With jambalaya simmering in the corner, and people waiting in line to get a haircut, you wouldn’t have thought you were in a bar, let alone at a rock show. But last week, upstairs from haircut-and-a-shot night, The Red & The Black was in fact hosting a lineup of several very different styles of local music. Despite a modest midweek crowd — consisting mostly of other bands — one group from Baltimore introduced a unique... more ›

Good morning, Washington. The weather-related headlines today are all generally pretty disappointing -- The Post proclaims that "Rain Likely to Dampen Area But Not Douse the Drought", and others have followed suit. But waving like a lone reed in the pessimistic sands of weather prognostication is CapitalWeather.com, who just minutes ago put up a prediction, based on a brand new model, suggesting that "several factors are finally lining up to bring the potential for... more ›

Written by DCist Contributor Stephanie Taylor Mark Andersen came to Washington decades ago as a student of international relations, but was heartbroken by what he saw right in his own backyard. What he describes as the distance between the city's idealism and its reality, particularly in terms of radical income disparities and the effects of historic racism, were too much for him to ignore. So he became a different type of diplomat, founding Positive Force... more ›

Monday >> Canada’s post-punk four piece Uncut just released their latest album Modern Currencies in the U.S. on July 17th and will be at DC9 tonight with special guest Patrick Krief of The Dears. Just like their name says, they are raw: loud, bold, and off the wall. Check out the stopmotion animated video for their recent single, "Darkhorse" which includes a fire bombing Ronald McDonald and an army of pissed off Care Bears. 8p.m.,... more ›

We really enjoy giving away free stuff, and so apparently do your favorite local bands. That's why we got together with Cedars to arrange for an EP and ticket giveaway to their show tonight with Scotland's the Cinematics and Chicago's the Changes at the Rock and Roll Hotel! Who loves ya? DCist loves ya. more ›

MONDAY As a part of its ongoing “Face It: We Are Probably All Going To Die or at the Very Least, Suffer Immeasurably” Series, Politics and Prose kicks off the week with a visit from Stephen Flynn, author of The Edge of Disaster, which, apparently, we are teetering on (cf. “all going to die,” “suffer immeasurably”). Also: CSI: Miami is on tonight! 5015 Connecticut Avenue, NW, 7 p.m. TUESDAY The art of letter writing is... more ›

Hoyas Bully the Irish Georgetown came into Saturday’s contest with Notre Dame after a successful, if underwhelming non-conference season. After starting the year with high hopes and a top ten ranking, three early losses pushed them off the national radar and out of the rankings. ND, however, was so hot they were smokin’, and riding a 12-game winning streak to a #17 ranking. But after a 66-48 thrashing of the Irish at the Verizon Center,... more ›

We couldn't help but ask ourselves a few questions after hearing that Matthew Fox would be in D.C. to promote his new movie, We Are Marshall. Did he finally get off the island for the interview, or were we just going to be in another one of his flashbacks? How would we get answers out of a man who spent days refusing to cooperate with "the others" in an old empty shark tank? Would it... more ›

It was quite the party last night at the Black Cat, full of skeezy mustached men (think 70s porn) and hyperactive girls in tutus (think Dakota Fanning plus Red Bull). Under normal circumstances, this is probably a law suit waiting to happen, but it turned out to be one of the most entertaining shows by all three acts on a bill that we have seen in some time. You know you are in for a... more ›

When last we spoke with We Are Scientists, it was October of last year. Their debut album, which already had a few singles in the UK charts, wouldn't be released in the US until the following January. Since then the band have taken the UK by storm, touring with the likes of Art Brut, Maximo Park and the Arctic Monkeys. Overall, it's been quite a year for the New York based trio, or so we... more ›

Monday >> Hear the man behind the sound. Don Zientara runs Arlington's legendary Inner Ear Studio, and has been behind the board for more of this town's seminal punk records than we can count. But it turns out after all these years that Zientara is also an excellent songwriter in his own right. His 2003 collection of stripped down solo tunes garnered solid reviews, and he is joined by Sentai and Shift tonight at the... more ›

In 1946, the Third Programme launched in Great Britain blasting classical music to the masses. Sixty years later, it has re-emerged, not as a station on the BBC, but as one of D.C.’s newest purveyors of trippy Brit pop. It is very appropriate that this band, who only recently formed at the beginning of the year, chose a name with such experienced undertones. With but several months under their belts working together, Simon, Fidel,... more ›

LAist is flashing a sad peace out to their editor Carolyn Kellogg with one hand and bumping knuckles with their new head typist L.A. blogger king Tony Pierce with the other. Where do ist editors go when they hang up the 'editorial we'? They take on MySpace, apparently. At least Ben Brown does. Austinist reminds of the just rewards of less savory careers this week and then they witness the Arctic Monkeys and We Are... more ›

MONDAY >> You scream, I scream, we all scream for British and 70s-inspired rock. Double your pleasure tonight at the Black Cat, as The Points (Fredericksburg's answer to Kings of Leon) and The Cuts (think The Cure meets The Thrills) work the back stage. $7, 9 p.m. >> We caught The Parachute Musical a while ago, opening for Deleted Scenes (who you may have seen at last week's Unbuckled). They turn out impressive piano pop,... more ›

Along with lilac and hyacinth, the sweet sweet smell of summer concerts is in the air. Here's a breakdown of some exciting dates so far. >> Belle & Sebastian, Broken Social Scene & Ted Leo + Pharmacists, Merriweather, July 8. If you're interested, the belle tix presale started today. Tickets go on sale en masse this Saturday at 10 a.m., via Ticketmaster or the Merriweather or 9:30 Club box offices. >> Wolfmother's been doing their... more ›

MONDAY When Elizabeth Berg titled her novel We Are All Welcome Here, she wasn’t kidding—just about every Southern-fried device and pre-Vietnam social concern is stuffed into its pages. Polio, single-parent striving, racial prejudice, nosy Southern biddies, miraculous monetary windfalls, Elvis Presley, and, of course, plucky Southern Belles that survive as if they were…maybe some sort of tree made out of some sort of metal. Anyway, Berg will be on hand at the Rockville Barnes and... more ›

New York City. Home to more bands (and more bloggers) per capita than probably any other city in the US. With so many bands and so many words being devoted to them, it's hard to believe a band as good as We Are Scientists has flown under the radar for so long. But we're not here to examine why this is the case, we're here to see what we can do about it. more ›

This DCist must admit we are something of a casual fan of Moby, having only seen him perform live once before, at the Area 1 tour at Merriwether in 2001. That said, Moby played a tight and professional show at last night's sold-out show at the 9:30 Club. We were happy to find some of the things we remembered from the 2001 tour hadn't changed: a well choreographed light show and Moby's confident and energetic stage presence. We also appreciated the small things with betrayed this blogging musician's quirks: from the PETA van parked outside and corresponding tables of information inside to the photocopied signs requesting no smoking in the main stage area "at the artist's request." more ›

D.C.'s media outlets are reporting turnout for today's primary election is light across the District, even in the highly contested Ward 8, where supporters greeted former mayor and council candidate Marion Barry like "an ex-prize fighter stepping back into the ring." more ›