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Food Park: Alex McCoy @ Food Network Star, 6/7/15

By
Mickey McCarter
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alexmccoy-foodnetwork
Alex McCoy is ready for the world in competition as the next Food Network Star. (Photo courtesy Food Network)

On Sunday, the Food Network debuts the new season of an 11-week series, Food Network Star, which will feature 12 chefs competing to become the next host at the Food Network. (Catch it on Sunday, June 7, at 9pm ET.)

Normally, we might not get too excited about such a thing, but one of the 12 chefs in the competition is DC’s own Alex McCoy, who started up Duke’s Grocery (1513 17th St. NW, DC) in Dupont Circle and recently left it to open new ventures in the city.

Chefs participating in the program are required to demonstrate great skills in the kitchen but also to dazzle on camera under the guidance of Food Network hosts Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiis.

Alex appeared on Good Morning Washington on Tuesday morning to discuss the show and to share secrets of using leftover BBQ meat to make a quick Thai meal. Watch him in action:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsTBVeRBICc]

Regardless of the outcome of Food Network Star, Alex plans to open two DC restaurants in the near future with his business partner Hunter Campbell, who has been establishing nightlife venues like the Mason Inn in Glover Park and the Chinese Disco in Georgetown in recent years. Last month, Tim Carman of the Washington Post broke the news of the new restaurants, revealing one would feature Asian food from Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand, and the other would likely be more of a gastropub, similar to Duke’s Grocery.

In an interview with Tim, Alex said he hoped his Asian place would be similar to expat bars he encountered in Thailand while on a journey there earlier this year.

Tim Carman wrote, “[E]xpat pubs are spaces where cultures intersect and collide with neither conflict nor ceremony…. It is this atmosphere that McCoy wants to recreate with his own, still-unnamed Southeast Asian restaurant.”

I interviewed Alex last year for a feature on his background for We Love DC, where the chef discussed how he likes to see places up close and personal to get his hands dirty with making cuisine associated with certain cultures.

“In many cases, unless you’ve seen someone making that dish in its element and in the place it was created, it’s really hard to respect food the way food should be respected,” Alex told me.

So regardless of how well he does in the Food Network competition, we are looking forward to some delicious food from our globetrotting friend here in DC in the very near future.

But meanwhile: Go, Alex! My money is on you as the next Food Network Star.

Stars and Bars: New Beers from Hellbender, 3 Stars @ SAVOR Week

By
Mickey McCarter
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0

DASCHA
Dascha Beer Garden (and Liz Taylor) under an overcast sky Wednesday

Wednesday evening was overcast and cool. It was perfectly comfortable to be outside with a light jacket but it was certainly cooler than DC would expect for the first week of June.

What a great opportunity, then, to drink an appropriately medium-bodied beer with a light touch like the Hellbender Brewing Co.’s new Ella Kölsch Pale Ale. Ella is definitely more pale than kölsch, with a dense but pleasing color and a bite of refreshing bitterness upfront but with that clean kölsch finish.

Hellbender debuted the beer during happy hour Wednesday at Dascha Beer Garden (1600 7th St. NW, DC), timed in conjunction with Savor Week — the days leading up to the Savor American Craft Beer and Food Experience at the American Building Museum (401 F St. NW, DC) on June 5-6.

Hellbender Brewing Co. (5788 2nd St. NE, DC) quite likes the kölsch pale ale, or KPA, style, and it has been experimenting with it a bit this year, previously releasing an Equinox KPA. According to Hellbender, “This new hybrid German/American style combines the traditional American pale ale recipe with German Kölsch yeast. The end result is a dry, refreshing pale ale with big hop flavor and aroma!”

The Hellbender KPA series will consist of beers built around various hops, subject to seasons and availability, the brewery said. The Ella hops is from Australia, and it imparts the beer with spices and flowers along with an aroma of tropical fruit. The Ella KPA weighs in at 5.7% ABV, 37 IBU, 6 SRM.

HellbenderEllaKPA
A look at if not a taste of the new Hellbender Ella KPA

Ella wasn’t the only new beer to debut from a local brewer this week.

3 Stars Brewing Co. (6400 Chillum Pl. NW, DC) extended its collaboration series with Pizzeria Paradiso (3282 M St. NW, DC) to introduce Monday a new entry in its nine-part Paradiso series. The debut occurred at the Pizzeria Paradiso Monday Night Beer Club, which offers beer specials usually along a theme on the first Monday of every month.

ParadisoSun
Paradiso: Sun sits atop the menu that tells you all about it.

