Monthly Archives: October 2012

Entertainment, Music, Special Events, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Virgin Free Fest, or The Festival of Lines, 10/6/2012

photo by Alexia

Since festivals offer so much to see in so little time, and everyone may have a different experience, we decided to get a few perspectives on Saturday’s Virgin Free Fest. We Love DC’s music writers Alexia and Jonathan write about their experiences, and guest writer Sarah Jackson shares her thoughts too.

Alexia: Who knew that the drive to Saturday’s Virgin Free Fest at Merriweather Post Pavilion would be a portend of the dreary, largely agonizing day that would follow. What should have been a breezy, 1-hour drive from DC to Columbia, Maryland, where Merriweather is located turned into a three-and-a-half hour punishment- two hours of which were spent in an almost complete standstill after taking the exit to Merriweather.
At three o’clock, when I had imagined myself jumping and dancing along to The Dismemberment Plan on the West Stage I was instead sitting in my car on Brokenland Parkway, a mere stone’s throw from the venue, so close, but yet so far. At one point we could see the field and the side of the stage, and even hear the din of the music, but that was only depressing/enraging, as we were stuck in the hell of festival traffic. The only entertainment we experienced was watching people get out of their cars to pee on the side of the road. Eventually, after passing all of the full parking lots, we located parking approximately (not exaggerating) a mile away from the venue. I think there were supposed to be shuttles, but none passed us as we walked in the herd of festival-goers to the venue.

Ben Folds Five, photo courtesy of Virgin Free Fest

By the time I got in to Merriweather I was, not too surprisingly, in a foul mood. Thankfully I didn’t miss too much of Ben Folds Five’s set, and got to watch them do their thing from the sunny lawn. Their set was, for the most part, upbeat and energetic. Somehow hearing “Brick” in a festival setting, as popular as it was for the band, seemed inappropriate. The introspective, heartfelt song was a little too personal and quiet for the atmosphere of constant gabbing and partying going on all around as the band performed. They were at their best for the setting with bouncier numbers like “Kate” and “Army” which had the audience singing along and getting into the groove.

Much of the rest of the day was an overcrowded, dirty, cold blur. I fought my way through the hordes to catch Santigold’s set, which I was looking forward to. Unfortunately as much as I like her music, and appreciated her fun dancers, it was so crowded that it was hard to see much, and I didn’t really connect with the performance onstage.

I managed to make it back to the Pavilion stage for a good portion of Alabama Shakes’ set, which was actually great. I’d never heard the band before, and the singer’s vocals were powerful, soulful, engaging.

M83, photo courtesy of Virgin Free Fest

While a disproportionately large part of my day felt like it was spent either being cold (and I was a smart one who brought an extra sweatshirt along- there were plenty of people walking around in halter-tops and short-shorts), inhaling dust from the herds of people clomping around, searching for my friends (extremely crappy cell service the whole day) or waiting in lines (20-plus-minute lines for everything from getting a drink to taking a pee in a dark port-o-potty with no toilet paper) there were, thankfully, a couple redeeming high points by the end of the night. After waiting in line for probably a half-hour while listening to M83, my friends and I got to ride on the beautiful, lit-up ferris wheel which was adjacent to the stage on which M83 was performing. This was a magical moment. We had, for that brief time, a perfect view of the stage, awesome lights, perfect sound, and the scary-big crowd in front of the stage, which I was so thankful not to be in. Continue reading →

Adventures, Entertainment, Food and Drink, Life in the Capital, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Happy Hour + Food Trucks @ Capitale

Last Friday I swung by Capitale, located in the former K Street Lounge location, to check out their weekly food truck-nightclub partnership happy hour. Here’s how it works: Every week two different food trucks will park in the club’s valet parking space and will be there to serve only Capitale patrons –  this week it was Basilthyme and Popped Republic. Patrons will be able to grab food from the trucks, bring it inside the club, pair it with beer, cocktails, etc. and experience the club’s eccentric decor.

