To Do This Weekend: Sarah McLachlan, Lyfe Jennings, and "Wish Tree for Washington, D.C."
See a '90s folk-pop favorite live or hang a wish on a tree at the Hirshhorn.
by Kayla Randall June 29th, 2018 August 28th, 2020
It is time for a Lilith Fair revival. In the pantheon of '90s revivals, we've endured and exhausted reimaginings of niche music genres that, let's be honest, probably didn't need to be revived (ahem, emo, ska, and pop-punk). So it's only fair that we get a revival of the most defining music festival of the '90s (sorry Lollapalooza). To wit: Lilith Fair was a festival started by the one and only Sarah McLachlan in 1997 that consisted solely of female artists and bands. We're talking about such goddesses as McLachlan, Natalie Merchant, Sheryl Crow, Queen Latifah, Lisa Loeb, Joan Osborne, Erykah Badu, Tracy Chapman, Jewel, Fiona Apple, The Cardigans, Paula Cole, and dozens more. It was a celebration of women in power in a exceptionally misogynistic and sexist industry (it also raised more than $7 million for charity in its three-year run). Since then, McLachlan has enjoyed a steady stream of success with a handful of albums, though nothing has topped her classic '97 album Surfacing, and continues to tour regularly. Friday night at Strathmore will be an opportunity for McLachlan to remind audiences why she's one of the most empathetic and moving songwriters of the past few decades—who doesn't get misty-eyed when they hear "Angel"?—but really, you should go to try and persuade her to bring back Lilith Fair. The time is nigh. Read more>>> Sarah McLachlan performs at 8 p.m. at the Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. $66–$146. (301) 581-5100. strathmore.org. (Matt Cohen)
OH AND ALSO
Friday: Pennsylvania post-hardcore singer and musician Anthony Green performs at Union Stage to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his album Avalon. 8 p.m. at 740 Water St. SW. $19.50–$29.50.
Friday: Jazz multi-instrumentalist Jon Batiste, indie pop singer-songwriter Kishi Bashi, and composer Joachim Horsley perform at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall as part of the Ben Folds-curated National Symphony Orchestra Declassified series. 9 p.m. at 2700 F St. NW. $25–$75.
Saturday: There is something about Lyfe Jennings' voice that is layered yet addictively simple. The raspy tenor sound that Lyfe wields effectively evokes both the image of Swisher Sweets and satin sheets. When his debut album Lyfe 268-192 came out in 2004, the hit single "Must Be Nice" dominated charts and the radio, bringing closer the gap between the unapologetically street state of hip-hop and the pop-crazed place R&B was in at the moment. The term "street crooner" was thrown around to label Lyfe's brand of vocals, equally effective in jail cell and bedroom. Several albums later, Tree of Lyfe, his 2015 offering released in the midst of the singer's several appearances on Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta >as Karlie Redd's love interest, stays true to the vocalist's street perspective, even if a bit dated. Tree of Lyfe also features a duet with Real Housewives of Atlanta alum Demetria McKinney that breathes life to album standout "Talkin About Love." A skilled guitarist and pianist, look forward to an acoustically oriented set at the Birchmere to show off Lyfe's steady grit. Read more>>> Lyfe Jennings performs at 7:30pm at The Birchmere, 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria. $59.50. (703) 549-7500. birchmere.com. (Hamzat Sani)
Saturday: The National Portrait Gallery presents the opening weekend of One Year: 1968, An American Odyssey, a new one-room exhibition that chronicles an extraordinary year in American history. 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 8th and F Streets NW. Free.
Saturday: Author Kim Roberts stops by Politics and Prose to speak about her new book, A Literary Guide to Washington, D.C., a walking tour of Washington chronicling the literary greats who lived here. 3:30 p.m. at 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. Free.
Sunday: Yoko Ono's Wish Tree exhibition, which celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, has returned in full bloom this summer at the Hirshhorn. Museumgoers can be seen whispering their wishes to the tree year-round, but during the summer months, the Japanese dogwood blossoms with thousands of paper tags as visitors are encouraged to write down their wishes and hang them on the tree. Hirshhorn staff "harvests" these wishes throughout the summer, shipping them off to the Wishing Well of Ono's Imagine Peace Tower in Reykjavik, Iceland. Here, they become part of a collection of more than a million wishes from Wish Tree projects all over the world. The wishes range from jabs at the American president ("I really wish that our president gets tired of fucking things up and quits," reads one) to messages of positivity ("I wish that all the lovely wishes on this tree come true," reads another, punctuated with a smiley face). You have all summer to come experience the Wish Tree for yourself. And who knows, your wish might even come true. Read more>>> The exhibition is on view to Sept. 3 at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Independence Avenue and 7th Street SW. Free. (202) 633-1000. hirshhorn.si.edu. (Rose Shafer)
Sunday: New York indie rock trio The Tins performs at Black Cat. 7:30 p.m. at 1811 14th St. NW. $10.
Sunday: Learn about how to tell your own story for funding and professional opportunities at the Tell Your Story DC storytelling workshop at the Anacostia Arts Center. 3:30 p.m. at 1231 Good Hope Road SE. Free.
OFFICE OF FUTURE PLANNING
Tickets are on sale now for Oklahoma roots-rock and country group Turnpike Troubadours, performing at the Fillmore Silver Spring on Dec. 15. 8 p.m. at 8656 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. $27.50.
Tickets are on sale now for the Legends of Hip Hop tour, featuring artists Juvenile, Scarface, and Project Pat, at the DAR Constitution Hall on Oct. 13. 8 p.m. at 1776 D St. NW. $59–$125.
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