The new beer, Paradiso: Sun, is a rustic farmhouse ale brewed with cedar tips. At 5.1% ABV, Paradiso: Sun was quite drinkable, and its woody flavor paired quite well with pizza! (Imagine that.) As always at Monday Night Beer Club, the knowledgeable Rob Fink, Paradiso assistant bar manager (and District Chophouse assistant brewer!), was manning the bar to pour the special and provides insights into their origins.

The entire collaboration series draws inspiration from Dante’s Paradiso. The first beer in the series was Paradiso: The Moon, a pale wheat saison brewed with sour oranges. The second was Paradiso: Mercury, a red wheat rye saison brewed with blood oranges. And the third was Paradiso: Venus, a blend of the first two beers aged in Sangiovese barrels.

All in all, Hellbender, 3 Stars and Paradiso brought fine new beers to a great week of events!

PizzaBeer
Pizza and beer? Por favor!

Music Park: The Tallest Man On Earth @ Lincoln Theatre — 6/1/15

By
Parklifer
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1

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLRTleMY_mc]
NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

The Tallest Man on Earth, Kristian Matsson (at a mere 5′ 7″), told the packed Lincoln Theatre, “Thank you. Straight from my heart, I won’t take this for granted.”

Clearly he didn’t. Despite the themes of lost love and melancholy that permeates many of his songs, he is full of energy and charisma in front of the crowd. He stormed the stage and then ran out into the crowd like a rock star. On stage, he was motion and dancing, switching out guitars after almost every song.

Matsson’s favorite pastime involved throwing down his guitar pick after he finished a song, almost in triumph. The stage was littered with small victories.

Born in Sweden, Matsson began with The Tallest Man on Earth stage name as a solo singer-songwriter for his first three albums. His first album, Shallow Grave, released in 2008, has strong roots in America folk music.

As Matsson made clear, “We only have sad songs, except one song.” The Tallest Man on Earth set forth songs of loss, remembrance and restlessness, weaving through sounds inspired by folk and country music.

For the fourth album, Dark Bird is Home, and latest tour, Matsson has added a full band. There is a clear delineation and complexity between the new album’s songs and the stripped down nature of many of the previous songs.

That delineation is never more apparent than the first single, “Sangres”, which almost seems out-of-place, but yet is clearly part of his overarching theme of lost love. It is also a song that showcases his vocal range, which many have likened to Bob Dylan. This song is a good example of why. His voice seemed fuller and less Dylanesque when live, compared to listening to some of his earlier recorded work. I enjoyed both, but found a deeper appreciation when listening to the songs performed live.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0QIPpBV1D0&w=600&h=150]

For a change of pace, Matsson performed the quiet “Little Nowhere Towns” on an expanded keyboard. For many songs, he performed solo with just his guitar, while the band took a breather.

Just before the break before the encore, Matsson gave the crowd the wistful title track, “Dark Bird is Home”, with the sad but hopeful line, “and suddenly the day gets you down but this is not the end, no this is fine”. And it was.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/199110534″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”150″ iframe=”true” /]

Matsson ended the night with “Like the Wheel”, a sad, soulful lament that I like to think is about the long journey to find your place on this Earth.

The Tallest Man on Earth proved to be a great live performer and worthy of the 1-1/2 hour, 21 song, musical journey he and his band lead us through.

The Tallest Man On Earth

Don’t Miss: Hot Chip @ Echostage, 6/5/15

By
Mickey McCarter
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0

HotChipWeb_Credit Steve Gullick6737
London quintet Hot Chip (Photo by Steve Gullick)

Last month, nu disco juggernauts Hot Chip released their sixth studio album, Why Make Sense?

After five good albums (several of which are outstanding), you might ask, “Where can Hot Chip go from here?” And Hot Chip apparently asked themselves that same question in the making of this album.

Part of the process of finding an answer for the band was to write and record “Huarache Lights,” a musical statement on what the band brings to the table. It’s a classic single for Hot Chip, pairing vocalist Alexis Taylor’s unique voice with pulsating rhythms and thematically addressing people and technology — but most importantly, doing so while being funky.

Watch the video for “Huarache Lights”:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9S0ONyRctyE]

In May, Hot Chip launched a world tour in support of the new album, and they bring the show to Echostage in DC this Friday, June 5.

I’ve been fortunate enough to catch Hot Chip several times in the past, and their live show is itself a regular dance party. They have a sound, and surely an accompanying light show, capable of filling the large space of Echostage quite well.

