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Mauricio Castro 3/2/20 Mauricio Castro 3/2/20

Glass Animals @ U Street Music Hall [DC] - 2/25/2020

UK’s Glass Animals haven’t played a venue as small as U Street Music Hall since 2014, and the stage presence they’ve built up since then made their intimate and very-much-sold-out show an explosively fun night for everyone involved.

Mauricio Castro 11/20/19 Mauricio Castro 11/20/19

Kindness @ U Street Music Hall [DC] - 11/1/2019

Adam Bainbridge (who identifies as they/them) has found recent success producing for the likes of Robyn, Blood Orange, and Solange, but it’s their output where they can run free with that sound. Something Like a War is a self-produced, self-released dreamy R&B/soul album from Bainbridge, and their first in five years since the excellent Otherness.

Joel Richard 11/6/19 Joel Richard 11/6/19

Matt Maeson @ U Street Music Hall [DC] - 10/30/19

Matt Maeson’s show at U Street Music Hall competed with game seven of the World Series in a town that was desperate to end a 95-year championship drought. Regardless of the night’s high stakes, his fans--including a few in Nats gear--filled the sold-out room.

Mauricio Castro 10/9/19 Mauricio Castro 10/9/19

MEUTE @ U Street Music Hall [DC] - 10/2/2019

Here's a phrase you probably haven't heard before: "German techno marching band." Enter MEUTE.

MEUTE in a nutshell: they take songs that exist firmly in the world of EDM and bring them to life as an 11-piece marching band. Marimbas, saxophones, trumpets, bass drums, even matching red jackets. The works. The group has gained an impressive following in Europe over the last few years, starting out in public city squares and eventually graduating to massive headlining shows and massive festival crowds. With their performance at U Street Music Hall, the Hamburg-based group continued their worldwide conquest with their first-ever concert in North America.

Mauricio Castro 9/23/19 Mauricio Castro 9/23/19

Fontaines D.C. @ U Street Music Hall [DC]- 9/11/2019

The explosive Dublin group, guided by the quiet rage of singer Grian Chatten, left fans more than satisfied with their high energy 40-minute set.

Mauricio Castro 7/8/19 Mauricio Castro 7/8/19

Holy Ghost! @ U Street Music Hall [DC] - 6/29/2019

When Holy Ghost! comes around, you better believe they’re keeping the disco ball lit up all night.

Lindsay Hogan 5/16/19 Lindsay Hogan 5/16/19

U.S. Girls @ U Street Music Hall [DC] - 4/25/2019

She may be off of an album cycle now, but her message is still sharp, both timely, and perennial. Like a cutthroat progressive missionary, she returned to the capital of Trump’s America on Sunday night to enthrall a slightly smaller crowd at U Street Music Hall with her confrontational poise and an exhilarating ensemble of musicians.

Anna Moneymaker 5/8/19 Anna Moneymaker 5/8/19

Foxing / Now, Now @ U Street Music Hall - 5/1/2019

At first glance, the two bands’ music seem to be polar opposites of one another, but in fact their similarities can be found finely interwoven in the steps they take to further themselves from being confined to a genre at all.

Avery Junius 3/25/19 Avery Junius 3/25/19

The Comet is Coming @ U Street Music Hall - 3/21/2019

Delivering what could best be described as an intergalactic dance party, this particular comet crashed into a nearly sold out room delivered not destruction, but ascension for the duration of their sixty-minute set.

Mauricio Castro 3/5/19 Mauricio Castro 3/5/19

Parcels @ U Street Music Hall - 2/20/2019

The funky (and Daft Punk-cosigned) bunch from Australia by way of Germany sold out U Street Music Hall weeks in advance for good reason. Did you bring your dancing shoes?

Anna Moneymaker 2/26/19 Anna Moneymaker 2/26/19

Cautious Clay @ U Street Music Hall - 2/1/2019

From his days as a music student at George Washington University to a sold-out U Street Music Hall, multi-instrumentalist Cautious Clay has seen his stock rise for good reason.

Mauricio Castro 9/24/18 Mauricio Castro 9/24/18

Let's Eat Grandma @ U Street Music Hall - 9/13/2018

Let’s Eat Grandma’s latest album I’m All Ears is an aural treat. At their U Street Music Hall show, though? Well…partially.

Mauricio Castro 9/24/18 Mauricio Castro 9/24/18

Poolside @ U Street Music Hall - 9/12/2018

Imagine you have a piña colada in hand while laid-back grooves get people up and dancing. In Poolside's world, 'daytime disco' rules at all times of the year, no matter the climate.

