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.

https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/791540/fall-arts-guide-2026/

I have 7 music events previews in the Washington City Paper 2026 Fall Arts special. I pitched to my editor countless events in multiple genres and she decided which ones she wanted. So you can read my previews of SE DC's funky Cruddy Crankerz (w/ TOB) Saturday Sept 19 at Fort Dupont Park (The NPS may not be doing gigs there but the Crankerz are); plus rap duo Armand Hammer on Sept. 27 @ Union Stage; rapper Open Mike Eagle & producer/keyboardist Kenny Segal @ Songbyrd October 13; Latin artsy indie pop supergroup Helado Tropical on Oct. 23 @ Black Cat; rapper Vince Staples on October 29 @ Fillmore Silver Spring; Afro-Peruvian singing legend Eva Ayllon w/ Peruvian salsa singer Daniella Darcourt on Nov. 1 @ the Howard Theatre; and country musicians Ashley Monroe w/ Charlie Worsham Nov. 4 @ the Birchmere .

More fall events

Sept. 16 on -AFI Latin American Film Fest
Sept. 17- Samir Langus (Moroccan gnawa blues melded with funk) , Light Beams (dc postpunk dance) @ Takoma Station (A Secret Planet produced show)
Sept 23- Cabaret Voltaire @ Howard Theatre (reunited early 1980s artsy postpunk dancey band)
L’rain @ dc 9 (critic fave Black experimental pop & neo-psych r&b)
Sept 25- K8A (Kaethe Hostetter) , Andy Betezema @ Rhizome ( American violinist Kaethe who lived in Ethiopia & played in bands there for 12 years has a solo project here in US now using violin, tape looping, & electronics)
Sept. 26-Glitterer, Posicio Unida, Somebody’s Daughter 4-7 pm free @ Sylvan Theater near Washington Monument (dc alt rock & punk)
Sept 27- Sonu Nigam @ Eaglebank (India bollywood playback singer)
Armand Hammer @ Union Stage (billy woods & another guy doing clever wordy underground rap)
Nicholas Payton “Supreme Blue” @ Blues Alley (New Orleans jazz star's hybrid tribute to Coltrane's Love Supreme & Mile Davis Kind of Blue)
Sept. 28- Rocketship, Lightheaded @ Pearl St Warehouse (acclaimed twee pop)
October 2 - Global Sounds on the Hill Featuring Mexican and Tejano Fiddle with Belen Escobedo @ Hill Center DC
October 9--3BallMty @ Fillmore (Mexican group pronounced tribal monty melded pop & trad sounds)
Oct. 13- Kelela @ Fillmore (artsy r&b)
Open Mike Eagle & Kenny Segal @ Songbyrd (underground wordy rap)
Chanel Beads @ Black Cat (young critic fave hyperpop shoegaze influenced indie rock )
Oct. 14- Sugar, J. Robbins @ Anthem (Sugar are the reunited 90s punk pop Bob Mould led band)
Burmese Harp movie at Freer Asian Art
Oct. 16- Guachinangos, Chicha Morada –Cumbia with a Mexican Jarocho flavor, Guachinangos features members from diverse cultural backgrounds. The band fuses Mexican son jarocho with Colombian cumbia and other Latin American rhythms, NY based w/ Chicha Morada opening @ Songbyrd
Oct 17- Blind Boys of Alabama gospel style tribute to Stevie Wonder's 1970s r&b classic Songs in the Key of Live @ Montgomery College
Oct 21- The Damned, Flamin Groovies, Courettes @ 930 Club (77 Brit punks The Damned, 1974 garage rockin Groovies, 21st Century Courettes )
Arcangel @ Eaglebank Arena
JPeg Mafia @ Echostage
Oct. 22 - Inner Spaces w/ Amir ElSaffer and Lorenzo Bianchi: Where traditional Arabic Maqam meets modern Sonic Innovation @ Hill Center ( Iraqi-American vocalist, trumpeter & santur/Persian hammered dulcimer player ElSaffer & electronics musician Bianchi are Inner Spaces)
Oct 23- Helado Tropical, the debut collaborative album from Helado Negro and Reyna Tropical, @ Black Cat (great new collaboration with male & female vocals melding pop & alternative & indie Latin sounds)
Oct 24- Peni Candra Rini with Shahzad Ismaily & Andy McGraw / Alex Koi x Kirin McElwain
@ Rhizome (powerful artsy Indonesian singer & South Asian jazzy musician Ismaily & richmond, va musicians)
Oct 29- Vince Staples @ Fillmore (rap)
Afro-Cuban Allstars @ Strathmore (classic salsa and latin jazzy sounds)
Oct 30- Heavens to Betsy @ Black Cat (Corin Tucker from Sleater Kinney’s 1st band w/ drummer Tracy Sawyer reunited )
Nov 1- Eva Allyon & Daniella Darcourt @ Howard Theatre (Afro-Peruvian legendary singer )
Nov. 4- Ashley Monroe and Charlie Worsham @ Birchmere (clever critics friendly country w/ a bit of pop to it also)
Nov. 5- Tul8te @ Fillmore (Egyptian singer/rapper)
Nov 7-Devin the Dude @ Black Cat (wacky old rapper)
Nov. 8- William Basinski @ Bette @ Bertha (critic fave avante-garde ambient composer who uses loops from his old decaying tapes)
Nov. 9- The Tubs & Slippers @ Songbyrd (Brit folk meets punk headliners)
Nov 10- Deerhoof, That This, Jackie Cougar & the Vampyres from Africa @ Black Cat (Deerhoof are bay area artsy punk vets w/ dc openers)
Nov 15- Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto, Fruko, and Carmelo Torres present Madre Cumbia @ Union Stage (cumbia)
Nov 16- Greg Freeman, Robber Robber @ Atlantis (rock)
Jalen Ngonda @ 930 (Daptone label retro r& b)
Nov. 19- The Saami Brothers Qawwali 7pm @ Church of the Epiphany, 1317 G St NW (unique Pakistani music singers & musicians)
Nov 20-Caroline @ Howard Theatre (Critic fave Brit alt rock)
Nov. 28- Manhattans feat. Gerald Alston @ Birchmere (old school soul)

