Author Archives: Rachel Lange

The sold out 9:30 Club felt tropical last Thursday night as Royal Blood made a stop in Washington, DC on its Typhoons tour. Canadian rock duo Cleopatrick provided support.

Security provided water to those in attendance; the sold out club felt like a sauna. It hardly seemed to matter to the crowd, which collectively lost its mind over the English rock duo (vocalist/bassist Mike Kerr and drummer Ben Thatcher), touring to support its latest album, Typhoons, the first since 2017’s How Did We Get So Dark?. It wasn’t just a great gig, it was one of the very best I’ve seen in recent years.

Canadian rock duo Cleopatrick kicked off the night. In thirty minutes, they showed they are musical kin to Royal Blood, blasting the crowd with a steady stream of aggressive rock, which was infused with punk energy. While drummer Ian Fraser provided the rhythmic backbone for each song, Luke Gruntz played guitars with an intensity that set the tone for the rest of the night. The already full club responded with an enthusiasm usually reserved for headliners.

Singer-bassist Mike Kerr and drummer Ben Thatcher took the stage at 9PM sharp and kicked off their set with two songs from the new album, “Typhoons” and “Boilermaker” (with additional support from a keyboardist who sang backup). The set drew from all three Royal Blood albums, weaving the loud, sexy, metal-edged rock of their early tracks (which famously got the attention of Jimmy Page), such as “Loose Change” and “Out of the Black,” with the more danceable, but equally hot, new material. Wow, does it ever work—the crowd spent 90 minutes nearly bouncing off the walls.

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Mongolian rock lords The Hu brought their Black Thunder Tour to a packed and rowdy Warner Theatre in Washington, DC on May 16th. Supporting the Black Thunder Tour is Florida rock quartet The Haunt.

Fronted by siblings Anastasia Haunt (vocals) and her guitar-wielding older brother, Max, along with Nick Lewert (drummer and producer), and bassist Nat Smallish, The Haunt are a very young rock band, like Plush, embracing rock music. The crowd arriving early at the Warner Theatre got to witness their energetic set. I was particularly impressed with the siblings’ charisma and mature stage presence; I suppose this should be unsurprising as vocalist Anastasia has been in front of an audience since age nine. The Haunt are a promising sign for rock music’s future.

Between sets, the venue—the elegant Warner Theatre, mere blocks from the White House in downtown DC—filled and buzzed with energy. At 9:15PM The Hu took the stage to the now familiar chants of “Hu! Hu! Hu!”

The last time I saw The Hu was on their first U.S tour in 2019 when they played at Baltimore Soundstage, and it was a crowd similar in makeup that gathered in DC Monday night. Seasoned metalheads, grandparents, younger people, even children had come to see this band whose sound mixes the modern and the traditional; that mashup what The Hu really excel at here. The band consists of four core members, standing at the front of the stage, and are backed by a touring band who play percussion, bass, and guitar.

Galbadrakh “Gala” Tsendbaatar and Enkhasaikhan “Enkush” Batjargal play the morin khurr (the horsehead fiddle), a two-string instrument played with a bow. Temuulen “Temka” Naranbaatar plays the tovshuur, a three-stringed lute. Finally, Nyamjantsan “Jaya” Galsanjamts takes on throat-singing, singing melodically, and playing the jaw harp and wood-carved flutes. This mixing of old and new extends even to appearances, as the men mix beads and flowing robes with boots, jeans, and their own band shirts.

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While we were away. —Ed.

A packed to the rafters 9:30 Club in Washington, DC hosted Tuareg guitarist and songwriter Mdou Moctar as he wound down the US leg of his Afrique Victime tour on March 22.

Philadelphia guitar goddess Emily Robb kicked off the night. Performing alone, Robb provided support to this tour promoting her first solo album How to Moonwalk. While some of her instrumentals were fuzzy and, as others have noted, lacking in melody, others had a decidedly blues bent. All were loud and raw and, without vocals, even meditative and hypnotic. Dressed in traditional robes, Mdou Moctar and his backing band (Ahmoudou Mokadassane, Souleymane Ibrahim, and Michael “Mikey” Coltun) then took the stage for a loose and joyful hour-long set.

If you are unfamiliar with the Mdou Moctar’s backstory, gather ‘round. Moctar is based in a desert village in rural Niger, called Agadez. Growing up in a conservative family that disapproved of electric music, Moctar built his own guitar with almost no instructions, using items like bicycle cables, reclaimed wood, and bits from a sardine can. His self-taught shredding—which has earned him the moniker “Hendrix of the Sahara”—spread via mobile phone data cards, a popular local form of distribution. Moctar eventually won approval from his community by writing, producing, and starring in the first Tuareg language film, a remake of Purple Rain.

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While we were away. —Ed.

The elegant Lincoln Theatre in Washington, DC hosted Gary Numan on March 15, where Numanoids young and old, goth and bureaucrat, gathered to greet the electronic pioneer during this stop on the Intruder tour. After four decades, he demonstrates he is still as creative and fascinating as ever.

