Arts and Events: June 2009 Archives

MUSIC: Three Stars subject of years past Timothy Bracken will be playing with his band Timothy Bracken Complex at the Black Cat. With Adam Arcuragi in the backstage, 9 p.m., $8.

This year's Virgin Mobile Festival's plan to give out tickets for free worked like a charm. The concert's organizers say 35,000 free tickets were gobbled up in minutes when they went on "sale" this weekend.

>> Fort Reno continues its dominance of our summer concert plans with the third show of the season, featuring Cigarbox Planetarium, Small Doses and Batala. Weather reports look favorable, but as always bring the bug spray and the dog and leave the glass bottles (and arsenic) at home. Free, 7:15 p.m.

Although we've seen some awesome photography from the annual Caribbean Carnival, we have to admit this portrait by quigley.brown from the DC Festa Italiana might be our favorite from the weekend. How can you not look distinguished with a such a gravity-defying handlebar? EXIF.

So few classical music concerts happen in the summer months that the weekly Classical Music Agenda gets a vacation. Here is what you could hear in the month of July, although you may have to travel a bit to get there.

>> XO has been having a good year on the D.C. hip-hop scene, especially with his work on the Diamond District release. This listening party for "Monumental" will be at Reef. Free, 10 p.m.

           

Friday night's two sold out Michael Jackson tribute shows at the 9:30 Club were eerily timed and enthusiastically attended. The band itself, Who's Bad, was... also enthusiastic! Okay, so some moments were unintentionally hilarious and others were just plain odd (the slideshow of pictures of Jackson throughout the years, interspersed with stock photos of orphans springs to mind), but for the most part they gave a crowd of people eager to remember the recently deceased legend exactly what they were looking for -- and that, of course, was the "Thriller" dance. A huge scene developed outside as people waited to get into the late show, and we were there to document a few of the best Michael-inspired get ups we saw on the scene.

                  

DCist photography contributor James Calder was on the scene relishing in the good vibes at the D.C. Caribbean Carnival yesterday and soaking in the costumes, the people, the dancing, and of course, the plentiful mud throwing. (If you've never been, these pictures will certainly reinforce the need to wear less than your Sunday best to the Caribbean parade, one of D.C.'s more raucous processions.)

DCist fave philliefan99 straps on a crazymaking lens and captures this look at Half Street SE. It's not every day that you see a mustache racing through Southeast. It is, however, quite frequently a day that you see four giant U.S. Presidents running by. Half Street's going off the rails.

Hitchcock Creative notes that the signage on this lemonade stand, an iconic summertime staple, features a classic misspelling: "today's prcie: whatever you want". It's too good to be legit, right?

Did you know that Lyme Disease affects Americans at a rate possibly as high as 10 times that of AIDS? Did you know that the test recommended by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) to diagnose Lyme misses it 3/4ths of the time? Or that in areas of the country where infectious deer ticks are closest to the population — like nearby Loudoun County — entire households are often afflicted? Or that it can and does result in death? All of these facts are covered in Andy Abrahams Wilson's new documentary, Under Our Skin. But simply raising awareness of these and other facts isn't the point of the film — what concerns Wilson more greatly is why there is so little public discussion of the most common vector-borne disease in the country, and why the disease has become so politicized and controversial.

FRIDAY:

DCist's highly subjective and hardly comprehensive guide to the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week.

The annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival began yesterday, and continues this weekend through Sunday, as well as next Wednesday, July 1 through Sunday, July 5. As we mentioned back in February, this year's themes are "Giving Voice: The Power of Words in African American Culture," "Las Américas: Un Mundo Musical/The Americas: A Musical World," and "Wales Smithsonian Cymru." The festival runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, with special evening events on some days. Many of the performers will also be appearing at the Kennedy Center's Millenium Stage for free during the festival.

MUSIC: It's night two of Fort Reno. Tonight's line-up features The Electrocutions, Meow vs. Meow, and noon:30. 7:15 p.m., free.

Summer means music in parks, and the DCist Flickr pool is teeming with shots from the Summer Solstice festival to rock at Fort Reno. If you like your music a little less organized and a little more bang-y, cacophony76's shot of a drum circle in Meridian Hill Park is for you.

