Tag Archives: Black Cat

Entertainment, Music, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: The Lemonheads @ Black Cat, 10/7/2011

 

photo by Justin Feller

A word to the wise: don’t try to relive the past- you will inevitably be disappointed. In the weeks leading up to The Lemonheads show at Black Cat last Friday I was excited. Excited at the thought of hearing the album It’s A Shame About Ray performed top to bottom by the dreamy pop-rock idol Evan Dando and whoever else he was calling The Lemonheads this time around. Excited to be momentarily transported back to 1992, and the happy state that album put me in. I first heard that album when I was in middle school, and got to meet Dando several times from then on at various in-store appearances, including Kemp Mill Records in Georgetown (R.I.P.) and Tower Records in Foggy Bottom (R.I.P.). (To the kids of today- there used to be things called record stores, and artists used to make appearances/perform/autograph in them for publicity while trying to promote their albums.)

 So I was a fan from a young age, and saw Dando in his prime. He is no longer in his prime. (This has nothing to do with age, by the way) I think it is partly because I was a fan since I was 12 or 13, and had seen him up close (I have a picture of 13 y/o me with Dando), that I was so blown away and shocked by the sad state he appears to be in now. But I’m trying to write a music review, so before I address the crisis that is Evan Dando, I will talk about the music. Continue reading →

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We Love Music: Beirut @ Black Cat, 6/14/11

Photo courtesy of
‘Zach Condon’
courtesy of ‘ElfieTakesPictures’

Zach Condon breezes on stage before the sold-out audience with his shirt-sleeves rolled up and smiles as he takes his spot in the center. To either side of him are the five other musicians who make up the current line-up of Beirut, sharing amongst the six of them about a dozen instruments, but this one-time solo bedroom project remains clearly Condon’s band and he looks comfortable in the starring role.

Beirut’s distinctively lush and exotically-influenced style is recreated beautifully live. One notices early in the set that Condon really, truly sings more than the average male indie vocalist – and when he does it is stunning. Presumably honed by years of projecting out over the massive crowds on the European festival circuit, he fills the Black Cat with his voice. When not singing, he alternates between six-string ukelele and trumpet and, at one point, switched to piano.

There is a sophistication to the whole band’s performance that set it apart. There is a trope in concert reviewing to describe musicians as having “raw energy” or “blistering power.” That is not Beirut. Which is by no means to say they lack emotional intensity or seem unenthusiastic about live performance. Instead, the band simply seems rehearsed – not surprising given the time they have spent with the majority of the night’s songs at this point – and genuinely musically proficient and talented.
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The Daily Feed
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Hot Ticket: Modern Man @ Black Cat, 5/20/11

The Black Cat is hosting a great evening of local music on Friday night that features singer-songwriter Brandon Butler opening for Modern Man and Shortstack.

After their performance at last month’s Sweetlife Festival, Modern Man is something of a We Love DC staff favorite these days. After the fest, our own Tom Bridge declared, “(Modern Man) really wailed!” When discussing Modern Man in his review of the festival, Andrew Markowitz described their sound as “similar to Creedence Clearwater Revival’s harder songs with a hint of outlaw country-rock sound,” and said that out of the many DC local bands Modern Man is one he would be happy to pay a cover to see again. Thumbs up from my WLDC colleagues is enough to convince me these guys are worth checking out.

If their endorsement ain’t enough for ya, consider these two tracks Modern Man kindly gave us permission to share with you:

My Annoying Tendencies
1957

Did I mention this show is only $10 yet? Can’t really go wrong with this one folks!

Shortstack
w/ Modern Man & Brandon Butler
@ Black Cat
5/20/11 – 9pm
$10

We Love Music
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We Love Music: Pinback @ Black Cat, 5/1/11

Pinback @BlackCatDC-16
All images courtesy of Paivi Salonen

Bands using video projectors at their live shows can be hit-or-miss. At their best, you can have a band like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, who count their projectionist as a full-on band member. He moves back and forth between four(!) projectors, mixing up a series of dark images to add to the brooding feel of the music. At their worst, you might as well stare at the iTunes visualizer on your laptop.

