Join us on Sept. 24 from 1-5 p.m. at the f ront of the iconic Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library for an electrif ying concert featuring legends of Go-Go Big Tony &\;Trouble Funk and DC hardcore legends Scream. Get ready to dance and feel the energy as these powerhouse bands take the stage. Don't miss out on this unforgettable afte rnoon of music\, rebellion\, and pure excitement. \;
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Scream | Scream formed in 1979. Drummer Kent Stacks\, ba
ssist Skeeter Enoch Thompson and the brothers Pete and Franz Stahl attende
d school together in Bailey&rsquo\;s Crossroads\, Virginia\, when they beg
an to discover the punk and new wave scene in DC and the provocative power
of making music. Like most of the punk bands in DC\, they were influenced
by the Bad Brains\, but their rock and roll sensibilities set them apart.
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Scream&rsquo\;s newest album\, DC Special\, will be releas ed in the fall of 2023 on Dischord Records. For this record\, Scream invit ed their extensive music community to help create a unique project that we aves the history of music in Washington DC into the story of the band. Rec orded by Don Zientara just weeks before his studio was evicted from its lo ngtime location\, the record is rich with both the sounds of Inner Ear and those of friends and musicians who influenced Scream and who shaped DC mu sic over the past six decades. DC Special embodies the same sense of commu nity and politics that inspired Scream from the start and is a truly speci al collection of new music that speaks to the present and also tells the s tory of DC music\, Scream\, and the influences that shaped them.
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Bi
g Tony &\; Trouble Funk | Big Tony and Trouble Funk has served
as ambassadors for DC's Go-Go music for over 45 years\, with performances
nationally and internationally. The band formed as Trouble Funk in 1978\,
and the lineup consisted of bassist and vocalist Big Tony Fisher\, keyboa
rd and vocalist Robert Reed\, trombonist Gerald Reed\, drummer and vocalis
t Emmet Nixon\, percussionists Mack Carey and Timothius Davis\, guitarist
Chester Davis\, trumpeter and vocals Taylor Reed\, keyboard player James A
very\, and saxophonist David Rudd. The group earned a loyal fan base for t
heir notoriously can't-miss live performances of their funky-innovative so
und\, organized around audience participation along with call and response
.
Keyboard player Robert "Syke Dyke" Reed passed away at age 50 on April 13\, 2008\, from pancreatic cancer. In spite of this tremendous los s\, Big Tony was determined to keep the Trouble Funk name alive by playing often for nostalgic party goers as well as the musically curious. Today\, Big Tony and Trouble Funk continue to remain a force on the music scene a nd continue to create new music with their unique and innovative style\, a s one of the major pioneers of the Go-Go culture.
\nBig Tony and Tro uble Funk have toured the U.S.\, Canada\, Europe and Japan\, performing wi th artists such as Foo Fighters\, Chick Corea\, Stanley Clarke\, George Cl inton &\; Parliament Funkadelic\, Los Lobos\, UB40\, James Brown\, War\ , Elvis Costello\, Big Boys\, Red Hot Chili Peppers\, Fishbone\, Minor Thr eat\, LL Cool J\, and many others. Most notably\, Big Tony and Trouble Fun k performed with Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) at the Kennedy Center in Washin gton D.C. for "Taking The Stage\," celebrating the opening of the National African American Museum of History and Culture\, hosted by Oprah Winfrey and attended by President Barack Obama and other dignitaries. They also pe rformed at Madison Square Garden with UB40\, RFK Stadium\, co-headlined at the Cal Jam in California with the Foo Fighters\, and at the Merriweather Post Pavilion with Snoop Dogg and Wu-Tang Clan.
\nBig Tony and Trou ble Funk produced several hit records on their own record label as well as being signed to Sugar Hill Records\, Sony UK and Island Records. This sho w-stopping group has had their music sampled on many hit records by artist s such as LL Cool J\, Dr. Dre\, Snoop Dog\, Beastie Boys\, Public Enemy\, Teddy Riley\, George Michael and many others resulting in receiving gold c ertified records with artists such as Kelly Roland and platinum awards wit h Will Smith and the 2 Live Crew\, becoming one of seven contributors sele cted by the Hip-Hop Museum to earn Hall of Fame status after being honored as "one of the most sampled groups in music history."
