If Bon Iver's album, For Emma, Forever Ago, is the product of one man's introspective exile from human contact and civilization, the band's live music is something completely different. The songs now take on the hopeful timbre of a man who has digested and embraced the series of sad circumstances that sent him fleeing to a cabin in the cold Wisconsin wilderness. After ending two serious relationships, one personal and the other with his former......

There's something endearing about gratitude, and Seattle's Fleet Foxes were nothing if not grateful on Monday night. They were grateful to NPR for broadcasting their show, they were grateful to the perennially overlooked Black Cat sound technicians and they were especially grateful that singer Robin Pecknold's health had taken an upward turn. Apparently the singer had been truly sick for the previous five shows or so, saying that ever since L.A. the shows had been......

Sloan, doggedly plugging away at the elusive American market. The four guys in Sloan have always seemed like affable, well-adjusted fellows, which is a good thing, because if I were in that band, keeping my resentment at bay would probably be a full-time job. Canadian bands, even ones that share Sloan's affinity for 70s A.M. gold, are all the rage now, but in the mid-90s, when this Halifax, Nova Scotia quartet was trying to......

The F Yeah Tour began as a music, comedy, and arts fest held in L.A. every summer, and this year it's going on tour, on a bus run by vegetable oil. Seven bands, mostly sharing a cut-and-paste DIY sensibility, played at the Black Cat last night: DCist fave Dan Deacon, Matt and Kim, The Death Set, Team Robespierre, Monotonix, Mannequin Men, and comedian Josh Fadem. The event also featured a table with voter registration, information......

The first time I saw Nick Thorburn perform he was wearing a pink tuxedo, and with good reason: although his group, the Unicorns, sang songs about things like death, ghosts and nautical catastrophe, they did so with the youthful exuberance of mischievous teenagers headed to prom. Thorburn and his bandmates took to the stage, then the rafters, then the outstretched hands of an audience full of newly-minted fans. The Unicorns blew up, burned out and......

On the list of the most widely circulated myths about Washington, sandwiched in between "they all work for the government" and "it's such a transient city" is this little mistruth: "no one in D.C. knows how to have a good time". Now, we could (and probably will) spend all week arguing this point in the comments, but at the end of the day, that surely isn't going to convince anyone outside of D.C. that we......

That wearing flip-flops to a rock concert could be dangerous might seem obvious to many of us, but we all know those people who, when the weather finally gets warm enough, more or less refuse to wear actual shoes until the fall. These folks will wear flip-flops to a fancy restaurant, on a first date, or even to church. But venerable rock venue the Black Cat has a message for those of you committed......

In the relatively young world of electronic music, 20 years seems like an eternity. If I asked you to imagine what electronic music sounded like 20 years ago, you might harken back to one of those early Moog albums that you've probably seen in the dollar bin at your local record store. You would, of course, be wrong, but the point still stands: electronic music has changed quite a bit during the last 20 years.......

It's tough being a Yeasayer fan in the District. First, their January show sells out the Black Cat Backstage, prompting shocked fans to start an online movement to get them to play upstairs, prompting shocked DCist staffers into asking just when the Black Cat started selling tickets ahead of time for Backstage shows (answer: about a year ago) and prompting shocked DCist readers into asking...just who is this band, anyway? However, the Brooklyn quartet promised......

The real story behind any Les Savy Fav show is what sort of crazy stunts frontman Tim Harrington has up his sleeve. Their catalog of thirteen years of post-punk gems lays the foundation, but it's the bizarre costume changes, frequent audience interactions and off-kilter banter that has become the stuff of legend. Furthermore, since Harrington is completely unscripted and pulls out new and different tricks every night (Dodos drummer Logan Kroeber confirmed this), Les Savy......

When Blitzen Trapper's last record, Wild Mountain Nation, burst on the scene in June 2007, it was a breath of fresh air just as the summer heat wave struck. The opening Neil Young guitar peals of the title track and the rollicking campfire singalong "Country Caravan" had the internet going crazy, but the record itself -- for all its jumps in style and frenzied rhythms -- was a slow-burner, rewarding the fans who stuck around......

If the Hold Steady serve their classic rock and roll with a dose of heavy optimism (see "Positive Jam," upcoming album Stay Positive), then Atlanta's Black Lips might be considered their evil twin brother. Using "Bad Kids" as a song title and a call to action, their Saturday night set at the Black Cat was about as raucous and rowdy as they come. While the stories about expelled bodily fluids and being banned from a......

Musician Keren Ann (pictured) started living an international lifestyle at a very young age. Born to a Dutch-Javanese mother and a Russian-Israeli father, she lived in Israel and Holland before her family settled in France, where she started her career. She continues this globetrotting lifestyle as a performer who is able to cross stylistic and international boundaries by creating a catalog of eclectic songs that are sung in multiple languages, while retaining a very personal......

Selling out any club is impressive, and hitting the breaking point at one of the city's most popular venues is no small feat. So when the mainstage of the Black Cat hit capacity on Saturday night, nobody was more surprised than the three young men who make up Jukebox the Ghost (***). Upon taking the stage, drummer Jesse Kirstin turned as white as a sheet and singer/keyboardist Ben Thornewill asked (only half-jokingly), "Who are you......

This business with the Yeasayer concert tomorrow night at Black Cat has gotten a little ridiculous. For those of you who haven't been following it, Yeasayer, an up-and-coming band from New York, scheduled a concert with MGMT for the Black Cat's backstage on Wednesday night, and while you can usually only get tickets to shows in the small room at the door, the venue sold advance tickets to this one and it sold out quickly.......

