BigYawn

There really needed to be a warm up for the big Lollapalooza weekend, so it was decided that Artscape should be it instead of the Siren Festival. Significantly better acts at Siren, but that four plus hour drive back and fourth was going to be a killer. With Baltimore much, much closer, and some other things going on during the festival — can you say Chinese acrobats! — this was a win/win situation for everyone! In lieu of individual photos and long drawn out nonsense, I’ve elected to simply keep it brief. Three sentence reviews only need apply.

Fall Back Plan(136) - Generic alt-rock schlop, they did cover Jimmy Eat World, though I completely forget which song. They said when their album was coming out at least ten times, but I forgot immediately.

Balti Mare(137) - A bit of the calypso/world feel to these guys, they worked their way through the audience to climb on stage. They played a cover of “House of the Rising Sun,” so kudos to them.

Cex(138) - I wanted to see this dude, but he couldn’t have been more unenthused. Basically just playing his laptop to a room of seated folks. Big disappointment.

Los Reyes del K.O.(The KnockOut Kings)(139) - Blues from Spain. Need I say more?

Sparrow’s Point School Steel Drum Ensemble(140) - A bunch of kids playing steel drums. No surprises, they played “Jammin.” Still, cute and interesting.

For the People Entertainment(141) - A feel good, stay in school type hip-hop collaborative.

Ms. Sarah and the Help(142) - Tracey Bonham came to mind, not necessarily a good thing. The lead singer, Ms. Sarah, had a decent voice and a couple of the songs were actually pretty good.

River City Extension(143) - Think, Gogol Bordello, minus the gypsy cloths and the jumping around. Actually, minus anything visually stimulating and no fake personas. Actually, minus — well, you get the picture.

Higher Hands(144) - Funk fusion. Yes indeedy…

Matt Davignon(145) - A guy twiddling knobs and making music from absolutely no instruments. Given the time of day and the temperature and mood in the room, may have been the chillest and happiest show I saw.

Well, I did not expect to include too many street musicians as part of the 333 bands, largely because I figured most of the people I would come across across might be anonymous, and possibly even homeless. Not so for balladeer Noah Woods(135), but then again, I was in Bethesda where I am pretty sure they ship their homeless people across the DC line.

I walked past Woods a few times to and fro paying a meter and dinner, and I was struck by his voice. He was largely covering songs off a long list he had on the ground near his feet. There had to be over 50 songs, mixed with what I imagine were some of his own. I was interested enough to stop and listen, but not for too long. I’m sure seeing him live playing his own material would be better but you know how I feel about the guy with acoustic guitar show…

I think Power Pirate(132) are my new favorite local band. First off, they do a kick ass cover of Darude’s “Sandstorm.” Second they are a high school band. Third, they are a high school band who lists Infected Mushroom as one of their major influences. And that’s just for openers.

The high school trio — two of whom apparently can’t even drive yet — play what best qualifies as some sort of hard rock/80’s/techno mash-up. An unusual genre on its own, made only more bizarre when you factor in the kids’ ages. I think about what I was doing at that time of my life, and, well, that amounts to not much beyond watching Cinemax at 2 am with my buddies on Saturday nights. Loved us some Skin-e-max. These kids are on a whole nother level. And did I mention they cover Darude’s “Sandstorm?” Live? Shit, they were like eight when that song originally came out.

I have to give Ft. Reno credit for really finding the unsung talent this year. While Power Pirate topped the bands for me, there have been some other solid discoveries as well.

Of course, not everything is a fabulous new trasure. The rest of the evening was filled with two bands that really didn’t do much for me. Playing second was Seamonster(133), who are sort of generic indie rock sounding. Nothing against the band, but I was pretty glad it was a picnic atmosphere, as a number of their songs really sounded alike, and I had time to eat.

