First show of the year! The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s “Jane Anger” in Washington DC
DC Improv had a showcase of five hilarious local comedians. In order of their sets, Eddie Morrison, Lafayette Wright, Christine O’Dea, Ty Davis, and Rahmein Mostafavi.
Griefcat at the Creative Cauldron in Falls Church, VA
Wicked at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC
The Washington Wizards lost to the New York Knickerbockers by four points at Capital One Arena in Washington DC
America at Capital One Hall in Tysons VA
Wallis Bird with support from Taylor Ashton at Jammin Java in Vienna VA
Cats at the National Theatre in Washington DC
“Ride The Cyclone” at Arena Stage in Washington DC was amazing. It’s a 90 minute musical that just FLIES past. The description on the brochure says, “the lives of six teen chamber choir singers are cut short in a freak roller coaster accident. Stuck in the afterlife, a mechanical fortuneteller gives them a chance to sing their way back to earth.” I loved the whole thing.
Whimsical indie rockers Rubblebucket brought their Earth Worship tour to 9:30 Club in Washington DC, with support from the delightful Spaceface.
Greensky Bluegrass played their mellow “jamgrass” at The Anthem in Washington DC, with support from Railroad Earth.
Mandy Patinkin performed a marvelous show at the Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda, MD
Sarah Silverman did a comedy set with support from Rory Albanese at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC
Broadway Center Stage brought a limited run of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s “Sunset Boulevard” to town with Stephanie J Block as Norma Desmond and Auli’i Cravalho as Betty, along with some other excellent performers at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC
Fitz and the Tantrums tore through their set at the 9:30 Club in Washington DC, with support from Sammy Rash.
The National Symphony Orchestra performed Kilar, Prokofiev and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC
New York based Nisa played Pie Shop in Washington DC with support from Sunstoney and last minute addition Dorinda. The original bill included Glosser, but they had to drop out for some reason.
Maggie Rogers performed two sold out shows in her “Feral Joy Tour” with support from Del Water Gap at the Anthem in Washington DC
Carrie Underwood brought her “Denim & Rhinestones Tour” to the Capital One Arena in Washington DC, with support from the amazing Jimmie Allen.
Shawn Colvin, Marc Cohn, and Sarah Jarosz did a co-headlining tour, and stopped at the Warner Theatre in Washington DC
Five different orchestras from schools around the country came together for a free show for the 2023 Capital Orchestra Festival at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC
Marielle Kraft played with support from local band Mystery Friends at DC9 in Washington DC
Australian lounge lizard Donny Benet brought his modern disco grooves to Union Stage in Washington DC, with support from Well Well Well.
Journey finally brought their twice-rescheduled tour to DC, with Toto opening at the Capital One Arena in Washington DC
Vanessa Carlton’s “Future Pain” tour at the Birchmere in Alexandria, VA was a lovely show.
Nessa Barrett played the Anthem in Washington DC with support from Isabel Larosa.
Into The Woods played at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC. This is the same revival that was on Broadway not long ago, and some of the Broadway cast members are still on board, including Montego Glover as The Witch and Stephanie J. Block as The Baker’s Wife.
New York based The Lucky Chops brought their “New Day, New Tour” to Union Stage in Washington DC
The delightful Celtic indie rock group Enter The Haggis played Hamilton Live in Washington DC with support from Cassie and Maggie MacDonald, a sibling folk duo from Nova Scotia.
Larkin Poe brought their “Blood Harmony” tour to 9:30 Club in Washington DC. Support for this show was Tall Heights, an electrofolk band.
An Evening With Regina Spektor took place at the Warner Theatre in Washington DC, after getting bumped from last October. Regina took the stage for about an hour and a half, and was wonderful throughout.
New Edition’s 40th Anniversary “Legacy” tour hit the Capital One Arena in Washington DC, with Keith Sweat, Guy, and Tank.
The stand-up comedy stylings of Rosebud Baker, at DC Improv in Washington DC
Charlotte Martin performed two shows at Jammin Java in Vienna, VA
Jagged Little Pill was part of the broadway series at the National Theatre in Washington DC
Maddie Zahm brought her sold out “You Might Not Like Her” tour to Union Stage in Washington DC with support from Corook.
Dragonette’s irrepressably fun “Twennies” tour, with support from Glosser hit Union Stage in Washington DC
Tonight the Manhattan Transfer brought their “50th Anniversary & Final World Tour” to the Strathmore in North Bethesda, MD, with support from the amazingly nifty Diva Jazz Orchestra. I can’t believe they’ve been around since 1972. This was an exceptional two-set show, which covered ALMOST everything I was hoping they would play. (The notable exceptions- they didn’t do “Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone” or “A Nightingale Sang In Berkley Square.” I am very sad about this.)
