The sold-out Spoon show at the 9:30 Club on Friday night has been a long time coming for the Austin-based band. Spoon has a storied history of being the next big thing, to being dropped by their label, to flying for a while under the radar, and to finally building huge buzz based on their past two CDs, Kill The Moonlight and the recently-released Gimme Fiction. Since their D.C. show had sold out weeks before, it seems like one can safely assume that Spoon and their intricate, well-crafted pop music have retaken the throne as "the next big thing." Or perhaps they've already arrived.

Getting to the club just as openers The Clientele started their set, we settled into a space by the bar and tried to listen to the quiet, spacey pop jams that they put forth. Unfortunately, when a band looks like they're about to fall asleep onstage, it doesn't bode well for the crowd's reaction and so, deciding that The Clientele's music, while pretty, was more suited for background listening than Friday-night-rocking-out, we chatted with friends till Spoon took the stage.

Anyone who's been a Spoon fan is aware of the extremely tight production and layered sound that their CDs offer. The craftsmanship on every song is precise, and this attention to detail certainly translated in Spoon's live set and the great sound at the 9:30 Club. Unfortunately, for all the competence and careful attention to the music that Spoon brought to the stage, most of the night we felt as if we may have well just been listening to their CDs. The live show often lacked a spontaneity and energy that we were hoping would materialize. Lead singer Britt Daniel and the rest of the band were subdued -- though charmingly so -- but they did play a hefty set, going through 20+ songs, many of which we had been hoping to hear. Ultimately, it was a satisfying and confident show, though as we exited the club we felt, somehow, vaguely disappointed.
-- Catherine Andrews

DCist continued our weekend-long residency at the 930 Club on Saturday night to catch The Futureheads' second trip through town in support of their self titled debut record, one of our favorite CDs of the last 12 months. We caught them last time through town on the advice of a friend and couldn't wait to see them again.

Judging by the age of the mostly adolescent crowd, many of the fans in attendance must have discovered the band through their appearance on the 4th edition of Music From The OC, but believe it or not, this was not a bad thing. The young crowd provided the band with ample energy, clapping along with the band at all the right moments and enthusiastically participating in band directed sing-alongs.

Despite a few in between song breaks for their requisite snappy banter, the band wasted little time in busting out hit after hit, opening with Decent Days and Nights before sinking their teeth into Meantime, The City Is Here For You To Use as well as First Day. Thank you sirs, may we have another?

All in all, not a bad weekend for music in D.C. Although in the end we opted not to, both shows this weekend were T-shirt purchase worthy -- high compliments indeed. And who says D.C. crowds are too laid back for their own good? We saw quite a few people dancing and grooving at both shows this weekend. We were a bit bummed to miss the Washington Social Club show on Friday as well as the Stephen Malkmus gig on Saturday (both at the Black Cat). If you opted for those shows instead, how were they?
-- Kyle Gustafson