Lights That Flash in the Evening: Hole @ 930 Club, Washington, DC (6-26-2010)

By now, I'm sure you've heard, or read, or thought, "Oh no he didn't," then giggled over the honesty about the cuckoo bananas explosion that was the Hole show here at the 930 Club on Sunday. David Malitz for the Washington Post hit all the bases of crazy that were run that night; it was a rather spectacular meltdown. Hitting the stage almost a full hour past the scheduled start time, something that rarely happens at the 930, Love apologized to the crowd saying, "Sorry, I was hanging with a friend who is a senator and he can't be photographed with me in public..." Then she said something about how if folks were hoping for her Boston set list, they would be disappointed; "You're getting the Bruce Springsteen set, sorry."

Now, Springsteen does rehearsal shows that folks pay a lot to see, and they're fun and different. Springsteen does marathon shows that run 3-hours. In Europe recently, a Hole "Springsteen set" occurred and was a solid and amazing show according to a friend who attended; but Sunday, "Springsteen set" meant "a 3-hour slow-motion rehearsal show for a car crash."

There are various guesses flying around as to why Love was acting so out of it: drink, drugs, brain damage, insanity... And I've also heard a ton of people saying, "Well, how could you go expecting to see anything else, it's Courtney Love." And they might be right. Love is like a walking Murphy's Law in her personal life it seems, a continual reporting of "Hello deep end my old friend."



I initially thought my take on this show would be along the same lines of the many other negative reviews, given the number of times the phrase "train wreck" showed up in my notes. And then I got thinking about what I saw during Hole's set at the SXSW Spin Day Party set this year. At that show, Love was solid. Funny. "There" if you will, mentally. You could see the potential in terms of her band, which is pretty amazing by the way, and between her with her band, because they played so well together; it wasn't them acting as just her backup band, as it seemed on Sunday. She didn't have to have her handler come onstage in Austin to turn up her guitar knobs because she didn't seem capable, nor did her guitar hang as decoration around her neck while her keyboardist tore up the rhythm-guitar parts that I'm pretty sure she was supposed to be playing. When comparing the Austin show to the DC one, the difference was night and day. "Tonight is just...weird," someone with the band told me before I left on Sunday, "They've been really solid up to now, but tonight...I'm not sure what's going on." Had I not seen the set in Austin with my own eyes, I'd probably be questioning his definition of the word "solid" and writing a much harsher review now.



But who knows what Sunday was all about. Say what you will, but the new record, Nobody's Daughter is a good record, and Live Through This is truly a kick ass record. And maybe she didn't write the songs necessarily for LTT, as some proclaim, but words of a song are just words until someone sings them and makes them come alive.



"Violet" is one rage-fueled effing song that wouldn't blow the doors off if it were in the hands of someone else (though this was not so much the case Sunday night as the crowd sang most of the song. By the way, a fun fact she told us about that song: "I was in Chicago; Billy Pumpkin gave me a Vicodin, and I wrote this song." Maybe that explains the sky being made of amethyst?). Love still has a great raspy rock yell that can still make your nervous system go bonkers.


Love's got something that people gravitate towards though...how else could she pull off some of the stuff she's done over the past bunch of years? Sure she's scrappy, but you can't get by on that all of your career necessarily. Nobody's Daughter is the first Hole record in 12 years-for as many times as she turned the mic around for the crowd to sing because she didn't know lyrics (or whatever) Sunday night, there were just as many shouts of "Courtney, I love you!" from the crowd. And just as many people are defending her in the comments of the negative reviews of the show.


Would I want to be friends with her? Hell no (she kinda scares me to be honest). Would I want her as my neighbor? No, nor would I want her to ever sit for my dog, let alone my kids. Was it obnoxious that she put some woman "filming" her with an iPhone onstage-not a proper camcorder or anything but an effing iPhone- which she played to instead of her fans, not to mention making the woman block the view of said fans who paid $45 a ticket? Hell yeah it was...

But that aside, I know what I saw in Austin, which wasn't what I saw on Sunday at the 930. There was one song that that band did, start to finish, on Sunday called "Letter to God" off the new record that was really beautiful. One of the lines goes, "I lie awake conducting this symphony/That You have gifted to me but I can't ever sleep/Don't be mad but I get weak inside/And I start to fall apart 'cause I feel nothing." What was displayed Sunday on the 930's stage was many things, one of which may just have been a very public view into the demons with which Love still struggles. But she's still swinging, she's still trying...Maybe the way she goes about it sometimes isn't the greatest, but I, for one, have to give her props for that.

