Little Chief @ Solly's

I live for those serendipitous moments where the perfect song plays during the perfect moment. Back in November, while commuting down to rural Virginia for work, I streamed one playlist during that twice-weekly, four-hour commute. I first heard North Carolina by Little Chief the minute as I exited I-95 to I-295. At this junction, the choices were Durham or Rocky Mount. Either way, the Tar Heel state was within reach.

North Carolina and I have this strange relationship, comprised of mostly heartbreak, failed relationships and a blissful weekend at a beach. Two and a half years ago, in the fall of 2012, when my east coast move was full of naivety and new opportunities, Little Chief's North Carolina could be my mantra: "take me to North Carolina, where my baby lives. I won't be there by tomorrow but heaven knows I'm on my way." At the present moment, North Carolina is simply another state on the east coast, one I've visited a handful of times. However, when I listen to the harmonies given on this track, I want the state to mean more to me.

After streaming Little Chief's debut LP, Lion's Den, over and over again since March, I was anticipating their tour and hoping for a date in DC. With any luck, they stopped in DC for a show at Solly's Tavern last Friday. I wear my love for Solly's on my sleeve. The last show I caught there was Charlie Patton's War. Considering they're now opening for PUSA, I always feel that Solly's attracts bands we can all believe in.

The band introduced themselves to the crowd - consisting of a girl taking photos in the corner and the group I had brought. As with the album, Mountain Song was the opening choice. With over two-minutes of instrumental build up and a bang of an ending, I've always thought this was a fantastic choice to hook people on Lion's Den early.

Over the course of the evening, Little Chief did a pretty comprehensive span of their album, including Gold In The Morning, Lion's Den, Shiloh, North Carolina and Brothers. While sitting and listening to Shiloh in person, I realized just how reflective and at-peace I feel when that song streams. Brothers is the song I can't stop playing now and I never figured the last track on an album would be so catchy. In addition to the Lion's Den material, the band covered The Head and The Heart's Rivers and Roads and absolutely did the song justice.

By the end of the show, the crowd at least doubled and every single friend I brought with me to the show loved the band. If you have a chance to catch Little Chief on tour, I highly recommend. I couldn't think of a better way to enjoy a laid-back Friday night.

You can listen to and buy Lion's Den on bandcamp. Currently, the album is also available on Noisetrade as a free download.

Coffee by Sylvan Esso

We've made it to Friday afternoon. This week was only a little bit hectic. The DC area experienced the closest thing to a real snowstorm in years. With slushy streets and frozen temperatures well in the single-digits, the Polar Vortex 2.0. came, saw and conquered. I went stir-crazy working from home two days in a row and came back to the office to deliver an hour long presentation (my first!). Last night was a late night with friends. It's 1:45PM on Friday and I can finally breathe this week.

While I'm tempted to walk over to Starbucks for a 2PM coffee fix, I'm holding steady for now and playing Sylvan Esso on repeat.

Where have we heard Sylvan Esso before? In September the due opened for Volcano Choir where I was immediately enamored and vowed to catch them again if they ever headlined. With lush vocals and catchy dance beats, Hey Mami and Play It Right were streamed to the point of wear. Sadly, up until now, these two songs and their concert sets were about the only material coming forth. I bought tickets to see them at DC9 on Tuesday -- where/when else would I hear more of their music?

Today is a great day, as a new track, Coffee, was released yesterday. Coffee is more mellow than Hey Mami or Play It Right but that's not a bad thing. In fact, I'm relieved that the band can execute perfect dance anthems and more quiet pop. I can't help but to notice and love the percussion here - especially how much the xylophone stands out.

"Get up, get down" is repetitive. It's almost as if the entire song is composed of just that line. Coffee, as a substance, does bring us up until we reach the epitome of a mid-day high and subsequently crash hard. Coffee, as the song, is gentle. The more I listen, the better I feel but it's a very gradual climb.

Listen to Coffee on bandcamp. If you're in the DC area, I highly reccomend attending their show at DC9 on Tuesday, with local artist, PLOY. Come say hi. It's going to be a great time.

Pickwick @ Rock and Roll Hotel

"Thank you for showing DC how Seattle can rock."

I'm not ashamed of how much of a Pickwick supporter/fan I am. I love my Seattle bands and I keep them close to my heart. The spirit of the Seattle music scene flooded this show and I haven't missed home so much in ages. 

My Friday night started off as it normally does - stacked full of social plans but trying to fit everything and everyone in. I bike-shared from my apartment down to Chinatown to meet up with a friend for happy hour. A couple of beers left me appropriately buzzed for what would follow. A longer-than-I-expected ride over to H Street happened and I arrived to Rock and Roll Hotel right when doors were supposed to open. 

