Results tagged “blocparty>”

              

Spring is here, but it sure felt like summer inside a hot and sweaty 9:30 Club last night. Bloc Party packed their arena worthy show inside the cozy confines of 815 V St NW and banged out a show to remember.

Speaking strictly as a music fan, it's been fun to watch Bloc Party grow as a band. I still remember their first area show, in April of 2005 at the Black Cat, as one of the most energetic (and crowded) shows I've ever seen in that venue. They were back in D.C. just two months later selling out the 9:30 Club (awww, former editor Ryan Avent was just a contributor back then). Since then it's been onwards and upwards for the hard working group; touring relentlessly, becoming international superstars and releasing albums, remixes and one-off singles all the while. They return to the area on Sunday, playing another sold out show at the 9:30 Club behind their latest album, Intimacy, which reached #18 in the Billboard album charts. We spoke with bassist Gordon Moakes last week on the eve of the band's North American tour.

The morning after seeing Toronto’s Metric, I had a brief water-cooler conversation with a co-worker who had caught the band the last time they rolled through town. “I've always been surprised how quickly that band blew up,” he said. “It seems like they got huge almost overnight.” I nodded in agreement, having seen them fill a 1,200-capacity club the night prior. After giving the matter some thought, however, I realized that Metric’s rise to the...

Plan your naps accordingly, set your alarms, and stock up on your Red Bull, folks. The DCist, Blisspop and Brightest Young Things super duper 9:30 Club extravaganza is finally upon us! At the ripe old age of 3, we're wondering if we can still muster the energy for a show that starts at 11 p.m., but with the talents of DJ Will Eastman, Georgie James, The Dance Party and Soft Complex luring us towards 815...

Happy first weekend of September - and happy Labor Day weekend, too, for our American cities! Let's take a look at what's been happening around the Ist-a-verse. The deaths of two firefighters shook Bostonist this week. Boston's firefighters bent over backwards all week long - first, they fought flames pouring from the Boston Tea Party museum, and then a restaurant fire killed two and injured many more. Their efforts make everything else - like Tom...

TUESDAY >> DCist favorites the Vita Ruins are playing this very night at DC9 for $8. You're tired of barbequing and sitting around on your back porch by now, aren't ya? >> Love them? Hate them? Secretly listen to them while you take a nice warm bath and have a good cry? Keane performs to a sold out crowd at the 9:30 Club tonight. WEDNESDAY >> DCist's own Sriram Gopal will be playing some...

I arrived to a half filled Black Cat last night, unsure what to expect from Danish superstars Mew. Their album, And The Glass Handed Kites, was one of the most interesting albums I heard last year, their fey yet bruising style of jangle prog a combination of Jeff Buckley's tenderest falsetto moments and the whiplash of Bloc Party's best Wedding Present imitation in one album that sequences connecting songs to great effect. However, the...

It was quite the party last night at the Black Cat, full of skeezy mustached men (think 70s porn) and hyperactive girls in tutus (think Dakota Fanning plus Red Bull). Under normal circumstances, this is probably a law suit waiting to happen, but it turned out to be one of the most entertaining shows by all three acts on a bill that we have seen in some time. You know you are in for a...

If you ponied up for Panic! At The Disco tickets mainly because of the awesome drumming prowess of opener Bloc Party's Matt Tong, you might want to start seeing what you can get for those bad boys on Craigslist. Bloc Party has been forced to pull out of three shows — including tomorrow night's at the Patriot Center — because Tong is hospitalized with a collapsed lung. It's hard to imagine anything bringing down Tong,...

As I went up the steps to the Dance Party show at the Black Cat, I could hear the noise pouring out of the swinging doors. The stairwell echoed with shrill cheers of teenage girls, like a bygone episode of TRL. Instead of a Carson Daily or hot pop singer, lead singer Mick Coogan stood his ground in a bright lime green shirt. He thrust his guitar to and fro, shaking furiously onstage and delivering...

Monday >> Struggling through another slow week of the 9-5? Well there's a Labor Day light at the end of the tunnel and what better way to get you there than with two very loud and bold female punk songstresses who will shake you right into the weekend. Catch Full Minute of Mercury (***) and Knives in the Attic tonight at DC9. 8pm, $8. Tuesday >> While Shakira works out her Oral Fixation, Wyclef...

It doesn’t matter where they say they came from or how they were formed, one thing that will immediately draw listeners to The Roosevelt is their sound. It’s surprising to hear a new band write such polished songs with memorable hooks. Maybe there is something in the water at the building in Northwest that they're named after. As of right now, the band’s discography consists of a handful of mp3s available on their site. But...

It all started with a mysterious mention on Pitchfork of a Gnarls Barkley date at Pimlico. Yes, that Pimlico. That lead The Upstate Life to do a little research. The mysterious event, taking place on September 23, will also feature The Raconteurs, and is called V Fest. We're hoping that this is an American version of the UK's Virgin-sponsored annual event, which this year will feature acts like Radiohead, Beck, The Dandy Warhols, Bloc Party...

As we all know, Canadian bands are so hot right now. Whether it's the soaring arrangements of the Arcade Fire, the art pop of Stars or the hope-inducing rock of Wolf Parade, everyone's got a little love for our neighbors to the north. Tonight, the lesser-hyped but equally Canadian Kiss Me Deadly visits DC. They've made some adjustments to their math-rock roots and are transitioning into a more danceable sound that's garnering plenty of praise...

