With a remarkable number of queer-identified newcomers visiting us, LGBTQ artists really and truly will be a force to be reckoned with throughout the region this spring and summer. The lineup at Songbyrd Music House is especially rich in this regard.

There’s also a notable rise in the number of concerts or events featuring more than one queer-identified act on the same bill, a development on offer over the coming months everywhere from the Kennedy Center to Jiffy Lube Live to Wolf Trap — which naturally takes the crown by presenting Brandi Carlile’s Out & About Festival, a two-day music marathon featuring a dozen queer and allied artists near the end of Pride month.

Janet Jackson, Madonna, P!nk, and Shania Twain are just four established gay-popular divas returning for the first time since the pandemic. Meanwhile, Bruce Springsteen will even swing through town twice, once in the spring, then later in the summer.

Die-hard fans of the Boss should also consider the tribute band coming in May to Virginia’s State Theatre, which has especially become a haven for tribute acts of all types since the pandemic.

9:30 CLUB

815 V St. NW
202-265-0930
www.930.com

• Elderbrook — Little Love Tour from moodily expressive synth-pop producer, sold out so check Lyte (3/25)
• Ibeyi — Afro-Cuban electro-R&B/pop sisters duo (3/26)
• Boy Named Banjo (3/27)
• Cuco (3/28)
• Tennis — w/Kate Bollinger (3/29-30)
• INZO — w/Dreamers Delight, Blookah, Eyezic (3/31)
• Nick Lutsko & The $100K Band (4/4)
• Sleaford Mods — US Tour 2023 (4/5)
• Marc Broussard — w/Nicotine Dolls (4/6)
• Molchat Doma — w/Nuovo Testamento (4/8-9)
• Shygirl — Nymph World Tour Pt. 1 (4/12)
• Ripe (4/13)
• Caroline Rose — A queer-identifying Austin-based artist tours months before the planned October release of their next set, Love / Lover / Friend (4/14)
• Wild Child — w/Proxima Parada (4/15)
• FLO Live (4/15)
• Ruston Kelly — The Weakness Tour (4/17)
• Unknown Mortal Orchestra (4/18-19)
• Built to Spill — w/Disco Doom, Orua (4/20)
• Scary Pockets — w/David Ryan Harris (4/21)
• The Taylor Party — Taylor Swift Night (4/21)
• Fruit Bats — w/H.C. McEntire (4/22)
• Weval — The Remember Tour ’23 (4/22)
• Rory Scovel (4/23)
• Andy Shauf (4/24)
• Theo Katzman (4/25)
• Saint Motel (4/26)
• Lizzy McAlphine — TikTok-minted singer-songwriter touring in support of strong new cohesive album five seconds flat (4/27-28)
• Pinback (4/28)
• Drive-By Truckers (4/29-30)
• Placebo — w/Poppy Jean Crawford (5/2-3)
• Bumpin Uglies — All Good presents this show with opening sets from Joey Harkum and Higher Education (5/4)
• Meg Myers — Tzia’s Arc Tour (5/7)
• Straight Up with Stassi Live — The Mommy Dearest Tour (5/9)
• Citizen Cope (5/10)
• Feist — Lovely voiced quirky Canadian hasn’t toured in forever, which is why the tickets sold out before you could count to 5 (5/12)
• Cobra Man (5/14)
• Pouya (5/18)
• The New Pornographers w/Wild Pink –First night sold out, second night added. Quirk Canadians rock (5/19-20)
• PUP — w/Pool Kids (5/21)
• The Walkmen — A reunited New York art-rock band, whose members all hail from D.C., touring for the first time in a decade, explains why they keep adding and keep selling out shows — three down, fourth added (5/23-26)
• Bloc Party — The aughts-popular indie Britpop band fronted by gay singer Kele is back together, gone so long, tickets are all gone except maybe via Lyte (5/27)
• Indigo De Souza (5/30)
• Hot Chip — Quirky electro-pop Brits, already sold out (6/1)
• Brandon Wardell (6/2)
• Sampa the Great (6/4)
• Palace (6/6)
• AJJ (6/10)
• Ruel — First night sold out, second night added (6/12-13)
• Joseph w/Sawyer — Underrated three-part-harmonizing folk/pop sister act (6/24)
• Rodrigo y Gabriela — In Between Thoughts…A New World Tour (6/25)
• The Struts Tour — w/Mac Saturn (7/16)
• Giant Rooks (7/27)
• JVKE — what tour feels like (8/31)

THE ALDEN

McLean Community Center
1234 Ingleside Ave.
McLean, Va.
703-790-0123
www.mcleancenter.org

• L’Chaim — Four Jewish performers present “A Toast to the Jewish Legacy of Broadway” (5/7)
• Jennifer Cutting and Ocean Orchestra — A program of traditional and original music by Celtic band and its soaring vocalist celebrating the Irish festival Beltane and the start of summer (5/13, McLean Central Park, 1468 Dolley Madison Blvd.)

AMP BY STRATHMORE

11810 Grand Park Ave.
North Bethesda, Md.
301-581-5100
www.ampbystrathmore.com

• AIR: Connor Holdridge — Jazz- and blues-inspired guitarist and composer known as co-leader of The Hot Mess, a 1940s-inspired jazz quartet, but here he performs two solo shows as part of his year as a Strathmore Artist In Residence (4/12, 4/26)
• Connecting The Dots — A globally rooted multi-instrumental performance featuring three AIR alum: Josanne Francis, Chao Tian, and Titilayo Ayangade (4/14)
• The Gibson Brothers — Bluegrass, new and old, pure and honest (4/21)
• Shayna Steele — Sensational singer performing originals and classics with soul (4/27)
• Mames Babegenush — One of Europe’s premiere klezmer jazz ensembles, the six-piece group from Denmark fuses Scandinavian roots with music of Eastern Europe heritage (4/28)
• Aynur — Fresh interpretations of Kurdish folk (4/30)
• AIR: Jo Palmer — A multigenre rock/jazz drummer performs two solo shows as a Strathmore Artist In Residence (5/10, 5/24)
• Leyla McCalla — Innovative folk from Haiti and New Orleans (5/11)
• The String Queens — Kendall Isadore, Dawn Johnson, and Élise Cuffy comprise this genre-defying soulful group playing music from the Baroque era to the Billboard Hot 100 (5/12)
• AIR: Joshua Jenkins — Exploratory jazz pianist and multi-instrumentalist performs a solo show as a current Strathmore Artist In Residence (6/14, 6/28)

THE ANTHEM

901 Wharf St. SW.
877-435-9849
www.theanthemdc.com

• M83 — Eccentric nstrumental music from French multi-instrumentalist Anthony Gonzalez, veering from shoegazing and ambient soundscapes to dream-pop and full-on sonic worldbuilding (4/22)
• Jamie Cullum — The offbeat British jazz/pop singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has been in the game for over two decades now (4/26)
• 100 Gecs & Fever Ray with Machine Girl — Dylan Brady and trans artist Laura Les have helped pioneer the EDM subgenre known as hyperpop, a maximalist, fast-paced, and multi-processed style with strong LGBTQ ties a la Charli XCX. The 100 Gecs duo tours with Fever Ray, the alias of queer and genderfluid Swedish singer-songwriter Karin Dreijer aka The Knife, and Machine Girl, a New York duo self-described as “fucked-up electronic punk” (5/1)
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs — Twenty-three years after forming, the American indie-rock band fronted by Karen O tour in support of 2022’s Cool It Down (5/3)
• Kali Uchis w/RAYE — LiveNation presents the Red Moon In Venus Tour from this bisexual artist. Tickets are sold out but might be available through the Lyte Exchange (5/9)
• Seal w/The Buggles — LiveNation presents the ’90s hit pop balladeer (5/10)
• Muna — Lesbian pop-rock trio (5/12)
• Sabrina Carpenter — emails i can’t send Tour (5/14)
• Caroline Polachek — AEG Presents eccentric alt-pop artist and prolific collaborator (everyone from Grimes to Sbtrkt to Beyoncé), touring in support of new album Desire, I Want to Turn into You, with an opening set from young new trans artist Ethel Cain, touring her debut album, Preacher’s Daughter (5/19)
• The Wood Brothers — All Good presents a show in which $1 from every ticket will support The Nature Trust of British Columbia and efforts to conserve ecologically rich wetlands and protect land from development. Each $1 donated will be matched by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for double the impact (5/20)
• Crowded House — Nearly 40 years after forming, this Australian band has something so strong, they’re living a dream that’s far from over. Liam Finn, son of founding frontman Neil, must love being on stage as both a member of the band and also the tour’s opening act (5/21)
• The National — One night sold out, second night added of this critically acclaimed five-piece rock band, touring in support of forthcoming album First Two Pages of Frankenstein (5/23-24)
• The Flaming Lips — Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (5/25)
• Declan McKenna w/Oracle Sisters — The Big Return (6/5)
• Pixies — With special guests Franz Ferdinand & Bully (6/10)
• Dermot Kennedy — LiveNation presents Irish pop artist on The Sonder Tour (6/13)
• Barenaked Ladies — w/Five for Fighting, Del Amitri (7/5)
• Santa Fe Klan — Todo y Nada Tour presented by AEG, with opening sets from Snow Tha Product and Tornillo (7/7)
• First Aid Kid — Sharp Swedish harmonizing folk/pop duo performing on the Palomino Tour with special guest The Weather Station (7/14)
• Jenny Lewis — w/Cass McCombs, Hayden Pedigo (7/22)
• My Morning Jacket (7/29)
• Sylvan Esso — No Rules (Tour) from this quirky, experimental folk-informed electronic duo (8/11)

BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

410-783-8000
www.bsomusic.org

• Leslie Odom, Jr. — Tony-winning Hamilton star returns to the BSO to perform favorite songs in a one-night-only special event led by BSO Assistant Conductor Jonathan Rush (4/1, Meyerhoff)
• GospelFest 2023 — The quintessentially American art form of gospel is featured in a series of concerts under the direction of Assistant Conductor Jonathan Rush, featuring Morgan State University Concert Choir and the Howard Gospel Choir, and lead gospel stars including Richard Smallwood (4/27, Meyerhoff) and Tasha Cobbs Leonard (4/29, Meyerhoff)
• BSO Pops: Uptown Nights — Evoking a night out at The Cotton Club during Harlem’s heyday, brilliant trumpeter and vocalist Byron Stripling conducts the orchestra for a swingin’ big band and jazz program also featuring vocalist Carmen Bradford and tap dancer Leo Manzari (5/11, Strathmore; 5/13-14, Meyerhoff)
• BSO Pops: Latin Fire — Scintillating young conductor Enrico Lopez-Yañez makes his BSO debut with a program drawing on his Mexican-American heritage and in collaboration with Costa Rican trumpeter Josè Sibaja and Mexican soprano Mónica Abrego, including new arrangements of Latin hits and classical gems rooted in the Spanish-speaking world such as a sultry suite from Bizet’s Carmen (6/1, Strathmore; 6/3-4, Meyerhoff)

THE BARNS AT WOLF TRAP

1635 Trap Road
Vienna, Va.
703-255-1868
www.wolftrap.org

• Utsav Lal & Guests: Ragas to Reels — A “culturally fluid program” of classical Indian ragas, performed by pianist and composer Lal joined by tabla player Nitin Mitta, plus fiddler Dana Lyn and guitarist Kyle Sanna for traditional Irish reels, jigs, and airs, all co-presented by District of Raga (3/30)
• A BandHouse Gigs: Tribute to Fountains of Wayne — A tribute to the pop band’s music and founding member and bass guitarist Adam Schlesinger, who died from COVID three years ago, rendered by some of the area’s most talented musicians, among them Naked Blue, Cal Everett, David Kitchen, Todd Wright, and Ryan Wright (4/1)
• Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives — And we’re back to two nights, both sold out (4/6-7)
• The Monkees celebrated by Micky Dolenz — Solamente uno, and alas, sold out (4/8)
• Max ZT, Ambi Subramaniam, Priya Darshini — “An evening of genre-bending music,” co-presented by District of Raga, and featuring an all-star lineup led by hammered dulcimer virtuoso ZT, classical violinist Subramaniam, and Darshini’s ethereal vocals, accompanied by saxophonist Jeff Coffin of the Dave Mathews Band, guitarist Becca Stevens, cellist Dave Eggar, and violist Nathan Schram (4/13)
• Karla Bonoff — An evening of classic tunes by an originator of the folk-pop genre, who’s written hits for Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, and Wynonna Judd, and had a major one of her own, “Somebody’s Eyes” (4/19)
• Darrell Scott — A past touring member of Robert Plant’s Band of Joy, collaborator with Steve Earle and Joan Baez, and songwriter of hits by Brad Paisley, Sam Bush, The Chicks, and Zac Brown (4/28)
• Night and Day USA — Wolf Trap Opera Recital Artistic Director Steven Blier leads a whirlwind of an imaginary day traveling around the U.S. and hearing all the distinctive music along the way (6/4)

BETHESDA BLUES & JAZZ SUPPER CLUB

7719 Wisconsin Ave.
Bethesda, Md.
240-330-4500
www.bethesdabluesjazz.com

• Rahsaan Patterson — The Kid from Kids, Incorporated grew up, came out, and became an established neo-soul/R&B singer and songwriter, and his concert celebrating his career, and specifically his debut album, released 26 years ago, is in such demand, he’ll now perform three shows (3/31-4/2)
• Algebra Blessett & Goapele (4/7)
• Forever Yours — A Tribute to the O’Jays (4/8)
• 2023 Bernard/Ebb Songwriting Awards Concert (4/21)
• Luther Re-Lives — William “Smooth” Wardlaw embodies the sound and style of the late Vandross and performs as the leader of a band in a birthday tribute to The Velvet Voice (4/22)
• The Brian McKnight 4 — The longstanding R&B crooner and keyboardist performs accompanied by Isaiah Sharkey on guitar, Chris Loftlin on bass, and Gregory Daniel on percussion (4/29)
• The Jets — The Music of Sir Elton John (5/6)

THE BIRCHMERE

3701 Mount Vernon Ave.
Alexandria, Va.
703-549-7500
www.birchmere.com

• Larry Carlton — “Farewell Tour – Through the Decades” (3/26)
• Stanley Clarke N 4EVER (3/29)
• Malinda — It’s All True (4/2)
• The Church — From Under The Milky Way to going under via The Hypnogogue Album Tour (4/4)
• Bob Schneider w/Ashley Ray — Austin-based musician tours in support of 2021’s In a Roomful of Blood with a Sleeping Tiger (4/7)
• The Sun Ra Arkestra — Led by “98-year-young maestro” Marshall Allen, this collective’s live show combines “big band swing, outer-space jazz, afro pageantry, singing, and dancing” (4/8)
• Rick Wakeman — “An Evening with” Wakeman and “His Music and Stories” (4/12)
• Christian de Mesones — “Big New York” returns with his dynamic new show “You Only Live Twice” (4/14)
• Oh He Dead — The D.C.-based smoky rock ‘n’ soul five-piece is slowly but surely on the up and up, but two months before they perform as part of Brandi Carlile’s Out & About festival at Wolf Trap, get to know them in the warm and intimate environs of this Alexandria music haven (4/15)
• The Wailin’ Jennys (4/16-17)
• Graham Nash — “Sixty Years of Songs & Stories” (4/18-19)
• Average White Band (4/21-22)
• Suzanne Vega — “An Intimate Evening of Songs and Stories” (4/26)
• Ohio Players (4/28)
• Eaglemania — The World’s Greatest Tribute to the Eagles (4/29)
• Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone — “24 Gold Hits” (4/30)
• Amy Grant (5/2, 5/9)
• Raheem DeVaughn (5/4)
• Tusk — The World’s #1 Tribute to Fleetwood Mac (5/5)
• KT Tunstall & Martin Sexton (5/6)
• Charlie Winston — As I Am Tour w/Gabrielle Shonk (5/7)
• Cowboy Junkies — “An Evening With…” (5/8)
• The Gonzo Compadres — “A Redneck Mother’s Day – Tribute to Jerry Jeff Walker” (5/14)
• The Curtis Mayfield Soundtrack Show (5/19)
• Najee (5/20)
• Bodeans (5/21)
• The Lone Bellow Trio — Love Songs for Losers Tour (5/23)
• Chrisette Michele (5/24-25)
• Bela Dona Band (5/26)
• The Seldom Scene & Larry Keel Experience (5/28)
• Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy (6/2)
• Leonid & Friends — “The World’s Greatest Chicago Tribute” (6/4)
• Euge Groove (6/7)
• Marcus Miller (6/9)
• America (6/13-14)
• NRBQ (6/16)
• Atlantic Starr (6/17-18)
• Happy Together Tour 2023 — Featuring The Turtles, Little Anthony, Gary Puckett & The Union Gap, The Vogues, The Classics IV, and the Cowsills (!) (6/20)
• Newmyer Flyer: The Songs of Burt Bacharach & Hal David — A Tribute to the Legacy of two of America’s Greatest Songwriters with performances by Steve Washington, Shuga Shang, Lynn Veronneau, and more (6/30)
• Donnell Rawlings (7/1)
• Michael Franks (7/6-7)
• Acoustic Alchemy (7/9)
• Kindred the Family Soul — 20th Anniversary of The Surrender to Love (7/14-15)
• Tab Benoit w/Anthony Rosano and the Conqueroos (7/20)
• Don McLean — American Pie 50th Anniversary Tour (7/21)

