The morning after seeing Toronto’s Metric, I had a brief water-cooler conversation with a co-worker who had caught the band the last time they rolled through town. “I’ve always been surprised how quickly that band blew up,” he said. “It seems like they got huge almost overnight.” I nodded in agreement, having seen them fill a 1,200-capacity club the night prior. After giving the matter some thought, however, I realized that Metric’s rise to the…

Plan your naps accordingly, set your alarms, and stock up on your Red Bull, folks. The DCist, Blisspop and Brightest Young Things super duper 9:30 Club extravaganza is finally upon us! At the ripe old age of 3, we’re wondering if we can still muster the energy for a show that starts at 11 p.m., but with the talents of DJ Will Eastman, Georgie James, The Dance Party and Soft Complex luring us towards 815…

Happy first weekend of September – and happy Labor Day weekend, too, for our American cities! Let’s take a look at what’s been happening around the Ist-a-verse. The deaths of two firefighters shook Bostonist this week. Boston’s firefighters bent over backwards all week long – first, they fought flames pouring from the Boston Tea Party museum, and then a restaurant fire killed two and injured many more. Their efforts make everything else – like Tom…

TUESDAY >> DCist favorites the Vita Ruins are playing this very night at DC9 for $8. You’re tired of barbequing and sitting around on your back porch by now, aren’t ya? >> Love them? Hate them? Secretly listen to them while you take a nice warm bath and have a good cry? Keane performs to a sold out crowd at the 9:30 Club tonight. WEDNESDAY >> DCist’s own Sriram Gopal will be playing some…

I arrived to a half filled Black Cat last night, unsure what to expect from Danish superstars Mew. Their album, And The Glass Handed Kites, was one of the most interesting albums I heard last year, their fey yet bruising style of jangle prog a combination of Jeff Buckley’s tenderest falsetto moments and the whiplash of Bloc Party’s best Wedding Present imitation in one album that sequences connecting songs to great effect. However, the…

It was quite the party last night at the Black Cat, full of skeezy mustached men (think 70s porn) and hyperactive girls in tutus (think Dakota Fanning plus Red Bull). Under normal circumstances, this is probably a law suit waiting to happen, but it turned out to be one of the most entertaining shows by all three acts on a bill that we have seen in some time. You know you are in for a…

If you ponied up for Panic! At The Disco tickets mainly because of the awesome drumming prowess of opener Bloc Party’s Matt Tong, you might want to start seeing what you can get for those bad boys on Craigslist. Bloc Party has been forced to pull out of three shows — including tomorrow night’s at the Patriot Center — because Tong is hospitalized with a collapsed lung. It’s hard to imagine anything bringing down Tong,…

As I went up the steps to the Dance Party show at the Black Cat, I could hear the noise pouring out of the swinging doors. The stairwell echoed with shrill cheers of teenage girls, like a bygone episode of TRL. Instead of a Carson Daily or hot pop singer, lead singer Mick Coogan stood his ground in a bright lime green shirt. He thrust his guitar to and fro, shaking furiously onstage and delivering…

Monday >> Struggling through another slow week of the 9-5? Well there’s a Labor Day light at the end of the tunnel and what better way to get you there than with two very loud and bold female punk songstresses who will shake you right into the weekend. Catch Full Minute of Mercury (***) and Knives in the Attic tonight at DC9. 8pm, $8. Tuesday >> While Shakira works out her Oral Fixation, Wyclef…

It doesn’t matter where they say they came from or how they were formed, one thing that will immediately draw listeners to The Roosevelt is their sound. It’s surprising to hear a new band write such polished songs with memorable hooks. Maybe there is something in the water at the building in Northwest that they’re named after. As of right now, the band’s discography consists of a handful of mp3s available on their site. But…