Singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens comes to Wolf Trap’s Filene Center on Friday. (Photo by Emmanuel Afolabi)
Tuesday
Azealia Banks @ Black Cat 7:30 p.m. $30. All ages, accessible venue.
Azealia Banks is one of the most controversial rappers around. She made a huge splash with her first single, “212”, but her Twitter and real world antics have since begun to overshadow her music. It is a shame too, as she is a skilled rapper and can put out some killer tracks. Her debut album, Broke With Expensive Taste, was delayed multiple times, and when it was finally released Banks had lost a lot of goodwill from early supporters. Banks’ first D.C. date was canceled, so this marks her first tour appearance in the area at the much smaller Black Cat. Whether Banks can put her controversies aside and bring it tonight remains to be seen, but this show could be either amazing or one extended train wreck.
>>DC9: Dear Creek, Boketto the Wolf, Karla Bartholomew 8 p.m. $8. All ages, inaccessible venue.
Wednesday
FKA Twigs, Travis Scott @ Pier Six Pavilion (Baltimore) 6:30 p.m. $33 – $55.50. All ages, accessible venue.
FKA Twigs is a forward thinking R&B artist who has yet to put out a bad record. All three of her EPs and her debut album, LP1, are incredible. But FKA Twigs is not just an album artist, she is a performer. A former background dancer, Twigs knows how to craft a show for audiences big and small. She uses both the live setting and her visuals in rare ways. Her tour mate, Travis Scott, seems like a weird pairing, as he is certainly more popular than Twigs, but less deservedly so. He is a decent rapper who thinks he is incredible and gets showed up on his own tracks by guests nine times out of 10 The show is in Baltimore, so if you are more of an FKA Twigs fan and happen to be stuck in traffic while Scott performs, you aren’t missing much.
>>U Street Music Hall: Danny Byrd & G-Dub with Slee-p & Rawphikki 10 p.m. $10-$15. All ages, accessible venue.
Thursday
Holy Fuck, Doomsquad @ DC9 8:30 p.m. $12. All ages, inaccessible venue.
Toronto’s Holy Fuck makes electronic music with unconventional materials and has smoothed out the rougher edges of its sound as the years have gone. Take the band’s latest offering, Congrats, which is a fun and surprising record, though nowhere near as thrilling as the band’s first two albums. That is alright though, because a Holy Fuck show is nothing short of nonstop fun. When the band locks in, it can make abrasive noise danceable and a party go wild. Dance punk as a genre may be dead, but there are still bands who are trying to expand the its vocabulary.
>>Echostage: Young Thug 9 p.m. $48.40. 18+, accessible venue.
Friday
Sufjan Stevens, Thao & the Get Down Stay Down @ Wolf Trap 8 p.m. $35-$65. All ages, accessible venue
Sufjan Stevens is one of the most critically acclaimed songwriters of our time. He is one of the few that can balance both the minimalistic and the grandiose without falling into the trap of little or too much. Stevens’ last album, the weepie Carrie and Lowell, could not have less in common with his previous effort, The Age of Adz, but it all feels like the same artist. As a performer, Stevens has the power to bring a crowd to tears one minute and then uplift it the next. Though Carrie and Lowell was a stripped down affair, Stevens’ live shows are bright and colorful enough to stay upbeat.
>>Union Arts: Puff Pieces, PiLL, B Boys, Heathers, Cigarette 8 p.m. $12. All ages, accessible venue.
Saturday
>>U Street Music Hall: BJ the Chicago Kid, Elhae, Tish Hyman a
>>9:30 Club: Super Furry Animals, Chris Forsyth & the Solar Motel Band 8 p.m. $25. All ages, accessible venue.
Sunday
>>U Street Music Hall: Vic Mensa, Joey Purp 7 p.m. $27.50. All ages, accessible venue.
>>DC9: Marissa Nadler, Wrekmeister Harmonies, Muscle & Marrow 7:30 p.m. $12. All ages, inaccessible venue.