I have a penchant for arriving early, and early I was. Sound check was still happening but the second floor bar was hosting a drunk spelling bee and I joined in. A couple arrived upstairs and asked me if I was here to see Pickwick. I was and mentioned how much I loved them, especially being from Seattle. "Oh, you're from Seattle?", the lady, Sandy, asked, "do you know of another Seattle band, Campfire OK?". Yes! I told her that I really enjoyed their new album and had listened to it through and through the day before. She was thrilled, as she was Mychal, the lead singer's mother. This is what the Seattle music scene is all about. We hit it off, she showed me some baby pictures and I couldn't get over how unreal/adorable the whole exchange was. I definitely tweeted about it. Sandy ended up winning second place in the Spelling Buzz too! 

After I struck out during the Spelling Buzz for misspelling "geisha" (I know, I know), I headed downstairs and snagged myself a sweet little spot in the front row.

The Petticoat Tearoom opened and I thoroughly enjoyed their set. They're a Baltimore/DC area band and I'm hoping writing it down here will keep me accountable to go out and see more of their shows. Lately, the five-piece band has been drawing comparisons to Blitzen Trapper, Dawes and other folk-americana bands. The Baltimore/DC area needs more of this sound and I'm happy the Petticoat Tearoom were able to deliver so wonderfully. I spent some time this week listening to their most recent self-titled release and I'm convinced they need more attention. At the very least, listen to I Have Been Lost right now and I'll do a full write-up here shortly.

Between sets, I made a concert buddy, Cody, who had lived in Seattle for three months. I couldn't agree more with his feelings about the city: "those three months in Seattle were the most depressing of my life, but I still love that place".

With that thought in the air, Pickwick walked onto stage. Generally, I'm fairly good at remembering the order of songs played, but for some reason, I can't figure it out for the life of me. The set-list blended together, in the best way possible. I can't remember a single down period and I kept remembering the notion that Pickwick is truly a rock band. Despite my love of folk, there's really none involved here. The Round, Halls of Columbia and Lady Luck were my highlights. The Round, for being my current favorite; Halls of Columbia, for being the opening track that had me hooked; and Lady Luck for how much more I appreciated the song after seeing it live.

In addition to playing most of Can't Talk Medicine, several new songs were played. I must say, I'm so so excited for their new material. Pickwick has such a distinct style that they're sticking to and that's such a good thing. I don't think this band can do any wrong.

Galen was just as amazing as you'd imagine. While I knew his vocal range was off the charts, actually experiencing him live was a whole 'nother level of extraordinary. From the soft high pitches in Lady Luck to the guttural sounds in Halls of Columbia to the harmonizing in Window Sill - watching him span all the ranges was truly incredible. With his stage presence, you could tell he was made for this. I couldn't even get a great picture due to how much he was bouncing and rocking around. I definitely got hit with the microphone cord one or twice (worth it!).

Window Sill was the closing song and damn did we all rock out. For the encore, I believe they covered Pump It Up by Elvis Costello. I never realized it until then, but Pickwick absolutely has that Costello-vibe.

After the show, I went upstairs to buy a physical copy of their album. I ran into Sandy and we introduced ourselves to Galen. She pretty much pushed me towards him and he was such a sweetheart about conversing with fans. I told him about my passion in supporting my Seattle bands and he truly seemed humbled by all the praise I was pouring out of my mouth. I also got to watch him converse with Sandy about Campfire OK. I stood there floored because I got to experience the Seattle music community first-hand, three-thousand miles away. Parting ways, I thanked him for showing DC how much Seattle can rock.

Sandy and I said goodbye as well. We hugged and I, once again, reaffirmed how many people truly believe in Campfire OK. On a strange, music-inspired high, I walked out of Rock and Roll ready for whatever the rest of the evening would throw at me. 

Weekend Video: Pickwick @ Suzzallo Reading Room

The Suzzallo Reading Room at the University of Washington, is often considered to be one of the most beautiful library spaces in the world. I can't disagree. I spent many undergrad afternoons in awe over the sixty-five foot ceilings, stained-glass windows, gorgeous overhead brass lamps, and oak bookshelves lined with antique books. The Reading Room often draws comparisons to Hogwarts and I could always see why.

The magic of the Suzzallo Reading Room really goes beyond the university and is more-so a Seattle landmark. As of now, I'm convinced there's not a better band that captures the spirit of the Seattle music scene, than Pickwick. The band performing in the Reading Room just feels right. For this weekend, in honor of missing home but seeing Pickwick's show tonight at Rock and Roll Hotel in DC, here's an older video of them performing Blackout, acapella, in the normally dead-silent spot on campus.

