A rainy first day of fall didn’t keep fans away from The Atlantis for Edgehill’s September 22, 2026 show. Edgehill is quickly moving out as they move up.

The Moving Out Tour marks the Nashville-based band’s first run of headline shows. Their debut album, Ode to the Greyhouse, released on February 13, 2026, is titled after their shared house in Nashville, Tennessee. Frontman Chris Kelly told the audience during the show that they have now moved out of the Greyhouse, leading the tour to honor that milestone in band history.

Edward! opened the show and did not hold back in the slightest. Their latest release, BROOKHAVEN, features the standout songs “NICE TO KISS YOU” and “ONETASTE” that had fans jumping around. The raw, unfiltered rock brought by the Frederick, Maryland-based group made for an absolutely explosive set that set the tone for the night.  For those living in the DMV, be sure to see Edward! and their raw, incendiary performances.

Palmer maintained the rock atmosphere but pulled back into indie rock territory during their set. They switched the stage-diving energy of Edward! for a melodica, but no energy left the room. The title track of their 2021 EP ok, COOL! made for a particularly lively moment during their set, in which frontman Palmer Hubbell instructed the audience to call out “cool” every time he said “okay.” That call-and-response bit lasted longer than just that track. They also performed “Shampoo” (“For the redheads” in the audience, Hubbell said) and “BOYFRIEND KILLER.”

During their performance, Hubbell explained the deep connection with Edgehill. Hubbell produced some of Edgehill’s early tracks, like “Shooting Glances” and “Johnny’s Friend,” which explains the sonic connection between the two bands. The band also invited Edgehill’s guitarist and backing vocalist Jake Zimmerman to the stage to play the last song of their set, “PEOPLE FUEL.”

The opening acts for this show were uniquely compelling when paired with headliner Edgehill. Edward!’s heavy punk rock influences and sound satisfy that raging urge throughline of Edgehill’s discography. Palmer’s thoughtful, evocative lyrics and often scratchy vocals that mimic a resigned tone clearly match Edgehill’s sound. With a touch of everything to love about Edgehill in each set, fans were more than ready for them to take the stage.

Next, came what everyone was waiting for - Edgehill took to the stage!  Lead singer Chris Kelly began the show by addressing the crowd via text-to-speech. A disembodied robotic voice addressed the crowd to tell them that though Kelly was sick, he would still try to push through the show. The crowd didn’t seem to mind, however, when the full band arrived on stage and opened with their 2024 single “Towel.” 

“I Can Be Your Dog” became so chaotic on stage that Zimmerman ended up on the floor, knocking over mic stands and unplugging Kelly’s guitar. Kelly sang into a phone mounted to a microphone stand while the others bounced around the stage. Between songs, Kelly said, “Where’s my guitar?” as he was trying to identify what was wrong with his guitar. One audience member called out, “It’s in your hand!” When Kelly plugged his guitar back in, he responded in a mocking tone, “It’s in your hand.” Both the audience and the band had a good laugh about it, especially when Kelly took the opportunity to pour honey directly into his mouth for his voice.

After performances of “Drone Song” with a punchy electric guitar and grungey vocals, and “Tape My Mouth,” Edgehill covered “Harness Your Hopes” by Pavement. Though Edgehill’s version stayed fairly close to Pavement’s original style, the cover didn’t feel out of place at all in the set. The song’s famous wordplay, especially in the second verse, matches Edgehill’s commitment to complex themes in their lyrics, even if presented in an offbeat way.

The Pavement cover focused both the audience and the band, but the very next song brought back the chaos. “Shooting Glances” had both guitarists spinning around in circles as they played the lead-up to the chorus, with Kelly delivering the energetic vocals and lead guitar between them. Drummer Aidan Cunningham was particularly strong on this song.

In a mid-set acoustic break, Kelly took the opportunity to solo on acoustic guitar and address the audience. He thanked Edward! and Palmer for opening and congratulated them on their performances. 

“We’ll chill in silence later,” he said after revealing he had spent the day on complete vocal rest to prepare for the show. He added that Palmer is one of the biggest reasons they are able to be performing like they are today.

This show marks the first time the band has played in Washington, D.C., although earlier this summer they attended the DC101 Yard Sale and free concert to benefit Punk Rock Saves Lives. The charity is a nonprofit with a wide range of missions, from mental health advocacy to bone marrow donations. Kelly then played “Ode to the Greyhouse” before the rest of the band joined him on stage for the second half of their set.

Fans filled in for some of Kelly’s vocals toward the end of the show. The band mixed in well-loved classics “Shooting Glances” and “Lookaround” with “Love to Go” and “Numb.” Kelly also introduced an unfinished, unreleased song, saying the band is in writing mode. He said the band finished writing Ode to the Greyhouse in 2024, and with the release of their debut album, it’s time to get writing again.

Kelley pulled up the hood of his camouflage hoodie and broke it down during “Innocent.” The studio version of the track is complex in its highs and lows of acoustic and electric guitar. In person, the performance was just as complex and intense, emotionally and sonically. Pink and red and orange swirls of light flooded the stage.

“Johnny’s Friend” gave one last dose of hype. Fans moshed as Edgehill opened it up, and one fan took to the air as he crowdsurfed from one side of the crowd to the other. We were surprised it took that long for the energy in the crowd to build to that point, but it was one way to round out a great night of music. “Doubletake” officially ended the evening, with a healthy dose of romantic angst to send off fans back into the rain.