BLACK CAT

1811 14th St. NW
202-667-4490
www.blackcatdc.com

• Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul — Two Belgians from immigrant backgrounds funnel thoughts and issues of the day into their playful kaleidoscopic electro-pop concoctions, all with a knowing wink; just look to their 2022 debut Topical Dancer, co-produced by Soul Wax, for example, track titles include “Reappropriate,” “Ceci n’est pas un cliché,” and “Making Sense Stop” (3/30)
• Titus Andronicus — The Will to Live oozes with “the band’s signature blend of grit and gratitude,” reviewed Pitchfork about this New Jersey’s band seventh album, created shortly after the death of the band’s original keyboardist, a reality summed up by Pitchfork as, “A record deeply concerned with death becomes a rollicking good time” (4/4)
• Codeine w/Barbara Manning — A handful of Northeast shows, including the first D.C. show in three decades, in support of this prototypical “slowcore” New York band’s “lost album” Dessau, recorded 30 years ago but only released last year (4/14)
• Laura Stevenson — Wheel 10th Anniversary with opening acts Kayleigh Goldsworthy and Katie Malco (4/15)
• Fake Names (4/16)
• Xiu Xiu (4/18)
• Onyx — 30th Anniversary of BACDAFUCUP (4/21)
• Pedro The Lion — Playing every song from It’s Hard to Find a Friend and Control, plus opening set from Erik Walters (4/28)
• Sueco w/Teenage Disaster — Wasted Space World Tour from an artist part of the recent mainstream pop-punk resurgence (5/6)
• The Natural Lines — The incredible Matt Pond PA and Chris Hansen front this new band (5/7)
• Mareux — L.A.-based artist Aryan Ashtiani records an off-kilter, almost romantic brand of darkwave that is passionately mournful and moody (5/15)
• The Blue Stones (5/20)
• Panchiko — This British indie-rock band was essentially plucked out of forgotten-about obscurity a few years ago when its 2000 demo EP was discovered and shared by a user on 4chan, the website described as an Internet subculture hub, and not just for the alt-right, which generated a cult following of new-found fans who eventually tracked down its founder. Now they’re back and touring the world (5/29)
• Protomartyr — This influential four-piece punk/post-punk band from Michigan, with celebrity fans ranging from Iggy Pop to Kelly Deal of The Breeders, started out as a duo of the band’s guitarist and drummer performing as, no lie, Butt Babies (6/20)

BLUES ALLEY

1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW
202-337-4141
www.bluesalley.com

• Stanley Jordan (4/12-16)
• Julia Danielle — Past Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition Winner (4/18)
• Erik Leuthauser Trio — Past Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition Winner (4/18)
• 2023 Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition Day (4/22)
• The GW Jazz Orchestra (4/24)
• Georgetown University Jazz Ensemble (4/24)
• Ben Patterson Jazz Orchestra (4/25)
• U.S. Navy Commodores — Also featuring the winner of Collegiate Jazz Jam (5/1)
• Veronneau — The French American Songbook (5/16)

CAPITAL ONE ARENA

601 F St. NW
202-628-3200
www.capitalonearena.com

• My OO’s Playlist: Ashanti + Ja Rule + T.I. + Fabolous + Mase — Retro tour also featuring Mike Jones, Ying Yang Twins (3/25)
• Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (3/27)
• Anuel AA — Legends Never Die World Tour (5/20)
• blink-182 — With Special Guest Turnstile (5/23)
• Paramore — Opening sets from Bloc Party, Genesis Owusu (6/2)
• Ricardo Arjona — Blanco y Negro Volver (6/9)
• Drake — It’s All A Blur Tour (7/28)
• Sam Smith — Gloria the tour (8/4)
• Lionel Richie + Earth, Wind & Fire — “Sing A Song All Night Long” (8/18)
• Madonna — Four Decades: The Celebration Tour (9/2)

CAPITAL ONE HALL

7750 Capital One Tower Rd.
Tysons, Va.
703-343-7651
www.capitalonehall.com

• NatPhil Presents: When I Fall in Love: The Music of Nat King Cole (4/27)
• YES — Epics & Classics feat. Jon Anderson and the Band Geeks (5/3)
• NatPhil Presents: Cosmic Cycles (5/11)
• Toad the Wet Sprocket — All You Want Tour with Marcy Playground (6/15)
• Lee Greenwood (6/16)
• Stephen Sharer — Share The Love Tour with this YouTube sensation (6/18)
• Night Ranger — 40th Anniversary w/ special guest Firefall (7/7)
• The Oak Ridge Boys — Front Porch Singin’ Tour (8/3)

COMET PING PONG

5037 Connecticut Ave. NW
202-364-0404
www.cometpingpong.com

• Cheekface Sad Park (3/25)
• Wiki, AKAI Solo, Papo2oo4, DJ Subjxct 5 (3/28)
• Petite League, Skate Stance (4/1)
• Dear Nora, Berra (4/2)
• Worriers, Lizdelise, Dim Wizard (4/5)
• TC Superstar, Pretty Bitter, Color Palette (4/6)
• Dougie Poole, Bottled Up (4/8)
• zzahara, Rex Pax, Ajola (4/25)
• Prinze George (4/26)
• Joanna Sternberg (4/28)
• Walter Etc., Loose Buttons (4/30)
• Lael Neale, Cecil & Delilah (5/3)
• Cola, Gauche, BRNDA (5/4)
• Curse Words, Boardroom Heroes, Grady (5/6)
• Magazine Beach (5/13)
• Bad Moves, The Dreaded Laramie (5/14)
• Pearl & The Oysters (Stones Throw) + Mo Troper (5/20)
• Joystick + Flying Raccoon Suit w/The Best of the Worst (5/27)
• Mike’s Dead (6/3)
• Bug Hunter, The Narcissist Cookbook (7/26)

DC9

1940 9th St. NW
202-483-5000
dc9.com
www.dc9.club

• The Weeks — Dear Bo Jackson 10th Anniversary Tour (3/26)
• Combo Chimbita (3/28)
• Elio — Inferno Tour with Glosser, sold out (3/30)
• Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs (4/2)
• Sarah Shook & The Disarmers (4/21)
• ADI OASIS (4/22)
• Field Guide (4/23)
• Long Beard (4/24)
• Odie Leigh (4/26)
• Bailter Space (4/27)
• Tomberlin (4/28)
• FYSOOS, WoahKill (of Act Natural) and Spell Jordan and guests (4/29)
• Lies (4/30)
• Melissa Carper (5/6)
• Olivia Jean (5/8)
• Transviolet (5/9)
• Oracle Sisters (5/10)
• Millyz (5/13)
• Facs (5/16)
• Sorry Mom (5/18)
• Matthew Logan Vasquez (5/21)
• Bob Vylan — Ban Bob Vylan Tour (5/23)
• Phantom Planet (5/24)
• Celebration Summer (5/25)
• Caitlin Rose & Andrew Combs (6/6)
• Blondshell — My Home Is Your Playground Summer Tour (7/22)

ECHOSTAGE

2135 Queens Chapel Rd. NE.
202-503-2330
www.echostage.com.

• Project GLOW DC 2023 — Project GLOWFest returns to the vacant lot where RFK Stadium once stood, where it will present over 40 EDM artists and DJ/producers across two days, with Saturday’s lineup including 9B49, Tiesto, Jai Wolf, Kaleena Zanders, Gryffin, Gorgon City, and Benny Benassi, and Sunday’s including Kygo, J. Worra, Madeon, and Baby Weight, plus several pairs of prominent DJs tag-teaming back-to-back style, or B2B, including Ferry Corsten B2B Markus Sculz and Dom Dolla B2B Green Velvet. A special LGBTQ area, curated by DJ Ed Bailey, will feature a headlining performance by irrepressible nightlife legend Kevin Aviance (4/29-30, RFK Festival Grounds)
• Fisher — GLOW presents the return of this former surfer from Down Under who always seems to work himself up into a dancing frenzy right along with the crowd (5/12)
• Hippie Sabotage — Trailblazer Tour presented by LiveNation (5/18)
• Charlotte de Witte — Factory 93 presents North America Tour 2023 (5/20)
• Boiler Room: DC — A sold-out party featuring Djoser, Lena Willikens, Marie Davidson (DJ set), Phase Fatale, Soso Tharpa, OTTA (5/28)
• Dion Timmer x Kompany: Project Parallels — Special Guest HE$H and support from Cyclops, Tape B (6/3)
• Logic — The College Park Tour from this socially conscious rapper, presented by LiveNation (6/8)
• Planet Two Friends: The Tour w/NOTD — [Night Two] already sold out (6/23-24)
• Anees — LiveNation presents Summer Camp Album Tour (7/3)
• Moonrise Festival 2023 (8/12-13, Pimlico Racecourse, Baltimore)

