The Scene

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

One of the most recognizable voices in music belongs to Aaron Neville. His voice is immediately identifiable from one note alone. Tonight, Monday, June 30th, Aaron and his brothers, Art and Charles, will be performing at Rams Head Tavern (aka On Stage) at 7:00pm. Make sure you catch the soulful sound of The Neville Brothers in Annapolis, MD. If you can’t make it out to Annapolis tonight, they are also playing at the Birchmere in Alexandria, VA on Tuesday, July 1st at 7:30pm.

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There’s one band that continually sets attendance records touring the country and that band, the Dave Matthews Band, will be performing at the Nissan Pavillion in Bristow Virginia Saturday, June 28th. The gates at the Pavillion open at5:30pm. Whether you have seats up-front or out on the lawn, this is a great opportunity to see a now legendary group (that just happens to be from Virginia!). Opening up for the Dave Matthews Band is Michael Franti & Spearhead, one of the best reggae bands touring today.

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The State Theatre in Falls Church, VA is known for bringing some of the best national and regional acts to northern Virginia and tonight, June 27th, they will have some of the best local acts. Everyone But Pete, Sematic, NUMA and Blind Rhetoric are going to be playing and the order of the show is yet to be determined (so go early and stay late).  The doors open at 7pm and the show starts at 9pm. Tickets are $11 and you have to be 18 and older to get in.

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While Motown Records left the Motor City over 25 years ago, some of the original performers that made the label legendary are still out touring. Thursday night, June 26th, at Wolf Trap, The Four Tops and The Temptations will be performing their classic hits at Wolf Trap beginning at 8:00pm. Everyone knows their songs from “My Girl” and “Get Ready” to “Baby I Need Your Loving” and “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)”. You don’t want to miss this show because there is no telling how much longer these R&B legends are going to be touring the country. (more…)

Okay, I’m a Williamsburger and its important for me to point out that a fellow Williamsburger, Bruce Hornsby, will be playing at Wolf Trap on Wednesday night. Some of you may know him best as the keyboard/accordian player in the Grateful Dead in the early 1990s. Shortly there after, he went out on a solo career that has been quite successful among “Adult Contemporary.” One of the most interesting albums that he put out was a jazz trio that almost completely disguised his characteristic piano sound. Now he is out playing with Ricky Skaggs in a bluegrass trio. It is this blue grass trio that will be performing at Wolf Trap on Wednesday, June 25th. The show starts at 8:00 and Kentucky Thunder will be opening the show.
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Saturday the 21st and Sunday the 22nd are two big days in Fairfax. I know that people think that the Fairfax Fair is a big deal, but for the past 3 years, the Throwdown Local Music Festival has been the premier event in Fairfax to hear great local music. Be sure to drop by T.T. Reynold’s and The Auld Shebeen to Rock out. Also keep in mind that this may be the one of the last times to have an all-out “Throwdown” at T.T. Reynold’s.

Save T.T.’s 

For those of you familiar with T.T. Reynold’s, you probably know that its been struggling to stay open for a while now. Not that business is bad, people are still rockin’ out at the bar every night of the week. The struggle has been with big money, gentrification and the City of Fairfax. The owner of the building has been trying to sell to build a new building on the land that T.T’s is on. The owners of T.T’s tried to buy the building, but the developers are willing to pay more money than most small businesses could ever dream of coming up with. So the rumor on the street is that the last night for T.T. Reynold’s will be July 31st. I will follow this as I hear more about it.

Save T.T.’s

For all of the Beatles  fans out there, Thursday night should be a great night for you. Rain will be playing at Wolf Trap beginning at 8pm and their music is focused on bringing you the  “Beatles Experience”. What does that mean? Well, it means that they are a cover band that is dedicated to playing only music performed by The Beatles.  If you love the Beatles and want to sing along to your favorite tunes, go to Wolf Trap and rock-out to Rain and hopefully it doesn’t rain on the show.

While there is some great new music playing on Wednesday, June 18th, there’s also some music for those of you who like the older tunes. I can’t say that I’m the biggest fan of some of this music, it is fair to acknowledge that these groups were founders of not only music, but of movements. James Taylor is playing at Wolf Trap at 8pm for those that like the lighter side of music. For the classic rock fans Iron Maiden is playing with Lauren Harris at 5:30pm at the Merriweather Post Pavilion. Finally, ABBA will be bringing their brand of disco to the 9:30 Club (with a second show on Thursday) the doors open at 7:30pm.

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It can be difficult to find local music that you like to jam to because of so many choices at so many venues on any given night. Since no can be everywhere (and even I can be realistic that people don’t like to catch music every night of the week), it’s helpful to have a whole bunch of acts in one place. I’ve mentioned Locals Only Radio before to advertise their promotional shows at T.T. Reynold’s every Thursday, but this is bigger. This weekend, Saturday, June 21^st and Sunday June 22^nd, Locals Only Radio will be holding its third annual Throwdown Local Music Festival at The Auld Shebeen and T.T Reynold’s. (more…)