     

The rock fans who wanted to spend their Father's Day dancing and covered with obscene amounts of sweat probably went to the Phoenix show at Rock and Roll Hotel. But while the fantastic Frenchmen went straight for the audience's dancing feet and raised hands, the morose Scots of Camera Obscura took a different approach to connecting with their audience, going for their heartstrings and tear ducts.

                     

The number of people at the corner of 18th and Columbia Tuesday night looked more like what you'd expect on a Saturday night. Except that it was as bright as day. From around 9 p.m. to well beyond midnight, a sizable crowd gathered on the sidewalks that weren't in use by the teeming film crew to get a close-up view of the complexities involved in making a big-budget film.

MUSIC: If you're feeling spendy, plenty of tickets are available on Craigslist to see Beyonce tonight at Verizon Center. 6:30 p.m.

It seems that Theater J’s artistic director Ari Roth, who adapted Chekov's classic already touches on issues of faith (whether it be in the value of one’s artistic work, talent, or identity), so there's no harm in throwing religious faith onto the pile.

What happens once the skates are laced up? We dance together on 16 wheels as silhouettes hiding from the sunset. Since there's no poetic way to credit the Flickr user, here it is: Pants Pants. EXIF.

>> Trombonist Jen Krupa and saxophonist Leigh Pilzer team up tonight at Twins Jazz to lead their quintet, JLQ. Call 202-234-0072 for set time and cover information.

Meet the Real Housewives ... of 16th century Britain? The scheming, backbiting, and in one case, suspiciously Paris Hilton-esque (chihuahua included) sisters Goneril and Regan manage to do the unlikely: turn the epic solemnity of King Lear into riveting, train-wreck theater. These women chain smoke and cackle, strut around in fur coats and sequins, and get graphically pleasured onstage by their boy toys. Director Robert Falls, whether he's livening up Lear's ceremonial division of his kingdom with a rapping D.J. or having his actors throwing ripped out eyeballs into a stock pot, is definitely putting together a Lear like you've never seen.

           

Frequent DCist photo contributor Angela Kleis was walking her dog a few weeks ago to their usual park, when suddenly she found herself "surrounded by Marines":

Turns out, they do this every Tuesday from Memorial Day through August. Since I just moved here last August, I missed it before. The band plays and they go through the silent drill, which is damn cool. I could never catch the baton like that! They start practicing around 5:45 p.m.

    

Forty years ago next month, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to step foot on the Moon. The National Air and Space Museum is celebrating Apollo 11's historic journey throughout July, with book signings, presentations by experts on the Saturn V rocket, the Lunar Module, and even one on the "so-called Moon-landing hoax." The capstone lecture featuring the entire Apollo 11 crew and Mission Control creator Chris Kraft sold-out instantly through a free lottery last month, unfortunately.

READING: Novelist Lisa See makes an appearance at Politics and Prose at 7 p.m. tonight to read from Shanghai Girls, which "tells the story of May and Pearl, well-educated, beautiful Chinese sisters who experience difficulties when their family tries to marry them off to Gold Mountain Men in America."

We weren't in much of a mood to pick a Photo of the Day this morning, but our spirits were lifted when we spotted these terrific snaps of Saturday's 2009 DC Soap Box Derby shot by Flickr contributor Paul Sharratt. (EXIF)

>> Superstar extraordinaire Beyonce will be at the Verizon Center. $20.75-$200.75, 6:30 p.m.

MUSIC: It must really be summer, because Fort Reno officially kicks off tonight in the park across the street from Woodrow Wilson High School. Tonight's show features a pair of DCist Three Stars: alums Pash, the Will Rast-led group Funk Ark, along with folk-y newcomers The Sweater Set. Remember the Fort Reno Rules: No alcohol, no drugs, no glass bottles! But do bring blankets, dogs, picnics, babies, etc. 7:15 p.m.

“Choose your enemies carefully, ‘cause they will define you,” the adage goes. Muhammad Ali doesn’t have a lot of enemies anymore — 28 years after his last professional fight, and 25 after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, he remains among the most beloved figures in American public life.

       

To start, this was a record-breaking show. First, for temperature. It was, bafflingly, the hottest show I've ever attended by far. And second, for decibels achieved, by both the band and the audience.