Along for the tour is Tara Busch, performing as I Speak Machine, an experimental music and audio-visual project. I Speak Machine is due to release a new album in April (War) which is described as visceral and honest. As an example, the single “The Metal Of My Hell,” examines Busch’s battle with addiction. On stage, Busch managed to command the audience with her presence and charisma during her 30-minute set, an impressive feat given her minimal stage setup of computers and synths.

Taking the neon lit stage shortly after 9PM, Gary Numan and his fellow musicians dressed and sounded like a house band from a Bartertown bar, which felt fitting given our modern times. Long gone is the “android” look from yesteryear; it is a visual signal of his ability to evolve as an artist. After all, he is known for not only influencing younger bands like Nine Inch Nails, he also is open minded enough be influenced by those musicians in return.

This tour is in support of Numan’s latest album Intruder, which Numan has characterized as something of a companion piece to 2017’s Savage (Songs from a Broken World); both albums address themes of the Earth’s pending climate disaster. The set list was sprinkled with songs from Intruder, including the title track. While it’s exciting to hear Numan perform his early songs like “Cars,” “Films,” and “Down in the Park,” in concert his more recent work more than holds its own. The song I was the most stoked to hear, “My Name is Ruin,” is from Savage (Songs from a Broken World) and happens to be one of my favorite songs of the last ten years by any artist.

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Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators’ highly anticipated River Is Rising tour made a stop at the Fillmore in Silver Spring, Maryland on Wednesday night, much to the thrill of rock fans in the Washington, DC area.The River is Rising tour is in support of SMKC’s fourth album release, simply titled 4. Young rockers Plush are on the tour in support of the October release of their self-titled album. Both bands stoked the already brimming energy of a full house eager to once again hear rock and roll played live. DC knows how to show up for a gig and we (one of “the best crowds of the tour”) ate this up.

On the heels of International Women’s Day, it was great to see a band like Plush—four young women who describe themselves as being on a mission to bring rock back to the forefront of the music industry. It’s a goal I wholly support and, given the crowd’s reaction to them, I’m not alone. They were entertaining and energetic. In 2022, it’s great to see such young bands (Dirty Honey is another that comes to mind) embrace rock and roll once more. As if their hard sound weren’t enough to let us know their goal is to bring rock back, they underscored this commitment by blazing through a rendition of Heart’s “Barracuda.” It was a raucous thirty-minute set and, as these women continue to mature (they range in age from 19-21), they will get even better.

Nearly thirty-five years after the release of Appetite for Destruction, rock legend Slash took the stage along with Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators. The gentlemen took the crowd on a hefty 21-song journey of some of their best tunes, with a few surprise covers thrown in (don’t expect any GnR, however). Along with some of the band’s earlier greats like “Anastasia” and “You’re a Lie,” they’ve also thrown in “The River is Rising” and—a personal favorite—“Spirit Love,” both from 4.

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Did you know that the Library of Congress has an extensive vinyl record collection, and that when that collection gets periodically culled, the records get tossed in the bin? Enter the Vinyl Record Preservation Society, a DC based non-profit that places these otherwise doomed discs in the possession of schools and senior care facilities for folks to enjoy. A humble but noble effort, and one that needs funds to keep moving.

Enter the fine folks at DC’s Pearl Street Warehouse, a smaller room in the city’s Wharf which hosted a benefit for the organization on the last Thursday in what felt like a never-ending January. In addition to local rock and ska bands, the night’s lineup included saxophonist Ron Holloway, vocalist Franky Perez, Carmine and Vinny Appice and, much to my delight, the one and only Billy Gibbons.

After DC locals The Deplorables kicked the night off with a bite sized, three song set, ska band Free Lobster Buffet took the stage. I’m not a ska fan normally, but this was a fun one. Bassist Chris Boesen is also the head of the Vinyl Record Preservation Society, so the band was a natural fit for the night.

Cramming eight musicians onto the Warehouse’s tight stage, they got the crowd’s excitement up with a fun, high energy set. My own favorite was their jam “Nude Beach.” In addition, they brought out Holloway for a few tunes as well as Perez, who sang alongside FLB’s own Joan Bishop. This is a talented lot—great to catch them on one of their mid-Atlantic/East Coast dates. The tuba player gets sweaty and undressed during the set if that tells you anything about the fun levels. Boesen acted as emcee for the remainder of the night.

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We burned the midnight (Old Engine) oil in DC when The Budos Band presented its funk/rock/soul party as a burnt offering at the 9:30 Club on a cold, wet Saturday night.

Kicking off the late night party was Paul & The Tall Trees. Led by Paul Schalda who, like the Budos Band, hails from Staten Island, NY, Paul & the Tall Trees are described as an intersection of classic bands like Buffalo Springfield and The Band. These are apt comparisons; live I also heard hints of Neil Young. It’s a poetic, occasionally tortured, but ultimately warm sound. Underscoring that warmth was Schalda’s frequent references to his father, a member of his own band.