(See the rest of the photos here)

Lights That Flash in the Evening: The National @ DAR Constitution Hall, Washington, DC (6-6-2010)

Seeing The National live was, for me, a little like my experience with seeing Wilco live: something always seemed to come up. I finally caught both bands separately last year, but The National's show, it just wasn't right...a band like The National should not be first experienced as a 5 pm slot at an outdoor festival like Virgin FreeFest. Lead singer Matt Berninger writes lyrics that describe emotional depths that tend to venture into the dark; as such, The National should be experienced inside somewhere, and at night, not in sunlight next to a truck selling funnel cakes.

I'm happy to say I finally got the experience at DAR Constitution Hall recently. It was simply amazing. Goosebump-giving amazing. The show ran close to two hours and at the end, my cheeks hurt from the never-ending grin I wore the whole time.



Their new record, High Violet, took a little while to move into. Lots was happening and I didn't have a lot of extra brain space to focus; it's not a hard record to focus on, but you need to be in the place to allow your mind to do just that. But once I did, boy, did I fall for it hard.



That's why when I saw the previous night's setlist from Boston, I was sorta bummed out, not knowing if this was a band who changed things up or not, because it seemed to lack some of the new tracks I had on repeat ("Lemonworld," "Runaway," "England," "Anyone's Ghost"). But the DAR show, they included all of these and more...it was like they asked me to make the set list of my favorites (includng "Karen," a song they said they rarely play).




There is a wonderful beauty of the almost orchestral arrangements that each of the new songs contain, but this was something that became much more obvious when I saw them live. Guitarist Bryce Dressner has a background in classical guitar and has worked with the likes of Phillip Glass and the Kronos Quartet, so this isn't a huge surprise. What was a surprise was the intensity with which everyone played. Dressner and his brother Bryce would bend themselves over and tear at the guitar strings, almost in frustration that they couldn't go just a little bit faster, or pull just one more note from their instruments. This was particularly evident in "England," when during its swelling center part, everyone on stage proceeded to play like passionate madmen. Berninger used his vocal instrument in much the same way, emoting lyrical banshee screams while pacing the stage, even knocking his mike stand over at one point.




DAR is not the ideal place for a rock show. It has seats. You can't take beers back inside. In DC though, it's the in-between place for bands too big for the 1200-capacity of the 930, yet too small for the Verizon Center, an arena. DAR isn't tiny, but Berninger was determined to make fans feel like it was. During "Abel," Berninger went out onto the floor, walking/singing up the aisles, then walking atop of seat backs, with fans helping him to glide along. This happened again during the encore when they played "Mr. November" (like they'd not play that in DC, c'mon). This time, he took his audience interaction up into the balcony, scaling the entire right side while singing all the while. I wasn't supposed to shoot photos from my seat, but I plead a delightful insanity, right along with the rest of the crowd. And this was before they even got to the end of encore with a mindblowingly stunning version of "About Today!"

(See the rest of the show photos here)
This show absolutely ranks as one of the best shows I've ever seen. That's some serious gushing there, but it's 100% true. There are some I know who find The National bland, overrated, "the same song over and over." I did once too. But the very lovely part of The National is that it not only appeals to the brain with Berninger's lyrics, to the mind with their powerful and incredible hooks and time changes, but also to the heart in a way that can only be achieved when experiencing passionate beauty. "Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent," said Victor Hugo. Here's being incredibly glad that The National are compelled to make noise.

Lights That Flash in the Evening: Fitz & the Tantrums @ Black Cat, Washington, DC (5-29-2010)

It was great to see the turnout for Fitz & the Tantrums last Saturday at the Cat. Memorial Day Weekend can be tough for any band to play in town, but for a band from out-of-town, you never know. So big ups to DC because they welcomed these out-of-towners with a good showing. Music, as well as a live show this good, is something that should not go unrecognized.

(Go here to see the rest of the show photos)

Lights That Flash in the Evening: 930 Club 30th Anniversary Show, Washington, DC (5-31-2010)

The awesome 930 Club here in DC turned 30 on Monday and to celebrate, it had a big ol' birthday party with a bunch of bands who played for free. It was a great celebration of all of the acts that helped put the 930 on the map as a club, as well as a great peek into the long string of bands that that came out of DC, many of whom owe their start in music because of the 930 Club. This history of the club is a great story and one that the Washington Post did an oral history of awhile back (definitely worth the read).

I had to miss the first couple of acts of the evening, Tiny Desk Units, who was the first band to ever grace the 930 Club stage back when it was on 930 F Street, The Fleshtones, the very first band then-independent promoter/now 930 Club owner Seth Hurwitz booked at the old location, and The Slickee Boys, the "the punk-psychedelic punk rock band may very well hold the all-time record of most times playing the 9:30 Club with 79 appearances." Sets were running about 15 minutes a piece so I did get there in time to catch the last song of Marti Jones & Don Dixon, which D.C.’s late, great alternative station, WHFS, helped break. Hurwitz sat in on drums for both the Jones/Dixon set, as well as The Fleshtones.

