Results tagged “oc”

The Ponys play the Black Cat Backstage tonight with Jay Reatard. $10, Doors at 9 p.m. The Ponys are one of those buzz bands that seem perennially plagued with the “next big thing” tag. Hailing from Chicago, a city full of legends of all sorts and more than a few hype-worthy up-and-comers, theirs is a difficult task. But 2006's Turn the Lights Out picked up where Celebration Castle left off and took it one step...

If Thursday's show at the Red and the Black was any indication, this year's 6 Points Music Festival looks to be a good one. The local fest, in its fourth year but only its second with a wider reach, aims to someday be a D.C. version of South by Southwest and helped its cause by bringing a diverse indie bill to H Street NE. The show began with Brooklyn's The Lisps, followed by Chicago's Scotland...

Knowing little about either band, DCist attended Wednesday night's performance by Chin Up Chin Up and The Oxford Collapse, armed only with a few tracks from each heard on Myspace, glowing reviews from Pitchfork, Mojo and a host of other publications, and a promise from a good friend that we would not regret it. Success on the Black Cat Backstage tends to be dependent on two things: your ability to soldier on despite often questionable sound, and a crowd that's on your side enough to soldier on with you. Lucky for both CUCU and OC, both factors were on their side, even through the typically muddy vocal mix.

, and you can catch them Sunday night at Iota in Arlington with openers King of France. Doors are at 8:30 and tickets are $11. In advance of the show, lead singer Ben Trokan was nice enough to answer some of our questions via email.

Think that there isn't a middle ground between highbrow cultural esthetics and the baser pleasures of reality TV? Well, there's a new kid on the DC arts scene that wants to prove otherwise. Barrelhouse, a DC-based, independent literary magazine straddles the line between popular culture and literary criticism very well. Their first print issue is a mix of poetry, fiction, essays and an interview with the lovely Emmylou Harris. Barrelhouse does literary the way we like it, engaging, unpretentious, with a sense of humor and plenty of OC references. As well as putting out two issues a year, Barrelhouse publishes original pieces online on a regular basis. Head over there now and you'll find work from local authors and artists.

(Interview by DCist contributor Austin Dienst)

Curtis Sittenfeld has recently been getting a lot of attention for her new book "Prep." It has been on The New York Times Best Sellers List for two weeks and for good reason. Sittenfeld creates such an authentic teenager in her protagonist Lee, that it brings those angst-filled, self-conscious years of high school to life in a way that shows like the "OC" cannot. All of the uncertainty and awkwardness of coming of age is heightened by the snooty New England boarding school Lee attends and it makes for some great drama (for more info on the book, check out Sittenfeld’s website or read an excerpt from "Prep."

Curtis Sittenfeld is fairly new to D.C.; she arrived just two-and-a-half years ago when she was chosen to be the writer in residence at the St. Albans school. Now she works part-time at the school as a freshman English teacher and works on her writing. For a great opportunity to meet Sittenfeld, she will be reading at the Politics & Prose on Connecticut Avenue, Friday at 7 p.m. This would be a great time to get the book, if you don’t already have it, or just hear the words the way the author intended. (More information and events are available here. Somehow Sittenfeld made time in her busy schedule to catch up with DCist over the phone and answer a few questions.

Along with the following picks, don't forget to check out DCist's Arts Agenda (First Fridays in Dupont!) and Music Agenda for events that might tickle your fancy this weekend. FRIDAY: >> Intimate roots-rocker Jolie Holland (at right) brings her sparse yet uplifting music to Jammin Java in Vienna. With guitarist Brooks Williams. 8 p.m., $12. >> If you're a fellow The OC freak (hey, we wear our obsession proudly on our sleeve), you'll remember pre-lesbian...