Author Archives: Richie Downs

Finally out of our turkey hangovers, we’re catching up on our live-concert coverage after the holiday.—Ed. 

On her second trip to DC this year, Pink, the reining queen of pop-rock, played to a completely sold-out crowd at the Verizon Center. On tour to promote her sixth full-length studio album The Truth About Love, her tour is a fun-filled, wild ride of sorts, and is truly entertaining from beginning to end. Pink’s relentless high-energy attitude and on-stage theatrics radiate positivity and seemed to feed the crowd this happiness that really can’t be described in words. Her fans are simply elated to see her.

From the show’s first downbeat, Pink is launched from stage level high into the air, suspended by wires as she performs a series of trapeze-like in-air acrobatics, all while she delivers the evening’s first song, “Raise your Glass.” Fans really broke the needle off the scream-o-meter, happily singing along as Pink flew around the place and blasted real pyrotechnics between her and the gigantic video board behind her, which displayed stylish images from old ads to vampires throughout her performance. This tour really gives new meaning to the term “elaborate stage productions.” Every aspect of of it was very well-thought-out and superbly entertaining.

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Finally out of our turkey hangovers, we’re catching up on our live-concert coverage after the holiday.—Ed.

When Alexis Krauss and Derek Miller of Sleigh Bells took the stage at the 9:30 Club, they were not alone. Along with the tightly packed, sold-out crowd of DC music-goers they drew in off the unseasonably cold streets that night, this Brooklyn, New York-based powerhouse duo came to the club ready to rock, complete with drummer Chris Maggio and guitar player Ryan Primack.

The addition of having a full live band on the road with them not only brought a fuller and more rich sound to their set, it brought the energy level of the club to extraordinary heights. I had never seen Sleigh Bells play with a full band before, and I have to say, their set was quite amazing and a completely different animal from their recordings.

Krauss has enough stage presence and exuberance on her own on to project her vocals right through anyone standing within a few city blocks of her. Sleigh Bells puts on a great live show even with electronic drums and queued computer tracks. Krauss is certainly enough of a performer to get through to her audience no matter what the stage situation is, but somehow seeing her play with a full live band magnifies all of her efforts and takes her to this quasi-Mick-Jagger/Robert-Plant-like state, at least in my mind.

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So, we’ll let you in on a little secret and scoop ourselves, we took the quite lovely Charli XCX and Chloe Chaidez of Kitten record shopping at DC’s Som Records this past Saturday for a filmed piece that’ll debut here soon.

Both Charli and Chloe are genuine, warm, and engaging—a good hang as we used to say in Jersey.

Yet, something happens when both hit the stage that’s nothing short of transformative. We sent intrepid photographer Richie Downs to chronicle the evening in images…that left us at a loss for words. —Ed.

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If you were lucky enough to be at the 9:30 Club last Wednesday night, you witnessed one of hell of a performance from rising stars Poliça.

The band, who hail from Minneapolis, Minnesota, are touring to support their second full-length album, Shulamith, which was released last month. Poliça brought their mix of haunting vocal work and melodic grooves to DC for their fans to enjoy. During the show, vocalist Channy Leaneagh told the audience that Poliça had played their very first show at the 9:30 Club and that she was glad to be back.

The band consists of Leaneagh on vocals, bassist Chris Bierden, drummers Ben Ivascu and Drew Christopherson, and producer Ryan Olson. Since their formation in 2011, Poliça has been steadily gaining momentum in their songwriting, as well as extending their fan base.

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In the ‘90s, when I was a teenager, well before the days of a thriving internet, before everyone had a phone in their pocket capable of producing and sharing photos and videos with the world, before you could search any subject and find loads of information at will, music lovers relied on other ways to find and hear new music.

