Capital Swamp: The DC Resource Thread

What's odd it that it seems to be only the EDM scene that really tries to escape the city - the most successful go-go and indie artists are, if anything, too tied to DC.

Is it odd that the most interesting and boosterish electronic dance DJ in DC over the last year has been Bob Mould?

The DC go-go artists have seemingly given up on being national and international acts (go-go hasn't crossed over) although Chuck Brown gets flown to Japan periodically to play.

Dischord indie rockers are always playing worldwide but such gigs just never get much local press here. Q and Not U are also booked to play that big fest coming up in California over the summer(Coachatella or something). Black Eyes toured Europe awhile back.

Why did they locate it in Georgetown? You can only make so much money from selling prog to white hats from GW. Better to be on U st with a big deep house section. They never seemed to have their shit together anyways. They cheated me out of $40 once but totally inadvertantly. I had my revenge during their clearance sale I guess.

As for Q and not U, I tried to see their last show at the Black Cat and ended up waiting in line for an hour by myself. As I was waiting, the show sold out. That is all. They need to play here more often.

I always wanted to check out the Grits & Gravy dj night at Bar Nun... Years ago I saw DC rappers Opus Okuben playing with a live band at the now defunct Metro Cafe. Wow, they were great. Now they just mostly play Europe, sometimes with Ny jazz guy Steve Coleman. They were at Black Cat around New Years Eve but I missed them.

anyways, wednesday night P Brotzmann is playing with Hamid Drake and William Parker. Its at Twins on U st (btw 13th and 14th?) at 8pm.

DC 9 is in the original Asylum space, I'm not sure what it was between then and now. Half the music I've heard played there has been great indie/hip hop/disco, the other half has been too much midrange compressed guitar and singers that sound like they're in beer commercials. Which is a better hit rate than most places, but the DJs seriously can't mix or sequence their tracks.

List of EDM events is not so good. Seems like no place is doing well with regular nights and lineups are changing like crazy. And Cubik is filling the main room at Nation with the level of talent that would have played the front room at Buzz.

how long have you been in DC? what is the reason for the instability?

Is the below show which is at the Ottobar coming to DC?

Thursday March 25th
DEFINITIVE JUX PRESENTS:
Murs
The Perceptionists
(Feat. Mr. Lif, Akrobatik, DJ Fakts One)
RJD2, C Rayz Walz
Hangar 18, SA Smash and more
Doorsat 8pm/ Show at 9pm- ALL AGES

3 years! I want stuff NOW ;)

I've been complaining to friends for 2 or so years that I wish someone would book all of the Afropop and Latin acts that play for free in Central Park in NY each summer, in DC... So I'll have to form my own group to do this...

There's the once.twice festival coming up in Baltimore next month-

April 15th - 17th, 2004
Baltimore's 4th Annual
once.twice:festival of sound and video art feat.
AKUFEN . DIMBIMAN . AGF . CHRISTOPHER WILLITS .
DABRYE . SUE COSTABILE . MATTHEW DEAR .
GHISLAIN POIRIER. NAUTICAL ALMANAC.JIMMY EDGAR
MYLENA BERGERON . CAROLINE HAYEUR .
SCOTT PAGANO + more TBA

once.twice also runs the occasional Treatment night at Sonar, the last one in November featured Magda and Sammy Dee.

On a different note, any musicians (d.j.'s?) who wanna perform for free outdoors or maybe at Carter Barron or other locations during the June 18-21st 2nd annual Fete de la Musique DC should call 202-724-5614 or e-mail jose.dominguez@dc.gov . There will also be meetings at the DC Arts Commission, 410 8th St. NW , 5th Fl. on Mon. 3-15 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 and on Thurs. 3-18 from noon to 1.

I'm trying to encourage them to expand the musical horizons of this event...

Five is a great venue, nearly perfect, but the different promoters that do nights there only really book house, d+b, and reggae. There was the electroclash/breaks night there, too, but that's over and has turned into a retro night.

9:30 Club, as you mentioned, is a live music venue. They'll have the occasional DJ, but it always comes off as a bit out of place.

