Thursday, July 12
Tonight is for throwback acts—Pink Floyd’s
Roger Waters comes through again with his extremely successful “The Wall” tour, while
Germany’s
Scorpions are going to rock Merriweather like a hurricane, if their old bones
can withstand the vibrations.
Roger Waters: 8 PM at Verizon Center, $65 to $280(!).
Scorpions: 6:30 PM at Merriweather, $45 to $75.
Friday, July 13
Mexican-American indie rockers
Girl in a Coma were discovered by Joan Jett and have the attitude to match. Sisters
Nina and Phanie Diaz have grown up with attitude—Nina was just 13 years old when she joined the band. They’ll be playing cuts off their upcoming
album,
Exits & All the Rest, at Red Palace.
8 PM at Red Palace, $10.
With a name like
Murder by Death, you’d expect hardcore or
maybe metal, but the Bloomington, Indiana, band skews more rock-country,
with lyrics inspired by
horror films. Think edgy country-western movie—except that
country-western movie is about the devil or a zombie or
something.
9 PM at Black Cat, $15.
Saturday, July 14
Just a week after the Fourth of July, the man who personally offered to put a boot in your ass to demonstrate his patriotism
makes the trip to DC. While
Toby Keith is probably best known for
Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue, he’s had 20 number-one country hits. And he’s not all that stereotypical politically, either—he kinda-sorta supports Obama,
and, in country music’s approximation of a rap beef, he had a major feud with the
Dixie Chicks a couple years back.
7 PM at Jiffy Lube Live, $30 to $90.
Sunday, July 15
Brooklyn’s
El-P, whose name I just now finally understood, has been a major force in the underground rap scene for more than a decade, but
he might finally start getting noticed by mainstream audiences: May’s
Cancer 4 Cure got glowing reviews, and he seems to
have more momentum now than
ever.
8 PM at Rock & Roll Hotel, $25.
Monday, July 16
With
The
Shape of Punk to Come, Sweden’s
Refused wrote the defining hardcore punk
album. It took them 14 years to reunite after their 1998 breakup, but
after a couple successful
shows in New York, they’re doing a short tour. If you care at
all about punk music, don’t miss
them.
8 PM at the Fillmore, $30.
Tuesday, July 17
We might be a couple of hours from the nearest surf
spot (not that surfing in Ocean City is even a remotely enjoyable
experience),
but local rockers
Beach Week will make you feel like you’re on a beach somewhere in Hawaii.
8 PM at Black Cat, $8.
Speaking of the Best Coast (East Side Rollas 4 Life), LA’s
Best Coast are probably the best surf-pop band out there right now, even if their name is a lie. The sugary sweet, garage-rocky duo
recently released their second album,
The Only Place, and it’s cemented their
popularity—check Craigslist for tickets to their sold-out 9:30 Club
show.
8 PM at 9:30 Club, sold out.
Wednesday, July 18
It’s hard to think of a band more universally liked—or at least not hated—than
Wilco. Last year’s
The Whole Love showed up on just about every best-of
2011 list you could think of, and their genre-bending, ever-changing
sound means there’s
a Wilco song out there for
everyone.
8 PM at Wolf Trap, $35 to $45.
