POP MUSIC

In today's Red Bull-paced world, it can be hard to be heard. Just ask Teddy Thompson.

At Iota on Saturday night, first he tried quips to quiet the folks in the back, for whom 12 bucks was a small price to pay for hookups with a power-pop soundtrack. Then he asked them outright to hush. Then, when he'd reached the halfway mark of his set before a room divided into devotees and high-decibel dolts, he relied on interpretation, leaning on the lyric "New York is LOUD" in the brooding "Turning the Gun on Myself." Finally, he declared, "We can make more noise than you," as his band launched into the cheeky rocker "You Made It."

Though the volume of the room, and even that of his powerful band, sometimes engulfed Thompson's choirboy-gorgeous voice, he displayed a range that his previous work sometimes lacked. "No Way to Be" was typical, a plaint of sorrow and slightly narcotized anger over injustice. (Its slow instrumental coda was led by Steve Schiltz's mournful, stately electric guitar, in the show's most obvious reference to Thompson's folk-rock god dad, Richard Thompson.) But he also blended depressed-slacker lyrics with aggressive settings in "I Should Get Up," exorcised heartbreak in the searing "Separate Ways," and perhaps sassed the unbelievers when he crooned, "Being happy is easy when you're dumb" in "That's Enough Out of You."

After the show, asked to write out the names of his band members, he listed Schiltz on guitar and vocals, Brad Albetta on bass and vocals, Bill Dobro on drums and a Fisher-Price keyboard, and "Teddy Thompson -- genius." With shows like this one, he's making more and more of us believe it.

-- Pamela Murray Winters

Kenny Garrett

The following words of advice should always appear on tickets to a performance by jazz saxophonist Kenny Garrett: "No matter what, don't arrive late." Garrett's reputation for front-loading his concerts with marathon displays of talent and stamina was borne out at the Kennedy Center's KC Jazz Club on Saturday night, when his quartet opened with a half-hour arrangement of "Chief Blackwater."

Far and away the evening's most exhilarating performance, it was a bold reminder of how Garrett can transform a simple melody into a surging stream of thematic motifs and rhythmic currents. Playing alto sax and ratcheting up the tension in tandem with the inexhaustible drummer Ronald Bruner Jr., Garrett played nonstop for the first 15 minutes, then capped the piece with a series of dramatic flourishes.

"Chief Blackwater" introduced pianist Miki Hayama, who contributed dense harmonies and a flowing chromatic interlude. Substituting for Carlos McKinney, Hayama fashioned a pensive backdrop for Garrett's soprano sax recital of "Akatonbo," part of his folk-theme-inspired "Asian Medley," and evoked classic Fender Rhodes keyboard grooves when the music turned blue or funk-driven.

Garrett's brief turns on synthesizer summoned the sound of a Hammond B-3 organ, but what stood out most was the interaction that developed between him and the rhythm section, including bassist Kriss Funn, when the reedman was improvising flat out or revisiting the exuberant "Happy People."

-- Mike Joyce

Strike Anywhere

Fists and feet were flying everywhere Saturday at the Black Cat. The Richmond hard-core quintet Strike Anywhere inspired the same sort of manic energy it gave off, and the slam pit rollicked from the opening note of "Chorus of One" to the finish of the group's 40-minute set. But because Strike Anywhere is pro-vegan and antiwar, there wasn't too much violence in the madness; just good clean bone-bruising fun. If a slam-dancer's hand or leg connected with someone else, you can bet the recipient was helped up, dusted off and sent back to the pit to get pummeled some more. One love, punk style.

The dreadlocked Thomas Barnett is a little guy with a big voice and even bigger ideas. But rather than preach from the stage, Barnett let his lyrics in songs like "Laughter in a Police State" and "You're Fired" do the talking to a wound-up audience that seemed to know every word.

Barnett has the compassion and charisma to inspire, but it doesn't hurt to have guitarists Matt Smith and Matt Sherwood blasting through Marshall amps to help. Their melodic yet shredding sound recalled that of the District's legendary hard-core band Minor Threat and the proto-emo group Dag Nasty. That's not the only similarity between Strike Anywhere and D.C. punk history: Dischord, the grass-roots company that released albums by Minor Threat, Fugazi and other progressive-minded punk bands, bears a direct influence on Strike Anywhere's activist aesthetic. Giving props where props are due, Strike Anywhere big-upped Dischord, along with social-change organization Positive Force D.C., before performing "New Architects."

-- Christopher Porter

Strike Anywhere

Fists and feet were flying everywhere Saturday at the Black Cat. The Richmond hard-core quintet Strike Anywhere inspired the same sort of manic energy it gave off, and the slam pit rollicked from the opening note of "Chorus of One" to the finish of the group's 40-minute set. But because Strike Anywhere is pro-vegan and antiwar, there wasn't too much violence in the madness; just good clean bone-bruising fun. If a slam-dancer's hand or leg connected with someone else, you can bet the recipient was helped up, dusted off and sent back to the pit to get pummeled some more. One love, punk style.

The dreadlocked Thomas Barnett is a little guy with a big voice and even bigger ideas. But rather than preach from the stage, Barnett let his lyrics in songs like "Laughter in a Police State" and "You're Fired" do the talking to a wound-up audience that seemed to know every word.

Barnett has the compassion and charisma to inspire, but it doesn't hurt to have guitarists Matt Smith and Matt Sherwood blasting through Marshall amps to help. Their melodic yet shredding sound recalled that of the District's legendary hard-core band Minor Threat and the proto-emo group Dag Nasty. That's not the only similarity between Strike Anywhere and D.C. punk history: Dischord, the grass-roots company that released albums by Minor Threat, Fugazi and other progressive-minded punk bands, bears a direct influence on Strike Anywhere's activist aesthetic. Giving props where props are due, Strike Anywhere big-upped Dischord, along with social-change organization Positive Force D.C., before performing "New Architects."

-- Christopher Porter