Photo by Mark Andre.
FRIDAY
MAGFEST: Calling all gaming nerds! If you’re not at MAGfest this weekend, you need to check your priorities. MAGfest, short for Music and Gaming fest, is a “four day long party dedicated to the appreciation of video game music, gaming of all types, and the gaming community.” That translates to non-stop gaming of all kinds at the National Harbor’s Gaylord National Hotel this weekend. I’ll be there all weekend. Expect a full report on Monday. $70, more info available here.
COMEDY: D.C.’s longest running lady-centric comedy show, Comedy on the Table, is returning to the Velvet Lounge (915 U Street NW). Tonight’s lineup includes Franqi French, Alyssa A. Cowan, Brittany Carney, Michele Sometimes-Gray, Alli Hanley, and DCist contributor Valerie Paschall. Hosted by Si Mone. $5 and all proceeds will go to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. Starts at 7 p.m.
BENEFIT CONCERT: Famed Columbia Heights church St. Stephen’s (1525 Newton Street NW) is the location of another worthy benefit show—the Benefit for #BlackLivesMatter. Local post-hardcore trio Alarms & Contronls, soul-punk band Laughing Man, Colesville, Md.’s Two Inch Astronaut, and sludgy fuzz-pop trio Polyon play there on January 23. The suggested $10 donation, collected at the door, will go towards Black Lives Matter DMV. As per the Facebook invite: “Because if the system won’t indict cops, we indict the system.” — Alison Baitz
SATURDAY
DANCE PARTY: TNT, the monthly soul and funk dance party at Haydee’s in Mt. Pleasant (3102 Mount Pleasant Street NW), is dead. Long live Shout Bamalama. The new dance night features DJ. Baby Alcatraz. It’ll still probably be a rager, so you should go if you like dance parties that don’t suck. Starts at 10 p.m. More info here.
FILM FESTIVAL: This is the last year (probably) to catch films at Artisphere (1101 Wilson Boulevard Arlington, Va.) before it’s sold. Thus, you should probably go check out the Rosebud Film and Video Festival. “Since 1990, the Rosebud Film and Video Festival has recognized and honored the innovative, unusual, experimental, and deeply personal in regional film and video making.” $10, starts at 12:30 p.m.
NEW BRUNCH: Bloomingdale’s two-month old SoCal Mexican spot, El Camino (108 Rhode Island Avenue NW), starts serving brunch this weekend (11 a.m. – 3 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday). Get excited for migas (scrambled eggs with onions, peppers, chorizo, queso fresco, and tortilla strips), green chili breakfast tacos, and “Mexican baklava” with maple sugar, cumin, and pumpkin seeds. They’ll also be serving their full drink menu. — Jenny Holm
SUNDAY
KARAOKE: No, it’s not your average karaoke, it’s indie karaoke? Head over to DC9 (1940 9th Street NW) for another edition of indie karaoke, featuring tracks from artists like Beat Happening, Belle & Sebastian, Built to Spill, the Drums, Elliott Smith, Gang Of Four, Guided By Voices, Husker Du, Japandroids, Johnny Thunders, Ladytron, Le Tigre, Liz Phair, Los Campesinos!, Mission of Burma, and many more. Free, starts at 8 p.m.
LOCAL BANDS: It’s a hell of a local lineup at U Street Music Hall (1115 U Street NW) on Sunday, featuring Baby Bry Bry & The Apologists, The Sea Life, BRNDA, and New York’s What Moon Things. $15, but that also gets you a new cassette tape featuring all of those bands. Starts at 7 p.m. More info here.
