Results tagged “thunder>”

We've written at length about England's The Go! Team and their fantastic live shows. The last time they were in town, they drove the Black Cat crowd into a frenzy, and now they'll be doing the same thing at the 9:30 Club tonight for a late show (10 p.m. doors). We recently spoke to Ninja, the band's energetic female MC who serves as the live show's focal point, on the phone from Los Angeles where...

Written by DCist contributor Claire Compton Like the classic summer fling, Restaurant Week has officially left us, leaving us with a bittersweet mix of emotions. The lucky ones are gushing about that new restaurant they discovered and how they were wooed with an impossibly fantastic meal that didn't drain their wallet. Others weren't so lucky. They began the week with a wide-eyed idealism, believing this meal was going to be the one, only to be...

The folks at the Rock and Roll Hotel sure know how to get us interested in something. They sent out an email last night saying tickets will go on sale July 20th for a "blog favorite" band who will be playing two nights at H Street venue. The email added "Hint: The name of the band is has something to do with applauding and a greeting." While "Yeah" isn't really a greeting, our guess is...

>> Fort Reno has The Caribbean, Len Bias and The Ardennes. But the National Weather Service has a Severe Thunder Storm Watch from 2 to 9 p.m., so you might want to hedge your bets and make a back-up plan. >> Ohio's alt-country rawkers Two Cow Garage stop by the Red and the Black tonight, with Minneapolis' Birthday Suits and Richmond's Clint Maul for what should be a loud, fun show all around. $8,...

Good morning, Washington. You know, it didn't seem like that much of a storm. But apparently last night's brief thunder and lightning wrought more than their fair share of havoc: lightning struck a shopping center in Maryland, badly damaging it. In fact, WJLA had footage of the shopping center's laundromat last night — it had been completely obliterated. We had no idea! Still, it at least appears that the power system wasn't too badly affected:...

Looks like lots of folks stuck around for the Memorial Day events in D.C. this weekend. There are some fantastic shots of Rolling Thunder celebrating their 20th anniversary, poingant images of families visiting their loved ones at Arlington Cemetery, and some more lighthearted shots like this one, of a sweet Model A Ford brought out by the Marines. Flickr user {ryan} describes them by how hard they were to shoot, the "chrome and paint...

OK OK, so maybe it's not technically "morning" anymore. DCist is on vacation for the day, and we slept in before we started browsing today's headlines. We hope you're enjoying the holiday with good food and good friends, and we'd like to dedicate this roundup to all of our readers who serve in the armed forces. The photo at right by Flickr user Karon is of yesterday's Rolling Thunder motorcycle parade, which celebrated its 20th...

Last night, as part of Shakespeare in Washington, the Kennedy Center staged Such Sweet Thunder — a performance that combined the words of Shakespeare and the music of Washington's son, Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington. The show combined musical, theatrical, dance, and narrative elements, all inspired by Shakespeare's work, to create a unique event. While the singularity and the quality of many of the performers made for an enjoyable night, the whole was less than the sum of its parts. The production fell short of its potential for brilliance because of choices made in the structure and pacing of the show.

We hope everyone brought his or her umbrella to work today, and we hope that it's one of those doesn't-turn-inside-out-in-the-wind ones, because we're about to receive a severe lashing from thunderstorms this afternoon. If this radar shot, and the National Weather Services' severe thunderstorm warning (on until 8 p.m. tonight) are any indicator—which they are—we'll be in for a dazzling lightshow starting anywhere from now until 7 p.m. Since the warm weather we've been...

If you're anything like us, you've been enjoying bimonthly "FONZ Flash" emails from the zoo ever since you coughed up the money for a one-year membership just to get primo Butterstick viewing tickets last summer. It's nice to hear about upcoming lectures, new exhibits and the comings-and-goings of the animals in the collection. But yesterday's newsletter contained some... disconcerting news (which we were shocked to find made the rounds last week — without spurring outrage)....

Is Jean-Yves Thibaudet the classical pianist being overshadowed by Thibaudet the media sensation? His recent recordings have included arrangements of opera melodies, excerpts of film soundtracks, jazz, as well as more classical fare. His concert attire is designed by Vivienne Westwood, and he has homes in Paris and, of course, Los Angeles. In a recital sponsored by Washington Performing Arts Society Saturday afternoon at the Kennedy Center, Thibaudet had the chance to show Washingtonians that he can still play serious music. Also, he looked fabulous.

