DCist is, collectively, having one of those Fridays. You know, one of those Fridays when your boss dumps a bunch of work on your desk and wants it done before you leave for the weekend (the sweet, sweet weekend) and your Internet keeps crapping out so you can’t even check your email. The weekend is quickly approaching and we haven’t yet had time to scour the best of the city’s offerings. But, we think you probably know something we don’t. So, what’s everyone got going on this weekend? Send us your tips in the comments.
FRIDAY:
>>Tonight is First Friday. Venture out (despite the rain) and hit the galleries in Dupont for some free wine and good art.
>>Pick and choose whichvarious festival events you’ll be hitting tonight. It’s a smorgasbord of offerings, from the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival to Free Fall Baltimore (yeah, it’s a bit of a drive, so what?) and the more local Sonic Circuits Festival of Experimental Music at Warehouse.
SATURDAY:
>> Ever catch yourself standing near a construction site, dreaming of sitting up there in the bulldozer cab? Or fascinated by the masons, carpenters, and plumbers? Relive your Tonka days at the National Building Museum’s Festival of the Building Arts from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. This year’s festival focuses on Green Design, so you can help build a straw bale wall, build an energy-efficient model home, or make a green roof. Absolutely a blast for kids, and… wait for it … the kid in all of us! While you’re there, check out the Green House to see all the cutting edge ideas in sustainable design.
SUNDAY:
>>The price is certainly right for Black Cat’s special double-feature film presentation of two concert documentaries geared toward the punk in us all. First up is Iggy and the Stooges: Live from Detroit, followed by Dead Boys: Live at CBGB 1977. Only $3 gets you in the door of the backstage, and the screenings kick off at 9 p.m. We hope the evening will answer the important question of whether watching a movie can lead directly to a brawl.
>>Poet Saul Williams, a.k.a. “Ray Joshua,” a.k.a. Lynn’s celibate boyfriend on the show “Girlfriends,” spins at Liv (next to Bohemian Caverns) on Sunday. $10, 10 p.m.
>>Whoever says Drew Carey, LeBron James and Cedar Point are Ohio’s only justifications for bragging rights is, well, mostly accurate, but they’ve also probably never heard the Cleveland Orchestra play (or eaten at the Portuguese restaurant Mallorca, but that’s another tangent). The
renowned symphonic ensemble is at the Kennedy Center at 4 p.m. this Sunday. Tickets start at $45.
>>Though you may not be familiar with go-go as a musical genre, as someone living in its founding city, you’ve probably heard it without even realizing it (Rare Essence’s 2005 radio-omnipresent cover of Ashlee Simpson’s “Pieces of Me” is just one example). To get your go-go fix this weekend, head to Zanzibar on Sunday and check out Chuck Brown and Sugar Bear, among others, for $20.
Weekend picks was a team effort, compiled by Sommer Mathis, Jeff Beam, Celeste Dawn Mitchell and Missy Frederick.