FILLMORE SILVER SPRING

8656 Colesville Rd.
Silver Spring, Md.
301-960-999
www.fillmoresilverspring.com

• Ari Lennox — D.C.-reared R&B songstress aka “Shea Butter Baby” is headed out to support last year’s Age/Sex/Location and the sultry neo-soul hit “Pressure” (3/25-26)
• Lucki — Flawless Like Me: The Made Martian Tour (3/27)
• Joshua Bassett — The Complicated Tour (3/28)
• Young Nudy (3/31)
• Bikini Kill (4/4, 4/6)
• Masego — You Never Visit Me Tour (4/7-8)
• Aly & AJ — With Love From Tour 2023 (4/15)
• Sean Paul — Scorcha Tour from this veteran Jamaican rapper (4/16)
• Lil Wayne — Okayyyy! (4/18)
• Skinny Puppy — Final Tour (4/19)
• Brett Young — Country artist on the Five, TOUR, Three, Two, One Tour (4/22)
• Rico Nasty — Monster Energy Outbreak Tour (4/23)
• half alive (4/24)
• Kevin Kaarl — Paris Texas Tour (4/26)
• Ministry and Gary Numan — Special guest Front Line Assembly (5/3)
• The Garden (5/4)
• Babyface Ray — Courtesy of the Mob Tour (5/5)
• VV — Neon Noir Tour 2023 (5/7)
• The Sisters of Mercy (5/10)
• City Morgue — My Bloody America Tour (5/12)
• Avatar — Dance Devil Dance Tour (5/25)
• Shy Glizzy (5/26)
• Leon Larregui — PRISMARAMAUSA (5/27)
• Alestorm (5/28)
• Grandson & K.Flay — I Love You, Im Trying Tour (5/29)
• Rival Sons (5/30)
• Hayley Kiyoko — Queer indie pop chanteuse on her Panorama Tour, get your Pride on a week early (6/2)
• Eladio Carrion (6/3)
• Candiace (6/10)
• $NOT — Get Busy or Die North American Tour 2023 (6/17)
• Bebe Rexha — Best F’n Night of My Life Tour (6/21)
• Eels — Lockdown Hurricane Tour (6/28)
• Lettuce & Steel Pulse — Summer Tour with Makua Rothman (7/1)

GMU CENTER FOR THE ARTS

4373 Mason Pond Dr.
Fairfax, Va.
703-993-2787
www.cfa.gmu.edu

• KODO — Visually stunning and athletic artists in this Japanese taiko drumming group celebrate their 40th anniversary and the ancient Japanese artform with the show One Earth Tour 2023: Tsuzumi (3/18)
• The Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra — Founded and led by virtuoso saxophonist Jim Carroll, this Northern Virginia-based ensemble includes some of the most remarkable jazz musicians in the area and features keyboardist/organist Bobby Floyd, who has almost two-handedly proven that the organ is a fine instrument for jazz (4/8)

THE HAMILTON

600 14th St. NW
202-787-1000
https://live.thehamiltondc.com

• Adam Doleac — w/Alana Springsteen (3/25)
• Kat Wright (3/31)
• Sophie B. Hawkins — The ’90s hitmaker was pansexual, or “omnisexual” in her words, before even bisexual was understood, back when queer was mostly a prejorative, and all these decades later she’s returned with promise of a new album led by new symphonic pop gem “Love Yourself” and its message of embracing self-love, which could be thought of as a kind of delightful counterpoint to her punchy anthem “Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover” (4/1)
• The Earth Wind and Fire Tribute Band (4/8)
• Easter Brunch with The Gospel Angels (4/9)
• Bowen Young (4/15)
• Jose Ramirez (4/16)
• The Verve Pipe (4/19)
• Danielle Nicole (4/20)
• Carsie Blanton (4/21)
• Perpetual Groove (4/22)
• Celebrating David Bowie (4/23)
• Simrit (4/27)
• Laurel Canyon (4/28)
• Kitchen Dwellers — Montana-based bluegrass/rock quartet with a sonic palette as expansive as Big Sky Country’s vistas, spun with homegrown stories, rich mythology, American west wanderlust, and psychedelic hues (4/29)
• Ron Pope (5/4)
• David Wax Museum (5/5)
• Dead On Live (5/6)
• Hoodoo Gurus — An Evening With… (5/8)
• The Iguanas (5/11)
• Superfly Disco (5/12)
• Yacht Lobsters (5/26)
• John Németh (6/1)
• Carbon Leaf (6/10)
• Rare Essence — A night of go-go also featuring E.U. feat. Sugar Bear (7/3)
• Reverend Horton Heat w/The Delta Bombers (7/22)

THE HOWARD THEATRE

620 T St. NW
202-803-2899
www.thehowardtheatre.com

• Ari Lennox — Two nights after she performs two nights at the Fillmore Silver Spring, D.C.-reared R&B chanteuse drops down for two nights (3/28-29)
• The Wailers — Bob Marley’s legendary backing band, touring with Shamans of Sound (4/25)
• Snow Tha Product — American rapper and singer, born Claudia Alexandra Madrix Meza, dropping by for a sold-out show on her The Quince I Never Had Tour (4/28)
• Tom Sandoval and the Most Extras — The latest musical passion project of the Vanderpump Rules star, “the ultimate party band” performing covers at this show, billed a “Party for a cause,” given that it benefits the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (5/11)
• Emily King — Underrated pop soul artist (5/30)
• BG+ — “Songs of Peace” from Boris Grebenshchikov, founder of the 50-year-old Russian rock band Aquarium, who became an expatriate thorn in Putin’s side when he came out against the war in Ukraine a year ago (6/2)
• Benson Boone — A TikTok-minted, 20-year-old pop star from Washington state (6/4)
• Lovejoy (6/6)
• Valerie June — Quirky R&B/bluegrass artist drops by for a solo show (6/8)
• black midi — English rock band (6/13)
• Souls of Mischief — 93 ‘Til Infinity 30th Anniversary Tour (6/22)
• The Blackbyrds — 50th Anniversary World Tour Launch and Homecoming (7/7)
• Nanna — Disaster Master Tour w/Indigo Sparke (7/20)

JAMMIN JAVA

227 Maple Ave. E.
Vienna, Va.
877-987-6487
www.jamminjava.com

• Burn the Ballroom — Also feat. Two By Sea + Make for Maine (3/26)
• Andi — Support from Rachel Grae + Lisa Heller + Carrington Zane Sklar (3/27)
• Jervis Campbell — Hopeful Hearts Tour w/Thomas Austin (3/28)
• Peter Case — Also feat. Ben de la Cour (4/12)
• Hodera — Indie band from New Jersey known for effortlessly blending heart-on-sleeve emo with Americana twang (4/13)
• Robbie Fulks — Grammy-nominated alt-country and folk artist (4/18)
• Vienna Teng — Exuberant pop artist who decades ago won gay praise for “City Hall,” her sly, sweet song about same-sex marriage (4/21-22)
• Prakriti Deuja — “An old newbie” pop/R&B fusion artist who grew up in Northern Virginia to immigrant parents from Nepal (4/22)
• Sky Music Showcase (4/23)
• Tony Lucca and Keaton Simons — An Evening with… (4/23)
• Yam Haus — Support from Landon Conrath + Will Leet (4/25)
• Shayfer James w/Sarah and the Safe Word — A theatermaker and film composer as well as singer-songwriter, James tours in support of Shipwreck, his latest album of dark-pop songs officially described as evoking “a Lewis Carroll-inspired three-ring circus”; opening is an all-queer six-piece band from Atlanta known for its theatrical flair and 1920s cabaret-inspired style of performing covers and originals in an eclectic blend of genres (4/28)
• JMU Note-oriety — James Madison University’s premier award-winning upper voices, meaning soprano and alto, a cappella group (4/30)
• Dan Navarro — Veteran entertainment industry performer, voice actor, and folk songwriter tours in support of 2022’s Horizon Line (5/4)
• David Cook — Former American Idol performs this Race for Hope Benefit Concert in support of National Brain Tumor Society (5/5)
• Tempest — Since forming 35 years ago, this Bay Area band has patented a hybrid style of high-energy folk rock incorporating Irish reels, Scottish ballads, and Norwegian and other world music elements (5/9)
• Sarah Potenza — Blues-informed singer-songwriter known from her stints competing on NBC’s The Voice and America’s Got Talent (5/18)
• Skip Castro — An Evening with… (5/19)
• Ryan Oakes — A L.A.-based Northern Virginia-reared vocalist, rapper, and multi-instrumentalist whose sound is at “the nexus of hip-hop and hard rock uplifted by surges of electronic experimentation and unassuming pop appeal” (5/25)
• Elizabeth Lane — Baffon Records presents this concert w/Indigo Thursday (5/26)
• Smallwood and Fath — An Acoustic Evening with… (5/28)
• NotEven — Special guests Maple Mars (5/30)
• Graham Colton Band — The 20 Year Anniversary (6/3)
• Curtis Salgado — An Evening with… (6/4)
• Cadence! — Hometown Show (6/11)
• The Jerry Tripsters — An Evening With… these Dead-Headers (6/16)
• Newmyer Flyer Presents: All You Need Is Beatles — A tribute show featuring Cal Everett, Tom Lofgren, Gary Smallwood, and Chuck Sullivan (6/18)
• Bayonne — Austin-based artist/producer is a purveyor of elegant yet wildly experimental electronic-pop (6/23)

