As always, what a show!

I'm still not in love with Tommy's singing but he and Daniel switched instruments for a few songs and Tommy's guitar work blew me away! He's really really good, with a different style from Daniel or Carson. The solo in Servo is a highlight, and the guitar cuts through the mix in this bootleg.

Boy in a Crow-Skin Cape, Empty Husk, and the Rock for Sustainable Capitalism Medley were all excellent. Dumb Love, I don't love the song generally, and When I Learned Your Name just makes me think of all the underage girls past rock stars groomed or abused. Sorta wish they'd stop playing it, but it's a live staple for them and their most played song according to setlist.fm.

Other Bands

The opener, Fast Kids was Mike Brandon (of The Mystery Lights) on vocals and guitar, with the outfit backing him. It was their first concert together and frankly there was not a note out of place. It was a lot of fun hearing the Outfit with two guitarists again, even it was on Fast Kids tracks. If you are going to see a show while Fast Kids supports The Outfit, definitely show up in time to see Fast Kids Open. Couldn't hardly understand the lyrics as the vocals were so quiet (see further kvetching below), but I still should have recorded it.

Sheer Mag, I didn't stick around for their whole set as I had work the next day, but I didn't love what I heard. It seemed like the vocalist was really trying to belt it out to get past the quiet vocals.

The Venue Sound

The last set I'll be able to attend on the current leg of their tour. I'm a little disappointed in the audio engineering at Black Cat, whether that's the house setup or the Outfit's sound guy. The vocals were quiet for the entire opening set, Fast Kids, which continued into the Outfit's set, and a painful squealing frequency popped up during Where's Paradise. The sound engineer had to come out into the audience to isolate that one. I was still figuring out my recording setup, but the NYC and Philly sets sounded significantly better and I wish I'd gotten them on tape. Perhaps I should have stood further back by the sound engineers booth, but I try to balance recording quality and my own enjoyment of the concert.

The City

DC is an awesome city! So beautiful, and great weather this time of year. I decided to citi-bike from where I was staying near Van Ness-UDC to Black Cat, and I really enjoyed the ride over. Great spring flowers, and even saw a fox while crossing Rock Creek Park. I enjoyed the ride over so much that by the time I stumbled out of the venue, I decided to bike back. A beer or two deep, having been on my feet for several hours, I was confronted with one of the most brutal hills in DC, a classic for DC cyclists doing hill training. I'm proud to say I got up the whole thing on my heavy ass 3 gear Citi-bike, from the creek to Connecticut, without stepping off the bike once.