23
Paramore, with lead singer Hayley
Williams, brings its high-energy
emo-punk sound to Merriweather Post Pavilion on July 31.
JUNE 16
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart + Surfer Blood
Black Cat, $15
It has been a good year for D.C. fans of classic indie pop. In No- vember, the Black Cat hosted a 20th-anniversary show for Slum- berland Records, and in July, such reunited bands as Unrest and the Rondelles will perform at a show celebrating the 26th anniversary of Teenbeat Records. Now we have a return from Brooklyn’s the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, a new band that captures the genre’s old-school aesthetic. There are chiming gui- tars, the occasional keyboard surge and gently sung odes to love. Opener Surfer Blood is an- other ascendant band; its debut, “Astro Coast,” is exactly the al- bum Weezer fans have been hop- ing that band would make since “Pinkerton” back in 1996.
JUNE 25
Wavves + Cloud Nothings
Rock & Roll Hotel, $12
Last year Wavves (a.k.a. Na- than Williams) emerged from the crowded, static-filled indie-rock underground thanks to an abun- dance of pop hooks that fought through the fuzz of his lo-fi home recordings. His songs about bore- dom and emptiness weren’t com-
Tom Petty is on tour with a new album, his first in eight years, and he stops at Jiffy Lube Live on Aug. 15.
plicated but plenty dynamic and tuneful. Williams’s next album isn’t due out until August, but it ditches the scratchiness, keeps the catchiness and takes on a brawny, ’90s alt-rock sound that could pro- pel him to big things. Openers Cloud Nothings could find them- selves on a similar trajectory. Frontman Dylan Baldi is still in his teens but has proven himself to be among the best around at creating jittery, distorted lo-fi gems.
JUNE 26-27
Phish
Merriweather Post Pavilion, $50
How excited were fans about the jam band’s long-awaited reunion last summer? Tickets for Phish’s August concert at Merriweather Post Pavilion were gone in just 15 minutes, the fastest sellout in venue history. After a triumphant victory lap of sold-out shows across the country and a solid new album, the group is back as a staple on the summer-concert circuit. There will be noodly jams, jazzy excursions, the occasional big singalong and plenty of improvising over the course of a three-hour set that will surely please the diehards. And don’t be scared off by the thought of being around 20,000 hippies; the person sitting next to you is just as likely to be a 30-something profes- sional as an 18-year-old stoner.
KYLE GUSTAFSON FOR THE WASHINGON POST
JULY 21
Levon Helm
Wolf Trap, $45 in-house; $25 lawn
The former drummer for roots-rock icons the Band is the current King of Americana. Is it just a coincidence that the Gram- mys introduced the Best Ameri- cana Album category the same year that Helm’s scintillating “Electric Dirt” was released? Well, probably. But for once, the much-maligned awards show ac- tually got something completely right. Helm and his band create a gumbo of New Orleans grooves, horn-infused R&B and old-timey country and folk that hits all the right notes. Helm himself is rough of voice, the result of a bat- tle with throat cancer, but that only adds to the raw authenticity of the songs. At some perform- ances he isn’t up to making the microphone at all, but the joyous sounds he and his band create will still make it a uniquely up- lifting show.
2008 PHOTO BY STEPHAN SAVOIA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
6
JULY 31
Paramore
Merriweather Post Pavilion, $36 in-house; $21 lawn
Here’s a rare young band that can hang with the seasoned vet- erans when it comes to headlin- ing the big outdoor sheds in prime concert season. Hayley Williams, the 21-year-old spark- plug of a lead singer, is the clear focal point of this emo-punk quintet, leaping and bounding across the stage just like a 21- year-old should as she sneers, hisses and belts out anthems di- rected at dudes who have for some reason scorned her. The band has a definite template, but it works: Speedy verses launch into a mega-chorus, which is then usually repeated more times than an episode of “Project Runway” on Lifetime. But all that means is that you’ll be helpless to shout along even if you’re not familiar with such songs as “Playing God” and “Brick by Boring Brick.” (And if you aren’t, you should remedy that immediately.)
For complete listings of summer concerts around the area, many of which are free, go to
goingoutguide.com/music.
AUG. 15
Tom Petty
Jiffy Lube Live, $41-$141
Is there any better “Greatest
Hits” album than the 1993 col- lection from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers? You could cer- tainly make an argument for one of many Beatles compilations. Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Chronicle” is an underrated dark horse. But every last track on that Petty album, from “American Girl” to “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” is a legit rock-radio staple, and for good reason. The man simply has few peers when it comes to crafting unfussy, verse/chorus/verse hits with di- rect, relatable lyrics. He’s tour- ing in support of “Mojo,” his first album in eight years. Petty sounds revitalized, so those new songs in between the greatest hits will be worth staying in your seat for.
—David Malitz
THE WASHINGTON POST • FRIDAY, MAY 28, 2010
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