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2 weeks ago | 
themusicuniverse.com | Matt Bailey
Simon played the first of three concerts in Northern VirginiaLegendary singer-songwriter Paul Simon took the stage at Wolf Trap in Vienna, Virginia on Wednesday night (June 4th) for the first of three performances in the DC region. The musical icon performed his latest album, the short LP Seven Psalms in full, before offering a set of hits and deep cuts. His first set was marked by beautiful string music and contemplative lyrics. The seven movements ran together as one piece.
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3 weeks ago | 
themusicuniverse.com | Matt Bailey
The superstar is on a summer trek in the biggest venues he’s ever headlined“Post Malone sold this motherfucker out on a Monday night!” Jelly Roll yelled, drawing a loud cheer from the packed crowd at Northwest Stadium on the pair’s Big Ass Stadium Tour. Indeed, Posty and Jelly brought them in droves, proving an overlap between hip-hop and real country is not only viable, it’s lucrative. Posty kicked off the night with a moody “Texas Tea” that built to a literal explosion on stage.
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3 weeks ago | 
themusicuniverse.com | Matt Bailey
The Wilson sisters are in fine form on 2025 tourAnn Wilson has a voice that’s simply not of this world. Put her sister Nancy to her right, and you have one of the greatest duos in rock music history. That duo, Heart, took a victory lap at Wolf Trap in Vienna, Virginia on Sunday night (June 1st) on their An Evening With Heart Tour.
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3 weeks ago | 
themusicuniverse.com | Matt Bailey
Sixteen songs spanned the band’s classic hits and new materialA crisp October night crept into late May, right where it didn’t belong. Taking the stage in Halloween climes more akin to Hawkins, Illinois than the DC metro area (Landover, Maryland to be exact), the dark and fiery music by Metallica seemed enhanced by the unseasonable chill.
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1 month ago | 
themusicuniverse.com | Matt Bailey
The country starlet sold out two nights in our nation’s capitalMegan Moroney is one of—if not the singularly—most important country music crossover artist of the 2020s. She reaches the fan base that can scream Taylor Swift lyrics and Reba songs in equal measure. That much was obvious from the jump during night one on Wednesday (May 21st) of Moroney’s two-night stand at Washington, DC’s Anthem.
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1 month ago | 
themusicuniverse.com | Matt Bailey
The superstar played the first of two nights near NYC on her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World TourIn an era where major artists find themselves downsizing venues or canceling tours altogether, one artist had to postpone her 2014 fall arena tour because 20,000 seats weren’t big enough. Shakira instead opted for a summer 2025 stadium tour to meet demand. And demand they did. Thursday’s show (May 15th) at MetLife Stadium outside New York City was the first of two shows at the venue.
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1 month ago | 
themusicuniverse.com | Matt Bailey
The celebrated artist and her Old-Time Revue are dedicated to authentically presenting traditional music“I need way more fiddle than that,” Grammy winner exclaimed to loud cheers as she began “Old Corn Liquor.” It was her second attempt to start her song with fiddler Justin Robinson, which both recorded for the hit 2025 film Sinners. During the first attempt, she broke a banjo string. She embraced the issue, picked up another of the myriad banjos on stage and rolled with it.
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1 month ago | 
themusicuniverse.com | Matt Bailey
The festival has become a must-attend event for devotees of hard rock and glam metalSteve Pearcy and Warren DiMartini of Ratt closed out the three-day M3 Rock Festival in Columbia, Maryland on Sunday (May 4th). It was a festival highlighted by performances from Accept, Lita Ford, and David Lee Roth’s return to the stage after five years. Pearcy’s high-flying voice and DiMartini’s guitar-shredding magic were evident on 17 songs from the Ratt catalogue.
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1 month ago | 
themusicuniverse.com | Matt Bailey
Matt Bailey cuts through the mixed feedback about the infamous rock god has muddied the good (and bad) of Roth’s return to live performingDavid Lee Roth returned to the stage last night (Sat, May 3rd) at the M3 Rock Festival in Columbia, Maryland. Roth delivered an all-Van Halen set in a leather three-piece suit that seemed stuck to him like glue. The reaction to Roth’s performance across social media and the blogosphere has been mixed–as is always the case, it seems, with Diamond Dave.
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1 month ago | 
themusicuniverse.com | Matt Bailey
An enthusiastic crowd greeted the superstar on the riseThere’s one guy barnstorming country music and creating a renaissance in sound not seen since the 1980s. His name is Zach Top. Top is pulling a Randy Travis: turning the mainstream country sound 180 degrees on its head, back toward a more traditional ethos, and widening the audience as a result (to paraphrase a one Garth Brooks).
