Tim Bracken, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – The D.C. area has many venues that host concerts, and it can be a daunting task keeping track where bands are playing and when.
Several smartphone apps have been developed to solve this problem, but not many have garnered the overwhelmingly positive feedback that Bandsintown has received.
What makes it so special?
Bandsintown can link to your iTunes, Pandora, Facebook and last.fm accounts, so you never miss a concert from your favorite bands.
The advantage of linking to a Facebook page is that the app will look for any band you’ve “Liked,” including local bands that may perform at a small venue off the beaten path.
Once the app is set up, there are three types of searches: “Concert Cloud,” “Recommended” and “All Local Shows.”
The “Concert Cloud” search creates a word cloud that highlights the user’s most talked-about bands. It’s a convenient way to quickly pick out a handful of top- pick concerts.
The “Recommended” and unfiltered searches organize concerts by date and venue.
Bandsintown excels in all categories — no small venues are skipped.
Individual concert listings allow the user to purchase tickets, and then the app shows others which concerts you’re attending.
There is a minor quirk to the program. Since it will search for all bands that have been “Liked” by a Facebook user, users may find that the activity log states they are searching for concerts by the Beatles or other groups that no longer exist.
The free app is available for Apple and Android devices.
Here is a list of highlights from Tim Bracken’s Bandsintown-recommended concert search for this weekend:
Friday, Feb. 8
- Arlo Guthrie at the Birchmere
- Solas at the Barns at Wolf Trap
- Matt Simmons, Chris Ayer, Jesse Ruben at Jammin’ Java
- Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds at the Hamilton
- Carrie Rodriguez at Artisphere
- Joshua Redman at Blues Alley
Saturday, Feb. 9
- Taj Mahal at the State Theatre
- Sara Davenport at Ebenezer’s Coffeehouse
- Dot Dash at the Rock & Roll Hotel
- Adrian Krygowski at the The Hamilton
- Arlo Guthrie (night two) at the Birchmere
Sunday, Feb. 10
- 10,000 Maniacs at the Birchmere
- Bon Jovi at the Verizon Center
- The Residents at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
- Tribute to Aretha Franklin at the Howard Theatre
- Willy Mason at DC9
Follow @BrackenWTOP and @WTOPLiving on Twitter.
