More than ever on the concert circuit, nostalgia is the move. With everyone from Liz Phair to Public Enemy to The Pixies (and those are just the P's) devoting gigs and sometimes entire tours to reviving their seminal albums in sequence, lots of long-lived performers — particularly those strugging to get even their cult to embrace their new music — have glommed to the trend. more ›

If I were a scientist - which I'm not, for the record - my life's work would be spent studying the direct correlation between energy and happiness radiating from any particular stage, and the audience's perception of the show taking place. I'd cite specific examples from venues both large and small, but one case in particular would surely land me a Nobel nomination (for which category, I'm not sure). more ›

So now you know who we loved locally this year. Here's our list of the live shows that came through town and left a lasting impression in '07. more ›

Over in academia, it's finals time, but the receSs improv team over at George Washington University isn't compromising their weekend, which will mark the group's final show of 2007, over it. On their unofficial blog, The Colonialist, they're offering up reasons why their peers shouldn't either. In the past, receSs alums have gone on to pursue real-life comic gigs, including TJ Miller (now on the ABC show "Carpoolers"), Herschel Bleefeld (who landed a role in... more ›

WJLA brings word that Victor Kolako, the former Metrobus driver who was convicted of striking and killing two pedestrians on February 14, has been sentenced to one year in jail. Kolako was found guilty on two felony counts of negligent homicide in the Pennsylvania Ave. accident. The widower of one of the victims, Greg Schoenborn, has also filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against Metro in U.S. District Court. The sentencing decision is potentially... more ›

A sharpshooting GW student earned a free round-trip flight at the Colonials' hoops game last Wednesday by swishing a half court shot on his first try. The turquoise shorts-wearing, foam tricorner-hatted student, named Charles, had two chances to complete the feat during GW's win over Boston University at the Smith Center, but only needed the first. While a few students complained that the shooter had stepped over the line (audible in the video), we... more ›

When the Dismemberment Plan decided to call it quits in 2003, D.C. lost the one hometown act that just about everyone could agree on. The years since have been filled with high expectations for all of the band's former members, though none of the post-breakup projects have managed to incite the level of excitement that always seemed to surround the Plan. As you'll probably recall, the first out of the gate was Travis Morrison with... more ›

Although Gist has been around with varying lineups for almost twenty years, the current lineup of singer/guitarist Nayan Bhula, bassist Finley Martin and drummer Fred Burton have only been together for the past five. In that short time they've released two albums, Art is Now Human and Diesel City, the latter of which established them as an act whose sound could be simultaneously tied to the district and reflect their diverse backgrounds and influences,... more ›

>> It appears as if there are still tickets available to see handsome Swedish crooner Jens Lekman at Black Cat tonight, which is preposterous. The box office opens promptly at 8 p.m., so get yourselves over to get in line for what will surely be a spectacularly moody rainy day show, with Patrick Cleandenim and Viktor Sjöberg. Tickets are $14 at the door, and the show begins at 8. >> Don't miss our lengthy... more ›

Travis Morrison Hellfighters play Thursday night at the Rock & Roll Hotel as part of a benefit show for Survivors and Advocates of Empowerment, with Ra Ra Rasputin and Jukebox the Ghost (***). 8:30 p.m., $10 in advance, $12 at the door. You can read our review of Morrison's latest album, All Y'all here What does the new album, All Y’all, mean to you? Well, it’s the first thing I did with this band. Travistan... more ›

Written by DCist contributor Brett Gellman The Maryland Terrapins (4-2, 1-1) take on the 19th ranked Virginia Cavaliers (6-1, 3-0) in a nationally televised homecoming contest tomorrow night at College Park in what is shaping up to be the best ACC matchup of the entire day, and yes, that includes Miami-FSU. The Terps, who are coming off a much-needed bye week, squeaked out a 28-26 victory against Georgia Tech two weeks ago after Travis Bell’s... more ›

