Based on recent and, mostly, future Black Cat Backstage shows, it looks like the Black Cat is trying to up the visibility and profitability of the room. Note the better bands and higher prices. Interesting.
Also tagged Music, Washington DCI came for Edie Sedgwick and left for Bonde do Role. I had never heard Edie Sedgwick before, but was lured in by the drummer who is also in S PRCSS and Antelope. Turns out that, this iteration at least, Edie Sedgwick had Jason Hutto of The Aquarium playing keys. They sounded a little rough, [...]
Also tagged Antelope, Bonde do Role, Edie Sedgwick, Music, reviews, S-PRCSS, The AquariumI love The Aquarium. They give me hope that maybe the guitar will become extinct in the next few years. Unfortunately, the next band–The Shirks, I believe–curbs you back into reality–a reality where one poorly played guitar is just not enough for most people.
Also tagged Music, reviews, The Aquarium, The ShirksI came for Carol Bui, but missed her as I usually do when she opens (stop opening!).
The noteworthiest part of this show is the continued climb of tired sounds. Both Pash and Exit Clov excel at sounding like standard mid- to late 1990s college-radio female-lead bands. I have no idea why this trend is happening, [...]
Given the Recording Industry Association of America’s (RIAA) screaming sensationalism of piracy’s effect on sales, it’s surprising how little noise the latest Neilsen SoundScan sales figures, especially those related to rap/hip-hop, generated. It is also interesting that while rap/hip hop sales are plummeting countrywide, the local scene is growing so strongly.
SoundScan’s year-over-year report revealed a [...]
While doing my normal Monday-night show search, I was shocked to see that Exit Clov–a cutesy, late-’90s sounding, two-singing-female-Asians local DC band–has the headlining slot for the April 11 Cloud Cult show. Huh?
Not a good way to be bringing incredible bands to DC, Black Cat!
In response to Ben’s comment, which I only now saw (thanks a lot RSS feed!), here are my favorite DC venues in no particular order:
DC9
Black Cat
Velvet Lounge
Warehouse
And one that will probably be on the list soon enough–it just opened and I’ve only seen two shows there–is:
Rock ‘n’ Roll Hotel
Also tagged DC9, Music, Velvet Lounge, venues, Warehouse Next Door, Washington DCAs planned, I missed the first two bands, only because opening acts are no longer worth it for me (plus, I am seeing four to six shows this week); I leave watching usually-bad performances for the younger generation.
Speaking of younger generation, Be Your Own Pet rocked. The onstage energy and (minimum) humorous banter made this [...]
A band like Ratatat makes you really think. One of the questions I have is why do they have such bad bands open for them? Both Panther, a lone gent, and Envelope, a four piece with three guitars, are part of that re-energized thread of rock where effort is uncool (and I don’t mean unkool). [...]
Also tagged Envelopes, Music, Panther, Ratatat