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Around Town: Smithsonian Folklife Festival 2016 @ The National Mall, 6/29-7/4/16 & 7/7-7/10/16

Jeremy Bailey
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Around Town: Smithsonian Folklife Festival 2016 @ The National Mall, 6/29-7/4/16 & 7/7-7/10/16

Folklife Festival 2016Smithsonian Folklife Festival 2016

Come down to the National Mall this weekend and next, and experience the annual Folklife Festival.

This year’s themes are Basque culture (regions in Spain and France) and the Sounds of California (celebrating the rich diversity of cultures in the state).

I always enjoy the Folklife Festival for the ethnic food options each year. Sometimes from places I have yet to visit, or sometimes from countries where I love the food I’ve tried, but it’s a regional variation or area of that country I haven’t been to.

Basque cuisine is something I’ve yet to try, so looking at the menu offerings, it looks pretty good. The Talo con Chistorra (paprika pork sausages in tortillas), Sukalki (beef short rib stew) and the Pantxineta (Almond custard-filled puff pastry) are definitely going in my belly.

The California food options are tacos and Thai food. Alright!

There will be performances of Basque music and dance, as well as a variety of performers from cultures in California.

Each evening there is a concert at 6:30pm at the Ralph Rinzler Concert Stage.

Evening Concert Schedule

  • Friday, July 1 – NOKA, Biotzetik Basque Choir (Basque)
  • Saturday, July 2 – Quetzal & Meklit (California)
  • Sunday, July 3 – Ralph Rinzler Memorial Concert: NEA National Heritage Fellows: Celebrating 50 Years of the National Endowment for the Arts
  • Monday, July 4 – none
  • Thursday, July 7 – Armenian Public Radio & TmbaTa (California)
  • Friday, July 8 – Kalakan and Gatibu (Basque)
  • Saturday, July 9 – John Santos Sextet & Bobi Céspedes (California)
  • Sunday, July 10 (Time: 4:15pm) – Korrontzi, Low Leaf, TmbaTa (Basque and California)

Find the full schedule of events and activities here.

Folklife Festival 2016
The National Mall
June 29-July 4 and July 7-10
11am-5pm (Special events at 6:30pm)
Free entry (Pay for food and drink)
All ages

Music Park: The Shivas @ L’Usine (Geneva, Switzerland) — 6/28/16

Mickey McCarter
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Music Park: The Shivas @ L’Usine (Geneva, Switzerland) — 6/28/16

The Shivas 02 Kristin Leonard and Jared Molyneux of The Shivas rock out at L’Usine in Geneva on June 28. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)

Yours truly, your humble music concert correspondent, happens to be in Switzerland, where I will travel next week to the Montreux Jazz Festival for a day or two.

Meanwhile, I’m parked in Geneva, checking out the indie rock scene here, and its epicenter is surely the nonprofit arts building L’Usine, which hosts all manner of music parties. Produced by a promotions outfit calling itself Kalvingrad, L’Usine (Place des Volontaires 4, 1204 Genève) often hosts rock-n-roll concerts in a large, comfortable dancehall that can likely hold up to 700 or 800 people — approximate in size and configuration to the upstairs stage at DC’s own Black Cat.

It’s fortuitous then, that I got to see the space in action in a smaller configuration when American band The Shivas toured through Geneva from Portland, Oregon, slipping in a date in-between stints at European Festivals. A dedicated crowd of some 50 people showed up for The Shivas on Tuesday, and the band left a big impression on their Swiss audience who hungrily devoured every word and note delivered by the garage rock trio. You got the sense that an American indie rock band traveling through the area during the week was a rare treat indeed.

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Don’t Miss: Snallygaster Beer Festival 2016 @ The Yards, 9/17/16

Jeremy Bailey
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Don’t Miss: Snallygaster Beer Festival 2016 @ The Yards, 9/17/16

UntitledSnallygaster (Photo Credit: jtnhogs)

The fifth version of Snallygaster comes to The Yards on Saturday, September 17th. The beer festival for people who like too many good beer options, but not enough time to drink them all.

(Update for 9/12/16) The full beer list is out! 351 beers will be poured at Snallygaster, and since you can’t drink them all (well, at least I know I can’t), I suggest you start doing a bit of research and cultivating your own personal Beer List. You can download the full Snallygaster Beer List via PDF, Google Sheets or via the Pombe App.