As I arrived at Pinback’s show on Sunday night at the Black Cat, the first thing I noticed was the projector. I had mixed feelings about how openers Judgement Day used it; it seemed gimmicky to me at first, but I was convinced by one song, where their playing synced perfectly with their video track. It was sick, to say the least; it showcased their skills as virtuosic musicians with creativity beyond musical composition. Pinback, on the other hand, wasted an opportunity to do anything exciting with their visuals. They weren’t very dynamic as performers either, so their use of a projector felt like a crutch, just to try to make their show more visually appealing.

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We Love Music: The Submarines @ Black Cat, 4/28/11

Submarines @BlackCatDC-2
All photos courtesy of Paivi Salonen

I’m a pretty cynical guy, to say the least. It would be really easy for me to write off The Submarines for writing corny love songs. But I can’t.

I’ve seen plenty of bands that are too cool to acknowledge the audience; I’ve seen rock stars that act like gods. So it’s refreshing to see a band as humble and genuine as The Submarines. You could tell how excited the band was to play for us that night. They were pumped that they sold out the venue – the tiny, intimate Backstage at the Black Cat. I felt like we were the biggest audience they’d ever played for!

I mean, I’m sure we weren’t, considering their profile. The Submarines rocketed to fame by getting their songs into iPhone commercials, and TV shows such as Gossip Girl, Grey’s Anatomy, and Weeds. Their synth-infused indie pop provides a background of optimism, although the cheery vocals mask the heartache hidden in the lyrics. It’s hard to ignore their similarities to The Postal Service – bright, well-crafted pop songs with male/female vocals.
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Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Wire @ Black Cat, 4/7/11

IMG_9707
all photos by author.

Wire played at the Black Cat on Thursday night for an adoring crowd of older fans and hardcore music geeks. They are touring on their excellent new album, “Red Barked Tree”. The new album was featured heavily on Thursday night, but Wire also offered up a sampler of the many phases they have gone through in their 30+ years career. The show was an interesting blend of energy levels and quality as the many sounds of Wire don’t always fit neatly next to one another. This was my first time seeing Wire in concert; while I walked away satisfied by the show, it was not the knock-out performance I was expecting.

If Wire will be remembered for one thing, it will be that they always did things on their own terms. One of the most important bands in the punk to post-punk transition, Wire harnessed the energy of ’77 UK punk to fuel their strange creations. Along with peer-bands like Magazine and Joy Division, they helped herald in a new era of unconventional sounds. Never satisfied being pigeonholed by the critics as “this type of band” or “that type of band”, Wire shifted gears many times over the years. From punk to post-punk to pop to industrial and so on, Wire were and still are always in a state of flux. While this is the thing that makes Wire such a satisfying and exciting band to listen to at home, I’m afraid it held their live show back a little bit on Thursday.

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Entertainment, Music, The Daily Feed
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Hot Ticket: Wire @ Black Cat, 4/7/11

Remember when there was that early to mid-00’s wave of pop bands masquerading as post-punk revivalists? Of course you do. Well, while most of those bands have already run out of steam, first wave post-punks like Wire have been going strong for over 30 years. Kind of puts the more recent generations to shame a bit, don’t it? I mean where is their commitment? Not to mention their innovation, experimentation, and/or stamina?!

Wire are one of the holy trinity of bands that mutated punk into post-punk in the UK back in the golden age and they have been mutating their own sound going on four decades now. Four! Their latest album, “Red Barked Tree” is phenomenal. During a conversation I had at the recent Gang of Four show, I said that Wire’s latest sort of had no right to be as ridiculously good as it is. I mean, c’mon guys, you’re making the kids these days look ridiculous. Where do you get off releasing an absolutely vital recording this late in your career? Put “Red Barked Tree” up against some of Wire’s earliest and best work and it doesn’t sound like they’ve aged a day. This concert is going to be fantastic!

Wire
w/ Weekend
@ Black Cat
4/7/11 – 8pm
$20

Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: The Ex @ Black Cat, 3/12/11

IMG_8266
all photos by author.