Mauricio Castro 6/18/18 Mauricio Castro 6/18/18

Bruno Major @ U Street Music Hall - 6/5/2018

The road to music stardom is paved with wedding cover bands, restaurant gigs, and teaching guitar lessons. Nobody knows this better than Bruno Major, who has done all three. Major told Interview Magazine that shortly after leaving college, he did whatever he could to earn money for two years, including playing three nights a week in Italian restaurants for 50 pounds and a bowl of pasta. But starting in 2016, he released one song a month online, starting with the track “Wouldn’t Mean a Thing.” For the next eleven months, the hype grew for Major to the point where he was able to release the songs as a compilation, his debut album A Song for Every Moon, in August 2017. The icing on the cake? He landed an opening gig for Sam Smith’s European arena tour this past March/April. Now that his opening stint has ended, Major promptly made his way stateside for a few summer gigs, including at U Street Music Hall.

Mauricio Castro 3/20/18 Mauricio Castro 3/20/18

Joywave @ U Street Music Hall - 3/10/2018

Joywave's live show is growing up. Given the themes of their sophomore album Content, fans shouldn't be surprised. A feeling of dread permeates the slicker, darker production and lyricism of their album. But throughout their quick rise (thanks to the one-two punch of “Tongues” and the Big Data song “Dangerous”), they were known as live circuit jokesters who would make many a tongue-in-cheek statement wherever they played. See: their introduction of "Destruction" as the greatest song in the world - a song that they would play twice during the same set. But thankfully, Joywave hasn’t lost their sense of fun.

Mauricio Castro 12/21/17 Mauricio Castro 12/21/17

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!

Mauricio Castro 10/18/17 Mauricio Castro 10/18/17

Yelle @ U Street Music Hall - 9/26/2017

The French are known for great dance-oriented musicians like Daft Punk, Phoenix, and Justice. Yelle is no stranger to this group. Starting with their breakout hit “Je veux te voir” in 2008, Yelle has been entertaining audiences on our side of the Atlantic to rave reviews. It’s been a few years since we've been graced with an album from the duo of Julie Budet and GrandMariner. All signs are pointing to an imminent album announcement very soon. Over the last few months, they've released three new songs, "Romeo,” "Interpasion," and “Ici & Maintenant (Here & Now)” that continue to bridge the pop and electronic gaps in new and exciting ways that span continents and languages.

Mauricio Castro 6/23/17 Mauricio Castro 6/23/17

!!! @ U Street Music Hall - 6/8/2017

Twenty-one years after forming !!!, singer Nic Offer is still channeling his inner Mick Jagger. The band came to prominence amongst the crop of early-2000s dance-rock bands, most notably with 2004 album Louden Up Now. Though many dance-rock bands came and went in a flash around the same era, !!! have thankfully stuck around and released their seventh album Shake the Shudder (available through Warp Records). The album continues to light up your friendly neighborhood hipster dance floor with funky songs that retain the punk-rock energy that made them so beloved in the first place. Fresh off a set at Primavera Sound in Spain, !!! kicked off their US tour at U Street Music Hall.

Mauricio Castro 6/15/17 Mauricio Castro 6/15/17

Roosevelt @ U Street Music Hall - 6/3/2017

In a 2016 interview with music site Nothing but Hope and Passion, Lauber described what he wants out of the live music experience: “I’d like to see something, well, ‘larger than life’, something that’s bigger than the tragedy of everyday life. That’s what pop culture is all about, to create something that’s bigger and in a way more important than life.”

Hailing from Cologne, Germany, Marius Lauber has been doing just that by writing, recording, and producing music under the name Roosevelt since 2012. Following the likes of groups like Escort and Hot Chip, Roosevelt brings together the live instrumentation and slick bass lines of disco with modern pop melodies that are a perfect addition to summer and late-night dance club playlists. On a three-show pit stop in the US in-between European shows this spring and summer (including Governor’s Ball in NYC), Lauber brought a live band to a sold-out U Street Music Hall to turn his self-recorded creation to life.

Mauricio Castro 2/23/17 Mauricio Castro 2/23/17

Escort @ U Street Music Hall - 2/3/17

For an hour and a half, U Street Music Hall became Studio 54. Contemporary disco band and well-oiled machine Escort came with one goal in mind: to get people dancing on a Friday night. In doing so, the six-piece group, fronted by keyboardist Eugene Cho and singer/bassist Adeline Michele, took U Hall back a few decades to a time where big hair, light-up dance floors, and funky bass lines ruled the day.