Guest post series by Kevin Hill and ChunkyGlasses.com
It’s the weekend once again (they just keep in coming) and just like every weekend it’s time to find out how all you music lovers should be spending your days and nights. Last weekend there seemed to be an explosion of bands performing on and around The Hill. We were only able to catch Other Lives (with DC’s own Deleted scenes opening!) ourselves, and those of you who were there know how great that was (read our review right here), but we hear that The Postelles rocked the Red Palace down the very next night, so it looks like rock went on without us. Playing the Yin to last weekend’s Yang, the pickings are sort of slim on Friday and Saturday, but that’s only because the rock is being kicked off a day early!
Starting everything off, Kathryn Calder will take over The Red Palace Thursday night. Calder, a proud Canadian, and even prouder member of The New Pornographers, one of that country’s biggest and bestest rock exports, plays a sort of folksy indie pop that often sounds like her main gig, if it were just the “New” or the “Pornographers.” It’s not as big as the sum of all the parts that go into The New Pornographers, but fans of smart, introspective, and at times aggressive songwriting should still be sure to check this one out.
On Friday, fans of 90’s alternative and 60’s folk rock should find themselves at the Red Palace yet again. Somewhere between an early day Counting Crows and Neil young at his grungiest, Alberta Cross is coming to H Street all the way from England. I’m not that familiar with their entire catalog, but the song “Old Man Chicago” is pretty darn good, so even if they play only that, for a measly $12 a ticket, you win!
Finally, and by far the hippest show taking place this weekend, The Naked and the Famous are playing a sold out show at the Rock and Roll Saturday night. Why even mention it when it’s sold out? One word: Craigslist. Sometimes people just can’t help themselves and buy up all the damn tickets, but this synthpop band from New Zealand really hasn’t gotten that huge yet, so there are sure to be tickets up on the old standby, if not being sold outside the doors. What are they like you ask? I intended to fill my morning on Wednesday with A-Ha’s entire catalog, and no I wasn’t put up to it. Anyways, I had my intentions, but RDio would only oblige me with Hunting High and Low, so it was on to the next thing, which happened to be The Naked and the Famous. And they sounded almost like A-Ha, which was weird, but I went with it and found out that, what do you know, they’re pretty darn good. So if that’s your thing, then head on out Saturday night and try to score a ticket. The worst that could happen is you can’t get a ticket and find yourself instead doting over a bowl of mussel’s at Granville Moore’s, which makes it a sort of win/win big proposition.
So that’s your weekend a nutshell. Doesn’t sound terribly appealing? Think you would rather hang out on your porch or take a walk up to Lincoln Park? Go pick up the new album by The Rosebuds, Loud Planes Fly Low, and spend an evening with it. Created from the turmoil of the two band leaders divorce from each other, it’s a beautiful revisionist take on the music of the late 80’s that somehow manages to sound completely modern and remains optimistic, despite the pain that went into it. It’s also one of the best albums to come out this year, making it pretty much a no-brainer.
Until next week.