I had noted when the schedule came out that I recognized few of the bands, and this was a bill where I knew none of the talent. It is hard to know if Amanda Mackaye and crew are going out of their way to find these bands or the level of bands submitting is not what it once was. You can’t win them all, and for every Power Pirate there is often a Seamonster and a Go Home Robot(134).

Go Home Robot had a very interesting robot mascot, and that is the one thing I really came away from this concert with. Note, not good. The band started late, don’t know if was technical difficulty or if they are just slow to get their shit together, but either way, that shortened their set. Again, indie rock focused, they seemed to cling to more of a DC sound, very frantic at times, with very straight-forward vocals. Their music does not stand out in a crowd. Though, I have to say, their show posters are some of the coolest I’ve seen in along time. And yes, their robot mascot is pretty damn cool.

I am urging you to go see Power Pirate, whatever high school battle of the bands you have to hang out at to make it happen.

The DC Metro Red Line has been pretty bonkers since the tragic accident earlier this Summer, and getting anywhere on time while using it is a difficult proposition, so I missed the first band of the night, which sucks cause, yes, Ft. Reno is free.

Despite only seeing two bands, this might have been my favorite Ft. Reno show this Summer. Aerialist(130) were a complete discovery, a duo dabbling in quality indie rock. Their product was simple: one drummer, one guitar/keys/vocals. Absolutely nothing complicated about it, but for a DC duo, they do a great job of not going too far in any particular direction. Their version of indie rock, sometimes danceable sometimes not, refuses to completely enter any one basket, which is actually pretty refreshing.

Enter Caverns(131), who I have sworn I would see a million times over, and yet this was actually the first time. Based on some songs I had heard before, I didn’t expect them to be as heavy as they were. Their brand of loud, heavy post-rock could best be grouped with a band like Chicago’s Pelican. Melodic and emotional at times, loud and over-bearing at others.

I like it when a DC bands surprises me, as they rarely do. With the decomposing of the DC music scene, genres tend not to stand out, and many bands seem to simply fall into the generic light-rock territory. Title Tracks, Pash, These United States and others aren’t really distancing themselves from any competition. Not that you want to be polarizing either, but I think both Aerialist and Caverns do a fantastic job of being different without going to an extreme. And they seem to have done it without connections to any previous bands, without playing with the usual suspects. According to Caverns myspace page, they are making a point of doing their part for the DC scene by playing more alternative venues and not sticking to the same rotation of club shows. A valiant effort on their part.

There is no reason to think either of these bands are any better or worse than many others in the DC musical landscape, but to me, on a night at Ft. Reno I had a new hope that there was still something to believe in inside Washington’s barely beating musical heart. It has been awhile since that happened, so I guess I owe both of these bands a note of thanks.

When you are working on a project like this, you need to find a way to bring in other musical styles. Indie rock or electronica seem to be the standard issue on this blog. So, when the opportunity to go see a “ska night” at one of the weekly free Carter Baron Amphitheater shows organized by the Washington Post was given to me, I jumped. Little did I know that there was very little ska to be had.

Openers, the Players Band(127), are really more a reggae act. They play a mix of their own material and a few covers as well, including Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer.” They do have some horns and a few songs that they could pretend were ska, but not so much. There was some crazy-ass weather earlier in the evening, so they went on late and didn’t play for very long, being conscientious of the other bands’ time. A trait not duplicated by the next band in the line-up.

Lionize(128) are not a ska band, aren’t even close really. They might claim they are reggae — as their name would suggest — but in reality, they are pretty much just your everyday run of the mill jam band. Somehow these guys have played with a lot of bands of late, touring the country with the likes of Ozomotli, Gregory Isaacs, Clutch(?), Bad Brains(!?) and Kylsea(86)?!?! Talk about all over the map. No idea who these guys know, but it is someone pretty important, because they couldn’t hold a candle to this anyone on this list (Admittedly I know very little of Gregory Isaacs work, other than he is a legendary Reggae artist). At their “best” they are jam/reggae fusion, at their worst they are a good bar band.

