Thursday, July 26
Kristian Matsson is a singer-songwriter from
Sweden, but he sounds straight out of America’s heartland.
It might sound clichéd to compare any earnest, gravelly voiced
songwriter to Dylan,
but Matsson sounds pretty close. He’ll perform tonight as the
“Tallest Man on Earth.”
7 PM at 9:30 Club, sold out.
Fort Reno finishes up early next week—you’ve got two more shows to enjoy free local
music. Tonight, punk rockers
Mobius Strip headline;
More Humans and
Grammar open.
7 PM at Fort Reno, free.
Friday, July 27
Is it just me or is this summer the best time to be a fan of ’70s and ’80s hard and/or
soft rock musicians? Yet another legend stops by the Verizon Center—this time it’s
Rod Stewart. He’ll be joined by Fleetwood Mac’s
Stevie Nicks, who’s back to flying solo after
the band’s brief tour a couple of years
ago.
7:30 PM at Verizon Center, $55 to $150.
Now for something decidedly new. Music bloggers
All Things Go have shown they have impeccable
taste with their All Things Gold concert series,
which started a year ago. For their anniversary, they’re
throwing one hell of a blowout
at 9:30 Club, featuring New York’s the Knocks, who do some
remixes and some electronic
originals, and RAC, who has done remixes with the likes of
Phoenix and Bloc Party.
8 PM at 9:30 Club, $20.
Saturday, July 28
Somehow,
311 survived the nu-metal disaster of the early 2000s and have managed to stay popular-ish.
(The moral here is never go full screamy.) They blend reggae with radio-friendly rock,
but you knew that already from their many hits. Expect, ahem, smoky air out on the
lawn, especially with stoner reggae group
Slightly Stoopid opening.
6:30 PM at Jiffy Lube Live, $38 to $62.
Say what you will about J.Lo—the lady knows how to resurrect a career. Let’s see if Mariah Carey will follow the same path—take a job on
American Idol, perform on the show a couple times, announce a tour, and then get the hell out.
She and
Enrique Iglesias share the stage Saturday night.
7:30 PM at Verizon Center, $40 to $221.
Toad the Wet Sprocket is the worst band at breaking up ever. They officially parted ways in 1998 but are
seemingly always playing reunion shows. In 2010 they decided to call an end to the
charade and announced they’d be a band again. No new album yet, but we’ll gladly take
their hits from the early ’90s, which had to have paved the way for alt-poppers like
the Gin Blossoms and Goo Goo Dolls.
10:30 PM at the Hamilton, $58.50.
The Fairgrounds just outside of Nationals Park is hosting the first ever
Capitol Groove Fest, an all-day festival of local musicians. Don’t miss
Redline Graffiti or headliners
Drop Electric. Between the music, play cornhole and liquor yourself up at one of the many bars
there. It’ll be nice to see non-cover bands finally take the stage.
Noon at the Fairgrounds, $25.
Sunday, July 29
Metalheads, rejoice:
Anthrax,
Slipknot,
Slayer,
Motorhead, and more are coming to Jiffy Lube Live for the
Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. If you don’t like sick guitar solos, men in terrifying masks, or ridiculous beards,
avoid like the plague. Otherwise, bring your headbanging hat and your brand new air
guitar.
1:30 PM at Jiffy Lube Live, $26 to $84.
Monday, July 30
In a past life,
Santana was a mildly subversive guitarist who made songs like “Black Magic Woman.” Now he
makes songs with Rob Thomas and Vanessa Carlton, but that’s okay—how could anyone
hear “Smooth” and not sing along? His live performances are incredible and combine
a little bit from all phases of his career, so you won’t be disappointed either way.
Oh, and the
Allman Brothers are playing, too, so if you like well-written, guitar-driven songs, this is one not
to be missed.
5 PM at Merriweather, $45 to $125.
I warned you earlier: Fort Reno is done. Just like that—it happens every year. It
comes and you’ve got a couple happy hours or dinner plans or something and you miss
all of them. Here’s your last chance.
The
Mostly Bad Virus, who’ve been playing good old-fashioned rock-and-roll since 2005, headline this one.
7 PM at Fort Reno, free.
Tuesday, July 31
If you don’t know what surf rock is, listen to
Dick Dale’s “Miserlou,” which you’ll instantly
realize you’ve heard hundreds of times. Dale
essentially invented the genre, and although he hasn’t released
new songs in more
than a decade, he can still shred with the best of
them.
7:30 PM at Birchmere, $38.50.
Wednesday, August 1
Sometime in the past couple years, London’s
Bombay Bicycle Club found the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and either gave them a stern talking-to or
used their hipster nightsticks (are those cool now?) to knock them off their two-wheeled
club throne. They play catchy, jangly indie rock that you need to check out if you
haven’t.
7 PM at 9:30 Club, $20.
London deejay/composer
Gold Panda puts out electronic music that makes you feel like you’re in space, or at least on
an acid trip. But you can dance to it, which is what really matters.
9 PM at U Street Music Hall, $12.
