Good morning, Washington. It looks like California’s still on fire, and likely to remain so. Most versions of the aforelinked AP story include the phrase “firefighters all but concede defeat,” and the Post is calling the resulting evacuation the largest in modern history. It all sounds pretty grim. Good luck, West Coast. Yet More Stadium Parking Controversy: The Post reports on the latest in a seemingly neverending series of deliberations over parking at the…

We noted awhile ago that the owners of the Birchmere had been in talks to open another venue in Silver Spring — while that has fallen by the wayside, it looks like Live Nation will be moving in instead. The Clear Channel spinoff, which produces concerts and owns music venues around the country, including Nissan Pavilion, various Fillmores, and the House of Blues chain, signed a letter of intent to build in an old J.C….

Korn has one, and so does Ozzy. Having a summer rock festival is just something the big boys do, and Linkin Park is no different. Yesterday the band’s Projekt Revolution tour came to Nissan Pavilion, promising a diverse bill of hard rock bands on two stages. Now in its fourth year, the tour has in the past featured Korn, Snoop Dogg, Mudvayne, Cypress Hill, Xzibit and Less Than Jake, lineups more eclectic than Korn’s…

‘Tis the season for outdoor venues, and it just so happens the greater D.C. area has a plethora of them. Outside the confines of our beloved Fort Reno, Wolftrap, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Nissan Pavilion, and a few more decent venues all exist within an hour of the District. They might require a bit of a hike, and usually a car, but if you have the means, might as well pick up a cheap lawn seat…

By DCist contributor Celeste Dawn Mitchell Two thousand of the khaki crowd’s finest came out to party Thursday at Friends of the National Zoo’s Young Professionals’ (or FONZ YP’s, if you will) sold-out Brew at the Zoo. Proceeds went toward its Asian elephant conservation project. Just in case patrons forgot they were partying for a cause, four-ounce fill-lines on souvenir mugs intimated that this was a classy tasting affair, not a frat kegger. Though…

Monday >> Struggling through another slow week of the 9-5? Well there’s a Labor Day light at the end of the tunnel and what better way to get you there than with two very loud and bold female punk songstresses who will shake you right into the weekend. Catch Full Minute of Mercury (***) and Knives in the Attic tonight at DC9. 8pm, $8. Tuesday >> While Shakira works out her Oral Fixation, Wyclef…

Last year we once again perused, dumbfounded, the Post’s Best Bets lists, lamenting the way in which they painted our town with the beige brushstrokes of national chain blandness. We fumed a bit, and then we listened to our commenters, who reminded us that the entries were nominated and voted on by Post readers, who tend to be old, suburban, and clueless. This made us feel better, but we still resolved not to forget when…

Before we kick off this week’s suggestions, a quick note about Sunday’s show at the Black Cat. The Lovely Feathers were good, Dr Dog was great, and The Spinto Band was freakin phenomenal. What a tremendous bunch of characters those guys are, we haven’t seen head shaking like that since That Thing You Do. TUESDAY: >> We’ll be honest — we can’t exactly picture Trent Reznor playing in an amphitheater. But it’s a plan so…

We successfully sailed the ocean blue and are back with this week’s shortened music picks. TUESDAY >> It’s an early show/late show kind of night at the 9:30 Club (directions from DCist Maps). Come by at 6 p.m. to catch Anna Nalick, the songstress TV networks love to dramatize commercials with, for $15. Pound a Red Bull and stay for the late show as Blues Traveler gets all your harmonica lovin’ ya yas out. $25,…

DCist did not attend Coldplay’s long-awaited show at Nissan Pavilion on Friday, and based on the reviews coming our way, we’re almost happy that we didn’t. Various friends and readers have tipped us off to one reality that soured many a Coldplay fan’s night — nightmarish traffic. One reader reported a three-hour crawl over 30 miles, another ran head on into a two-hour wait to exit the parking area after the show but before the…