The energy of this Tuesday-night show was completely unmatched, and so was its sound. From Edward!’s ferocious punk-rock energy to Palmer’s heartfelt and sweet indie-rock sound, Edgehill was a perfect balance of the two openers and distinct in their own right. The chemistry between all performers is something rare we don’t experience often. We wish more lineups held the complexity that this one did.

Make sure to catch Edgehill on their Moving Out Tour while they are still playing small clubs. The tour includes stops at legendary venues across the United States.  The biggest exclamation point and sign of their explosive rise in the music scene will take place in November as they cross the pond. Their first international show, set for London at The Grace on November 16, 2026, is sold out.  First headlining tour, and they are already taking on Europe!  

Don’t miss an opportunity for a cathartic experience.  

There are bands that arrive with a blank slate, free to stumble around in the darkness until they discover what the hell they are supposed to sound like - Stanley Simmons never had that luxury.

From the moment Evan Stanley and Nick Simmons began making music together, there were expectations, assumptions, and a considerable rock-and-roll heritage already attached to their names.  The music of these lifelong friends speaks for itself, and their names may sound familiar.  Evan is the son of Paul Stanley, and Nick is the son of Gene Simmons of the legendary band KISS.  You might think they would follow the wagon-wheel grooves their fathers laid out for them.  However, the more you listen to Stanley Simmons, the more you realize that they have taken the road less traveled and all of it their own.

Something far more interesting has begun to happen.

They aren't running from that history.

They aren't trying to recreate it, either.

They are building something of their own.

And somewhere along that road, Stanley Simmons has become its own animal.

Born and raised in California, Evan Stanley and Nick Simmons have been friends since early childhood, but the musical partnership that became Stanley Simmons didn't finally take shape until February 2025. What followed was not an exercise in nostalgia, but the beginning of two longtime friends discovering what they could create together.  

There is California baked deeply into the music.  You can almost feel the geography stretching through it, from the sun-bleached decks of Laurel Canyon to the cold blue nights of Joshua Tree, with miles of desert highway running somewhere between the two. Echoes of the musicians and songwriters who came before them linger, but Stanley Simmons isn't interested in becoming a museum exhibit dedicated to California's musical past.

They are taking those influences and driving somewhere new, and that distinction matters.  While some listeners will inevitably approach Stanley Simmons through the prism of their rock-and-roll lineage, focusing too heavily on the family tree misses what is happening right now. Stanley Simmons is pushing beyond those assumptions, allowing folk, Americana, blues, harmony, and rock and roll to bleed into one another without worrying too much about where one genre ends and another begins.

This is Stanley Simmons trying to discover what Stanley Simmons sounds like.

And on Wednesday, September 30, Washington, D.C., gets a chance to witness that discovery firsthand when the band arrives at The Atlantis, just two days before the release of its debut album, Dancing While the World Is Ending.

On October 2, 2026, Stanley Simmons will release Dancing While the World Is Ending, its 13-song debut album and first complete declaration of who this band intends to be.  Scratch that, let's rewind for a moment.  The album drops digitally on October 2nd; however, Stanley Simmons decided, true to form, decided to follow their own path and be analog in a digital world.   On August 28th, the band decided to release this album in physical form.  Sounds absurd in this digital world, but they released Dancing While the World Ending on vinyl and CDs.  Fans quickly flocked to stores and embraced holding the album in their hands.  So when you see them at The Atlantis, you're seeing a band already at the top of the charts!  Stanley Simmons is already #12 on Billboard and #2/#3 on StreetPulse.

Even the title feels like something scratched onto the wall of 2026.  Dancing While the World Is Ending.  In and around Washington, DC, it especially hits hard.  Many people around DC feel the heaviness in the air.  What can you do with all that heaviness surrounding us, you might ask?  Well, why don't we dance while we feel the world is ending!

There is something wonderfully reckless about it.

The machinery is rattling. The lights are flickering. Civilization appears to have misplaced the instruction manual. Somewhere outside, the whole magnificent contraption may be rolling toward the cliff.  But somebody still has a guitar, and somebody still has a song.  In fact, thirteen new songs!  And all of us in and around Washington, DC,  against all reasonable advice, still dances!

That spirit feels appropriate for Stanley Simmons, a young band attempting to establish an identity while carrying names already weighted with musical history. The obvious path would have been imitation. The more interesting path is exploration.

Stanley Simmons appears determined to explore, and the songs on Dancing While the World Is Ending represent the band's first opportunity to present itself not as an idea, not as a collection of expectations, and certainly not as an extension of somebody else's history, but as a fully formed musical project standing on its own.

That makes September 30 at The Atlantis particularly intriguing.

Washington gets Stanley Simmons at an extraordinary little crossroads: 48 hours before the debut album arrives.

The record is finished.

The songs are ready.

The band is stepping into the world.

But the story hasn't been written yet.

And The Atlantis is precisely the sort of room where that matters. It is intimate enough that there is little separation between musician and audience. You don't disappear into a distant constellation of stage lights in a room like this.

You stand there, you play, and the songs have to do the rest. For Stanley Simmons, that feels appropriate, because beneath all the history, expectations, and familiar surnames is a remarkably simple proposition:

Can these songs create a history of their own?  That answer won't be found by looking backward.

It will be found in rooms like The Atlantis, with Evan Stanley and Nick Simmons standing together onstage and an audience directly in front of them.  

