silver Liners, Big/Bright, and Bonjour Ganesh!.

Note: This is a ticketed, private event after the scheduled Scratch Acid concert.

For your chance to win these tickets simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 11am and 5pm 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. Tickets for the DCWeek kick-off party are almost sold out but some are available here.

For the rules of this giveaway…
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Entertainment, Interviews, Music, We Love Music
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Q&A: Dan Haggis of The Wombats


courtesy of The Wombats.

The Wombats are performing at the 9:30 Club tonight, so we enlisted our music correspondent Mickey McCarter to have a chat with their drummer Dan Haggis about the group’s strong sophomore album and their biggest US tour to date.

Post-punk dancesmiths The Wombats, consisting of Matthew Murphy, Dan Haggis, and Tord Øverland-Knudsen, have mounted their first major tour of the United States and they are coming to the 9:30 Club for an early show on Friday. After inviting us to dance to Joy Division on their first album, “A Guide to Love Loss & Desperation”, The Wombats want us to dance some more on their second album, “This Modern Glitch”. The strong second album demonstrates that The Wombats are here to stay; they have grown their sound while staying true to the goal of making a great dance album.

We Love DC had a chat with drummer Dan Haggis to discuss the making of the new album, what it’s like to be a band from Liverpool, and a guilty pleasures on the dancefloor.

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Music
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The Winning Ticket: Lisa Hannigan

This week we are giving away a pair of tickets to see Lisa Hannigan with Gavin Glass perform at the 9:30 Club on October 13th  – yes, THURSDAY this week – at 7pm.

For your chance to win these tickets simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address before 3pm Thursday the 13th. One entry per email address, please.

If today doesn’t turn out to be your lucky day, check back here each week for a chance to win tickets to other great concerts. Tickets for this concert are available on Ticketfly.

The rules of this giveaway: Comments will be closed at 3pm and a winner will be randomly selected. The winner will be notified by email. The winner must respond to our email in 2 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 they are under 18 years old.

Entertainment, Interviews, Music, We Love Music
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Q&A with Debbi Peterson of The Bangles


courtesy of MSO PR.

The Bangles are performing at the 9:30 Club tonight so we asked our 80’s/New Wave correspondent Mickey McCarter if he’d like to have a little chat with Debbi Peterson about the band’s past, present, and future.

The Bangles, founded by sisters Vicki and Debbi Peterson along with Susanna Hoffs, have returned with a new album, ‘Sweetheart of the Sun’. To borrow a phrase from their previous album, they perhaps started a “doll revolution” with a tide of girl bands that began in the early 1980s and that really took hold in the 1990s. Hitmaker Prince liked the The Bangles so much that he gave them the song “Manic Monday,” which became one of their most memorable hits in 1986.

The Bangles have been touring a lot in the past decade and now they are back at the 9:30 Club on Thursday, October 6. We Love DC chatted with the lovely drummer Debbi, who is so refreshingly bubbly and modest, about breaking up and reforming the band, making an album without bassist Michael Steele, and what’s next for The Bangles.
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Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Peter Hook presents “Closer” @ 9:30 Club, 9/21/11


Last December, Peter Hook (formerly of Joy Division and New Order) brought his band The Light to the 9:30 Club and performed the Joy Division album “Unknown Pleasures” in its entirety plus a handful of ancillary Joy Division songs. Just about everyone in attendance went in to that show skeptical and curious about Hook’s audacious move; essentially performing as Joy Division without any of the other surviving members and seemingly dancing on deceased lead singer Ian Curtis’ grave. Hook and his band stunned the audience by playing a bullet-proof set that was as raucous as it was reverent. That show proved without a doubt that the world has longed to hear these songs performed live again and that Peter Hook is full of passion for the material he, Ian, and the others wrote 30 years ago.

On Wednesday night, Hooky brought The Light back to the 9:30 Club to continue the Joy Division revival tour. This time they would be performing the Joy Division classic album “Closer” in full. This time around the show had a positive buzz and even brought out a few Joy Division fans who skipped the first show due to sheer disbelief but had since heard Hook was doing the band’s memory justice. So the atmosphere inside the club was much more positive this time around. Everyone, including myself, expected a good show, one that would hopefully match the caliber of the “Unknown Pleasures” set. Peter Hook & The Light delivered an excellent show this time and a great time was had by all; however I can’t help but compare it to their previous show and this week’s performance didn’t quite match last year’s triumph.

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The Daily Feed
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Hot Ticket: Atari Teenage Riot @ 9:30 Club, 9/17/11

This Saturday Alec Empire brings his reconfigured and reactivated digital hardcore terror cell, Atari Teenage Riot, back to the 9:30 Club for the first time in over a decade. For old school DC-area fans like myself, this show is Alec bringing ATR back to the place where all the DHR madness began. For a whole new generation of fans, Saturday’s show is a chance to see this truly ground-breaking ultra-heavy beat attack squad for the first time.

