The Wedding Funeral / RJVJ / Donna Lynch (spoken word)
The Blackout presents an evening of dark, atmospheric performance featuring The Wedding Funeral, RjVj, and spoken-word artist Donna Lynch. Making their Washington, D.C. debut, New Jersey Pine Barrens duo The Wedding Funeral combines gothic-Americana songwriting with unsettling campfire-story and psychological-thriller moods, using unusual homemade instruments such as musical saw and cigar-box guitar.
RjVj follows with an ethereal blend of post-punk, goth, electronic, and classical influences. The duo’s sound pairs Rob J Girardi’s guitar drones and arpeggios with Veronica Jay Clay’s haunting vocals and synthesizer parts, supported by pulsing bass and drums. The evening concludes with Donna Lynch, a dark-fiction writer, poet, and spoken-word performer whose work explores horror, folklore, true crime, personal experience, and mental and physical health.
When: Friday, October 16, 2026
Showtimes: Doors open at 6:30 PM; the show starts at 7:00 PM. The listed event window is 6:30–10:30 PM.
Tickets: $15–20
Venue: Rhizome DC
Lineup: The Wedding Funeral, RjVj, and Donna Lynch performing spoken word
The Wedding Funeral: Darren Deicide and Ethel Lynn Oxide form this gothic-Americana duo. Their dark acoustic music incorporates musical saw, cigar-box guitar, acoustic guitar, and forceful vocal performances, with a style shaped by eerie storytelling, cynicism, and deliberately unsettling atmospheres.
RjVj: Rob J Girardi and Veronica Jay Clay create a hybrid of post-punk, goth, electronic, and classical textures. Their music moves between hope and pain through guitar, vocals, synthesizers, bass, and drums, drawing inspiration from storytelling, film, the cosmos, and nature.
Donna Lynch: Lynch is a dark-fiction author, poet, and spoken-word artist who has received three Bram Stoker Award nominations, as well as nominations for an Elgin Award and a Shirley Jackson Award. She is also the singer and co-founder, with her husband Steven Archer, of the electronic/post-goth rock band Ego Likeness. Her books include *Isabel Burning*, *Red Horses*, *Driving Through the Desert*, and the poetry collections *In My Mouth*, *Twenty-Six*, *Book of Keys*, *Ladies & Other Vicious Creatures*, *Daughters of Lilith*, *Witches*, *Choking Back the Devil*, and *Girls From the County*. Her poems and short fiction have appeared in anthologies including *Into the Forest*, *HOWL*, and *Found*. In 2024, she toured 16 U.S. cities presenting readings and discussions on horror, folklore, true crime, and physical and mental health.
Run time: Not specified.