WASHINGTON — The Anthem has rocked D.C.’s Southwest Waterfront for six months now.
If you’ve never been or if you’re dying to go back, now is the perfect time to go with five major acts arriving over the next week with Beck on Thursday and Friday, Old Crow Medicine Show on Saturday, Modest Mouse on Monday, HAIM on Tuesday and Alice in Chains next Thursday.
Anthem founder Seth Hurwitz, who also locally operates the 9:30 Club, Lincoln Theatre and Merriweather Post Pavilion, loves the versatility of a venue that hosts such an eclectic lineup.
“Think about how different these shows are,” Hurwitz told WTOP. “They have nothing to do with each other, but they’re all playing the same venue and all make sense in that venue. If you go to those shows, they’re all going to feel like, ‘Of course, they would have played here. Of course this is the right character.’ They’re going to give the place that character that night.”
Beck — Thursday, April 26 & Friday, April 27
It all kicks off with alternative favorite Beck playing a pair of shows on Thursday and Friday.
His debut album “Mellow Gold” brought the breakthrough hit “Loser,” which topped the U.S. alternative charts and cracked the Top of the Billboard Hot 100. A few years later, his album “Odelay” brought another hit with “Where It’s At” with its signature mic feedback at the chorus.
But Beck was not just a 90s alternative wonder. His success continued well into the new millennium as his 2014 album “Morning Phase” won Album of the Year at the Grammys.
Click here for more information on Beck at The Anthem.
Old Crow Medicine Show — Saturday, April 28
After Beck, stick around Saturday for the Americana string band Old Crow Medicine Show.
Their 2004 song “Wagon Wheel” is a singalong anthem at bars nationwide, going platinum with over a million copies sold. Its chorus was originally recorded by Bob Dylan during the “Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid” soundtrack sessions, but it was Old Crow’s Ketch Secor who added the verses. It later topped the country charts when it was covered by Darius Rucker.
The band was inducted into the Grande Ole Opry in 2013, winning Grammys for Best Long Form Music Video for “Big Easy Express” (2013) and Best Folk Album for “Remedy” (2014).
Click here for more information on Old Crow Medicine Show at The Anthem.
Modest Mouse — Monday, April 30
There’s no better way to kick off your work week than with Modest Mouse on Monday night.
The indie rock band formed near Seattle in 1992, pulling its name from Virginia Woolf: “I wish I could hit upon a pleasant track of thought, a track indirectly reflecting credit upon myself, for those are the pleasantest thoughts, and very frequent even in the minds of modest mouse-coloured people, who believe genuinely that they dislike to hear their own praises.”
Since then, the band has gained a loyal following after six studio albums. Their big break came with “Good News for People Who Love Bad News” (2004), which earned a Grammy nod for Best Alternative Album and spawned the hit “Float On,” which topped the alternative chart.
Their next album “We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank” (2007) reached No. 1 on the U.S. album charts, while their latest album “Strangers to Ourselves” (2015) reached No. 3.
Click here for more information on Modest Mouse at The Anthem.
HAIM — Tuesday, May 1
For a completely different sound than the previous three acts, stick around Tuesday for HAIM.
Hailing from Los Angeles, the trio consists of sisters Este, Danielle and Alana Haim. Their debut album “Days Are Gone” (2013) was named one of the best albums of the decade by Pitchfork magazine, spawning six singles including “Forever,” “The Wire” and “My Song 5.”
Their anticipated follow-up album “Something to Tell You” (2017) debuted in the Top 10 of the Billboard albums chart. Its lead single “Want You Back” reached No. 27 on the U.S. alternative chart, while the band earned a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist.
Click here for more information on HAIM at The Anthem.
Alice in Chains — Thursday, May 3
Finally, you might as well close it out by checking out hard rockers Alice in Chains.
Their debut full-length album “Facelift” offered the smash hit “Man in the Box,” which featured an unforgettable guitar riff, heavy-metal wails and animal abuse lyrics. The song dominated the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart and earned the band’s first of nine Grammy nominations.
Their hits became the hard-rock soundtrack of the ’90s with “Rooster,” “Down in a Hole,” “Would?,” “No Excuses,” “I Stay Away,” “Got Me Wrong,” “Grind,” “Heaven Beside You,” “Over Now” and “Again.” When lead singer Layne Staley died at the age of 34 in 2002, Alice in Chains brought in frontman William DuVall to reinvent themselves, topping the U.S. mainstream rock chart four more times with “Check My Brain,” “Your Decision,” “Hollow” and “Stone.”
Click here for more information on Alice in Chains at The Anthem.
Other upcoming shows at The Anthem include Kygo, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Fleet Foxes, Jack White, Vance Joy, Janelle Monae, Courtney Barnett, Echo & The Bunnymen, Violent Femmes, Arctic Monkeys, Leon Bridges, Goo Goo Dolls and the Wu-Tang Clan.