DCist's guide to lectures and discussions in the D.C. area

Skateboarders have to be one of the most challenging subjects to photograph, but when it does work out, the results can be fantastic. That said, you can imagine our excitement when we realized that yesterday was Go Skateboarding Day -- we couldn't wait to see what kind of captures would ollie into our Flickr pool. Our favorite: maxedaperture's timely take of this statuesque skater in mid-trick, his day-glo accoutrement contrasting beautifully with the rigid granite backdrop of Freedom Plaza Metro Center.

Trumpeter Dave Douglas cites the great Miles Davis as a major influence, not just as a player, but also in terms of musical philosophy. The jazz legend had an extremely expansive and inclusive take on music, so it's no surprise that Douglas, like his idol, has carved out a career as a musical chameleon. Often referred to as an avant-gardist because of his work with John Zorn's Masada and other groups, Douglas's music cannot be confined to such narrow labels.

      

Huge lines wound around the AFI Silver Theatre on the Closing Night of SILVERDOCS with people -- old, young, black, white, east and west of the river -- all pondering the same general question.

Flickr user nevermindtheend finds this great Pop image: primary colors arranged enthusiastically along a diagonal reminiscent of the line that comes up again and again in Ed Ruscha's work. And how 'bout that blue sky? That'd be nice to see.

              

Last night, indie rock darlings Metric performed at the 9:30 Club to a sold out crowd. Metric are no strangers to the venue and like clockwork every year, seem to amaze their D.C. fans.

“Bad food is bad. Bad books are bad. Bad movies are not always bad,” critic Scott Weinberg tells us in Best Worst Movie, an absorbing and surprisingly well-reported look back at the immortal 1989 trainwreck, Troll 2. It's directed by Michael Paul Stephenson, who appeared in the film when he was ten years old.

FRIDAY:

The late Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré was among Africa's most internationally renowned musicians. Listening to him, it was easy to draw the connection between the blues and its West African roots. If he was the bridge between two traditional forms, then it is only fitting that his contemporary counterpart is his son, Vieux Farka Touré. One of world music's rising stars, Touré will be performing on Monday night at the Rock and Roll Hotel, playing what he describes as "the new reality of African music."

There is a pool that sits by the ocean in Sea Point, a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. Like most public pools, it is a place where a diverse cross-section of the community come together to relax and to play. Unlike many other locations, however, South Africa is a place where the concept of "coming together" is still taking some getting used to.

Adam Bock's centers around an unlikely plight - what to do with a dilapidated aviary. But when a father believes his wife's soul lived in that bird's home, the stakes for the aviary's fate get a little bit higher.

It's not every day we get to interview a cartoon. OK, we've never interviewed a cartoon. But that ends today with Major Lazer, the creation of DJs Diplo and Switch. The Major's cartoon backstory is that he's a Jamaican commando who lost an arm in a secret zombie war in 1984. He was rescued by the U.S. military, who replaced his arm with a laser, and now he flies around on a rocket-powered skateboard fighting monsters and partying a lot. He owns a dance club in Trinidad and makes dancehall and ragga-influenced electronic music sung in Jamaican patois, with help from friends Diplo and Switch.

These two ladies are sure proud of their missing teeth. What does the Tooth Fairy pay out these days? Must be a pretty decent take for Matt.Dunn to be able to snap such big smiles. EXIF.

In a summer full of festivals, sometimes some can get lost in the shuffle. But in the midst of your Capital Fringes and your unions of hip hop and theater, there's one event that boasts 300 artists and 3 weeks of offerings -- the Source Festival.

AJ Schnack returned to SILVERDOCS last night with the world premiere screening of his latest, Convention. Schnack received the festival's Cinematic Vision Award a few years back for his About a Boy, an elegiac tribute to Kurt Cobain featuring taped interviews with the singer combined with filmed images of the places where he lived and grew up. It was an acquired taste as a film, but even its detractors couldn't deny it's simple beauty. For his latest feature, though, Schnack was required to take a far more journalistic approach, as he set out to cover the behind-the-scenes workings of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver.

>> Photography pioneer William Eggleston (who we heard gave an lively, if ornery, presentation to members last night) is featured in the Corcoran's new retrospective, opening Saturday. Democratic Camera shows how Eggleston changed the way photographers treated and viewers looked at color photography, using every day objects as subjects. The exhibit also includes some of his video and rare black and white photos. This week is also the start of Corcoran's Free Summer Saturdays (through August 29); head down for this Saturday's Earth First Family Day featuring art workshops, music, tours and more.

