The Raveonettes with Black Acid at The Black Cat

Three sold out concerts in a row in DC- I'm tired today.
Last night I went to see Danish band The Raveonettes at the Black Cat main stage.
The openers were a British band Black Acid whose style reminded me of old British metal of the 70's and 80's. They were actually very entertaining for me- the lead singer had on tight white pants and a sleazy voice.
I love the new album by the Raveonettes, Lust Lust Lust. It's their best to date- part Jesus & Mary Chain and part Angelo Badelamenti. In concert, they were really great. Their music needs to be heard really loud because of the feedback and noise made by their guitars- they remind me of the house band in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.
I was standing right in front of singer-guitarist Sharin Foo- she looked cool with her really blond hair, dark mascara and blue eyes. I also liked how their drummer only had 2 drum and a cymbal. One highlight of the concert was when they did a cover of Stereolab's "French Disko".

Stephen Malkus & The Jicks with John Vanderslice at the 9:30 Club

Friday night, went to the 9:30 club to see Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks perform in a sold out show. Wonder why he didn't come to Baltimore because it's a title of a song on his new album. Oh well.
The opener was John Vanderslice, who I had heard of, but not actually heard before. Not too bad- he had nice songs and his band was good. He gave props to vegetarian Chinese restaurant Vegetable Garden in Rockville.
This was my first time seeing Malkmus outside of Pavement. Janet Weiss formerly of Sleater-Kinney was also his drummer. They were really good- I still love Malkmus' quirky lyrics combined with his always interesting guitar sound.
He is definitely a big nerd- I recall a reference to the word "Frak" during the show.

Xiu Xiu with Thao Nguyen at the Black Cat

The backstage area of the Black Cat was soldout last night for arty rock band Xiu Xiu and former DC musician currently getting a bit of internet buzz, Thao Nguyen.
Opening up was musician Chris Garneau, a musician who sang low key breathy pop songs accompanied by organ and cello. I was not a huge fan of his songs, and I wished he hadn't played so many songs with the exact same pace and mood.
Clearly the show was sold out because of fans of former local musician Thao Nguyen with The Get Down Stay Down. She was alright- the band had a lot of energy. Similar to musicians like Feist, she reminds me of Cat Power with less angst. I understand her appeal, and I though she put on a good show, but not quite my cup of tea.
Xiu Xiu still blows me away when I see them live. I appreciate how serious they are about their music, and despite half the room clearing out before they started, they were still impressive. Jamie Stewart is a really interesting frontman - his voice is very impassioned, and his guitar playing is interesting.

The Pogues at the Rams Head

Last week, I was lucky again to see The Pogues on their US Tour before St. Patrick's day. This time, they came to Baltimore!
Shane looked better than any other time I've seen him- this time he was upright, and I actually understood 90% of his speech. It was also good to see Phil Chevron play as he was treated for cancer last year.
As a tribute to The Wire, Spider Stacey dedicated "The Body of an American" to Mcnulty, and then asked for no one to give anything away about the last episode.
As usual, the band was on point- the sound at the Rams Head had the best sound of all the times I've seen the band play.
For the finale, when they played "Fiesta", Shane joined Spider in bashing his head with a tray. I hope they decide to come back to Baltimore next year.