We know D.C. Get our free newsletter to stay in the know.
At some point between when Fort Reno announced its schedule and when I sat down to write this pick, Valley Tours, which is opening tonight’s season kickoff, established a Google-able online presence. The summer concert series has been a local punk institution for probably as long as the genre has existed, and it hasn’t started caring about what’s on your Bandcamp page yet. To be eligible to perform, all you need is, ostensibly, a physical demo and a local ZIP code—although making music in the vein of the District’s post-hardcore tradition certainly helps, too. That aesthetic applies to most of tonight’s bill, but not Valley Tours. Still, the band’s erudite, synth-tickled, ambiguously accented indie pop manages to keep with one occasional Fort Reno tradition: These kids are still in high school.
Valley Tours performs with Beasts of No Nation and Railsplitter at 7:15 p.m. at Fort Reno Park, 3800 Donaldson Place NW. Free.