MUSIC: Earlier we profiled La Maison Française as an intriguing venue, and tonight Nouvelle Vague will perform their unique bossa nova take on new wave at the French embassy's cultural center. 8 p.m., $25, more details here.

It's here! It's here! We got a taste of what this summer had in store earlier this week, but now the fine folks behind Fort Reno have divulged the full schedule on their snazzy new website.

Anyone who's ever spent time cleaning up after others knows it's a thankless job. Add to that the stigma attached and the tendency of people to look down their noses at anyone who's ever had to be elbow deep in a public toilet for a paycheck, and it's easy to assume that custodians do what they do because they can't do anything else. As one custodian in Patrick Shen's The Philosopher Kings sadly tells it, some people just stop talking to you when they find out what she does. Another tells of how some people won't even respond if he speaks to them while working.

Flickr user TAIwiffic brings us a bit of cheer on this dreary day. The coy elephant seems to be having a laugh at our expense; teasing and playing keep-a-way with a tire. EXIF.

By now everyone in the District knows about the very popular events taking place at the House of Sweden, and many of the other embassies around the city. Though somewhat out of the way, and that may not be a bad thing for those hoping to avoid crowds, the French Embassy's cultural wing, La Maison Française, also deserves prominent mention on this list. Ranging from film festivals to concerts, the venue hosts events to showcase the arts of the French diaspora.

There's a screening tonight at SILVERDOCS of Brett Gaylor's RiP: A Remix Manifesto, and another on Saturday night. It's a must see film, and you should try to get out to the festival to check it out, but don't sweat it if you can't make it. You can always just download it. No need to go combing through torrent sites looking for a decent copy, though. You can download it directly from the filmmaker. If you want to pay him, great. You name the price. If not? That's cool, too. And if you want to re-cut his footage and post your edit online, or contribute original material to next year's planned 2.0 release, go right ahead. All of this is the point of the film: creativity, ideas, and media need not be controlled by the few; it belongs to us all. And copyright law needs to be rebuilt so that it serves its original purpose: to encourage creativity, not restrict it.

ART: The Corcoran is celebrating the recent opening of their newest exhibit, William Eggleston: Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 1961-2008, with An Intimate Portrait of an Artist at 7 p.m. tonight. Eggleston will discuss his life's work with Michael Almereyda, the director and producer of a documentary on the artist. $25.

This is just a perfectly sweet shot, with a great angle as the happy little girl looks over to grin as her dad pushes her along. Bogotron caught a classic everyday scene with a nice summer feel to it. EXIF.

>> Local Latin outfit, Cachaça, a vocals/flute/guitar trio, puts traditional and contemporary South American sounds into a jazz context. They will be playing Twins Jazz tonight. Call 202-234-0072 for set times and cover information.

A cynic might be a little saddened that the newfound freedoms of the Afghan people are manifesting themselves in their adoption of a segment of our pop culture as disposable as American Idol. But Afghan Star, the documentary about the analogous Afghan television show of the same name, shows that in a different context, that show's format can be seen as evidence of a people's liberation.

Bryan Singer spent something like $200 million a few years back trying to revive the Superman movie franchise. Shaikh Nasir’s Malegaon ka Superman came somewhat more frugally: about two grand. But every rupee of that modest sum is on the screen. He shoots on a handheld digicam. A "dolly shot" consists of three guys stabilizing him and pushing him forward on a bicycle while he clutches the camera with both hands. And he sure isn’t going to hire a stunt double for Sheikh Shafique, the poor, scrawny bastard he’s cast as the Last Son of Krypton.

Worlds collided at last night's SILVERDOCS opening screening and after-party. While someone like Ira Glass might qualify as a mega-star personal appearance for the documentary aficionados that make up the festival's core audience, last night brought star power of a completely different sort, as basketball phenom LeBron James (and entourage) showed up for last night’s screening of More Than a Game. The film documents the domination James and his teammates (collectively, the Fab 5) held over the world of high school basketball in the early '00s. Excited fans lined the red carpet for James' arrival, and the Blair High School marching band even performed inside the theater. After the screening, the band led everyone across the street to the Discovery building for the after-party, at which local rapper Wale performed to a largely dance-resistant crowd. When a DJ later tried to whip the crowd into a party mood by asking if anyone wanted to hear some go-go, he was largely met with blank stares. Not even a choice Backyard Band track could get those bodies moving.

