Photo by Samer FarhaFRIDAY:
>> Tonight at 7 p.m., Politics and Prose hosts This American Life‘s Jonathan Goldstein, promoting his new book, Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bible!, which “recasts stories like Jonah and the whale, the tower of Babel, and Cain and Abel (among others), in wickedly irreverent detail, aiming to show the true motivations behind these well-known biblical characters.”
>> Cherry Blast is being billed as an art event featuring music, fashion, anime and origami, hosted by the Pink Line Project in association with the National Cherry Blossom Festival. Make no mistake: this party is going to be giant. It runs from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. in a warehouse at 2020 Shannon Place SE. $10 gets you in, with free shuttles (school buses!) running from Dupont Circle, at the corner of 20th Street and Massachusetts Ave, and from the Anacostia Metro station, every half hour until 1:30 a.m.
>> For a less glitzy, more hands on art experience, head to the Torpedo Factory’s Target Gallery, where a site specific installation that includes a large tree, garden wall and flowers, all made from recycled materials, is being installed in the main hall. The public is invited to come and help with the installation at the opening reception from 6 to 9 p.m., with a gallery talk with Steven and Linda Krensky at 7 p.m.
>> Jazz drummer and D.C. native Keith Killgo is one of the founding members of the groundbreaking jazz-funk group, The Blackbyrds. He will be leading his own group both tonight and Saturday at Twins Jazz. Tickets to the 9 and 11 p.m. sets are $20.
>> Depeche Mode Dance Party? You know who you are. DJ Steve EP, Krasty McNasty, and Killa K host on the Black Cat Mainstage, Doors at 9 p.m., $10.
>> For something more intimate, catch electronically-inclined singer-songwriter Maria Taylor at the Rock and Roll Hotel. Whispertown 2000 and local favorite Laura Burhenn open. $10/12, Doors at 8:30 p.m.
SATURDAY:
>> It’s the last weekend of the National Cherry Blossom festival, and this year’s fireworks display is set for about 8:30 p.m. There will be plenty to keep families busy near the Tidal Basin in the hours leading up to the big finale, but consider the alternate blossom programming earlier in the day: the Anacostia Cherry Blossom Festival runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. along Good Hope Road SE toward the Anacostia Park Entrance, and along 1900-2000 Block of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. Look for live jazz, an art walk, and plenty of stuff for the kids.
>> Comb through our film picks of the week, which includes a 3:30 p.m. double feature of George Kuchar’s A Town Called Tempest and Robert Downey Sr.’s Chafed Elbows at the National Gallery of Art. Free.
>> Love Calls Us to the Things of This World opens tonight at Irvine Contemporary. See artist Shawne Major’s assemblages of found objects that reveal her process of transforming everyday objects into an objet d’art. Opening reception 6 to 8 p.m.
>> Nrityanjali, a classical Indian dance company run by local artist Meena Telikicherla, will perform at the Rockville Civic Center’s F. Scott Fitzgerald Theater. The production, Arohanam (“Ascent”), uses traditional dance and music to explore the relationship between myth, science, and the theory of evolution. 7 p.m. $20/$15 with student I.D.
>> The Yuri’s Night events continue tonight at Warehouse Theater, as they host Countdown to Yuri’s Night, a space-themed art party with a burlesque show, live music and DJs, prizes, some kind of mystery science demonstration, “alien egg hunts,” and more. Works for us. Tickets are $20 and available in advance here.
>> Bob Mould and Richard Morel are back doing their semi-regular Blowoff dance party at the 9:30 Club. 11:30 p.m. doors, $12, 21+
SUNDAY:
>> Head down to the Lincoln Memorial around 3 p.m. for a free tribute concert to Marian Anderson, featuring soprano Denyce Graves, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Washington National Opera, and the Chicago Children’s Choir.
>> Gospel group Mary Mary will be making an Easter appearance at the Birchmere. $35, 7:30 p.m.
