The Scene

MusicDetour.com’s commentary on music, performances, and the DC metro area music scene

Looking to take your special someone to see some music for Valentine’s Day? After being snowed in for what seems like all winter, hopefully everyone will be able to get out this Sunday either to celebrate with their better half or party and find a better half (at least for the night).  There’s nothing like some live music to set the mood you are looking for. A list of shows in the Washington, DC metro area is after the jump. (more…)

A great show is coming this weekend. It seems fitting that in the run-up to Mardi Gras, 9:30 Club will be bringing some second-line funk to DC. Galactic will be jamming at 9:30 Club this Saturday, February 6th with special guest Cyrill Neville (of the Neville Brothers).  Doors open at 8pm. Tickets are $25, so get them while you can. Also performing: Cedric Burnside and Lightnin Malcolm.

One of the great things about Blues Alley is the fact that you can catch artists for multiple nights over the course of a weekend. This weekend Roy Ayers is performing at Blues Alley Thursday, January 28th – Sunday, January 31st at 8pm and 10pm each night. That means that have you have 8 total chances to catch Ayers and his vibraphone, so if you are busy all weekend, you may be able to catch him Sunday night. It also means that you could catch more than one show. Most acts play different shows each night with different set-lists (and of course improvisation). So go to Blues Alley this weekend and watch anywhere from 1 – 8 shows.

One of the best shows in the area this week will be The BreakUps‘ CD release party at The Black Cat’s intimate Backstage on Thursday.  Both live and on disc you can expect to hear great familiar old garage grooves in infectious new combinations.  In their own right, The Scotch Bonnets are an intriguing addition to our local scene that should complement The Breakups nicely as the opener.  For only $8, this will be a fun night at a bargain rate.

If you can’t get enough of The Roots five nights a week on Jimmy Fallon’s show (which you probably can’t), you’re in luck as they hit a mini-tour during their holiday break from the show. No doubt they’ll be bumpin’ their yet-to-be-released-album “How I Got Over” along the way. They’re going to be stopping in DC at the 9:30 Club twice (December 29th and December 30th). Doors open at 7pm for both shows and tickets are $45. I’ve seen the band at 9:30 club twice and both shows were The Roots at their best – I have seen them other times at other places and the shows can’t compare. While it is only a 5 stop, 6 night tour, they are going from coast to coast (dates after the jump). (more…)

Every year thousands of people come to Washington, DC to see fireworks on the National Mall for Independence Day. While DC may not be Philadelphia (where the Declaration of Independence was written) or Yorktown, VA (where the Revolutionary War was won), the Nation’s Capitol is one of the best destinations to celebrate the summer’s biggest holiday. There is a lot of music playing throughout the region all weekend long (by the way it’s great when the 4th falls on a Saturday), so make sure you check-out the schedule after the jump. (more…)

With good weather in the forecast for the first weekend in a longtime, it’s time to venture out this Memorial Day Weekend and experience all the live music that Washington, DC has to offer. People usually take Memorial Day to be the official start of Summer (in advance of the Summer Solstace of course) and that means that the summer concerts will begin really heating up. While Delfest will be taking place all weekend in Western MD, there’s some great music going on around town. Friday you might want to go to Iota and check out Eric Brace, Last Train Home and Vandaveer at 9pm or maybe head out to Fat Tuesday’s in Fairfax to see Redshift, Agents of the Sun and Three Legged Fox at 10pm. On Saturday take a trip out to Annapolis and catch Clones of Funk at The Whiskey at 9pm. The Dirty Dozen Brass Band will be jammin’ at The State Theatre on Sunday at 9pm – if I had to pick one show to hit this weekend, this would be it. Things die down on Monday, but everyone will probably be busy at barbeques anyway. See everything going on this weekend after the jump.

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Ben Harper is dropping by the 930 Club on Monday, May 4th to promote his new album, “White Lies for Dark Times“. The title of the album seems to speak for the current economic problems that we are facing. the official release date for the album is Tuesday, May 5th, so get the leg up on everyone and go to the show and buy it there. Or pre-order the album here.  He’s no longer with The Innocent Criminals and now has the back-up band the Relentless7 for his 9th studio album. Doors open for Monday’s show at 7:00pm. Don’t miss this show!

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