Finish your Thanksgiving leftovers: Christmas is coming to D.C. as the Union Market tree and the National Christmas Tree go aglow this week.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26
HEAVY STUFF: On her latest record, Goners, released earlier this year, Laura Gibson expands her sound from solo singer-songwriter by embracing instrumentation to back her reflective, weighty themes. Dan Mangan opens her show at DC9. (DC9, 7:30 p.m. doors, 8:00 p.m. show, $15-$18)
BUNDLE UP: Get winter-ready in Foggy Bottom at the L.L.Bean pop-up shop at George Washington University. The traveling shopping experience includes discounts on footwear and outerwear you’ll need for the season, plus there’s a custom bootlace bar. Games and prizes are also promised. (University Yard, 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., FREE)
AMUSANT! Forget Apples to Apples. It’s all about pommes at Jouons! French Game Night. Practice your French with students and native speakers over Scrabble and Codenames. (Alliance Française de Washington DC, 6:30 p.m., $5 suggested donation)
MORE: Matisyahu (City Winery DC, 6:00 p.m. doors, 8:00 p.m. show, $38-$55), Washington Wizards vs. Houston Rockets (Capital One Arena, 7:00 p.m., $18+), The Makers: Reykjavik (Carnegie Institution for Science, 7:00 p.m., $25), Arin Ray (Songbyrd, 7:00 p.m. doors, 8:00 p.m. show, $15-$17)
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27
BREAKING IT ALL DOWN: In Where We Go From Here: Two Years in the Resistance, set to be released this week, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders details the progressive fight of the past two years under President Donald Trump. Hear the 2016 presidential hopeful on what happened and what’s next at this book talk. (GWU Lisner Auditorium, 7:00 p.m., $31-$33)
IT’S INSPIRED: Earlier this year, Gary, Indiana’s Freddie Gibbs surprise-dropped his fourth LP, Freddie, with its title and artwork that mimics Teddy Pendergrass’ 1979 album Teddy. G Perico and Caleb Brown open the rapper’s concert on Tuesday. (U Street Music Hall, 7:00 p.m., $25)
SHOP UNDER THE STARS: Kevin Tien of Himitsu and Tae Strain of Momofuku CCDC set up shop outside Tiger Fork in Blagden Alley for the restaurant’s final night market of 2018. Sample Bluecoat Gin and Widow Jane Apple Rye while you shop for gifts, jewelry, art, specialty food, and more. (Tiger Fork, 8:00 p.m., FREE)
MORE: Oliver Francis: The Overdrive Tour (Union Stage, 7:00 p.m. doors, 8:00 p.m. show, $15), Des Demonas with Penguin and Knife Wife (Black Cat, 7:30 p.m. doors, $10), Black Girl Magic (DC9, 7:30 p.m. doors, 8:00 p.m. show, $30), Why We Dream author Alice Robb in conversation with Alex Stone (Politics and Prose at Union Market, 7:00 p.m., FREE)
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28
LEVELING UP: Following his well-received self-titled debut in 2017, Canadian country artist Colter Wall had some serious Nashville pedigree on hand for his sophomore album: Songs of the Plains was produced by Americana studio star Dave Cobb in Nashville’s historic Studio A. Vincent Neil Emerson opens Wednesday’s 9:30 Club show. (9:30 Club, 7:00 p.m., $20)
O, TANNENBAUM: President Calvin Coolidge was the first president to light a Christmas tree on the Ellipse south of the White House. The tradition continues at the annual National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. And though the ticket lottery for the ceremony has passed, stop by the tree from 4:30 p.m. to midnight through the holidays to see the spectacle. (President’s Park, FREE)
TWOFER: Downtown Boys, a bilingual band from Providence, makes impassioned punk that takes aim and demands action. On Wednesday, they share a double bill at Black Cat with Algiers, an ambitious band out of Atlanta, who on their album The Underside of Power, explore genre, meshing sound, speech and styles across 51 minutes. (Black Cat, 7:30 p.m. doors, $15 advance, $17 day of show)
MORE: Trophy Eyes and Seaway with Microwave, Can’t Swim and Hot Mulligan (Rock & Roll Hotel, 6:00 p.m. doors, 6:30 p.m. show, $17-$20), Hipster Hanukkah Holiday Market (Foundry United Methodist Church, 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m., $6), India Connected author Ravi Agrawal in conversation with Jonathan Tepperman (Politics and Prose at the Wharf, 7:00 p.m., FREE), Tall Heights with Francis Cone and Old Sea Brigade (U Street Music Hall, 7:00 p.m., $15), Shy Boys with Good Dog Nigel and Lotion Princess (Songbyrd, 7:00 p.m. doors, 8:00 p.m. show, $10-$12), Julian Lage Trio (Union Stage, 7:00 p.m. doors, 8:00 p.m. show, $20-$40), Savoir Adore with Eighty Ninety (DC9, 7:30 p.m. doors, 8:00 p.m. show, $15), Barber Shop Chronicles (The Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater, 8:00 p.m., $29-$99)
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29
O, TANNENBAUM, PART DEUX: No sweat if you didn’t get tickets for the National Christmas Tree Lighting: Union Station kicks off the Christmas season with a tree lighting of its own. A co-production from the Norwegian embassy, the tree is decorated by kids from local public schools in entirely recycled materials. Plus, the transit hub will host a simulcast of Yo-Yo Ma’s sold out performance from the National Cathedral, part of the cellist’s series of performances of Bach suites at unique locations around the world. (Union Station, 6:00 p.m., FREE)
PUNK ROCKERS: It’s a night of post-punk as the Canadian project Preoccupations and Detroit’s Protomartyr share the bill at Union Stage. Rattle opens. (Union Stage, 7:00 p.m. doors, 8:00 p.m. show, $17-$30)
WAR IS OVER: The National Symphony Orchestra marks the 100th anniversary of the final armistice of World War I with Britten’s War Requiem, a work that combines the Latin Mass for the Dead with antiwar poems by Wilfred Owens, an officer killed in battle. (The Kennedy Center Concert Hall, 7:00 p.m., $15-$89)
MORE: Anna and the Apocalypse Zombie Holiday Party (Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum, 6:30 p.m., $50) Muscadine Bloodline (Songbyrd, 7:00 p.m. doors, 8:00 p.m. show, $15-$18), Travis Scott Astroworld: Wish You Were Here Tour (Capital One Arena, 7:30 p.m., $29.95-$124.95), Majeure with Geo Rip and Analog Tara (Black Cat, 7:30 p.m. doors, $10), Vim & Vigor with the Young Birds (DC9, 7:30 p.m. doors, 8:00 p.m. show, $8), NPR Holiday Shopping Happy Hour (NPR, 5:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m., FREE), Tarot Night (Slash Run, 8:30 p.m., $10 suggested donation)
