Music: Danny’s Back with 3 Weekend Picks
One of Danny’s three weekend picks is at the Black Cat, to at the 930 Club. (Luis Gomez Photos)
From Danny Shapiro
Music lovers, rejoice! The weekend is upon us. However abridged the post-Labor Day schedule has been, the elation is still flying high after these past four hectic days.
I sadly missed sending in my weekly recommendations last week, as I was off to sunny (!) Portland, OR, to take in the local scene: music, beer, and hipster bicyclists (who make us DC folk look like Connecticut prep school girls and boys).
I must say though, Portland rocks. The Doug Fir is a brilliant venue, and I got to see Jenny & Johnny (the show-stopping Jenny Lewis & Jonathan Rice)–who will also be gracing us with their presence at the Black Cat next Thursday, September 16. This upcoming weekend in Portland is MFNW 2010–that’s Music Festival Northwest–which is a badass three days of great gigs, in case anyone decides to skip town last minute. Ah, the Pacific Northwest.
Okay, let’s get to our District offerings for this weekend, September 10-12.
Friday: Carefree Indie Pop, Get Your Hipster Be-Bop On
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin @ the Black Cat: First off, awesome name. Snaps for bringing a bit of post-Soviet lovin’ into the indie music world. For those of you not in the know with this Springfield, MO, band, take just a quick listen to the ironically cheery and buoyant ‘Think I Wanna Die’ (YouTube video). Not sure about you, but I think I wanna stay alive and see this infectiously sweet indie rock show.
Saturday: Soaring Vocals, Amalgamation of All Things Post-Grunge
Honor By August w/ The Bigger Lights, The Kin Doors @ the 9:30 Club: Admittedly, Honor By August are so good they make one recall all the reasons why we love modern rock. The flipside is that they are almost too reminiscent of all things great from the 90s/00s era of Blink 182, Third Eye Blind, Semisonic, Fuel, etc. Tidbit for all of you out there: Honor By August got their big break as the winner of the ‘Battle of the Bands’ contest right here in DC and opened for Hanson at the 930 Club in 2006. Heed the advice, readers: this gig will surely leave a smile on your face and saccharine-induced guitar strings tugging at your heart.
Sunday: No Surfers Were Injured in the Formation of this Band
Surfer Blood w/ The Drums @ the 9:30 Club: Sounding a bit reminiscent of the omnipresent Vampire Weekend’s groovy guitar riffs with a bit of old school Weezer Rivers Cuomo heart & soul mixed in, Surfer Blood are a band on the rise since their 2009 song ‘Swim’ was named among Pitchfork’s top singles of the year (Youtube video). If the drum circles of Meridian Hill aren’t your siren call to end the weekend right, make your way over to the 9:30 Club on the Sunday for a solid performance.
See you all next at the shows!
Danny Shapiro is an avid music lover who has the good fortune to live very close the music scene on the 14th and U corridor.