As for Capitale, I have to admit that I found the decor very perplexing.  The entire place looks and feels like a theatrical setting with fake columns, bookshelves, official seals, chandeliers, books, statues, etc. I’d put the experience on par with going on Disney’s Haunted Mansion ride and I definitely kept expecting the Phantom of the Opera to creep out from around a corner. Regardless, it’s a very comfortable scene with solid drink offerings which when paired with food trucks makes it a one-of-a-kind  happy hour offering.

 

Entertainment, Food and Drink, Special Events, The Features
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Robert Egger Steps Down from DCCK, Jeff Buben Wins 2012 Capital Food Fight

Robert Egger Announces L.A. Kitchen bonappetitfoodie

Another Capital Food Fight came and went last night with chef Jeff Buben of Vidalia winning the competition. But the big news from last night’s event was that Robert Egger, the founder and president of DC Central Kitchen, is stepping down after nearly 25 years of overseeing the organization. The current CEO Mike Curtin will be taking Egger’s place as president.

“Not only am I leaving DC Central Kitchen, but after 40 years, I’m also leaving DC,” said Egger to a packed house at the Ronald Reagan Building. “I’m going back to the town of my roots, to Los Angeles where I’m about to open the L.A. Kitchen.” The new nonprofit on the west coast will not only seek to replicate DCCK’s success in a new city, but will also “pioneer vegetarian and vegan meals for elders in America,” according to Egger.

Egger reflected upon how people thought his idea for taking leftover food from restaurants and grocery stores to feed the homeless in DC would never work, how some even said it was illegal. Yet two decades later, the thriving nonprofit feeds thousands per day, has graduated 90 classes from its culinary job training program and has 33 campus kitchens across the country. “Thank you for helping this young man’s dream become an old man’s reality,” Egger told the crowd. “I’ll tell you, there’s very few men who have had the honor of working with so many great people, in such an amazing city, to leave such an amazing organization at such amazing heights.”
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Sports Fix
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Nationals crushed by Cardinals in Game 2, lose 12-4

Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie

The Nats lost three games this season as badly as they lost Game 2. Their most recent came just six games ago, as they dropped a 12-2 laugher against, you guess it, the St. Louis Cardinals. Monday night, the Cards gave the Nationals a repeat performance, piling on homer after homer against the Nationals’ pitching staff. Jordan Zimmermann had a rough night, lasting just 3 innings, and surrendering 5 runs to the Cardinals offense.

Usually dependable, the Nationals’ bullpen was less than rock steady, with Craig Stammen, Michael Gonzalez and Sean Burnett combining to give up seven more earned runs, including three home runs. Carlos Beltran hit two for the Cards, combining for around 830+ feet of damage to the Nationals’ psyche. 

The Nationals got in their own way, though, leaving nine runners aboard and going just 1-7 with runners in scoring position. The only hit? Jordan Zimmermann in the second, with a deke bunt attempt turned into a raking single that brought around Ian Desmond to give the Nationals their only lead. Ryan Zimmerman and Adam LaRoche added back to back home runs in the fifth inning, and that would be it for the Nationals, but for a sacrifice fly in the seventh to score the last of their four runs.

Bryce Harper continues to struggle in the postseason, but he picked up his first hit on Monday night, a double off Mujica in the seventh, only to be picked off attempting to advance on a sacrifice fly that scored Jayson Werth. Harper is 1-10 with six strikeouts on the series so far. Danny Espinosa is also struggling, 1-6 on the series so far. 

The Nationals return home on Wednesday, with Edwin Jackson on the bump, starting at 1pm.

Food and Drink, Sports Fix, The Features
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Nats Fans Find A Home at Duffy’s

Photo courtesy of
‘Duffy’s’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

There was a sense of unity in the air Sunday afternoon at Duffy’s Irish Pub when Nats fans congregated in the closest thing they have to a baseball sanctuary next to Nats Park. Duffy’s aired the first playoff game in Nats history versus the 2011 World Championship St. Louis Cardinals with the sound on for all patrons to hear, leaving football fans in the backroom where the Packers-Colts game was on.

