Words and photos by Alex Schelldorf

Sunday night, a power lineup of beloved D.C. locals helped break in Capital Fringe’s new permanent digs. Situated just north of H Street on Florida Avenue in the Trinidad neighborhood, the new venue will serve the upcoming Fringe festival, including cabaret and dance shows, but truth be told, it was a perfect room for the antics and proselytizing of local and/or national treasure, Ian Svenonius.

Spiv’s Chain and the Gang closed out a show that also saw the teenagers in Nox continue to gain confidence and polish their stage show. Nox haven’t lost any momentum since opening for Waxahatchee at the Black Cat recently, following last year’s appearance with Priests at the D.C. Public Library for the D.C. Punk Archive.

Puff Pieces continued to prove why they’re one of the most lovable weirdo punk bands, with songs that end before they’ve hardly even begun. Their simple, skronky, sub-two-minute jams are wildly addictive, punctuated by drummer Amanda Huron’s persistence and guitarist Justin Moyer’s just-barely controlled flailing.

Returning to their hometown after a long tour, Svenonius and the ladies of Chain (Anna Nasty on bass, Francy Z. Graham on guitar, and the latest in a rotating cast and crew of touring drummers, Fiona Campbell) let loose in the black box theatre over the course of 11 songs. Halfway through their set, they unleashed barnburner “Devitalize,” the cornerstone of a set of tunes now well-worn after tour.

Spiv was at his finest, thrusting and falling to the ground in earnest, swallowing his mic whole and climbing the steps of the theatre into the crowd to preach his word. Even if you can’t get past their stage outfits—this time, matching striped suits—Chain and the Gang are easily one of D.C.’s top acts.

Their latest record, Minimum Rock n Roll is now more than a year old, which, in Svenonius time, is downright ancient, so perhaps we’ll hear some new “crimewave” soon enough.