You’d be forgiven for hibernating during this historically cold winter in Washington. But even when we’re three blankets deep on our couches and stuck in an endless solitary doomscroll, there’s a music scene raging in our city’s venues. Tap into it and you’ll find that any woes you picked up during your digital descent feel ever so slightly lighter. As the snowcrete melts and the cherry blossoms start to peek out from Tidal Basin branches, dare to allow yourself a moment of communal levity. Let your heart keep pounding well past winter’s 5 p.m. sunsets. And if that doesn’t fuel you, maybe the FOMO will.
Butcher Brown
Not sure how to start your musical odyssey this season? Try Butcher Brown, a quintet so expansive that choice is hardly required — its self-described “solar music” blends jazz, hip-hop, funk, soul, R&B and rock into an often-wordless meditation on place and time. If that sounds like a big swing, know that its Richmond-based members have played together since 2009 and have seemingly surpassed improvisational divination and moved into straight-up telepathy. On one of Butcher Brown’s rare lyrical tracks, trumpeter/saxophonist Marcus “Tennishu” Tenney raps it best: “Even with the blueprint they know they can’t decode us.” March 13 at the Atlantis. theatlantis.com.
Skaiwater
As a polymath producer, Skaiwater designs their songs to sound like they’re set in a casino, with little zings and whirs of dopamine hits strewn beneath Soundcloud-rap-era nostalgia. Of course they took flight on the digital slot machine that is TikTok, culminating in a viral Lil Uzi Vert collaboration. But Skaiwater isn’t resting on their laurels, or their heroes. Last year, the Nottingham-born, Los Angeles-based rapper released three separate EPs in a series called “pinkPrint” (a play on Nicki Minaj’s 2014 record), plus a full album called “#mia” — short for “#manicinamerica” — which is soaked in all the off-kilter delirium of living here and now. March 20 at Union Stage. unionstagepresents.com.
Lady Gaga
After years of veers into jazz with the late Tony Bennett, towering Hollywood productions and a half-decade Las Vegas residency, 2025 saw Lady Gaga return to her purest form: campy club pop, extravagant showmanship and indomitable zeitgeist reign. Where was there left to go? This year has already proved there’s somewhere above the stratosphere for the singular artist — in the past few weeks, she’s taken the stage at the Grammys as both (seven-time) nominee and performer, and as a surprise guest at Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show. This final leg of her Mayhem Ball tour is just the victory lap. March 23 and 24 at Capital One Arena. capitalonearena.com.
Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore
In search of true escapism? Step into the ethereal world created by Mary Lattimore’s prodding harp and Julianna Barwick’s layered vocals. “Tragic Magic,” their new release, brings the ambient artists together in a predominantly choral collaboration with track names like “Temple of the Winds” and “Melted Moon.” The music leaves plenty of room for sonic meditation, which means the escapist fantasy is yours to create. March 24 at Miracle Theatre. unionstagepresents.com.
The Last Dinner Party
Like Athena, the Last Dinner Party emerged two years ago fully formed and feminine in a way that was meant to devour. The gothic London five-piece had a gestation period stretching back to its members’ university days, when they’d attend post-punk pub shows in full ball gowns and bargained that they could create something more fantastical. Its name is at once biblical, mysterious and unsettling, and with songs that sound upholstered in velvet — rich guitars, moody harmonies and some of the strongest vocals in modern rock — the band creates an orchestrated aesthetic that reads as mythological. “From the Pyre,” its quick-turn follow-up to its 2024 debut, is best consumed live in what feels less like a concert and more like an incense-fueled ritual. April 7 at the Anthem. theanthemdc.com.
Ivy Lab
When seminal electronic duo Ivy Lab announced in January that 2026 would be its last operational year, members Stray and Sabre promised in an Instagram post that they would “look ahead to new adventures in sound.” What a perfect thesis statement for a group that has, for more than a decade, been a dynamic force of experimentation. As a pioneer in halftime and an inspirational industry mainstay in drum ‘n’ bass, the partnership has long produced EDM that is at once liquid and transcendent. But it’s not over yet. In that same post, they made another promise: “We don’t intend on leaving quietly.” April 18 at Transmission. shotgun.live.
Liberation Weekend
Billed as a “Pitchfork Fest for trans rights,” Liberation Weekend was born in the first year of the second Trump administration to reject anti-trans legislation and raise money for the Gender Liberation Movement. By consequence of a stellar lineup of trans artists and allies, it was also a massive party. Organized by D.C. punks Ekko Astral, Liberation Weekend II: A Festival Fundraiser for Trans Liberation and Mutual Aid stretches over three full days, with emo, indie and punk rockers taking the stage at the Black Cat. Meanwhile, Saturday and Sunday bring daytime concerts to Transmission. The lineups include Laura Jane Grace, Illuminati Hotties, Gladie, Pretty Bitter and Ezra Furman. April 24-26 at Black Cat and Transmission. liberationwknd.com.
Eliza McLamb
Years of podcasting and essay writing trained the multi-hyphenate creative Eliza McLamb well for crafting confessional lyrics that both punch and stick around for the sting. Her body of work — including a 2024 debut and 2025’s “Good Story” — is a product of self-mythologizing, united by an internet-addled sense of preening and presentation, incessantly prodding the scab of whether we are who we pretend to be. Over an indie rock framework informed by her North Carolina upbringing, she carefully sings on “Mausoleum”: “Catch it quick/ Frame the image/ Make your meaning before you’ve lived it.” April 25 at the Atlantis. theatlantis.com.
PinkPantheress
PinkPantheress started her tidy nine-song mixtape last year with what sounds like an introduction: “My name is Pink and I’m really glad to meet you.” It’s really more like a producer tag — the 24-year-old dance-pop starlet has been well within the public eye since “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2,” her smooth Jersey-club ditty with Ice Spice, became the song of the summer in 2023. Last year’s “Fancy That” (which was nominated for a best dance/electronic album Grammy) brought even more cross-genre collaboration and savvy production — and reintroduced her plasticky, Y2K-hued glam. May 3 at the Anthem. theanthemdc.com.
By Storm
In 2020, oddball hip-hop trio Injury Reserve was cut short by the death of Stepa J. Groggs, one of its rappers. Its remaining members regrouped under the moniker By Storm (named for the closing song of the last Injury Reserve record) to deliver “My Ghosts Go Ghost,” the duo’s first album without Groggs. Rapper RiTchie and producer Parker Corey carry forward the experimental energy, but with less jazz influence and carefree endurance and more wizened rawness, plus spoken-word rap and disjointed production that bubbles up and swallows the words whole. May 17 at Songbyrd. songbyrddc.com.
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