2001 was a good year for Radiohead clones. Muse released their second album, Origin of Symmetry, to the fanfare of British rock critics. Coldplay finally attained mainstream success in the United States. And Travis cemented their international popularity with the Nigel Godrich-produced The Invisible Band. Meanwhile, in Denton, Texas (about as far away from Oxford as you can get), five jazz students at the University of North Texas released an EP under the name Midlake.... more ›

Photo and story by DCist contributor Valerie Paschall Leave it to Travis Morrison to throw a CD release party, but forget to order CDs. Morrison shrugged it off, offering up several suggestions of places online (including a half-kidding nod to Napster) from where the audience could pick up his latest release, All Y’all. It’s this quirky charm that makes his live show so engaging; Saturday night’s show at Iota would’ve been worth the ticket price... more ›

FRIDAY: >> Starting tonight, George Mason Stadium plays host to the region's annual D.C . College Cup. The soccer teams of George Washington, American, Howard, and George Mason will square off in two rounds of games. Though the tournament is conspicuously missing national powerhouses UMD and UVA, the event will still showcase some of the best young talent around. GW and AU kick off tonight's slate (5:00 p.m.), with Howard and GMU rounding the night... more ›

Travistan and the Dismemberment Plan. There. I wanted to just throw those out there right at the start and get them out of the way, as they're the two points of reference reviews are inevitably going to go to time and time again for Morrison's new record. They're also two things to which Morrison may already tire of comparisons. And, of course, they're the essential pieces of the questions on many a hopeful fan's lips... more ›

Londonist are starting to think their city is getting just a little bit too expensive, when even Christian Slater can't afford to go out there. And there's no escaping, as local singer Lily Allen discovered when she was barred entry to the US. The British mapping agency caused further bad karma, by blocking a 3-D representation of London in Google Earth. But the smiles returned to Londonist's faces as they interviewed Baroness von Reichardt,... more ›

>> The National Weather Service has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch for the District of Columbia until 8:00 p.m. >> Travis Morrison's new album is now up on his web site. >> 72 D.C. public schools are failing federal standards in reading, math and other basic education goals. [Examiner] >> Comcast has officially changed the terms of their subscription agreement with customers, meaning you lose the right to sue Comcast, while Comcast retains the... more ›

When you find yourself cupping the balls of a bull, you know your life has taken a turn for the weird. At least, that's what Stephanie Garibaldi found after spending time in a Mayan village, just after deciding Ivy League College was not for her. Garibaldi's is one of four stories involving faith and self-discovery showcased in Chocolate Jesus. The work is performed by regulars from SpeakeasyDC, a monthly storytelling night featuring seasoned regulars and... more ›

When the band first broke onto the scene in the mid to late 1990s, Glasgow's Travis was at the forefront of the British trad rock revival. Like its counterpart, Oasis, Travis is a descendant of established bands, such as The Beatles, U2, and Radiohead, as well as a progenitor of Coldplay, the more recent arena kings. The band never attained the success of either Oasis or Coldplay, partly because it rarely attempted to be larger than life while those groups openly admit to a certain amount of megalomania. more ›

FRIDAY: >> The Millennium Stage Conservatory Project concludes this weekend at the Kennedy Center. Promising young musicians from the nation's best conservatories will be giving free concerts in the Terrace Theater: Eastman School of Music (tonight), Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University (Saturday), and Shepherd School of Music, Rice University (Sunday). All concerts begin at 6 p.m. and can also be experienced by live simulcast through the Millennium Stage Web site. >> Garrison Keillor brings... more ›

>> While half the DCict staff was still buzzing from this weekend's Dismemberment Plan shows, stereogum chatted with front-man Travis Morrison about his day job as "lead JavaScript programmer for advertisements for the Washington Post website." All of a sudden the Post seems so much cooler. Any other semi-retired rock gods looking for jobs at a D.C. Web site? We can offer you cookies and a handful of DCist temporary tatoos! >> Cops in... more ›

