All Things Go Fall Classic - October 8, 2016.

My daughter Natalie joined me (Anita), Dana, and Jill at the All Things Go Fall Classic on Saturday, October 8, 2016. The line-up was great, so we were really looking forward to it. The weather leading up to the day was excellent, then a hurricane struck to the south and it ended up lightly raining for the first six hours of the concert. It was a poorly attended muddy mess, which really is a shame. I was bummed that the Landmark festival did so poorly it won’t be repeated. I’m hopeful that this show grows into a real festival someday. Biggest drawback: the mud, of course, but also the 30 minute wait between each act with nothing to do but eat and drink. There’s only so many Korean tacos any one person can eat! It would have been so much better with a second stage. The sound mixing was often good, with occasionally heavy-handed bass that bothered me. (It shouldn’t hurt with earplugs in!)

Dana: I didn't mind the rain and mud, as we were all fairly well prepared. Sometimes I'm so excited to be at a music festival with friends

Ace Cosgrove – None of us saw this act, but none of us like this artist either, so no love lost.

Sofi Tukker – Natalie was impressed by the personality of this duo. They are young and met their senior year at Brown University. The man, Tukker, used to play college basketball, then some illness left him bedridden for 8 months during which time he reignited a passion for music. Sofi had a very international upbringing that sounds like an ambassador’s kid’s life. She’s German-born and Italian-educated and taught herself guitar and Portugese while on study abroad. Both have ready smiles and engaging personalities on stage. I loved their exuberance, and the book-tree-drum thing they used for synthesized sound reminded me of early Purity Ring and their use of light-sound machines.

Pop Etc – This band used to be named Morning Benders. They were boring on stage; we really just watched the videos above them, but the music sounded good. They ended with the song everyone was there to hear. (“What Am I Becoming?”)

Bishop Briggs – AWESOME, according to Natalie. She has an amazing voice and a twitchy style of movement when she’s not hunched over on herself. Surprisingly, her horrible posture doesn’t affect her singing.  I loved her Mickey Mouse hair buns and deadmouse-esque icon. She looks goth but sounds like a church revival with naughty lyrics.

Christine and the Queens CANCELED. That’s right. Here’s what Christine said on Twitter as her reason:

Prima donna much? So instead, Sofi Tukker did an extra set with Ace Cosgrove joining for a while, and maybe some others. They even crowd surfed. Very fun.

Sylvan Esso was surprisingly disappointing. It says something about the low quality of performance at Firefly 2015 that Sylvan Esso wowed by comparison there and bombed at All Things Go. Part of it was that you just couldn’t see them through all the smoke machine smoke. Such a stupid effect outdoors! (And I would argue, indoors as well.) Natalie felt ill during this act and there were still four hours left until the end of the concert, so we bailed. Standing around for 6 hours, unable to sit down on the ground had taken a toll on us both.

Passion Pit - Anita and Natalie missed this, which Anita didn’t mind at all.

Empire of the Sun - This was a real bummer to miss (the entire reason I bought tickets!!) But it was just too much standing around in the cold and wet weather.

Sofar Sounds pop-up concert September 16, 2016 - Plastic Picnic, Edy Blu, Tyne

Sofar Sounds does secret venue/secret act living room concerts all over the world. The idea is that intimate settings and a lack of expectations create a magically environment for both the guests and performers. And the sets are all short - 30 minutes give or take - so even if you hate an act, they leave the stage soon enough. Eric and I tried it on the lunch patio/rehabbed loading dock of a Union Market startup office building made from a converted warehouse. Very hipster. The audience was mostly 20 to 30 somethings, but with enough diversity to not be entirely cliche. There were even a few people older than us 40-somethings.  Eric and I sat off on our own in the comfy chairs we claimed when we arrived, but the main mass of people were grouped closer together on benches and blankets, and there seemed to be some mingling of strangers, which is part of the point. Overall, I didn't find a new favorite, but I did enjoy the evening out very much. I recommend it for date night.

