God bless you Stewart Lupton(333) for being human. My last “band” of the year was well timed. It was my 34th birthday, and I needed a reason to celebrate. This was a billed as a Stewart retrospective, but I’ll be honest, I saw five songs performed by Stewart, that’s it. I was a little drunk, but so, it appeared, was Stewart. I’m going through some rough times, and so, has Stewart. Whether it be drugs, band break-ups or what have you, Stewart is as flawed as the rest of us, and for some reason that couldn’t have made me happier on this night. I’m pretty sure I repeated this fact to anyone who would listen. I love all three of you.

I have no meaningful commentary on Stewart or his music, just that in many ways, I’m glad this project of mine is done. Expect one final wrap up post shortly.

This was an interesting year as it sounded like there were more men in the choir, which sort of made for some awkward times. I was also a little drunk, which was a church first for me. You’d think that would have made the choir sound even better though, which suddenly makes me feel bad for everyone else who was there.

I’m not Catholic, yet I’ve gone to midnight mass every year since I was 19. Yes, it started with a girl, but, the one year I didn’t go I woke up Christmas morning sick as a dog. So, consider that lesson learned.

I did not grow up in DC, and despite my starting college here in the mid-90’s, I missed DC’s golden age of music. When the first Fugazi album you buy is The Argument, it tells you something. This being said, Scream(331) was not a band I had seen or knew much about. Nor was RUSTBUCKit(330), though my understanding is they are really just old DC musicians in a new band.  Regardless, their set was not all that interesting, and was at times a bit awkward, actually. I keep thinking of the term aging gracefully, and yet have no idea how to apply it in this situtation.

The original line-up of Scream — ie the one without Dave Grohl — was back together for the first time in awhile. (see a very young photo of them on the left) And, having seen a few retro DC bands this year, I have to say they may have held up better than any of the others. Though, despite Their energy on stage, the crowd only followed suite late in the set. Early on, it was a lot of folded arms and lifeless legs. The band mixed in old and new songs with a variety of styles, including hardcore, rock and even a R+B/Funk sound. Being uninitiated, I didn’t know what songs were new or old, nor could I tell the difference by the style, so that at least says their material wasn’t too dated.

No, it was not a mind-numbing show, at least not for me. But it was interesting seeing an old-school DC band capture some relevance again. Having seen John Stabb’s new band only a couple nights before fail miserably at relevance, this was a step in the right direction.

Ah, the last hoorah! I knew after this show I was going to sort of ooze across the finish line of 333 bands, and even though this was not a bill I was generally excited about, it was four bands. And even at this stage of the game it’s quantity over quality. And, come the end of December there really isn’t much quality to speak of anyway.

The one band I was the most excited about seeing was the opener, Solar Powered Sun Destroyer(326). This meant they only played for about 30 minutes, and I missed a couple songs. But what I heard was good, if a little emo-esque. It worries me that their 30 Seconds to Mars material might be the best they have, but I’m hoping they have more in their bag of tricks. And I really don’t get the darkness/trying to stay anonymous stuff either.

Domino Team(327) surprised me. Partially because one of the members was Arnold, my favorite Black Cat bartender, but also because they were old school thrash punk. Lots of yelling from the two vocalists, some flourishes of loud guitar, and that’s about it. Again, not really my thing, but I could see how they were entertaining to some

I thought they were from Baltimore, but apparently Cloak/Dagger(328) were living in Richmond and are now mostly in DC. That’s good, we need some new blood up here. Sadly, the place was pretty much empty by the time they went on. There was one of the biggest snow storms in DC history starting to brew outside, so I can understand how the crowd might be a little skittish, but this was a pretty diverse line-up, and all had plenty of energy. Cloak/Dagger were good, and likely should have headlined this show. I’m looking forward to more DC shows from them in 2010.

