FRIDAY: >> Howard University alum Eric Roberson performs tonight at the Black Cat along with Emily King. Doors open at 9 p.m. $17. >> It’s pretty much the end of times: Vanilla Ice will be at Foggy Bottom bar McFadden’s tonight, “drinking, partying, and hosting the night” starting at 10 p.m. $5 Jager bombs and $2 Bud and Bud Light bottles are little enticement to make this event anything more than laughable, but maybe if…

The Ponys play the Black Cat Backstage tonight with Jay Reatard. $10, Doors at 9 p.m. The Ponys are one of those buzz bands that seem perennially plagued with the “next big thing” tag. Hailing from Chicago, a city full of legends of all sorts and more than a few hype-worthy up-and-comers, theirs is a difficult task. But 2006’s Turn the Lights Out picked up where Celebration Castle left off and took it one step…

With seven albums under their belt, Blonde Redhead are certainly not newcomers. From their early tutilage under Sonic Youth through their evolution into an ambient, noisey sound all their own, the New Yorkers are coming to the 9:30 Club Sunday night in support of their most recent album, 23, which unlike the movie with a simliar name, is getting great reviews all over the internets. If their show here is anything like the one they…

We here in the Ist-A-Verse know that we’re sensational, but it’s very rare that we get a chance to be sensationalistic. This week, we’ve decided to have ourselves a little fun and try our hand at tacky tabloid headlines, using nothing more than our favorite posts from this week. Torontoist Special Report: Rosie to Trump: “Fire 300 Bicyclists for Fraud!” On DCist: Students Go Wild for Slogans, Secrets and Sexual Harassment The action was thick…

FRIDAY: >> RJD2 is not to be confused with the new R2D2 mailboxes unvelied this month. His turntable skills, however, have us wondering if he’s part robot. At the 9:30 Club, $20. >> Native sons The Walkmen, who we talked to last spring, bring their boozey, jangley rock, to the Rock & Roll Hotel tonight. Fans can look forward to hearing lots of new material that the band’s been road-testing this spring. If you liked…

Spring appears to have, er, sprung, at least temporarily, in most of the Ist-A-Verse, so naturally, we’re all feeling pretty good. (Yes, we know that spring doesn’t officially start till later this month. Just let us enjoy our weather!) And that makes us that much more eager to share all of the nifty things we’re up to… Over at Sampaist, spring has more than sprung: it’s sweltering! But, as everyone knows, museums are an ideal…

This past month’s rain washed out plenty of events in the District; among them was our chance to see Metropolitan with Shwa and Five Four at Ft. Reno on June 12. Instead, for this month’s Three Stars we’re reviewing the band’s third album The Lines They Get Broken. Metropolitan have one of the more upbeat sounds in D.C., and stay away from political commentary or avant garde art rock. The band’s sound draws from cited…

Sonic Youth and their pet project (no pun intended) Be Your Own Pet played a day/night double header yesterday at the 9:30 Club that showcased two generations of bands on one stage. I was lucky enough to score tickets to the first show, which started around quarter ’til seven and was over before last night’s Mavs / Heat tilt tipped off. Despite seeing Sonic Youth numerous times over the years, mostly at fesitvals like…

Along with lilac and hyacinth, the sweet sweet smell of summer concerts is in the air. Here’s a breakdown of some exciting dates so far. >> Belle & Sebastian, Broken Social Scene & Ted Leo + Pharmacists, Merriweather, July 8. If you’re interested, the belle tix presale started today. Tickets go on sale en masse this Saturday at 10 a.m., via Ticketmaster or the Merriweather or 9:30 Club box offices. >> Wolfmother’s been doing their…

We hope you all had yesterday off, like we did. If we’d been here to write the agenda, we would have told you to check out The Greek Embassy and Paul Kamran at Galaxy Hut. But we weren’t so we didn’t. If anybody caught the show, we’d love to hear how it was. TUESDAY >> The excitement of 24 and The Golden Globes may leave you feeling a little empty tonight. What better way to…