In celebration of the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s opening of the exhibit Pump Me Up, The D.C. Subculture of the 1980s, the ultimate DC hardcore and Go-Go blow out will happen at the 9:30 Club on this Sunday, February 24.
The DC Funk-Punk Throwback Jam will feature pioneering go-go acts such as Trouble Funk, Junkyard and DJ Kool, along with the pivotal DC hardcore bands Worlds Collide, Black Market Baby, Youth Brigade, and more. The entire event is hosted by none other than Henry Rollins, who is also DJing the Corcoran gallery opening.
The Corcoran’s Pump Me Up “traces the history of graffiti in Washington while emphasizing its inextricable ties to the burgeoning forms of local music.” The 9:30 Club will showcase some of the top-billing bands that appeared on go-go posters that lined the city in the 1980s. The exhibition includes sections on the work of “COOL ‘DISCO’ DAN, the DC punk, hardcore, and Go-Go scenes, concert posters…and other visual culture.”
Trouble Funk’s “Drop the Bomb” was the first go-go hit to be produced outside of DC. If this song has a Sugar Hill Records feel to you, well that’s because Trouble Funk were eventually picked up by the label.
For fans of benchmark DC hardcore band Scream, don’t expect to see David Grohl back on drums, but do get ready to rage.
And let me hear you clap your hands for the Junkyard band, ya’ll.
If you’ve heard tales from your older friends who got down in the 80s and have always wanted to experience a hot, sweaty, booty-shaking go-go party for yourself, here’s your chance. We’ve got two tickets for your freak-a-deaky hands. Just tell us your favorite graffiti artist or describe or link us the best graffiti you’ve ever seen.
The winner will be chosen at noon on Thursday, February 21. Tickets are still available.