On Saturday night at the Black Cat, legendary Dutch post-punk group The Ex treated DC fans to an energetic run through of most of the songs off their latest album, “Catch My Shoe”, a Hungarian folk song they used to do with Tom Cora, and a cover of the Konono No.1 song “Huriyet”. The Ex have been a band for over thirty years and while their line-up has changed many times over the years (most recently with a change of lead singers) the band has always maintained core values of improvisation, collaboration, and blistering guitar action. It was this third value that was most prominently on display Saturday night.

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Entertainment, Interviews, Music, We Love Music
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Q&A with Andy Moor of The Ex


courtesy of PMA PR.

Andy Moor, guitarist in The Ex since 1990, lives in the Netherlands; his adopted home ever since he accepted the invitiation from The Ex to join their ever-changing ranks. I have been a fan of The Ex since high school, which means I have been a fan of theirs for (ahem) quite some time. The Ex are playing at the Black Cat tomorrow night and I thought it would be a fine opportunity to interview Andy about one of my favorite bands.

The first time I tried to call Andy, he was sleeping off jetlag having just returned from Addis Ababa. The second time I tried to reach him, he was out for a bike ride. The third time, he was on a boat ride with visiting family. I guess that’s what I get for expecting a so-called “anarchist” to stick to a schedule! Andy and I finally connected via Skype on the fourth try and we proceeded to have an epic conversation about some of Andy’s side projects, The Ex’s rich history of collaboration, the recent departure of G.W. Sok (the group’s lead singer for 30 years), the band’s excellent new album “Catch My Shoe”, and that pesky “anarcho-punk” label that follows The Ex everywhere, much to their chagrin.

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Entertainment, Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed, The District
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An Evening with Fred Armisen @ The Black Cat

The show was sold out.  A packed mainstage concert room  full of hipsters, preppies, middle age couples and the like mixed it up, awaiting Fred Armisen of SNL and more recently, Portlandia, fame to take the stage. Taking place at the Black Cat, and heavily promoted by Brightest Young Things, the show was simply described as “An Evening With Fred Armisen,” and the event details were simply two YouTube clips of Armisen’s sketch work.

Given the billing and the performer, the audience was primed for a comedic show that would likely (and I say likely, because given the vagueness of the event’s details, we were all unsure of the performance’s format) include stand up comedy, skits, impersonations and, with Armisen’s background, some form of comedic musical accompaniment.

Unfortunately, when Armisen took the stage, the vast majority — if not the entirety — of his show was uninspired, lacked creativity and did not live up to his billing.   Continue reading →

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We Love Music: Broken Records @ Black Cat Backstage, 2/20/11

U.S. Royalty @ Black Cat
All photos by Erin McCann

Broken Records may have been the headliners at Black Cat’s show last Sunday night, but DC locals US Royalty stole the show. Having recently sold out a show at the Rock and Roll Hotel, and launching a national tour in support of their self-released debut album Mirrors, US Royalty had no problem filling up the tiny Backstage. US Royalty channeled this rock ‘n roll energy straight from the 70s – bombastic and fearless. Despite their relative lack of experience, they came off as true rock stars.

Broken Records, with their melancholy, indie-folk style, couldn’t live up to the energy of the preceding set. They occasionally hit their stride, with the entire group working together to create something large and beautiful – but after US Royalty’s set, I just wasn’t excited by most of their songs. They sounded like a band still trying to figure things out, rather than a band with two full-length albums behind them – and a band once praised as the Scottish Arcade Fire.

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Hot Ticket: Broken Records @ Black Cat, 2/20/11

Broken Records - Let Me Come Home

Who is Arcade Fire? Beats me. What is Scotland’s answer to Arcade Fire? According to NME, that would be Broken Records, a six-piece indie folk group that’s playing Sunday night at the Black Cat Backstage.

…Okay, so NME may be guilty of exaggeration. It takes more than just pianos, horns, and strings to be Arcade Fire. Plus, there’s a world of difference between the tiny Backstage, and the Merriweather Post Pavilion filled by Arcade Fire last August. But an intimate venue like this will be perfect for the melancholy tunes spun by Broken Records. I enjoyed their debut album “Until the Earth Begins to Part”, which was filled with sad-sap songs about failing relationships. The strings and horns (plus lead singer Jamie Sutherland’s accent) add a distinctly Scottish flavor to their tunes. This will be their first date on their first US tour, in support of their new album “Let Me Come Home”.