This year Opera Lafayette has devoted most of its season to the Armide Project, a plan to perform two famous operatic realizations of the same libretto, Armide by Philippe Quinault. First on the schedule was the original version, premiered by Jean-Baptiste Lully in 1686, in a concert performance at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center on Saturday afternoon. The version made by Gluck in the 18th century will follow, in a staged production with Maryland Opera Studio in April.

Richard Strauss's Salome (1905) helped set the tone for iconoclastic opera in the 20th century. Shattering most of the genre's conventions — formulaic plots, vocal characterization, propriety — this tale of lust, incest, and decollation may still shock some viewers, but it has become a modern classic. Although Washington National Opera last staged it as recently as 2002, Washington audiences should be pleased to have another chance to hear it, in an excellent concert version...

We wouldn't want anyone to think that we revisit these topics in a deliberate, cynical way, but there's no denying that certain subjects are evergreen here at DCist. Church parking, smoking bans and ticket presale passwords: we know you can't get enough of them. Neither can we. Yet there's one topic that towers above all the others. We're referring, of course, to Borf, aka John Tsombikos. As you might imagine, we were fascinated to...

Thunderball may define their music in press releases as “cinematic, dub-laden compositions full of intrigue,” but their newest album on D.C.’s Eighteenth Street Lounge Music label, Cinescope, is a mess – a disorderly combination of too many benders while watching Rat Pack films and “Shaft in Africa” with some forgettable guest vocal tracks. The album doesn’t start out so cluttered, however. Openers “The Road to Benares” and “Electric Shaka” (with suitably electric vocals by Afrika...

Earlier on the staff email list, one of our editors couldn't help but wonder what's going on with people today — we're all a little grumpy dealing with some technology issues, commenters seem to be exceptionally testy and upset over little things, and for some reason several of our co-workers are sprouting full-body hair, claws, and have begun howling. This strange behavior prompted said editor to wonder, is it a full moon or something? And...

With Mother Nature tossing lightning and thunder, space shuttle Discovery shooting across the Florida sky, and the pyrotechnics on the National Mall, the Nats' little matinee date with the Marlins was easy to overlook yesterday. Only 23,000 showed up for the game between NL East also-rans played under threatening skies. But rookie RBI machine Ryan Zimmerman would have none of it. He launched some fireworks of his own with a walk-off homer in the bottom...

Today's photo comes from Flickr user Pak Gwei, who was front and center for this year's Rolling Thunder festivities. You can check the Rolling Thunder Flickr pool if you want more biker action, or if you crave more traditional Memorial Day photo fare, there's always the DCist tag pool. This shot was taken on a Canon EOS Digital Rebel. The EXIF data can be found here. I must confess I have a ulterior motive...

Parents Question Schools Lockdown: Well, it seems like we weren't the only ones questioning the lockdown of the District's public schools last Friday during a gunfire scare at a House office building. WTOP is reporting that some parents are asking why the entire school system was locked down, instead of school in the immediate area of the U.S. Capitol.

What's new(est) with Wolf Parade? These brothers of Brock, peers of Pitchfork and travelers on the Arcade Fire turnpike are going strong. Yet they also maintain that aura of youthful poverty and subsequent spiritual wealth that's critical to their frenetic, idealism-tinged sound. Their EP drew buzz and their debut long player, Apologies to the Queen Mary, confirmed it. The group’s got almost as many side projects as members, with Arlen's AIDS Wolf and Krug's Thunder Cloud (or is it Swan Lake?) and Sunset Rubdown. Hell, they even picked up Dante DeCaro, formerly of Hot Hot Heat. These Canadians sure know how to stick together and be prolific. Speaking of which, where's the next Arcade Fire album...

Though they left us with a good deal of thunder and lightning, the storms that hit our area yesterday cut a deadly path through other parts of the country, particularly Tennessee. We're not in the clear yet, though -- there is a wind advisory for the District and surrounding areas in effect until 1 p.m. today. D.C. Smoking Ban Really Goes Into Effect Today: Ahhhh, government efficiency. There has been some confusion to date...

England's The Go! Team has been touring tirelessly in recent months, bringing their patented brand of cheerleader rock all across the globe. Last night marked their first ever stop in D.C., where they met a sold out Black Cat crowd that for once remembered to wear their dancing shoes.

