We Love Music: Penguin Prison @ Rock & Roll Hotel, 5/19/2012

photo by Jason Coile

Last week We Love DC guest writer Jonathan Druy interviewed Chris Glover of Penguin Prison, and Saturday night he attended the Penguin Prison show at Rock & Roll Hotel. Check out his review of the show below!

By the time the unabashedly glamorous electro-pop opener Class Actress had finished, the packed, rowdy house at Rock & Roll Hotel late Saturday night was ready for Penguin Prison to come out and give them more. When Chris Glover and his three bandmates took the stage, they looked more like an indie-rock band – besides the two rows of keys, Glover sports a guitar and a leather jacket. Their brand of infectious, melodic electro-dance-pop can’t be as easy to swing as they made it look, but having been on tour as long as they have, it’s no wonder they delivered a slick, flawless, crowd-pleasing show. Once they opened with “Golden Train”, one of his best songs, Glover’s skilled voice didn’t falter throughout the set, and most of the show was a faithful live version of songs from their self-titled album. In addition, he sang the breezy new “Hollywood”, a collaboration with the remix artist RAC, and peaked with a cover of Lana Del Rey’s “Blue Jeans”, in which Glover, who’d been using his guitar mostly as a rhythm backup the entire night, busted out with a confident guitar solo. Since the dancing had been pretty much non-stop for the last hour, the crowd had probably earned the encore, as Penguin Prison closed the night with “Multi-Millionaire”.

Alexia Kauffman

Alexia was born and raised in Arlington, VA. She has been a cellist since age four, and a lover of rock & roll soon after. The first tape she owned was “Make It Big” by Wham, and the first tape she bought was Nirvana’s “Nevermind,” and she still loves both. She was a member of local synth-rock outfit Soft Complex for several years, and has recorded with bands including Engine Down and Two if By Sea. By day she works for a non-profit distributing royalties to musicians and labels. She currently plays cello, lap-steel guitar and tambourine in the DC post-folk/Americana band The Torches.

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