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Sunday night’s “D.C Funk-Punk Throwback Jam,” one of the nostalgic events tied to the opening of the new Corcoran exhibit “Pump Me Up: D.C. Subculture of the 1980s,” drew a crowd as diverse as the lineup. Young and old fans of local go-go and punk from D.C.’s ’80s packed the 9:30 Club for more than eight hours of music. It served as a reunion of sorts; more than once I heard some variation on, “Wow [person], how are you? I haven’t seen you in years!”
Hosted by ex-Black Flag frontman Henry Rollins, the show also proved how vast the seemingly narrow genres of harDCore and go-go can be. Not all go-go sounded like like Chuck Brown, not all D.C. punk sounded like Minor Threat. At times, it sounded like the set was structured so one band could play a kind of “base” sound, followed by bands that jumped off from there.
By far, Junkyard was the most captivating band on the bill; the longtime hometown band’s horn-driven, poppy R&B sound got almost everyone moving—-including the punkiest of the punks.
See photos from the marathon show in the gallery. (Note: Scream and Trouble Funk will be added by 3 p.m. today.)