what the heck is bette @bertha?

It's a newish compound for mostly techno but ocassionally other genres build on what I think was once the BET cable television space (but they deserted DC). Oops and I spelled it wrong its Behrta (apparently named after some German techno club) and it apparently has 2 smaller rooms Bette and Bananas. Or so I have read, I haven't been there

Oops again- it's Berhta

https://www.berhtaclub.com/

Grouper is at the Lincoln Theatre tomorrow night

Yea, that's one of many good options this weekend. Alas, I have a conflict Saturday night and won't be seeing any music that night.

I wrote up this Saturday choice for Washington City Paper-

In 2012, Southeast’s Lady Moet the Beast and D.C. Ty the Monster began performing together with a band and called themselves the Cruddy Crankerz. Moet previously sang in 1990s go-go group Petworth, and Ty had a background in rapping and producing. In 2023, after receiving a grant from the city, they began booking the Cruddy Chronicles Summer Concert Series, free gigs with large rosters of lesser known rap, R&B, and go-go bands willing to play for free at Fort Dupont Park, Anacostia Park, and the Sylvan Theater near the Washington Monument. These shows brought them some much-deserved attention. In subsequent summers, the Cruddy Crankerz continued booking concerts across the city—although Moet, aka Chanel Cowan, tells City Paper they have been denied grants from 2024 on and are currently working as Uber Eats delivery bike riders to pay for the shows. Billing themselves as “crud rock,” their 2023 album, The Cruddy Corner, and their 2024 Return of the Savages release both cleverly blended 1970s era Funkadelic rhythms with soul, blues, and 21st-century rap and jazz touches. Their 2026 album, Banned from the Go-Go, adds more go-go rhythms to the mix. “Big Girls Don’t Cry They Bounce Back” blends go-go and R&B with a clever mix of spoken and sung vocals. Moet also taunts popular go-go bands that rely on covers when she chants that the Crankerz are just doing “original music.” The National Park Service might not be hosting concerts at Fort Dupont Park this year, but the Crankerz are and they’ll be joined on this eight-hour bill by one of D.C.’s top bouncebeat go-go bands TOB, experimental rapper and producer Black Moses, go-go band A Level Up, rapper Bobby Drake, and others. The Cruddy Crankerz play at 7 p.m., but the concert starts at 2 p.m. on Sept. 19 at Fort Dupont Park. cruddycrankerz.com. Free.

I went to the Kennedy Center protest

i would have but my wife and I had a trivia night with some friends.

A good turnout - mostly older white folks who were also at No Kings protests and such, but a scattering of folks from other demographics

yeah my wife and I do our best to bring down the average age at classical concerts lol

https://thefutureisourstomake.substack.com/p/on-the-other-side-and-far-away?r=2ck8a&utm_medium=ios

Chris Richards wrote a little about the Grouper show at Lincoln Theatre and a record of theirs

The militarized capital, with National Guard troops and increasingly armed checkpoints and a PARADE with TANKS is such 20th century dictator cosplay.

Oops meant for other thread

Saturday is Fiesta dc, punk bands at sylvan theatre outside stage near Washington Monument, EU at MLK library, Proper Utensils go-go band at African American Museum 10th anniversary; cumbia fest in Mt Pleasant, Takoma Park folk fest , and more

Tonight the wife and I went to Rhizome where we saw K8A (Kaethe Hostetter) , Andy Betezema @ Rhizome ( K8A is violinist who played in bands in Ethiopia; now a solo project using violin, tape looping; Ethiopian Betezema plays & loops Ethiopian music. The little house that is Rhizome was crowded and included in the audience Brendan Canty and Joe Lally from Fugazi/Messthetics; Joe’s wife Antonia who is a photographer ; Brendan’s daughter Mabel of band Birthday Girl DC; Cheick Hamala Diabate locally based Malian musician; Rob Coltun musician and owner of Bossa ; members of an Ethiopian band called Zedicus ….