The Budos Band (Jared Tankel, Thomas Brenneck, John Carbonella Jr, Mike Deller, Daniel Fodor, Andrew Greene, Rob Lombardo, Brian Profilio, and Dame Rodriguez) took the stage at the stroke of midnight. I’ve been a Budos fan for ages, having discovered them when I was taking a walk on a summer evening in Milwaukee. They were performing in a park near the Milwaukee School of Engineering and I stopped for a listen. After ten minutes, I bought up half the merch table and never looked back, having fallen hard for the band’s ’70s Afro-funky instrumental sound. Saturday night marked only the third time I’d seen them since that first evening in Wisconsin years ago and I couldn’t have been more stoked.

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Maryland’s Clutch received a hometown-style welcome when it sold out Washington, DC’s legendary 9:30 Club during the last weekend of 2019, bringing with them The Steel Woods and Damon Johnson.

Damon Johnson, known for his work with Brother Cane, Thin Lizzy, Alice Cooper, and Black Star Riders, kicked off the night. I was looking forward to seeing Johnson again as, while I’m old enough to have heard Brother Cane on played on the radio back in the 90’s, I never got to see Damon until he toured with Black Star Riders in 2018 when they supported Judas Priest. Stepping out of the shadow of that band, we got to see Damon taking the lead, showcasing some new tracks and setting hits from his back catalog aflame including Brother Cane tunes “And Fools Shine On” and “Got No Shame” along with a very fun cover of Thin Lizzy’s “Johnny the Fox Meets Jimmy the Weed.”

The Steel Woods then took the reins. Donning cowboy hats and turquoise jewelry, the Nashville-based band appears to embody the Southern rock tradition, mixing blues-rock with an outlaw spirit and giving a nod to their brethren during a muddy cover of “Whipping Post.” Lest they be pigeonholed however, influences on their 2017 debut Straw in the Wind are said to include Metallica and Led Zeppelin. The band formed after guitarists Wes Bayliss and Jason “Rowdy” Cope met in Nashville and became friends, later collaborating musically and adding bassist Johnny Stanton and drummer Jay Tooke to the lineup. The band added a dark country outlaw edge to the rock lineup and it worked well.

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Daughters made a triumphant appearance on December 18 at Washington, DC’s 9:30 Club, bringing their critically acclaimed noise rock to an exuberant crowd. Along for the journey were Show Me the Body and HEALTH.

Kicking off the night were Show Me the Body, appearing in DC for the second time this year after a headlining show in the spring at Union Stage. After the New York trio (Julian Cashwan Pratt, Harlan Steed, and Noah Cohen-Corbett) thanked DC for its welcome, they launched into their roughly half hour set of hardcore punk. They tour in support of their new album Dog Whistle, which notably features the song “Camp Orchestra,” inspired by a visit to Poland’s Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum.

Being the first band of the night, one might anticipate a slightly more subdued interest from the crowd. That was not the case at all here. Standing in the photo pit, I could feel gusts of wind hitting me in the back of the head. I turned around to see the front row of fans headbanging, many of whom were wearing the band’s merch, easily identifiable by the three coffin logo.

Adding to the intensity were LA noise rockers HEALTH (Benjamin Jared Miller, Jake Duzsik, and John Famiglietti) who took the stage shrouded in relative darkness. That darkness was punched, however, by the strobe lights on the stage (beware of this if you are sensitive), leaving the band in a near-constant state of silhouette.

Famiglietti, when he wasn’t playing bass, hovered over an array of pedals and switches, headbanging so hair swirled in time. Touring on the heels of their February 2019 release Vol 4: Slaves of Fear, HEALTH are notable for contributing to film soundtracks such as Atomic Blonde but also video game soundtracks, composing the soundtrack to Max Payne 3 in 2012. Like with Show Me the Body, the crowd responded with rabid support.

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The Joy Formidable made a stop at Washington, DC’s Rock and Roll Hotel on Black Friday, giving fans respite from the Thanksgiving holiday and oncoming Christmas onslaught. Celebrating ten years together, they treated VIPs to a short acoustic set prior to doors opening before filling the RnR Hotel with tight indie rock.

The Joy Formidable (Ritzy Bryan, Rhydian Daffyd, and Matt Thomas) are playing their entire album A Balloon Called Moaning (plus a few more from their catalogue) as a celebration of hitting ten years together. The fans, crammed into the RnR Hotel’s dark snug room, were ecstatic; one yelling appreciation to Thomas as he took the stage and many singing along with Bryan.

The band appeared to be in good humor and a celebratory mood as well, appearing delighted to play their old songs. Bryan stopped to thank a young boy (age ten or so) for being in attendance and Daffyd even took it in stride when an on-stage encounter with Bryan ended with a cut to the forehead, blood trickling down his nose. Thomas for his part pounded the drums like a sledgehammer; I was situated next to his drum kit and could feel the blasts of air moved by his high hat.

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