PLASTIC PICNIC
The first act were all from Seattle(?) but met in Brooklyn, and hadn't been together long. I got some hairy eyeballs for using my phone to take notes during the set, but this is what I wrote: guitar driven beach-inspired sound with lots of vocal reverb. Upbeat, dreamy, echoes, tinny, synth-heavy, uneven sound mixing.

Plastic Picnic, from Brooklyn

EDY BLU
Edy Blu is a singer songwriter from DC. She exhibited moments of vocal excellence, but most of her sound was too samey-samey for me. I think she could grow into some impressive musicianship. She has a great look and is good at engaging the crowd.

Edy Blu, from DC

TYNE
Her confidence and disarming personality were very nice, as was her banter. Her voice was lovely, but her style depressing. She even joked about being a 19 year old who writes depressing songs. I feel like I've heard too many artists who are similar, but she does have talent. She's just not my thing.

Tyne, from the UK

PWR BTTM at DC9 on June 13, 2016

 Monday, June 13, 2016 at DC9, I got to see the only band I’ve been excited about in 2016 – PWR BTTM. They are a very out queer duo. One of them might actually be trans – I don’t know. Bob Boilen of All Songs Considered raved about their live show, so I listened to their music and found it fun. Pop sensibility in that you can understand the words. Lyrics are clever and easy to remember (also easy to sing along to), and since the topics are usually relationships, the songs are relatable to non-queer audiences.  Very over-the-top costuming involving cross dressing, smeared makeup, and LOTS of glitter. The best part was the banter. I LOVE when the musicians create a relationship with the audience by talking to them between songs. If a live show doesn’t provide something more than just music, why bother going to live shows? They get it and put on a real performance. And they cared about what the audience could hear. I get so annoyed at shows where the instruments are too high and the vocals too low. They asked the audience and adjusted to improve. Even plagued with some feedback, it was still a big improvement.  I had heard them joking at a recorded session that they were going to make PWR BTTM underwear as merchandise, and I was slightly disappointed that they didn’t have it at the merch table. They are  funny, and I like their sense of humor. Next time I’m dragging everyone I know to this show. You’ll like it, I swear.

Petal was the first opener. The best thing I have to say about her is that her eyes looked Technicolor blue in the stage lights, and her hair looked silver. I also liked the flowers she pinned to her guitar strap. And her skin was lovely – great complexion. The music sounded horrible. I couldn’t hear a word she said with the instruments up so high and the constant feedback. Even if I had understood the lyrics, I don’t think I would have liked it. She seemed too earnest for me.  

Pity Sex was the headliner. I heard them rehearsing before the doors opened and wasn’t impressed, so I didn’t stay for any of their act. They seemed like a standard rock band with a female lead. Nothing special.

Twenty One Pilots, Merriweather Post Pavillion, Friday, June 10, 2016

We went as a family to Twenty One Pilots at Merriweather Friday night, June 10, 2016,  because both kids love the song “Stressed Out”. It was Sidney’s first concert (age 7, end of 1st grade.) The show was sold out and we left our house later than ideal, so we ended up in traffic for 2 hours (usually 45 minutes). For the entire 2nd hour of that drive, we were virtually parked on the off ramp, 2 miles from our destination, with kids squabbling and crying in the back seat. When we arrived, the lawn was crazy packed and the food lines long. Lesson learned: we MUST leave to arrive when the doors open for sold out Merriweather shows. We can’t leave targeting the show start time and have a pleasant experience.

We entirely missed Dutch opener Chef’Special. I just listened to them on Spotify, and I’m not heartbroken. They seem to be popular in Europe, but they are just another dude band.

Mutemath was playing as we entered and finally got a spot on the lawn. They declined video projection and instead just posted their band name on the screen. That was a jerk move – no one on the sold out lawn could see what was on stage. Since I care a lot about the live performance, this was a big fail for me.

