“Traditionally, we like to focus, for the anniversaries, on either people who’ve worked here who have bands, or still work here, or the bands that have been in sort of the closer-knit scene. I like having the anniversary be a party for us and for our music scene.” That’s Black Cat proprietor Dante Ferrando talking to NBC 4 concerning the DC membership’s thirtieth anniversary, which was celebrated over the weekend throughout two nights of music. “It’s more fun for me to get somebody like Ted Leo, who’s played here over 30 times, to come back and do something, or Velocity Girl to reunite or get Ex Hex back on the stage…Those kind of things mean a lot more to me personally, and I think they resonate with the people who work here a little bit more and the people who come to shows all the time.”
Velocity Girl‘s reunion, the shoegazy indie rock band’s first present in 21 years, was probably the most thrilling set of the weekend, however Black Cat put collectively a terrific lineup of music, together with Ted Leo + Pharmacists, Messthetics (ft 1/2 of Fugazi), Mary Timony bands Ex Hex and Hammered Hulls (with Alec MacKaye of Untouchables, The Faith, Ignition), Flasher, Birthday Girl, and Bad Moves. Ferrando himself performed in two bands: early Dischord band Gray Matter (who’ve reunited for different Black Cat anniversaries) and The Owners, his band with spouse and venue co-owner, Catherine.
Check out images from each nights by Ben Stas, together with fan-shot video, beneath.