It costs a lot of money to run a club in DC due to the scarcity of suitable spaces. In a town with 8-foot ceilings in 95% of all buildings, there’s going to be a lot of competition for the remaining few with large open spaces. Permitting, safety codes, and accessibility standards are pretty tightly enforced, which means you have to sink a lot of money into a space before you can do anything with it. This goes for bars, dance clubs, live music clubs, and pretty much everything. And don't even get me started on ANC's and "voluntary agreements".

"After over 4 years in business, the owners of Now! Music and Fashion
have decided to close permanently, so we can move on and pursue
other opportunities. We've had a blast talking to you about music,
putting on instore performances, and participating in the local
community. But the best thing about running a record store has been
the opportunity to meet you. Many thanks to our loyal customers and
friends we've made along the way.

We will be having a going-out-of-business sale beginning this
weekend. All clothing and music (except consignments and bargain bin
stuff) will be on sale for 30% off the regular price."

So I don't think DC's gone utterly down the pan. Close, but not gone yet.

They're also stocking the Ellen Allien album and remixes, Coloma's Finery. I think I even saw that Damon Album demo double 10" there, too!

Melody on Conn. Ave. is very underrated - I always thought they were better than DCCD for keeping up with current releases and pointing customers in the right direction. Good international and classical sections, too.

I also have given them a list of stuff I'd like. They have an account with Forced Exposure, so I'll soon have the Lawrence album I've been gasping to hear for ages.

Re: Melody: While they're matchless on international, classical and jazz, their electronic section is showing conspicuous gaps since Joel, who used to buy for the electronic section left for Baltimore at the end of last year. CD Warehouse deserve to clean up!

The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities invites musicians to participate in the 2nd Annual Fête de la Musique DC. The Fête is an internationally recognized music festival that marks the first days of summer. Festival dates are June 18-21, 2004 with performances throughout the afternoon and evening. The Arts Commission is sponsoring special workshops for area musicians interested in participating in the Fete and conducting live auditions for “acoustic” and “acapella” musicians and performers.

All types of musicians and bands interested in learning more can attend one of two special festival workshops. The workshops will provide valuable information on how musicians can participate and receive promotional assistance from the Arts Commission. The workshop dates are:

Dates and Times: Monday, March 15, 2004 at 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM

Thursday, March 18, 2004 at 12 Noon – 1 PM

P Place: DC Arts Commission, 410 8th Street NW, 5th floor

Please call (202) 724-5614 or send an email to jose.dominguez@dc.gov with any questions that you may have.

st ex has chimay, stella and delerium and a few more that i cant remember on draft. really nice people there. the barback, by mistake, bussed my last cigarette and matches when i went up to the bar to get another beer. when i mentioned this to the bartender, he gave me matches, a regular hooked me up with a cigarette, and a woman who was with the DJ said she was going out a cigarette run, and asked me what i wanted. i was actually confused by kindess.

My attempts to get the DC Arts Commisssion to add more indie-rock, Latin, African, go-go and hiphop to the upcoming June 20th Free Music Fete seem to have run into bureacratical walls and lack of money. Oh well, I tried.

Oh that’s sad. I think I last saw he and his band outside for free at a gig associated with the Funk Parade I think.

Holloway fund is getting donations.

was away over the weekend and have been going to less gigs last week or so than I usually do, so I haven't the new presence of Trump's feds yet. Quiet over the line here in MD

haven't observed the new presence ...

Per Eat_DC on X on Aug 6 (h/t
): Nightclub/event space 618 DC (618 H St NW) is taking over the former Rock & Roll Hotel space at 1353 H St NE. I saw UK dub reggae DJ Mad Professor @ 618 H where they have also had a bunch of techno dj events & some Asian City Pop ones .

A joint venture between restaurateurs Geoff Dawson and Curt Large on Wednesday acquired the Source Theatre building at 1835 14th St. NW for $4.5 million, per D.C. land records.

