THE WASHINGTON POST • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2010
6
MusicMaker
Going out with a Bangs
by Moira E. McLaughlin A few years ago, D.C. singer-guitarist Rob Pie-
rangeli was in love. He was so in love that he named his band, Casper Bangs, after his girl- friend. (Her last name is Bangs.) He plastered her mug all over his publicity art and the cover of his debut EP. And as if that wasn’t enough, he named the first song after, yup, you guessed it, his girlfriend. “I know, it wasn’t a really good idea,” Pierange-
li says. The relationship ended. The band lives on. Pierangeli, 31, grew up in Silver Spring. He
picked up the guitar at age 9 but was a serious gymnast and had little time for music. It wasn’t until his 20s that he began writing decent songs. He played with the garage rock band the Hard Tomorrows and, when the band broke up in 2007, he went solo. His new album, “I Woke Up,” is filled with songs that are poppy if slow to build, with lay- ered, lazy-sounding vocals and thick synthesizer and guitar textures accented with reverb. Pie- rangeli’s songs from the girlfriend era are happy and love-fueled, but he says darker songs are his forte. And indeed, if what he posts on his Web site is any indication, he is filled with a little angst these days. “I can’t shake these memories off. I used to be
light. Now, I’m heavy rocks,” he writes. “I don’t think I’ll ever love again. I found a good woman, won’t let her in.” Now he is moving to a more intense, edgier
style and in 2011 plans to release a darker album of hypnotic, rhythmically driven tunes that hint at his childhood love of hip-hop. A preview of the album reveals a more complex, mature sound. Although Pierangeli’s music is highly acces-
Concerts Prices listed where available.
Please see the Theater section of the listings for opera performances.
ORCHESTRAS
NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND VIOLINIST CHRISTIAN TETZLAFF Friday at 1:30 and Saturday at 8. Performing the works of Beethoven. Kennedy Center, Concert Hall, 2700 F St. NW. 202-467-4600. 800-444-1324. (TDD: 202-416-8524). www.
kennedy-center.org. $20-$85.
BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Friday and Saturday at 8, Sunday at 3. Gotta Dance. Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St., Baltimore. 410-783-8000. 800-442-1198. $28-$61.
SHERVIN LAINEZ Rob Pierangeli, with his then-girlfriend, who inspired the band’s name.
sible and was well received at this year’s South by Southwest festival in Austin, it has not gar- nered the attention of labels or booking agents. “Maybe I’m in the wrong town,” Pierangeli spec- ulates, but he’s not interested in moving or mak- ing excuses. “Maybe I haven’t made something really great yet,” he says. And although Pierange- li loves to play and write, he doesn’t tour. Nor does he want to and, aside from a one-year stint at the University of Pittsburgh, has never left the Washington area. Pierangeli earned a bachelor’s degree from
Johns Hopkins University in 2009 and now bar- tends at the Gibson and Marvin, keeping long, late hours. That doesn’t leave much time for mu- sic, and he has been thinking about going back to school. But if he had it his way, he would be living at the Tabard Inn, writing and recording music all day.
NIH PHILHARMONIA Saturday at 7:30. “Getting Darker,” works by Mozart, Haydn and Shostakovich. St. Elizabeth Catholic Church, 917 Montrose Rd., Rockville. 240-888-6781. Free.
NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC Saturday at 8. Performance of Mahler’s “Resurrection.” Pitor Gajewski, conductor; Iwona Sobotka, soprano; Magdalena Wor, mezzo-soprano. Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. 301-581-5100.
www.strathmore.org. $32-$79.
AMERICAN FESTIVAL POPS ORCHESTRA Pre-performance discussion, 7:15 p.m.; performance, 8 p.m. “Salutes!,” featuring well-known pieces by such composers as John Williams, George Gershwin, Duke Ellington and Marvin Hamlisch. George Mason University, Center for the Arts Concert Hall, 4400 University Dr., Fairfax. 703-993-8888. $23, $38, $46; youth
on
washingtonpost.com Listen up
Get an exclusive first listen to Casper Bangs’s album “I Woke Up” in its entirety
by visiting
voices.washingtonpost.com/ goingoutgurus/music.
As it is, it’s not so perfect, and Pierangeli sounds as if he may still be holding a torch for his ex-girlfriend. He hasn’t had a relationship since they broke up almost two years ago; he’s still in contact with her; she comes to an occa- sional show; and she lives just up the street. “It’s bittersweet,” he says. “I’ll always love her
in a way.”
mclaughlinme@washpost.com
through grade 12 accompanied by an adult, half-price.
NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Thursday at 7. Performing works by Mozart and Mahler. Kennedy Center, Concert Hall, 2700 F St. NW. 202-467-4600. 800-444-1324. (TDD: 202-416-8524).
www.kennedy-center.org. $20-$85.
BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Thursday at 8. Performing works by Beethoven and Shostakovich. Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St., Baltimore. 410-783-8000. 800-442-1198. $28-$61.
ITHACA COLLEGE CHOIR AND FACULTY/STUDENT CHAMBER ORCHESTRA Thursday at 8. Performing Bach’s Mass in B Minor. Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. 301-581-5100. www.
strathmore.org. $20 at the door, $10 in advance.
CHAMBER GROUPS
GEORGETOWN QUINTET Friday at 2. BlackRock Center for the Arts, 12901 Town Commons Dr., Germantown. 301-528-2260.
www.blackrockcenter.org.
NSO MUSICAL DIRECTOR CHRISTOPH ESCHENBACH PERFORMS PIANO WITH VIOLINIST CHRISTIAN TETZLAFF; VIOLINISTS JOEL FULLER AND ALEXANDRA OSBORNE, VIOLIST MAHOKO EGUCHI, AND CELLIST RACHEL YOUNG Friday at 6. Performing the works of Beethoven. Kennedy Center, Millennium Stage, 2700 F St. NW. 202-467-4600. 800-444-1324. www.
kennedy-center.org. Free.
ENSEMBLE 415 Friday at 8. Library of Congress, Jefferson Building, Coolidge Auditorium, 10 First St. SE. 202-707-5347.
www.loc.gov. Free, reservations required.
THE JUPITER STRING QUARTET Saturday at 3. Part of the Discovery Series. Featuring works by Haydn, Kurtag, and Beethoven. Shriver Hall, 3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore. 410-516-7157. Free, reservations required.
ORONOCO STRING QUARTET Saturday at 3. Piano quintets by Dvorak and Schumann. Church of the Epiphany, 1317 G St. NW. 202-347-2635. Free.
BALTIMORE MANDOLIN ORCHESTRA Saturday at 7:30. Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, 801 Chase St., Annapolis. 410-263-5544. 410-280-5640.
www.marylandhall.org. $15.
GEMINI PIANO TRIO Saturday at 7:30. Howard Community College, Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center, 10901 Little Patuxent Pkwy., Columbia. 410-772-4900. $15, $10 for seniors, $5 for HCC students and staff.
BEAU SOIR ENSEMBLE Sunday at 2.
Pierangeli’s older songs are happy and love-fueled, but he says darker songs are his forte.
CASPER BANGS
Appearing with Ra Ra Rasputin and the Jaguar Club on Saturday at the Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW. Show starts at 9 p.m.
Tickets:
$10. 202-667-4490.
www.blackcatdc.com.
The Download: For a sampling of Casper Bangs’s music, check out: From “I Woke Up”: “Always On” “Queen of Hearts”
IF YOU GO
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