Photo c/o The Black Cat websiteTUESDAY
Last week, local jazz/folk quartet Frau Eva played their final show in advance of co-songwriter Vanessa Degrassi’s temporary departure to Thailand. While she’s not the main songwriter in Pree, the multi-instrumentalist provides a lot of the texture and detail in the folk-rock band’s eclectic sound. If you’ve been on the fence about seeing this band, now would be the time to do it as they probably won’t play again for awhile. Furthermore, their last set at Red Palace (where tonight’s show will also be) showed them at their tightest and most confident. We’re holding out hope that this isn’t the end for Pree. Paperhaus and Br’er open. $8, 8:30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
We don’t know how this bill at Black Cat Mainstage happened. Dope Body has played with everyone from black metal-meets-college radio appeal Liturgy to prog-through-an-African-percussion-filter Hume, but their brutal eardrum-crushing hardcore seems an odd fit considering their headliner, Deerhoof, is a mix of sweet vocals over wild and fast drums that sounds nothing if not over caffeinated. And we’re really not sure how minimalist adult contemporary locals and singles club enthusiasts America Hearts got on there (although three-fourths of them play in the current iteration of Edie Sedgwick who opened for Deerhoof last year.) Perhaps it’s fitting that the bill is as much of a hodgepodge of disparate sounds as Deerhoof themselves who may also be the goofiest live performers touring today. Art punk slapstick is an under appreciated sub-sub-genre. $15, 8:00 p.m.
>> 9:30 Club: Patrick Watson, Great Lake Swimmers. $15, 7:00 p.m.
>> Black Cat Backstage: Defiance, Ohio, Foozle. $10, 8:00 p.m.
THURSDAY
There’s heavy music that involves crunchy, speedy guitars and thunderous drums and then there’s heavy music like Sunn0))) (pronounced “Sun”). The band dresses in hooded robes and relies on some heavy fog machine but their sound veers more toward drone and proves that heavy need not hit you over the head with a mallet and a bazillion crash cymbals. Dead in the Dirt opens this show at the Black Cat. $20, 8:00 p.m.
>> Howard Theatre: Boyz II Men (first of two nights). $59.50 in advance, $64 day of show, 8:00 p.m.
FRIDAY
Moombahton put D.C. music on the map in a very different way (read: not hip-hop or rock) and two of the bands playing at the Black Cat tonight, Protect-U and Volta Bureau, could also easily make a mark in dance/electronic music on an international level. Arguably, duo Protect-U has been doing that already as they’ve already played Europe a few times. Also, since one third of Volta Bureau (Will Eastman) co-owns the club with one of the most celebrated sound systems nationwide and all three members, Eastman, Micah Vellian and Outputmessage are talented and on their own, don’t expect the behemoth electronic supergroup to stay a local secret for long. Redline Graffiti opens. $12, 9:00 p.m.
>> Rock and Roll Hotel: J Roddy Walston and the Business, Gary B & the Notions, Silent Old Mtns. $14, 9:00 p.m.
SATURDAY
There are maybe two bands whose recorded material on round two can contend with its recorded material on their original run. One of them, Dinosaur Jr., will be at the Black Cat next month, and the other, Mission of Burma will be at the Black Cat tonight. (I honestly can’t think of any other bands that fit this description, but accost me in the comments section if you can.) OnOffOn and the criminally underrated The Obliterati are albums that make us relieved that Vs. wasn’t the end of the band’s story and that they’re no longer doing the “playing only one old album in its entirety” thing. The rest of the catalogue is worth hearing, too. Purling Hiss opens. $15, 9:00 p.m.
Now, for someone who is doing the “playing only one old album in its entirety” thing! When Bob Mould sang “Hoover Dam” at the 9:30 Club’s anniversary show a couple years ago, everyone present understandably filled out their bragging rights cards. Now there’s another opportunity to see that impassioned performance as Mould will be playing Sugar’s 1992 release Copper Blue as well as Silver Age in their entirety at the 9:30 Club. $25, 7:00 p.m.
Okay, admittedly we haven’t been terribly excited about his recorded output since 2005’s Be but we remain terribly excited whenever Common comes into town. This performance at the Lincoln Theatre will be additionally interesting for the eclectic variety of performers accompanying that night’s awarding of the Paul Robeson’s “Here I Stand Award” from the Hung Tao Choy Mei Leadership Institute. The show will include the Malcolm X Drummers & Dancers, Whratnala USA, the Ivy Rose Band with guest vocalist Chessa Toboada and Dragon Princess Olivia Zhang as well as youth members from the Institute. $27.50, 6:30 p.m.
SUNDAY
First, The Jesus & Mary Chain brought Scarlett Johansson onstage with them at Coachella in 2007 and more recently Jessica Pare (aka Megan Draper from Mad Men) joined them in Toronto. We doubt that any famous actresses will be on hand this Sunday but it will still be great to hear the Scots bring their lovely reverberated noise attack to the 9:30 Club. Get their early for openers The Psychic Paramount, a mind-blowingly good heavy instrumental band. We seriously cannot express this enough. $35, 7:00 p.m.
