By Patrick Pho
This past weekend I was invited to celebrate Cinco De Mayo with beer instead of the traditional tequila. Sunday afternoon I went down to the Half Street Fairgrounds by Nats Park and walked around the final day of LivingSocial’s BeerFest. Craft beers, crazy party games, and a silent disco certainly made my Sunday Funday a good one.
Take a look at some photos I snapped at the festival below.
By Brian Mosley
Ah, what a nice weekend! Definitely nice enough to get one into the spirit of going out and defeating a numerically superior French army…or have a margarita. Hopefully, you settled on the margarita.
Did you get a chance to enjoy this past weekend? Because this week is going to be pretty depressing. And wet. But fear not, to help you cheer up we’ve got this here Weekend Flashback. And it being from an amazing weekend, it is sure to be full of enjoyment. So, enjoy! Continue reading
Pas De Deux at Studio 2ndStage / photo by Igor Dmitry
When Elizabeth and Tom leap at each other to open Skin Tight at The Studio 2ndStage, they’re warning us: love and intensity go hand in hand, and this lyrical, passionate show is about love – real love – so it will be intense.
Skin Tight is one of two one-acts showing as part of Studio 2ndStage’s sexy, imaginative, and thoroughly engaging Pas de Deux: Plays from New Zealand and Canada. The second piece, 2-2 Tango, was one of the first major successes at The Studio 2ndStage back in 1992.
In Skin Tight by Gary Henderson, Tom and Elizabeth relive their passionate marriage through an emotional duet. Poetic at times, violent at others, the piece reflects a love story from the inside out with intimacy and depth. Director Johanna Gruenhut’s staging is the kind that stays in your memory for a long time to pester and delight.
By Brian Mosley
I hope you’re reading this outdoors because it’d be down right criminal to be missing the weather we’re having right now. I mean look at it! This weekend is going to be amazing. And to get that weekend started, check out the photographic review of the week below…then get outside. Continue reading
By Mickey
Lovelife at Bowery Electric, 2012 (courtesy of Lovelife)
Living Social is kicking off an irregular showcase of emerging artists at its F Street headquarters starting Saturday May 4. Normally, I wouldn’t give it a second look but they managed to get something special for their inaugural date with Lovelife, Ghost Beach and Vacationer — a lineup better suited to the Black Cat or at least the Rock and Roll Hotel.
It’s worth mentioning what Living Social say about Lovelife because it’s not quite right. “After a name change and a transatlantic hop from London to Brooklyn, this synthpop act recently dropped new tracks El Regreso and The Fourth Floor.”
Well, our Atlantic-hopping musicians are well worth checking out. And lead singer Lee Newell was fronting a band called Viva Brother in London. But that band didn’t simply change its name and move. Newell met Ally Young, who at the time was in another band called Mirrors. The two really clicked musically, and Young, a bona fide synth genius, left Mirrors to form Lovelife with Newell.
That was really quite too bad, in my personal opinion, as Mirrors were a great synthpop band in the tradition of The Human League or Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark. But Young wanted to do something different, and it perhaps more organic and diverse. Lovelife still have a strong synth strain augmented by the capable guitar and drums of Sam Jackson and drummer Frank Colucci, respectively. But the new band has a taste for soul and R&B that permeate its music. While I wouldn’t call it neosoul by any stretch, it’s at the very least soulful synthpop. And well worth a listen — trust me!
Check out “Your New Beloved” from the latest Lovelife EP:
Vacationer, originally from Philadelphia, also are well worth checking out. They last came through DC and played at the Rock and Roll Hotel in January. Before that, I caught them opening for Walk the Moon in June last year. They play sunny, soulful indie pop that wistfully transports you to distant shores, much as their name Vacationer suggests.
The bands are accompanied by Ghost Beach, who will be performing a DJ set.
Lovelife are predicting this show will sell out, so grab a ticket now and don’t miss out on a good show!