JIFFY LUBE LIVE

7800 Cellar Door Drive
Bristow, Va.
703-754-6400
www.livenation.com

• Janet Jackson — Together Again Tour w/Ludacris (5/6)
• Dead & Company — The Final Tour featuring Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, John Mayer, and Bob Weir, plus Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti (6/3)
• Kehlani, Syd & UMI — Three queer-identified Black female artists performing together on a Say It Out Loud Tour makes you wanna say, you go, queens! (6/17)
• Kane Brown — Drunk or Dreaming Tour from this country star (6/24)
• Fall Out Boy — “So Much For (Tour) Dust” (7/19)
• Matchbox Twenty (7/27)
• Dierks Bentley — Gravel & Gold Tour (7/29)
• Pentatonix — The World Tour with special guest Lauren Alaina (8/12)

KENNEDY CENTER

202-467-4600
www.kennedy-center.org

• Sounds of the DMV: Hip-Hop Showcase — A new showcase of today’s top talent living amongst us, including Dior Ashley Brown aka “Hip-Hop Polymath” per the Washington Post, “Hip-Pop” performer Nia Dinero, and multi-genre producer/songwriter/DJ Von Vargas (3/25, Studio K at the REACH)
• Suzzy Roche & Lucy Wainwright Roche — The mother and daughter representing two of folk music’s family dynasties tour in support of their third album together, 2020’s I Can Still Hear You (3/30, Millennium)
• RIVERRUN FESTIVAL: Our Blue Planet — Emil de Cou, a regular guest conductor with the National Symphony and an out gay man, will do the honors with the Catholic University Orchestra at this multimedia concert also featuring Howard University’s acclaimed Afro Blue a cappella jazz ensemble as video images from NASA and National Geographic help dramatize the story of rivers and climate change over the past 20 years (4/5, Terrace)
• MC Lyte and Warryn Campbell — My Block is a special Easter concert from hip-hop icon and Founding Hip-Hop Culture Council Member Lyte and Grammy Award-winning hip-hop producer Campbell and featuring Campbell’s wife Erica Campbell, Mary Mary, The Walls Group,and Lena Byrd Miles (4/9, Concert Hall)
• Great Lake Swimmers — Indie-folk group whose sound has been called “ambient zen Americana” (4/13, Millennium)
• The Heavy Heavy — A five-piece retro-inspired rock band from the U.K. “making the music the 60s forgot, with bombastic soul and peaceful goals” (4/15, Millennium)
• RIVERRUN FESTIVAL: River Club: The Water Is Wide by Moipei — Composed of triplets Mary, Maggy, and Marta, this Kenyan vocal trio performs river songs, specifically Kenyan folksongs as well as classics from the American Songbook (4/15, Studio K)
• Brett Dennen — North Carolina singer-songwriter’s music could be characterized as “Paul-Simon-meets-Bob-Marley to Violent-Femmes-meets-Buddy-Holly – it’s all there over an absolutely iridescent catalogue” (4/22, Millennium)
• Jake Blount, Nic Gareiss, and Laurel Premo — Blount, a Strathmore Artist-in-Residence alum, teams up with two fellow award-winning queer folkies to celebrate the deep rythms and subtle harmonies of America’s eldest music, which they’ll perform at this free Millennium Stage concert. Aside from wider recognition, what the new trio needs is a name (4/28, Millennium)
• Abdullah Ibrahim and Ekaya — “South Africa’s Duke Ellington” and NEA Jazz Master performs with his groundbreaking ensemble whose Zulu name means “Homeland” (4/30, Concert Hall)
• NSO Pops: Cirque de la Symphonie (5/4-6, Concert Hall)
• Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival — NEA Jazz Master Dee Dee Bridgewater once again hosts this two-day festival focused on presenting some of today’s finest women in jazz and named after a late legendary pianist and composer some call the “first lady of jazz.” This year’s lineup includes Doreen Ketchens, Somi, Camille Thurman, and the Dee Dee Bridgewater Big Band (5/12-13, Terrace)
• Daybreaker: Together Tour (6/3, The REACH)
• MC Lyte: I Am Woman: A Celebration of Women in Hip-Hop 2023 — A second annual “evening of sisterhood and celebration” highlighting the genius, diversity, and power of female emcees (6/4, Concert Hall)
• NSO: DECLASSIFIED: Ben Folds Presents (6/9, Concert Hall)
• NSO Pops: Between Us…feat. Anoushka Shankar (6/14, Concert Hall)
• NSO Pops: What’s Going On NOW (6/16-17, Concert Hall)
• NSO Pops: An Evening with Yolanda Adams (6/20-21, Concert Hall)
• Pat Metheny — Side-Eye (6/26, Concert Hall)
• Herbie Hancock (6/27, Concert Hall)
• Devonté Hynes (6/28, Concert Hall)
• NSO Pops: An Evening with Natalie Merchant — Keep Your Courage Tour (6/30-7/1, Concert Hall)

LINCOLN THEATRE

1215 U St. NW
202-888-0050
www.thelincolndc.com

• Jonathan McReynolds — “My Truth” Tour; First night sold out, second added (4/21, 4/23)
• The Giz Go-Go Musical — An adaptation of The Wizard of Oz showcasing Washington, DC., culture and history, presented by DC Black Broadway (4/28-30)
• John Butler — An Evening With… (5/9)
• Josh Ritter & The Royal City Band (5/17)
• Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington: Dolly (6/3-4)
• Tinariwen (6/7)
• Fonseca (6/8)
• Sparks (6/30)

MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION

10475 Little Patuxent Parkway
Columbia, Md.
410-715-5550
www.merriweathermusic.com

• M3 Rock Festival — Long live ’80s hair metal, at least the first weekend every May at Merriweather. This year’s two-day festival kicks off with Extreme, Winger, Slaughter, Lita Ford, Quiet Riot, Britny Fox, Child’s Play, Count’s 77, and Styx as Saturday’s headliner, followed by Warrant, Loudness, Great White, Steven Adler, Firehouse, Riley’s L.A. Guns, Vixen, Mike Tramp, and Kix as Sunday’s headliner (5/6-7)
• Guster — With the Howard County Youth Orchestra (5/21)
• Noah Kahan — Young folk singer-songwriter tours in support of 2022’s Stick Season, with a stop on the eve of Capital Pride weekend featuring opening act Joy Oladokun, a queer woman of color who’ll release Proof of Life, her fourth studio album, next month (6/9)
• Re:SET Concert Series — A new three-day series falling on the weekend of Baltimore Pride and opening Friday with the queer Black D.C. artist Bartees Strange, Dijon, and Clairo, and headliner Boygenius, the all-queer super-group of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus, Saturday brings Fousheé, Toro y Moi, James Blake, and headliner Steve Lacy, and the series draws to a close with queer Jamie XX formerly of the xx, L’Rain, IDLES, and headliner LCD Soundsystem (6/16-18)
• Weezer — Indie Rock Road Trip that enlists support from Future Islands and Joyce Manor (6/23)
• Dave Matthews Band (6/24)
• The Cure — The brooding ’80s Britpoppers finally resurface all these decades later, performing with an opening set by The Twilight Sad (6/25)
• Shania Twain — Queen of Me Tour from the diva, touring with Priscilla Block (6/27)
• Luke Bryan — The former American Idol judge leads the Country On Tour 2023 lineup along with Jackson Dean, Alana Springsteen, Conner Smith, and DJ Rock (7/7)
• The Revivalists + The Head and the Heart with Jaime Wyatt (7/8)
• Counting Crows + Dashboard Confessional — Banshee Season Tour that’ll have the crowd getting emotional, or at least emo-tive (7/12)
• Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds & Garbage w/Metric (7/13)
• Big Time Rush — Can’t Get Enough Tour with MAX and Jax (7/14)
• Illenium (7/15)
• Louis Tomlinson — Former One Directioner is, you could say, moving in a future direction in support of last year’s Faith in the Future (7/22)
• Jason Aldean — The country superstar performs with opening sets by Mitchell Tenpenny, Corey Kent, and Dee Jay Silver (7/27)
• Outlaw Music Festival — Willie Nelson’s annual festival returns in 2023 with Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Kurt Vile & the Violators, Kathleen Edwards, and Particle Kid (7/28)
• The Chicks — The progressive country rabble-rousers return for another magical summer night singing their powerful and crowd-pleasing anthems in perfect harmony under the stars (8/2)
• O.A.R. & Goo Goo Dolls (8/4)
• Tyler Childers with Drive-By Truckers — Send in the Hounds Tour with Abby Hamilton (8/11)
• Slightly Stoopid and Sublime with Rome (8/18)
• ZZ Top & Lynyrd Skynyrd — The Sharp Dressed Simple Man Tour w/Uncle Kracker (9/2)
• Arctic Monkeys (9/7)
• Beck & Phoenix — A Summer Odyssey show supported by Weyes Blood and Sir Chloe (9/10)
• The Postal Service & Death Cab for Cutie — Give Up and Transatlanticism 20th Anniversary Tour (9/14)

