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.

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.

Not sure who's at H street NE fest today (they don't list bands in advance) although I did see a gospel go-go band Tru Worshiperz mention they will be there at 11th & H St NE at 2:30

I am curious about Prince Ndedi Eyango 40 years career anniv. w/ full band, Les Montagnards from Cameroon, guest Pierre Didi Tchakounte 8 pm @ Afrikabana Center in Laurel, MD (Cameroon singer/guitarist)

Maryland has lost 15,100 federal jobs since January — the most in the country. That includes 2,500 jobs lost in August, marking the second month in a row Maryland's seen the highest fed job losses among states

Iggy Pop at Anthem was fun last night. Got there early and stood close to the front.

Transmission is opening October 3rd in old Rock n Roll Hotel space on H St NE. Lots of electro dj dance plus some live music.

Still working on my October dc area music calendar. Some upcoming stuff--

Wed. Oct 1- *2024 film Las Muertes Mas Bellas del Mundo ("The Most Beautiful Deaths in the World") 7 pm @ AFI Silver (good Ellie Walton & Quique Aviles artsy film about DC-based El Salvador born poet Aviles and the trauma that haunts him from his birth country & life today. They worked together on earlier film La Manplesa)* also screening 10-9 @ MLK Library & 10-15 @ Montg. Coll. Cultural Center*

Thurs. Oct 2- Neko Case, Des Demonas @ Lincoln Theatre (rock); Yasmin Williams w/ Tre Charles @ Rams Head Annapolis; * Miramar 5-7 free @ Metropolitan Park National Landing/Crystal City/Arlington (boleros)* ; *Verny Varela @ Bossa (salsa); *TOB @ Fast Eddies*

Fri. Oct. 3- Soweto Gospel @ Hylton Manassas ; Punks for Palestine benefit Oct 3-5 @ St Stephens Church; *Amy Bormet big band tribute to Sweethearts of Rhythm 9 pm @ Theatre on the Run Arlington*; *Transmission opens in old RnR Hotel Space H St NE; *DJ Pedro Night 11 pm @ the Vamos Habibi party @ Vera Ivy City*;

*Sat. Oct 4- Yeison Landero, La Marvela 3-6* @ Lamont plaza; DC space & Rhizome DIY event 3pm @ MLK; E Ethelbert Miller 12-1pm @ nga*; Munit Mesfin sings Roberta Flack 9pm @ Theatre on the run Arlington* ; *go-go juke joint benefit for & @ go-go museum * ; Culture Fest Block Party w/ Freeze Int., DJ Young Chow, DJ Aakil 4-10 pm @ Arlington Beer Garden;Trace photo exhibit opening w/ photos by Lely Constantinople, Martina Fornace, Claire Packer , Antonia Tricarico 5-7 @ 5335 Wisc. Ave NW; DJ Pedro Night @ 9am banger @ Culture; 3pm -10pm @ Everyday People; @ 10pm on @ Transmission

Posted my dc global music and more calendar on the 4th and have since updated it.

For Washington City Paper I previewed a great film that is showing for free 6pm Thursday October 9 in association with the DIY exhibit at the MLK Library. The 2024 Quique Aviles & Ellie Walton directed film “Las Muertes Mas Bellas Del Mundo/ The Most Beautiful Deaths in the World “ is about DC based Salvadoran artists and how they deal with the trauma of ‘70s-80s Salvadoran Civil War and life in DC . It conveys this through both traditional means — old tv footage & news clippings- and artsy and effective acted out performances and poetry .

https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/772224/war-and-peace-alejandro-varela-and-more-city-lights-for-oct-9-15/

Saw E. Ethelbert Miller talk on the 4th at the National Gallery of Art & the related Black art photographers exhibit; then the next day the National Gallery shut down because of the government shutdown. Then I went up to MLK for the dc space talk and then to Mt Pleasant to see Yeison Landero at Lamont Plaza. I was tired by then and went home and did not see Redd Kross & the Melvins that night at Black Cat.

Author, musician & U of Md punk archive head John Davis & Chris Richards of Washington Post & band Q and Not U will have a conversation about the UMD Punk Archive & about Davis’ new book Keep Your Ear to the Ground about dc punk fanzines on Sat Oct 11 @ 3 pm to 4:30 @ MLK Library in DC

My DC punk membership card may be revoked for me missing the book talk and Black Eyes Saturday, but after seeing Miki Berenyi Trio (from Lush ) Friday night at Pearl St Warehouse, I instead decided on Saturday to drive 2 1/2 hours to the Richmond Folk Festival where I saw Louisiana a cappella gospel, Pakistani sounds, DC beat ya feet dancers, Miami-based Cuban sounds, and more. It's a great free festival.

Gonna see John Davis talk about his dc punk fanzine books w/ Ian Mackaye on wed. Oct 29 at Politics & Prose Conn Ave NW. Black Eyes will probably be playing DC again sometime

Saturday Went to No Kings then walked up to MLK for end of dc diy panel and jazzy noisy rhythmic ensemble Volcanic Ash playing live . Went home briefly and then went to the Trace pop up up photographers interview

Tonight Monday saw soul cover singer Shirletta Settles at Westminster Church sw. She brought up singer Ray Apollo Allen for a duet, then a cousin for “Dr Feelgood” and then some random guy from the crowd who sang Lou Rawls just like Lou Rawls . $10 to get in , show ran from 6 to 9, and I bought jerk chicken with okra and cabbage in the basement. Former WPFW DJ Dr Nick was the emcee.