Around Town: All DC Music Venues Now Officially Closed

Posted on 03/17/2020 by Mickey McCarter in Around Town, Local Spotlight and tagged DC, Muriel Bowser.

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser at the DC Funk Parade on May 12, 2018. (Photo by Mark Caicedo)

Yesterday, Parklife DC speculated under what circumstances some DC music venues might remain open in the face of the coronavirus threat. Under an emergency order clarified on Sunday, Mayor Muriel Bowser allowed music venues, such as Songbyrd Music House for example, with a tavern or restaurant license to remain open while closing those categorized as nightclubs or multipurpose facilities.

Ultimately, Songbyrd decided it was impractical to remain open under the circumstances, and the venue announced it would close its doors all the same.

Yesterday at 4pm, Mayor Bowser made our hair-splitting assessment moot by ordering the closure of all restaurants and taverns in addition to the previously closed nightclubs and multipurpose facilities in order to staunch the spread of coronavirus.

Read Mayor’s Order 2020-048: Prohibition on Mass Gatherings During Public Health Emergency – Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Parklife will continue to update our readers on the status of music venues and concerts in the DC metro area.

Around Town: RAMMY Awards @ Washington Convention Center — 6/10/18

Posted on 06/18/2018 by Mickey McCarter in Around Town, Food Talk and tagged Ambar, Amy Brandwein, Andrea Tateosian, Ari Gejdenson, Bourbon Steak, Buttercream Bakeshop, Centrolina, CHIKO, Chris Morgan, Clarity, Commissary, Compass Rose, Craft Beer, Daniel Coleman, Espita Mezcaleria, gala, Gerald Addison, Greg Engert, Heidi Minora, Initiative 77, Ivy City Smokehouse, Jose Andres, Masseria, Maydan, Mindful Restaurants, minibar, Moby Dick House of Kabob, Muriel Bowser, Neighborhood Restaurant Group, Osteria Morini, Owen's Ordinary, Patricia Fernandez de la Cruz, RAMMY Awards, RAMW, Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington, Right Proper Brewing Company, Scott Drewno, The Daily Dish, The Dubliner, Thor Cheston, Tiffany MacIsaac, Tony and Joe's, Tony Cibel, Urbana, USI Insurance Services, Washington Convention Center, Winn Robertson, World Central Kitchen.

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, who opposes DC Initiative 77, presents at the RAMMY Awards on June 10, 2018.

Some of the best and the brightest received recognition lately from the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington (RAMW) at the annual RAMMY Awards, held as a black tie gala at the Washington Convention Center.

While the lavish awards program was the focus of the day, many awardees and the association itself spoke in opposition to DC Initiative 77, which would eliminate tipped wages at restaurants in favor of a universal wage by 2026 if enacted in a vote on Tuesday, June 19.

Music Park: Funk Parade @ U Street, 5/2/15

Posted on 04/06/2015 by Mickey McCarter in Live Review and tagged funk, Funk Parade, Justin Rood, Muriel Bowser, music festival, street fair, U Street Music Hall.

Members of Batala Percussion band performing at 2014 Funk Parade in DC on May 3, 2014 (Photo by Pabak Sarkar)

The second annual Funk Parade promises to be even funkier than the first.

The street and music festival certainly impressed enough people in its inaugural year to convince Mayor Muriel Bowser to close U Street NW on Saturday, May 2 for the daylong festival.

“The U Street Funk Parade embodies the spirit of the District,” said Mayor Bowser in a press release on April 3. “It brings our communities together and honors the city’s cultural heritage that we’ve all come to know and love.”

The Funk Parade organizers sought to close down U Street for their parade last year as well, but they were denied by then-Mayor Vince Grey. With this year’s closing, U Street will shut down for the first time in 17 years, according to reports.

“We’re grateful to the city and Mayor Muriel Bowser for acknowledging U Street’s historic significance to the District as the soul of music, culture and celebration, a place that’s unlike anywhere else in the city,” said Justin Rood, co-founder of Funk Parade, in the press release.

Rood and fellow co-founder Chris Naoum of Listen Local First have been running an Indiegogo campaign to raise $15,000 for the Funk Parade. As of this morning, it has raised roughly $9,300 toward that goal with only four days of fundraising remaining.

The organizes estimate last year’s Funk Parade drew more than 25,000 participants with more than 100 hours of music programming from more than four dozen acts in 30 locations throughout the day. The literal Funk Parade marched down V Street NW last year after Grey denied its application to march down U Street.

Funk Parade activities planned for May 2 include a day fair, the parade, and a music festival.

The following info is from the Funk Parade Indiegogo site:

Day Fair (12-5pm): Before the parade, the neighborhood will host a day fair, full of music, dance, art, and spontaneous acts of soul and creativity. It’s a chance to gather and celebrate and prepare for the mighty parade!

The Main Event – Funk Parade (5-7pm): See dancers, your friends and neighbors, a marching band behind them, and a drum corps. See costumes and getups and shiny things. Hear beat-boxers and junkyard drummers. See pot-bangers and clappers and kids on their parents’ shoulders. Horn players wander in and out of the crowd. A thunderous syncopated procession of groove, winding its way through the neighborhood, calling the city to the funk.

Music Festival (7-10pm): After the parade winds down, the U Street neighborhood’s historic venues open their doors for the city to hear some of the best music DC has to offer. One night, one city, one groove: the subatomic particle of love.

The Funk Parade
U Street Corridor
Saturday, May 2
12-10pm
Free
All ages