It's been a...weird week for D.C. music lovers. Fur flew over the dos and don'ts of ticket sale announcements. Strange things were afoot with venue booking. We all got twitterpated about Unbuckled. Before we move on to telling you about some things to look forward to, may we just say how much awesome Nethers brought to the Black Cat's back stage last night? This is a truly great band, D.C. or otherwise. They've got well written songs and match that to their synergistic live show. You simply can not take your eyes off of Nikki West when she sings, and the band is so in synch when they're playing instrumental portions, it almost looks choreographed. We wish them all the luck one little blog can muster as they set off on their seven week tour, hitting a few ist cities along the way.

So, the story goes a little something like this. Once upon a time there was a show called Unbuckled. It was a little get-together we threw, where we invited a couple of our favorite bands and everyone else in the city, and we watched the bands play and gave some stuff away, and the night was generally an unqualified success, like silent velcro or any movie with Sting in it. And we planned to have many more such events, but we kind of got caught up with other stuff.

Yesterday evening we headed down to Lucky Strike's opening night. It was... something. Ever been to a bowling alley with a dress code? Neither had we. This was the damn fanciest-ass night of bowling we've ever had the pleasure of attending.

Enter the space and you'll find yourself in a dining area; straight ahead is the bar; to your left is the thunder of the lanes. There are pool tables tucked away somewhere, too. Lucky Strike strives for a lounge atmosphere — dark wood, boldly-colored light fixtures, and pop art are the dominant themes.

The circulating wait staff was friendly, attentive and pleasantly flirtatious (in a tip-maximizing kind of way). Thanks to the preview night we were able to sample a wide selection of Lucky Strike's food offerings. The menu consists of only the finest in haute fryér: shu mai, breaded shrimp, mozzarella sticks, and inexplicable (but delicious!) buffalo chicken egg rolls. There are also pizzas, satay, and other high-class broiler fare. It's greasy; it's salty; it's tasty. It's bowling alley food, only more pretentious. You'll be several thousand calories deep before you come up with any complaints.

File this under “obvious.” Getting into and out of Adams Morgan can be a baffling ordeal for the navigationally challenged. Whether you’re a newcomer to D.C. (finding your way by that helpful grid system you’ve heard so much about), or an out-of-towner detraining at Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams-Morgan (expecting Adams Morgan to be right there), it’s easy to suffer some sort of temporary mental breakdown. And everyone knows that parking is nowhere to be found and that weekend nights are totally bananas up and down 18th Street in either direction. This DCist spent a little time this past weekend helping out some of our Rolling Thunder guests navigate from 18th Street and Kalorama Road to I-66 westbound, hopefully transforming good-natured exasperation into relief.

Ahh, it's been so nice to disconnect from our computers this Memorial Day weekend. We hope you were able to do the same. But the DCist crew was busy this weekend. DCist not only joined Rolling Thunder on our Harley and snapped this photo, we also shared drinks with Jessica Cutler aka Washingtonienne. And then on our way to an East Carolina-style barbecue in Columbia Heights, we bumped into Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld eating at...

Not long until Memorial Day weekend officially starts, but as DCist learned all too late, many workers act smart and take Friday off -- instant four-day weekend, and no need to worry about last night's effects on workplace productivity. While Saturday might face some storms, today, Sunday and Monday are looking to be beautiful. That's probably good for Rolling Thunder, which is coming through down this weekend. At left is a picture of the 2001 celebration, via EXB-WDC.

In the nation's captial, among the subcategories of workers -- the civil servants, the lawyers, high-ranking administration officials, Starbucks baristas, congressional staff assistants, etc. -- there are the hundreds of events planners. In a city where official events are usually so well-scripted and logistically planned out, it is surprising that tourism and events officials had to cancel the annual Taste of DC because they failed to realize that there were other events taking place in the capital this weekend.

Last Sunday's Post profiled local site CapitalWeather.com, the first D.C. weather blog:

While an earlier generation of "weather weenies" will be stuck in front of the TV, Samenow will not be idle. No, a storm hits and he drives toward it, from his apartment in Van Ness to the maelstrom in Virginia, to collect evidence for his weather blog. He checks out Doppler radar, dew points, jet stream winds, satellite images, vorticity maps and convective parameters, and creates his own forecast, which he details under such subject headings as "Amazing Alex" or "Flood Redux" or "Thunder in the blogosphere." Come the apocalypse, you begin to think, he would probably be outside with a thermometer and a tape measure preparing an entry: "End of the World???"