The spark is aching for the light.

August 12, 2023

The spark is aching for the light.

I took the opportunity to escape the oppressive heat that has engulfed Key West for most of the summer with a quick weekend getaway to Washington DC. My main purpose was to attend the National Book Festival that is held annually and sponsored by the Library of Congress, but as I usually do, I managed to squeeze in a few other events and activities during my visit.

The first, upon arrival was to attend a concert by the band Sylvan Esso at Anthem, a fancy relatively new concert venue at the Wharf in DC. I had seen the band a couple of times at the ACL Festival in Austin and while their quirky electronic- folk dance music is not what I would consider in my wheelhouse, I had liked them a lot when I saw them previously, so I thought I would check them out once again.

They were offering a VIP experience that included attending the soundcheck at what I thought was an incredibly reasonable price, so I opted for that and arrived at the venue at around 4 PM to attend the soundcheck along with about 25 other people. The venue was way bigger than I imagined, the capacity at about 6000 and it seemed cavernous with just the two people in the band and so few of us watching.

The soundcheck was cool as the two members of the band, singer Amelia Meath and producer Nick Sanborn interacted with us a lot, took requests and played four songs which was pretty cool. The music is really hard to categorize, it is folky electronica that has a good dance beat and interesting lyrics. After the soundcheck was over, I had a few hours to kill before returning to the venue for the show itself so I decided to explore the Wharf area, which was not even there the last time I was in Washington DC.

The multi-billion dollar mixed use development along the banks of the Potomac River is massive and impressive. The Wharf is home to the historic Maine Avenue Fish Market as well as a collection of upscale hotels, residences, restaurants, shops, a pier and marina as well as some live music venues headlined by Anthem.

It has transformed a once isolated and much ignored section of downtown into a jewel of economic development and it was jam packed with people on the night I was there, I grabbed dinner and explored the area while waiting for the show and ironically even bumped into lead singer Amelia Meath who recognized me from the soundcheck. 

I got back to the venue in time to catch the full set by the opening act Dehd, a band that I was totally unfamiliar with. The band is a three-member indie rock band from Chicago that is once again, incredibly tough to explain. Their sound has sort of a post-punk surf vibe and I must say that I was mesmerized. The guitarist, Jason Bella was especially incredible to watch. His moves reminded me of a crazy hybrid of Tom Petty and Matt Shultz of Cage the Elephant and it was impossible to take your eyes of his crazy twisty, yet amazing good playing. 

I was disappointed that the crowd seemed thin for the opener and wondered at first if the venue might be too big for the bands, but by the time Sylvan Esso took the stage, it was packed. There set was good, but quite frankly I thought the openers stole the show and it was Dehd that I came away wanting to hear more of. All in all it was a fun first night in DC

https://www.sylvanesso.com/