MGM NATIONAL HARBOR

101 MGM National Avenue
Oxon Hill, Md.
844-646-6847
www.mgmnationalharbor.com

• Rahat Fateh Ali Khan — The King of Qawwali and Sufi music (5/5)
• Jill Scott — Three-time Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, poet, actor, and entrepreneur returns with a pandemic-postponed “Who Is Jill Scott? Words & Sounds, Vol. 1 23rd Anniversary Tour” (5/11-14)
• Tom Jones (5/19)
• Smokey Robinson — “Smokey In Concert: Music & Memories” (5/20)
• Feid — Colombian singer/rapper/songwriter with an unmistakable voice and performer of reggaeton and cumbia (6/3)
• Anthony Hamilton — The smooth, soulful sounds of contemporary R&B singer-songwriter (6/9)
• Gladys Knight — The “Empress of Soul” returns (6/22)
• Chicago (6/27)
• Boyz II Men (7/6)
• Santana (7/26)

NATIONALS PARK

1500 S. Capitol St. SE
202-675-6287
www.mlb.com/nationals/ballpark

• P!NK — Summer Carnival 2023 with Special Guests Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo, Grouplove, and DJ KidCutUp (8/7)
• Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (8/28)

PEARL STREET WAREHOUSE

33 Pearl St. SW
202-380-9620
www.pearlstreetwarehouse.com

• Marcia Ball and Tinsley Ellis — Acoustic Songs & Stories (3/29)
• Bella’s Bartok — A Massachusetts-formed band known for raucous theatrical performances, original tunes with influences ranging from punk to folk to pop, and an outspoken political message of finding hope in a world beset by cruel uncertainty (3/30)
• Little Stranger — With Special Guest Jarv, Damn Skippy (4/6)
• Flashband Showcase! — British Rock: Bangers & Mashups presented by 7DrumCity (4/8)
• Free Lobster Buffet + Go Mod Go (4/13)
• Upstate — “You Only Get A Few” Tour w/MLLN (4/14)
• The Wilson Springs Hotel — Album Release w/Chris Timbers Band (4/22)
• The Hip Abduction w/Coyote Island — All Good presents (4/23)
• Town Mountain — “An Evening With…” (5/12)
• Such (5/18)
• Slackjaw w/Swooner (5/20)
• Zo! & Tall Black Guy feat. Deborah Bond (5/21)
• The Shootouts + Cristina Vane Trio (5/24)
• Handmade Moments, Griefcat (5/25)
• Better Off Dead (5/27)
• Trash Panda — Pandamonium Tour w/Nordista Freeze (5/31)
• Nattali Rize — All Good Presents this concert with support from Minori (6/4)
• Ries Brothers — Rock & Soul Tour (6/29)
• Grateful Allman Band Experience — “A Summer Jam at Watkins Glen Anniversary Show” (7/22)

SIXTH & I HISTORIC SYNAGOGUE

600 I St. NW
202-408-3100
www.sixthandi.org

• Darren Hayes — The Do You Remember? Tour celebrating 25 years of Savage Garden as well as his 2022 solo album Homosexual (4/22)
• Eric Gales — Blues firebrand is creatively rejuvenated and sagely insightful now that he’s five years sober (5/17)
• Hunter Hayes — Forthcoming album Red Sky finds the singer-songwriter at the height of his career (5/18)

SONGBYRD MUSIC HOUSE

540 Penn St. NE
202-450-2917
www.songbyrddc.com

• Avey Tare — The Animal Collective member comes out of hibernation in the woods outside of Asheville, N.C., for a special show (3/28)
• Justin Trawick and The Common Good — Washington Performing Arts presents a free concert featuring one of the area’s most prominent indie acoustic singer-songwriters and his band as part of its Mars Arts DC series (4/2)
• Glitterer (4/9)
• Fly By Midnight — Paint Your Feelings Tour w/Anthony Russo (4/10)
• Jana Horn (4/11)
• Braxton Cook — One of Ebony‘s “top five jazz artists to watch” several years ago, the D.C.-reared alto-saxophonist and singer-songwriter tours in support of just-released set Who Are You When No One Is Watching (4/12)
• Will Joseph Cook w/DBMK — Indie-pop dreamer produces music that’s an exercise in joy, and new album Every Single Thing is a collection of unashamed love songs (4/15)
• King Raam (4/16)
• Sam MacPherson — Powerlines Tour 2023 (4/17)
• Dupont Brass — A homecoming stop on local collective’s Extra Credit Tour w/Kyaira (4/23)
• Bankrol Hayden — The 29 Tour (4/26)
• Peter Cat Recording Co (4/28)
• Elizabeth Moen — Wherever You Aren’t Spring Tour (4/30)
• The Inner Temples feat. DJ Adrian Loving — An electronic music ensemble blending synthesizers, drum machines, and live instruments offers an ambient journey through space, time, and culture, and all for free as part of Washington Performing Arts Mars Arts DC series (5/3)
• The Cactus Blossoms (5/9)
• Daisy The Great — All You Need Is Time Tour from this indie-pop outfit from Brooklyn (5/11)
• Ben Abraham (5/12)
• Lewis Ofman (5/13)
• Frankie Rose (5/14)
• Y La Bamba (5/16)
• SWMRS (5/19)
• Big Joanie — A London-based Black feminist queercore group combining “the fury of ’90s riot grrrl with synth-heavy post-punk” (5/22)
• The JoGo Project — A high-energy ensemble combining jazz improvisation and harmonic structures with the infectious driving beat of go-go, presented for free by Washington Performing Arts through its Mars Arts DC series (6/7)
• Alex Lahey — Good Time North American Tour (6/11)
• Madison McFerrin (6/22)
• Cub Sport — The return of the gay couple-led queer-pop Australian four-piece (6/24)
• Feeble Little Horse — Girl With Fish Summer Tour (6/25)

THE STATE THEATRE

220 N. Washington St.
Falls Church, Va.
703-237-0300
www.thestatetheatre.com

• A Legion of Jerry — With opening acts Better Off Dead and The Jerry Tripsters (3/24)
• Sister Hazel — This ’90s-originating Florida band is as far as we can tell the only real or rather, non-tribute, band in State’s lineup this spring (3/30)
• Jimmie’s Chicken Shack (4/8)
• Fooz Fighters — Tribute to the Foo Fighters (4/27)
• Nightrain — The Guns N’ Roses Tribute Experience (4/28)
• Mother’s Little Helper — Tribute to The Rolling Stones (5/6)
• Bruce In The USA — “The World’s #1 Tribute to Bruce Springsteen” (5/12-13)
• The Dave Matthews Tribute Band (6/2)
• The Stranger — A Tribute to Billy Joel (6/3)
• Red Not Chili Peppers (6/8)
• Trial By Fire — Tribute to Journey (6/16)
• The Warped Tour Band — A Tribute to Emo/Pop-Punk (6/24)
• Bad Animals — A Tribute to Heart (7/1)
• Double Vision — The Foreigner Experience (7/29)

STRATHMORE

The Music Center
5301 Tuckerman Lane
North Bethesda, Md.
301-581-5100
www.strathmore.org

