With the rainy, cloudy weather — all dominated by the intense news coverage of the death of Pope John Paul II — it hasn’t been the most uplifting past couple of days. Since we can’t add much more to what’s been said or written about the late pope, we’ll do a survey of obituaries and headlines on the jump. But first, here’s what you may have missed on DCist. — If you’re late for…

It was an all-European, all-the-time line up last night at the 9:30 Club as DCist headed out to see a bill of Long-View, a group from Manchester, Scottish quintet Dogs Die In Hot Cars and Parisian band Phoenix. Though we’d been hearing some buzz surrounding all three groups, especially following Long-View and DDIHC’s recent performances at SXSW, we went into the concert without any expectations, but came out pleasantly surprised. The best word we…

In addition to the HFStival announcement, there are a few other bits and pieces floating around — and we’d just hate ourselves if we didn’t tell you about them. First off, an eagle-eyed reader let us know that tickets for the Bright Eyes/The Faint are already on sale. Though the two shows on Thursday, May 26 and Friday, May 27 haven’t been posted on the 9:30 Club’s home page, you can hit up their sales…

FRIDAY: >> It’s what all the cool kids are doing: Liberation Dance Party goes on tonight at DC9. If you’re going to the Dogs Die in Hot Cars (pictured at right) show at the 9:30 Club, make sure to hit DC9 afterwards, because they’ll be doing a spot of post-show spinning. SATURDAY: >> Get crafty: The Washington Craft Show takes place all weekend long, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., at the Washington Convention Center….