 

Twenty One Pilots had a really good stage show that Eric and Natalie raved about. They started off in the suits and hoods of their promotion pics, then changed outfits a couple times. The drummer ended up shirtless for most of the show, and he’s the kind of guy who looks great that way, so no complaints. There was a lot of standing on the audience while singing (or playing drums!) and acrobatic jumping. (How did the singer jump onto a piano? Springs in his feet?) There were some cover songs with the openers coming out on set. There were some great graphics on the large screen behind the act. Natalie was impressed by the dancing skeletons. There was a mini-movie during the wardrobe change that was a bit spooky involving death-outfitted minions who where lonely. Natalie was very impressed by the creativity. I was surprised by how much of their music is reggae-inspired. I don’t know much of their catalog and didn’t love it. Eric compared them to 311 (and that’s not a compliment.)

Sidney had a one track mind – he asked at the beginning of every song if this one would be “Stressed Out.” He had to wait an hour for anything we recognized. Sidney stood for a couple songs, but then got tired and sat down in the sea of legs. I joined him, so we missed a big chunk of the visuals. We left during “A Tear in My Heart” to beat traffic out of the lot.

Not a total success, but not a fail either. It would have been a much better experience if the show had not sold out.

2016 Sweetlife Festival, May 14, 2016 at Merriweather Post Pavilion

Dana and I got pavilion tickets to the 2016 Sweetlife Festival, not because we liked the lineup, but because it’s the only festival in DC this year, and on the years that the weather has been good, it’s been fun to hang outside at Merriweather and eat excellent food all day. The lineup was particularly lackluster this year, and the day was marred by a rainstorm, so the turnout was abysmal. Maybe because ticket sales were so bad, there weren’t many food trucks, either, and the interactive elements from last year were mostly missing. Merriweather had undergone some renovations over the winter, which was a not-quite-welcome surprise, but at least there were more bathrooms because of it.

Shamir at Sweetlife

I cared more about seeing Dana that day than hanging out at the festival, and she was delayed leaving her house, so we arrived around 4:15 during Eagles of Death Metal and Shamir. The Eagles of Death Metal are not a death metal band – they sound more like ZZ Top to me. They are kind of funny, too. Dana thought Preston would love them. Gender-bending Shamir wore a tinfoil crown that I SWEAR I saw below us in the audience the night before at Grimes. Seems possible – he could easily have arrived in town the night before and asked IMP for something to do. I heard him sing “On the Regular,” but I’m not a fan, so I went to scope out the food trucks. My choices were very limited and the one vegan item that contained any vegetables was sold out, so I ate corn, French fries, strawberry lemonade, and chicken on a stick, when I had expected something leafy green and delicious. It was a big let-down for dinner.

Blondie at Sweetlife 2016

I ignored the Blondie set next, mostly reading a book. I’ve never been a fan of nostalgia acts, but Dana was impressed by her 70+ year old efforts to bring it.  Dana also looked up Blondie’s tour schedule and pointed out that there next stop was a Midwestern zoo.

Halsey at Sweetlife Festival 2016

After that, we saw Grimes again, and it was exactly the same act, minus a few songs. Every movement, every everything, even they dedications, very much the same. I remarked that it gave me a better sense of what it must be like to be a musician – sort of like being a actor, doing the same exact blocking and lines every night. We listened to a little of 1975 in the background and saw the tail end of Flume, then stayed for Halsey. (Dana is a big fan, as is my tween daughter.) Dana pointed out that Halsey’s lesser-known songs have very grown up themes, so I was relieved to check Natalie’s playlist and find only the pop hits on it. One entertaining part of the Halsey experience was seeing her arrive in a black van and watching young (drunk) people follow behind, touching the van. We found that silly and entertaining. Halsey was drunk on stage – she told us so. Her act involved grabbing her crotch fairly often. There was one visual where she lay down on a clear platform with a screen show behind – it looked like she was floating. Mostly, though, she copped attitude. It’s her thing. We left before the last song to beat the crowd out and owe some anonymous young men for moving traffic cones out of our way so we could leave via the fast route. My only regret was not seeing Young Brando early in the day.  That was the only act I thought had potential when I previewed.