Get your tickets while you still can, this is one beer festival you don’t want to miss! VIP passes are sold out, but the 1-6pm window is still available.

There will also be music (see our preview of Speedy Ortiz and more here) and plenty of food trucks and stands.

We’ll also preview a few beers this week we’re looking forward to. Stay tuned.

Snallygaster 2016
The Yards (1300 First Street Southeast, Washington, DC 20003)
Saturday, September 17, 2016
1-6pm (VIP 11:30am-6pm)
$35 (VIP $60 SOLD OUT)
21+

Check out our coverage from last year’s Snallygaster and get excited for September 17th.

Music Park: Okay Monday @ Supersonic (Paris, France) — 6/24/16

Mickey McCarter
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Music Park: Okay Monday @ Supersonic (Paris, France) — 6/24/16

Okay Monday 01
Okay Monday at Supersonic on June 24, 2016.

Well, readers, I was on vacation in Paris over the weekend. So of course I’m going to review a performance by a fantastic band I saw there!

To my surprise on Friday night, I ended up at a small club in the 11th arrondissement called Supersonic (9 Rue Biscornet, 75012 Paris, Frankreich). There, a set of bands performed prior to a DJ taking over. Stumbling into the space around 11pm, it reminded me a great deal of our own DC9 — it could hold about 200 people, and it was comfortable and unpretentious. Supersonic had taps, however, and it seems to me that all of the “cool places” in France and Switzerland have either a Brewdog or a Brooklyn Brewery on tap. (Supersonic indeed served up Punk IPA.)

To my even greater surprise, I arrived in time to see three well-dressed French lads take to the stage and belt out terrific English-language numbers that take a page perhaps from a young Elvis Costello or The Jam. To my ear, their music also follows occasional cues from the likes of Go West or Nick Heyward. Their style was truly quite mod; their sound, very power pop! They call themselves Okay Monday.

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Around Town: United Outside by REI for 100 Days

Jeremy Bailey
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Around Town: United Outside by REI for 100 Days

Appalachian TrailHiking the Appalachian Trail

October is coming! In October, the flagship REI store in NoMa opens. The Grand Opening Block Party will be held from October 21-23.

Once you’ve returned from putting those dates on your calendar, let’s look at what you can do in the meantime.

Get excited, because REI, partnering with many local businesses, will be conducting 100 days of activities, which they call United Outside.

From REI Wrench Nights at breweries where you can work on your bike, to bike tours, to campfires at Wunder Garten making s’mores, to classes on any range of outdoor activity, to coordinated efforts to see movies in NoMa, and much more, there is almost anything you can dream of.

Find the full list of events here.

 

Here are a few I’m looking at:

Campfire Chat Series: Sneak Peak of the DC Flagship
REI Community Space at Wunder Garten (First and L St. NE Washington, DC)
Monday, July 11
6:30-8:00pm
Free

Campfire Hangout With S’mores (repeating event)
REI Community Space at Wunder Garten (First and L St. NE Washington, DC)
Friday, July 15
6:30-9:00pm
Free

NoMa Summer Screen: DC Adventure Film Festival Sneak Peek
NoMa Junction @ Storey Park
Tuesday, August 23
7:00-8:30pm
Free

Elevated Camping: Hammock Camping Basics
REI Community Space at Wunder Garten (First and L St. NE Washington, DC)
Tuesday, September 20
6:30-8:00pm
Free

Around Town: Summer Drive-In Movie Series @ Union Market, Begins 7/1/16

Jeremy Bailey
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Around Town: Summer Drive-In Movie Series @ Union Market, Begins 7/1/16

Union Market - Drive-In MoviesUnion Market – Drive-In Movies (Photo courtesy of MoKi Media)

 

The Summer Drive-In Movies at Union Market are back!

Starting this Friday, July 1st, drive up to see Top Gun, and start feeling patriotic for the 4th of July weekend.

The Drive-In Movies will be monthly, through October.

It’s free for walk-ups in the picnic area, and $10 per car.

You can get Mason Dixie biscuits and Stella’s Popkern, and the DC Rollergirls will be there to roll snacks and drinks right to you.

Movies start at 8pm, and the gates open at 6:30pm.

What movies can you see?