• Hal Prince’s Broadway — A tribute to the Broadway legend who died in 2019 after a 70-year career as a director and producer of hits including West Side Story, Cabaret, Fiddler on the Roof, Sweeney Todd, and The Phantom of the Opera. This world-premiere symphonic theatrical production from Young Artists of America at Strathmore features over 180 young performers from YAA and Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras (4/1)
• Christina Courtin — A violinist, violist, vocalist, and composer rooted in classical music but known for her non-classical collaborations with everyone from Le Ann Womack to Bonnie Prince Billy to Sara Bareilles, and also occasionally as a musical contributor to NPR’s This American Life (4/4, The Mansion)
• Nistha Raj & Christylez Bacon — “Indian Music Meets Beatbox” when multi-genre violinist Raj connects with Grammy-nominated progressive hip-hop artist Bacon, both Strathmore AIR alumni performing as part of Strathmore’s Bloom at Good Hope Concert Series (4/8, Good Hope Neighborhood Recreation Center, 14715 Good Hope Rd., Silver Spring)
• Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily — The queer-identifying vocalist Aftab, the first Pakistani to perform at the Grammys and also the first Pakistani to win a Grammy last year, is part of a new all-star jazz/classical project with Iyer, a second-generation Indian-American pianist and one of the most innovative and influential jazz/classical music-makers of his generation, and Ismaily, another American of Pakistani descent and a sharp multi-instrumentalist and prolific sideman (4/14)
• Monterey Jazz Festival On Tour — Washington Performing Arts co-presents this once-in-a-lifetime traveling showcase from the longest continuously running jazz festival in the world, a 65th anniversary celebration featuring jazz living legends Dee Dee Bridgewater and Kurt Eilling, rising star saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin, visionary pianist Christian Sands, bassist Yasushi Nakamura, and drummer Clarence Penn (4/20)
• Djavan — One of Brazil’s greatest musical icons (4/21)
• Rain-A Tribute to The Beatles — “The next best thing to seeing The Beatles” (4/29)
• George Hinchlifee’s Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain — A dynamic singing and strumming act who do right by its namesake instrument, per Strathmore’s official description: “The small but mighty uke proves to hold its own in the hands of this virtuosic group on a journey from Tchaikovsky to Nirvana via Otis Redding and Spaghetti Western soundtracks” (5/2)
• Taisha Estrada — Puerto Rican singer-songwriter who blends Latin styles with jazz, R&B, and pop similar to artists ranging from Omara Portuondo to Natalia LaFourcade; the Strathmore AIR alum returns for Strathmore’s Bloom at Good Hope Concert Series (5/13, Good Hope)
• Strathmore Children’s Chorus — “The Neon Lights Are Brights” is a revue of “beloved songs from some of the most popular musicals of all time (6/3)
• Angélique Kidjo — Five-time Grammy winner is “a genre-bending artist with a striking voice and fluency in multiple cultures and languages [who] embodies what it means to perform world music” (6/15)
• Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower — Queer iconoclastic artist Toshi Reagon and her legendary mother Bernice Johnson Reagon (Sweet Honey in the Rock) created this triumphant, mesmerizing adaptation of Butler’s sci-fi, Afrofuturist masterpiece, a fully staged folk-opera bringing together over 30 original anthems drawn from 200 years of Black music; Strathmore presents this encore presentation after a successful run last year (6/28-7/1)
• Dante’ Pope — The former drummer and music director for Raheem Devaughn and Wes Felton and their work together as the Crossrhodes, this multi-instrumentalist is a Strathmore AIR alum touring in support of After 5 Music, his debut EP mixing blues, gospel, jazz, and soul (7/8, Good Hope)
• Chris Urquiaga — Also known as JChris, the New York-based gay urban Latin pop artist got his start in his native D.C. and now returns for a concert at Good Hope Rec Center presented by Strathmore, where he was a 2017 AIR (8/12, Good Hope)
• 15th Annual UkeFest — Lots of ukuleles (8/12)

UNION STAGE

740 Water St. SW
877-987-6487
www.unionstage.com

• Health — Author & Punisher + Thotcrime serve as opening acts (4/2)
• 1nonly — Spotify Stages presents the Homesick Tour (4/3)
• North Star Boys (4/4)
• Jake Wesley Rogers — Two months before he’s back as part of Brandi Carlile’s Out & About festival at Wolf Trap, the flamboyant gay artist stops by on his headlining Peace, Love, and Pluto Tour w/Stacey Ryan (4/5)
• Big Something, Doom Flamingo (4/6)
• Vancouver Sleep Clinic (4/8)
• Vérité – Love you Forever Tour (4/8)
• DEKO w/Yameii & Friends! — Feat. Oseanworld + Lil HDD + Cone + Doom Doom (4/9)
• Zae France (4/11)
• Coco & Clair Clair (4/12)
• Wilder Woods | The Fever (4/13)
• G Perico — Hot Shot Tour (4/14)
• Joe P (4/15)
• Spencer Sutherland — JORDY + Michael Minelli open (4/17)
• U.S. Girls — Bless This Mess Tour from outspoken feminist artist and purveyor of experimental music, with support from Jane Inc. (4/18)
• Scott McMicken (of Dr. Dog) and the Ever-Expanding (4/21)
• Fighting Gravity — A Benefit for Cancer Can Rock w/The Cassaday Concoction (4/22)
• rum.gold — U Street Anthology Album Release Show w/Ashlee White (4/25)
• Tenille Townes — Underappreciated savvy and sweet country singer-songwriter and queer ally from Canada (4/27)
• White Ford Bronco — DC’s All 90’s Band (4/28, 5/12)
• Lolo Zouai — The Playgirl Tour w/Amelia Moore (4/29)
• Puma Blue (5/4)
• Show Dem Cap — Move Forward Music presents this show (5/5)
• The War and Treaty — The Lovers Game Tour from this dazzling sophisticated R&B real-life lovers duo, with opening set from William Prince (5/6)
• Khemmis — Conjurer + Wake open (5/7)
• Heartless Bastards (5/9)
• Mr Twin Sister (5/10)
• Annie DiRusso — God, I Love This Tour w/Hannah Cole (5/13)
• The New Amsterdams, Kevin Devine — MakeTheClocksWorse & WorseForTheWear Tour with Brother Bird (5/16)
• Plini (5/17)
• Mavi (5/18)
• redveil — water 2 fire tour w/femdot. + D’mari, already sold out (5/19)
• Good Kid (5/20)
• OFF! (5/23)
• SYML — Spotify Stages presents this show w/Trent Dabbs (5/24)
• The Lil Smokies — All Good presents (5/28)
• Loveless (5/30)
• Dreamer Isioma — Love & Rage Tour w/Amindi (6/1)
• American Aquarium (6/2)
• Leith Ross (6/3)
• Summer Salt — The Rare Occasions + Addison Grace open (6/6)
• Billie Marten w/Olivia Kaplan (6/24)
• Kill Lincoln, Catbite, We Are The Union — A night of ska/punk with bands from D.C., L.A., and Philly respectively, plus opener Bad Operation from New Orleans (6/28)
• Cheeky — Something for the District presents the Come Home Lover tour with openers KP + Gabrielle Hights (6/30)

WARNER THEATRE

513 13th St. NW
202-783-4000
www.warnertheatredc.com

• Brian Culbertson — The Trilogy Tour (4/8)
• Almost Queen — A tribute to Queen (4/15)
• Snarky Puppy (4/19)
• The Fab Four — The Beatles tribute (4/21)
• Baek Ji-young — South Korean singer (4/23)
• Brit Floyd — “50 Years of Dark Side” from what is billed as “World’s Greatest Pink Floyd Show” (4/26)
• Get the Led Out — The Led Zeppelin tribute (5/5)
• NMIXX — “Nice to Mixx You” from this emerging K-pop group (5/14)
• City and Colour (5/16)
• Mariachi Vargas de de Tecalitlán — Mexicano Desde La Raíz World Tour (5/19)
• Arash (5/20)
• Julieta Venegas (5/30)
• Billy Porter — The Pose and Kinky Boots sensation offers the “Black Mona Lisa Tour: Volume One,” focusing on his work as a recording artist over the decades (6/2)
• Bruce Cockburn with special guest Dar Williams (6/9)
• Melody Gardot (6/24)

WEINBERG CENTER FOR THE ARTS

20 W. Patrick St.
Frederick, Md.
301-600-2828
www.weinbergcenter.org

• Blue October — A nearly 30-year-old alternative post-grunge rock band from Houston perform in support of their first double LP, Spinning The Truth Around: Part I & II (3/26)
• The Steel Wheels — Virginia-based acoustic roots music collective (4/1)
• Ashley Ray — One of Nashville’s most nuanced voices performs as part of the Tivoli Discovery Series (4/6, New Spire Arts, 15 W. Patrick St., Frederick)
• The Temptations (4/12)
• Three Dog Night — The legendary band takes the stage at the Weinberg Center for the first time in more than five decades (4/16)
• Neil Berg’s The 60’s: Peace, Love & Rock N’ Roll — A concert featuring the greatest songs and stories the 1960s aka “the greatest decade of rock n’ roll,” performed as part of a two-hour program under the direction of producer and arranger Berg (4/21)
• Thumbscrew — NPR calls this trio, comprised of guitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist Michael Formanek, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara, “three of jazz’s most dauntless and resourceful artists.” A Jazz Appreciation Month concert (4/29, New Spire Arts)
• Zach Person — The new face of indie rock out of Austin connects with his fans on a primal sonic level (5/4, New Spire Arts)
• Ngaiire — Electronic neo-soul melded with gospel and big pop sounds and strained through the lens of a First Nations Papua New Guinean songwriter (5/4)
• Nancy Wilson’s Heart — The famed guitarist of Heart is considered a seminal musician in the history of rock ‘n’ roll (6/14)
• Tom Paxton and The DonJuans — Folk legend joins his songwriting friends Jon Vezner and Don Henry for an unforgettable night (6/17, New Spire Arts)
• John Pizzarelli Trio — World-renowned guitarist and vocalist tours his new album and tour, Stage and Screen, with bassist Mike Karn and pianist Isaiah J. Thompson, performing some of the most immortal songs of the past century, those from the Broadway stage and the silver screen (6/23, New Spire Arts)