We were only allowed to shoot the first song of each set, and though I missed those bands, I'm really glad I got there in time for my first shots of the night to be of the great Tommy Keene.



This was my first time seeing him live and just...wow. Keene's biggest influence is said to be the 60s power pop band, The Raspberries and it shows, his songs are just so wonderfully uber hooky! Keene has worked with the likes of Paul Westerberg, and most recently, Robert Pollard of Guided by Voices. He's been an influence to tons of bands, whether they know it or not. If you haven't listened to his stuff yet, you absolutely should make your next purchase one of his.


There wasn't really a formal schedule of acts anywhere, but folks in the know around me were saying I should get upstairs in the balcony because the next act, The Evens, was going to play there. The balcony, really?? Kind of hard to imagine this setup upon first knowledge, but then Evens guitarist/singer Ian MacKaye has always been one to think outside the lines.


That's right, it was that Ian MacKaye, of Fugazi and Minor Threat, the rough and tumble hardcore punk bands, and his wife, drummer Amy Farina. Playing lovely harmonic songs that have simple but bursting melodies and hooks. Not at all what I expected, but I loved it. It's not aurally thrashing like "Waiting Room," and no, you can't slam dance to it. But it is still punk rock: utterly minimal and lovely yet still stripped down and strong.



And they played their set in the damn balcony like it was their living room! If that ain't punk rock, I dunno what is.


Henry Rollins was supposed to be the evening's MC but his plane had been delayed. So Hurwitz and Josh Burdette, the iconic 930-night manager (below), stepped up in the interim to introduce the next act.


Of all the acts of the evening, probably the youngest was Justin Jones. Jones' musicial style is in an alt-country vein with a side of Springsteen. He and his band, The Driving Rain, are mainstays in local DC-area clubs.


Around this time, I happened to glance over the backstage area and lo and behold...Rollins in the house!

(My very poor attempt at capturing MacKaye and Rollins together)
Rollins, MacKaye, and Bob Mould stood in the sidestage area for a bit and it was an almost-comical contest amongst the photographers as to who could catch the best shot of all of them together (tough, as a ton of folks were milling about).

Rollins came onstage to a loud wave of shouts and cheers. He first apologized for his delay (flight issues), then went on to introduce Mould. Rollins spoke of Mould's history and amazing chameleon musical changes from punk (Husker Du), to pop (Sugar), to pro-wrestling scriptwriter, to dance music (Mould's Blowoff DJ nights have been a 930-club staple for years now). Rollins also said that Mould has an auto-biography coming out next spring!!


Mould's long been a huge favorite of mine so his set was one I was most looking forward to (favorite living-in-DC story: I ran into Mould once at the meat counter of the local Whole Foods- yes, I totally dorked out, and yes, he was totally nice).


The man still rips up an electric guitar like no one else, tearing up tracks like "See a Little Light" and "Hoover Dam." His acoustic tour back in the early 90s was the first show I saw as an undergrad, and I obtained a whole new appreciation for his songs. To this day, I'm still trying to find an acoustic version of "Hardly Getting Over It."

Following Mould is hard if you're anyone, but Ted Leo gave it a hell of a try.


His set was interesting, and he pulled out a song that he wrote "back when I lived up in Mount Pleasant," a DC-neighborhood, "and haven't played it in as many years." His voice let out towards the end of it but he soldiered on. He twittered throughout the night about the show, and about his set, he said "Hey - thank you for your kind tweets about my set - sorry my voice crapped out - fatigue, et al. 'Twas fun though, & I'm honored to be here."

Rumors abounded since the show's announcement last week as to whether DC-native/club owner/VA property owner Dave Grohl would be appearing. And, as Rollins' said in his intro, "Well sports fans I have an answer for you, and that answer is yes, yes, yes." As you can imagine, the place went nuts.



Grohl went into a solo version of "Everlong," which was nice. However, the reunion with his first band Scream for the rest of the set is what blew the house down, because a) it was Scream, and b) they were doing covers of fellow DC-band The Bad Brains. Thank God for earplugs because the 930 crowd went ballistic.


The last band I stayed for was The Pietasters. Ska was a big part of DC music back in the day, so having the 'Tasters play was an obvious choice. Perfect music for a summer night.

See additional photos from all sets here
I couldn't stick around for the final bands, Clutch and Trouble Funk, but all accounts said they were just as great. Chris Richards from the Washington Post, did a great write up on the show with details that you should read (he even namechecked yours truly!!!)

All in all, it was a thrilling night to capture. The 930 Club is a super special place to a lot of people for a lot of reasons, and consistently remains the best place anywhere to see a show. If you ever get to DC, do not miss an opportunity to visit. It may not be made of marble and packed with tourists, but make no mistake, the 930 Club is just as much of a DC-monument as anything along the National Mall. Happy 30th 930 Club, and here's to many more!