Grimes, HANA, Tei Shi at 9:30 Club on May 13, 2016

Dana, Jill, Natalie and I went to the Grimes concert at the 9:30 Club on May 13, 2016. It was rescheduled from December and was an early show. I was very sad when it was canceled in December (Grimes got sick) because it had been one of the first stops on the tour for Art Angels, which ended up album of the year on a whole lot of lists. It’s a really fantastic feeling to be into an artist who’s riding a high of critical acclaim and is launching a new tour, full of energy. Instead, we got the 6-months-into-the-tour show, which is well practiced, but formulaic.

The first opener was HANA, who also acted as a back-up singer during Grimes set.  She moved a little like Mo and had a high, ethereal voice. She seemed confident in her movements, but I didn’t find her music all that interesting. She seemed like an artist who might appeal to a tween/young teen crowd.

The second opener was Tei Shi, a traditional guitar band fronted by a female singer who seemed to be abusing her vocal cords. I wouldn’t be surprised if she ends up injured. There was one song that caught my interest, but they didn’t announce any song names and I counldn’t make out enough of the lyrics, so I don’t know which it was.

Grimes act was very good, and if I hadn’t seen Santigold the week before, I might have been more impressed. The two dancers (in sun glasses) did not look the same or dance the same, but they had the same detached aura as the Santigold dancers. One was an Asian woman in a matrix-esque costume who moved a little like a ninja. The other dancer was a big, beautiful black woman who had a lot of attitude. Hana and Grimes rounded out the stage. Grimes is a trained dancer, but uses a style of dance that’s very twitchy and awkward – it’s her thing. Her banter persona comes off as appreciative and genuine, if also a little strange. Some of her song choices were not to my taste – like the screaming song she wrote with the Chinese rapper. At one point she did a song in Russian. Dana looked up her bio during the act and Grimes has exceptionally varied interests – including Russian literature. She did most of my favorite songs, so I can’t complain about the others in between. I do wish she hadn’t aimed bright lights into the audience – I hate that. And the sound mixing was truly awful. My ears hurt through the ear plugs from the too-high bass, and it was hard to hear her voice. There was one cheap but effective staging gimmick involving green laser light gloves. It looked good. Fun night.    

Santigold and Dominique May 6, 2016 at Fillmore Silver Spring

Dana, Jill, and I went to see Santigold at the Fillmore in Silver Spring on Friday night, May 6 – partly because it was a Friday night show a few blocks from our homes, and partly because Santigold always puts on a good show. 

We arrived during the opener, Dominique. Dominique was a foul-mouthed rapper who I couldn’t understand even when she was speaking to the audience. For the “band”, there was a woman running a turntable and another whose job seemed to be pouring shots and occasionally telling the crowd to put their hands in the air. (They didn’t.) I have a hard time imagining Dominique going very far in the music industry, but I certainly don’t know a thing about her genre, so maybe I’m wrong.

Santigold’s act was very similar to her last tour, but with some enhancements. There was a fancier screen show, a few extra props, and an extra costume change. I liked how she worked different aspects of the “just getting by” theme into the visuals: 99 cent stores, “we buy gold”, and off-brand cheese puffs come to mind. She also used some absurdist visuals, like cats and rabbits with bobbing heads, and extreme oversized clothing. She had the same two dancers as before, and they are fun to watch – their style reminds me of the time before kids know there is a “right” way to dance, combined with the time when you and your friends made up dances to your favorite songs by acting them out and doing the same moves every time for the chorus. And then there were times when you could see the dancers using their extensive training. They still wore sunglasses the entire time and flat, expressionless faces, daring the audience to do anything but respect them. Dana looked up Santigold and discovered she’s 39 years old, pretty close to our ages, which got us thinking that she’s really figured it out – get the young girls to do the jumping up and down.

