Lumineers at Merriweather, July 26, 2013

Lumineers at Merriweather, 7-26-13

Lumineers at Merriweather, 7-26-13

Eric and I went to Lumineers at Merriweather a couple nights ago on the best weather night of the entire summer. We had seats smack dab in the middle of the audience, near the sound guys and the private booths, so an amazing view. Even better, we had some very civilized people in front of us who also preferred to sit, so we got to see a lot of the show while seated! (Except when the Lumineers singer cajoled everyone into standing in the middle of the set - damn him!)

The first opener, The Dig, was so forgettable that I had trouble remembering them mere seconds after their set ended. The second opener, Joe Pug, was a county singer-songwriter I wish I could have forgotten as quickly. Eric and I counted down the moments until his set was due to end. Dana and Sharon arrived just before Lumineers began. There were tons of empty seats near us, so they sat behind us instead of 20+ seats down the row. The real owners of the seats never showed up, so we sat together the whole time.

Lumineers where exceptionally good. They had lots of energy on stage, and even employed a cute gimmick of doing a couple songs on the side walk in front of the lawn audience. The group started as a trio and officially expanded to a 5 piece band in 2012. I think they previewed a couple new songs. The one that we all loved was this one. It featured Neyla Pekarek and Wesley Schultz in a retro-sounding duet. They also played most, if not all, of their 2012 debut album, and were kind enough to play the hits in the middle of the set, so I didn't feel bad leaving during the last song before the encore. One thing I noticed: Wesley, the lead singer, wears a hat to hide great hair, not to hide thinning hair as I assumed. His hair is so good, he doesn't look like he should be singing folk when it's uncovered. The staging consisted of 3 chandeliers and 3 small platforms for the cello, drums, and upright piano. It was spare, but worked well. The lighting was good but not over the top. Sound quality was really clear, but overly loud, as usual.

Camera Obscura and She & Him at Wolf Trap, July 11, 2013

A really poor excuse for a photo of Camera Obscura at Wolf Trap

Eric and I drove Genevieve and her friend to this show, then met up with our friends John and Kat as well as Layla. Genevieve and her friend grabbed a spot close in with a bit of a view. Eric, John, Kat, and I set up camp on the upper hill which has absolutely no view at all (and Wolf Trap does not have a screen for the lawn seat folks.) Layla went back and forth between the two spots.

The music was beautiful, though I honestly was more intent on socializing with John and Kat, who we seldom see, than listening. I did go down the hill a few times to check out the view. I snapped a contraband photo of Camera Obscura while there. Camera Obscura has very little going on performance-wise, though She & Him had some nice lighting and moving about on stage.

Getting out of the Wolf Trap parking lot took at least an hour of sitting and waiting in an unmoving line.

Fun. and Tegan and Sara, Satuday, July 20, 2013 at Merriweather

Tegan and Sara 7/20/13 at Merriweather.



This show was Natalie's 8th Bday present.

Me and Natalie

Fun. at Merriweather 7/20/13

Eric, Natalie and I went to the Fun. show last night in honor of Natalie's 8th birthday. When the tickets went on sale many months ago, Natalie was in love with Fun., listening to their music non-stop. She knows most of the words to most of the songs, but thankfully doesn't know what all of the references are about. Dana, Sharon, and Rachel were also all at this show, but we were in seats, so we didn't really get to hang out much.

The evening was insanely hot and humid at the beginning for this sold-out show at Merriweather Post Pavilion (approx. 20,000 people), and then there was a huge thunderstorm between the two acts. Rachel had the misfortune of lawn seats and didn't stay for most of Fun., but since she was there for Tegan and Sara, it sounds like she didn't mind so much.

Tegan and Sara put on a great show, really. If you were a fan, I am positive you would have felt extremely happy about seeing them live. They had impressive stage production with videos projected behind them and they were very friendly and engaging to the audience. I wish I liked their music, but I still don't.  This is how clueless I sometimes am: I had no idea that Tegan and Sara has a strong lesbian following. Um, duh!

Fun. was INCREDIBLE live. They absolutely lived up to their name. Even Eric, who is not a fan, said he was impressed by how good they were as performers and that the stage production was extremely good.  They had screens all over the background and the stage platforms and the best lights show I've ever seen. There was even a costume change between the first and second numbers and confetti cannons near the end. The artists were engaging (though a bit potty-mouthed, which of course Natalie heard.) You could hear the singing loud and clear above the instruments, and we had a pretty good view from our center MM row seats.  SO worth the admission price. Loved it!  We skipped the encore to get out of the packed parking lot before the crowd.

We Were Promised Jetpacks and Twin Radio, Jammin' Java, June 14, 2013

Twin Radio at Jammin' Java, 6-14-13

We Were Promised Jetpacks, Jammin' Java, 6-14-13

Adam Thomson of WWPJ, 6-14-13

Eric and I went to see We Were Promised Jetpacks at Jammin’ Java on Friday, June 14, 2013, mostly because it was a Friday night and I thought it would be a fun show. We arrived so early that we went to the Outback Steak House across the street so Eric could eat and I could watch. (No way I’m eating steak. Bleh!) Call it an early Father’s Day dinner.  We arrived right before the opener, Twin Radio, went on, and connected with two women I’ve met at several Indie Concert Meetups before: Laura and Jane. The other half of the group were no-shows, maybe because the show sold out.  FYI, Jammin’ Java’s idea of sold out is entirely civilized. The floor was not crowded at all. Laura and Jane told us about their recent cross-country drive that included stops in Austin and Memphis and other music hot-spots. It sounded like a lot of fun.