MOVIE: Tonight's the first full night of SILVERDOCS programming. Check back in this afternoon for DCist's ongoing coverage and reviews, look over the schedule, and don't be intimidated if a film you think you want to see is already sold-out: historically, getting in a stand-by line between 45 minutes to 1 hour before a screening results in being able to score a ticket roughly 80 percent of the time.

It's not quite clear if photographer sally henny penny is going to continue the theme, but her image me and my cactus - bench monday sure makes us want to tune into her flickr page next week to find out! (EXIF)

This year's Duke Ellington Jazz Festival celebrated the musical heritage of New Orleans. Fittingly, the festival's fifth iteration came to an end with the first family of New Orleans jazz convening at the Kennedy Center to honor its patriarch, the great pianist and educator, Ellis Marsalis.

When doing a parody of a parody, the result should be double the laughs, not double the length. The cartoon Scooby Doo, Where Are You?, itself a send-up of the mystery show, was under half an hour and felt short, but Landless Theatre's production of runs for about an hour - and still feels a bit long.

>> Laura Izibor has been getting a lot of positive press lately as the next R&B sensation due to her single, "From My Heart to Yours." The Dublin-born singer will be celebrating the release of her debut album, Let the Truth Be Told, in D.C. with two shows. At 6 p.m., she'll be at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage for free and at The Scene at 9 p.m. (doors at 7 p.m.) for $10 in advance.

DCist's guide to lectures and discussions in the D.C. area

              

Last night I joined over 23,000 or so other people and made the trek out to Bristow to see No Doubt at Nissan Pavilion. Gwen Stefani and the Boys are back out on tour for the first time in five years, and judging from the crowds they've been bringing in, people really missed them. I can't say I was ever a fan of the band, but I certainly was impressed with their show last night (and Stefani's abs. As flat as you may think her stomach is, it's flatter in person). I'm sure it was everything a No Doubt fan could ask for. Since they have no new material to promote (save for a newly recorded Adam & the Ants cover of "Stand & Deliver) the band focused on their hits and threw in a few other covers for good measure. "Hella Good," the second song in the set, was particularly impressive, leaning more on Tony Kanal's slinky bassline than the recorded version.

Serious inquiries only, this is very important to my family. Young Money Baby!Hopefully all of the sighted attendees of this birthday party can stop themselves from laughing during the Fake Lil' Wayne performance long enough to fool this kid.

Looks like some local photogs found the time to peruse the booths at Eastern Market this weekend, between all the Capital Pride festivities. While we were plenty tempted by sally henny penny's glorious peaches, we laughed at staceyviera's lighthearted take above -- surely, a discouraging sign to many a late riser who forgot that Market Lunch's legendary Bluebucks pancakes are only for those awake at the break of dawn. Breakfast is over? Never! Long live breakfast.

Fort Reno really let it get down to the wire before announcing the start of its season this year. The unveiling of the schedule is a time-honored tradition, and everybody knows that the free concert series on Monday and Thursday nights in Fort Reno park marks the official start to a good D.C. summer. So it is with great anticipation that we've kept an eye on fortreno.com these past several weeks, to no avail. As it turns out, the site has had some technical bugs, so organizers Amanda MacKaye & co. have been using their Facebook group to relay the lineups for the first two shows. And lucky for us, we don't have to wait long -- the series kicks off next Monday night, June 22.

    

It's not often that, on your way into a punk rock show, you have to carefully skirt around the band members, for fear of interrupting their ping-pong match. Or that, while waiting for the bands to finish setting up, you join a roomful of families in a rendition of "Happy Birthday," directed at a beaming girl seated in front of an ice cream sundae. Then again, Comet Ping Pong, the noted upper Northwest pizza parlor/ping pong establishment, isn't your average venue. Recalling both the DIY ethos and multitasking charm of Chicago's storied Fireside Bowl, Comet turns out to be the ideal venue for a band like Mika Miko, who are known as much for their involvement with L.A. all-ages performance space The Smell as their back-to-basics take on three-chord punk rock.

