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The London electronic duo AlunaGeorge, comprising vocalist Aluna Francis and producer George Reid, emerged in 2012, at a time when every buzzy act seemed to follow a similar female singer/male producer set up. Armed with a transatlantic approach to alternative dance pop that drew from both U.K. dance traditions (the shuffle of U.K. garage) and American R&B ones (the bounce of Timbaland and Neptunes productions), the duo landed on the BBC’s tastemaking Sound of 2013 poll, but faltered with its debut album Body Music by being too slavishly devoted to its pristine formula. Enter “Turn Down for What” producer DJ Snake, whose remix of AlunaGeorge’s single “You Know You Like It” replaced nuance with trap-EDM and gave the duo a true pop breakthrough. With its second album due out this fall, it seems that AlunaGeorge has learned a lesson from DJ Snake: the pair has teamed with dancehall star Popcaan and EDM hitmaker Zhu for the in-your-face singles “I’m In Control” and “My Blood,” respectively, because what is pop music if not mutable? AlunaGeorge performs with Cleopold at 8 p.m. at 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW. $25. (202) 265-0930. 930.com. (Chris Kelly)
EAT THIS
The Beer, Bourbon and BBQ festival is coming to National Harbor June 17 and 18. The event includes unlimited tastings of more than 60 beers and 40 bourbons plus barbecue from a number of different local restaurants. Attendees can also grab some pulled pork directly from a whole pig, which will rotate every hour on the hour from the “Shrine of a Swine.” There will also be live bluegrass and rock music plus games including cornhole, giant Jenga, and racing trikes. Advance ticket sales have closed, but general admission tickets are available at the door (cash only) for $45. Get more info at beerandbourbon.com. Beer, Bourbon & BBQ Festival, 300 Waterfront St., National Harbor, Md. (Jessica Sidman)
OH AND ALSO
Friday: New York psych-punk band Guerilla Toss perform at Comet Ping Pong with Sunwatchers and local band Crypto Jocks. 10 p.m. at 5037 Connecticut Ave. NW. $12.
Friday: The Skints, The Scotch Bonnets, and Ace Cosgrove performs at Tropicalia to get your weekend started right. 8 p.m. at 2001 14th St. NW. $12-$15.
Saturday: Gauche, by definition, is an adjective that means “lacking ease or grace; unsophisticated and socially awkward.” That’s not a wholly suitable adjective for the D.C. post-punk band Gauche, whose taut, angular post-punk songs are anything but unsophisticated or graceless. A local supergroup of sorts (it features members of Priests, Downtown Boys, Neonates, Teen Liver, Coup Sauvage and the Snips, and Hothead), the sum of Gauche is nothing like its parts. On its debut EP, Get Away With Gauche!, each song operates more like a hypnotizing jam session, which in a weird way makes its sly and scathing lyrics—social commentary, more than anything—all the more introspective. “Income, always think about pay day / Always waiting on wages / Always thinking about systems” the band sings on “Pay Day,” an anxious, melodic rumination on wage disparities. For a song so catchy, it might not seem like the best vessel for delivering a stark message, but when you’re singing the song’s earworm of a refrain (“I know I can’t survive like this”) to yourself for days afterward, it makes perfect sense. Gauche performs at 2 p.m. at Mount Pleasant Neighborhood Library, 3160 16th St. NW. Free. (202) 671-3121. dclibrary.org/mountpleasant. (Matt Cohen)
Saturday: Local singer-songwriter Sara Curtin performs her folksy tunes at DC9 with Post Sixty-Five and Fellow Creatures. 6:30 p.m. at 1940 9th St. NW. $8.
Sunday: A perennial wanderer, Ray LaMontagne grew up travelling the country with his mother and five siblings, a journey that probably fostered the sense of adventure that weaves itself through his music. A combination of harmonica and banjo gives the music a nostalgic, folksy feel. When paired with LaMontagne’s poetic lyrics, listeners can imagine old hotels, antiquated cars, and drives down long, dusty highways. His songs are littered with references to fleeing, searching for a home, and a sense of belonging, but it’s the melancholic tales of love and loss that really pack an emotional wallop. Equal parts songwriter and storyteller, LaMontagne will arrive at Wolf Trap with his moody ambiance in tow. Despite the fact that “You Are the Best Thing” has soundtracked nearly every millennial marriage ceremony held in the past three years, the man on stage is much more than a glorified wedding singer. Ray LaMontagne performs at 8 p.m. at Wolf Trap’s Filene Center, 1551 Trap Road, Vienna. $39.50–$69.50. (703) 255-1900. wolftrap.org. (Raye Weigel)
Sunday: Black Cat’s Backstage gets funky when Sistr Mid9ight performs with Escape-ism and Time is Fire, along with DJs Jerry Busher and Rich Morel. 7:30 p.m. at 1811 14th St. NW. $10.
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