Well, that was fast. Judging by the comments that are pouring into yesterday's post, the Dismemberment Plan reunion benefit sold out in less than a minute. All of us here at DCist offer our hearty congratulations to those of you who managed to snag tickets — many of us also offer our undying envy. It's a little hard to say exactly when the show sold out. Some commenters are reporting success as late as 5:05,... more ›

Tom reports in this week's Dish that John Wabeck, executive chef of Firefly just south of Dupont Circle, is departing at the end of the month. Wabeck has been plating up fantastic dishes for years at Firefly, which is why it ranks as one of my favorite places. Now he's decided that he might want to pursue, according to Tom, either "the wine thing," or "the kitchen thing." Sounds like a case of burnout to me. It's too bad, too, because I was really looking forward to the Spring menu. more ›

Hopewell is a five piece hailing from New York City perhaps best known by the company they keep. Lead singer Jason Russo formerly played bass for space-rock pioneers Mercury Rev. Hopewell's acclaimed album "Hopewell & the Birds of Appetite" was produced by Dave Fridmann (The Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev and Sleater-Kinney) and Bill Racine (Rouge Wave, Phantom Planet). They've played shows all over the world with tour mates like the Brian Jonestown Massacre, British... more ›

As a rather fervent concert goer, I've been watching my October Outlook calendar with alternating excitement and dread as my concert calendar gets more and more crowded. This all came to a head yesterday as I started putting in the DAMfest schedule and noticed a whole bunch of scheduling conflicts in the making. Area indie rock fans are going to have some tough choices to make the last full week of October. Thursday, Oct.... more ›

A sentiment, as defined by Houghton Mifflin is "a thought, view, or attitude, especially one based mainly on emotion instead of reason." The title is quite apt for the local DC rock outfit of the same name. The band is the brainchild of frontman Mike Medlock, and is as much his cathartic medium as his weekend playpen. Medlock is a passionate frontman, but doesn't take himself too seriously, and wears his heart on his sleeve.... more ›

FRIDAY: >> Please Hammer, don't hurt 'em. Landmark R&B radio station WPGC celebrates 19 years of playing 18 jams in a row with a concert at the Verizon Center that features LL Cool J, MC Hammer, Chuck Brown, EU, Naughty By Nature, Bow Wow, MC Hammer and Lisa Lisa. Apparently Cult Jam had previous commitments. $45 - $70, 7 p.m. (Kyle Gustafson) >> You may have missed La Didone last weekend, but if you... more ›

Looks like things aren't going so well for the Maryland men's basketball team lately. Yesterday Fox Sports headlined an article "Terps could be in ACC cellar next season" after a series of calamities up the Green Line. Earlier this year starting guard Chris McCray failed out of school, and just recently seniors Nik Caner-Medley, Travis Garrison, and Sterling Ledbetter all withdrew from school without finishing the semester, presumably to pursue pro careers. The Examiner's... more ›

This past Sunday, celebrated Washington Post music writer Jay Dot Freedom of the Lake wrote up a superb article on Ryan Schreiber, who, while deeply contemplating farm implements some years ago, hit upon the idea for the sine qua non online guide to the indie rock universe—Pitchfork Media. Launched from the Minneapolis home of his folks, Schreiber’s baby has since become something of a kingmaker. Cluttered with inside jokes and boasting writing several degrees more... more ›

With estimates in the tens of thousands, immigrants and their supporters took to the Mall yesterday in a massive show of force in favor of progressive immigration reform. As the Post notes, quite a few of the marchers were taking their first steps into political activism, a step that is having a noticeable impact on Capitol Hill. Area bloggers have started sending us their experiences from the march, so if you have any to share, post them in the comments section. We also have plenty of pictures popping up in our Flickr photostream. Of course, that many people made for quite the commute home for areas workers. Pedestrian Scott Travis was quoted in the Post as saying, "I looked up and saw the protest going on...I then looked up the route and decided, 'Uh-oh, time to bail.'" Good move, Scott. more ›