The sea of red didn’t hurt but what made it memorable was the community of folks gathered for a common purpose: to watch history-in-the-making. Continue reading →

Downtown, Entertainment, The Features
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Trick or Treat: Halloween 2012 Roundup

DC Pumpkin on H Street Mr. T in DC

It’s the time of year for zombies, ghoulish pranks, copious amounts of candy corn and wondering how you can be the one sporting the best costume this year. So to keep building on that spirit, we’ve rounded up some of the places and events you should be checking out to get your trick or treat on. Click through for the full list after the jump.

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Sports Fix
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Falcons defeat Redskins 24-17

Photo courtesy of Keith Allison
Kirk Cousins
courtesy of Keith Allison

In sports there are times when what is expected happens, and there are other times when the team that is supposed to be blown out puts up a fight. The Redskins could have pulled this game out, but lost it in a key moment. The Redskins beleaguered defense was able to do something quite impressive. They were able to shutout Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons until the very end of the first half. It is in that moment though that they lost the game. The second Billy Cundiff’s 31 yard field goal try sailed wide right Atlanta knew they could win.

Having been given great field position and the momentum of the unlikely stop Matt Ryan lead the Falcons down the field and tied the game heading into half-time. Had the kick been good the Redskins would have maintained momentum and even if the Falcons had driven down the field and scored the Redskins would have had the half-time lead. Instead the Falcons went into the locker room with the feeling that they were in just another football game instead of fear at being upset. That missed kick was the moment of the game.

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The Features, Weekend Flashback
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Weekend Flashback — October 5-8

IMG_3631 carlotabay

I’m still reeling from the weekend! Between Virgin Mobile Free Fest on Saturday, Taste of DC (which is still going on today!), yesterday’s incredible day of sports history in DC, and the First on First extravaganza in Bloomingdale yesterday, I feel like I need a weekend to recover from my weekend. With today’s high only in the 50s, Fall has set in, and cool weather appears here to stay, and I need a moment longer to wake up. So, pour another cup of coffee, grab a donut, and relive this weekend in pictures!

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Food and Drink, Life in the Capital, News, The Daily Feed
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The Bar @ The Daily Grill

Photo courtesy of Mr. T in DC
Rocket Bar Flickr Meetup
courtesy of Mr. T in DC

This week The Daily Grill, a Dupont/Golden Triangle lunch time locale and one of numerous area chain restaurants, unveiled a new bar and menu. While the layout of the bar, a U-shape, hasn’t changed, there’s been a dramatic change in decor that has erased the bordering on diner-ish feel, and replaced it with a more relaxed, yet upscale setting.

Beverage wise they’ve kept the delicious Wild Berry Mojito and expanded their on-tap offerings with brews from Shipyard and 21st Amendment, all a good decision if you ask me. Their revamped bar food menu mirrors the style and flavoring you’ll get at the restaurant. The only drawback to the menu is that many of the options are messy and not as finger-friendly as one would like bar food to be.

Another facet of the redesign that may be problematic is the limited space between the bar and the surrounding tables, which makes traffic flow extremely difficult when the bar gets crowded. All in all, the new Daily Grill bar and their happy hour is definitely worth a try if you work or live in the area.

Sports Fix
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Nationals recover, add Moore Power, go up 1-0 over Cardinals

Tyler Moore Keith Allison

There’s a Hungarian psychologist named Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi who says that there is a zen state called Flow that exists when skill level and challenge level are high. The Nationals found their flow in the eighth inning amid a day of ugly baseball when fans feared that they were headed toward the Worry octant of the chart. Tyler Moore, with two on and two out, took a 2-2 four-seam fastball into shallow right field and drove in the runners from second and third.

In a day full of gaffes, the Nationals had the last laugh.

Gio Gonzalez had a start whose line score is simultaneously baffling and astonishing: 5.0 IP, 1H, 2ER, 7BB, 5K.

The five strikeouts in five innings stays close to his 9.7 K/9 season average, and the single hit is certainly the sort of start that they’d like to see more of. The seven walks, four of which came in the second inning, tied with Gio’s single worst performance in his career.  For a time, it looked as if Gio had lost the strike zone in its entirety.

