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Best Of 2017: Mauricio's List
In the world of DC live music, there was a lot to write about in 2017. I.M.P. made its broad presence even broader with the 6,000-capacity Anthem. Songbyrd solidified its niche in the up-and-coming R&B/hip-hop scene with clutch bookings like Xavier Omar, Jamila Woods, and Noname (and booked its first show at The Fillmore, with more co-bookings to come). Competition in the 200-500-capacity space increased with new venues like Union Stage, Pearl Street Warehouse, and The Miracle Theatre. Mount Pleasant DIY venue OTHERFEELS hosted its first DMV music showcase at 9:30 Club, with a second coming in late December. There really is no shortage of opportunities to catch live music in our nation's capital.
I covered 47 shows and one three-day festival for ChunkyGlasses this year, and it’s been a wild ride covering shows in venues big (Capital One Arena) and small (Dew Drop Inn). While most of there were a lot of great shows, the following ten best showcase why the live music experience is so essential. These artists convey emotion and energy in a way that can’t be contained within the confines of an album. With these shows, it was hard to walk away without the lingering feeling of ‘holy shit, they REALLY put their heart and soul into it tonight.’
So with that, here are my ten favorite shows of 2017. Click the headers to see more pics and a full recap of that show.
PS - And if you're still interested in knowing what my favorite songs from this year were, here's my Spotify playlist - Mauricio's Favorite Fifty of 'Seventeen!
Tycho @ Echostage - 5/7/2017
You can’t talk about ambient music these days without talking about Tycho. As one of the most successful artists in the genre this decade, mastermind Scott Hansen has gained a huge following for music that seems to both take people away to a carefree alternate universe and also seems to keep people glued to their desks in concentration. Green and company once again teamed up with a full band’s worth of musicians to release his fourth album Epoch in December 2016, earning a Grammy nomination for Best Dance/Electronic Album in the process. And it’s been some since he’s played a proper venue in DC - the last time he was here, he performed in the courtyard of the Hirshhorn Museum on a cool fall night in 2015. This time, it was a cool spring night in a much larger space: the six-thousand person capacity Echostage.
Run The Jewels @ Echostage - 1/19/17
On the night before the inauguration of Donald Trump, emotions in DC were running high. But Run the Jewels, the rap duo of Killer Mike and El-P who recently released the critically-acclaimed Run The Jewels 3, wanted to make a big political statement of their own. And not only did Run the Jewels beat expectations on such an important night, they absolutely destroyed them, giving the crowd a much-needed emotional release along with a special surprise guest at a sold-out Echostage.
Of course, this perfect timing would not have occurred if it weren’t for a water main break the previous Thursday, causing a last-minute cancellation. According to El-P, the two choices for rescheduling were either on El-P’s birthday, or the day before the inauguration. In his words, “History wants RTJ here right fucking now.” It was obvious that they had a lot on their minds.
Glass Animals @ Echostage - 9/25/16
The unique jungle-inspired sounds of UK band Glass Animals’s debut “Zaba” struck a chord with many people, so much so that they sold out 9:30 Club last year and played for an even larger crowd this year at Echostage. In support of their sophomore album, the well-received How to Be a Human Being, the band put on a high-energy performance deserving of Echostage’s 6,000-capacity crowd.
