5
EZTHE WASHINGTON POST.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 2019Music
BY STEPHANIE WILLIAMSKing Gizzard & the Lizard
Wizard
At this point, the number of
records released by King Gizzard
& the Lizard Wizard is greater
than the years they’ve existed as a
band. Over 15 studio albums, the
Australian outfit has fine-tuned
its psychedelic rock offerings, of-
ten forging a new sonic path for
itself completely. The band dove
into twangy blues soundscapes
this spring with “Fishing for
Fishies,” an album that produced
a few noteworthy songs, includ-
ing the rootsy call-and-response
number “Plastic Boogie.” And just
when you were digging the band’s
alt-country stylings, King Gizzard
made sure you didn’t get too
comfortable, bouncing back in
August with its thrashy metal
album “Infest the Rats’ Nest.”
Saturday at 8 p.m. at 9:30 Club.
Sold out.Dehd
The breezy-sounding songs off
“Water,” the most recent album of
scrappy Chicago surf-rock trio
Dehd, channel a childlike opti-
mism that harks back to simpler
times: before you experienced
your first heartbreak, before you
had someone betray your trust.
It’s surprising to find out, then,
that “Water” was inspired by a
tumultuous breakup between the
band’s guitarist, Jason Balla, and
bassist Emily Kempf. On closer
listen, the melancholic lyrics be-
gin to surface above the jangly
guitars and bouncing choruses.
“What’s the point of living with-
out the one you love? What’s the
point of loving without the one
you live for?” the band harmoniz-
es on one of “Water’s” notable
tracks, “Love Calls.” Tuesday at7 p.m. at Songbyrd Music House.
$13-$15.Mary J. Blige
There’s always been a palpable
wisdom and vulnerability to
Mary J. Blige’s songs. She delivers
a raw perspective on life as some-
one who’s survived through a
string of traumatic experiences,
including sexual assault, domes-
tic abuse and substance abuse.
And she continues this journey of
self-reflection through her com-
ing album, “My Life II ... There’s
Something About Me, My Self &
MaryJane (Act 2),” the third in-
stallment of her “My Life” series.
Where her earlier releases in 1994
and 2011 revisit some of the
toughest moments of her life, the
forthcoming album also will
touch on the healing process —
one with no definitive end, but
accepted by Blige as an ongoing
work in progress. Tuesday at 8
p.m. at Wolf Trap. $45-$250.Tony AdeWhen Janet Jackson needed
backup musicians last year for
her music video “Made for Now,”
she knew just who to call: talking
drum virtuoso To ny Ade. Yes,
talking drum — an hourglass-
shaped drum originating in
West Africa that mimics the pitch
of human speech, depending on
how it’s played. With his instru-
ment, the Nigerian-American art-
ist makes smooth and heady Afro-
funk music with his band, recent-
ly putting out a project dubbed
“MuJoJo.” On Thursday, Ade will
bring his worldly grooves packed
with booming, zestful percussion
to Washington. Thursday at
8 p.m. at Pearl Street Warehouse.
$10.
[email protected]BY CHRIS RICHARDSH
ow long did it take for Domo to become
an omnipresence in the District’s night-
life? The Maryland-raised DJ quit her
job at the U.S. Department of Energy
last March. Skip ahead 14 months and she was
hyping thousands at an anti-gentrification pro-
test concert on 14 th and U streets NW. In other
words, everything’s been happening fast and
fortuitously. “I know how to shake a tree,” Domo
says, “but the apples just started falling on my
head.”
Much of that has to do with the music she
spins (concussive bounce-beat go-go; deep
Southern rap music) and the sense of communi-
ty she’s forging out there on the dance floor.
Around the time she ditched her day job, Domo
co-founded GIRLAAA, an artist collective dedi-
cated to community activism and empowering
women of color in the arts, and has since staged
multidisciplinary events all across town, from
Howard University to the Hirshhorn Museum.
“Okay, you throw parties. What else are you
doing?” Domo asks. “We’re hosting workshops.
We’re speaking on panels and having difficult
discussions. We’re making sure we’re engaging
kids on creative and nontraditional [career
paths] ... Because they gotta learn it from us —
from people who look like them, who they will
relate to because we speak their language.”
She’s as adaptable as she is focused. This
weekend, Domo will perform alongside some of
the brightest local names in rap and go-go at the
Flower Bomb Festival in Dupont Circle. The
weekend after that, she’s programming an all-fe-
male slate of DJs at the opening festival for the
Reach at the Kennedy Center.
Domo says that when the Kennedy Center
first invited her to tour the premises, she had to
fight back tears. The last time she had plans to
visit the concert hall, she was a teenager who
couldn’t afford the proper formal wear. Now,
speaking about her imminent return, her voice
conveys gratitude, pride and disbelief. But one
emotion prevails: “I feel very empowered right
now.”
[email protected]Spinning Beats,
Changing lives
ADRIAN MCQUEEN“Because they gotta learn it from us — from people who look like them,” Domo says of why she
helped found an artist collective dedicated to empowering women of color in the arts.
DOMO
Show: Saturday at the Flower Bomb Festival at
Dupont Underground, 19 Dupont Cir. NW. Festival
runs from 2 to 8 p.m. Fr ee with RSVP at
flowerbombfest.com.
Sept. 7 at the Kennedy Center, 2700 F Street NW.
GIRLAAA’s programming begins at noon; Domo
performs at 7 p.m. Fr ee festival passes available at
kennedy-center.org.
ALEXA VISCIUS
From left to right: Dehd’s Eric McGrady, Emily Kempf and Jason
Balla chronicle Balla and Kempf’s breakup on their latest album.4 more concerts to catch