Train is coming to GWU. (Courtesy Train)
From Mike Kohn. Find him on Twitter at@mike_kohn or send him an email at mike[AT]borderstan.com.
Following their sold-out North American tour, Grammy Award-winning band Train returns to Washington, DC for a performance on Saturday, October 20 at 9 pm at the Charles E. Smith Center at the George Washington University.
Purchase tickets for Train here. Tickets range in price from $45 to $115.
Formed in San Francisco in 1994 by Pat Monahan, Jimmy Stafford and Scott Underwood, Train has released six studio albums, including platinum-debut album “Train,” double-platinum album “Drops of Jupiter” and platinum album “My Private Nation.”
“Drive By,” the first single off their new album, “California 37,” peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Their second single, “50 Ways to Say Goodbye,” is currently number 16 on the iTunes Top Songs chart.
If you’d like to purchase a block of tickets, or for more information, please contact [email protected].
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Miike Snow is back. (Khelan Bhatia)
From Khelan Bhatia. Follow Khelan on Twitter @KhelanB or email him at khelan[AT]borderstan.com. You can find him at the 9:30 Club, U Street Music Hall, Blackbird, American Ice Company, or dj’ing every other Thursday or so at the Duplex Diner.”
Hi there, Borderstanis. Yep, still pinch hitting for the music column. Nope, they still haven’t found a regular. BTW, what do we all think of the column name “BorderSound?” Too on-the-nose? Too gauche? Well, it’s a work in progress.
As I mentioned last week, I’m a nut for music (there’s an argument to be made that I’m a nut. Full stop. But that’s neither here nor there). There are few things more elating than listening to a truly magnificent debut album from an up-and-coming artist. Especially when you can feel the raw talent traveling from the speakers (or earbuds) directly to your eardrums. It’s euphoric, really. Conversely, there’s nothing more disappointing than a mediocre (or truly terrible) second album by same artist.
You ask yourself, “This is not my beautiful band? This is not my beautiful sound? How did I get here?” (BTW, if you caught that reference, you’re my soul mate.) You can call it a sophomore-slump. You can call it sequel-itis. I’ll never call it back (or rather, I’ll pass by each track when I have my iPod on shuffle). Don’t get me wrong. There’s a tremendous amount of pressure the second time you come out of the gate. Make it too similar to the first and everyone calls you a one-trick pony. Make it too different and you risk alienating your audience.
And there are the few, wonderful, marvelous times, when an artist (or band you love) just outdoes his or herself. And that’s exactly how I felt when Miike Snow released their second album, “Happy to You” a couple of months ago. When I first discovered them (yes, them, it’s not just one guy, despite the misleading name), I was mesmerized by their ethereal, yet slightly sinister sound. Think of them as an electronic version of a Post-Revolver Beatles, without the Ravi Shankar influence. And then I went to their show back in February or March of 2010. It was one of those moments (well, the moment lasted about 45 minutes) that made me wish I could bottle up exactly what I experienced during their show at the 9:30 Club. It was completely superior to the already-excellent recorded album.
Fast forward a couple of years. I’ve been listening to “Happy to You” for the last few weeks, coming to the conclusion that it’s a worthy, if not slightly better, sophomore effort (IMHO, the percussion on the second album is better than the first). I’m anxiously awaiting their April 28 concert at 9:30, having bought my ticket months in advance. The day of the show arrives and in true OCD fashion, I get there right as the doors open so I can find just the right spot (and, of course, to catch Penguin Prison, the opening act — fantastic BTW). During that period between the end of the opening act’s set and before the main event begins (I affectionately refer to it as the Twilight Zone), a wave of panic passed through me. What if they’re not as good as I remember? What if the new album is a bit shit live?
And then… they come out. And there’s a spaceship on the stage.
A.
M*therF*cking.
Spaceship.
It goes without saying that the fear was replaced by a sense of… awesomeness? Is that the right word? Whatever, it was g*ddamn transcendent. Truly. Miike Snowe opened their set with “Enter the Jokers Lair,” the initial track on their second album. What followed was an hour-and-change of a back-and-forth between songs from the new album and the first album. The highlights for this reviewer were “The Wave,” a surreal pop song that begins with a military drum and “Paddling Out,” essentially their response to mid-90’s Mobyesque house music. After the concert finished, I left 9:30 with the realization that I saw lightning strike twice.
I just hope we won’t have to wait another few years before they return to the District. In a spaceship.
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Here are some suggestions of things to do during the weekend in Borderstan, really close by or in the city.
RedRocks Pizzeria is at 1036 Park Road NW in Columbia Heights.
Thai Tanic is in Borderstan at 1326 14th Street NW.
RedRocks Firebrick Pizzeria at 1036 Park Road NW opened in 2007 and has some of the finest pizzas in the city (in my opinion). It has a patio and makes for a smart choice for a quick good meal.
Thai Tanic Restaurant is one of the pioneers business in the area, located at 1326 14th Street NW. It is also a favorite of ours with an extensive menu and affordable prices.
Capital Fringe Festival: “Revolutionary! Isadora Duncan,” at the Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church. (Photo: Chelsea Bauch.)
“Storefront Churches: Photographs by Camilo José Vergara” is at the National Building Museum. (Photo: Camilo Jose Vergara.)
Capital Fringe Festival: “Revolutionary! Isadora Duncan,” is showing at the Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church, 900 Massachusetts Avenue NW. Showtime is this Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
“Storefront Churches: Photographs by Camilo José Vergara,” is at the National Building Museum at 401 F Street NW. Vergara says, “I quickly understood churches to be crucial to my project, and a separate study of them began to develop.” The exhibit includes areas of Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles and New York.
“King Lear” plays downtown at the Sidney Harman Hall.
The Bannaba Project performs at the National Museum of the American Indian on The National Mall.
William Shakespeare’s “King Lear” is at the Sidney Harman Hall, 450 7th Street NW. A production of the Shakespeare Theatre Company, “King Lear” is both an “intimate family drama and an explosive political epic”.
The Bannaba Project is at the National Museum of the American Indian at 4th Street and Independence Avenue NW. The Bannaba Project is nine-member band from Panama that “blends pre-Columbian sounds and sensibilities with jazz, pop, calypso and other rhythms of the Caribbean.”
“Vincent” by Leonard Nimoy is playing at the DC Arts Center.
The Bob Dylan Show, John Mellencamp, and Willie Nelson and Family are at Ripken Stadium.
“Vincent,” written by Leonard Nimoy: “The show offers an evening of laughter, tears and insight into van Gogh’s passion and suffering, while considering the meaning of art and artistry in a world where success is judged in terms of sales, by which measure van Gogh fell short during his lifetime.” It is at the DC Arts Center, 2438 18th Street NW.
Bob Dylan & His Band, John Mellencamp, and Willie Nelson and Family are playing at Ripken Stadium at 873 Long Drive in Aberdeen, Maryland, on Friday, July 24.
