So Real
After playing a show for the middle-class masses at the Birchmere on Tuesday, Mandy Moore and her band packed up their gear and headed a few miles north to play a private set for the Georgetown elite at the City Tavern Club.
Turns out that Steve Andronico, the general manager of the private club on M Street, is friends with Moore’s producer as well as her keyboard player. “She’s done parties for me in the past,” Andronico said.
Why was it so hush-hush? “We didn’t want to advertise and disrupt their ticket sales” at the Birchmere, he said. Plus, it was never a guarantee: Moore had to make sure her voice was holding up before she sang again on the same night.
But sure enough, at about 11 p.m., Moore took the stage for a half-hour set — beginning with a cover of Rihanna’s hit “Umbrella.” About 50 club members, friends and other locals lucky enough to score an invite were on hand, having been warmed up for about two hours by the local Winn Brothers Band.
It’s the second time in less than a week that the City Tavern Club has had top-level talent perform there. On Friday, Ivan Neville and Dumpstaphunk headlined a benefit for New Orleans that drew about 250 members and guests.