Kevin Devine and Murder By Death, 9:30 Club, April 22, 2016

It's been ages since I went to a concert - months even - so for a date night, I noticed two acts I had seen before and liked playing together at 9:30 Club on a Friday night. Why not?

Kevin Devine 4/22/16 9:30 Club

Kevin Devine I last saw at Red Palace. I was there for the opener, but he was so personable on stage that I was happy to stay and listen to his act, despite no familiarity with his music. I’m a sucker for entertaining banter. At this show, he opened (late – after 9 pm) with “The Goddamn Band” (his two band mates) to a sparse crowd. None of the personality of his bygone Red Palace show was in evidence. They were talented, no doubt, and Kevin had a lot of energy dancing on stage, but I was there for personality, and that was not on display. Good enough, but nothing special.

Murder By Death 4/22/16 9:30 Club

Murder By Death was the headliner. They went on after 10 pm, which is unusual at the 9:30 club.  9:30 pm is normal – it’s even in the name. Personally, I love those early start times. It’s one of the big advantages going to 9:30 Club instead of Black Cat, where I last saw Murder By Death. That night was also a happy accident; I was there for another act. But I digress. Murder By Death is a five piece band whose members are verging on middle age. There’s a drummer, a keyboardist, a female cellist, a bassist, and a deep-voiced singer who played guitar. Last I saw them, they had so much fun on stage in a raucous, piratical way, that I immediately added them to Songkick so I’d know when they came back to town. This time the singer looked like he’d stepped out of a 1970’s cowboy movie: big mustache, plaid shirt, jeans, hair on the longer side and slicked back. Maybe it was his look, but I swear some of the songs reminded me of a spaghetti western soundtrack. He was also in good shape and has a great voice, so it was no hardship watching him sing. The band started out with a cover of “Nothing Compares to You” as a tribute to Prince, who had died the day before. (The tower on top of the 9:30 Club was also lit up with purple lights in memory of him.) The rest of the set sounded good, but again, there wasn’t much going happening on stage. There was a little visual interest added by a black and white screen show behind the band, but not much interaction. So again, good enough, but not worth seeing live a third time.

Gogol Bordello and Chicano Batman, Jan 1, 2016 at 9:30 Club

Many years ago, I was told that if I liked great performances, Gogol Bordello is a don't-miss act. I've been trying to go to one of their shows ever since, and this year, the stars aligned. They have a "gypsy punk" sound and completely lived up to the hype. It was a wonderful, energetic, spectacle of a show. Eric commented as we left that we'd have pirate shanties stuck in our heads all night. That was okay by me. I was bouncing as we left, smiling ear to ear.

Gogol Bordello, 1/1/16, 9:30 Club

What makes them so good? The music is catchy, but I doubt all that many people know the words. It doesn't seem like exceptional song craft and gets absolutely no radio air play, but it's infectious and fun. It sounds like the best party you wish you had gone to. The performance is high-energy and varied. They don't use all that many special effects (lights, of course, but no extreme stuff), instead using their bodies, a few props, and the stage to make every song into eye candy. They trade off in the spotlight often, and it was hard to tell how many band members they have because new people kept appearing, and others changed costumes. We settled on 10, and at least 8 of them came front and center to engage the audience at one time or another. The lead singer seems like a happy drunk guy from the Eastern Bloc, and I bet he gets his share of ladies based on charisma (not likely to happen based on looks - skinny dude, hard living.) This show was well worth staying up late. See them if you get the chance.

Chicano Batman was the opener. You should skip them. It was a slow, lounge-y act with a Latin vibe. The men in the group wore suits and had wild hair. It sounded like something from old Vegas, but from a Mexican band. Very kitschy. The lead singer jumped and moved a little like a frog and looked like a young Weird Al. The crowd was not into them at all.

Chicano Batman, 1/1/16, 9:30 Club