This isn't an opportunity to watch two musicians retrace a road somebody else already traveled.  It is an opportunity to catch them while they're still building their own.  From California to Washington, DC.  From Laurel Canyon to Joshua Tree to The Atlantis.  Two childhood friends.  Thirteen songs. One debut album waiting to be unleashed.  At the merch booth in the back of the venue, you will also find the album on vinyl and CD.  We have a feeling you will find these two friends after the show to meet every fan.

And just 48 hours before Dancing While the World Is Ending enters the digital world, Washington gets a chance to see Stanley Simmons standing at the beginning of whatever comes next.  

Speaking of getting a chance to see a new artist - the evening's festivities will begin with Anna Hamilton, who recently released her latest EP, Collarbones.

Article Lead Photo Credit: Ranal Slavin

Anna Hamilton

Venue Review:  Learn More About The Atlantis, parking, food recommendations, and more.

To learn more about Stanley Simmons, please see the following web resources:

• Webpage
• Facebook
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• YouTube
• Apple Music
• TIDAL
• Spotify
• TikTok
• Bandsintown

To learn more about Anna Hamilton, please see the following web resources:

• Webpage
• Facebook
• Instagram
• YouTube
• Apple Music
• TIDAL
• Spotify
• TikTok

Rising DMV indie rock band Kids Table released their debut album, 3 AM Club, on September 4, 2026. The album is carefully crafted with hard-hitting, relatable lyrics, and it comes just in time for situationship season. Laced with the ins and outs, intensity, and apathy of an overthinking mind, the long-awaited album opens up Kids Table’s sound as a complete body of work.

3 AM Club makes itself at home amongst Kids Table’s previously released singles, “We Can’t Go Back in Time,” “Between the Lines,” and “Fall.” The six-piece band combines Amy Smith’s evocative vocals, Andy King on the drum kit, Bryan Truong on the keys, Max Wooten on the bass, Mike Weaver on guitar, and Ryan Thomas on the trumpet. Kids Table nails the oddly specific experiences and anxieties of love, from the disquiet of waiting for a text back to the grand symphony when it all works out with 3 AM Club.

The album begins with the previously released track “White Flags.” It opens the album beautifully, albeit painfully, as the track feels like a plea to be heard. Amy Smith’s vocals deliver the uncomfortable truth of feeling dismissed by another person. This other person is aloof and makes the speaker feel like they want them to disappear. High walls and distance make the speaker want to surrender, and the musical accompaniment mimics this uneasy feeling.

“Where You Shouldn’t Be” carries on that uneasy feeling in a way. This track is like a lack of commitment in a nutshell while struggling to be nonchalant at the same time. The speaker here is “pulling triggers with [the] safety on,” taking risks while trying to maintain boundaries that your mind doesn’t want you to keep. This track is the definition of trying to figure out if someone has feelings for you while you’re trying to figure out your feelings for them. Sending mixed signals, gathering intel, and trying to determine how you feel without any input on their part.

The third track, “Us and the Moon,” switches up the energy. If “Where You Shouldn’t Be” is trying to find out where you stand with someone, “Us and the Moon” is your feelings after you get to spend time with them. This track sounds like what it feels like to know someone more intimately. It’s an infectiously happy and optimistic feeling on the surface, with uncertainty still ripe yet maintaining an undercurrent. The chorus of “da da das” at the end only serves to lead into that optimism.

“Two Step!” and “Play Pretend” go hand in hand in a way anyone who's been in a situationship will understand. “Two Step!” conjures up that deep feeling that sets in as you realize everything is great, but you realize it’s the calm before the storm. “Play Pretend” is when “nothing else even comes close” to the feelings you have for this other person, but you can still feel the end coming. Holding on to the giddiness of a new beginning and what you have feels high-stakes, but the relationship is fleeting. You won’t be able to stop singing “Play Pretend” with its endlessly catchy melody, either.

“Done” pulls the rug. “Done” is the switch-up, the creeping cold shoulder. The giddiness of the past has been replaced, bit by bit, by the certainty that the relationship won’t work. The relationship is “finished before it’s even begun.” The band released this track in May and called it one of their favorites on the album, and it’s definitely one of ours. 

After the crescendo of the inevitable, “Ready, Steady, Wait” leaves you feeling like you’ve worked so hard just to get ready to wait again. This completely acoustic track leaves the listener feeling stripped, almost dizzy from the emotional intensity of the last song. Yet Smith’s vocals are still carrying us through it and hitting that emotional nail right on its head.

The band calls the next track, “The Glow,” the “sad ass song,” and we can’t disagree. The combination of the work on the keys and on the trumpet makes us feel like we’re walking home alone in the rain without an umbrella. That beautifully painful trumpet is met with Mike Weaver’s guitar, Max Wooten’s bass, and Andy King’s drums in the bridge. 

The last song on the album turns a corner. “Killing Time” is a track we’ve loved from Kids Table since it was released last November. It’s no less emotionally poignant than the rest of the album as it continues to question everything. Now, its weight is matched with the clarity that only comes after you’ve moved on. The track begins by questioning the other person's intentions, while the ending is resolute: they were just killing time. 

From end to end, 3 AM Club is catchy, excellently written, and gives listeners a true taste of Kids Table’s artistry. If you can’t relate to the lyrics, you can certainly enjoy the talent these musicians bring together as a group.

Catch Kids Table on the 3 AM Club Tour beginning September 10, 2026! They will play their next hometown show at Black Cat on November 20 with Pete Hayes & The Contradictions and Flowerbomb (Ticket Link).