\nMost recent ly\, Big Tony and Trouble Funk headlined shows at Wolf Trap Pavilion two y ears in a row and is scheduled for a third in 2023. They co-headlined the "What the Funk" Tour in Indianapolis and the band plays on. Soon to celebr ate their 50-year anniversary/reunion in the music industry\, Big Tony and Trouble Funk show no signs of slowing down! View some amazing live concer t photos\, flyers and more from Trouble Funk shows in Dig DC as part of D.C.'s Go-Go Archive.
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BL
ACK ALLEY | BLACK ALLEY has been pushing the art of music to its
rhythmic limits for some time now. Determined to create a unique musical e
lixir\, Black Alley has taken the finest ingredients of rock\, hip-hop and
go-go to create their own genre-bending sound called &ldquo\;Hood Rock&rd
quo\;. The band is one\, each musician surrendering to the union of sounds
\, each delivering music from their soul\, while in dialogue with one anot
her through their instruments. Each member of this collective is essential
to the workability and funkability of the unit\, which is Black Alley.
With endorsements from national recording artists such as Raheem DeV aughn and Jill Scott\; hip-hop standouts Common\, Big KRIT &\; Wale\; p roducers Tone P and Chuck Thompson\; super engineer Young Guru\; and legen dary musicians Doug E. Fresh and Sheila E\, Black Alley is always striving to rock harder and advance the culture.
\nIn September 2017\, BLACK ALLEY won Musicology's first-ever Paisley Park Battle of the Bands in Min neapolis\, MN. The contest\, held at the late great estate of Prince\, was judged by some of Prince's former band members who worked closely with th e legend. Even before the national recognition that came along with winnin g the Battle at Paisley Park\, Black Alley was\, and continues to be\, one of the most followed\, trend-setting and sought-after music groups hailin g from the nation's capital.
\nBlack Alley was also hand-selected to perform at the inaugural South By South Lawn Festival (SXSL) held at the White House and spearheaded by former President Barack Obama.
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< strong>Bacchae | Formed in 2016 by four friends with minimal expe rience as musicians\, Bacchae make music with no assumptions about what a punk band should sound like. Underneath a careful balance of attitude and ambivalence\, the quartet embraces heavy guitar riffs alongside bouncy pop melodies and rage-filled exclamations.
\nVocalist/keyboardist Katie McD\, drummer Eileen O'Grady and guitarist Andrew Breiner began playing m usic together when they were enlisted as the backing band for a friend's e xperimental rock musical. Around the same time\, Andrew met bassist Rena H agins when they played together in a one-time band as part of Hat Band DC\ , a fundraiser for Girls Rock! DC. Together\, they formed a new band calle d Bacchae. The band released a home-mixed demo in 2016\, a self-released c assette\, &ldquo\;Down the Drain\,&rdquo\; in 2017\, and a 2018 self-title d EP released on Get Better Records. The new LP &ldquo\;Pleasure Vision&rd quo\; will be available on vinyl through Get Better Records in March 2020.
\nBacchae have found a home in the DC punk community\, even as thei r music mixes styles and jumps between genres when the mood suits them. On their new LP\, &ldquo\;Pleasure Vision\,&rdquo\; brooding synth-driven po p sits alongside prickly\, fast-paced punk and spooky post-punk sounds. So metimes you get all of that in a single song.
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Whether the ba
nd is exploring the pain of a doomed relationship or the push and pull of
disgust and desire while shopping online\, what carries through it all is
a sense of uncertainty\, dissolution and dread. &ldquo\;Pleasure Vision&rd
quo\; is a way of looking at the world that ignores everything but how you
can twist it to your own purposes. It&rsquo\;s a vision that&rsquo\;s wel
l-suited to a time when everything and everyone is supposed to be for sale
. As the inkblots on the cover imply\, this is an album about what you pro
ject onto what you see\, not the things themselves. It&rsquo\;s about the
distance between what you say\, what you think you want\, and what you act
ually want.
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Breezy Supreme | Breezy Supreme is
a black alternative rock artist from the Washington\, DC/ Maryland area. B
reezy mostly expresses different struggles and emotions in his music\, all
in which are personal to him. Though he doesn&rsquo\;t have a specific en
d goal\, he aims to inspire and create space for other black alternative c
reatives across the globe