Paradiſe Loſt

Elaizbeth Warren at Wakefiled HS in Arlington, VA on 2/13/2020 - 19 days before Super Tuesday. Some 2000 people in the gym, with 500 in the overflow space and another 300 outside.

I didn't know what to expect form Canadian singer-songwriter Dan Mangan's set at the 9:30 club last night. Feelings were still pretty raw after the results of the election (93% of Washingtonians voted for Clinton, as did the majority of Americans).

Dan did his best to put on a brave face for the crowd and lighten the mood a bit. Towards the end of his set: he said that he’d be hanging out in the back the merch table with “T-shirts, LPs, CDs, immigration forms…” Taking the pulse of the room, there was some nervous laughter. I think a lot of folks would have taken him up on that.

For such sparse instrumentation, Mangan plays with surprising intensity. It was actually disquieting at some points of the set.

One exchange though summed up the set for me: Mangan:

"I don't know why people ask me to play [my sad songs] at weddings. It's supposed to be a happy day"

Audience: "Today was supposed to be a happy day!"

Mangan: "Today WAS supposed to be a happy day...”

At the end of the set the two bands came together and played a great cover of the Paul Simon classic "The Obvious Child." They played with abandon.

Israel Nebeker, Kati Claborn, & Luke Ydstie of Blind Pilot last night playing an acoustic number at 9:30 Club - Such a great set!

Some photos from River Whyless' terrific set at the 9:30 club in September. They certainly made a lot of new fans that night supporting Blind Pilot on tour!

Some photos from River Whyless' terrific set at the 9:30 club in September. They certainly made a lot of new fans that night supporting Blind Pilot on tour!

Some photos from River Whyless' terrific set at the 9:30 club in September. They certainly made a lot of new fans that night supporting Blind Pilot on tour!

Some photos from River Whyless' terrific set at the 9:30 club in September. They certainly made a lot of new fans that night supporting Blind Pilot on tour!

Some photos from River Whyless' terrific set at the 9:30 club in September. They certainly made a lot of new fans that night supporting Blind Pilot on tour!

Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn opening their amazing set as Sylvan Esso at the 9:30 Club

It's scary how good her voice is. She has so much control to swing from quiet to loud around notes.

Amelia Meath of Sylvan Esso

Amelia Meath

This show was revalatory experience. Josh looked like whe was full of glee the entire set.

It's not just that his lyrics connect on a personal level, they reveal a slice of America through such efficient turns of phrase.

I think everyone in the sold-out crowd got he sense by the second song or so that the Royal City Band has a really strong chemistry. These guys really liked playing songs with each other.

It's so refreshing to see a band where the artists are really enjoying what they're doing every night. So many artists just look like they're going through the motions (looking at you Owl City...)

The lighting design of this show was also above average. The album cover sof "Sermon on the Rocks" is pretty similar and they did a good job illuminating the different band members with different lights throughout the show.

Easily one of the best shows of the preceding 12 months.

"Don't you leave us in the dark..."

I took this photo (and about 200 other photos) at the Music Hall of Williamsburg during the Sufjan Stevens show last night. The show was quite good, and at times the audiance was eerie quiet, which I liked a lot; it's the sign of dedicated fans I think. So yeah. It was really good, tho I wish I'd gotten a bit closer. Oh well. We got there like an hour after door opened and no one went on for 45 min after that. Suffice it to say that had we gotten there timelyly we would have been standing for-ev-er. This photo also reminds me that I might be moving to China soon, which means that this might be my last show for a while. That's sad, though from a photographic standpoint, kind of ok, because there's a lot to shoot in 中国.

Another photo from the Sufjan show last week. It was so saturated when I took it that I decided to take the image to the other extreme.

This is Justin Vernon, of the band Bon Iver. He's a really good musician who I had the chance to see in Maryland at Merriweather Post Pavilion last week (9/15/12) It was a really fantastic show. I forgot how fun outdoor shows can be. My friend Kyle and I went. I (somehow?) scored tickets in like the 4th row, which was fantastic. This is obviously the first of many good shots that I was able to take.

Second from my series of Bon Iver photos. The band really do put on a good show.

Third photo from the Bon Iver show last month. This may have been from "Holocene." Sorry that it's so grainy; I had to sharpen it a tad b/c the focus was off just a bit. That\'s what I get for using focuslock I guess, oh well.

Israel Nebeker of Blind Pilot, at their show at the Bell House in Gowanus Brooklyn on 11/20/09.

A bit of a better photo of Israel Nebeker of Blind Pilot.

Oliver Hill on Guitar and Austin Vaughn on drums.

Pavo Pavo is Eliza Bagg on violin, synthesizers, and voice, Oliver Hill on guitars, synthesizers, and voice, Nolan Green on guitars and voice, Austin Vaughn on drums, and Ian Romer on bass.

(No One Knows Me) Like the Piano is a beautiful song. So glad that the xx introduced me to his music!

I liked Sampha, but I LOVED his band