Tonight, Seattle meets DC and I only hope DC can handle all that Seattle has to offer. My worlds are colliding and I truly can't contain my excitement.

(DC Friends: See Pickwick tonight. Do it. There are still tickets available and I find that crazy.)

City and Colour @ The 9:30 Club

The minute I saw this show pop up on the 9:30 Club website, I bought tickets. That was back in April. I painfully waited five entire months and it was more than worth the wait.

Over the five months, I had developed a few assumptions going into this show. One, Dallas would focus mostly on his new album, an album which is fantastic, but doesn't have that same emotional hold on me that his older albums do. And two, the show would entirely consist of Dallas with his guitar playing acoustic versions of all his songs. These assumptions were silly - Dallas is amazing to his fans and would never short-change us from all the C&C songs we grew up with. He also knows how to rock.

Such as the VC show, I had high aspirations of the front row. It didn't happen - I ended up being 8th in line outside, with another thirty inside. We did see Dallas go back into his tour bus after playing basketball - I think we were all too shell-shocked to say/do anything. The girls behind me weren't paying attention to anything, so my new concert buddy was able to cut the line and join me. I must say, I love going to concerts with people more so than just myself. Although, I'm convinced a person should be as passionately into music as I am to make good company. Carrie fit the bill and I hope to go to more concerts with her in the future.

Lucy Rose and her band opened. She was adorable and I could almost understand why the two sets of couples in front of me were there to see her versus C&C. The band wasn't too cohesive at first but really came together wonderfully by the end of the set. Initially, I think everyone was a bit nervous. I've been listening to her album since the show and I really enjoy and recommended it. At the very least, check out my favorites from the album: Red Face, Lines and Bikes. During the middle of the set, Lucy told the story of her and her band walking around D.C. trying to convince six different record stores to sell the album without luck before the show. For some reason, that story made me really sad. Come on, DC.

After a relatively short period of time, Dallas prepared to enter the stage. The song to welcome him on was strange and we endured an anticipatory minute for his appearance. He and his band came out and started rocking. The Hurry and The Harm was the opening song - I'm a big fan of bands opening their shows with their most recent album's opening song. It's fitting. Of Space and Time and The Lonely Life followed. I still didn't trust Dallas enough at this point to not play his entire new album. When Grand Optimist came on, I knew he'd play a great set with lots of variety. As Much As I Ever Could was an interesting first choice from Bring Me Your Love but he proved that song is underrated. Weightless was the last big rock song from the first part of the show. I can't get over how amazing it was to see that song live. After spending most of the past year with that song as my alarm in the morning, experiencing it during the show woke me up in other ways.

At this point in the show, the band left and we got Dallas all raw and acoustic. Day Old Hate was another intriguing choice that I wouldn't have expected, but greatly enjoyed. Northern Wind was dedicated to a couple Dallas had met previously in the day, who had had a special moment with the song. When I think about it closely, Northern Wind is a far better love song than The Girl. Comin' Home had been on a playlist of mine leading up to the show and I was really happy to experience it live - the song had a way of bringing everyone together to sing.

The third part of the show, once the band had come back on stage, left little to be desired. Sleeping Sickness was just not meant to be this hyped-up rock ballad. I almost couldn't keep a straight face... I feel awful about this but my conflicting emotional feelings tied to that song also didn't help. Thirst, Fragile Bird and Sorrowing Man were all good ending choices, but I was exhausted.

The encore was long. What Makes a Man? was the first song of three and Dallas went through this whole spiel to get the audience to sing with him during certain parts of the song. From here on out, we'd no longer get the chance to interact so intimately with him and it was the perfect song to start saying goodbye with. As much as I was expecting The Girl to be the song of the night, the show, for me, truly ended here.

Looking back, Dallas' stage presence made the show. He's such an approachable-seeming, humble musician. The encouragement to sing along was appreciated and he even called out all the grouchy attendees who were getting upset over all the off-key, off-measure sing-a-longs. A girl was celebrating her birthday in the front row (even had a birthday tiara) and he did a shout out to her (I'm pretty sure that made her year). He casually played off all the "Marry Me Dallas" fangirls by pointing at his ring. The man is chatty and all the interaction with the crowd made this show so memorable and his music somehow more easy to relate to. A two-hour set was long but you could tell how much he was enjoying himself. I also loved how his drinks of choice were a shot of whiskey and a beer - I wasn't expecting anything less.

Volcano Choir @ The 9:30 Club

"This is going to be a religious experience."