  • Friday, July 1, 2016 – Top Gun
  • Friday, August 5, 2016 – Ratatouille
  • Friday, September 2, 2016 – Grease
  • Friday, October 7, 2016 – Ghostbusters

 

Summer Drive-In Movie Series
Union Market parking lot (1305 5th Street NE )
Begins July 1 (through October 7)
6:30pm gates (Movie at 8:00pm)
$10 per car; free for walk-ins (pay for food trucks/snack)
All ages

Sports Park: The Nationals’ Homestand vs. the Mets, Reds & Brewers, 6/27-7/6/16

Jeremy Bailey
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Jayson WerthJayson Werth

11 things to look forward to on the Nationals’ homestand.

Get your tickets here!

Mets – June 27-29
Reds – June 30-July 3
Brewers – July 4-6

1) Mets! Our division rivals come to town (June 27-29), we need these games to stay in first. Only three games up after losing six in a row!

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Music Park: The Struts @ Firefly Music Festival 2016 — 6/19/16

Parklifer
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Music Park: The Struts @ Firefly Music Festival 2016 — 6/19/16

The StrutsThe Struts @ Firefly’s Treehouse Stage (6/19/16) (Photo by: Jeremy Bailey)

The Struts are showmen through and through.

This glam rock band from England is certainly channeling Queen, especially with Luke Spiller’s voice as pure and resonate as Freddy Mercury’s. After all, their name is The Struts and that is what they did.

Their music is classic, exuberant rock and roll. They mobilized the Firefly crowd at the Lawn Stage to great heights of excitement and sing-a-longs. Anyone that didn’t know them going in, certainly walked away with full intention of adding them to their playlist on repeat.

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Don’t Miss: Mikey Erg (Opening for Hemlines) @ DC9, 6/26/16

Mickey McCarter
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Don’t Miss: Mikey Erg (Opening for Hemlines) @ DC9, 6/26/16

mikeyerg01
Mikey Erg (Photo by Toni Skotcher)

Mikey Erg is a punk-rocker from New Jersey who plays some furious guitar!

And the prolific punk released his debut album recently — Tentative Decisions via Don Giovanni Records. He did so after performing with a mess of other bands, including The Ergs!.

On the second and latest single from the album, Mikey spits about lost love in a track called “Apart Time.”

Listen to the audio for “Apart Time” by Mikey Erg on YouTube:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=019sYZaLUI8]

The first track from Tentative Decisions was the mocking, clever “Comme Si About Me,” a play on words referencing the French phrase for “like this.” I’m going to be bold and say that Mikey sounds a bit like a very young (angry) Elvis Costello on the track (and he strikes a similar figure with his lanky frame and glasses). Mikey is touring to support the album, and he comes to DC9 on Sunday, June 26, filling out a big bill as an opening act for Hemlines.

Remember how we said Mikey is prolific? Well, Mikey is also the drummer for Worriers, a post-punk band fronted by Lauren Denitzio, and Worriers also are opening for Hemlines. Worriers released a new record Imaginary Life last year via Don Giovanni.

Tickets are available online.

Mikey Erg
(Opening for Hemlines)
Sunday, June 26
Doors @7:30pm
$10-$12
All ages

Around Town: PupusaFest 2016 @ Shrine of the Sacred Heart, 6/26/16

Jeremy Bailey
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Around Town: PupusaFest 2016 @ Shrine of the Sacred Heart, 6/26/16

Pupusa

I don’t know about you, but pupusas are delicious, so anytime I hear the word PupusaFest (coming on Sunday, June 26th), I’m on board. Sadly I’ll be out-of-town, but for those you who aren’t, get there!

I first experienced pupusas in small, neighborhood restaurants in San Salvador, El Salvador in 2005. They served them piping hot for around $.30 each. On the table was a giant jar of curtido (the cabbage slaw) and squeeze bottles of the salsa roja. I ate them all, everyday.

As soon as I returned to DC, I searched for all the places that served them. I eventually settled on Tortilla Cafe (next to Eastern Market) as my go to place. Every few months I get a craving and go back. I know there are many good places in Columbia Heights, but I don’t live near there.

PupusaFest 2016
Shrine of the Sacred Heart (3211 Sacred Heart Way, Washington, DC 20011)
Sunday, June 26, 2016
8am-5pm
Free entry (Three pupusas for $5, cash only)
All ages

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