Tag Archives: Power-pop

Music, The Features, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: Tommy Keene @ 9:30 Club, 9/13/13

TommyKeeneF

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 Tommy Keene at the 9:30 Club on Friday, Sept. 13.

The prolific Keene, a DC-area native, has returned with a new album, Excitement at Your Feet, on Second Motion Records. His return to the 9:30 Club marks a continuation of his long-time relationship with co-owner Seth Hurwitz, who managed Keene at the start of his solo career in the early 1980s! In the past few years, Keene has shown no signs of slowing down, releasing several albums and putting out a two-disc career retrospective in 2010. (Indeed, he kinda strikes me as our hometown version of Elvis Costello!)

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 Tommy Keene (or one of his many collaborations)! 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.

Tommy Keene
w/ The Deadmen (with Justin Jones), Hero Jr.
9:30 Club
Friday, Sept. 13
doors @5pm
$15
All ages

Music, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Paul McCartney @ Nationals Park — 7/12/13

Paul McCartney (Photo courtesy the artist)

Paul McCartney (Photo courtesy the artist)

Mick Jagger once told Rolling Stone magazine that the Rolling Stones ultimately “won” in any battle with the Beatles because his group continued to record longer.

But after seeing Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones perform this year, I think it’s hard to agree with that assessment in 2013. Whereas strained relations between Jagger and Keith Richards made for an occasionally lackluster Stones performance in my view, McCartney was simply riding high in his performance at Nationals Park on Friday, July 12, for his “Out There” tour.

For the size of the stage, McCartney’s five-piece band, including himself on guitar, seemed elegantly and effectively simple for the scope of the sold-out ballpark. Wry and earnest, McCartney charged through a catalog of songs by the Beatles, Wings and himself with incredible charm, skill and workmanship.

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Music, The Features, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: Cute Is What We Aim For @ 9:30 Club, 6/9/13

CuteIsWhatWeAimForF

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 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 Cute Is What We Aim for at the 9:30 Club on Sunday, June 9. The emo pop trio appears in an early show with The Dangerous Summer and Made Violent.

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Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Anamanaguchi @ Black Cat 1/9/11

IMG_6849
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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The Daily Feed
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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: Buzzcocks @ The Black Cat 5/11/10

Buzzcocks at The Black Cat 5/11/10
courtesy of Buzzcocks.

Woo-hoo!!!*

Buzzcocks launched the U.S. leg of their “Another…Bites Tour” at the Black Cat on Tuesday night with an exuberant set of their classic, reverb-drenched, pop/punk, sing-a-longs. Since their early-90’s revival, original members Shelley and Diggle have been performing non-stop in the US and UK. Right up there with Stiff Little Fingers, Buzzcocks are one of the longest running and quality-consistent graduates of the original UK Punk class. To mix it up on this tour the band are performing their brilliant first and second albums back-to-back (both released in 1978) along with “other hits”. While album-entirety shows are becoming quite trendy of late (not that I mind), for Buzzcocks I think this dual-album attack is a great move. As their legacy becomes tied more and more to their ability to write amazing singles (as collected on the essential “Singles Going Steady“) this dual album tour is here to remind us that Buzzcocks were also responsible for crafting some brilliant albums; each with an energy flow, sonic imprint, and lyrical themes that deserve their place in rock history as well. Actually Tuesday night’s show did much more than gently remind us of this fact; in typical Buzzcocks pop-roar fashion the show served as a blaring klaxon alarm that made the relevance of “Another Music in a Different Kitchen” and “Love Bites” impossible to ignore.

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Entertainment, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Muse @ The Patriot Center 3/1/10

Photo courtesy of
‘Muse – Patriot Center – March 1, 2010’
courtesy of ‘Mrs. Gemstone’

Even though I consider Muse one of my favorite bands, I have written very little about them over the years. The majority of the 6 times I have seen them perform took place far away from DC and therefore the majority of their shows did not end up reviewed on any of the DC sites I write for. It is fitting that Monday night’s show at George Mason University’s Patriot Center is the one to finally get a feature review out of me. Fitting because it was without question the best performance of theirs that I have seen. Fitting too because I have followed this band since they first washed up on American shores and have witnessed their progression as a live act. Over the seven years or so they’ve been touring here, Muse have not so much shown an evolution as performers as they have consistently demonstrated their massive power as a live act; an act so huge that whatever stage I saw them on seemed tiny in comparison to their unbridled, power-pop fury. With each tour, each stage got a little larger, and Muse seemed one step closer to realizing their master plan of becoming the best live band on the planet. Having seen them on Monday night, I think it is safe to say that they have finally realized that master plan.
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