Bhangra, an infectious folk music and dance style from the Punjab region of India and Pakistan, has slowly crept into the mainstream club scene. The driving force behind this increase in popularity are the South Asian DJs of Great Britain and North America, who took this traditional form and infused it with the programmed sounds of hip-hop, dancehall, and techno. One of the most well-known names in this movement is DJ Rekha (pictured), a New......

We don't understand why Benjy Ferree is not a big star. The Three Stars alum plays roosty indie gems and has great stage presence — he's a funny and engaging and a strong performer. He's toured with Spoon and The New Pornographers and is signed to Domino Records (Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys, etc). And his band is basically a D.C. supergroup, with Laura Harris of The Aquarium, Amy Domingues and Jonah Takagi from Garland......

We're frankly mostly of the mind that New Year's Eve is best spent at a house party with good friends -- going out to a club is almost always overpriced and often a big letdown. But in the event you don't have a party to attend, are new in town, or for any other reason are facing tonight without a firm plan, here's a few of our suggestions on how to have a fun and......

So now you know who we loved locally this year. Here's our list of the live shows that came through town and left a lasting impression in '07. Dismemberment Plan Reunion Shows @ Black Cat DCist Ian says: The Plan's much anticipated reunion to benefit Cal Robbins, the son of Jawbox/Burning Airlines frontman and recording engineer J. Robbins, sold out in under five minutes. So Travis Morrison & co. added a second show. In all......

FRIDAY >> The legendary Patti Smith is at the 9:30 Club tonight, and tickets are incredibly still available for $25. Doors at 9, show at 10 p.m. >> The idea of attending a lighting display, particularly after Christmas, might sound a bit cheesy. But the Garden of Lights in Wheaton might just change your mind. The designer tours the county gardens each year for inspiration for his display; this year, it invokes the four seasons.......

>> Yesterday we profiled Five Four, the hardest working all girl band in the city, with the cutest shoes, in a Three Stars piece. Tonight you can see those shoes up close and personal at DC9, $8. If that's not the dose of local music you were hoping for tonight, how about Meredith Bragg at the Black Cat, or Gist at Iota? >> Ever thought, I'd like to get a new perspective on Scientology. A......

The first, instantly noticeable aspect of Fredericksburg, VA's Pash is the luminous voice of singer/guitarist Merideth Munoz. With a voice that partially recalls Rainer Maria's Caithlin de Marrais and has a rock edge reminiscent of Pretty Girls Make Graves' Andrea Zollo, Munoz has the vocal tenacity to halt anyone who may have stumbled across a track on their MySpace page. Munoz met guitarist Erik Bruner-Yang and his roommate, drummer John Bibb, when they all went......

>> The Culkin School of Traditional Irish Dance isn't anywhere nearly as embarrassing as Riverdance and its ilk -- think real jigs without the terrible music and costumes. Accompanied tonight on the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage by traditional Irish musicians Billy McCominskey, Zan McLeon and Jim Eagan. Free, 6 p.m. >> Three Stars alums The Beanstalk Library are playing the Black Cat's backstage, with John Wayne Hero. 9 p.m., $8. >> It's a little......

Last spring, we interviewed New Rock Church of Fire for a Three Stars piece, and they revealed to us their deepest desire as a band: to play the Black Cat. Well, Santa apparently reads DCist, because tonight the Alexandria natives are getting their wish. Tonight they'll play the Cat's main stage with Velvet, Mas y Mas and Hammer No More The Fingers. Originally slated as a CD release show for NRCOF, it'll be more of......

FRIDAY: >> The 18th Street Lounge's regular Wednesday night reggae stars SEE-I are at the Rock and Roll Hotel to celebrate the holidays with some friends who are sure to get you dancing too -- DJ Mat the Alien and remix artists Fort Knox Five. Tickets for the Happy FKX-XMas are $10. >> Rufus Wainwright begins a two-night stint at the 9:30 Club tonight with his sister, Lucy Wainwright Roche. Tickets are still available for......

>> The Muppet Christmas Carol isn't nearly as awesome as A Muppet Family Christmas, but for those of you looking for a little fluffy holiday cheer this evening, the AFI Silver Theater is offering a screening of the musical adaptation of the Dickens classic at 5:10 p.m. >> Hop in the way back machine and set the dial to 1992: The Lemonheads are at the Black Cat tonight. With Racoon and The New Rivals.......

FRIDAY: >> Bay Area songstress Goapele’s (pictured) musical background is almost as diverse as her ethnic background. Born to a South African political exile father and a mother whose parents survived the Holocaust, she studied at the Berklee College of Music and later would form musical partnerships with the likes of hip-hop acts like the Hieroglyphics crew and E-40. However her 2005 release, Change It All, established her as especially talented when it comes to......

>> Woolly Mammoth's popular One Man Star Wars Trilogy is back, written and performed by Charles Ross. Tickets are $28 for the 8 p.m. show. >> The Alliance Francaise and Twins Jazz present the Dupont T quartet, a group led by bassist Hubert Dupont, a major player in the jazz scene in Paris. Tickets to the 8 and 10:30 p.m. sets are $20. >> Take the opportunity to check out the new Busboys and......

Local favorites Le Loup came to the Black Cat Monday night as part of their short road trip with last night's openers, Margot and the Nuclear So and Sos. At first glance, both bands seem to subscribe to the same basic trends in rock: the two bands feature a total of fifteen members between them, complete with non-traditional instrumentation. However, the comparisons ended there as the guys and gals from the District showed just how......

Monday >> It’s Saint Lucy’s Day! Hej Hej, the DJ night dedicated to Scandinavian pop and rock, is getting festive for this start of the Christmas season with drink specials and holiday hits in addition to their regular fare. Pop into Café St.-Ex in your finest crown of candles, and you might even get a free drink. 10 p.m., FREE. >> Le Loup are also celebrating tonight, in a homecoming of sorts for the local......