This review is by DCist Staff Writer Jacques Ntonme. It is common for rockers to dabble in guitar albums. The Metallicas and Van Halens of our period, however, rarely truly achieve the guitar album because they get caught up in silly solos, vamping, or their own long hair. Other heirs to the empty throne of Hendrix, such as Bloc Party, rock but lack radically novel ambitions. Perhaps it’s because they’re focusing on making rock music...

Local band Army of Me are in the process of signing with Atlantic Records, the label Bloc Party and Bjork (among others) call home. They've been gaining a strong following in the D.C. area and beyond, thanks to tireless gigging and promotion over the past 7 years or so. The boys leave on February 6 to start recording their new album, bidding farewell to D.C. Congratulations to local guys done good; we'll always remember where...

We wanted to recap some of our favorite things from the year in local music, but we didn't want to put together a best-of list, because it wouldn't hold all the great stuff we've found throughout the year, and it would, of necessity, exclude things that hadn't yet crossed our path, making it not-quite-a-best-of list. So, we've tried something else, getting a few of our writers to name the local songs they couldn't stop listening...

This is the second installment of December's Three Stars. Yesterday, we covered The Bonapartes, and tomorrow we'll be discussing LeJeune. Today, we bring you The Lucky Bastards. The Lucky Bastards DCist caught The Lucky Bastards at a laid-back show at the Black Cat one cold, late November evening. Having gone into the show not knowing much about the band, we came out pleasantly surprised at the group's ability to comfortably mix sounds from 70s-tinged soul,...

Welcome to the December edition of Three Stars. Tomorrow, we'll be reviewing the Lucky Bastards, and on Friday, we'll bring you coverage of LeJeune. Today, we talk to The Bonapartes, and discuss their new EP. The Bonapartes So, DCist last saw The Bonapartes at an under-the-radar benefit gig in the front room of a Florida Avenue townhouse, where the lo-fi sound setup had our ears ringing and the advertised open bar was a couple of...

Today we bring you the second installment of the November Three Stars, an interview with DJ Will Eastman. Yesterday, we reviewed Plastic Explosives, the new album from The Caribbean, and tomorrow this Three Stars will conclude with coverage of the Routineers. DCist Kyle Gustafson assisted in the preparation of this piece. DJ Will Eastman Since 1998, DJ Will Eastman has been haunting the clubs of DC, spinning the newest and best in pop (indie, Brit,...

By DCist Music contributor Colin Peppard. Even without Rachel Blumberg to bang the drums and hit those high notes, The Decemberists managed to lead a packed house through 90 minutes of revelry, revenge, despair and decadence last night at the 9:30 Club. DCist was there to witness all of their theatrics and haughty wordplay, and we certainly went home satisfied (maybe we're just partial to names that end in -ist, though). Up-and-comers Sons and Daughters...

What a beautiful weekend. Perfect enough for some croquet on the Mall, as seen here in this photo taken by mnewhall posted in DCist Photos. You can't ask for much more than that. And the forecast looks pretty good too for the coming week. Highs in the 70s and 80s for the early part of the week growing warmer by next weekend, according to Capital Weather. Here's what you may have missed on DCist the...

(Review and photo by DCist contributor Ryan Avent)For the critically minded, a play of Bloc Party’s Silent Alarm is sure, at first blush, to scream comparisons to the other dance-floor rock bands of the moment, most notably the overproduced and omnipresent juggernauts The Bravery and The Killers. As everyone from NME to Pitchfork has instructed us, however, BP is not there for the critically minded; it’s there to knock your socks off, and even...

MONDAY: >> In one of the strongest bills of the summer, the Pixies and Bloc Party (at left) take the stage at Merriweather Post Pavilion. Gates are open at 5:30 p.m. >> Local rockers Greenland and City-State hit DC9 with Richmond band Conshafter for $6. TUESDAY: >> Arlington punk quartet Four Letter Lies plays with local glam rockers Death By Sexy at the Black Cat. 9 p.m., $5. THURSDAY: >> Bloc Party, post sharing the...

FROSTBURG, Md. -- From the DCist mobile command center on I-68, we present to you our picks for stuff you should do this weekend. (Actually, we did this early this morning, we think we'll be around Frostburg around lunchtime. But wouldn't it be cool if we did have a mobile command center? C'mon Jake, can you spare a few pennies for that? We promise we won't take it on any joyrides ...) Anyhow, with Catherine...

Given that there was such a controversy the last time we posted anything about early ticket sales in the D.C. area (to recap: a few people thought these sales should be on a "need-to-know" basis for "real fans"; we thought that was silly), we were perhaps a bit hesistant to spread the word about the latest hot ticket in town. But considering a lot of people we think of as "real fans" of Bloc Party...

Were you out at any number of the great concerts this weekend? Unfortunately, bad planning and unlucky timing kept us from attending a show, but you can see a review and pictures of the Fiery Furnaces over at shesbitter.com; descriptions of the Bloc Party show at Dumbek and A Lot of Nothingness; and Bags over at the 9:30 Club Forum had a lot of glowing things to say about OK Go. TUESDAY: >> Not a...

Yes, yes, we know -- we're late this week with the musical agenda. We were checking out the beautiful city of one of our sister blogs, but now we're back and ready with the shows of the week. WEDNESDAY: >> California band Eagles of Death Metal (a side-project of the frontman for Queens of the Stone Age) play the Black Cat with local group The Whips (whose mp3s you can listen to here). And a...

(Image © Kyle at Information LeafBlower) This DCist, along with DCist Kyle and DCist Rebecca (who talk about the show here and here), was in attendance at the Ash/The Bravery show last evening at the Black Cat. A good time was had by all (even though we were surprised that Ash opened for The Bravery, especially since no notification was made - The Bravery was originally to open for Ash), and the Black Cat...