There are bands that arrive in Washington, D.C., play their seventy-five minutes, pack the van, disappear down I-95, and become another fading name on another fading concert calendar - and then there is Six Foot Blonde.

Washington has seen this movie before, except every time these six musicians from Bloomington, Indiana, come rolling back into town, the screen gets a little bigger, the room gets a little louder, and the band standing beneath those lights looks considerably less like a promising young act and considerably more like something that is happening.

On Friday, October 9th, Six Foot Blonde returns to Washington, D.C., bringing their “Spit It Out” Tour to Union Stage. This time around, Washington isn't meeting them. Washington knows them. And Six Foot Blonde is arriving with something new.

A Hummingbird Takes Flight

Just two weeks before the Union Stage performance, Six Foot Blonde will release their sophomore album, Hummingbird, on September 25.

That makes this Washington appearance considerably more than another stop on another tour. It is an opportunity to hear Six Foot Blonde at one of those exhilarating moments in a young band's life when a new collection of songs has finally escaped the studio and begun becoming something else entirely onstage.

Records capture songs, but concerts set them loose.

Washington will get the chance to hear these new songs while they are still fresh, evolving and gathering their own personalities in front of an audience. For longtime fans, October 9th offers something even better: the opportunity to celebrate Hummingbird with the band itself, barely two weeks after its release.

There is a particular electricity surrounding shows like this. The audience hasn't lived with the songs for years. The arrangements haven't necessarily hardened into permanent shapes. The musicians are still discovering which moments make a room erupt and which quiet passages can suddenly bring hundreds of people to complete silence. Everything is still moving, everything is still becoming, and for a band whose Washington story has unfolded one intimate venue at a time, Hummingbird represents another fascinating marker along that road.

From Bloomington to the District

It wasn't all that long ago that Six Foot Blonde first came wandering into the District.

Back in July 2024, the band made its Washington debut at Pearl Street Warehouse, arriving as a young independent group out of Bloomington with a growing collection of songs, a touring van, and the kind of grassroots determination that still matters enormously in an era when seemingly everything is supposed to happen overnight.

Six Foot Blonde didn't happen overnight. They worked, toured, played, came back, and people remembered them.

At the center of the whole wonderful contraption is Julia Rusyniak, a vocalist who doesn't simply occupy the middle of the stage so much as radiate outward from it. Around her, John Alex Rusyniak on keys, Dom Heyob on bass and vocals, Zach Patrick and Elliott Obermaier on guitars, and Brian Healey on drums create a six-piece musical machine capable of moving from delicate indie-pop intimacy into soulful grooves and big, glorious bursts of rock-and-roll energy.

That first Washington appearance revealed something particularly important about Six Foot Blonde: these people belong on a stage.

There is chemistry there, and not the manufactured everybody-stand-on-your-mark-and-look-cool variety. It's the real stuff: the glances between musicians, the grins, the movement, the feeling that six people are simultaneously listening to one another while pushing the song somewhere slightly different than it went the night before.

The room danced. Julia danced. And suddenly this little Indiana band playing its first Washington show didn't feel quite so little anymore.

Then Came The Atlantis

A year later, Six Foot Blonde returned. This time it was The Atlantis, and that alone said something.

Washington's intimate temple of rock and roll is one of those rooms where you occasionally get the delicious feeling that you're seeing an artist approximately fifteen minutes before everybody else figures it out. Six Foot Blonde fit comfortably into that equation.

By then, the band's debut album, Ask Me How I Am, had given listeners a much broader window into what these musicians were capable of doing together. The band that once arrived in Washington introducing itself was now returning to a city where people already knew the songs.

Bands grow in strange increments. One year you're asking people to come see you; the next year they're waiting for you to come back.

And now Six Foot Blonde is coming back again.

This time with Hummingbird.

SPIT IT OUT!

Which brings us to October: Union Stage. Friday night. October 9th. The “Spit It Out” Tour. A brand-new album barely two weeks old.  

Even the tour's name sounds like a command: SPIT IT OUT!

There is something wonderfully appropriate about it for a band whose music has always carried an emotional openness beneath all those bright melodies and infectious grooves.

Six Foot Blonde can be deceptively joyful. You hear the hooks, the guitars and the keyboards curling around the rhythm section. You watch Julia Rusyniak moving across the stage with that enormous gravitational enthusiasm of hers, and for a moment it is easy to surrender to the sheer fun of the thing.

Six Foot Blonde wraps those feelings in music you can dance to.

And perhaps that's the trick.

Washington Has Been Watching

There is another reason this October show feels different. Washington has now had the unusual pleasure of watching this band develop in real time: Pearl Street Warehouse, The Atlantis, and now Union Stage. Three Washington appearances representing three different moments in the band's evolution, and now two albums.

That is one of the great joys of following independent music closely. Long before arenas, barricades and enormous festival stages, there are rooms where you can stand twenty feet away and actually watch a band discovering what it is becoming. Sometimes nothing happens. Sometimes everything happens.

Six Foot Blonde has spent the past few years doing the least glamorous thing imaginable: building. Show by show, song by song, city by city and fan by fan, somewhere along the highway between Bloomington and Washington something has clearly begun to click.

The band that once arrived here hoping to make an impression has become a band whose return feels like the continuation of a story. On October 9th, Washington gets the next installment: a new tour, a new room and a new collection of songs from a sophomore album called Hummingbird that will have been out in the world for barely two weeks.

So when the lights go down inside Union Stage and six familiar figures walk onto that stage, don't think of this simply as another tour stop. Think of it as an album celebration and a chance to hear these new songs while they're still discovering what they can become in front of a live audience.