Regarding Sleeper Agent!(329), other than being led by DC legend John Stabb, there isn’t much positive to say. I’m not  happy to say that, and despite recognizing what Government Issue and Stabb meat to the DC hardcore seen 20+ years ago, I’m simply not sure how much of it translates anymore.

There were few DC bands I really tried to fit in to this 333 marathon, but Screen Vinyl Image(324) was always on the list.

I’m not really sure what I expected, but when I saw they were playing to four people including us, I dropped my expectations about 50%. While the duo was interesting, they were obviously unenthused. I don’t blame that for that, I would have been blah given the situation. Hell, I was pretty blah and I made up 25% of the audience. Lots of noise mostly. I mean, interesting noise, but noise nonetheless. I wasn’t dissapointed, but I’m also guessing it wasn’t their best set ever.

Nightmare Air(325) were similar in some ways, but had a bit more a song structure. A lot less noise doesn’t mean they weren’t as loud, however. They were, quite. And while you could hear the vocals, that isn’t necessarily a good thing. Swaan Miller, the female vocalist, had a great voice, and I wish she sang more. David Ivan Dupuis’ singing, on the other hand, was not something I wanted to hear more of. There is definitely some potential here, but they need to tone down on the screaming. And yes David, I’m looking at you.

The Red and the Black is a fine venue. It is obviously small, and the sound system has its limits, but generally speaking the bands that play there are not bringing their own sound people or have anything complicated going on. But did I mention it was small?

In an odd occurrence, three bands were scheduled on this night that all had a minimum of six band members each. Not only does this stretch the limits of the sound system — as many of these people were multiple instrumentalists — but it more than exceeded what the stage itself could handle. Way too many people, way too many things plugged in. How I made it out alive without a Great White style fire I’ll never know. Thank God there weren’t any pyrotechnics.

The Torches(321) are a DC band that seem to have come out of the ashes of the Cassettes. They were a bit twangy and incorporated a number of instruments, just like their previous incarnation. I did appreciate the enthusiasm out of this group. They have a fairly simple sound given all their moving parts, but I kinda liked it. And even better, considering their numbers, they got off the stage in record time.

Which would have been a good thing, if, the Young Republic(322) and the sound girl could have gotten there shit together. Even after playing their opening song twice — it wasn’t that great of a song — they continued to have sound issues throughout the set. I did like most of what I heard however, and they were pretty cool about it all things considered. A great example though, as to why a six piece band does not belong at the Red and the Black.

By the time A Sunny Day in Glasgow(323) took the stage, much of the audience was in one of the bands, which is too bad as they were the best band of the bunch. Again, six folks and a number of instruments strewn amongst the stage, the good thing was they didn’t face the same sound issues the previous bands had. The band plays a fuzzy/dreamy pop with multiple parts harmony, a sound that ends up much different from their recordings. But I think I might actually like it better.

A Sunny Day in Glasgow are playing DC9 in the Spring, and it is worth checking them out there. Even though that stage is not without its size and sound issues, it is still light-years ahead of the Red and the Black.

As the year came to a close, I needed to hit shows I normally wouldn’t have been all that interested in. This was one of them. And unfortunately, I was not won over by any of the bands. In fact, it was one of the more non-descript nights all year. But, none of the bands were terrible at least.

Timothy Bracy’s Collection Agency(318) is composed from various other DC bands. I’m not one to judge if the sum equals its parts here, but I was struck by how quiet the band’s music was. And that included the accordion used liberally throughout the set. A little bit folk, a little country, nothing stood out, except that Timothy Bracy himself has a striking resemblance to Boston Red Sox relief pitcher John Papelbon. Do what you will with that nugget.

Choo Choo La Rouge(319), aside from having an awful name, also did little to stand out. The Boston band was pretty quiet as well, and after two bands I have to say this was getting pretty annoying. Especially when all I wanted was for someone, anyone, to rock out and keep me awake.