110 pitches, and just 59 strikes, Gio had an incredibly difficult first start of the playoffs, but the bullpen came to his aid, and Craig Stammen, Ryan Mattheus, Tyler Clippard and Drew Storen each turned in an inning of strong work. Most impressive of the day had to be Ryan Mattheus, who entered the game with the bases loaded and nobody out in the seventh inning. On two pitches, Mattheus turned a pair of ground balls into three outs, which set the table for their rally in the eighth.

This was not a pretty baseball game, though, and carried with it the sort of stress-induced miscues that can doom a ball club without multiple tools. Errors from usually rock-steady Ryan Zimmerman and Adam LaRoche could have cost the club more than they did.

In the end, it was rookie outfielder Tyler Moore, on to pinch-hit against the Cardinals’ Mark Rzepcyznski, that brought the took the Nationals over the top. The Nationals had put the leadoff man on five times, but had stranded the runners aboard in three of those, ahead of the eighth inning rally. Twice, they left the bases loaded, both times with Jayson Werth at the plate. Moore, in the biggest at-bat of his career, looped in a single and plated the pair of runs. After the game, he’d say: “I’ve failed a lot, too, during this thing, & it’s helped me keep my heart rate down & just come up & try to put the ball in play.” Moore found strength from failure, like the rest of the

I have four things to look at, for Nats fans:

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Downtown, Entertainment, Special Events, The Features, We Love Arts
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NatGeo Live: October 2012 Programs

Photo courtesy of quinn.anya
Lost in the music
courtesy of quinn.anya

It’s fall in DC and another month of great National Geographic Live programming. If you’re looking for something to do in the evenings, we highly suggest you check out some of this month’s offerings. And to provide further incentive, we are providing two lucky readers with a pair of tickets to an event of their choice this coming month!

To enter the drawing, simply comment below using your first name and a legit email address, listing the two events from the following program list you’d like to attend. (Note that there is one event not eligible and we’ve noted it for you.) Sometime after noon on Tuesday (October 9) we’ll randomly select two winners to receive a pair of tickets (each) to one of their selections. You’ve got until noon on Tuesday to enter!

(For ticket information, visit online or call the box office at (800) 647-5463.) Continue reading →

Adams Morgan
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Stop it with this fake neighborhood crap, people

Outside my window Flicker Clicker

Before I launch into this, let me assure you that under no terms am I a Hatchardian neighborhood purist. I believe that some dividing lines are, in fact, nebulous, and that while that may be so, there is no need for neighborhood names to get a tenth as crazy as they’ve gotten.

The new from Dan Silverman that the vicinity south of Adams Morgan, and west of U street is to be called SoMo, well, I just about lost my shit. We are a bridge too far, here, people, and we run the risk of other unfortunate bastardizations that are just too unpalatable to consider.

We’re not calling Barracks Row SoCaHi, nor are we calling Brightwood NoCoHi, nor are we going to call the area of Shaw by Howard HoHoHo, or the space between Georgetown and the West End WeEnTown, because names are serious things, and this whole SoHo revolution so completely bogus that I can’t even begin to quantify the problems with it.

I was already fairly unhappy with NoMa, but given the original name (Swampoodle), it’s certainly reasonable to have looked for an alternative to a combination between DC’s worst attribute and an ill-tempered dog. Couldn’t the folks at the BID there have looked for a famous resident to grace the moniker of their neighborhood, instead of jumping to its obvious geographic feature? Must we be so derivative in a city rich with history and culture?

Since I don’t want to just bitch without proposing a solution, here are a couple names that would represent our city better:

  1. Shepherd Corner, named for Boss Shepherd, who ran DC with an iron first after the Civil War and was responsible for a fair amount of the development Dupont Circle and points north toward Mount Pleasant.
  2. Douglass Row, named for Frederick Douglass, who lived on 17th Street near the intersection that’s mentioned. The early voice of civil rights, Douglass fought for causes that would go unaddressed for a century. That there already isn’t a neighborhood named for Douglass is a travesty
  3. Coolidge, named for President Calvin Coolidge, who lived in nearby Dupont in the 1920s when the White House was being remodeled.