Washington was there near the beginning. Washington saw Six Foot Blonde when they were still introducing themselves. And if the trajectory of the last few years tells us anything, there may eventually come a night when we'll look back at these wonderfully intimate Six Foot Blonde shows and say:

You should have seen them then.

Better yet, see them now.

Recent Singles

The rest of their goodness!

Venue Review: Learn more about Union Stage, parking, food recommendations, and more.

To learn more about Six Foot Blonde, please see the following web resources:

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DC-native psychedelic rock band Argo and the Violet Queens released their debut album In Pieces on August 15, 2026. This debut album was released on the heels of their first ambitious and quite successful month-long tour.  This tour culminated in a hometown release party at The Black Cat in downtown Washington, DC.

In Pieces may be Argo’s debut album available on streaming services, but the band already has a rich presence in the DMV-area music scene. They have performed together for several years already and have put out single after single, including “It was Late,” “East from Sunday,” and “The Comedown.” Roughly half of the nine-track album has already been publicly released and performed, but the five new tracks to arrive with In Pieces are true to their sound.

In an interview, the band described the album as “varied,” “scattered,” and “laborious.” The name In Pieces comes from the sentiment that the album has tracks from across its history, since some tracks date back to 2020 while others are very new. The album’s name comes from the title of a documentary a friend of the band filmed about them. Clips for the documentary were filmed approximately every six months, and the band liked it so much they borrowed the title for the album.

That being said, it is only fitting that In Pieces should begin with “Right Time,” one of the band’s most popular songs ahead of the album’s release. “Right Time” and “Question of When” were released as singles in January 2026. The first track offers listeners a good introduction to what is to come in the album, but also what to expect of Argo in a grander sense. The instrumentation of “Right Time” shows that these musicians can pull off the complex textures they experiment with while creating something unique. “Question of When,” the second track, similarly rides the waves of intensity they introduce. They embrace the swell of the saxophone solo while keeping the contractions delicate. 

“Until The End” is the third track, and the first new song on the album. A jazzy saxophone section follows the leading vocals that sound distorted, almost like a voicemail. The track ends with a rock-fired section that culminates in utter chaos, between the drum kit, saxophone, and dueling guitars.

“Twelve Steps” is the track the band was most excited to release (the honor of overall favorite track goes to “Suicidal Squid Fishers”). In true Argo fashion, the track begins with upbeat synths and guitars, harkening back to a performance reminiscent of The Cure earlier this summer at Jammin’ Java. The new-wave, post-punk ‘70s elements manifest differently throughout the album but are in full force here.

“Live In This Life” follows a similar ‘70s groove, this time leaning more into a bluesy texture. This slower track feels more methodical and meditative than the others. That feeling matches the lyrics, which speak of moving on and flying solo.

“What’s So Wrong?” matches the slow beat of “Live In This Life” initially, though it brings a grunge-y texture straight from the ‘90s. A melancholy guitar melody matched with a marching drum beat and pick scrapes at the more intense moments conjures a likeness to Radiohead. “Caught In Between” follows this thread, but brings back more ‘70s elements. Caught somewhere between Kurt Cobain-esqe delivery and the backdrop of 90’s rock, we found we could listen to this song alone for hours on end.

Out of the ethereal groove of this “What’s So Wrong?” and others, Emme Pivetta’s saxophone pierces through the distorted symphony. This is one of many instances throughout the album that Pivetta’s saxophone makes its distinct appearance. Throughout the sonic fabric of the album, it is remarkable to hear this instrument incorporated into the peaks, valleys, and accentuations of songs.  We recommend listening to the album in its entirety just to hear the interplay of all these instruments delivering unique psychedelic symphonies to the listener.

This album can be listened to from “Right Time” to “Far Too Long” on a psychedelic journey, or you can dig deep on repeat on certain your favorites like “Question of When,” “Suicidal Squid Fishers,” and “What’s So Wrong.”  End-to-end or infinite repeat, join them on the sonic journey and lean into what resonates with you. The album has something for everyone, and on each listen, we found the next song we wanted to dive and settle into.

When asked about what they want listeners to take away from the album, vocalist and guitarist Arav Goswami emphasized the uniting features of music. “I’ve always wanted to take different dance elements from all different genres, and I think that’s something we do. I’m certain songs like ‘Squid Fishers’ are more new wave, kind of disco-y. In my mind, [music] is an outlet for people. Listen to music, engage with some sort of culture, all these disparate elements of culture that are all in one package,” he said.

The band was also sure to emphasize that their live sets are very different from their recordings available online. Given that the last time we saw them, they were joined by a full orchestra, we believe them.  

The album distills the essence of who Argo and the Violet Queens are, but if you see them live, be prepared for a performance you will not soon forget: Frenetic energy and explosive enthusiasm. If you get to see them with a full orchestra, expect nothing short of a Polyphonic Spree experience unfolding before you.

Speaking of their live orchestra performance, we have to point out the complex instrumentation and literal orchestra parts written by bassist Erl Fantilaga. Fantilaga wrote sheet music for each song on the album for their orchestral delivery.

Be sure to catch Argo and the Violet Queens perform this album (and more!) live at Songbyrd on September 17, 2026 (Follow this link for tickets).

Icelandic alternative blues rock band KALEO delivered a kaleidoscopic, grounded performance at The Anthem in Washington, D.C., on the final stop of their Way Down We Go Tour, celebrating the 10th anniversary of their debut album A/B.

