Generationals, Kimbra, Titus Andronicus, and Wolf Gang Oct 2012

Generationals at Red Palace, 10-20-2012

Stepkids at 9:30 Club, 10-23-2012

Kimbra at 9:30 Club, 10-23-2012

Ceremony, Rock & Roll Hotel, 10-24-12

Royal Concepts, U Street Music Hall, 10-27-12

I went to all of these shows with Shane (and Eric came to the Saturday shows, too) during his visit. Shane is a childhood friend of mine from Kansas who is shopping around for a new home city. He loves music, so concerts were a big part of my pitch.

Saturday, October 20
8:30 pm J. Thoven
9:30 pm Maus Haus
10:30 pm Generationals
At Red Palace
J. Thoven said they had played 4 shows in the last 24 hours because they were fresh from CMJ in New York. You couldn't tell. They were really good and professional. They seemed like they were ready to get big. I liked their music enough and will give them another listen, but nothing jumped out at me much. Maus Haus had 2 bassists, which impressed Shane and Eric a great deal. I thought
they were horrible, but I get that they were doing something a little fringe. Generationals did not sound as good live as they do recorded, but the show was good and energetic. I won't bother seeing them again live, though.

Tuesday, October 23
8 pm The Stepkids
9:30 pm Kimbra
At 9:30 Club
The Stepkids were fantastic live. They did everything right. They had an incredible projected lights show that was different for each song. They were comfortable on stage and interacted with the audience, and they made sure everyone knew their names. The music was 70's inspired Bee-Gees-esque at times. Not my thing, but still a great show to watch. I can imagine them getting big.
Kimbra was phenomenal live. Tremendous energy, lots of costume changes, and excellent vocals. I highly recommend her show for both the music (better than average pop) and the spectacle. Side note: we were on the balcony across from Kimbra's changing room, and she must not have realized (or cared) that there was a small window. Shane got an eyeful as Kimbra was getting dressed. I wasn't tall enough to see as much, but she wasn't all that modest.

Wednesday, October 24
8 pm True Head
9 pm Ceremony
10 pm Titus Andronicus
At Rock and Roll Hotel
We skipped True Head and just wished we'd skipped Ceremony. It seemed like a parody of a punk show. Neither Shane nor I could think of anything good to say about the performance. Maybe that they were nice for throwing candy into the audience? So one thing. Titus Andronicus just stood there, loudly, and we weren't feeling it, so we left early. I don't recommend either show. Shane entertained himself by stealing glances at the pretty brunette standing in front of us. There were no pretty boys for me to stare at, though. Just a bunch of gawky teens.


Saturday, October 27
6:45 pm The Royal Concept
7:45 pm ATLAS GENIUS
8:45 pm Wolf Gang
At U Street Music Hall

The Royal Concepts are a Swedish pop band with a really pretty (seemingly gay) lead singer. (He's blond and truly beautiful. Look him up.) They sounded like Radio Disney with occasional words that wouldn't be allowed on that station, but they had tons of energy and really got the (mostly underage) crowd going. Afterwards, the band posed for endless photos with pretty young women who didn't
even buy their t-shirts. I think they need to work on that marketing angle. Atlas Genius was boring. I liked nothing about their performance. Wolf Gang sounded too much like Cold Play (an insult from me) and the sound was bad – instruments on top of vocals, again. U Street has a real problem mixing sound.  Plus, they had no energy on stage. Not the best show.