Monthly Archives: December 2012

Sports Fix
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Redskins Defeat Giants 17-16

Photo courtesy of Keith Allison
Pierre Garcon
courtesy of Keith Allison

With the Redskins win last night they both got back to .500 and eclipsed last season’s win total. They also set themselves up to be in the conversation for the playoffs. The Redskins are still one game out and need other teams to lose while they continue to win in order to claw their way into the post-season, but with three straight wins in the division the playoffs are now a possibility.

The Redskins came into the season with a play, but as the Scottish poets say the best laid plans were torn asunder. Pierre Garcon played one quarter against the Saints and didn’t return as a regular until the game against the Cowboys. He had receptions against the Bucs, Falcons, and Eagles, but was still too overburdened by his foot injury to have any real impact. Now that he is healthier the Redskins are starting to show what they are truly capable of on offense.

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Music, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Sky Ferreira @ DC9 — 11/30/12

Sky Ferreira

Sky Ferreira, she of slight frame and smoldering voice, took to stage backed by a three-piece band at DC9 Friday night, presenting a short set of occasionally melancholy but consistently wonderful songs.

Her latest EP, Ghost, turns out to be a collection of five wistful songs full of longing and daydreams. Ferreira sang them plaintively but earnestly to a packed room that seemed pretty impressed with the 20-year-old’s range. “Sad Dream” was full of regret for a lost love while “Ghost” consigns another love to the past with a recognition that the relationship must end.

At the other end of the spectrum, “Lost in My Bedroom” is a catchy reprieve, basking in the joy of being tucked away in your own private space.

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Music, The Daily Feed
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Hot Ticket: The Faint @ 9:30 Club, 12/5/12

The Faint

Saddle Creek recently released a remastered edition of Danse Macabre, the third studio album by The Faint — not only considered the band’s best album but largely thought of in my circles as one of the best albums of the previous decade.

The Faint last put out an album–Fasciinatiion–in 2009 and toured with Ladytron in support of that release, which they put out on their own label. But they’ve been quiet until now, when they decided to mount a tour in support of the Saddle Creek remaster of their masterpiece.

And what an album it is. Instantly danceable with new wave panache, the album lyrically offers up quite embraceable lyrics that otherwise mostly reflect modern goth sensibilities. The nine songs include such instant classics as “Agenda Suicide,” which looks with disdain upon working one’s life away to achieve stale victories, such as buying “pretty little homes,” preferred by mainstream society.  “Posed to Death” seems to express disdain for false celebrities while “Violent” laments seemingly ubiquitous crime headlines.

The Faint come to the 9:30 Club on Wednesday, Dec. 5, to perform Danse Macabre in its entirety along with other selections from their career. Don’t miss this opportunity to catch a great band revisiting their best material.

The Faint
w/ Trust and Icky Blossoms
Wednesday, Dec. 5
Doors 7pm
$30
9:30 Club
18+

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Dreamgirls


Photo: Christopher Mueller

2012 has been a good year for Nova Y. Payton. Payton made a splash this time last year in Signature Theatre’s Hairspray, which netted her a Helen Hayes award in April. After Hairspray, Payton became a Signature fixture with roles in Xanadu and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Now she’s ending the year on a note as high as the one she rode last winter. Payton is quickly becoming a hot name on the DC Theatre scene and her performance as Effie in Signature Theatre’s production of Dreamgirls will be one we will not forget come awards season. With a talented ensemble led by Payton, Dreamgirls will dazzle you with striking moments of a musical era of big hair, sparkling outfits, and skinny ties.

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The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Men Without Hats @ The State Theatre — 11/29/12

Lou Dawson and Rachel Ashmore of Men Without Hats

What’s in a name? That which we call Men without Hats
By any other name would sound as sweet;
-New Wave Juliet

Men Without Hats today occasionally will wear hats. Half the quartet also are women. So are they Men and Women Maybe Without Hats?

The Men Without Hats who visited The State Theatre Thursday were a lineup recruited by lead singer Ivan Doroschuk and not the classic band. But does it matter? Ivan was the only consistent member throughout the years anyway and the new lineup sounded amazing with James Love on guitar and duo synthesizers played by Lou Dawson and Rachel Ashmore — a killer duo with impressive synth skills.

The band opened with “This War,” a song whose lyrics may remind us that “love is a battlefield” but it has a wonderfully driving electronic sound that could have sprung right from a basement club in 1979. The song hails from the new album, Love in the Age of War. Released in June, it’s a collection of 10 songs by the current lineup that serves as a mighty credit to the Men Without Hats catalog.

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Sports Fix
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Redskins Week Thirteen Preview: The Giants Round Two

Photo courtesy of Matthew Straubmuller
Robert Griffin III – Eagles vs Redskins 11/18/2012
courtesy of Matthew Straubmuller

The moment that could come to define the Redskins 2012 season happened the last time they met the Giants. With the Redskins having scored late to take the lead and little time left on the clock Eli Manning completed a pass to Victor Cruz that shoved the dagger into the hearts of Skins fans, and signaled that this season could be over. After two straight wins against the Eagles and the Cowboys the Redskins find themselves in second in the NFC East and could get back to .500 with a win tonight against the Giants.

It won’t be easy as the Giants are the defending Super Bowl champs and once again look to be the class of the NFC East as the Redskins, Cowboys, and Eagles have all struggled this season. The Redskins are different this time though. RGIII has somehow managed to get better. Against the Eagles he threw for four touchdowns. It was the most of his career and looked to be his season high until the very next week he once again threw for four touchdowns against the Cowboys.

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Weekend Flashback
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Weekend Flashback — December 1-2

SW Waterfront Sunset Mr. T in DC

What a beautiful first weekend in December. Though I was longing for a little bit more chill to the air – and maybe just a few snowflakes – it was a great way to open winter in the District. The Winter Holiday Market is open on F Street, city and community trees are beginning to be light with the colorful lights of our winter observances, and the sound of celebration is in the air.

Thanks for a lovely weekend, DC, you really are the best.

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