The best way I like to describe KALEO is that they are Icelandic cowboys. Not only do they have a unique twang and deep timbre in their songs, but they also dress the part. Anyone who is familiar with the band members may be able to spot them just by their silhouettes.

The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Jökull “JJ” Júlíusson (often seen wearing a wide-brimmed fedora), drummer Davíð Antonsson, bassist Daniel Kristjánsson, lead guitarist Rubin Pollock, and keyboardist/harmonicist Þorleifur Gaukur Davíðsson.

After NYC-native indie rock band Dogpark opened the show, KALEO started their set with the explosive “No Good.” They oscillated between more intense and groovy headbangers like “Hey Gringo” and more soulful, mellow songs like “All the Pretty Girls” and “Save Yourself,” to which the audience sang along. 

Though they are from a small Nordic country, they have their finger on the pulse of issues happening around the world. They even have a song, “USA Today,” that tackles issues faced in America. Hearing this song in the nation’s capital while the stage was lit up in blue and red lights felt surreal. 

KALEO’s songwriting is poignant, and the lead singer, who goes by JJ Julius Son in the U.S., said to WBUR, Boston’s NPR affiliate, that he is often inspired by music from the 50s-70s and music that came out of the Delta region of the American South. They played their song “Broken Bones,” which is written from the perspective of a slave.

The band feels like a jack of all trades. They’re quite genre-bending and one of the most unique bands I’ve ever heard. Apple Music recommends Hozier, The Lumineers, X Ambassadors, and Billie Eilish as some similar artists, but in my opinion, none of these artists truly match the kind of music they create. The range they have in their music is also highly impressive; from those lyrical, melodic songs of longing to the songs that make you want to take a walk in cowboy boots with spurs and fringes and ride off into the sunset.

It’s clear that the band cares about their community. They dedicated their song “Automobile” to their tour bus driver, and they thanked everyone who worked with them to make this tour possible at the end of the show. They said that live music was one of the “last true artforms,” and they were grateful to be able to share their music with so many people. 

Their encore included their most famous song, “Way Down We Go,” the namesake of the tour.

KALEO embraces their Icelandic roots, and it’s evident in not only their music, but also their set design. Hanging upstage over the band was a diamond-shaped screen that showed visuals throughout the concert, including the four handprints on the cover of their debut album. There were also kaleidoscopic visuals of ice, fire, and crystals as well as landscape scenes. They sang one of the songs they have written in the Icelandic language, “Vor í Vaglaskógi,” which is a traditional Icelandic poem, as scenes of what looked like the island country were displayed on the diamond-shaped screen. 

Additionally, the piano had a glowing cutout of the band name in front of the shape of a snow-covered mountain, reminiscent of the artwork on their second studio album, Surface Sounds. When looking at the side of the piano, the lights underneath made it look like a treasure chest glowing as it is opened. Lead singer Júlíusson also had a uniquely shaped guitar that had Icelandic runes on it. 

The band flew back to their home country the next day, and they will continue their European leg of the tour in early January. 

Speaking of their European leg, I was lucky enough to see them perform in Copenhagen a few years ago.  If you think KALEO is amazing in America, you should certainly make the pilgrimage to Europe and see them closer to their native roots.

KALEO knows how to create a welcoming environment for their crowd. So many people relate to their music, and I could see that in the faces of the audience members. I’ve covered a KALEO show before, but this time I got to see them as I’ve never seen them before - from on-stage.  A big thank you goes out to KALEO for having me on stage to capture their performance closer than I could have ever hoped to.   

No matter where we have seen KALEO perform, that raw and powerful performance can be felt.  Thank you to KALEO for finishing off their tour in Washington, DC, and we look forward to seeing you fill The Anthem again on tours ahead. 

“Have you ever heard of this band before?” someone asked the people next to them in the crowd. “I dig them!”

Dogpark, the indie rock band from New York City, gained new fans the night they opened a show at The Anthem in Washington, D.C.

On August 8, Dogpark opened for KALEO, the Icelandic alternative rock band, who were on their “Way Down We Go” tour, celebrating the 10th anniversary of their debut album A/B. The show in D.C. was Kaleo’s final stop of their North American tour, and it is the only stop in which Dogpark joined them.

The band officially formed in 2023, though they were created through playing music at fraternity parties and events at the University of Richmond. While they’re a young band, social media platforms like TikTok helped the band skyrocket in popularity. People online often comment on how similar the lead singer Eamon Moore’s vocals sound to the late Jeff Buckley or Adam Levine.

Dogpark shared their summer schedule online, with stops on the east coast and the midwest – and even Canada. Their set in D.C. was the only show of the summer in which they were opening for another band. They will be traveling throughout Europe in September on their own and the West Coast in November in support of the rock band Houndmouth.

The four-piece indie rock band owned the stage during their half-hour set. The band consists of Eamon Moore on lead vocals, Chris Conte on drums, Declan Harris on lead guitar, and Billy Apostolou on guitar. They now have three studio EPs and one live EP in addition to a few singles.

Their music is reminiscent of the ‘90s rock scene while remaining fresh. All of their angst and energy was laid out on the floor of The Anthem that night, and it invigorated the crowd before the next segment of live music. They opened their set with “Hollywood,” their single released in 2025. 

Following their first song was the lighthearted, breezy “Dreamwalker” from their second EP, Until The Tunnel Vision Melts.