To make matters worse, I think they played a full set, and given the fact that the openers went on so late and cut their set way down, a full set meant the Pietasters(129) had to hustle to get on the stage and would play for a good 20 minutes less than Lionize. Noise curfews people, you can’t mess around with this shit! So, Lionize kept on, and shortened the set of the one band I was looking forward to seeing, the only actual ska band of the night. Please Washington Post, when scheduling future events, at least get the genre right. Dumpstaphunk would have been a far better descriptor than ska for this evening…

The Pietasters did what they do best, and they flew on stage in no time flat. Having seen them a couple times, this one seemed very rushed, like they were just trying to get through it. With the rain and the time of night there weren’t that many people there for the show, but by the time they got stage there was a pretty decent crowd dancing in the front of Carter Baron, old and young, black and white. You often hear the word legendary when people talk about the Pietasters, and while I don’t know about that, locally they have made quite the name for themselves. I’m glad I got the chance to add them to the 333, albeit not in the best of conditions.

Nylon magazine is not known for their taste in music, tending to profile the most out of control or headline earning artists they can find. Knowing this, it should not be a surprise to anyone who went to see the Nylon Summer Tour and left wondering WTF? The artists, while not exactly house-hold names, all have something about them that makes them not New York enough for Vice, but not exactly milk and cookies Spin cover material either.

Full disclosure, I missed Jaguar Love. Nothing in their press indicates they even fit in on this tour, so no worries. Some other time perhaps. I did make it in time to catch the lovely French tarts in the Plastiscines(124). The photo on the left would make you think they are every bit the party girls Nylon would want you to believe, but in truth, I simply had a Nylon moment of my own. The girls all seemed to be rather well behaved, at least while I was there. Their music is a little punk with some 60’s girl group mixed in, but mostly just plain Jane rock and roll, pun intended. I was neither in love or detesting their set, and when the girls sat next to me at the bar later while I was eating a hot dog, they seemed rather bored. Likely the only thing we shared that evening.

Say what I will about the music of the Plastiscines, they were at least easy to look at. The same cannot be said for the we-know-we’re-too-late-for-garage-but-we’re-gonna-try-it-anyway Living Things(125). I could have sworn this was a punk band from Australia, but apparently not. The Living End would have been a dramatic improvement. No, Living Things were simply horrible. What the photo at the right doesn’t tell you about the band could fill a shot glass, maybe. So yes, they all have chips on their shoulder. Yes, the lead singer appears to be a douche. Yes they desperately want to be the Strokes crossed with BRMC. What you can’t hear is their music, which really isn’t worth hearing anyway. Oddly, they are from St. Louis, and not Brooklyn or LA, so that is actually a check in the pro column. But sadly, the cons add up. I hate to be a hater, but sometimes you have to call a duck a duck, especially if it quacks this bad.

Which leaves us with the odd character that is Patrick Wolf(126). Forget about the costumes and the oddly colored hair and make-up. Forget about the more than bizarre collaboration with equally as frightening Tilda Swinton. And try to look past some of the weird things he seems to say on a regular basis. Patrick is one talented guy. His albums, Lycanthropy, Wind in the Wires and The Magic Position are all fantastic. His brand of orchestral indie/electronica is captivating and gorgeous. On stage however, he can be a bit erratic. Understandably, the stage at the Rock and Roll Hotel can be a little small for the touring band with as many bits and pieces as he brings to the table. He was dressed like something out of a Tim Burton vampire film. Clearly in his own world while up on stage, he played to the crowd, who were very much there to see him, in all their bizarre weirdness. All of the gothy/home-schooled/sexually ambivalent teenagers were out for this one. It was hard to know what to expect, or how long breaks in between songs would take, as he was quite obviously on his own schedule.

