>> Detroit garage rockers Gore Gore Girls are at DC9 with two local acts: the Highballers and the Droptops. 9 p.m., $10. >> Don't miss our full preview of the Stones Throw concert tonight at Black Cat. 8 p.m., $20. >> Looking to crash one of those well-monied D.C. holiday parties for free food and drinks? Via BrightestYoungThings, a handy list. >> Thievery Corporation's Rob Garza's latest side-project, Dust Galaxy, will be at the musician's......

Fans of classical music had a light schedule last week, but there is plenty to be heard this week to make up for lost time. Most evenings it is going to come down to a choice. WEDNESDAY: >> The Embassy of Austria (3524 International Ct. NW) is hosting a series of concerts called An das Lied: Festival of Song 2007, devoted to the greats of German-language song composition. The music starts this Wednesday, with a......

>> If "gorgeous weather" isn't enough of a reason to get you outside, this weekend's kick-off for the National Cherry Blossom Festival should get you to shake off that winter gloom. Head over to the National Building Museum tomorrow to kick-off the celebration with Family Day events from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and the opening ceremony from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Lots of hands-on art activities, like oragami and fruit carving, will keep......

In case you thought the past several days were just some wretched dream, yes, it really is September. Summer, for all intents and purposes, is deceased. School is back in session, the Amazonian humidity is behind us, and we can all look forward to a successful and productive fall. If that doesn't cheer you up, perhaps leaving the house this weekend will? Go on, give it a shot. FRIDAY >>In honor of the impending bicentennial......

Editor's Note: With the breaking news out of Chile that a retired army chief suspected of human rights violations under dictator Augusto Pinochet has flung himself from a 18th floor balcony at a Santiago apartment tower to his death (say that in one breath?), we thought it was odd timing that we were working on a profile of a monument remembering another violent passage from the Pinochet era right here in D.C.: The Embassy Row......