They played a solid set, a mix of music from each of their EPs as well as their single, released at the end of May this year, “Don’t Lie.” Their tunes are full of sass, swagger, and serotonin. The stage was simple: just them, their music, and solid colored lights. They didn’t need any fancy setup because their songs are the real stars.

In between some of the songs, the band would talk to the crowd so that they could get to know each other. Despite some audience members’ lack of knowledge about the band, there were some superfans in the crowd. Some people brought signs just for Dogpark and asked them to sing certain songs (which they did).

The band concluded their set with a classic ender, “Now It’s Over” – which was, ironically, their first single, but also the last song on their debut EP Breaking In Brooklyn.

What impressed me so much is the band’s consistency. I saw their headlining concert at the 9:30 Club in December of 2025, and they sounded incredible live, but they also sound exactly the same live as they do in their recorded music. It’s a testament to how much they seem to emphasize and value the sound of live music in their work. As members of KALEO said later in the night, live music is one of the “last true art forms.”

There is no doubt that Dogpark walked away with new fans of their music and that they will continue to grow and thrive as a band. These boys have a bright future in music and especially live music. 

Swimming through stars, driving through the desert, shining through trees, and listening through a payphone were all places audience members found themselves at Lord Huron’s concert at The Anthem on August 2, 2026.

For their final stop on the Cosmic Selector Tour, Lord Huron graced Washington, D.C. with their transcendental music and celestial visuals. After releasing their fifth studio album, The Cosmic Selector, Vol. 1, just over a year ago, the band toured the country throughout June and July this year.

They were accompanied by August Ponthier, a nonbinary singer-songwriter with magically calming vocals. The Texas native had only a guitarist – who was from D.C. – with them, but together they filled the arena and set the mood for Lord Huron’s upcoming set.

Back in 2021, Ponthier was featured on Lord Huron’s song “I Lied” from their 2022 album Long Lost. The band invited Ponthier back onstage to sing that song. Ponthier’s vocals mixed with those of lead singer Ben Schneider sounded like angels singing.

Ponthier released an album in February titled Everywhere Isn’t Texas. It is about their transgender identity, connections to their home state, and a reminder that you can leave a place in which you don’t feel comfortable. They wore a homecoming mum, a Texas tradition, that said “TRANS TX.” 

Lord Huron are masters at storytelling. Toward the beginning of the show, Schneider apologized to the audience in advance for not talking to them much between songs, but he didn’t need to. They communicated everything that needed to be said through songs and visuals.

The show began in a glowing white orb, almost like a creation, a conception, maybe even the Big Bang before the world was created. They began with “Who Laughs Last,” a song full of energy and narration by actress Kristen Stewart.

Next, in a blue haze, Schneider sang “Looking Back” through a phone, seemingly trying to deliver a message or urge someone to come back. The phone motif was present throughout the show, and it was very fun. At one point, the phone rang. Schneider picked it up, and a garbled voice began to deliver an eerie message. It got cut off, and he simply shrugged it off.

As Schneider sang into the phone, the camera hiding in the payphone showed his face large and live on the big screen in the back of the stage. The microphone also made his voice sound like it was indeed coming through a phone. The attention to detail in this show design was impeccable. 

After the first two songs, we were then instantly dropped into a red desert under a glowing moon. “Feeling lost?” said a neon road sign as a graphic car drove through the endless sand and mountains. This visual repeated itself later on in the show, but this time in a picture frame, almost like they were capturing the memory of the start of the journey. The first song in this desert setting was “Bag of Bones,” which is the second song on their most recent album. 

After the desert, the background panned upwards into a starry sky as they sang “The Ghost On The Shore” from their album Lonesome Dreams. Later, we entered an unknown land of neon red geometric lines, as if we were on the set of Tron, racing through time and space.

Roughly two-thirds of the way into the concert, Schneider came back to talk to the crowd once more. He cracked some jokes (including a joke about the Reflecting Pool) and thanked the audience sincerely for coming to the show and engaging with their music. He also encouraged the crowd to listen to their most recent album in order, front to back, the way they intended. He jokingly warned that if you listen to it backwards, you may open a portal to another dimension – even though it felt like we had all gone through multiple dimensions throughout the show. It’s clear that the band really loves their fans.

As we descended back to earth, we landed in a sun-filled forest with a stream running through it. It rippled calmly, diffusing light over the crowd. However, every once in a while, there would be a decent amount of strobing, possibly representing lightning. But then, all was calm as they played their last song of the main set.

Hearing “The Night We Met,” the song that introduced me to Lord Huron many years ago, live was an other-worldly experience. It was haunting and ethereal. Draped in green, yellow, and blue light with visuals of a rippling stream and a forest playing behind them, the band drew out the beginning of the song to lengthen the impact of the chilling vocal-only intro. It was pure magic, and the crowd was entranced.

I found it amusing that their song encore began with “The World Ender,” which repeats the phrase “back from the dead” multiple times. They ended the show with “Not Dead Yet,” a reminder to live life to the fullest. It was like they told a whole life’s story in the main act, they had died, and then they revived to bring back a few last moments of musical madness.

Lord Huron played a beautiful blend of music from nearly all of their albums, and for fans who have listened to their music for years must have felt that they were traveling back in time. Overall, Lord Huron’s Cosmic Selector Tour helped the crowd forget about the real world for a little while.

While Peter Stevens, known professionally as Pete Hayes, grew up in Chicago, he claims Washington, D.C. as his own, and he hopes that the city claims him back. D.C. is his music scene; it is where he started his career, and it is where he plans on staying for the foreseeable future. 