It's unclear what the restaurateurs' plans are for the property. Dawson could not be reached for comment and Large declined to comment, though he has discussed plans for repurposing the property with others, according to a source familiar with the situation.
It wouldn't be the first time Large, behind Rosslyn's Continental Beer Garden, has aligned with Dawson, whose businesses include Astro Beer Hall, Highline RxR and Penn Social. The pair have teamed up on Iron Horse Taproom, Mackey's Crystal City and Rocket Bar.
Their joint venture, 1835 14th Street LLC, acquired the property from the Cultural Development Corp., better known as CulturalDC, which listed the property for sale in October 2024 at an initial asking price of $5.8 million. The nonprofit, which supports innovative arts across disciplines, owned the building since 2006.
The Constellation Theatre Co., which has occupied space at the building since 2007, tried to buy the property but said its offer of $4.1 million expired in April when CulturalDC did not respond. Cushman & Wakefield represented Constellation.
Quincy Jones, the nonprofit's director of development and communications, said in an email that CulturalDC had solicited bids from nonprofits with a "view towards sustaining the space for the DC arts and culture community" but ultimately chose the Dawson-Large LLC after conducting "a competitive and proactive process."
CulturalDC moved to sell the building due to what it called "Covid-related financial shortfalls" that continue to pressure arts venues across the city.

Washington Biz Journal article

Went to an Orioles game in Baltimore tonight. They lost. On the way home was seeing online about how Trump's feds are everywhere in an ugly and intrusive way - Adams Morgan, Mt Pleasant, Benning Rd NE, Montana Ave NE. Some are just walking around and being annoying, but ICE is disappearing people.

I am seeing some mostly Black working class folks say that no matter what people are saying about crime numbers being down, they still think more needs to be done. I am also seeing the Washington Post editorial on this and longtime columnist Marc Fisher assert the same (Fisher also says dumb things like Trump "instinctively understands that the city feels unsafe" when in actuality, it has long been well-documented that Trump has seen little of D.C., and just has a long history of attacking Democratic run cities, especially ones with Black mayors. Fisher also says without any factual basis and with a racist tone "presumably stolen ATVs." Years ago Fisher defended the the name of the Washington football team, and I am probably forgetting other questionable things he has said over the years.

Yes, it would be great if DC was really helped, but thinking the guy who pardoned the J6 insurrectionists and hired doge has any interest in actually helping the people of DC is incredibly naïve. The Republican House has withheld a billion dollars of DC's budget, and they and Trump have no interest in financially supporting DC schools, mentor programs, job training, rehab, help for the homeless, training and education for prison inmates, etc.

When I was leaving the 930 club in dc Thursday night there was a helicopter buzzing around as part of Trump’s takeover

Following dc news online I have seen a photo of a homeless man in a wheelchair handcuffed with a “spitbag “ placed over his head surrounded by the 3 cops arresting him near a Metro station.

There’s a hearing today for activist Afeni who got pepper sprayed and handcuffed for filming dc metro cops who were standing with 3 teens out past the dc youth curfew put in place awhile back.

Trump’s Feds sent a crew of 10 to do a filmed video of their 2nd time arresting the guy who threw a sub sandwich at an fbi officer. A grand jury refused twice to indict sandwich guy for the felony charge that former Fox News and now dc prosecutor brought. The felony charge would have sent him to jail for 8 years and found that he had physically injured the officer

...but that charge didn't cut the mustard

My doomscrolling this morning though sadly started with Facebook notices that Jay Jenc died (unrelated to political stuff). 2 years ago I previewed for Washington City Paper a double-bill with dc-area vocalist Jay Jenc singing rockabilly with his own band Jumpin’ Jupiter & pub rock with Oil City Confidential. Now seeing on Facebook that Jenc, who was also a restaurant chef by day, has passed away . Way too soon.

x-post -- activist Afeni got released.

Saw a bunch of military vehicles parked between Lincoln Memorial and those volleyball courts in dc.

On IG and Bluesky seeing that ICE are aggressively targeting delivery drivers on mopeds and aggressively attacking and arresting them, while wearing masks and refusing to identify themselves or the agency they work for.

Defend the District- something for the People w/ TOB, Pressure Band, Yaddiya & local community leaders on Thursday August 21 from 6 to 8:30 @ 14th & U Sts NW Washington DC

Yaddiya's doing a rally again

Nearly half of the arrests (135) made since Trump sent in ICE, DEA, FBI , and National Guard have been made of undocumented immigrants. I also read about a number of Venezuelan moped food delivery guys being arrested as part of that 135 number . I bet most do not have criminal records

Free Dc rally at 14th & U with Yaddiya

TOB with bouncebeat versions of Killing Me Softly and Beautiful Day , for the win

I have sometimes seen free music gigs at union station usually jazz or rnb or gospel. I wonder whether those will continue now that Trump’s Department of Transportation has announced they have taken over Union Station.

