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Florence and the Machine in Washington DC

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Last time we saw Florence, it was on this very tour, but in Amsterdam. That was a really fun show. This one was not quite as over the top, but Florence was in great form.

They scrapped the whole entrance thing.


Shake It Out


Cosmic Love


Howl

The audience would like some more please.


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The Dog Days Are Over

As You Like it at the Folger

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I have seen a bunch of excellent plays at the Folger. This was Romey’s first. As You Like It was good but not up to Folger excellence. We had a great night out though.

Capitol at sunset.

Audience in the round.

Dinner nearby at Ethiopic with cyn and ant was pretty not bad. The fish was great fun.

Hirshhorn Solo

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Honestly it is way more fun to see art with Romey. While she was slaving away in class, I went to see art. Please don’t tell.

I am still super pleased by the lift the Hirshhorn has experienced under its new leadership. Yes please. Keep it up.

From the permanent collection.

Kandinsky

Detail

Before Basquiat

Three dimensions

Our old pal Laurie in permanence.

And then a special treat in the basement…

Sigur Ros will Change your Soul

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Ethereal. Scandanavian. As deep as the ocean. You can get all of those things without seeing Sigur Ros live, but when you do. Just wow.

We started our evening this time at The Grill on the wharf. Of the three restaurants we’ve been too lately, it is the best. That’s not saying that much though. Hanks Oyster bar needs work. La Vida is workaday. And The Grill? One notch over workaday. This is what happens when good restaurants are “suburbanized” for new development. Alas.

But really who cares when there is a band in from Iceland? With an orchestra.

The anthem was dressed for a concert with seating everywhere.

The show was out of this world. Well more like it was of this world in a different cultural context. We need more feels like this in the modern American experience.

It started with 8.

And it didn’t pick up from there as much as settle in. Even the tech bro in the row behind us shut up and ate his words.


Straláfur


Untitled 1 from ()

There were some crowdpleasers (songs that we love too), but the songs from () were excellent.


untitled 5

And the song you’ve all been waiting for…


hoppipolla

An evening to remember.

St Vincent Could not Cure the Sick

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It started with corn-shaped cornbread and slightly-too-sweet cocktails, so what do you expect?  It ended earlier than planned due to some virus from Ohio.

 

St Vincent put on a hella show at the Anthem, GA was non-optimal but we went way up high in the stands and that was a good call. So much more produced and click-tracky than the other shows we have seen this summer. St Vincent is almost ready for arena rock.

Was it Spinal Tap??


Los Angeles


Sweetest Fruit


Surgeon

Sadly, we opted to head home before New York. But it was a good thing we did. That virus from Ohio was a doozy.


Encore by Maybe

Springsteen in the Nation’s Capital: Pictures and Videos

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Lots of pictures and videos from our recent visit to Nationals stadium to hear some rock and roll.  Springsteen does not disappoint (especially if you happen to be a long time fan).  This show was originally scheduled for 2023 but was postponed a year.   Our original plan was scrapped, and we went to the show with Julia and Porter (down from Boston).

Bruce started playing just as I made it to the front of the cocktail line. Yeah, there were “cocktails” of sort.

Our seats were excellent.


Lonesome Day


Darkness at the Edge of Town

Springsteen has so many hits.


Hungry Heart


Long Walk Home


Backstreets

Clippy…


Born to Run (partial)


The Rising

The crowd was pleased.


Dancing in the Dark (partial)


Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out (partial)

And the 37th encore…


I’ll See You in my Dreams

And then we walked part way back with 40,000 of our best buddies.

Artomatic 25 ’24 Featuring Emily Shepardson

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Of course we’re biased!  I mean, that’s why we came.  Here’s the acquisition:

Emily Shepardson’s work stands out in the Artomatic chaos, for sure.

This year, Artomatic was spread over 8 floors in the old social security administration building. (Our previous Artomatic run was twelve years earlier in crystal city. We were all so innocent then.)

We found ourselves starting in Emily’s pod on four in the blue quadrant, down a hallway.

But we’re here for the art—well, Emily’s art. We’re here for Emily’s art.

(Cyn bits.)

Look, its the artist.

Buy some Emily for yourself. No really. You think art supports itself?

So anyway, we had to wander the halls for hours. The mix is very mixy. Like a platypus. Who put a duck bill on what?! It lays eggs and has milk? Electric sensory organs?!

The Barbie compass led the way.

There were installations.

There was after before before.

Ant knew immediately that this guy is a real artist. By instinct alone.

There was before after after.

There was too much day-glo. We failed to capture any of it in bits.

You can dance if you want to. Like its the ’20s.

The cookie cutters.

Romey found fabric and lines.

Disco sucks.

It all started melting together.

Sometimes funny.

Sometimes boozy.

Sometimes in need of a good Spring cleaning.

Escape velocity was eventually achieved.

P.S. Mercy Me should be named “Lord Have Mercy Me” or maybe “Just Take It”. Too many hipsters per square inch makes it more of a scene than a restaurant. Gonna flash in that pan. Poof!

Thievery Corporation at the 9:30 Club

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Though we arrived at 9:45, the line for the 10pm show snaked around the block.  The show started well after 10:30.  It was great.  We were right up front, dancing and singing for most of the show.

Lebanese Blond

 

Thievery brought along all the singers.  Sadly, David Byrne didn’t make an appearance.

The Heart’s a Lonely Hunter

Lights

Reggea

 

Ghetto Matrix

Random

Cat Power Plays Bob

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Heading into DC for a show is always fun. This time, Romey and I headed to Lincoln Theater to see someone named Cat play a bunch of songs written and performed almost 60 years earlier by someone named Bob.

The songs, by now, have become quite famous.  Rhine and I play a bunch of them together and have done for years.

Here is a snippet of Like a Rolling Stone (the last song)

But before that, we made a highly-recommended stop at Busboys and Poets for some food and drink.  Delicious and socially conscious at the same time.

The cocktail was named after Langston Hughes.  The pie was absolutely completely unnecessary.

The band was quite fantastic, that is really what I think.  Finally, electric! Tell me, momma.

 

 

And that was after a kind of longish acoustic set. Harmonica thresholds may have been exceeded.

Baby let me follow you down.

The interlude.

All in all, a great show. Sure would be great if DC learned how to dance though.

The Kreeger: Washington DC Jewel

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On a windy but very clear crisp Spring day, we visited the Kreeger—a small but excellent collection in an interesting architectural space.  Chagall, Monet, Picasso, Kandinsky (though the wrong periods), and some very interesting Mondrian are among the finds.  What a stunning place to have lived.  Must be nice to be an insurance plutocrat!

Ghost Romey in the jungle.

Romey’s favorite, this Picasso woman.

The architecture is 1960’s modern, but still very tasteful and beautiful.

The light on Piet.

Outside was chilly but likewise very well structured.

 

 

A series of “wrong” Kandinsky.  Late and early, but no just right.  Where is Goldilocks when you need her?

 

This gallery has the feeling of a japanese dojo.

The wind was perfect.

Still.

Motion.

The Kreeger efinitely well worth a visit.

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