Don't let the mean look fool you; Daughtry's a softy at heart.

By Dave McKenna

Chris Daughtry tries to play rough. At the Patriot Center on Thursday, the former American Idol contender led a band that bears his surname through a set of hard pop that mostly fell somewhere between Nirvana and Bread. Like Vancouver-based Nickelback, Daughtry takes a lot of tough guy poses, but is too sweet to pull off that shtick.

It's sort of a reverse Lipstick on a Pig syndrome: No matter how much leather, chains, flashpots or heavy metal accoutrements a nice boy throws into his show, he's still a nice boy.

(From "American Idol" to "Cougar Town," after the jump.)

John Dyer Baizley of Baroness roars at Rock and Roll Hotel. (Photo by Kyle Gustafson/FTWP)

By Chris Richards

Head-bangers have Georgia on their minds. Two of this year's most exciting rock albums come from Savannah's Baroness and Atlanta's Mastodon, positing the Peach State as the new locus of American heavy metal.

The former brought some colossal riffage to Washington's Rock & Roll Hotel Wednesday, kicking off its U.S. tour for a throng of fans so tightly packed, you could detect distinct brands of shampoo (or lack thereof). The only thing more piquant than the clashing body odors wafting through the crowd was the voluminous din emanating from the stage.

("Screaming his larynx into ribbons," after the jump.)

The Jesus Lizard, fully clothed. (Photo courtesy Joshua Black Wilkins)

Hey, ladies! Looking to pick up a dude in his late-30s who values his Touch & Go 7-inch singles more than personal relationships? If so tonight's your Super Bowl, World Series and Stanley Cup all rolled into one -- the Jesus Lizard reunion comes to 9:30 club! Back in the day the band's live show was the musical equivalent of witnessing a bomb explode and then rummaging through the wreckage for an hour or so. Reports from the current tour indicate no change. One thing that has been missing (thankfully?) is a certain part of yelper/stagediver/madman David Yow's anatomy which used to make a very special appearance at some Jesus Lizard shows. That got me to thinking about other rock shows I've attended that could have been R-rated -- or even X-rated.

L7 - Constitution Hall - 1995
The L.A. rockers (along with some Neil Young dude) opened for Pearl Jam at Constitution Hall for a pair of shows in January 1995 for two Voters for Choice benefit concerts. These were extremely tough tickets to come by. It was a lottery system where you had to send in postcards to be eligible. Out of 175,000 entries, 3,000 postcards were picked and those 3,000 people got two tickets. (Ah, pre-Internet days.) I managed to get a couple.

This was when Pearl Jam was not playing shows because of the Ticketmaster feud, so it was an especially big deal. Things I remember about this show: Pearl Jam pretty much ruling, fans booing then-new drummer Jack Irons, lots of "Vitalogy" tunes, Pearl Jam backing Neil Young on the last song, and one of the ladies of L7 rocking the last song of her set completely topless.

(No shirt, no pants -- four more, after the jump.)

Local rapper XO, shown here at 9:30 club in September, teams up with other area MCs for the Capitol City Music Tour. (Photo by Kyle Gustafson/FTWP)

The Capitol City Music Tour -- a revue of local rappers that crosses back and forth between the District and Northern Virginia through mid-December -- landed downtown at Eyebar, Tuesday. But the MCs never actually jumped on stage; they jumped on couch, spitting emphatic verses from a VIP booth near the bar.

Despite the odd set up, the quick performances still felt intimate and inspired. K-Beta and Angel Lola Luv each delivered poised rhymes from their VIP perch, along with Kingpen Slim, who was pushing his new mixtape "Clark Kent is the Capital City Kingpen." XO provided the nightcap with the unflappable cool of "Time Out" while a not-so-subliminal message flashed on a nearby video screen: "YOUR FAVORITE RAPPER'S FAVORITE RAPPER! UPTOWN X.O."

Consider our brains thoroughly washed.