In 1997, Atari Teenage Riot played to a painfully empty 9:30 Club. In 1999, they returned and played for a sold out club packed with FANATICAL fans. I was at both shows. From what I have seen at 9:30 Club over the years, the ATR ’99 show is unmatched in its aural intensity and audience insanity. As far as I’m concerned, Atari Teenage Riot left their mark on that place like no other band. Atari Teenage Riot returned last year with a very intimate, in-your-face show in Baltimore where they proved that the band sounds just as alien and aggressive as ever. Last year, I thought that show was a quick victory lap celebrating Alec Empire’s impact on digital music making. But then I caught ATR in London this May and they sold-out a club the size of 9:30 Club, proving (internationally at least) that their political-rant, digital-noise approach still has a strong following. I am really curious how their 10-year hiatus will affect their ability to fill the 9:30 Club this Saturday. Will it be another (almost) personal viewing like in ’97 or will it be a jam-packed, orgy of beats and violence ala ’99?

Based on the two recent ATR shows I’ve seen, one thing is certain; regardless of who does or doesn’t show-up on Saturday, Atari Teenage Riot is going to bring the noise in a way that few are capable of matching. This one is a can’t miss for fans of extreme music, electronic innovation, and good old fashioned musical catharsis.

Atari Teenage Riot
w/ Otto Von Schirach
@ 9:30 Club
6PM – $25

Entertainment, Essential DC, Music, The Features, We Love Music, We Love Weekends
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We Love Music: Girls Rock! DC Camper Showcase @ 930 Club

Girls Rock! DC showcase 2011

For the past week I have had the privilege of volunteering as a band coach for Girls Rock! DC camp. It has been a whirlwind, but Girls Rock! DC camp is coming to a close. The end of camp week is finally upon us. For those of you unfamiliar with GRDC, it is a week-long day camp for Washington, DC area girls, ages 8-18. It teaches girl-empowerment and community building through music. During the week girls receive small-group instruction on instruments,  turntables or digital music, form bands or DJ teams, and collaborate to write a song or DJ set which they perform in a showcase at the end of the week. The camp is completely volunteer-run. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Gilt City DC Launches with a Musical Edge

Photo: Daniel Swartz/Revamp.com

Of all the daily deal, flash sale, and flash-local-deal sale sites that have launched in the Washington area lately, none of them can quite match up to Gilt City for sophistication or excitement. While you might expect some of the deals they have offered since their launch in DC – booklets of airline tickets, fancy dining, and high-end spa packages (not the usual half-off spray tan in Fairfax or other “deals” nobody actually wants) – they also really set themselves apart with their organizing of exclusive events or VIP treatment just for Gilt City members. Thievery Corporation and My Morning Jacket have been among the entertainment featured recently, with more curated entertainment experiences yet to come.
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Entertainment, Fun & Games, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: The Glitch Mob

Glitch Mob

This week we are giving away a pair of tickets to see The Glitch Mob with Phantogram & Com Truise perform at the 9:30 Club on July 20th at 7pm. This dose of digital goodness invades the District on the heels of releasing their new EP, We Can Make the World Stop. The Glitch Mob blends hip-hop and dance into its own flavor of electronic music which has enticed and enchanted audiences at Coachella and Lollapalooza.

THE GLITCH MOB : BEYOND MONDAY from BEMO | Brandon Hirzel on Vimeo.

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. Tickets for this concert are available on 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 in 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.

Entertainment, Fun & Games, Music
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The Winning Ticket: Gomez

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.

This week we are giving away a pair of tickets to see Gomez perform at the 9:30 Club on Monday, July 18th. These guys debuted at the tail end of the Brit-Pop explosion and have kept their sound upbeat and eclectic over the years thanks to their multiple songwriter approach and rotating vocal duties. Gomez are touring behind their terrific new album “Whatever’s On Your Mind” but you’ve also got to hope they play this one…

Airstream Driver from Gomez on Vimeo.

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. Tickets for this concert are available on Ticketfly.

For the rules of this giveaway…
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Entertainment, Fun & Games, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: Rx Bandits

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 Rx Bandits perform at 9:30 Club on Saturday, July 9th. I haven’t really followed Rx Bandits since they emerged from the ska-punk scene back in the day, but from the tour preview below, it looks and sounds like they have developed into a more sonically daring group with a harder edge. What you’ll also see in the preview below is that this is actually a pretty nice triple-bill with Maps & Atlases and Zechs Marquise (a band who have a great referential name and an awesome sound that I will be tracking down more of ASAP). Also as you can read on the image above, this is Rx Bandits’ final tour, so these free tickets are probably your last chance to catch them until the inevitable reunion tour ten to fifteen years from now.

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. Tickets for this concert are available on Ticketfly.

For the rules of this giveaway…
Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Hot Ticket: Dinosaur Jr. w/ OFF! @ 9:30 Club, 6/25/11

On Saturday night the 9:30 Club has the fixings for the tastiest show of the week.

Ingredients:

– One legendary noise-rock band (Dinosaur Jr.) performing their most revered album (“Bug”) in its entirety.
– One hardcore icon (Henry Rollins) interviewing the same legendary noise-rock band (Dinosaur Jr.) live on-stage.
– One hardcore super-group lead by Keith Morris setting the whole party OFF! with a bang.

Optional Ingredients:
– Both lead singers of the legendary punk outfit Black Flag under the
same roof.*

There are going to be more legends and icons in the house on Saturday night then my brain can compute. This show gets a resounding “HELL YEAH!” from me. It will be a fantastic confluence of amazing musical personalities and mind-blowing sonic intensity. Do yourself a favor and get on these tickets ASAP!

Dinosaur Jr.
w/ OFF! and Henry Rollins
@ 9:30 Club
6/25 – 8pm
$30

* The last time this happened was the West Memphis Three benefit concert and it was fucking magic.