If you were coming to people watch, this was a great night to do it. I was looking forward to seeing Patrick, as I’m not sure he had even come to DC before. I wasn’t disappointed, but I did wish he had played more of his older material. The new stuff he has recorded is moving further and further to left field, so it wouldn’t shock me to find out before his next tour that he has castrated himself or something equally as  disturbing. Whether self-inflicted or not, Patrick very much represents the tortured artist. This recipe always makes for an interesting and often amazing evening, but eventually ends up as a sad one. Dear Patrick, please do try to take care of yourself.

Safe to say, I took a lot of shit going to this show. I find that criticism fairly ridiculous coming from people who pay hundreds of dollars to chase bands like Phish around. But I digress, and am very happy I made it out to Merriweather Post Pavilion for this one.

You don’t realize it, but if listened to the the radio in the mid-80’s, you likely know a lot of .38 Special(121) songs. “Hold on Loosely,” “Second Chance,” “Caught Up in You” and “Back Where You Belong” to but name a few. No doubt their clientele is pretty heavy biker types from the south — yes, I’m thinking of my brother in particular — but the music is still solid 80’s nostalgia for most of us.

With any of these aging rock star tours, you have to wonder exactly what is gonna walk out on stage, but the guys from .38 Special held it together for the most part. Donnie Van Zant is a bit of a walking cliche, and the songs he sings are clearly not the band’s best. But, his family is rock and roll royalty, so you have to give him a pass for still living in a different decade. The set was generally pretty great, my only issue was the fact they played a lot of their radio hits in a drawn out medley, and ended up playing some random tracks in full. I get why, but as a fan, those hits are the songs I wanted to here. The band did start throwing around the “Keep on Rocking” rhetoric that we heard all night from all the bands. It got old before the openers were done, imagine how I felt after three bands!

Styx(122) should fall under what I call the Journey clause: a rule I have that says I cannot see a classic band without their original lead singer. The tricky part with Styx is that many of their songs were sung by Tommie Shaw who is still in the group, so while Dennis DeYoung is no longer with Styx, it isn’t a complete wash. And to be fair to Lawrence Gowan, the “permanent” replacement for DeYoung, he does a hell of a job.

What I liked about Styx was that they weaved history behind some of their music. Yes, there was still a lot of “Are you ready to rock tonight!?!” type moments, but Shaw did a good job of adding some perspective to the bands music. Of course, this wasn’t done for DeYoung’s songs, just Shaw’s and James Young’s. They did a good job of playing from their catalog, including a few songs I had never heard, but were apparently early staples of the band. I’m not sure of the ages of all the bands, but it seems that the Styx guys have aged substantially better than the Reo guys. Some of that could be hair dye, sure, or tight fitting cloths, yeah. It’s funny how the clothing styles the bands wear haven’t changed all that much from their heydays. Oddly enough, leather pants are still in. Well, apparently only if you are in a rock band from the 70’s and 80’s.

Reo Speedwagon(123) was the real reason I wanted to see this show. I am not ashamed to say I have loved some of their songs for years. For every indie rock or alternative band I have followed over the years, there is an 80’s band that still holds my heart. Being a sucker for the ballad means Reo was always putting out something for me. “Keep on Loving You,” “Take it on the Run,” “I Can’t Fight this Feeling,” etc have all been on various mixtapes I’ve given to girls at some point in my life.

Reo absolutely had nothing of interest to say. After 30+ years of making music, I think not only do you lose touch with the audience, you simply run out of things to say. So, you resort to the cliches, and the awkward descriptions of your bandmates. “He’s furious on the guitar!” Yeah, sure he is.

Happily, Reo played everything I could have asked for and more. Nuff said on that perhaps.

In the end I was one satisfied customer. I got to hear all the songs I wanted to, from all three bands really. Styx were really good, but the sentimentality of Reo probably won out. I’m not sure I ever need to see them again, but seeing them this one time really allowed me to be the goofy kid again, and sing along with one of the cheesiest bands I know. Could not have been happier.