This band should be a good pairing with DC locals US Royalty. If you haven’t caught these guys yet, now is the perfect time – their self-released debut album came out just last month, and they’ve garnered attention from the likes of NPR and Washington Post. Their recent show at Rock and Roll Hotel ended up selling out, so I imagine many of their fans will come out for this one as well.

Broken Records
with US Royalty
Black Cat Backstage
Sunday, Feb. 20th
9pm
$10

Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Little Dragon @ Black Cat, 1/22/11

IMG_7091
all photos by author.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed but Sweden has been producing a ton of great new bands lately. So many, in fact, that I’m inclined to agree with Chris Richards of the Washington Post when he recently declared Sweden as the epicenter of emergent pop music for the new century. Lucky for DC music fans then that our city seems to be one of the friendliest frontiers for Swedish music in the United States. DC is virtually guaranteed a tour date from most of the Swedish invasion acts because we always give them a very warm reception. One of the finest examples of the new wave of Swedish pop is Little Dragon, who played a phenomenal set to a sold out Black Cat on Saturday night.

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We Love Music: Kylesa @ Black Cat Backstage, 1/20/11

IMG_6982
All photos by Michael Darpino

Obviously, last week in DC’s music scene was all about Dismemberment Plan. Except for on Thursday night when a hundred or so dedicated metal fans packed the backstage at Black Cat, oblivious to any legendary reunions, for one of metal’s best new bands. Kylesa brought a set full of huge metal anthems that would’ve been large enough to entertain a festival-sized crowd.

Kylesa are one of the bands at the forefront of a new style of “sludge metal” that’s emerging from the South. Sludge metal takes elements from doom metal that were once too grim and frostbitten for the average listener, and adds the styling of psychedelic rock to create something more fun and exciting. You get dark, brooding riffs cranked up loud combined with bright melodies and screaming lyrics instead of demonic growls. Also, everything is played faster – fast enough that only the truly talented can crank out the riffs with such speed. Bands like Baroness, Black Tusk, and Mastodon have been doing this for awhile, but Kylesa has perfected the craft over their ten-year career.
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Hot Ticket: Kylesa @ Black Cat Backstage 1/20/11

Kylesa - Spiral Shadow

As a huge metal fan, I’m always looking out for the rare “crossover” show that I know I’ll love, and will appeal to someone who’s not versed in metal will also enjoy. Tomorrow night, Kylesa are bringing their Southern blend of sludge metal to the Black Cat Backstage – a rare chance to see these guys in a small, intimate venue. Honestly, their sound is so huge that they need two drummers, so I don’t know how the Backstage is supposed to contain them.

“Sludge metal” lies somewhere on the spectrum between psychedelic rock and doom metal. This means on Thursday you can expect some huge, looping riffs played on fuzzy guitars combined with the kind of bass you can feel in your bones. The vocals are angry and loud, but not gothic or growly like most doom metal. If you’re a fan of any other Southern sludge metal groups like Baroness, Black Tusk, Torche, or (dare I say?) Mastodon, you probably already know that you belong at this show. For a taste of what’s in store, be sure to check out my favorite track “Running Red” on their myspace page.

Fellow Georgians Zoroaster and New Jersey’s Fight Amp round off the bill for what should be an epic show. Both these bands are really solid, so I’m looking forward to catching them. Don’t miss it!

Kylesa
w/ Fight Amp, Zoroaster
Black Cat Backstage
Thursday Jan 20th
$13

Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Jucifer @ Black Cat 1/11/11

look at those goddamn speakers.
all photos by author

Something happened at Black Cat on Tuesday night that I was completely unprepared for.

I thought I was set. I took one look at Jucifer and their wall of speakers, and I knew it was my kind of music. I’ve seen drone-metal bands like Sunn O))) before. I listened to Jucifer’s latest album and knew I’d enjoy that sort of American black metal in person. I brought my nice earplugs, designed for drummers who play for hours straight. But, my God, I was not expecting to have such an amazing metal night.

