DC Concert Meetup

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We will meet up at Pilar Bar at 7 pm and walk over to the show at 8 pm.

In 2025, The Wedding Present will be playing a series of concert dates in North America to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the release of their classic major-label debut long-player, Bizarro [“Simply unbeatable” – Melody Maker].

David Gedge says “Bizarro was our second album, and you can hear on it how much we had learned from the experience of recording our debut, George Best. You only have to listen to something like ‘Bewitched’ to notice that there’s much more in the way of texture and depth on Bizarro. We’d just improved as songwriters and arrangers, basically. It’s no less frenetic a record, though!”

Bizarro reviewed by AllMusic:
“The Wedding Present’s second proper studio album, Bizarro, [RCA Records, 1989] cut down on the frenetic jangle that the band had been known for in its early days and replaced it with healthy doses of darkness and power. Adding some fuzzy, crunchy, distortion to give the guitars some hefty impact, slowing the tempos down to speeds that allowed vocalist David Gedge to squeeze more heartbroken despair and bleak sarcasm out of every line, and generally upping their game in every way, the album was the fullest realisation of The Wedding Present’s sound yet. Leading off with the unstoppably hooky ‘Brassneck’ which features a brilliant Gedge reading of lines that rhyme “grow up” and “throw up”, the album plays like a collection of thematically related singles. The most single-y among them is ‘Kennedy’ which has some brilliant sing-along lyrics and an intensely dramatic guitar strum build-up that crescendos into a maelstrom of sound. The rest of the record isn’t far behind; whether it’s the sparse ‘What Have I Said Now?’ or the slowly grinding ‘Bewitched’, one could extract any song and it would feel like a highlight... especially the epic-length ‘Take Me!’ which closes the album in a fury of strums, drum fills and chugging bass that builds and builds until it seems like the song is going to levitate and take the listener right along with it. The Wedding Present didn’t necessarily need to improve their already-winning template, but they did, and it pays off big time on Bizarro.

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We will meetup at Tiki TNT at 6 and walk over to the Anthem at about 7.

Bloc Party are an English rock band that was formed in London in 1999 by co-founders Kele Okereke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, sampler) and Russell Lissack (lead guitar, synthesizers). Their first four albums all featured Gordon Moakes (bass) and Matt Tong (drums), who have since left the band. Their current lineup also contains Louise Bartle (drums, percussion) and Harry Deacon (bass, synthesizers). Their brand of music, whilst rooted in rock, retains elements of other genres such as electronica and house music.

Metric is Emily Haines, Jimmy Shaw, Joshua Winstead and Joules Scott Key. They have spent over 20 years together in creative partnership - a rare feat for any band. From their debut album Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?, to their 9th and most recent release, Formentera II- Metric have been breaking boundaries with their own distinct sound and remarkable body of work. The genre-defying and genre-defining band started playing together in NYC in 2001 and have gone on to receive multiple music industry honors across their 8 studio albums including two Juno Awards for Alternative Album of the Year, have garnered more than ½ billion streams across their catalog, and toured extensively around the world. The band’s expansive career has seen them collaborate with late rock legend Lou Reed, who sang on the band’s track “The Wanderlust” on their 2012 album Synthetica, to inspiring movie characters, where future Academy Award-winner Brie Larson, sang Metric’s song “Black Sheep” in the 2010 comedy Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. 2023 marks the band’s 20th anniversary of their debut album, 2003’s Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?, but if their latest album is any indication, “they’ve still got plenty of gas in the tank” (NPR).

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Will meet up beforehand, plans TBD.

Face Down In The Garden, Tennis’ seventh album, is both culmination and reflection of their career. From the perspective of fifteen years on the road and ten thousand miles at sea, frontwoman Alaina Moore attempts to distill the arc of a life into vignettes: a first moment of connection, a conversation at a wedding, a night offshore, a sprawling tour diary.
The album is succinct but potent, highlighting Tennis’ concise songwriting and unconventional arrangements. Self-produced and recorded in their studio, Tennis builds upon their early minimalist girl-group sound, expanding into more mature synth-pop and rock elements.
The duo met in the University of Colorado’s philosophy department in 2008, when Patrick Riley recognized Moore as the waitress from a diner he frequented. (This moment was later immortalized in their song Hotel Valet.) After graduating, they spent eight months living aboard a small sailboat, voyaging along the eastern seaboard–a practice that would become integral to their creative process. Their debut album Cape Dory (2011, Fat Possum) documents that experience. Tennis booked their first tour through the help of a robust DIY scene. While on the road, their lead single "Marathon" went viral, gaining them sudden notoriety. Cape Dory debuted at #1 on Billboard's Heatseeker chart and transitioned Tennis from house shows to main stages in the course of a year.
Tennis recorded their sophomore effort Young & Old (2012) with Patrick Carney of the Black Keys, marking their first collaboration with an outside producer and their television debuts on The Tonight Show, The Late Show, and Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
In 2013, Tennis spent sixteen days recording with Richard Swift in his home studio in Cottage Grove, Oregon. Moore and Riley were heavily influenced by Swift's distinctive approach to engineering. This prompted the duo to build their own studio and take over production and engineering roles on future releases.
Moore and Riley solidified their creative autonomy by forming the label Mutually Detrimental in 2016. Yours Conditionally, their first self-release, became their most commercially successful album, charting on Billboard’s top 50 vinyl sales and proving their DIY roots as a cornerstone to their sound and narrative.
Swimmer (2020, Mutually Detrimental) marked a sonic evolution. Moore and Riley expanded their palette with unique time signatures and arrangements, stepping fully into their roles as songwriters and producer-engineers. But with nearly every show sold out, Swimmer's momentum was cut short by the Covid-19 pandemic. The duo spent the time at home exploring their role as producers by making records for other artists.
Tennis has continued to thrive by operating on the fringes of the music industry. They’ve survived the flash-in-the-pan fate of so many bands from the early ‘00’s blog-era. Their sixth album, Pollen, saw them grow into the biggest tour of their career, with sold out shows at historic venues like The Beacon Theatre and The Palladium.
Face Down In The Garden is Tennis' most fully realized work. Crafted entirely by their own hands and guided by their fierce independence, it stands as testament to a band unwavering from their original vision. Tennis embarks on the first leg of their North American Tour in May.