                      

Woo Capital Pride! Your correspondent couldn't have asked for better timing for the parade yesterday. As it happened, I was entertaining a few art journalists here in town for an NEA conference and had a few hours to kill before our evening plans kicked off. Walking from Georgetown toward U Street to knock back a few at the Black Cat, we ran smack into the incoming parade. Nothing makes your city look better than a fierce GBLT march, even if it means seeing more genitalia than the agenda strictly calls for. (Keep an eye on The Stranger's blog, Slog, and you may even see the nation's gayest altweekly update on Capital Pride.)

Ah, yes, Flag Day -- the holiday the Post has dubbed as "often, even to those who care about flags, an anticlimactic event" -- is upon us. There's not a whole lot to Flag Day, although its Wikipedia entry does feature this interesting tale about Teddy Roosevelt's serious affinity for the holiday:

Washingtonian participants in today's Capital Pride Parade will be be marching not just to promote gay rights in the District, but in solidarity with the 35 million gay men and women in China who were unable to see their own pride event through this week. Chinese authorities threatened venues and bars that hosted the sorts of readings, film screening, and other events that the District has enjoyed all week. It's no doubt a major step forward for Beijing to contemplate a queer pride festival in the first place; certainly, as slack13 captured, the Chinese LGBT population has plenty of support in D.C.

FRIDAY:

Many people I know have been urged to see a campfest is to sell her short - this is a show with real soul.

Woodwind artist Bobby Muncy has become a fixture on the local jazz scene over the past several years, playing with no fewer than six groups. These collaborations range from his own band, to avant-garde explorations with guitarist Anthony Pirog (***), and the in-your-face grooves of Three Stars alum Will Rast's Funk Ark. Muncy will step into the spotlight on Sunday and celebrate the release of his own new album, On the Outside Looking In, with an event at the historic Bohemian Caverns.

DCist's highly subjective and hardly comprehensive guide to the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week.

When we first heard that HBO had canceled Screen on the Green, we typed through our tears in order to bring you a guide to all the other outdoor summer movie options. Since then, Screen on the Green has been miraculously revived, but our commitment to cataloging every free outdoor film in the metro area continues unabated.

Her music is a hodgepodge of styles (rap, ska, reggae, rock, electro, dub), and last night the 9:30 Club was treated to the whole Santogold smorgasbord. In addition to many of the cuts from her eponymous album, Santogold (aka Santi White) found time to cover The Cure and Spank Rock and sing the loop from "Shove It" over and over, which Jay-Z used for his track, "Brooklyn (We Go Hard)". Toss in a few guest appearances by the openers (the half-naked Amanda Blank and mumbler Trouble Andrew), stir in some android backup singers/dancers (who were awesome, by the way), gold-accented costumes, an audience member dance competition on stage and ... you get the idea. And, as if we weren't overwhelmed enough by all the visual and audio stimulation, we had to ponder her recent decision to change her name from Santogold to , a small, but essential distinction.

It's been a gray, wet week. It's going to be a gray, wet day. The mood is quite Eeyore at the moment. What better way to lift our spirits and build our appetites than robert photo's mint-chocolate chip intimacy? EXIF.

Ben-Ari will serve as the closing act for the Washington Jewish Music Festival tonight and recently spoke to DCist about her experiences as a musician.

Today's arts agenda comes to you from Charlottesville, Va., where the annual LOOK3: Festival of the Photograph is starting. About a two and a half hour drive from D.C., you can get a single day or Festival Pass for tons of lectures by the likes of Sylvia Plachy, workshops on software and techniques, and exhibits from James Natchway and more. The festival goes on all weekend, so come on down and say hello to your DCist arts editor -- I'll be the one drooling over everything.

I used to belong to a small and ever-shrinking group of casual Passion Pit fans who think that while their music has merit and hooks galore, there is something about singer Michael Angelakos' voice that is untenable. The Beach Boys are the go-to reference for any band that employs a significant amount of male falsetto, and theirs was an effortless compliment to, and focal point of, that dreamy pop. But Angelakos, on the other hand, sings in a Pterodactyl shriek of a falsetto that was initially so distracting to me that I wrote the band off completely. But last night at Blackcat, I changed my mind. Wrapped in the booming bass and twinkling keys of his band-mates, Angelakos' voice was less shrill and, dare I say, an integral part of a really fun show. I would now simply say, "I'm a fan."

