Remember when you were in high school and Ft. Reno was your life? Our new intern Andrew is still living that dream. He’ll be giving us some coverage and taking shitty pics with his point and shoot throughout the summer, thanx Andrew!
The Sweater Set
(Sweater Set photos provided by JD Edwards)
Pop folk duo The Sweater Set kicked off the 2009 Fort Reno Summer Concert Series with soaring vocal harmonies over sparse arrangements of guitar, ukulele, and hushed drums. The lovely ladies in the bright dresses are Maureen Andary (who has a self released solo record out now) and Sara Curtin, who met as choir girls at a local D.C. church and then years later started the band.
Most songs focused on intricate and intertwining vocal melodies which paired beautifully with lightly strummed uke or acoustic guitar. Song subject matter ranged from an (well timed) summer love fling to an (well chosen) ode to former D.C. rez Duke Ellington.
The Sweater Set started the season right with smartly crafted tunes that displayed musical creativity and a top notch pop sensibility. Expect more gigs this summer and a new record in September.
Check out “List of Things” and “I’m Sure You’re Hip” from The Sweater Set’s upcoming album entitled Surprise Visit.
(imeem is acting lame-o, so if you can’t stream, just download the mp3s using the links below)
Download MP3: I’m Sure You’re Hip
Funk Ark
As the name suggests, this band brought the Funk to the red stage in the park. The 11 piece outfit (not all 11 were playing tonight though) featured a horn section, two drummers, an organ player, guitar, bass, and assorted hand-percussionists.
The instrumental set was a nice change from the primarily rock sound one gets at Fort Reno; the band played its own blend of afrobeat and traditional funk that drew to mind Antibalas as well as Femi Kuti.
My favorite parts of Funk Ark’s set were definitely the saxophonist’s swanky solos and the big man with the little shaker.
If you missed the set, be sure to catch some of Funk Ark’s ass shakin’ action at RNR Hotel on July 18.
Pash proved every bit worthy of their headlining slot, going balls out on the first song (“Down”, listen below) and not letting up one bit all evening. Singer Meredith Munoz belted out some really stunning vocals that ran in the vein of Deb Harry. She was backed by a tight rhythm section while Pash’s mullet-ed lead guitarist Erik Bruner-Yang layered reverb soaked wails into the mix. A moment of silence was held at the beginning of Pash’s set for Clark Sabine of Statehood whose recent and tragic death prompted the organizers to dedicate the whole Fort Reno series in Sabine’s honor.
Munoz is currently doing double duty in Title Tracks, where she sings and plays guitar along with John Davis and co.
sweater set = swoon <3
June 24, 2009 at 1:56 pm“Remember when you were in high school and Ft. Reno was your life?”
Remember when you were in high school and you lived in Kansas or New Jersey? isn’t like 95% of the traffic on this website from people that have been living in dc for only about… 2 years??? get the fuck out of here. i am willing to bet that everyone on this site has never seen Fugazi at fort reno.
July 3, 2009 at 2:33 pma) BYT.com is a UK recruitment firm
b) I wrote that intro and I have seen Fugazi at Ft Reno
c) You’re annoying, please be quiet
thanks for coming out. see you soon byt
June 23, 2009 at 1:28 pm