Vampire Weekend’s Breezy World
It wasn’t quite Labor Day Weekend, but it was Vampire Weekend. The New York band was playing its first show at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md., in nine years,…
‘The Juliet Letters’ Live Again
Running a small opera company requires innovation enough, but Washington's Urban Arias goes further, by commissioning new works, or finding pieces that are little known or rarely performed and infusing…
Juliana Hatfield Keeping It Strong
Juliana Hatfield still looks like a bit of a waif taking the spotlight at Union Stage in Washington, D.C. on a recent summer weekday night. She’s rail-thin in her flowered…
The Minus 5, Plus 2 From R.E.M.
The recovery from a stroke in 2017 remains a source of celebration surrounding rocker Scott McCaughey. He’s surrounded by musicians who have been friends of his for years, is writing…
Filthy Friends, Dressy Bessy on U Street
Women rule the world, or at least they did at the U Street Music Hall in a rockin’ Monday night show by Filthy Friends with Dressy Bessy. The oddly named…
Ex Hex Triumphant in Hometown Date
Mixed amid the sheer exhilaration of an Ex Hex gig at the 930 Club is the added pride of a hometown date. The D.C. rockers led by Mary Timony, once…
Maren Morris Goes Pop at The Anthem
Maren Morris paused a couple times in her splashy headlining show at The Anthem in D.C. to take it all in. It was her largest sellout to date, with 6,000…
Returning to 1960s Laurel Canyon
Jakob Dylan grew up amid his own small-town musical crossroads — Woodstock — but the subject of his new documentary is the one that flourished on the other side of…
Commerce Edges Art at Rock Hall
The tug of war between art and commerce is clear in the 2019 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (HBO, 8 p.m.) that’s become a big annual concert…
Robyn Hitchcock: Sublimely Weird
Age is only helping Robyn Hitchcock settle into his role as wizened surrealist singer and mystic storyteller. More than 45 years after starting his first band, the founder of the…