Did anyone head out to enjoy the Celebrate Fairfax festival last weekend? We see lots of food and music kiosk shots every summer, but this one by prakope really stood out. Instead of the usual colorful, raucous street scenes, this teriyaki chicken griller looks like the secret street vendor you find in a side alley with the best kabobs in town. EXIF.

>> Pianist Tony Madruga is only 14 years old, but has already accompanied some of the best in jazz. Catch this prodigy tonight on the Millennium Stage as part of Jazz on the Potomac.6 p.m. Free

              

Two years ago, Travis Morrison tipped us off to the wonder that is the Dirty Projectors, telling us they saved his relationship with rock 'n' roll after he saw them play at the Black Cat. After last night, we know why. Frontman Dave Longstreth has assembled an unbelievably talented band, including three woman whose ability to harmonize a) with him, and b) with each other in peculiar keys is truly a work of fate. Or perhaps, the best Craigslist posting of all time. It's experimental music that's fueled by aerobatic vocals and precision from all parties involved. Taking influences from rock, pop, hip hop, world music and who knows where else, the Dirty Projectors are offering some of the most unique, inspiring and downright amazing music available right now. The band's lush, spastic, dense music can be polarizing -- people tend to either fall immediately, madly in love with what they hear, or take an immediate and aggressive dislike. Which makes us sad -- the same way we feel for the people that don't have the cilantro gene. We wish you could hear what we're hearing, because if you could you'd be so very, very satisfied.

MUSIC: Two sold-out shows to contemplate attending by attempting the old "lurk outside the venue and see about buying a ticket off of someone with an extra" routine. First up is Passion Pit, though arguably openers the Harlem Shakes are the bigger draw here. Plus Cale Parks at the Black Cat. That's at 8 p.m. Then there's night two of TVOTR/Dirty Projectors at the 9:30 Club, which DCist can verify was a pretty easy ticket to get outside the door from various folks last night, and well worth the risk. Doors are at 7 p.m. for that one.

A very tough decision today, what with a highly tempting feet photo and this snap of a specimen of urban wildlife you don't see every day.

There are two stars in Arena Stage’s new production, . Audiences might be drawn to the show for the familiar name above the marquee, TV actress Valerie Harper. But the play's real star is her character, film actress Tallulah Bankhead, a woman notorious for unapologetic appetites and ego. Both women are captivating, and it’s hard to tell where one ends and the other begins.

>> Earth, Wind and Fire have been together for 40 years and seem to keep pressing on. They'll be at Merriweather Post Pavilion with Chicago. $35-$75, 7:30 p.m.

Well...it's still June, right?

MONDAY

Every long-lived pop musician who achieves success as a young artist eventually confronts the legacy problem: How much of your back catalogue do you take with you when you hit the road to promote your new music?

DCist's guide to lectures and discussions in the D.C. area

We can already tell that the new trapeze school at the site of the old convention center is going to be quite the local photographic fixture. Fittingly, LaTur took the chance to capture this wonderful silhouette of the nets, bars, and swings, set against last night's magnificent sunset. EXIF.

          

As far as weekends go, this was near the top of the list: lots of things to do around town and the best weather imaginable to do them in. Luckily, more than a few of our trusty photographer friends were out and about to document.

Stuck inside without weekend plans? Leave it to the DCist photo pool to provide your inspiration. While last Saturday's featured take made us want to strap on a helmet and go, today's selection from caroline.angelo makes a damn good case for blowing everything off and hitting the park, basket in tow.

Sure, I get nostalgic. I remember when Saturdays in June meant firing up the smoker, loading it up with pork shoulder and brisket and spare ribs, cracking open a Tecate and reading the . You don't want to linger on old pictures like this, LaTur. There aren't enough pigs on the Ark to spare. Hell, there's not enough dry to make fire.

Looks like month-long art show Artomatic is having some issues with city inspectors lately -- on Wednesday, organizers sent out an email saying "based on a routine building inspection by D.C.'s Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs" they would be closing at 8 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday of this week instead of the usual 10 p.m. time. They explained in the release that "DCRA has limited this week's evening hours to give Artomatic extra time to install required lighting necessary for safety in the unlikely event of an emergency."