And I daresay that the sound and vision of the live performance tells the other half of the story when asking where do Hot Chip go from here? So it’s well worth your time to get out there, check them out and dance your heart out.

Watch a full Hot Chip set from the 2014 Pitchfork Music Festival in Paris:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbpoozOvKqE&w=640&h=360]

Sudanese-American Ahmed Gallab brings his soul quartet Sinkane along to open for Hot Chip. Tickets are available online or at the box office at the 9:30 Club.

Hot Chip
w/ Sinkane
Echostage
Friday, June 5
Doors @7pm
$45
All ages

Music Park: The Mynabirds @ POV Lounge — 6/1/15

By
Mickey McCarter
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0

The Mynabirds 06152010 (54f)
Laura Burhenn performs in Dallas in 2010.

Laura Burhenn, former DC native transplanted to Omaha, Neb., has done her share of traveling in recent days. The hypnotic chanteuse had been touring with her frequent collaborators Black English, opening for the Psychedelic Furs, when she got the call to open for The Pixies at the 9:30 Club Sunday night.

She flew back to DC Sunday morning, and several members of Black English supported her as her band in The Mynabirds, which also played an intimate show at the POV Lounge at the W Hotel in DC on Monday night.

At the W, The Mynabirds performed a lush 11-song set, half of which roughly consisted of new songs from an upcoming third album, Lovers Know, due on August 7 on well-regarded indie label Saddle Creek.

Monday was my first time catching a performance by Laura and The Mynabirds, and one thing immediately was clear: Laura sings with purpose. Generally her songs are concerned with devoting yourself to something 100 percent –- and when you have to do so, you fight.

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Music Park: The Mynabirds @ POV Live, 6/1/15 (Tonight!)

By
Mickey McCarter
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0

18812-The_20Mynabirds_20photo_20by_20Bliss_20Braoudakis
The Mynabirds (Photo by Bliss Braoudakis)

The Mynabirds, aka DC’s own Laura Burhenn, will play a surprise set at POV Live at the W Hotel (515 15th St. NW, DC) in a free concert performance tonight!

A new album, Lovers Know, is due from the Mynabirds on August 7, via Saddle Creek, and Laura will play some of the new songs tonight at the W Hotel’s rooftop POV Lounge.

Check out “Semantics,” the first single from the new album, Lovers Know:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N2vCFQQE2Y]

Although not necessary to enter, the W Hotel encourages those planning to go to RSVP via an Eventbrite page at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pov-live-featuring-the-mynabirds-tickets-17195314649.

RSVP’ing also does not guarantee entry.

The Mynabirds
W Hotel DC
Monday, June 1
Doors @7pm
Free
All ages

Don’t Miss: The Tallest Man On Earth @ Lincoln Theatre, 6/1/15

By
Jeremy Bailey
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0

TTMOE_2015_500

Kristian Matsson, known as The Tallest Man on Earth, has sold out two shows at the Lincoln Theatre.

The Tallest Man on Earth is touring in support of his fourth album, Dark Bird is Home. After DC, he plays two shows in New York before continuing the tour in Europe through October. If you want to see him in the US, you should look for resale tickets to tonight’s show.

The new tour includes a full band for the first time. Now he can add new instruments to his repertoire, including the French horn, keyboard and viola.

Some have likened his vocal style to Bob Dylan, and I can hear the similarities after a listening to a number of songs off his latest album.

This will be my first live exposure to The Tallest Man on Earth, and look forward to hearing how he sounds in a live setting.

The title track, “Dark Bird is Home” is a melancholy affair about heartbreak, but with hope on the horizon.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/199110534″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”150″ iframe=”true” /]

 

The Tallest Man on Earth
w/Madisen Ward and The Mama Bear
Lincoln Theatre
Monday, June 1
Doors @6:30pm (Show @8pm)
$35 (Sold Out)
All ages

Sports Park: The Nationals’ Homestand vs. the Blue Jays & Cubs, 6/1-6/3/15 and 6/4-6/7/15

By
Jeremy Bailey
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0

DSC02153
Max Scherzer (2013 NL Cy Young winner)

After a slow April, the Nationals turned it on in May and find themselves in first place in the National League East (28-22).

The Nats come into this week’s homestand off of a horrible three-game series at Cincinnati. Losing all three. And Stephen Strasburg left Friday’s game early with a stiff neck, only to be later put on the 15-day disabled list.

They look to bounce back against the Blue Jays (June 1-3) and the Cubs (June 4-7). No days off this week, just baseball everyday.

