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Mauricio Castro 7/28/22 Mauricio Castro 7/28/22

Newport Folk Festival 2022 - 7/22/2022 - 7/24/2022

Newport Folk Festival is always a special place to be every July - not just for the Narragansett Bay views, but also for the top-notch curation and camaraderie between artists and between attendees. After a canceled 2020 iteration and a half-capacity 2021 festival, 2022 brought a larger Harbor stage, two new smaller stages (the Bike and Foundation stage, both serving as counterprogramming to the Quad and Fort stages between their sets, respectively), but the same intimate feel, full of lawn chairs, buskers, frozen lemonade drinks, and musical surprises that fans have come to expect.

Avery Junius 12/21/21 Avery Junius 12/21/21

Dām-Funk @ The Roxy [LA] 12/14/21

Dām-Funk has been an unsung hero of keeping funk alive over the past decade. At the storied Roxy Theater on Tuesday night, Dām-Funk headlined a show to support the Union Rescue Mission, the largest homeless shelter in Los Angeles.

Mauricio Castro 12/2/21 Mauricio Castro 12/2/21

Caribou @ 9:30 Club [DC] - 11/30/2021

Another long-anticipated show is in the books for Dan Snaith. His 2020 album Suddenly was widely praised by music critics and included in tons of best-of lists last year, but his spring 2020 show in DC was (suddenly) put on hold for a year and a half due to the pandemic. But with his trusty four-piece live band in tow, he tore through many of Suddenly’s highlights, like “You & I,” “Home,” “Never Come Back,” and “Ravi.”

Avery Junius 12/1/21 Avery Junius 12/1/21

Freddie Gibbs/The Alchemist @ 5th Annual West Coast Feast 11/24/21 [LA]

‘Twas the night before Thanksgiving at the Vermont Hollywood, where Freddie Gibbs delivered a feast full of raps backed by his frequent collaborator and hip-hop legend, the Alchemist who served as Freddie Gibbs DJ for the night. The duo’s latest offering, Alfredo, earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Albumin 2020 and was the dish served as the majority of the playlist for the 5th Annual West Coast Feast.

Mauricio Castro 11/29/21 Mauricio Castro 11/29/21

Yasmin Williams @ Union Stage [DC] - 11/22/2021

Northern Virginia native Yasmin Williams has had a banner 2021. Starting in January with her album Urban Driftwood, she made waves this summer with both a Newport Folk Festival and Tiny Desk Concert slot and capped it off with a ‘hometown’ show at Union Stage. And to think that it all started, in her words, with beating Guitar Hero 2 on expert difficulty.

Erica Bruce 11/24/21 Erica Bruce 11/24/21

Deer Tick and Delta Spirit @ 9:30 Club [DC] - 11/19/21

Deer Tick and Delta Spirit played a nearly sold-out show at the 930 Club last Friday, and the overwhelming emotion seemed to be joy.

Joy from the audience seeing these two bands live again on this “Friend-Ship” tour, and joy from the stage for two bands who haven’t toured in a bit.

Mauricio Castro 11/17/21 Mauricio Castro 11/17/21

Wolf Alice @ Union Stage [DC] - 11/15/2021

This is a band punching way above their weight right now, and getting to see them play their beautiful, massive songs at a venue like Union Stage is something that many will cherish years down the line.

Mauricio Castro 11/14/21 Mauricio Castro 11/14/21

Sylvan Esso @ The Anthem [DC] - 11/11/2021

As you may already know, we’re big fans of Sylvan Esso here. And their latest stop in DC doesn’t really change that. Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn continue to explore the space between the electronic and the organic, both in their latest album, 2020’s Free Love, and in their spartan but spectacular live performance.

Mauricio Castro 11/9/21 Mauricio Castro 11/9/21

Near Northeast @ Black Cat [DC] - 11/6/2021

The folk-meets-ambient-electronic outfit Near Northeast have been a DC staple for a few years now, from their 2015 debut Curios to their newly released fourth album Gatherings. With songs like “Shadow” and “Shelter,” they traverse the Venn diagram of two musical worlds, combining violins, cellos, theremins, drums, banjos, and synthesizers into a sound that stands out in the DC music community.

Mauricio Castro 10/29/21 Mauricio Castro 10/29/21

Arlo Parks @ Union Stage [DC] - 10/26/2021

Arlo Parks has gone through a musically meteoric rise, from recording in her parents’ bedroom in west London to releasing her debut EP in 2019 to winning the 2021 Mercury Prize, whose previous winners include Sampha, PJ Harvey, and the xx. It’s not hard to see why: she combines indie rock, soul, and R&B with her love of poetry to create timeless songs that touch on topics of mental health, sexuality, and friendships. Though she only has one album out, it’s no surprise she’s become the talk of the UK music scene so quickly.