Twin Radio is a local band that really tried hard to engage the audience. You could tell they were very happy to be on stage and gave it their all, but they weren’t actually good. I don’t even know the names of the kind of bands they were emulating. Rock that an 11 year old boy might mistake for cool – something you’d hear on a top 40 station. Sometimes I wondered if they might have a Christian rock leaning, but I couldn’t make out the lyrics – mostly I was going from the big “Jesus” tattoo on the lead singer’s arm. I found the use of a keytar (guitar style keyboard) hilarious. That singer spent most of the time (poorly) pantomiming the song lyrics that you couldn’t understand over the rest of the music.  I think his mom might have been in the audience. I think the whole band were DC-suburbs born and raised. Eric signed up for their mailing list when they offered him a sticker. He said he felt sorry for them.

We Were Promised Jetpacks still have 2 distinct styles: jam-band (I hate that one) and gorgeous vocals over hard-driving rock (LOVE that style).  So I loved exactly 50% of the show and wanted to fall asleep the other 50%. Same as last time I saw them, but this time I got to be REALLY close to the stage. Unfortunately, the lead singer is no longer the cutie-pie he once was. That boy loves himself some beer – and it shows in his waistline.  Young guy, but he’s passed the pudgy mark and is on the way to truly fat.  His accent is still gorgeous, though, and he still looks like he has his eyes closed when he sings.

Of Monsters and Men, Haim, & Half Moon Run at MPP on June 11, 2013

Of Monsters and Men, MPP, 6-11-13

I went to the Of Monsters and Men show (lawn tickets) with the Indie Concerts Meetup group at Merriweather Post Pavilion on Tuesday, June 11, 2013, and I had a great time.  First, I saw Sharon, but she and her friend had standing room floor tickets, so we just said hello and they went to try to get a good spot. Then I found Krystle and Scott(?), who were really fun to hang out with. Krystle I had met at an earlier Meetup. HJ, a new acquaintance, showed up late because of a trip to the emergency room for a bad cut, but she was just as music geeky as me, so we had fun chatting right before OMAM.  It was a fun social evening, in good weather, though the ground was a bit soggy from recent rain.
Half Moon Run are still cute Canadian boys, and they sounded really good, but the lighting was dim and they didn’t engage the audience much. They did mention that their album was only recently released State-side, so it’s no wonder I couldn’t find the couple songs I liked after the first time I saw them (last year, opening for Metric, I think).
Haim had a new boy-toy drummer. A brunette instead of the blond from the last show. Their energy was MUCH lower than the last time I saw them, and the state lighting was again very dim. I know they are supposed to be a great live show, but if I had only seen this performance, I would not believe it. The potty-mouthed sister was still potty-mouthed, despite the huge number of kids and tweens in the audience.
Of Monsters And Men put on a very good show, though I quickly realized that I really haven’t explored the majority of their music. Most of it was slow, and you know I am not a fan of slow music at concerts. They had much better stage lighting (and actual stage set), and their costumes were entertaining. They talked to the audience a few times, which was great – I love their accents.

Dirty Projectors and The National, Merriweather Post Pavilion, 6-6-13

Horrible shot of Dirty Projectors, 6-6-13, MPP

Horrible shot of The National, 6-6-13, MPP

I arrived late for Dirty Projectors on Thursday, June 6, 2013 at Merriweather Post Pavilion because of the rain and subsequent traffic jams, and that was a pity, because I bought this ticket specifically to go see Dirty Projectors. It was raining and I had a lawn seat, but Merriweather was nice and let the lawn folks into the unsold Pavilion seats in the loge area. So I got to see most of the act out of the rain. They really are amazingly impressive musicians. I think it would have been incredible to watch them in an intimate venue. The voice control alone is astonishing. I didn’t even mind that they barely acknowledged the audience.

Jill and Bernie arrived in time for The National. I wasn’t impressed. They had some good lights on stage, and I learned that the band members are quite a bit older than I had imagined, but it sounded just like the recordings and there wasn’t all that much audience interaction to beef up the stiff performance. I left early and was perfectly fine with that.

Charli XCX and Little Daylight at U Street Music Hall 6-3-13

Little Daylight at U Street Music Hall 6-3-13

Charli XCX at U Street Music Hall 6-3-13

I went to see Charli XCX with Trish at U Street Music Hall on Monday, June 3, 2013. We got dinner a block away at Chix first (I recommend it highly, by the way), so we were late to Little Daylight. The few songs I saw them perform were good, but not memorable. Charli XCX is a wunderkind British singer-songwriter. She wrote “I Love It” by Icona Pop and has a new album she’s supporting. She got rave reviews for her live show at SXSW, so I was excited to see her. I felt she delivered, though I had a horrible view for most of the show. The songs are all pop rock – the kind you can dance to and sing along with.  She talked to the audience some, and she was energetic on stage. I hope I get to see her again from a better vantage point. Trish HATED the cover song she did – some 80s crap that I can’t even remember now.