WOLF TRAP

Filene Center
1551 Trap Road
Vienna, Va.
703-255-1868
www.wolftrap.org

• The Avett Brothers — Wolf Trap fan favorites return for three nights of folk-tinged rock songs full of unbridled energy and heartfelt lyrics; opening acts are the Bill Frisell Trio on Thursday, Seth Avett on Friday, and Iris DeMent on Saturday (5/25-27)
• Blast Off! — “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band officially launches Wolf Trap’s summer season with a program of concert band favorites, selections from The Music Man, and a medley of Armed Forces’ service songs, capped by a post-concert fireworks display (5/28)
• Taj Mahal w/Los Lobos, North Mississippi Allstars — Living legend Mahal uniquely blends traditional blues and rock with sounds from the American South, the Caribbean, and Africa, and will be supported by the distinctive Tex-Mex-style rockers and a stirring Southern blues band (6/1)
• John Legend — The EGOT-crowned R&B/pop crooner, a legend in more than just his own mind and chosen name, with both shows already sold out (6/2-3)
• Charlie Puth — The one-time Capital Pride headliner returns to the Filene Center in support of 2022’s Charlie (6/4)
• Indigo Girls — Capital Pride Weekend gets off to an early “Closer to Fine” start out at the Filene Center when the pioneering lesbian hit folk/pop duo offers a nostalgic evening ripping through their repertoire supported by a full band (6/7)
• Ms. Lauryn Hill — A Wolf Trap debut from this Fugees alum with The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill Special 25th Anniversary Performance (6/9)
• SOJA — Grammy-winning, Arlington-originating roots reggae band return home to Wolf Trap with Jamaican superstars and frequent collaborators Proteje and Jesse Royal (6/10)
• Buddy Guy — Blues legend goes out on his Damn Right Farewell Tour by performing with two acts poised to carry Guy’s torch, Samantha Fish and the Robert Randolph Band (6/11)
• Kenny Loggins — Another farewell concert comes from self-proclaimed Grammy-winning “Soundtrack King” Loggins, who performs “His Final Tour: This Is It!” with support from the also ’70s- and ’80s-hit-loving troupe the Yacht Rock Revue (6/14-15)
• Broadway in the Park feat. Lea Salonga — Signature Theatre collaborates with Wolf Trap for another night of show tunes and musical theater magic, this year by featuring the Tony- and Olivier-winning performer for her work in originating the role of Kim in Miss Saigon who has gone on to acclaim in Les Miserables, Once on This Island, and as the singing voice of Disney princesses Jasmine (Aladdin) and Fa Mulan (Mulan). Dubbed the “Pride of the Philippines,” Salonga will be joined onstage by some of the stars in Signature’s own stable of local talent (6/16)
• Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue w/Ziggy Marley, Mavis Staples — Grammy-winning New Orleans musical icon and ambassador leads his band in two evenings of horn-powered jamming bliss under the stars, with support from a female blues legend and reggae royalty and the second most popular Marley (6/17-18)
• Straight No Chaser w/Ambrosia — A group reinventing a cappella with style, swagger, and spirit is supported by a ’70s-minted symphonic art rock/pop whose career has been revived thanks to the rise of Yacht Rock (6/21)
• Steve Miller Band — More ’70s-minted hits, this time with a psychedelic-blues twist; far out, man (6/22)
• Charlie Wilson — Former lead vocalist of pioneering funk group The Gap Band will take the stage to a crowd warmed up by Babyface, an ’80s-minted pop/soul artist and hit-generating producer (6/23)
• Out & About Festival — Brandi Carlile headlines this two-day, three-stage festival deep in Pride month with a lineup of artists, the majority of whom are LGBTQ, with the others solid queer allies, including British-born, Nashville-based country/rock artist Yola and sharp harmonizing disco-tipped pop duo Lucius, plus Rufus Wainwright, the other lesbian country-informed Brandy (Clark), Celisse, Jake Wesley Rogers, and up-and-coming acts Alphabet Rockers and Jazzy Ash & The Leaping Lizards, as well as D.C.’s own Oh He Dead and Bad Moves (6/24-25)
• Tedeschi Trucks Band — Singer/guitarist Susan Tedeschi and guitarist Derek Trucks are, to quote NPR, “two of the best roots rock musicians of their generation,” and the wife-and-husband duo lead this 12-piece band seamlessly blending distinctive genres of American music, also including blues, jazz, even country (6/27-28)
• Robert Plant & Alison Krauss — One of rock’s greatest belters and one of country music’s finest artists reunite after their acclaimed 2007 collaboration Raising Sand with this concert in support of 2021’s Raise the Roof (6/29)
• Marisa Monte — Brazilian artist and four-time Grammy-winner performs after an opening set by her frequent collaborator and fellow singer-songwriter Rodrigo Amarante (6/30)
• Diana Ross — A one-night-only return engagement from the Motown legend and iconic gay diva (7/1)
• Tori Amos — An LGBTQ ally from the get-go, this D.C. native rocked the pop landscape with Little Earthquakes, her debut album released just over three decades ago, and marks her return to Wolf Trap for the first time in 25 years in support of 2021’s Ocean to Ocean (7/5)
• UB40 — More like UB45, marking the 45th Anniversary Tour of this hit reggae-pop group with support from Maxi Priest and Inner Circle (7/9)
• Disney Princess – The Concert — Broadway’s Christy Altomare (Anastasia, Mamma Mia), Anneliese van der Pol (Disney Channel’s That’s So Raven), and Syndee Winters (The Lion King, Hamilton) are joined by one enchanting Prince — Adam J. Levy (Moulin Rouge) (7/12)
• Boney James + Lalah Hathaway — A night of smooth, soulful sounds from the saxophonist and music royalty soulstress in a double-bill concert with opening set from crossover violinist Damien Escobar (7/19)
• Natalia Lafourcade — A Wolf Trap debut from multi-Grammy-winning Mexican pop/rock, jazz, and folk singer (7/20)
• NSO Pops: Dispatch — The boundary-pushing roots rock band enlists the National Symphony Orchestra to debut lush orchestrations of jams from their catalog (7/21)
• Nickel Creek — The renowned roots trio of mandolinist Chris Thile, violinist Sara Watkins, and guitarist Sean Watkins on their long-awaited reunion tour, with support from frequent collaborator Aoife O’Donnovan (7/23)
• The Go-Go Explosion — Go-Go music ambassadors Big Tony and Trouble Funk star in this celebration of D.C.’s own style of funk also featuring the all-female band Bela Dona and “Hood Rock” collective Black Alley (7/29)
• KIDZ Bop — The ultimate family friendly pop concert for children and parents together (7/30)
• Regina Spektor — Classically trained pianist performs from her distinctive catalog of tuneful pop fueled by winding tales with both provocative and naunced lyris, with an opening set by indie-folk/rock original Aimee Mann (8/3)
• Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit — A decade since Southeastern, Isbell has established himself as one of the most respected and celebrated songwriters of his generation, and tours with his band in support of Georgia Blue (8/2)
• NSO Pops: Lyle Lovett and His Large Band (8/5)
• Jason Mraz and His Superband — The Mystical Magical Rhythmical Radical Ride from this bisexual Virginia native making his Wolf Trap debut (8/6)
• Diana Krall — Five-time Grammy-winning jazz pianist and rich, honeyed vocalist returns to Wolf Trap for a calming late summer evening serenade (8/12)
• The Concert: A Tribute to ABBA — The iconic hits of the pioneering Swedish pop group will be performed “by the top ABBA tribute group in the world” (8/13)
• Masters of the Mic: Hip-Hop 50 Tour — Featuring “the best and most iconic MC’s of all time for one unforgettable night,” a reprise of sorts of this year’s all-star extravaganza at the Grammy Awards, featuring Big Daddy Kane, Doug E. Fresh, KRS-One, Rakim, Slick Rick, and Roxanne Shante, plus DJ Spinderella (8/17)
• Juanes — The Colombian Latin rock superstar returns to Wolf Trap for another night featuring his distinctive fusion of rock with the indigenous sounds and rhythms of his homeland (8/18)
• John Fogerty — A “Bad Moon Rising” kind of night with the “Fortunate Son” from “Down on the Corner” of Creedence Clearwater you might even call a revival (8/19)
• Govt’ Mule — The ex-Allman Brothers guitarist Warren Haynes leads the quartet in a special show featuring a renowned and extremely rare Pink Floyd tribute after a full Mule set as well as opener Jason Bonham with his Led Zeppelin Evening (8/20)
• Shakti — A 50th Anniversary Tour of a group formed in part by guitarist John McLaughlin and percussionist Zakir Hussain, and the two, for the first time ever, will perform their fusion of Indian music and jazz from the stage of the Filene Center, but only after “very special guest” Béla Fleck warms up the crowd (8/23)
• Jethro Tull (8/24)
• Mary Chapin Carpenter — Virginia’s own singer-songwriter has become a beloved annual staple at Wolf Trap. The stunning band Dawes opens (go listen to “St. Augustine at Night,” now) (8/26)
• Train (8/27)
• Sting (9/1-2)
• Australian Pink Floyd — 50th Anniversary of Dark Side of the Moon (9/6)
• James Taylor & His All-Star Band (9/7-8, 9/10)

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