Three years, one EP, one DCist interview, and a slew of locally hyped shows later and The Alphabetical Order have finally taken that next big step. October 9th marked the release of their debut full length album. I Am Magically Happening! is their most polished and complete work to date. It is the band’s signature early 90’s alt-rock sound with just enough mainstream pop glaze to raise them up from the underground. The Alphabetical Order... more ›

>> 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.... more ›

MONDAY >> Swedish indie popsters Peter Bjorn and John will play a sold out show at the 9:30 Club, accompanied by the "triple keyboard action" of Brooklyn's Au Revoir Simone. Honestly, if they promised triple "keytar" action, we would sell our souls for tickets. >> The Alphabetical Order and Summerbirds in the Cellar bring on the rock at DC9. $8 TUESDAY >> Embarrassing secret #12. An ex-girlfriend once dragged us to a Third Eye Blind... more ›

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At Tuesday night's game, Gavin Dunaway of The Alphabetical Order, who was watching the game with Mike "Goodtyme" Garrity of Nitro Tokyo, suggested we write a story about, "how satisfying it is to watch your team completely drubbing another team." That was pretty much the theme of the evening, as the Washington Capitals took a lead fifteen seconds into play, built it up to 4-0, and easily held on to win 6-2. During breaks in... more ›

TUESDAY >> There isn't much going on today, but you might want to check out Black Cat's backstage screening of the 2005 documentary New York Dolls: All Dolled Up. Photographer Bob Gruen followed the band during the early 1970s and shot performances in venues all across the U.S. We expect plenty of sex, drugs and that other thing that comes after drugs. Kittens? $3, 9 p.m. WEDNESDAY >> The Alphabetical Order let us know that... more ›

Sorry for the late arrival of this week's agenda, but you see, I work in Tysons Corner and I was stuck in traffic. Now on to our picks! TUESDAY >> If you don't think there is such a thing as hardcore klezmer music, Gogol Bordello are in town to prove you wrong. These Eastern European transplants to New York serve up Slavic ska, polka punk, and lots of other funky fusions, but those were the... more ›

MONDAY >> If you're not high-tailing it to the Maryland end of the Orange line to see the Redskins take on the Vikings, you may want to pay the Black Cat's backstage a visit to see The Whigs. This trio from Athens, GA has been called the "best unsigned band in America" by Rolling Stone. $8, 9 p.m. >> The haunting, violin-driven alt country of the Black Swans is coming our way. Catch these boys... more ›

Good morning, D.C. Looks like it's going to be another beautiful day. We can't resist — we're ducking out of work, heading into the lovely weather and spending the morning at a net neutrality seminar. Ah, summer livin'. Ehrlich Unhappy With Rate Relief Plan: Remember the looming electricity rate hike crisis in Maryland? The one that's been looming since March? Yeah, that one. It's still not over. According to the Post, Maryland legislators have put... more ›

TUESDAY >> The Black Cat's making good use of its Backstage this week. Before you go check out the Alphabetical Order tonight, read DCist's interview with the band and see where their heads were about a year ago. Any band that gives their site a dot-org domain is worth at least a cursory glance. With Omega Band, $5, 9 p.m. >> If you buy your music at Starbucks, you may be one of the many... more ›

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The headline may lean a bit towards the dramatic, but we're bummed. For those of you who are, like us, stoked for the very cool 3-band line up at DC9 this Saturday, the bill just lost one degree of awesome. Don't worry DCist Ryan, Greenland is still playing. However, The Hard Tomorrows have had to pull out of the show because guitarist Rishi Chakrabarty (pictured at right) injured his hand. Certainly a bummer, but Greenland and The Alphabetical Order should still provide enough rock to roll you home. Hurry up and recuperate, Rishi! more ›

So, DCist saw "The Aristocrats" this weekend. Bob Saget is a dirty, dirty man. Seriously, you'll never look at Full House the same way after this flick. It's no wonder the Olsen twins ended up the way they did. Also, the guys behind South Park are geniuses. Now, to the music: Monday: We're tempted to send you guys to Fort Reno tonight. It's another Dischord smashup with songstress Mary Timony headlining, possibly or possibly not... more ›

>> Hit up Fort Reno to catch performances by Partyline, teenage popsters Lemonface (at right), and Five Four. Things get started at 7:15 p.m. more ›

What a beautiful weekend. Perfect enough for some croquet on the Mall, as seen here in this photo taken by mnewhall posted in DCist Photos. You can't ask for much more than that. And the forecast looks pretty good too for the coming week. Highs in the 70s and 80s for the early part of the week growing warmer by next weekend, according to Capital Weather. Here's what you may have missed on DCist the... more ›

Can you give us a little bit of background on your band - reasons for forming, how you got together, what kind of goals you had in mind?

Kate: Gav & I got together because we were in a goth/synth-poppy band calledConscious Structure with a friend of his from high school. It really
wasn't the style of music that either of us wanted to play, or a scene
that I was used to at all, beyond occasionally attending DC-area
goth/industrial dance nights back in 1999 and poking vague fun at on the
Internet. We weren't having much fun at all, but we were both itching to
play, so we did it until it occurred to us we could just secede and start
our own rock thing. So, we did. Gav had played with Ben before and called
him up after a few of my friends proved to be decent drummers but not
exactly what we were looking for. He said, "This guy brings the rock." I
thought, "Okay." But I sure wasn't prepared for the Dover. It was an
instantaneous and amazing fit. Gabe was an add-on in late '04 after we'd
seen him play a couple of solo shows around the area. He & Ben were good
friends, and I thought he would make a good backup singer/rhythm
guitarist. Instead he ended up adding some crazy experimental tones that I
never even expected. I'd say the goals write themselves as we grow and
develop. I mean, we've only been together with the 4-member line-up since
November or so, with Ben for just over a year, and the Gav & Kate
experience didn't even become a concrete idea until very late 2003/early
2004.

Gavin: I felt the need to save rock 'n' roll. Thankfully I got over that
and now I focus on more important things like finding a Visa card with a
low APR.

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Don't let the cold keep you in -- there are some interesting shows going on this week. MONDAY: >> Turing Machine bring their aggressive punk-rock instrumentals to the Black Cat. You might recognize a couple of their members as having been in D.C.-area artrock band Pitchblende. 9 p.m., $7. TUESDAY: >> No Second Troy (pictured at right in a photo from their site), who were lauded as one of the "12 most notable [unsigned] artists... more ›