I think dot, Amtrak, and dc government have all had different ideas on how to run Union Station

https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/769838/punk-rock-karaoke-raises-money-for-food-not-bombs-dc-and-afro-plus-fest-heads-to-rfk-city-lights-for-aug-28-sept-3/

I previewed Sunday's Afro Plus fest at the RFK Stadium grounds

Curmudgeon any tips for me? I’m going to the Black Cat to see Matmos on Saturday and I know there’s secret police all over that area. If it’s an issue, my brother and I present as “extremely white”.

And “oafish”

Special wing in Guantanamo for Matmos fans iirc

If you are driving get there early to find a parking spot. At Black Cat you can then get up close to the stage (or take the approach I sometimes do and stand on the bench along the wall on the right which allows you to see over the crowd). If you are still there at 3 am on a nearby street and a 19 year-old who calls himself Big Balls gives you trouble, punch him (but make sure ICE aren't around)

From Washington Post article on Matmos this week:

The group’s show at the Black Cat this weekend will pull mostly from “Metallic Life Review” and its predecessor, “Return to Archive,” whose compositions were based on spoken-word samples from the Smithsonian Folkways library. “It’s a strange set because it’s very take-no-prisoners musique concrète at the start, and then it’s quite disco at the end,” Daniel notes. “So we’re trying to give you all the Matmos food groups.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/2025/08/27/matmos-concert-dc/

Saw the post article too, thanks!

I saw some nice clips of Matmos at Black Cat in some IG stories. I didn't go.

I went to the Defend the District rally with TOB playing bouncebeat versions of Bill Withers, Roberta Flack and more, and activists and speakers including DC councilmember Robert White talking. Only about 150 there. That crowd included some great beat ya feet dancers. I later stopped by briefly at the "Shaken not Stirred" free go-go series at District E near the Regal Movie theatres on 7th Street. Major League Band was playing and Sirius Company were on later. This nice series of 7:30 to 11 pm go-go shows is not well publicized.

We’d seen Matmos several
times before, most recently at last year’s free concert at the Hirschhorn, so we ultimately didn’t go this time.

My September 2025 DC area Global Music and more concert calendar is up @ steve k blogspot dot com

Doh, forgot to put in some Songbyrd shows but have now fixed that . So many old folks rock acts and interesting younger ones on September 23-

Sex Pistols w/ Glen Matlock & guest vocals by Frank Carter at 930 ; Water From Your Eyes, Her New Knife, Aunt Katrina @ Atlantis (critic fave alt rock)

Stereolab @ Howard Theatre (sold out)

Buzzcocks, Pink House, Dot Dash @ Union Stage ( legendary UK pop punk headliners still @ it despite death of Pete Shelley)

*Mary Lattimore, Elias Ronnenfelt @ Songbyrd (Lattimore is a harpist) *

Lots of national guard here at the wharf . I am inside Anthem now waiting for Pulp to start

Pulp was mostly fun. I had family stuff happening and missed seeing Brazil bloco Ile Aiye who I had enjoyed my one time at carnival in Salvador Bahia Brazil, and hadn’t been to dc in 25 years. Oh well.

So I updated my concert calendar with more art all night event specifics.

That This , newish band with members of Ex Hex and Priests) playing Friday for free at 7:30 @ 4718 14th street

Go-go block party outside MLK library plus lots of go-go in se and ne

Gonna see Sparks tonight at the Lincoln Theater

That was one of several cool shows last night. I have been going out less as wife is home recovering from ankle and foot surgery. She encourages me to still go see stuff myself but I only do that some of the time.

I like Lincoln Theatre shows .

The 9:30 empire runs a tight ship.

Saw so many cool go-go, Latin, and more Art All Night clips on Instagram (was home with visiting relatives) . DC also had Ekko Astral opening at Anthem, cool stuff out in Silver Spring this weekend, and on Sunday a visiting relative and I saw Waxahatchee, Dylan, Willie Nelson and more at the tight ship run Merriweather Post. Yay DC area

Kinda randomly ended up in the underground beneath Duppnt Circle Sat night and it was a fun scene. Some band playing; no idea who they were. But yay DC.