(Photo by Jessica)
The Black Cat is no stranger to politically charged concerts, particularly when Inauguration Day rolls around every four years.
But this week feels different compared to past years, including both 2001 and 2005 when George W. Bush was sworn into office, says venue co-owner Dante Ferrando. “I think there’s a lot more tension,” he says, “partially because Trump has set stuff up where it’s really hard to tell what the hell is going on, and it’s very intentional on his part.”
As throngs swarm the U.S. Capitol Building in D.C. on Friday to celebrate Donald Trump taking the helm of our country, most people who actually live in D.C. will seek refuge elsewhere in the city to commiserate or stand defiant. One of those places will be the Black Cat, which is hosting the anti-Trump benefit concert, dubbed No Thanks: A Night of Anti-Fascist Sound Resistance in the Capital of the USA.
The show will feature a mix of D.C. rock and hardcore punk groups (Pure Disgust, Free Children of Earth, Priests), nationally known indie artists (Waxahatchee, Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz), famous guitarists (Marc Ribot, Ted Leo of Ted Leo and the Pharmacists), avant-garde jazz musicians (Irreversible Ways Ensemble, Mellow Diamond), and an assortment of other artists and activists from around D.C.
Proceeds from the show will go to Casa Ruby, an LGBTQ center primarily serving transgender women of color, and ONE DC, a grassroots nonprofit promoting racial and economic equity in the city.
Jason Yawn, guitarist/vocalist for Free Children of Earth, says he was first inspired to organize a protest show in late November, weeks after Trump was elected. After an initial effort fell through, he reached out to Katie Alice Greer, lead vocalist of Priests, to help put together this show.
He’s organized plenty of benefit concerts over the years, but never one explicitly for protesting an inauguration. This felt necessary, he says.
“Whether [Trump] believes it or not, he’s stirred up the worst of the traditions of America,” Yawn says. “He’s just playing a lot of old hits that a crowd is responding to, and it’s disgusting. A night of free expression is an appropriate weapon against this kind of violent ignorance that’s going to run the country.”
After the Black Cat agreed to book the show, they recruited bands to fill out the bill with additional help from Boston-based activist Evan Greer (no relation to Katie Alice Greer).
No Thanks is the second of three benefit concerts happening at the Black Cat during inauguration week. The first took place on Wednesday night and benefited the DC Abortion Fund. The third, Saturday’s The Anti-Ball, was named for the afrobeat ensemble Antibalas, which will back up all other artists as a house band that evening to raise money for Planned Parenthood. The show is already sold out.
ONE DC administrative organizer Claire Cook and Casa Ruby founder and director Ruby Corado will both be speaking at the show Friday. Cook says her organization appreciated the organizers reaching out to include them and that “it’s been powerful to see people becoming more conscious and taking the step to act more.”
Corado is also appreciative of the support and added visibility for her organization. “I really see this concert as a message towards the city that no matter what happens within the next four years, that marginalized people shall not be forgotten,” she says.
While Ferrando says he expects plenty of locals to attend No Thanks, he’s a bit apprehensive about who else may show up, pointing to the presence of many out-of-towners and the recent “Pizzagate”-related violence involving a gunman at Comet Ping Pong. “My guess is the bulk of it will probably be kind of normal, but there’s definitely the potential for kooky, fringe kind of elements that could be more of an issue,” he says.
Yawn is betting on being able to draw some of their audience from the millions of activists expected to arrive in the city to protest that day. He also says he hopes this show won’t be a one-and-done deal.
“I hope people are actually being activated, and that it’s not just gonna happen on Inauguration Day then fade away,” he says. “I hope it’s the start of something, and the small part that our event can play in that…I hope it is a spark of some small significance.”
No Thanks: A Night of Anti-Fascist Sound Resistance in the Capital of the USA takes place on Friday at 6:30 p.m. at the Black Cat, located at 1811 14th Street NW. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets $20.
