>> The Capitol Fringe Festival officially kicks off tonight, and we'll have our daily picks of Fringey goodness rolling out for you soon enough. You can buy all your tickets online, by phone at 866-811-4111 Mon–Fri, 9 a.m.–9 p.m. and Sat–Sun, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., or in person at the festival box office at 507 7th Street, next to the Warehouse Theater. The festival runs through July 29, and features over 100 productions from D.C. and around the world. The online, sortable ticket venue can be a little tough to navigate if you're just browsing for performances you might like to see, so we'd actually recommend downloading the printed Festival Guide here.

>> Fort Reno has one of its best line-ups of the summer tonight, with Beauty Pill, Carol Bui, and The Alphabetical Order. 7:15 p.m., call 703-318-2197 to get rain updates.

>> J. Forté and the Secret Pop Band perform a free, all-ages in-store appearance at Crooked Beat Records at 7 p.m. -- perfect for swinging by after work.

>> Michael Eric Dyson will soon take up teaching duties at Georgetown, but first he'll be at Politics and Prose to discuss his new book about hip-hop, Know What I Mean?. 7 p.m.

Photo by restlessliz