Things to Do

Listen Up!

Listen Up! brings you songs of bands and performers coming through town in the next week. Listen up, then go check them out live.

Playlist no longer available. 

Tuesday, August 26
• Detroit band the Silent Years brings its guitar-driven pop sound and frontman Josh Epstein’s charming falsetto to the Black Cat’s backstage for a show alongside Don’t Be Glib.

Janelle Monae, whose frenetic blend of alternative, soul, and rock music is apparently matched by her onstage antics, drops by for a show at Iota. We’re curious to see what type of show Monae puts on at such a small venue.

Wednesday, August 27 (NOTE: THIS SHOW HAS BEEN CANCELED)
• We know the feeling: Another British chanteuse? But 19-year-old Adele impressed us with a cover of the Racounteurs’ “Shades of Black.” She is, to quote Victoria Beckham, major in London, and her sultry voice has helped her pick up some serious buzz here. See for yourself what the fuss is all about tonight when Adele plays the 9:30 Club.

Thursday, August 28
• Fifteen years later and Exile in Guyville is still the definitive Liz Phair album. Heck, it may just be the definitive female rock album, period. Since Guyville, Phair has done—how to put it nicely?—less-than-stellar work, and these days she’s on Dave Matthews’s ATO Records. Luckily, tonight’s show at the 9:30 Club is all about old-school Liz Phair. You know, the one who showed some nipple action, not the one singing a Matrix-produced song.

Saturday, August 30
• Apparently (at least according to its MySpace page), local band Bellman Barker calls DC’s Petworth neighborhood home. That’s reason enough for us to love the band—and to try to stalk its members. Those looking for a more compelling argument as to why the band’s show at the Black Cat is worth checking out should listen to “Two Bees.”

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