Xeno & Oaklander, a synth duo based in Brooklyn, played Pie Shop in Washington DC. They sounded great; kind of very crisp punchy synth tunes. Their supporting artist was Martial Canterel, which is a solo project of Sean McBride, who is half of Xeno & Oaklander.
Sophie B. Hawkins came to the Hamilton Live in Washington DC with support from Walker Lukens. This tour was in support of her album Free Myself, but also included people who had tickets to the cancelled April 21st Jammin Java show which was to celebrate the 30th anniversary of her Tongues and Tails album.
Malinda played a sneak peek show for her upcoming album, “It’s All True,” at the Birchmere in Alexandria VA. Support for the show was Sofia Campoamor, another very talented songwriter.
Lewis Capaldi, an excellent Scottish singer-songwriter, played the Anthem in Washington, DC. He was great, but my real reason for attending this show was that Em Beihold was his opener, and I love her voice.
EXTC is a band comprised of XTC’s Terry Chambers with some other musicians (billed as “XTC’s Terry Chambers and friends) performing XTC songs. I never had the good fortune to see the Andy Partridge-fronted version of XTC, so this show at Pearl Street Warehouse in Washington DC was neat.
Jake Wesley Rogers brought his “Peace, Love, & Pluto” tour to Union Stage in Washington DC, and it was entirely fabulous despite being hot, far too crowded, and full of technical issues. The supporting act was Stacey Ryan, but unfortunately I only managed to catch the last twenty or thirty seconds of her set.
Marc Broussard played 9:30 Club in Washington DC, with support from the very talented Nicotine Dolls.
Mindy Gledhill brought her “Head Full of Songs” tour to Jammin Java in Vienna, VA. Her opener, Dune Moss, was also part of her band.
The 2023 National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade in Washington DC included performances by Freedom Williams of C&C Music Factory, American Idol finalist Leah Marlene, Motown legend Thelma Houston, The Voice contestant Omar Jose Cardona, and a live performance of “Friend Like Me” by Michael James Scott, Broadway’s Aladdin’s Genie.
King Lear at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington DC, with the amazing Patrick Page in the title role.
U.S. Girls brought their “Bless This Mess” tour to Union Stage in Washington DC, with support from Jane Inc.
Vienna Teng performed two incredible shows at Jammin Java in Vienna, VA. I attended the second of the shows on a Saturday afternoon.
Les Miserables at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC
Minnesotans Yam House brought their 2023 Spring Tour to Jammin Java in Vienna, VA, with support from fellow Minnestotan Landon Conrath and Brooklyn based Will Leet.
Strutman Lane, a thoroughly groovy local funk/pop band from the DC area, opened for Funk You at the Pearl Street Warehouse in Washington DC. Alas, we had to bail before Funk You came on, but Strutman Lane was great!
Lizzy McAlpine played two sold out shows for her “The End of the Movie” tour at 9:30 Club in Washington DC, with support from Olivia Barton.
Pinback played a late show at the 9:30 Club in Washington DC, or rather most of Pinback – Zach was at home recovering from bronchitis.
This show was Noseda conducting the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC, for a performance of Schubert, Mendelssohn, and the NSO Horns playing Schumann.
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s “Restless Leg Tour” sold out the DAR Constitution Hall in Washington DC. This was the first city in their tour, and the fourth show because every time one sold out they added another one. DAR Constitution Hall holds about 3700 people.
The three artists who took the stage at the Anthem in Washington DC on May 1st were all wildly different types of music from one another: The headliner was hyperpop band 100 Gecs, a frenetic, autotuned, musical seizure. The co-headliner was Fever Ray, the project of Swedish singer Karin Dreijer, taking a break from their own headlining tour to join the Gecs for this show. The opener on the Gecs tour was Machine Girl, a hardcore screamo punk-ish band that whipped up two separate mosh pits on the main floor.
Placebo played 9:30 Club in Washington DC with support from the excellent Poppy Jean Crawford.
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs kicked off their tour tonight at the Anthem in Washington DC, with support from Cherry Glazerr and Park Adler.
The War and Treaty brought their “Lovers Game” tour to Union Stage in Washington DC, with support from the very excellent William Prince.
Meg Myers brought her “Tzia’s Arc” tour to 9:30 Club in Washington DC, with support from Weathers and sibling trio Band of Silver. I had wanted to see Meg Myers for years, but this was her first headlining tour since 2018. I went to Albany to see her open for My Chemical Romance last August, but she fell ill and didn’t make that show, so I had to settle for only seeing My Chemical Romance instead.