This band Jucifer already intimidated me with their wall of white speakers. Even their first note was super-loud, enough to make me desperately shove in my earplugs and cease any coherent conversation with my friends who had invited me. Once their set began, I was completely enthralled with the noise they created.
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Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Anamanaguchi @ Black Cat 1/9/11

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all photos by Michael Darpino

Late on a Sunday night, there’s a stark contrast between the cold, deserted DC streets and the cave of 8-bit fantasy I’ve emerged from. Anamanaguchi assaulted the packed Backstage at the Black Cat with strobe lights, pixellated animation, and their unique brand of electronic power-pop.

The last time I caught Anamanaguchi (for the 8-bit Alliance Tour last summer), the room wasn’t even at half capacity. However, the band has clearly gotten some buzz lately from their work on the soundtrack for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game. I found the Backstage nearly full when I arrived, which is a rarity for any Sunday night. The young, slightly geeky crowd was ready to rock out to video-game-inspired bleeps and bloops.

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Hot Ticket: Anamanaguchi @ Black Cat 1/9/11

Anamanaguchi - Dawn Metropolis

Anamanaguchi are returning to the Black Cat Backstage this Sunday with their signature brand of punk/power-pop.  Oh, and they’re bringing their hacked Nintendo.

Anamanaguchi are quickly becoming one of the most infamous “chiptunes” bands around.  In the past year, they’ve composed the soundtracks to video games including Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game, and are slated to appear in the next version of Rock Band.  They also grabbed minor media attention for holding a vigil in support of Four Loko in NYC last November.

When I imagine a chiptunes concert, I usually think of scrawny high-schoolers bent over their Gameboys, with pixelated graphics running on a projecter.  However, Anamanaguchi bring a ton of energy to their live show; the drums are front-and-center, and the Nintendo blends with the guitar lines, rather than sticking out as a gimmick.  These guys have a ton of positive energy; it’s like a re-imagined Weezer.  You’ll leave with a smile on your face.

Anamanaguchi
w/ Club Scout
Sunday, Jan. 9
@ Black Cat Backstage
$10

Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Gary Numan @ Black Cat 10/20/10

Gary Numan @ Black Cat
all photos by Erin McCann.

New Wave icon and synthesizer guru Gary Numan performed at the Black Cat on Wednesday night to a packed house of devoted fans. It was a weird but enjoyable performance that felt like two very different concerts in one. For the first hour, a very ill Gary Numan lead his band through a performance of his 1979 classic album “The Pleasure Principle”. The performance was a strange one due to Numan’s illness; the band sounded fantastic however as Numan tried to make the best of not having a voice by asking the crowd to sing some of the songs for him. The situation lent some impromptu fun to the performance of Numan’s ice-cold classic. By the end of the album portion, I was beginning to visualize my forth-coming rave review. Then, as if magically revitalized, Numan and his band suddenly launched into a set of guitar-driven, psuedo-industrial tunes that saw Numan belting out vocals like a banshee.

The two hours of Wednesday night’s concert featured very different sounding music, had entirely different energy levels, and felt like they were performed by two completely different bands. I am a fan of the first band, not so much of the second.

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We Love Music: SWANS @ Black Cat 9/29/10

Swans @ Black Cat
all photos by Erin McCann.

Imagine being trapped inside a tiny unit at a self-storage building that is on fire. You are trapped inside this 5×8 corrugated metal coffin and it is filling with smoke. Imagine yourself panicking, pounding on the walls, walls that keep getting hotter and hotter. You are roasting. Your sweat stings your eyes and soaks through your clothes. Now hear your own cries for help bouncing off of the burning walls, listen as the echoes turn into screams. Welcome to the existential terror that is seeing SWANS in concert.

Michael Gira, the spiritual leader of the group, has pulled together a new aural torture squad under the SWANS moniker after nearly 13 years of inactivity. SWANS are legends of the New York, post-No Wave, noise-rock scene. Gira used the group to explore a broad range of psychological torment music during their original run from ’82 to ’97. Rumors had been circulating the web for about a year that Gira was putting together a new SWANS line-up and album. By the Spring, we had confirmation in the form of some demo recordings appearing on his various websites. Last month SWANS released a very strong new album entitled “My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky”. On Wednesday night, at the Black Cat, Michael Gira and his SWANS performed their second concert of the 2010 reactivation tour. It was an experiment in terror that the crowd of devout fans and the sonically curious happily subjected themselves too.

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