Jesse Malin is a rock & roll guitarist, vocalist and songwriter from New York City.  He got his start fronting a hardcore punk band called Heart Attack at the tender age of 12.  He rose to prominence as the lead singer of D Generation.  That band released three albums in the 1990’s as well as an excellent “reunion” record in 2016 called Nothing is Anywhere.  Between 2002 and the present, Malin has released nine studio albums.

I have been a fan of Jesse Malin since the D Generation days, and I have always wanted to see him play live.  Although a few opportunities have come and gone over the years, it really seems like he doesn’t stray too far from New York very often, and when he does, it seems to be to Europe.  So, when my lovely wife saw he was playing in D.C. on Saturday, June 11th, she alerted me and we bought some tickets right away.  We usually book a hotel as well, but D.C. hotels were crazy expensive that weekend, so we settled on making the 90-minute trip each way.

After finding a parking garage and getting dinner, we went to The Hamilton at about 6:15 and got a drink.  The Hamilton is a huge place.  The street level entrance takes you into a large restaurant with multiple bars.  After getting the aforementioned drink, we headed downstairs to the “The Hamilton Live” for the announced 6:30 door time (8:00 show).

The doors opened on time and we presented our “gold” tickets, which entitled us to sit at any of the communal tables with gold table runners, situated just a few feet from the stage.  We chose a table and were later joined by a father and his daughter, but our 6-seat table was never fully occupied and we had a perfect and unobstructed view of the stage.

Let me start with the venue before I get to the show.  This club was possibly the most beautiful space for a show that I have ever been to.  I guess I am used to sticky, beer-soaked concrete floors and precious few places to sit at most clubs that I frequent, and there is something to be said for that.  But I’m now 59 years old, and this venue convinced me that maybe there is a better way to go than the classic, dingy, smelly clubs I still dearly love.  The Hamilton Live is spacious.  The floors are all carpeted and the walls are adorned with fantastic photos of rock & roll heroes from every era and genre.  The bathrooms are clean and luxurious.  There are plenty of tables and several tiers to assist with the view no matter where you are in the club.  There is a spectacular DJ booth high up in one corner.  And most importantly, the lighting and the sound are amazing.  The sound was perhaps the best I have ever heard, which I am guessing is due to meticulous attention to design in order to achieve the ideal acoustics in the venue.  It was, in a word, incredible.

Now for the show.  After securing our table, marveling at our surroundings over a beer (or in my wife’s case, a glass of wine) and generally enjoying the vibe, opening act Don DiLego played a decent set, solo.  The highlight of his set was a newly released song he actually recorded with help from Jesse Malin, a single called “Dim Red Light (Make it Shine).”  You might want to check that one out on your preferred streaming service.  Fifteen minutes after DiLego finished his 45-minute set, Jesse Malin came on at 9:00 p.m.  He was engaged with the crowd throughout the show, telling great stories about people he has collaborated with, including Lucinda Williams and Bruce Springsteen.  He dedicated the show to his friend Howie Pyro, who recently passed away.  Howie was his long-time friend and bandmate in D Generation, and we heard some good stories about Howie along the way.  

Jesse Malin’s catalog includes plenty of rockers, but there are a good number of slow songs as well.  I’m very happy to say that for his 90-minute set, he stuck to the most rocking material.  He did focus, as expected, on material from his latest record, called Sad and Beautiful World.  “Sinner,” “Backstabbers,” “The Way We Used to Roll” and “Before You Go” were the first four songs, all from that record.  Then it kicked into high gear with “Turn Up the Mains,” a very rocking song from his album New York Before the War.  After that, the band was off and running, playing songs from several of his records.  We got “Room 13” which is a great collaboration with Lucinda Williams from a record they did mostly together called Sunset Kids.  A mid-set highlight for me was “Wendy” from his excellent debut solo album The Fine Art of Self Destruction.  A couple of more songs after that, he slowed down a bit with “Broken Radio,” a song featuring Bruce Springsteen from perhaps my favorite Jesse Malin record, Glitter in the Gutter.  After “Broken Radio” they turned up the amps for “Hotel Columbia” from the album The Heat and kept the momentum going with my wife’s & my favorite Malin song of all, called “Black Haired Girl,” again from Glitter in the Gutter.  That song was the one we wanted to hear the most, but we figured it was a longshot at best, given the extensive catalog.  When I later got ahold of a setlist, it said “Hotel Columbia” or “Black Haired Girl,” but thankfully, he played both.  The encore was a cover of “Rudie Can’t Fail” by The Clash.  It was outstanding.

Overall, it was an excellent show with an excellent setlist, covering most of his records.  I took quite a few photos, so I will let those tell the rest of the story.

My signed setlist - “PMA” refers to Positive Mental Attitude, which is the philosophy of finding greater joy in small joys.

Jesse, Janet and JCE after the show.

I mentioned earlier that our table was not fully occupied…..Jesse Malin, standing on a chair at our table.

On the left, lead guitarist Derek Cruz, who was excellent. (Jesse played a lot of guitar as well, although not reflected in these photos.)

Jesse Malin, go see him if you can.