February is the Month of DC Music!! - Upcoming Shows

Guys. Amigos. Musical soulmates. I know it's been a whole mess a' time since I last graced you with a Musical Vagabond post. That time has come to an end.

I believe I hit a record for myself - no concerts in the month of January (unless that reggae band at my work event counts...). That being said, I have about 5 shows in the coming weeks, including one this Wednesday (happy birthday, Andrea!) and 3 the week of February 16th! The 3 in the coming weeks are extra exciting for 2 reasons: 1. Two of the three bands I've never seen before - JJ Grey & Mofro/London Souls and Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and 2. Tedeschi Trucks Band at Warner Theatre. 'Nuff said.

Many of my go-to bands are either on the international stretch of their tour, or holding out touring until closer to the summer - makes it easier to work their schedule around summer festivals. This timing has worked out well since I'm savin' up some dollars for my trip to Paris in April. (SIDENOTE: IF ANY OF MY FOLLOWERS HAVE TIPS ON GOOD LIVE MUSIC VENUES IN PARIS, I'M TAKING SUGGESTIONS!). There has been a perfect storm of concert activity in DC in February, however, and for that, I'm grateful because I was beginning to go through withdrawal.

For the show this week, Jason Isbell is playing Lincoln Theatre on February 4th. I'm embarrassed to say I've never seen a show at Lincoln Theatre, but it's a revitalized venue on U Street. I can't believe I didn't know when these tickets when on sale, but nevertheless I was late to the party and Dan the Man and I will be vulturing some tickets outside of the venue from some generous ticket scalpers. If you're not familiar with Jason Isbell's work, he was previously the frontman for the Americana band with a cult following, Drive-By Truckers (can I use the term 'frontman' for a someone who isn't Mick Jagger, Bono or Trent Reznor? Oh well.) He's since released a few solo albums, including his latest, Southeastern. I saw him open in the early summer for singer/songwriter Ray LaMontagne and he was fantastic. Some of the songs in his arsenal are a little depressing, but all have a great story. My favorite is his song about his dad, 'Outfit'




Next on the docket is a show I've not yet bought tickets to yet - I'm hoping to find someone as obsessed with the Black Crowes as me to come with (who am I kidding? I'll go by myself and make friends.) In some recent sad news, The Black Crowes have officially broken up, as brother band members Chris and Rich Robinson have moved onto other musical pursuits. The Black Crowes are my definitive favorite band - gritty rock n' roll in a time where Rolling Stones-esque rock n' roll was being replaced by grunge and adult contemporary - those genres have their place, but nothing beats pure rock n' roll. Anyway, the Chris Robinson Brotherhood will be at 9:30 Club on February 11th. They still have a reminiscent Black Crowes sound, and have tapped more into their Georgia roots with some more southern rock sounds. My favorite - and their best known - song is Rosalee:



The week of February 16th is gonna be jam-packed with great music. My dear boyfriend, Brandon, bought me tickets for February 17th to see Dirty Dozen Brass Band at the Hamilton - what a guy :) Time for pizza, sushi, my man and New Orleans brass - I love that I've found a place where all of those things can be mentioned in one sentence without being weird.

Brandon & I at the Hamilton - No BS Brass Band

The following day I'll be headed to 9:30 Club for JJ Grey & Mofro, with openers The London Souls. I would describe JJ Grey's music as dirty, swamp music. They are from Jacksonville, FL and I think their albums would be a great soundtrack for driving through the Everglades. But it's also great for jammin' to on a Wednesday night. The London Souls are a trio that play some great modern rock - they've opened for some of my other go-to's, Tedeschi Trucks Band and Trombone Shorty.







The grand finale will be on Friday, Feb. 20th. Tedeschi Trucks Band, arguably one of the best funk and soul bands right now, will be at Warner Theatre. I got these tickets for Dan the Man's birthday and as far as I understand, we are front and center!! The only live music show I've seen at Warner is Trombone Shorty a few months ago. Susan Tedeschi is the lead singer and sounds eerily like Bonnie Raitt. Her husband and lead guitarist, Derek Trucks, is the nephew of Butch Trucks from the Allman Brothers Band. He's one of the best guitarists out right now - he's played alongside some of the best. They have about 8 other members of the band, so they always do some exciting jamming. Can't wait!




Check back for another post soon, where I give my official Musical Vagabond opinion of this year's music festival lineups. Get out there and see some live music!