Photo by kimberlyfaye

MUSIC: Strong local rock lineup at the Black Cat tonight, featuring three bands that have all, in one form or another, been featured prominently by DCist. First up is Casper Bangs, featuring ex-members of the Hard Tomorrows, followed by Brooklyn indie popsters the XYZ Affair, with Deleted Scenes headlining. XYZ Affair will also give away two brand new songs for download. 9 p.m., $8.

PANEL: Come see yours truly! DCist editor-in-chief Sommer Mathis joins fellow panelists Matthew Yglesias of the Center for American Progress, David Alpert of Greater Greater Washington, Reihan Salam from The Atlantic & The New America Foundation, and Ben Adler of americancity.org at tonight’s Next American City URBANEXUS salon. The topic? How blogging has created a new breed of urban activists. Things get started at 7 p.m. at The Space. RSVP here, $15 in advance or $20 at the door, includes a one-year subscription to Next American City.

DJ: Eight different DJs will be spinning a “James Brown vs. Stevie Wonder” battle tonight at Liv. We can’t see a single way this could go wrong. $10, 9 p.m.

TALK: Astronomy nerds will want to be at the Lockheed Martin IMAX Theater in the Air and Space Museum tonight at 8 p.m. for a lecture titled, To the Edge of Space and Beyond with Major General Joe Engle. Engle will discuss his extensive experience, including “more than 14,700 hours in the air piloting more than 185 different types of aircraft, and … over 225 hours in space.”