On Friday, July 31, Pete Hayes & The Contradictions sold out Songbyrd Music House for their biggest show to date. The show was energetic, friendly, and fresh.

You may recognize him from his first project, the Crystal Casino Band, who, in their decade-long existence, have headlined the 9:30 Club and opened shows at The Anthem. While the band is still releasing music, some of the members have moved to different parts of the country, leaving it hard to play live together. Hayes saw this as an opportunity to keep performing as a solo act.

“I really wanted to channel my energy into this project,” Hayes said in an interview. “It’s been a really good outlet to be able to still play live shows in D.C. – which I was missing so much – to release some music that I’ve been sitting on for a while, and to be able to try new things with that. It’s just been an overall really fun experience so far, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for it.”

Hayes has been playing instruments since he was four years old, with a ukulele in his hands. When he reached elementary school, he saw someone playing the Darth Vader theme from Star Wars on the piano and decided he wanted to take piano lessons. Next, he started to teach himself the guitar around 12 years old. In high school, he had a short stint as a guitarist in a band.

At freshman orientation at George Washington University, he met Joey Mamlin, the drummer for the Crystal Casino Band, and they decided to start a band before school even began. From there, pieces fell into place, and he was able to start his first successful band.

Later, at the end of 2025, Hayes released his first solo song, “Contradict.” This was the inspiration for his new backing band, The Contradictions, consisting of Jarrod Hendricks on guitar (also a member of the Crystal Casino Band), Will Salzmann on bass, and Ben Caprio on drums. 

“At the time I started this, I was really into Elvis Costello, and Elvis Costello has a backing band called The Attractions,” Hayes said. “During band practice, while we were rehearsing for my show at Pie Shop back in March, we were trying to come up with a name for everybody else because it’s kind of cool when a solo artist has an ‘And the Blank.’”

Hayes himself somewhat resembles a young Elvis Costello. Clad in a white button-down, tie, and thick-rimmed glasses, he rocked a more “serious” look at his show to present different sides of himself as a performer – and acknowledging that he still has a “normal, corporate 9-5 job,” as he said. 

Inspired by bands like The Killers, The 1975, The Walkmen, and other quintessential “2015 Tumblr music,” Hayes describes his style as true indie rock. That’s the era in which he started his music career, as a student at GWU. He likes to blend influences into something that feels unique and personal to him.

The opening bands at Friday’s show, Jem Wilde and Color Palette, are also local indie bands, but each of them have their own style, too. One of the members of Color Palette produces Hayes’ music.

“It was cool to show a wide variety of music that night that’s also somewhat related, but are different enough that it makes each individual set interesting,” Hayes said.

Hayes finds inspiration from living in D.C. and has often incorporated it into his music. He has written songs for the Crystal Casino Band called “Potomac” and “Curfew,” which is inspired by the events of January 6, 2021. The band even has an album titled Maryland House.

“We do live in a really unique area, and it is cool to be able to incorporate anything from those experiences of living here in our music, and have other people get to experience what D.C. is like through that way, too,” Hayes said.

While D.C. is his home, he still plans to travel the world to play music. He’s been able to play in a few cities already.

“The only other city outside of D.C. that we’ve ever sold out is Chicago,” Hayes said. “I love that city as well, so it’s always really cool to play there. But New York is always really fun to play, and whenever we make it out to the West Coast, L.A. is really cool, too.”

Hayes sees the Crystal Casino Band and Pete Hayes & The Contradictions as two distinct projects, and he likes to experiment with new ideas between the two bands. 

“I had a piano at my show on Friday, I’ve never done that before,” Hayes said. “I feel like I was getting really into the performance, just trying to put on the best show and be a really good frontman.”

The Songbyrd show at the end of July was a smashing success. It introduced people to his music, and it allowed people to introduce themselves to one another and make new friends.

The number one way to boost your coolness factor as a band is to have walk-up music. As Pete Hayes & The Contradictions walked on stage, the intro to “Kashmir” by Led Zeppelin played through the speakers, leading straight into the first song. His brand new single “Sick Of It,” released the same day as his Songbyrd show, fits remarkably well with the intro to Led Zeppelin’s track.

The band played a few of their classics, the newly released songs, and some unreleased music. Fans were enthralled, and it was clear that everyone onstage loved what they were doing.

For the encore, Hayes came back out dressed in a rain jacket and bucket hat, a nod to Liam Gallagher of Oasis as they covered their song “Supersonic.”

The most unique thing Hayes did at his Songbyrd sellout was pass out four disposable cameras to the audience. He let the crowd take as many photos as they wanted, and he plans to share those photos on social media once they are developed.

“I want to remember this moment forever,” Hayes said as he passed out the cameras.

It created a memorable moment for the audience in return. People felt more connected to the band. While Hayes had some of his friends – and his mom – in the audience, he instantly created a connection to everyone else, including those who may be brand new to his music.

“I want to be able to have the crowd experience and have something to take away from it,” Hayes said. “It’s gonna be cool for people to look through it and try to find themselves.”

Hayes has been utilizing social media to boost his music career and sees it as a useful tool.

“There’s no other way to get your name out there these days,” Hayes said.

Social media is, after all, how I found out about Hayes and this concert, so his work paid off.

For now, his new music will be released under “Pete Hayes” on streaming platforms, but he hopes to one day release music as “Pete Hayes & The Contradictions” as well. While the next Pete Hayes & The Contradictions show is not yet on the calendar, we are excited to hear what happens next in this journey.