The Moderate(320) tried, but were fairly unsuccessful at the above. They did have a little Southern twang to them, which was interesting, and they also had a saxophone, generally an instrument that draws my attention. It could have been a lot of things aside form the music, but this whole bill was pretty unspectacular. No offense to the musicians involved, but as you are finishing up seeing 333 bands, you need a little extra something to stay involved. And this show did not have it.

Full disclosure, Rick Taylor of the monthly We Fought the Big One dj nights, and curator of this very show, is a friend of mine. And, he’s got some pretty good taste in music, whatever rock he finds it hiding under. So, when he told me about this show, I knew I needed to go, despite not knowing most of the bands. And, true to form, I was impressed — if not in love — with the motley bill he assembled.

Blue Sausage Infant(315) is a guy, Chester Hawkins, that has been playing music in and out of DC for quite some time. He is best described as a noise artist, and noise is indeed what he created while on stage, largely of the ambient kind. His 30 minute set was filled with beeps, blips and the ever apparent ambient drone in the background. Add in the visuals projected behind him, the bunny suit he wore during the performance, and the toys he beat-up/passed out to the audience, and it made for an interesting set.

Speaking of noise, DC’s the Plums(316) were next, and most of the music they make would be on the other side of the post-rock spectrum from, say, Explosions in the Sky or Pelican. There aren’t any hooks or crescendos, really nothing to latch on to. A bit Sonic Youth, a bit, well… not my cup of tea really.

The skinny on NYC’s Outpost(317) — not to be confused with a couple other horrible US bands with the same name — is that lead man Stuart Argabright was in the first US band to ever get signed to Factory Records. A cool thing, but unless you’ve heard of Ike Yards, it doesn’t really carry any weight with you.

But, if you like some of the early Factory bands, you will be happy to know Outpost are very likely a band you should check out. Best characterized as “darkwave” this is a modern band that would be perfectly comfortable on Sirius/XM’s New Wave channel. Ominous atmospherics, heavy synths and bass, this music was meant for another time and place. That being said, it does fit in with many of the sounds we hear out of current “chillwave” genre. Too many labels, I know. While the vocals threw me a bit, this is still a band worth seeing, whenever they may play live again.

As this project has progressed, the thought of seeing one more “guy with a guitar” was pretty hard to swallow. Not that I ever really set out to see them, it just always sort of happened. And this one was no different. I had actually never been to the Irish Times, a bar known for its younger crowd and Hill staffers. Having never lived nor worked on Capitol Hill, that might explain why I’ve never been.

Anyhoo, Pete Papageorge(314) is the in-house entertainment at Irish Times, and he handles his guitar as well as the next guy I suppose. I found it interesting, looking at his site, that he has also done some acting and voice over work in movies. He’s a pretty well-rounded guy, I like that. As this is the last singer-songwriter I’ll be writing about this year, I’ll keep it short. I’ve sort of run out of things to say about the genre anyway.

As crass and rude as I may be from time, I am not gonna hate on the kids. And the reality is, there would be very little to hate from The National Community Church’s version of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Nor is their anything to dislike from the Angel Chorus(313), who performed a number of songs throughout the musical. In fact, in my whole Christmas musical seeing life — which admittedly has not been very prolific — this may have been the best one I’ve seen.

Set in the basement of Ebenezer’s Coffehouse, — ironic no? — the story is one you’ve heard before: “bad” family of kids gets involved in the annual Christmas pageant, chaos ensues, kids learn the true meaning of Christmas. It is based on the book written in 1972 by Barbara Robinson. And everyone involved did a great job, from the producers down to the tiniest tot. And the singing from the Angel Chorus was great.

Since this version was put on by a church, you have to wonder if many of the religious undertones seen in the performance were written into the book. Giving a quick read to the Google Book preview, it seems little was changed, minus a few less offensive word choices here or there. Robinson has also written two sequels, The Best Halloween Ever! and The Best School Year Ever, both featuring the same family of kids.

In the end, this is all good clean fun had by all, and this night in particular was well spent with some friends, enjoying the holiday season.