Thursday’s opening band for the DAM! Festival show at DC9 was Gaithersburg’s Bellflur. Initial impressions that they were (very) heavily indebted to OK Computer-era Radiohead proved true, with the band either attacking most songs with a “Paranoid Android”-like aggression, or plodding through “You and Whose Army?” style ballads. There were nice touches though – a full arsenal of effects pedals and some spooky vocal lines – and the band has a knack for making things cold and detached sound somewhat pretty. Sure, the only lyric we could understand was the ad nauseam repeat of “all this medication” from lackluster closer “Shooting an Elephant,” and yes, their ambition outstrips their abilities at this point, but it’s still nice to see a band tastefully taking some hints from prog and going for something bigger than a 3 minute pop song. more ›

FRIDAY: >> Please Hammer, don't hurt 'em. Landmark R&B radio station WPGC celebrates 19 years of playing 18 jams in a row with a concert at the Verizon Center that features LL Cool J, MC Hammer, Chuck Brown, EU, Naughty By Nature, Bow Wow, MC Hammer and Lisa Lisa. Apparently Cult Jam had previous commitments. $45 - $70, 7 p.m. (Kyle Gustafson) >> You may have missed La Didone last weekend, but if you... more ›