TUESDAY, MARCH 3
Pioneering American bachata group Aventura has reunited for the group’s first proper U.S. tour in more than a decade and first major tour since singer Romeo Santos built a successful solo career. Last year, the group joined forces in the studio for “Immortal,” a single from Santos’ Utopia album. Capital One Arena. 8 p.m. shows Tuesday and Thursday. $34.50-$279.50 on Tuesday. Sold out on Thursday. All ages, accessible venue.
If you dig Anderson .Paak’s take on soulful, freewheeling hip-hop and R&B, then you’re already familiar with the Free Nationals, his longtime backing band. With some time off from playing with Paak, the band has finally released the years-in-the-making Free Nationals, a smooth, funky album that features guest spots from Paak, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Benny Sings, and the late Mac Miller. Songbyrd Music House. 7 p.m. doors. 8 p.m. show. $18-$22. All ages, inaccessible space.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4
Irish pop artist Dermont Kennedy broke out in a big way last year with his emotional, hip-hop influenced “Outnumbered,” from the singer-songwriter’s debut Without Fear, which has spawned multiple singles that have more than 100 million Spotify streams. The Anthem. 6:30 p.m. doors 8 p.m. show. All ages, accessible venue.
THURSDAY, MARCH 5
Circles Around the Sun formed with one purpose: to create instrumental set break music to play through the PA at the Grateful Dead’s “Fare Thee Well” concerts in 2015. People dug it, so guitarist Neal Casal turned it into a real band that made adventurous, disco-indebted funk music. Then Casal died by suicide last August, just days after performing at the Lockn music festival in Virginia. Now, like the Dead before them, the rest of the band is carrying on (per Casal’s wishes) with a rotating cast of guitarists filling his place (including Scott Metzger in D.C.) and a new self-titled album that drops this month. Union Stage. 7 p.m. doors. 8 p.m. show. $20-$30. All ages, accessible venue.
If Liv Warfield sounds like what would happen if Prince had collaborated with Heart, that’s because, it kind of is. Warfield was Prince’s backup singer for several years in the New Power Generation, is featured on the Purple One’s Lotusflow3r album, and her 2014 record The Unexpected was produced by Prince. In 2016, she joined Heart’s Nancy Wilson in the band Roadcase Royale. Her latest single, “Look at Me,” sounds like she’s soaked up what she’s learned from both singers. The Barns at Wolf Trap. 8 p.m. $27-$32.
FRIDAY, MARCH 6
High-energy New Orleans brass band The Soul Rebels does a weekly show at a tiny bar near Tulane and has recorded and performed with such hip-hop artists as Rakim, DMX, Talib Kweli, and GZA. Last year, the band released the genre-bending Poetry in Motion, which featured Trombone Shorty, Big Freedia, Robert Glasper, and even chef Emeril Lagasse. They also collaborated with reggae group Jaharmony for a just-released EP How Long. U street Music Hall. 7 p.m. doors. $25. All ages, accessible venue.
Palindromes play a big role in the music of Boston-based jam band Dopapod. The band’s name is a palindrome, of course, so are the titles for all seven of the improv-friendly funk and rock group’s studio albums, including last year’s Emit Time, which marked the end of a touring hiatus. Union Stage. 7 p.m. doors. 8 p.m. show. $18-$40. All ages, accessible venue.
Virginia piano man Bruce Hornsby is the latest artist to collaborate with yMusic, the Brooklyn-based chamber pop ensemble that has a history of reinventing classic songs with Paul Simon and Ben Folds, among others. In addition to hits like “The Way It Is,” Hornsby and yMusic will play new music they collaborated on for last year’s Absolute Zero. The Music Center at Strathmore. 8 p.m. show. $38-$88.
The enigmatic, Grammy-winning Ms. Lauryn Hill will share the stage with D.C.-bred jazz and soul singer Alice Smith for two nights during the second annual Black Girls Rock! Festival, which spans multiple events at the Kennedy Center this weekend. 8 p.m. shows Friday and Saturday. $49-$149. All ages, accessible venue.
SATURDAY, MARCH 7
Elkhorn is a guitar duo—Jesse Sheppard plays 12-string acoustic, Drew Gardner six-string electric—that creates meditative guitar music that’s made them a fixture in the Northeast experimental music scene. Their latest album, The Storm Sessions, is essentially two LP-side-length improvisations that are as gorgeous as they are hypnotic. For this show, the duo will expand to a trio with D.C.-based drummer Nate Scheible. Rhizome. 8 p.m. doors. $10. All ages, accessible venue.
Montana-based, bluegrass leaning Americana outfit the Lil Smokies are touring behind this year’s rootsy new album Tornillo, which showcases the group’s high-energy, country-esque sound. They’ll share a bill at the 9:30 Club with singer-songwriter, podcaster (The Working Songwriter) and Maryland native Joe Pug, who released an album of folk songs, The Flood in Color, last summer. 6 p.m. doors. $20. All ages, accessible venue.
Rapper Master P has rounded up some of the key artists from No Limit Records’s heyday in the ’90s for this nostalgia tour, which will also include sets from Mia X, Silkk the Shocker, Mystikal, and Fiend. Get ready to “Make Em Say Uhh!” like it’s 1997 again at DAR Constitution Hall. 8 p.m. $99.50. All ages, accessible venue.
SUNDAY, MARCH 8
The Millennium Tour brings together several hip-hop and R&B artists who hit it big around the turn of the 2000s: Omarion (of B2K fame), Bow Wow (no longer Lil), Ashanti (without Ja Rule), Soulja Boy (Tell ’Em), and Ying Yang Twins (without Lil Jon), among others. EagleBank Arena. 7 p.m. show. $54.50-$109.50.
MONDAY, MARCH 9
Dan Bejar has a tendency to subtly (or not-so-subtly) reinvent himself with every Destroyer album. For January’s Have We Met, Bejar embraces an ’80s pop sound on songs that were often pieced together and layered by producer John Collins. There’s also a darkness and unease to this record that’s reflected in Bejar’s dramatic lyrics and vocal delivery. Canadian indie rock band Nap Eyes opens, previewing songs from this month’s Snapshot of a Beginner, which features a lead single named after Mark Zuckerberg. Black Cat. 7:30 p.m. doors. $22-$25. All ages, accessible venue.
