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 out (7:30 p.m.). The second round of games will be played on Sunday, starting at 1 p.m.
>> Solid line-up of regional rock tonight at Black Cat’s mainstage, with indie-poppers Exit Clov, Fredericksburg’s Pash and D.C.’s excellent Carol Bui (pictured), who makes her mainstage debut just a month before her own Black Cat CD release party. $10, 9 p.m.
SATURDAY:
>> The DC Blues Society offers free outdoor concerts starting at 1 p.m. at the Carter Barron Amphitheater, featuring Clarence “the Bluesman” Turner and Band, Mary Shaver and the Smokin’ Polecats, the Orioles, the Nighthawks and Bobby Parker and the Blues Night Band, plus an after-party in Bladensburg for $15 — all part of their annual DC Blues Festival.
>> Travel around the world musically for free while never leaving Arlington. The Planet Arlington Festival offers up ska via the Skatalites at 4, Brazilian goes to New York percussive roar from Cyro Baptista at 5:30, funky New Orleans horns from Benny Jones Sr. & the Treme Brass Band at 6:30, Mexican diva crooning from Lila Downs at 7:15, and South African jazz from Hugh Masekela at 8:45 at the Netherlands Carillon/Iwo Jima Memorial Grounds. Rain or Shine, Free.
>> Travis Morrison Hellfighters are having a CD release party at Iota, with Gist and The Caribbean. With so many people out of town, this is a great chance to check out a set from Morrison heavy on stuff from the new album at an intimate venue — you can read our review of All Y’all here. 9:30 p.m., $10.
>> The Kennedy Center is your performance art go-to this weekend, as it puts on the annual Page-to-Stage New Play Festival. Featuring nearly every theater company in the D.C. area, productions begin all day long from 2 to 8:30 p.m., and all events are our favorite price of free. We’re big fans of career-soul-searching Josh Lefkowitz, and you can see him do what he does best in Now What?, presented by Woolly Mammoth, at 6 p.m. on Saturday. Sunday catch the tragic, high school teacher love story in the cabaret The Blue Angel by Scena Theater at 5 p.m. Finish the weekend on a high note with iMusical, an audience driven off-the-cuff musical by the Washington Improv Theater at 8:30 p.m. See the full calendar of events here.
>> Don’t miss Soulico Crew, the Tel Aviv DJ collective who are likely the only Middle Eastern outfit mixing world-class turntablism with hip hop and reggae beats. Tonight at Wonderland, 8 p.m., w/ DJ Meistro.
SUNDAY:
>> Be sure to check out our full preview of Godfather of Go-go Chuck Brown’s Birthday Party concert at 9:30 Club, 7:30 p.m., $25.
>> The National Symphony Orchestra hosts its free annual Labor Day Concert on the
West Lawn of the Capitol, starting at 8 p.m., which will include a hodge podge of standards and favorites from Gershwin to Dvorák.
MONDAY:
>> Eat grilled meats (or grilled meat substitutes).
>> Head-Roc headlines the Labor of Love Festival at Asylum, which also features Resination, Mic thefinite, Cornel West Theory, Motel Project and more. $12, also Sunday, call 202-319-9353 for set times.
>> The Cinematics bring their Scottish pop rock to the Rock and Roll Hotel, perfect for all you Franz Ferdinand fans. With Carina Round and Fever, $10, 8:30 p.m.
Heather Goss, Steve Kiviat and Matt Bourque contributed.
