We know D.C. Get our free newsletter to stay in the know.
The Anacostia Arts Center’s Eclectic Tuesday series brings free performances from magicians, burlesque dancers, musicians, and poets to the Southeast neighborhood each week throughout the spring. This week’s featured act is local experimental punk/soul/jazz outfit Laughing Man. It’s been nearly two years since the group released its stunning Be Black Baby EP—named one of Washington City Paper’s best local records in 2014—and a year since it debuted a music video for “Body Cop,” a chilling commentary on police violence. Still, Laughing Man’s music remains as relevant as ever. The emotions its members encounter are complex and deep—anxiety, loneliness, defiance—and the band captures them all in unparalleled compositions. Scattered free jazz improvisation projects the paranoia over lonely experimental drones until Laughing Man hammers on the guitars. A raw punk energy builds each song into a larger statement while soul and R&B grooves provide something familiar for the audience to rally around. Laughing Man has a singular sounds that’s instantly recognizable, as if it bubbled out of the Anacostia on a muggy summer night. Laughing Man performs at 7 p.m. at Anacostia Arts Center, 1231 Good Hope Road SE. Free. (202) 631-6291. anacostiaartscenter.org.