We relied heavily on things like word of mouth, record stores, compilation CDs, mix tapes, and attending as many shows as possible to hear new sounds. We would regularly go to the nearest record store to pick up a copy of Maximum Rock and Roll and to get new show schedules and fliers for nearby venues. We even relied on late-night TV programs and tuned into shows like 120 Minutes and Head Bangers Ball that aired in the wee hours of the weekend. One of the most unique and enjoyable shows for me was a series called Unplugged.

For those of you who weren’t cutting your own food in the ‘90s, Unplugged was a series featured on MTV back in the days when they actually played music on music television. The series started in 1989 and continued until around 1999. The format for the show was just as you’d expect, musicians and bands playing mostly acoustic instruments. The series featured a number of artists including some memorable performances by The Cure, Bob Dylan, Nirvana, Duran Duran, Oasis, Neil Young, Alice in Chains, and once even spotlighted a Page/Plant acoustic reunion titled “UnLedded.” What the Unplugged series showed its audiences is not only how beautiful the music can be when it’s stripped down and plain in its simplest form, but also just how talented some of the performers could be at their rawest and most candid moments.

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Sometimes there’s nothing I like better than seeing a band, especially a band that I really adore, play on a smaller, more scaled-back stage. The Backstage at the Black Cat has served as just that venue on many occasions, including several performances this year.

There couldn’t be a more intimate music experience then being able to literally stand right next to the band as they play through their set. For me, shows like this are reminiscent of the old days of garage and basement shows that were always such a raw experience. It’s hard for any venue to recreate the emotion and intimacy of a basement show, but backstage at the Cat comes about as close as it gets.

On Sunday night, Sebadoh, the legendary indie-noise rockers from Westfield, Massachusetts, packed the Cat’s back room with wide-eyed fans who welcomed all the melodic fuzz-toned sweetness that Sebadoh could dish out. Band members Lou Barlow (Dinosaur Jr., The Folk Implosion), Jason Lowenstein (Circle of Buzzards, Fiery Furnaces), and Bob D’Amico (Circle of Buzzards, Fiery Furnaces) pounded through new and old tunes, keeping the crowd on their toes and jam-enthralled throughout their entire set.

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When Michael Angelakos took the stage for last Thursday night’s performance, the only thing to be seen on the dimly lit stage was the warm glow of the neon letters behind him.

The band’s name lit across the backdrop was enough for the costumed crowd of ghouls and goblins to give him and his band, Passion Pit a warm and spirited welcome of applause. For Halloween night’s performance, DC’s Echostage had the honor of being the place to be on the spookiest night of the year for two beloved bands, Passion Pit and The Joy Formidable.

Passion Pit, the synth-pop band from Cambridge, Massachusetts gave an energetic performance and seemed to really unite the crowd to sing and cheer along as the played their hits. Angelakos really works the stage and kept audience members on their toes through their entire set.

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It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a show like the one I attended last Saturday night on H Street. The good people at the Rock and Roll Hotel served up a triple dose of mischievous antics from bands near and far. I could blame Saturday evening’s happenings on the full moon hovering a little too close to the club that night, or I could just chalk it up as the last weekend before All Hollow’s Eve, when the powers of the strange and unusual are in full swing.

Anyhow, whatever the reason may be, I believe that without a doubt, we need more shows like this in DC. It reminded me of the old days when hardcore shows were not only fun and emotional, but they were an experience you would walk away from and still remember, which is rare these days.

On the bill for Saturday night’s line-up were three bands that certainly did their part to bring show-goers all the pulse-pounding action you could handle: FIDLAR, The Orwells, and Shark Week. All three bands did their best to mix a little bit of havoc into their sets and take the crowd for the ride of their lives, or at least take them to a nice and cozy place in their minds.

Along with quite a bit of good old-fashioned crowd surfing, stage diving, bottle tossing, water spitting, and instrument throwing, the onstage antics had accumulated to make for one messy venue by night’s end. Back in the day, from time to time, shows got a little rough, and that was expected. To see it now is almost unheard of, unless I’ve been going to the wrong places.

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