I almost didn't attend this concert. Last Thursday, I was scrolling through my twitter feed while half asleep in bed. I saw a submission from r/washingtondc of someone offering up a free ticket to the Volcano Choir show at the 9:30 Club. The submission had been posted for 7 hours and no one had claimed the ticket. I joked in my message, "I bet if you had posted anything about VC being related to Bon Iver, everyone would have jumped". While true, luckily the submitter was just like me: she wanted the ticket to go to someone who was a fan Volcano Choir, not necessarily Bon Iver. We met up and she took me up on my other for my spare City and Colour ticket for Tuesday. It was another successful Reddit experience to add to my list. I'm hoping this will pan out into have a real concert buddy in DC.

Around 4PM yesterday, the weather went haywire and thoughts were pondered on facebook about whether the "9th plague of Egypt was invoked upon us by God". Less eloquently put, it poured. I listened to Repave during my last hour at work, accompanied by green tea and dark chocolate, with the rain battering against our office windows. The right mood was present.

The doors opened at 7PM and I was right on time. Upon first arriving, there were approximately twenty folks ahead of me, some with umbrellas, some without. This was fair. I had high ambitions of getting a front row spot, but it was possibly a pipe dream. When we were let into the venue, I scored a second row spot, and I thought, "this will do".

I maintain the opinion that the only downside to attending concerts by yourself is all the waiting by yourself. A man in the front row started making "pacts" and "forming unions" with the other front row attendees - it was sacred territory and no one was to push their way through.. I started chatting with him and another guy about all the other amazing music that exists in today's world. I got scolded for disliking the new Local Natives' album (I'll have to give it another shot), was given recommendations to listen to Beth Orton and Kathleen Edwards and called them out for not knowing who The Shouting Matches or DeYarmond Edison were. After giving them their space and proving I was worthy of a front row spot, they opened one up for me.

Sylvan Esso opened and more than deserved to. Currently, they have two songs on the internet, Hey Mami + Play It Right and I can't get enough of either of them. Based on what we saw, the rest of their eventual release will also be fantastic. The stage presence was playful - I adored Amelia's fun attitude and dancing. Nicholas not only did a front row shout out, but also encouraged everyone to turn the last 15 minutes into a "dance party". Unfortunately, akin to Seattle, DC doesn't really dance at shows either. I told my front row friend once their set ended, "when they headline a show here next year, I'll also be in the front row for that". Hold me to it.

After the opening, our suspicions were confirmed. NPR was in attendance to film Volcano Choir's act. The videographer set up shop right in front of me. I'm really hoping I end up on this concert video - as they usually feature the audience as well.

Luckily for us, it was a short waiting period before Volcano Choir entered. While most of the audience was holding their breath for that first look at Justin, I don't think I let it out until the entire band assembled on the stage. I drew in more deep breaths as Tiderays started playing - we were in for a religious experience and I knew it was my only chance to compose myself before the music picked up. Tiderays was the perfect opening song for this show, much like it is the perfect opening song for Repave.

Comrade encapsulated everyone into this drugged-out trance state and it was the first (but, not last) time during the night where this happened. I looked around a few times and across the venue, people had the same exact look on their face and in their eyes. When Justin crooned with the synth at the end of the song, I experienced goosebumps running down my arms.

Keel, while being my least favorite song off of Repave, gave off this aura of comfort. I leaned over to my front row friend and expressed that "I had never felt more anchored in my life".

The song that stole the show was, surprisingly, Alaskans. This is another slower song off of Repave, yet it showcases so much of Justin's abilities. However, the audience cohesively singing "Rely, rely, rely, rely, behave, behave, behave, behave/ Decide, decide, decide, decide, repave, repave, repave, repave/ Inside, inside, inside, inside, the lade, the lade, the lade, the lade" at all the right moments and with all the right sound was *magic*. Even the band was floored at how perfect the audience participation felt - they quipped about how they should have recorded the vocals then and there.

The entire concert was building up to Byegone. Or, more importantly, that moment a little over half way through the song, where we're all bellowing "SET SAIL" with our hands up in the air. At this point, I was emotionally exhausted. The closing song was Almanac. I appreciated how the concert opened and closed with Repave's opening and closing songs.

By the end of the night, Volcano Choir played everything off of Repave, Island, IS, Still and two new songs. I'm relieved that new music, or "songs without a home yet" will be coming in the future. The two new songs sounded more rock, which demonstrates the vast range of styles this band can pull off.

To close, I want to express how grateful I am to have seen Justin Vernon in a more intimate setting. Having a front and center spot, meant seeing all the intricate details that did nothing but add to the experience: his moleskine which he referenced every song (in which, we can only wonder what brilliance is contained within), the way he'd kneel behind the podium after a particularly emotional song, the crocheted piece of art covering his podium, and how he didn't speak to the audience at all during the show. Volcano Choir isn't Justin Vernon, it's absolutely not Bon Iver and and there was never any doubt of that.