by Adrian Gandara
Four months ago I went to an election night watch party at Barracuda to see Hillary Clinton elected president of the United States. Well, that’s not the world I live in. Here in the world I live in, I went back to Barracuda Monday night to see a different D.C. force, Priests, perform their aptly named new album, Nothing Feels Natural, with non-gender conforming Austin punks Popper Burns opening, followed by outre D.C. electronic musician Olivia Neutron-John.
Piece by piece the D.C. punks tore apart the modern cultural narrative with every song, with each verse thrown out by vocalist Katie Alice Greer. She said, “Fuck the president,” criticized his policies, defended the basic rights and progress the president seems intent on renegotiating; she said we shouldn’t have to be discussing these things in a rock concert in 2017. But here we are.
The set went on. Greer raised a middle finger high in the air. In the world I live in, people danced and thrashed to the sound of rabid activism and dissent.
Popper Burns
Olivia Neutron-John
Priests
Adrian Gandara is a writer and photographer who has edited for the Short Horn and other publications. Follow him on Twitter at @adrun_thephotog