Photo by stgermh.
Update: Tonight’s show is canceled due to rain. Still get to know the bands, though.
The Fort Reno summer concert series was almost canceled this year, but after some back-and-forth between organizer Amanda MacKaye and the National Park Service and U.S. Park Police, the shows will go on. Now that the drama is over (for now, at least), it’s time to focus on what Fort Reno is all about: the bands.
Tonight’s bill: Baby Bry Bry & The Apologists, Aloners, Tiger Horse
Who are they?
Tiger Horse is a quartet of four friends who have known each other forever. The band formed “over beers and texting,” says guitarist/vocalist Karen Leu. Its members have played in various D.C.-area bands over the years including Five Four, The Sentiment, and Potato Famine.
What do they sound like?
“The darker side of indie pop,” says Leu. That’s certainly apparent in the track “Hey This Is Love,” but their other songs incorporate elements of garage, psych, and, most prominently, shoegaze, to create a wholly unique sound. Think the Jesus & Mary Chain by way of ’90s Teen-Beat indiepop rockers The Rondelles.
Tiger Horse? Those are two different animals. What would it look like if they bred?
Leave that one to your imagination, but it’d probably be pretty scare.
Should I go?
Yes, always go to Fort Reno shows.
Who are they?
A punk band from Washington, D.C.
What do they sound like?
They sound like a punk band, but if you want to get specific [puts on punk nerd cap], Aloners sounds somewhere between Dead Kennedys and Jawbreaker. Lyrics are belted out in a kind of growling snarl, while the thunderous rhythm section pounds away at breakneck speed.
A punk band? In D.C.? How original.
Hey, if it ain’t broken…
Should I go?
Yes, always go to Fort Reno shows.
Who are they?
Baby Bry Bry is the name of a guy in D.C. who writes indie pop songs. The Apologists are his friends that help him play those songs live. According to Bry Bry, the whole thing was a solo recording project, but somewhere along the line he “knew [he’d] need a dream-team of rock’n’roll cuties to get it right. Enter the Apologists, members of which have played in local bands like Humble Fire, The Nighttime Adventure Society, Who Needs a Pulse, and others.
What do they sound like?
Baby Bry Bry plays what he calls “lounge punk” or “sad songs that sound like happy songs.” Indeed, there’s definitely a Tom Waits inspiration to some of the slower tunes, but Baby Bry Bry plays a kind of twangy, melodic take on indie-pop, that was so predominate in the early aughts. Or, Bry, says about his music “I’d just wink and throw up a waggly *hang loose* sign.
Baby Bry Bry & The Apologists? What the hell kind of name is that?
“The boring story is that I was a lot younger than most of the people I hung out with when I first moved to D.C., and the nickname spread and then stuck,” Bry writes in an email. “But if you’ll let me put on my over-analytical, pseudo-intellectual pants for a moment, ‘Baby’ is pretty exclusively a term of endearment, whether you’re referring to a child or pet or significant other, so it establishes a sort of immediate intimacy between the audience and me.”
The Apologists come from his the fact that he’s always apologetic. “My therapist and ex-girlfriends say I’m too apologetic, so naming the band The Apologists seemed appropriate enough,” he says.
Should I go?
Yes, always go to Fort Reno shows.