We’re not at this very moment, we just finished our record. And then we’re sort of taking it slightly easy this summer. We’re not playing a lot of tour dates. That’s just too crazy.

FRIDAY:

Now that it's June the inauguration may seem like old news, but these films are refreshingly candid, hilarious, and often-poignant records of what D.C. communities were thinking and feeling back in January. "Most of them have even started caring about their futures," a student at Luke C. Moore Academy says of his classmates. "You can no longer go off the same expectations." An older woman captured in one film explains, "I knew it was going to happen, I just didn't know it would happen in my time." A shy fifth-grader tells the camera that she felt "Excited. Happy. All kinds of words."

St. Elizabeths Hospital is a frequent subject that pops up in the DCist Flickr pool. The abandoned buildings and captivating history make for intriguing compositions. We love this atmosphere filled shot which was taken by Marcellina. while on a tour of the facilities with Cultural Tourism DC. Be sure to check out her other shots from the autopsy room, as well.

DCist's highly subjective and hardly comprehensive guide to the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week.

This weekend is the 26th annual Dupont Kalorama Museum Walk. Enjoy free admission and a plethora of activities at the ten participating museums including the Phillips Collection, the Woodrow Wilson House and the Textile Museum, just to name a few. The Museum Walk will take place Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. Free shuttle bus service is provided between venues and bike parking will be available at key locations. A complete list of activities and events can be found online.

When last we checked in on akkleis' voyeur series, she was secretly stalking a couple behind a tree. The most recent entry in the series documents a game of tonsil hockey by the Iwo Jima Memorial. Hope they found cover before the storm, though.

         

At the end of 2007, one of the blogosphere’s more ubiquitous concertgoers named Grizzly Bear his number one show of the year. Initially, this announcement prompted me to kick myself for using that particular set as a bathroom/lunch break at that year's Pitchfork Festival. However, as time passed, I started to question his judgment. Grizzly Bear’s breakout 2006 release, Yellow House‘s combination of stunning harmonies and instrumentation and tedious meandering makes it a difficult album to complete in one listening, and this year’s highly lauded Veckatimest seems like it would make the perfect soundtrack to the poppies scene in The Wizard of Oz. There’s a sense of enchantment, ethereal choral harmonies and a sinister undertone, but it’s also highly conducive to putting the listener to sleep. As such, I kept waiting for the moment during Grizzly Bear’s set where the show would lose my interest.

The hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiills are aliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive in Synetic Theater’s nonverbal, nonstop production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream!

MUSIC: It'll be all about D.C. chillin' and PG chillin' tonight at the 9:30 Club, when arguably the city's biggest rising star, Wale, is back home for a Rock the Vote sponsored show with UCB. Local emcees X.O. and Tabi Bonney round out the bill, among others. Tickets are still available for $25. Doors at 7 p.m.

CNN.com is already busting Live Nation's chops for still charging some kinds of fees during today's "No Service Fee Wednesday" promotion we told you about earlier this week, so we thought we'd try out going through the ticket buying process to see for ourselves.

>> During the post-World War II boom years, countless families had money for travel and a curiosity about the world, particularly Europe. In documenting these travels, many people used Kodachrome film, the first color film to find widespread use. Starting in June, the National Geographic Museum will take visitors on a vacation back to this era with a new photography exhibition, Kodachrome Culture, culled from images from the National Geographic archives. Opening June 25

After weeks of speculation and much too much time spent obsessively reloading the 9:30 Club Forum, Post Rock and even the Baltimore Buisiness Journal, we finally have confirmation. There will be a Virgin Mobile Festival this year. Now we just need to know the where, the when, the who and the how much. With that in mind let's take a look at the latest internet chatter:

>> Local group Chaise Lounge specializes in a brand of incredibly catchy jazz-pop that was very popular in the early 60s. The band will be performing tonight at Blues Alley. Tickets to the 8 and 10 p.m. sets are $18 + $12.50 minimum/surcharge.

Though we were tempted by some of the cool shots from last night's storm, we really loved spiggycat's crisp image from her roofdeck. Always nice to have a view (and a Canon EOS 5D Mark II to capture it)! EXIF.