Drop Electric vocalist Padma Soundararajan and bassist Neel Singh performing earlier this year at the Rock and Roll Hotel Drop Electric was no different from many a local band. They played the occasional festival, headlined local clubs, and were on their way to garnering a decent local following. But their story took a tragic turn last month, and the band is still trying to recover. The family of vocalist Padma Soundararajan — her father,......

The local music community has come together several times over the past year and a half to support Callum Robbins, the son of local music mainstay J. Robbins and Janet Morgan. Cal was diagnosed with a genetic motor neuron disease called Type 1 SMA, or Spinal Muscular Atrophy. As explained on the DeSoto records page supporting Cal, The disease affects the brain's ability to communicate with the voluntary muscles that are used for activities such......

It only took three hours for the five alarm fire in a Mt. Pleasant apartment building to displace roughly 200 tenants. It didn't take much longer for Ryan Wakeman and Chris DeWitt to come up with a way to help. Under the moniker "The Queen of the Water Dolphins", Wakeman and DeWitt organized a benefit concert to raise donations for victims of the fire. "We wanted to do something useful with ourselves about the fire,......

"It pissed me off." That is how R.E.M.'s Mike Mills described his reaction to seeing firsthand the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina and the stagnated recovery effort since. Though his band has a history of political involvement, Mills himself has shied away from activism until now. Having seen the suffering of New Orleanians in the aftermath of Katrina, he declared, "No one can appreciate the destruction without seeing it and I was very aware that......

It's December, which means that much of the classical music concert schedule is devoted to some holiday that apparently occurs near the end of the month. Consult our Holiday Concert Agenda and our Handel's Messiah Agenda, if that is the sort of thing that interests you. Let's try to keep the regular agenda free of that stuff. There is plenty to talk about without it. VOICES: >> The annual residency of the Kirov Opera, the......

Matchbox Coming to the Hill As if we needed any more proof that Barracks Row is flexing its muscle in bringing business to the Hill. But, we have it anyway. Last week's TomChat gave us the news that Matchbox, the over-popular Gallery Place pizza and mini-burger heaven, has signed a lease for a second location along Barracks Row—521 8th Street SE to be precise. According to Tom, the owner expects the new place to open......

Jagshemash! Borat is a hit. It's grossing millions and definitely the most quotable thing we've seen in ages. But Borat himself seems to have missed most of the -ist cities, and we were all wondering how the film would have been different if he'd made his way around the world on the -ist tour. In Shanghai, Borat would be observing Inane Learnings of Penis Photos for Make Benefit Glorious Flat World of Handmade Toy......

FRIDAY: >> From the amount of Evites and mass emails running around inviting folks to giant group outings to see Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, we're guessing that's what a lot of you are doing tonight. As of now, only the 5:15 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. showings at Gallery Place still have tickets available, but the Loews Georgetown has plenty more options. Jagshemash! >> Paging John Hodgman! Director......

Now's the time to get your ticket to the Third Annual Transformer Silent Auction and Benefit Party. Held on Saturday, November 4, at the Edison Place Gallery, the night promises to be an evening of creative company, great food, and a celebration of local talent. The five-year-old Transformer Gallery is hosting the event, which will start with a silent auction between 7 and 9:30 p.m. for original works from over eighty artists. Step up and......

Benefit for Argonaut Bartender Tonight As you may have read in this morning's weekend picks, Argonaut and the Englert family of bars are having an event tonight to benefit one of their bartenders who was seriously injured by a gunman when walking to his girlfriend's from work. Luis "Quike" Morales was shot on September 30 in an apparent robbery gone awry, and has only recently come out of his coma. Unfortunately, our ass backwards health......

As fall settles in and another calendar page gets turned, thoughts turn from bbq's and vacations to holidays and the realization that '06 is coming to an end. With all that going on, with change in the air, we wonder what is it that made that makes the -ists ponder? Phillyist is concerned that the war on Trans fats could affect it's beloved cheese steak sandwiches, something for which we should all be concerned. They......

We're awfully sad today at DCist headquarters, after learning this morning that we missed out on spotting Borat (the faux-Kazakh reporter portrayed by comedian Sasha Baron Cohen) trying to gain entry to the White House yesterday, though sadly, to no avail. His visit to D.C. was a brilliant piece of publicity timing, coinciding both with the first official state visit of Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev, as well as the upcoming release of his new film,......

Share Our Strength Benefit For Katrina Victims August 29 will mark the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall, but clean-up, rebuilding, and resettling are still taking place. Charity group Share Our Strength will observe the date by holding Restaurants for Relief, an event in which restaurants will donate a portion of their proceeds to help recovery efforts and to end childhood hunger along the Gulf Coast. Almost 90 restaurants in the metro area plan to......

God, we're so sick of Snakes on a Plane that we want to kill anyone and everyone that makes a "something on a something" joke. But then we realized that there was no way we could ever win this fight, and, hell, if you can't beat them, we might as well join them. And with that, you have the theme of this weeks' Gothamist network post. Austinist makes it easy for us, with Candidate on......

The Arena Stage is holding their 14th Annual Benefit production of the The Pundit Whodunit: The Case of the Political Puzzle tonight at 8:30 p.m. at the Kreeger Theater. If you've got an extra $200 to $400 lying around, you too can be seated front and center for a one night only performance of local playwright and director Harry M. Bagdasian's comedic murder mystery, starring prominent members of Congress and the media. Members of the......

As the clock rolled through midnight, there sat Marion Barry, hunched over in his too-big suit, red Nationals cap pulled low over thick glasses, interrupting the chair. He spoke haltingly, with long pauses, as he made his roundabout point, while Linda Cropp alternately reclined in exasperation and leaned forward over the desk, glaring at him in incredulity. Barry hushed Kwame Brown and David Catania by their first names as they attempted to clarify his statement,......

Before delving into the week's picks, we want to point out a couple of hurricane benefits that are happening this week. This Thursday, come out and support musicians affected by hurricane Katrina. The State Theater in Falls Church hosts the Hell or High Water Benefit, featuring the legendary Chuck Brown. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door, with all proceeds benefitting the MusiCares Katrina Fund. 7 p.m. If you're feeling philanthropic as......

Maybe it was the uniformed security officer. Or the older, badge-wearing university officials who seemed to lurk about. Or perhaps the complete lack of any alcohol. Whatever it was, last Friday's Katrina Benefit concert at American University co-sponsored by DCist had the uncanny feel of a high school dance, short of the cheesy disco ball and mandatory tear-shedding song towards the end. However, unlike our hazy memories of high school functions, Friday's event featured a......

Good morning, Washington. Today will be another beautiful day - mostly sunny, with highs in the lower 80s. Believe it or not, today is our first birthday. Yes, it was one year ago today when DCist officially launched. To celebrate, we've planned a little birthday party next week. Before then, however, is a Katrina Benefit Concert we're sponsoring at American University this Friday featuring local acts Gist, Cartel, Paul Michel, RPM, Laura Burhenn and Army......

While we continue to be overwhelmed by the enormity of the disaster that just over a week ago brought untold death and destruction to New Orleans and other cities and town along the Gulf Coast, we are similarly overwhelmed by the generosity of Americans and the international community alike. Individuals, groups, and organizations have led the charge in the Washington metropolitan area with a variety of fundraisers, more of which we feature here: -- Head......

When the scope of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina became evident last week, many D.C. residents did what they could to help the situation. We here at DCist created a category to keep track of our proliferating posts about local fundraisers and volunteer opportunities, and now even the news that the city may host a thousand or more evacuees from New Orleans. Local singer-songwriter Laura Burhenn responded as well - getting on the phone......