Transviolet played DC9 in Washington, DC with support from the amazing Jagwar Twin and the very talented Lisa Heller. This show was sort of a full circle moment for me because the very last show I saw before I left Florida was also Transviolet- that show was in downtown Orlando on March 1st, 2020. Lockdown was still a short way off, but everyone knew it was coming and the crowd at that show had a weird skittish vibe to it. The next time I would see a concert was still 850 miles and many months away.
Seal played The Anthem in Washington DC tonight, with support from The Buggles. This show was so much fun for me, because the Buggles are just awesome- they only ever had two albums, released in 1980 and 1981 respectively, and they were the first video ever played on MTV, yet they have never toured until now. One could argue they still haven’t, because Geoff Downes wasn’t part of this- just Trevor Horn as a “Solitary Buggle” with Seal’s backing band. Still, Trevor Horn is a legend- he’s got founding or writing credits for some truly amazing stuff, including joining Yes for a while, co-forming The Art of Noise, and writing or producing for ABC, Grace Jones, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, and, of course, Seal. He also worked on one of my all time favorite movie soundtracks. Trevor served as the music director and sometimes bass player for Seal’s set as well, but once Seal was onstage, he faded into the background.
I took an Amtrak train up to Philadelphia, PA for the first Philly night of Taylor Swift’s “Eras tour” at Lincoln Financial Field, with support from the absolutely amazing Phoebe Bridgers and a starting set by Gayle. Taylor was on the stage for nearly three and a half hours of amazing music spanning her entire career.
Boz Scaggs played at the National Theatre in Washington, DC. I think it was unusual to play there instead of a venue more typically used for concerts. The show was mostly rock, but there was some damn fine blues in there as well. And of course he did “Lido Shuffle.”
Spamalot played at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC. As a lifelong Monty Python fan, this was absolutely hilarious to see. I also enjoyed seeing Alex Brightman being not-Beetlejuice, along with the rest of the very talented and very funny cast. Even though it’s approaching its twentieth year, I had never managed to see it before now.
The incomparable Tom Jones played The Theater at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, MD for his “Ages & Stages” tour. This was my second time seeing Tom, and even though he’s in his eighties, his voice is just incredible.
I went back to The Theater at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, MD for the second night in a row. While at the Tom Jones show the previous night, we noticed signs for Motown legend Smokey Robinson performing there and we absolutely couldn’t pass this up. He did some classic Motown, told some very fun stories about Stevie Wonder, and just generally sang the hell out of that stage.
This was my third time seeing Beetlejuice: The Musical! The Musical! The Musical!, and my second time seeing it at the National Theatre in Washington DC. The first time was in pre-Broadway trials before they retooled it, so it was actually a slightly different show than the first time. The second time was on Broadway, so I knew about the differences already by this third time.
The National played their second sold out Anthem show in Washington DC, with support from Soccer Mommy. This was my second time seeing The National, but my first time seeing them on purpose – long story. They played for more than two hours, and the last song was a six thousand person singalong. I had also been trying to catch Soccer Mommy for a while; I really like her sound even though the lead vocals were mixed in such a way that I couldn’t tell at any point what she was actually singing.
“Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” came out twenty years ago, and it’s an incredibly good album. The Flaming Lips came to The Anthem in Washington DC to perform the entire album from start to finish, and then to do a bunch more music. A Flaming Lips show is a feast for the eyes; there’s so many inflatable things and balloons and a giant bright LED screen and a Wonder Woman onesie and SO MANY LASERS. (I think more rock shows should have lasers. I like lasers!) I genuinely wonder what their confetti and balloon budget is.
Bloc Party played 9:30 Club in Washington DC with support from New York based indie band Glom. Bloc Party has been opening lately for Paramore in a run of arena shows, so I was excited to see them headline their own gig. The show was excellent, and also far, far too fast. When they left the stage after the encore I was SURE they were coming back until the techs started breaking down the drum kit. They left so much unplayed. 😥
Barry Manilow scheduled a five night run at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City with a fifty piece orchestra. Also there was a brief appearance by the cast of Barry’s new musical, “Harmony.”
Noseda conducted The National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC for a performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s “The Creatures of Prometheus – Overture,” followed by George Walker’s Sinfonia No. 3. The second half was Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Washington Chorus, and it was glorious. I’ve heard that music so many times throughout my life, particularly the Scherzo, but I had never seen it performed live before and it was stunning.