Something called the "Soul Collective Tour," presented by Kia, is coming to D.C. this weekend. What that means for you: Free MGMT, Wale and Dan Deacon shows. more ›

"Make it epic!" Dan Deacon's roadie was yelling in my ear as he held up a stack of stage monitors, working to keep the speakers upright despite the mass of bodies pummeling into them. He wanted me to take a shot of Deacon's so-called Trippy Green Skull — an object that often stands in for the man himself at his absurdly egalitarian shows, due to the fact that it's just about the only thing than can be seen from a distance of more than a few feet — from behind. That way, he reasoned, you'd be able to see the crowd spazzing out from the glowing skull's perspective. There was only one problem: I was standing just a few inches from the skull and had only packed a 50mm lens: not exactly ideal conditions for taking a wide-angle shot. While I may have failed terribly at 'making it epic,' Deacon did not, fighting against all odds to turn in a set on Friday night that was almost impossibly energetic, given the circumstances. more ›

The F Yeah Tour began as a music, comedy, and arts fest held in L.A. every summer, and this year it's going on tour, on a bus run by vegetable oil. Seven bands, mostly sharing a cut-and-paste DIY sensibility, played at the Black Cat last night: DCist fave Dan Deacon, Matt and Kim, The Death Set, Team Robespierre, Monotonix, Mannequin Men, and comedian Josh Fadem. The event also featured a table with voter registration, information about Burma, zines and graphic novels. Before it was over, the crowd was carrying drummers and drums, running around in circles, and moving through a snake made out of their outstretched arms. more ›

>> Tonight's Girl Talk show at Black Cat is sold-out, but if you're desperate to go after reading our interview with opener Dan Deacon, craigslist has some options. Also White Williams, 8 p.m. >> The Hall Monitors heated up the DCist servers with their Three Stars appearance a few months back, and tonight they'll be warming up the stage for Jon Spencer and Matt Verta-Ray's Heavy Trash and Denmark's pshychobilly trio Powersolo at the... more ›

Baltimore's Dan Deacon, who plays tonight to a sold-out Black Cat, does things differently. His latest album, the critically acclaimed Spiderman of the Rings, starts with cascading and overlapping samples of Woody Woodpecker's laugh. Usually called an "absurdist composer" rather than solo electronic musician, he packs a crazy sense of humor, samples and loops into a building frenzy on tracks like "Crystal Cat," the 11 minute "Wham City," and "Snake Mistakes." In concert, Deacon sets... more ›

>> The Virgin Festival has added Panic! At the Disco, Explosions In the Sky and Baltimore-based electronic music composer/performer Dan Deacon for their Sunday lineup. >> You should probably get any sort of week night responsibilities out of the way this evening, so you can join us tomorrow night at Unbuckled 6. If you missed our interviews with the bands, Le Loup and The XYZ Affair, give them a gander. If we haven't already... more ›

>> DC Arts Commission auditions for musicians who'd like to play outside metro stations start tonight, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Metro headquarters, 600 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, DC. >> Check out our Reader, Meet Author feature for a list of cup-runneth-over literary events for tonight. There's Colin Channer at Vertigo Books, Susan Vreeland at Phillips Collection, Christopher Hitchens at Politics and Prose, and Irvine Welsh at Wonderland. >> The Rock and Roll... more ›