Given all the options available, could SoMo really have been the best choice?

Sports Fix
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Week 5 Preview: Falcons at Redskins

Photo courtesy of BrianMKA
283/365
courtesy of BrianMKA

The Redskins secondary has struggled to stop every passing offense they have faced this season, and Sunday they are in for their toughest test by far. Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Roddy White, and Tony Gonzalez are all elite level players and difference makers on the offensive side of the football. They will get their yards and they will put up points against a Redskins secondary that has allowed the second most yards in the NFL. This is the first game the Redskins are playing this season where it looks to be over before it even begins. If the Redskins offense doesn’t control the clock and the ball then this one could get out of hand.

The good news for the Redskins is that because of Alfred Morris and RGIII they have the best rushing offense in the NFL having rushed for 702 yards on the season. The Redskins have to hope to keep possession of the football as long as possible and come away with the scores at the end of drives in order to keep Matt Ryan and the rest of the Falcons offense on the sidelines. The Atlanta punter could very well have a week off against the Redskins as it is doubtful that the Redskins will manage very man stops against the Falcons.

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We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends: Oct 5-7

looking like fall ekelly80

October? How did that happen? This calendar is broke, someone call IT!

Well, whatever. We give up. Less sweating and in a month we can stop seeing all those damned political ads targeted at Virginia voters. What’s the point of living in solid state Maryland or all-DNC-all-the-time DC if you still have to watch this endless back and forth before every presidential election?

We’re planning on ignoring the ads best we can and have some diversions planned. Want to hear about them? Here you go.

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Food and Drink, The Features
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Fashion Plate: Greg Engert of Neighborhood Restaurant Group


Courtesy of Neighborhood Restaurant Group

Chances are you look to the restaurant industry to tell you what to put on your plate, not what you ought to be wearing. After all, how interesting can another iteration of an apron be? But for managers and bartenders, the dress code gets more creative. In this new feature, we’re chatting with some of the stylish characters in the DC restaurant scene. This week, we talk to Greg Engert, Beer Director at Neighborhood Restaurant Group about what he’s wearing. Check out the edited interview after the jump.

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Entertainment, Music, Night Life, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Gotye @ Merriweather, 9/30/2012

 

photos courtesy of Gotye

Chart-topping Australian artist Gotye* and his band played an outstanding show at Merriweather Post Pavilion on Sunday, September 30th. They are in the midst of a world tour, and joining them for this leg were openers Jonti and Missy Higgins. Gotye and his group of super-talented multi-instrumentalists radiated enthusiasm, talent and boundless energy onstage. The weather may have been cold and drizzly, but their exuberant performance was enough to lift the audience up.

Most of you readers may have only heard Gotye’s number one hit “Somebody That I Used To Know”, and I will admit, I hadn’t heard much more than that myself before Sunday night. Back in April I caught part of Gotye’s impressive set at the Coachella Music & Arts festival, which was so packed the crowd was sprawled densely well beyond the borders of the tent he was performing in. What I did catch was super, and enough to know I wanted to see more. Sunday night Gotye and his band owned the stage, showcasing their talents on a host of instruments- organic and electronic, from lap-steel guitar to midi pads, synth-drums to two full drum-kits, and Gotye never seemed to stop moving the entire time.

They started out the night with the hypnotic, groovy “The Only Way” from Gotye’s 2006 album Drawing Blood, and it was instantly apparent that we the audience were in for an exciting ride. The band’s energy was high, Gotye especially- partway through the song running to one of the drum kits and having two-kit drum freak-out, ending the song full tilt. Most of the music was from Gotye’s most recent album Making Mirrors, and the energy level never really dropped for the entire night. In addition to the amazing musicianship of all the players, the audience was treated to beautiful, weird, trippy and even hilarious videos and visuals playing on a huge screen behind the band along with almost every song. The combination was a completely entertaining multimedia extravaganza. Continue reading →