Review:
I had gone to see Rush at Nissan Pavilion in July, but I didn’t have the best seats. And I had put on my bucket list seeing them from the front row. I did the math that it was cheaper to buy a front row ticket for Nashville, a plane ticket and a hotel room instead, so that’s what I did. Totally worth it.
Postcard:
Rush:
Setlist:
Slightly Something at Grog & Tankard, Washington, DC, USA
Review:
This was my coworker Osama’s band. He was playing acoustic with his bandmate Ricky.
Slightly Something:
Setlist:
Setlist
Carbon Leaf with emmet swimming at Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC, USA for Coca-Cola’s DC Sessions
Review:
From the emmet swimming concert archives:
The crowd at DC Sessions was the biggest I’d seen. The majority of the people were there for Carbon Leaf (who put on a great show, btw), but there were plenty of emmet fans, as each familiar song brought cheers. “Don’t Call Her” was brand new, “first time we’ve played it in public” said Todd. He asked where everyone had been the last two years, then said they’d been touring, but nobody’s coming to the shows. Also, during the intro to “Broken Oar”, he said “Scott Brotemarkle’s on vacation”. They seemed happy about the crowd response, and with any luck, there’ll be some more shows.
Ticket stub:
emmet swimming:
Setlist:
Recording:
Carbon Leaf:
Setlist:
Funny Money at Thunder Dome, Baltimore, MD, USA
Review:
I know I went with to Nancy to this. She had a history with Kix, whose frontman Steve Whiteman was also the frontman for Funny Money, singing lots of Kix songs. The place was a dump, though.
Funny Money:
Setlist:
N/A
Dave Matthews Band at Nissan Pavilion, Bristow, VA, USA
Review:
Some similar songs to the April show, but there’s just something about seeing them outside at a long time favorite venue.
Ticket stub:
Setlist:
Dave Matthews Band:
Setlist:
Caitlin Cary with Gavin DeGraw at Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC, USA for Coca-Cola’s DC Sessions
Review:
I had no idea who Gavin DeGraw was before this show, but I did afterwards. I did come for Caitlin Cary, the ex-Whiskeytown violinist, who was great.
Gavin DeGraw:
Setlist:
Caitlin Cary:
Setlist:
The Vines with OK Go at 9:30 Club, Washington, DC, USA
Review:
Pretty sure Nancy dragged me to this. No regrets about seeing OK Go, though.
Ticket stub:
OK Go:
Setlist:
N/A
The Vines:
Setlist:
N/A
Eddie From Ohio at Filene Center at Wolf Trap, Vienna, VA, USA
Review:
After co-headlining the year before, they were on their own. Joined by the “wall of Jo(h)n” (Jon Carroll, John Jennings, and the “Fillmore Horns”), songs from this superb show were used for their second live album Three Rooms.
Ticket stub:
Eddie From Ohio:
Setlist:
China Miéville at Borders, Baileys Crossroads, VA, USA
Review:
The author China Miéville was at Borders for his book The Scar.
China Miéville:
Setlist:
N/A
emmet swimming (Todd Watts solo) with Corey Harris at Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC, USA for Coca-Cola’s DC Sessions
Review:
From the emmet swimming concert archives:
You might call it the Todd Watts Band (or half of Smartbomb): Derrick on drums, David Strickland on accordion, Scotty Brotemarkle on bass. The video screen next to the stage said “Next Todd Watt” (maybe they thought he was related to Mike). Todd was in fine form; he said they were the first accordian based boy band and they’d be doing some dance steps and costume changes later. He introduced Scotty as being “well-known in Burke – he used to breakdance outside the Kmart for money”. He also marveled at the DC101 tank and said David was “the accordion king – voted one of the ten best players in Northern Virginia”. He made sure everyone knew the band was back there August 10th and “a few other shows”, and that they had started practicing. It sounded like this lineup had practiced as well – they were great. “Not Enough You” has a rocking finish now with the addition of percussion.
Corey Harris:
Setlist:
N/A