The Blue Jays series features two former Cy Young winners. R.A. Dickey of the Blue Jays (2-5) on Monday and the Nationals’ Max Scherzer (6-3) on Tuesday.

For game tickets and more information, call 202.675.NATS(6287) or visit nationals.com/tickets.

Monday, June 1 vs. Toronto Blue Jays

  • U.S. Army Day Delivered by UPS will honor members of the United States Army and the 240th celebration of the Army’s birthday. The pregame ceremony will feature: the Army Drill Team, U.S. Army band, the Army Chorus and the first pitch by CSM Timothy Guden, Military District Washington.
  • It’s also $1 hot dogs presented by Hatfield until the sixth inning.

Tuesday, June 2 vs. Toronto Blue Jays

  • A 10-Year Commemorative Coin will be given to the first 10,000 fans to enter the ballpark through ALL GATES. In honor of the 10-Year Anniversary, the Nationals’ celebration will include monthly 10-Year Tuesdays, six designated games that will feature a collectible keepsake.
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Don’t Miss: Basement Jaxx @ 9:30 Club, 6/30/15

By
Mickey McCarter
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0

basement-jaxx

In 2014, dance duo Basement Jaxx appeared at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami, performing live in the United States for the first time since 2006.

This summer, they are about to truly break that streak by headlining their first U.S. concerts in nearly 10 years, and they only have three live appearances scheduled. One of those is at the 9:30 Club on Tuesday, June 30.

Basement Jaxx returned to the national spotlight in the United States last year when their song “Never Say Never,” which came along with a clever video featuring the manufacture of a TWERKbot (or rather “TW3RK-BOT 1.0”), hit #1 on Billboard’s U.S. Hot Dance Club Chart. (Basement Jaxx were also nominated for a Grammy thanks to the song!)

Here’s that video:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0eS3zC3Jco]

The live show consists of Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe, aka “The Jaxx,” and perhaps another 10 performers in a dynamic performance. The show supports the release of their seventh studio album Junto, which was released in August 2014 and includes “Never Say Never.”

The Los Angles Times praised the latest album upon its release, saying, “Thirteen songs that strive for peaks as high as a flooded dance-floor rocking ‘Where’s Your Head At’ at full volume, Junto hits with heated bangers while also stepping away from the steam to cool off.”

Watch “Where’s Your Head At” live At Kendall Calling 2013 in the United Kingdom:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMUuOH7QI-A]

Tickets are available online and at the 9:30 Club box office.

Basement Jaxx
9:30 Club
Tuesday, June 30
Doors @7pm
$35
All ages

Around Town: 7th Annual DC Beer Week Returns, 8/9-8/16/15

By
Jeremy Bailey
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0

DC-Beer-Week-2015

From the Press Release:

‘Craft beer fans, rejoice! The 7th annual DC Beer Week returns to the National Capital Region this summer with a variety of educational and tasting events planned throughout the week of August 9-16, 2015.

“The DC beer scene has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years because of breweries (local, regional, and national), bars, restaurants, bottle shops, distributors, and, most importantly, beer fans,” says 2015 DC Beer Week co-chair Bill DeBaun. “DC Beer Week is a celebration of our local scene and a chance to continue that growth.”

As in past years, dozens of venues in the District, Virginia and Maryland will host a variety of events,including beer dinners, tastings, tap takeovers, and more. Restaurants, bars, breweries, and other venues interested in participating in this year’s DC Beer Week should contact the DC Beer Week organizers at dcbeerweek@gmail.com for more information.

This year, DC Beer Week will kick things off with a massive event that will bring together 20 of the region’s best breweries. Brewers on the Block will take place on Sunday, August 9 at Suburbia at Union Market. The day-time event will have all the same fun as the event by the same name in 2014, but much, much bigger. Tickets start at just $30 and will be available soon through DCBeerWeek.net.

More information about the 7th Annual DC Beer Week will be posted at www.dcbeerweek.net in the coming weeks. In the meantime, be sure to “Like” the DC Beer Week Facebook page and follow us on Twitter and Instagram (@dcbeerweek; #DCBW2015) for the latest updates.’

About DC Beer Week

Local distributor Jeff Wells and chef/beer aficionado Teddy Folkman started DC Beer Week in 2008 to celebrate the small, but enthusiastic craft beer community in the Nation’s Capital. Since then, the event has grown each year, attracting thousands – from self-proclaimed beer geeks and homebrewers to the causal beer drinker. In 2014, the event included over 100 different events throughout the District and surrounding area.

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