Wednesday Is For (Local) Lovers - Friday Concert Previews

This Friday you have the opportunity to catch two of DC's most dynamic musical duos, on that rarest of nights where shows have minimal overlap. On the early side, we have Two Dragons and a Cheetah and allthebestkids at Red Panda House. You might recall our coverage of 2D+C's protest song just prior to the new year. Like a post-modern Local H, Maryjo Mattea and Joel Wu craft a sound that's inordinately loud for a duo, but manages to be toe-tappingly engaging at the same time. Mattea's vocals juxtaposes the operatic timbre of Pat Benatar with the dusky sensuality of The Divinyls' Christina Amphlett, while drummer Wu imparts a funky, hardcore sensibility to the duo's songs. The pair live in different cities, a la The Postal Service, so catching a live show in DC is a rare treat.

We Fought the Big One hosts its 14th anniversary concert at Marx Cafe later Friday evening. BLACKLODGE + em.g, the duo comprised of Paperhaus frontman Alex Tebeleff and Maggie Gilmore, construct sublime and deeply idiosyncratic experimental compositions using modular synths, voices, and other instruments and visual effects. It's not a stretch to describe it as meditation as music.