Brand New comes to Eagle Bank Arena on Thursday as part of what could be the band’s final tour.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9
The 1975 @ Eagle Bank Arena. 6:30 p.m. $19.75 – $49.95. All ages, accessible venue.
The 1975 has evolved from a pseudo boy band into a full on album-driven act. The group’s first record, 2013’s 1975, was years in the making and loaded with hits like “Chocolate” and “Girls”. The band toured the record many times over, playing D.C, four times, starting at DC9 and ending at Echostage. Now the band is back and touring their arena ready album, I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It, which also happens to be one of the best albums of the year. The recording is a departure for the band, clocking in at 74 minutes and featuring a range of styles like 80’s pop (“Love Me” and “UGH”), to 00’s house rave ups (“The Sound”) and M83 shoegaze (“Please Be Naked”). Though they have yet to fully crossover to the pop charts like contemporaries Twenty One Pilots, The 1975 has amassed a large dedicated fan base that will follow the band to the end of the earth.
Grouplove, Muna, Dilly Dally @ Echostage. 7 p.m. $36. All ages, accessible venue.
Grouplove gained traction on alternative radio with its meshing of indie rock and electro pop—think The Flaming Lips if they covered Modest Mouse’s “Float On.” The band’s first album, Never Trust A Happy Song, spawned the massive singles “Tongue Tied” and “Colours”. The follow-up, Keeping Secrets, didn’t match the highs of the previous release but was still notable for songs like “Ways To Go”. Grouplove has returned with a massive third record, Big Mess, which is nothing like its title would suggest. Grouplove’s penchant for hooks is stronger, as evidenced on the lead single, “Welcome To Your Life”. When vocalists Christian Zucconi and Hannah Hooper lock in, they are unstoppable. This time the band is backed by two great openers, pop trio MUNA and Canadian rippers Dilly Dally, making this a fantastic three band bill.
9:30 Club: James Vincent McMorrow, Dan Mangan. 7 p.m. $30. All ages, accessible venue.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10
Brand New, The Front Bottoms, Modern Baseball @ Eagle Bank Arena. 6 p.m. $27.50 – $35. All ages, accessible venue.
The guys from Brand New are elder statesmen in the emo game. The band’s first two albums, Your Favorite New Weapon and Deja Entendu, were blasts of emo pop-punk that inspired a large crop of new bands in their wake. After a brief brush with commercial success, Brand New turned its back on the pop side of its sound, creating darker more moody emo-rock. If the band is to be believed, this is Brand New’s last tour. Let’s hope they get around to releasing their long rumored fifth record next year. For fans that miss the pop side of Brand New, The Front Bottoms and Modern Baseball are sure to fill the void.
Howard Theatre: Fidlar, SWMRS, The Fright. 6 p.m. $20. All ages, accessible venue.
Rock and Roll Hotel: El Perro Del Mar, Den-Mate. 8 p.m. $14. All ages, accessible venue.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11
Wild Beasts, Porcelain Raft @ Black Cat. 8 p.,. $20. All ages, accessible venue.
Wild Beasts has always sung about sex and the seedier aspects of life, but for three albums, the band made music to accompany singer Hayden Thorpe’s otherworldly falsetto. The arrangements were theatrical and each track sounded as if it could be a mini play. Somewhere along the line, the band’s flirtations with synthesizers took hold, and now five albums in, Wild Beasts is reinventing its sound with this year’s Boy King. The record is the band’s most accessible and also its most upfront lyrically. The songs are the embodiment of the id. The new single, “Get My Bang”, for instance, sees Thorpe at his loosest. Opener Porcelain Raft has been quiet since the release of his second album, Permanent Signal, in 2013. Next year, Porcelain Raft will release Microclimate, another batch of warm synth-pop songs that beam with light. The two bands are a good fit and will make a great Friday night show.
Warner Theatre: Pet Shop Boys. 8 p.m. $63 – $83. All ages, accessible venue.
Fillmore Silver Spring: Death From Above 1979, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Deap Valley. 8 p.m. $35. All ages, accessible venue.
DC9: Tennyson, Photay. 6:30 p.m. $12. All ages, inaccessible venue.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12
Slow Club, Annie Hart @ Jammin’ Java 9 p.m. $15. All ages, accessible venue.
Slow Club is the duo comprised of Charles Watson and Rebecca Taylor, who over the course of four full-lengths have dipped their toes in folk-pop, dance, and soul. For the band’s latest record One Day All of This Won’t Matter Anymore, Slow Club traveled to Richmond to record with Matthew E. White at Spacebomb Studios, the studio where Natalie Prass and Julien Baker both recorded. One Day plays like a break-up record, with each singer taking on subjects of betrayal and loss. It is unclear if the songs are about each other, but there is a lot of anger seething through the tracks.
Rock and Roll Hotel: Sunflower Bean, The Lemon Twigs, Kissing Is a Crime 8 p.m. $15. All ages, accessible venue.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13
Verizon Center: R. Kelly. 8 p.m. $65-$105. All ages, accessible venue.
DC9: Sims, Air Credits. 8:30 p.m. $16. All ages, inaccessible venue.
