TONIGHT! Kicks! is DC's Official Record Store Day Afterparty!

Kicks! is thrilled to be partnering up with The Vinyl District to be the Official Afterparty on Record Store Day! So once you pick up some vinyl jewels on the 17th, swing by the Black Cat backstage from 10 pm to 2am for Kicks! As an added bonus, John Davis of Title Tracks will be joining regular DJs Sara and Kim that night.

Kicks! is a monthly dance party held in the Black Cat backstage geared to providing a hullabaloo of a good time. We throw a mix of garage, punk, powerpop, girl groups, and psych into our cauldron to whip you up a dance night of sing-along fun and tail-feather shaking. And the best part about it – it’s free! For the last two years, Kicks! has been happily holding down a monthly spot at the Black Cat, one of our favorite places to see bands or hang out. The goal of Kicks! is to provide a fun, low key dance night to hear songs you love or to discover new bands. The Washington Post may have said it best:

"Kicks is one of the more user-friendly DJ nights on the Black Cat's monthly calendar. From Queen to the Cold War Kids, Cheap Trick to the Vivian Girls, the Ramones to the Rolling Stones, it's a night of pure fun rock and roll, mainly from the '70s and '80s, that begs you to have a couple of beers and jump around on the backstage. Just when you think you're ready to leave, DJs Kim and Sara drop "Rebel Rebel" or "Teenage Kicks" and you find yourself saying, "Okay, one more song," and then the next thing you know the lights are coming up and it's time to go home, even though you meant to leave 45 minutes ago. Whoops."

Kicks! began its inception as a night called Pow Wow held weekly at Felix in Adams Morgan and for a time monthly at Rock and Roll Hotel. Adam, who started Pow Wow, left DC for Los Angeles, and now runs the Pow Wow Podcast. The Podcast is free and updated weekly, and much like Kicks!, features a range of music depending on the week – expect to hear everything cool from the 60’s on. One week may feature krautrock from La Dusseldorf and Faust, the next a sampling of shoegaze from My Bloody Valentine, Moose, and the Boo Radleys, or it may be all new bands like Grass Widow, Young Prisms, and Brilliant Colors.

We hope to see some new faces on the 17th!

Here are some sample tracks of some of the bands we like to play: Teenage Head – Picture My Face | The Only Ones – Another Girl, Another Planet | The Human Beinz – Nobody But Me | The Real Kids – All Kindsa Girls | Flamin’ Groovies – Shake Some Action

Kicks! Sampler (Mp3)