>> It's Halloween! Spooky, Scary! Despite the taxi strike, SoberRide is still offering free taxi rides for people who have had too much to drink celebrating the holiday: If you need a ride home between 8 p.m. tonight and 4 a.m. tomorrow morning, call 1-800-200-TAXI and you should be able to get a free ride home of up to $50. How long you'll have to wait for that ride is an open question, but... more ›

DCist goes to more than our share of indie rock shows in this fine town of ours, so when the chance came about to check out Nelly Furtado and her arena-type stage show, it was hard to say no. Furtado started out her career as a Jewel-like folkie but when that career path started down the road to obscurity, she jumped on a few hip-hop remixes and eventually landed Timbaland's midas touch on her... more ›

Though it's an open question as to whether D.C.'s rock scene has sacrificed quality for quantity, there is no denying a time when there were not that many places for a rock band to play in this city. "During college, the music scene was a bit struggling, especially in the Georgetown area," says The Bravery's guitarist and Georgetown University alum Michael Zakarin, "but I was at the Black Cat or the 9:30 every weekend. It's... more ›

Despite all the warnings, a few of us headed out to the DC101 Chili Cookoff on Saturday to take in a few bands and sample some chili, all for a good cause. The sun was out in full force, and so were the crowds. Adam and Sommer served as judges for the chili contest while I was down in the photo pit documenting the day's musical offerings. more ›

This Saturday, DC 101 is once again hosting its annual Chili Cook-Off, that popular concert, food and drink festival of gong show proportions that benefits the National Kidney Foundation. Tickets are sold-out, but for those of you who already got yours or are willing to brave the wilds of craigslist to score some, be sure to stop by the judging area and say hello to myself and DCist Food Editor Adam Bailey. Adam will be judging the International Chili Society sanctioned Red Chili contest starting at 2 p.m., because he knows actual stuff about food. I'll be judging the 1 p.m. "Bring Your Own Chili", anything-goes freestyle competition, because all I bring to the table is a willingness to be poisoned by strangers. more ›

(Review and photo by DCist contributor Ryan Avent)For the critically minded, a play of Bloc Party’s Silent Alarm is sure, at first blush, to scream comparisons to the other dance-floor rock bands of the moment, most notably the overproduced and omnipresent juggernauts The Bravery and The Killers. As everyone from NME to Pitchfork has instructed us, however, BP is not there for the critically minded; it’s there to knock your socks off, and even... more ›

It's officially official: The HFStival, which we mentioned earlier was rumored to be taking place on May 14 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, is on. And you know what? We think the line up is pretty sweet (certainly the best in several years, at least): more ›

This past January, local radio was turned upside down when, without warning, venerated alternative rock station WHFS was switched into all Spanish salsa, all the time. Though it was widely agreed that WHFS had been on a downward descent -- playing more numetal than interesting independent music -- its loss was still strongly felt in the radio community. Since then, those yearning for an HFS fix could turn to AOL, where the channel has been somewhat resurrected into a streaming online station, and can be heard on Baltimore station Live 105.7 evenings and overnight. But the most important question of all still remained: What about the HFStival?! more ›

(Image © Kyle at Information LeafBlower) This DCist, along with DCist Kyle and DCist Rebecca (who talk about the show here and here), was in attendance at the Ash/The Bravery show last evening at the Black Cat. A good time was had by all (even though we were surprised that Ash opened for The Bravery, especially since no notification was made - The Bravery was originally to open for Ash), and the Black Cat... more ›

If you're sitting at your desk at work, a little bored and waiting for the weekend, we recommend surfing on over to the washingtonpost.com MP3 page, where in honor of their 4th birthday, they've picked out their top 20 downloads of the year. Otherwise, check out our suggestions for weekend fun below. more ›