Once again, the Pollstar Concert Industry Awards nomination list shows that D.C.'s no small potatoes when it comes to touring music. Like last year, the 9:30 Club is nominated for Nightclub of the Year, Wolf Trap's Filene Center is nominated for the Red Rocks small outdoor venue award, and Birchmere's Michael Jawarek is nominated for Nightclub Talent Buyer of the Year. There are a few new additions to our area's nods too. more ›

FRIDAY: >>Great quadruple bill comes to the Rock and Roll Hotel: Three Stars alums Jukebox the Ghost (pictured right) and tour diarists These United States join DCist fave Ra Ra Riot and Sam Champion. All that for the low, low price of $10 before, $12 at the door. Show 9 p.m. >> The Black Cat once again hosts Cryfest, everyone's favorite dance party that pits The Smiths vs. The Cure, brought to you by DJs... more ›

Monday >>Provided these thunderstorms pass us by in time, the place to be tonight is Fort Reno. First off, it's free, and we know everyone's wallets are light from all that gas you're having to put in the car just to make a run to the beach. Second, recent Three Stars alums Garland of Hours are taking the stage, along with The Aerialist, and the excellently named Lady in the Radiator. 7:15 p.m., $0.... more ›

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For all the gentle bitching and tempered moaning we do about certain aspects of our local music venues, on the whole, they're nothing to sneeze at. Sometimes amidst endless debates about sound quality and beer prices, we forget that we're rather lucky to have so many high quality venues in the area. Luckily, the fine folks at Pollstar haven't forgotten. Wolf Trap's Filene Center, Merriweather Post Pavillion, The Birchmere and the 9:30 Club have all been nominated for the 2007 Concert Industry Awards. more ›

FRIDAY: >> We don't usually hype big studio movies in the Picks, but when faced with a certain kind of reptile on a specific form of transportation — there's not much you can do but cross your fingers it doesn't turn out to suck and jump on the hype train (err, plane). More specifically, literally dozens of local D-list Internet celebrities will be attending the 10:10 p.m. screening of Snakes on a Plane at the... more ›

The Classical Music Agenda has been missing in action for several weeks now, but there just has not been that much to hear. My weekly recommendations will return at the end of this month, as the September schedule heats up. For now, you will have to content yourselves with the following concerts, few and far between. more ›

One of the deficiencies of the city's leading opera company, Washington National Opera, is that lately they think of Mozart as early opera. The last time the WNO staged an opera from before 1775 or so was Handel's Julius Caesar in 2000 and the same composer's Agrippina in 1992 before that. Baroque opera is one of my major interests, and Handel is great, but there is a century of Baroque opera before Handel, too. We are lucky, however, to have some of the smaller companies in the area to fill the gap: Opera Lafayette has recently brought us Rameau and Lully, for example. Even better, two companies are mounting actual staged performances of Baroque operas this summer. If you want to see what opera was like in its infancy, check it out. more ›