The two mainstays of U Street nightlife couldn’t make it through the hard time wrought by the pandemic.
The best places to catch live music in the city. Rock on, D.C.
MONDAY
Last seen in D.C. opening for She & Him at the 9:30 Club in July, L.A. folk-pop duo The Chapin Sisters bring their enchanting vocal harmonies back to Iota tonight, showcasing new material from their well-received second album, Two. Leslie Stevens and Neema open. $12. 8 p.m.
MONDAY
Insipidly talented singer/pianist Sara Bareilles plays tonight at the 9:30 Club in support of her second record, Kaleidoscope Heart. Greg Laswell and Holly Conlan open. Sold out. 6:30 p.m.
Some bands are just better than others at reducing the barrier between band and audience. Sometimes it’s by engaging specific audience members in conversation, like Ted Leo, or actually playing in the middle of the floor, like Dan Deacon and a couple of his other F Yeah compatriots. The Mae Shi, who actually played alongside Dan Deacon for Whartscape Festival this past weekend, share that same philosophy of engaging the audience by moving amongst them….
Written with DCist contributor Amy Maxmen As we’ve mentioned before, big changes are underway at the Velvet Lounge, the hole-in-the-wall music venue near the corner of 9th and U Streets NW. Soon change will also spread next door, to the burnt-out remains of the after-hours bar formerly known as Kingpin (not as an extension of the Velvet Lounge as was originally rumored, but as a separate, new bar). But rather than profiting off the wave…
It makes sense that Garland of Hours opened up for Evangelista last night at the Velvet Lounge. The last time Carla Bozulich came to town, that time in support of a record called Evangelista rather than fronting a band by that name, her opener at the Warehouse Next Door was Anni Rossi, a violist whose frenetic attack on the instrument gave the impression of a full band even though she was the only one on…
It’s been a while since we did one of these, but our music news feature is back! Here are a few stories buzzing around the local music sphere. >> Rob Curtis has left the Velvet Lounge. The most well-respected sound guy in the city has parted ways with the club, which recently came under new ownership. If you’re not familiar with Curtis or the Velvet Lounge’s superior sound system (which he developed), just take a…
Fans of live music in the District tend to have a real soft spot for the Velvet Lounge near 9th and U Streets NW. It’s a tiny venue with a reputation for hosting experimental acts no one else will, and for employing one of the best sound engineers in town in Rob Curtis. But no one who tries to keep track of who is playing at the Velvet Lounge has ever had a single nice…
Chris Connelly is selling The Velvet Lounge. In an email almost a month ago to an old listserve that was once used for the venue’s now defunct open bar nights, Connelly announced his plans to move on, and that after three years of searching, he found buyers who “would remain true to our tradition of providing the best sounding small venue on the east coast and perhaps the world and honoring our deals with bands.”…