Mauricio Castro 10/21/21 Mauricio Castro 10/21/21

IDLES @ 9:30 Club [DC] - 10/18/2021

Organized chaos and boundless joy - that is what an IDLES concert is all about. The Bristol, England punk quintet have made a name for themselves for their bombastic, sharp-as-knives musical offensive against toxic masculinity, British conservatives, and fascists (See “Never Fight A Man With A Perm” from 2018’s Joy as an Act of Resistance. or “Grounds” from 2020’s Ultra Mono.) Though they just released Ultra Mono thirteen months ago, they have a new album on the way in early November, titled Crawler, and with it came two sold-out nights at DC’s 9:30 Club.

Hailey Collins 10/20/21 Hailey Collins 10/20/21

All Things Go Fall Classic @ Merriweather Post Pavilion [MD] - 10/16/21

All Things Go is back and bigger than ever. DC’s music festival brought their seventh annual event to Merriweather Post Pavilion. With four times the capacity of their previous Union Market location, the festival included two stages packed with incredible acts alongside DJ sets in Merriweather’s 9:32 Club.

Mauricio Castro 10/19/21 Mauricio Castro 10/19/21

Marc Rebillet @ The Anthem [DC] - 10/16/21

On Saturday night, The Anthem was filled with shower robe-wearing fans, a tribute to Rebillet’s livestream garb of choice, for an explosion of musical improvisation and wild stage antics. (Oh, and puppet sex. There was puppet sex.)

Hailey Collins 9/27/21 Hailey Collins 9/27/21

Bleachers @ The Anthem [DC] - 09/24/21

Bleachers took the sadness out of Friday night when they brought the “Take The Sadness Out of Saturday Night Tour” to a sold-out show at The Anthem in the nation’s capital.

Mauricio Castro 9/21/21 Mauricio Castro 9/21/21

Divino Niño @ DC9 [DC] - 09/17/21

From Bogotá to Miami to Chicago with love. With 2019’s Foam, childhood friends Camilo Medina and Javier Forero made a great bilingual indie psych-pop album with their friends, but their DC9 show proved that they’re ready to turn those high expectations on their head once more.

Mauricio Castro 9/15/21 Mauricio Castro 9/15/21

Ratboys & Wild Pink @ Songbyrd [DC] - 09/14/2021

Chicago-based Ratboys are a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll, and a whole lot happy to be back on the road. Over the last year and a half, the band pivoted to Patreon, did ‘virtual tours’ on Twitch and connected with fans over countless blog posts and cover song recordings. Their two-night stop in DC was the second leg of their tour, and notably, one of the first shows at the newly relocated Songbyrd Music House.

Erica Bruce 9/1/21 Erica Bruce 9/1/21

Drive-By Truckers @ Rams Head Live [Baltimore] - 08/27/2021

Some bands might be rusty from not playing live these past 17 months, but road dogs like the Drive by Truckers prove talent and a kick ass song catalog don't rust, you just brush off the dust and let loose.

Mauricio Castro 8/17/21 Mauricio Castro 8/17/21

Teen Mortgage @ Pie Shop [DC] - 08/13/2021

In the time since Teen Mortgage’s last pre-pandemic shows, the duo of drummer Ed Barakauskas and guitarist and vocalist James Guile kept their heads down recording new music, releasing “Such is Life” in January, and winning Best Punk Artist/Group and Best Punk Song (for “Falling Down”) at the 2020 Wammies, an award ceremony for DC-area musicians.

Mauricio Castro 7/29/21 Mauricio Castro 7/29/21

Newport Folk Presents: Folk On 2021 - 7/25/2021 - 7/27/2021

The ever-changing landscape of the pandemic birthed a slightly different kind of Newport Folk Festival lineup this year. Billed as “Newport Folk Presents: Folk On”, the name change was a hint to long-time attendees that this wouldn’t quite be the weekend in July that they remembered. And while the spirit of festivals gone by inspired and informed the 2021 iteration of the Newport Folk Festival, this year’s fest – expanded to six-days – was an entirely different animal.

Mauricio Castro 6/29/21 Mauricio Castro 6/29/21

Oh He Dead @ Union Stage [DC] - 06/26/2021

The live music industry has begun its slow, steady climb out of the shadow of a pandemic that changed everything about our lives. Across the country, the recovery begins with the local scene, and in DC, soul band Oh He Dead is the best sign of the coming resurgence of live music in the nation’s capital.