HEALTH may not have given D.C. the set they wanted to after blowing out the subwoofers, but the LA-noisemakers continued to give, regardless.

One of the U.K.’s breakout acts of last year, The 1975 was a bit more style than substance during last night’s show at the 9:30 Club.

Emo is back? Maybe. Three of the genre’s recent heavy hitters Into It. Over It., The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am Not Afraid To Die and A Great Big Pile Of Leaves shared the DC9 stage Tuesday night with local upstarts Makeshift Shelters.

After spending years playing second fiddle or backing musician, San Francisco’s Mikal Cronin stepped to the front of the stage to deliver a solid set at Comet Ping Pong.

Whether it was last night’s power outage that ignited a spark in the band or they’ve simply perfected their chemistry, Animal Collective‘s streamlined set was the most consistently electric performance they’ve given D.C. in years.

While D.C. music’s notoriety lies in genres such as hardcore and go-go, noise has started to gain more of a foothold in the past decade and even the past year. Five years ago, an artist like Pharmakon would not have drawn more than a skeleton crew of diehards and might have skipped the area entirely for a proposed date on a Sunday night. While certainly not selling out the Black Cat Backstage, Pharmakon drew a diverse audience for a brutally intense aural experience.

For a band that outsiders see as dark, brooding, and very serious, The National‘s shows always feature a handful of light-hearted and silly moments to break up the mood a bit.

Here’s the thing about naming your tour: Bring Back The Dudes as Titus Andronicus and the So So Glos named the tour that wrapped up last night at the Black Cat: not every “dude” has the same interpretation of what that word means.

Marnie Stern‘s voice was shot last night, but her ability to shred like a master remained unaffected by the wear and tear of touring.

Telekinesis proved that tenderness and raw power can be a winning combination at the sold out Black Cat Backstage show.