Broke Royals @ Songbyrd Music House [DC] - 10/28/2022
Philip Basnight of Broke Royals at Songbyrd Music House in DC (Photo ©2022 Mauricio Castro)
DC’s self-proclaimed ‘premium rock and roll’ group Broke Royals celebrated Halloween weekend at Songbyrd with a packed house of local supporting fans and local supporting openers in support of their album, Local Support, produced by local rising star Bartees Strange and released through fellow local supporters Byrdland Records (Songbyrd’s affiliated record label). The group has been a mainstay in the DC music scene for a few years now, playing in venues all over town like DC9, the now-defunct U Street Music Hall and Rock and Roll Hotel, and, of course, the original Songbyrd in Adams Morgan. They’re no longer that band in matching vests and ties, but with new band member, keyboardist Rebecca Silverstein, they continue to establish themselves as a reliable, catchy rock band with a lot of…local support.
Of course, this was Halloween weekend, so at least some costumes had to make an appearance. Singer Philip Basnight was dressed as Stranger Things’s D&D-loving metalhead Eddie Munson, while Ben Wilson was dressed up in his Middle Ages plague doctor best, complete with mask and gloves on while playing guitar. Local Support cuts “Postcard” and “Revivalism” stood strong alongside a cover of The National’s “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness,” sung by bassist Tamir Gore. Basnight and company were all smiles, playing to a room full of friends and fans jumping along to new and old favorites. They concluded their set with their title track, the slow-burning “Local Support,” with phone lighters in the air and a sing-along to the closing lyrics. Between themselves, Northern Virginia-based openers Cinema Hearts (whose EP Your Ideal was produced by Bartees Strange), and Richmond-based openers Hotspit, there was a whole lot of local (or in Hotspit’s case, local-ish) love in the room to go around multiple times over.
