By DCist contributor Sarah Sherman more ›

Born from a high school friendship, The Chance is the product of years of tooling around on instruments and mucking with the lineup. As they stand today, the band is Joshua Padgett on lead guitar and vocals, Viraj DeSilva on drums and Finley Martin on bass. The band's gone through several incarnations over the years, but Padgett and DeSilva are the constants. They grew up together, cultivating a friendship and learning how to play. As... more ›

Driving down I-81 in central Virginia earlier this year, we heard something we haven't heard in awhile: a radio station playing good music. This, and the announcement of "eco-station" 94.7 the Globe got us thinking: why doesn't D.C. have a good independent music station? Other big cities have great listener-supported music stations, like KEXP in Seattle and WFMU in New York, and many other cities have decent student-run college stations. But D.C. has neither. About... more ›

MONDAY >>West Coast represent! Hailing from Los Angeles, the five-man hip hop collective Jurassic 5 will be bringing their easy-to-swallow beats to the 9:30 Club with the Brooklyn-based X-Clan. $25.00, 7:30 p.m. TUESDAY >> Three Stars alums The Roosevelt (***) might play some tunes off their upcoming EP when they rock DC9 with The Subjects and NOVA's very own The Beanstalk Library. Support your local "The" bands. $8. >> Dave Grohl returns to the city... more ›

In the early 1980s, Washington, D.C. was a mecca for hardcore punk music. The scene was so pure and original that it drew young rockers from literally all over the country, each wanting to mix it up with the original gods of this new radio-unfriendly sound. The names are quite familiar: Minor Threat. Scream. Jawbox. Soulside. State of Alert. Government Issue. Faith. The D.C. hardcore scene was a catalyst for the careers of Henry Rollins and Dave Grohl, while others stayed local like Dischord founder Ian MacKaye who later fronted Fugazi. It was incredibly influential on young rock musicians looking for something beyond the radio and MTV -- sounds which now traditionally define the era -- and spawned a second wave of bands in the 90s (an era which is aptly titled post-hardcore). Two such bands were Trusty and Circus Lupus, both of which moved halfway across the country to join the D.C. hardcore scene and later were signed to Dischord. Another group, Worlds Collide, was formed by Chicago transplant Matt Burger who came to drink the waters of this rock oasis. And for those who were content in their native lands, groups like Squatweiler from North Carolina still were influenced by the underground rock coming out of D.C. more ›

The big day finally arrives, in more ways then one. It's Election Day and the Santos and Vinick campaigns are tense, tense, tense. The show opens with some pre-credit flirting between Josh and Donna. After the credits, we're treated to a shot of Josh and Donna in bed, together, presumably post-coital. I'm a long time Josh/Donna shipper but the scene was more than I wanted to see. There's some mild awkwardness between the two, but... more ›

The fall lineups are filling in, and it's looking like a nice autumnal concert season for indie fans, all kicked off by the perfectly free Operation: Ceasefire mass gig on the mall September 24th. Sadly, most of the other highlights require tickets, and it falls to DCist to bring you the hottest of the hott. Watch D.C.'s own (for the moment) Bob Mould, sometime Blowoff DJ and indie rock icon, as he returns to the... more ›

If you've grown up in the D.C. metro area, you've probably heard of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (better known simply as TJ). The school, located in Alexandria, is a Fairfax County public school that was turned into a magnet school for technology in the early 90s. more ›