It was a good show

Rain could mess with these outdoor events

I went to a Howard Wuelfing talk Saturday about the anthology of his punk and postpunk zines Descenes and Discords at the Westover library in Arlington. Then I went to Sylvan Theatre near Washington Monument for the punk show . It was raining hard and windy and they were having tech issues while I was there . I gave up and of course shortly after I was driving away the rain let up a bit and the show continued.

Sunday I saw some salsa bands at Fiesta DC. On way back to Judiciary Square Metro I had to unfortunately walk through a big circle of DEA and apparently ICE guys weirdly having some sort of meeting on the public sidewalk. They wouldn’t really move and I had to kind of slide between them after saying “I can walk through here on this sidewalk, can’t I.” Hopefully they weren’t making plans to go grab Latinos at Fiesta DC.

Sunday night I saw rap duo Armand Hammer who I had previewed for Washington City Paper. When I was about to leave, singer Munit Mesfin who was there for the show , told me that the Roots had been added to the Smithsonian African American History Museum celebration at the Anthem. That Sunday evening show was free with a registration. They let a buddy of mine and I register and we walked in to a half empty Anthem and saw the Roots play a set from like 11:10 to 11:55!

Trump Kennedy Center “also dipped into the endowment for the Washington National Opera, a pot of donated money that is usually meant to go untouched. Charities generally only use the returns from its investment.”

From new Washington Post article on how egocentric grifter Trump killed the finances of Kennedy Center

quelle surprise

https://www.alternet.org/alternet-exclusives/kennedy-center-steinway-pianos/

paywalled article apparently says Kennedy Center's Trump mgmt is selling off its Steinway pianos.

Finally posted the Steve global music and more October blogspot dot com concert calendar

Per NYT- newly appointed Kennedy Center artistic director, Rick Canny's resumé includes working w/ Creed's Scott Stapp, & Motley Crue's drummer. He began consulting for the center a few months into President Trump’s takeover of it, pushing for more commercial, mass-market programming @ a nonprofit institution long rooted in classical music, dance, & theater

A new artistic director appointed at same time when they want to shut it down. Plus per NPR- during one month in early 2026, Canny had charged the center $30,000 in consulting fees. And in another month, Canny had charged over $28,000 in fees and travel expenses, including two first-class round-trip flights between Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

https://www.npr.org/2026/10/10/nx-s1-5996934/kennedy-center-rick-canny-new-artistic-director?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newspack%20Newsletter%20%28793160%29&utm_source=612a4959fd&utm_source=Editorial+and+Events&utm_campaign=de3476d393-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2026_10_13_04_30&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-de3476d393-403152024

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/09/arts/kennedy-center-trump-rick-canny.html

Kinda glad this Sugar show at Anthem tonight is not packed on the floor

hello from a balcony! lots pf room here

Bought a ticket to that Amir ElSaffar concert— thanks for the heads up, and I should read your listings more carefully!

Great. Thanks.

I also previewed Amir ElSaffar and Inner Spaces for Washington City Paper

https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/793518/city-lights-from-kara-swisher-to-the-hirshhorn-city-papers-picks-for-this-week-in-d-c/

In Washington City Paper fall arts special I have a preview of Latin indie folk pop meets lo-fi rnb of Helado Tropical

Unfortunately I am going to have to miss ElSaffar due to a family obligation.

Heard there were about 30 people there for ElSaffar's duo project. Only video clip I saw looked good (Secret planet dc the promoter posted it) . I did what I could in sharing around my City Paper write up, but the gig didn't get hype from other dc media (washingtonian, 730 dc email etc) , or capitalbop jazz website, or other jazz or Iraqi/middle eastern associated entities. Jazz w/ Iraqi maqam music and vocals at little Hill Center which doesn't have much of a budget or sizable mailing list was likely not an easy sell anyway.The room is small so 30 there, is like a gig at Rhizome sorta I guess.

DC bouncebeat go-go band TOB's take on rap song "Ghetto Love Story" rewritten as "I Just Wanna Dance" just got local NBC 4 news tv coverage and it has gotten countless viral video reels on social media with folks doing the Queen P choreography to it. It was the song of the summer for large segments of the DC area ( but not much crossover attention except from the NBC 4 story produced by go-go fan producer Justin M Stewart who is on Instagram as producer_stewart)

I saw Helado Tropical do their Latin bedroom pop at Black Cat last night. Why do some people pay to go to a concert and then talk and talk loudly? Was trying to hear singer Reyna on the mic between songs get all serious about life for people of color and the folks behind me woudn't stop chatting.

The Turnstile 3pm gig near the Washington Monument today has gotten massive coverage

I got that and the 2 pm Iraqi oud player Rahim AlHaj solo in the lobby of the “From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art” exhibit 2pm @ National Museum of Asian Art on my steve blogspot list (& mentioned at my dc global music Ig). Ha, my annoying marketing. Next I will share a video of me saying "Hello fellow kids..." I kid .

The ElSaffar concert was great, so glad I went.

and I wouldn’t have known about it if you hadn’t mentioned it last week!

Glad to have helped spread the word .