(A full list of remaining tour dates, after the jump)

If Flava Flav jumps like this while on a moving flatbed truck, will he land on the truck or on the street? (We were bad at science.) (Photo by Kyle Gustafson/FWTP)

It will take a traffic jam of millions to hold them back: Tomorrow night, hip-hip icons Public Enemy will perform in the streets of Foggy Bottom, rapping on a flatbed truck en route to a headlining concert at Lisner Auditorium.

It's an effort to promote National Homeless Youth Awareness month and the reunited rap group, featuring Chuck D and Flava Flav, will be touring the Sasha Bruce House in Southeast Washington earlier in the evening.

Around 7:45 p.m., they'll arrive in Foggy Bottom to bring the noise. At the concert, fans who donate a new or gently used winter coat will be eligible for a free VIP ticket upgrade with all proceeds from concert's ticket sales benefiting the Sasha Bruce House.

(The truck's route through Foggy Bottom, after the jump)

Grohl -- the greatest?

We say yes! Them Crooked Vultures' eponymous debut disc, reviewed in today's Post, proves that Dave Grohl is the undisputed king of 21st century tom-smashing. The supergroup -- comprised of Grohl, Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones and Queens of the Stone Age front-dude Josh Homme -- has produced an album that hits HARD. It's an air-drummer's dream come true!

But let's open the floor. Who's a better living rock-and-roll drummer than Grohl? (If you nominate afro-beat time-keeper Tony Allen on the technicality that he's drummed for British rock supergroup The Good, the Bad and the Queen, you will earn our respect, but you will still be wrong.)

Cast your nominations in the comments section.

The xx -- now a trio -- stayed at their own pace at DC9.

By David Malitz

The xx must be commended for a dogged devotion to aesthetic. The babyfaced, buzzed-about British trio (its members can drink legally back home but not in the U.S.) never strayed from its slow tempos and sensual sounds over the course of nearly an hour at a sold-out DC9 Sunday night. Most bands so young rely on the old-standbys of energy, bravado and attitude in a live setting. The xx, on the other hand, was a perfect picture of restraint. It may not have made for the most thoroughly engaging performance but that's almost the point -- the band plays perfect mood music, not necessarily meant to be the listener's main focus, but instead ideal background fare.

(DC9 = make out club, after the jump.)

Reunited Southern hip-hop pioneers Goodie Mob added new twists to old songs on Saturday night. (By Kyle Gustafson/FTWP)

By Sarah Godfrey

With Gucci Mane, Lil Boosie, Lil Wayne and T.I. all sidelined due to legal troubles, it's kind of hard to put together a Southern rap show these days. Perhaps it's out of necessity that concert promoters are reaching back to the '90s, but it's still nice to see a group like Goodie Mob come together for a reunion tour -- especially since without the Atlanta quartet, none of the aforementioned rappers would have careers, let alone the luxury of throwing them away.

Anyone who raps with a drawl owes Goodie Mob a debt: When they first asked what we knew about the Dirty South back on their 1995 Organized Noize-produced debut, "Soul Food," the answer was pretty much nothing. But along with OutKast and other pioneering rappers from below the Mason-Dixon, they fought for hip-hop from their region to be recognized and taken seriously.

(Not just nostalgia, after the jump.)

By Mike Joyce

Jazz vibraphonist Stefon Harris and Blackout opened its performance at the Kennedy Center's KC Jazz Club on Saturday night with a variation on George Gershwin's "Gone, Gone, Gone" that could have been re-dubbed "Gone Down U Street." It wasn't newly arranged so much as thoroughly overhauled, stamped by Harris' four-mallet attack and riddled with drummer Terreon Gully's go-go beats.

(Melding genres and a myriad of influences, after the jump.)

Local trio and Slumberland mainstays Lorelei provided the highlight of the label's 20th anniversary show at the Black Cat Friday. (Courtesy Forcefield PR)

By Mark Jenkins

Slumberland Records, which celebrated its 20th birthday Friday at the Black Cat, was founded in Maryland and is now based in California. But its musical inspirations have always been primarily British, as was demonstrated by the seven Slumberland acts that performed at the anniversary show. The evening included bands new, old and in-between, but all showed debts to strummy, noisy U.K. indie-pop.

(A low-key evening with plenty of feedback, sustain and reverb, after the jump.)