Here We Go Magic, Bell Biv DeVoe, and The Darkness all rolled up into one musical burrito.

An eye-opening perspective on the music industry.

As a general rule music festivals give a pretty poor representation of a particular city’s music climate and as such, no real sense as to how that city might receive a band or group of bands. Yet, Raleigh’s Hopscotch Music Fesitval is unlike most music festivals. Whether due to the big names that play the city plaza or the heavy focus on experimental music (Thurston Moore was this year’s improviser in residence), Hopscotch draws people from anywhere in a seven hour radius. Still, there’s a strong local focus and a large percentage of the crowd drove thirty minutes at most to catch these shows. What’s more, the festival is still small enough so that unlike, say, CMJ or SXSW, there are no more than five bands playing opposite each other at any given time. As such, this year’s Hopscotch Festival provided perhaps a more accurate picture of D.C. bands’ reception outside of the D.C./Baltimore the comfort zone.

During springtime concert season in D.C., it can be hard to decide what shows to see. So, here are our reviews of sixteen acts that we saw at SXSW who are coming through town imminently.

NYC’s Wet playa their first show in the area supporting their just released EP. Check out the track “You’re The Best.”

Courtesy Smithsonian The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History held a press conference this morning (the Post even sent someone to cover it) to show off the Hope Diamond, now on display for the first time ever without any kind of setting. The 45.52-carat diamond has been at the museum for 50 years, but always in its traditional setting, a pendant circled by smaller diamonds on a diamond necklace. The naked blue gem will…