Vacationer
w/ Lovelife and Ghost Beach
Saturday, May 4
Doors 7pm; show 8pm
$12
Living Social
918 F Street NW
Washington, DC 20004
21+
By Don
Joanna: I’ll be out of town this weekend, but were my friend Christine not getting married to an awesome guy in a cow-themed wedding (sure to be a mooving ceremony), I guess I’d be here. And I’d be attending one of local artist Dana Ellyn’s two opening receptions happening this weekend. I’d also do some massive Embassy touring – part of Passport DC’s signature events. I really hate to be missing that. Last year’s EU tours (coming up May 11) were mostly great, so this time around I was really hoping to tour the rest of the world. Alas, it’s not to be. North Carolina doesn’t count as another country, does it?
Tom: It’s opening weekend at Merriweather Post Pavilion, so that means I’ll be up in Columbia getting my metal on this weekend. Because, really, who doesn’t want to see Twisted Sister rock out and relive their best Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure memories? I’m also plotting a trip to see Iron Man 3 this weekend, but struggling with the where. AMC Courthouse doesn’t have it, so I can’t experience the cushy seats, so it’s looking like Hoffman Center if I want to trek to the burbs for IMAX 3D, or Georgetown Loews if I want to deal with being in Georgetown for a couple hours on a Sunday. Either way, it’s a metal nerd weekend.
By Patrick Pho
Much of No Rule Theatre’s The Personals plays out like a twisted Match.com ad. An early 40-something woman seeks a sweet and honest man. A serious reporter searches for, “an aggressive woman.” Blind man hopes to find a sighted mate. These are not the serendipitous perfect matches portrayed in those online dating commercials. That’s because the dates are part of an on-going role-playing game between a husband and wife who are hoping to repair their broken marriage.
Unable to pick up the pieces after a tragic accident, Don and Janna (Michael Kramer and Anne Kanengeiser) attempt to rekindle their lost love through their fake blind dates. The two go on dates set-up through personal ads in the newspaper. Taking on characters dictated in the personal ads, the two meet in the after hours of the bar where Don serves as both owner and headline entertainer.
The premise equates into a multitude of roles for Kramer and Kanengeiser, who both provide subtle hints of chemistry through their false personas that illustrates the love that once existed in the now vacant marriage. There are quite a few humorous moments, especially through Don’s cheesy magic act, but don’t mistake this for a stage version of Fifty First Dates. The mood is gloomy, a thick fog that separates a husband and wife who hope to find their way by pretending to be somebody else.
By Katie
It’s getting to be the perfect weather in DC. You know, that fine balance we get maybe a few glorious weeks a year where the thermometer is perfectly positioned between chilly and OVERWHELMINGLY-HUMID-TAKE-ME-TO-ALASKA-WHAT-IS-THIS-PLACE-WE-LIVE-IN hot.
So we must embrace this time, and one of my favorite ways is by putting together a picnic and heading outdoors with the people I love. Here are some of my top picks for picnic spots, along with good places to grab picnic supplies.
Picnic spot: Yards Park. If you haven’t been by now, embrace the season and head on over and soak up the southwest waterfront.
Grab your supplies: If it’s the weekend, try and grab something from one of the vendors at Eastern Market before heading out. If not, I’d recommend either Cornercopia or Spring Mill Bread Company for fresh sandwiches.
Picnic Spot: Founders Park in Old Town, Alexandria
Grab your supplies: Perfect for a brunch picnic, Society Fair offers up plenty of baked goods (try the croissant) housemade yogurt and coffee to go.
Listen to Your Mother Cast / Courtesy LTYM DC
Full disclosure: I went to Synetic Theater on Sunday afternoon firstly to see my friend Lauren perform and secondly because my mom said so. She likes stories about motherhood, and couldn’t be there herself. So mist and cold be damned.
Listen to Your Mother is a national program started by Ann Imig to “give Mother’s Day a voice” by inviting writers to read/perform selected personal essays about motherhood. The 2nd annual DC show took place Sunday at Synetic Theater.
By Brian Mosley
It’s like Stewie from Family Guy, only if he were a cat! Oh, are you going to try to kill us with a death ray? That’s so cute! Dan got a great shot of Thor, the new Sand Cat at the National Zoo. And Dan is far from a stranger with the creatures there; check out his other outings and get even more photos of fuzzy animals.
No photo lesson today, just cuteness. But I did want to ask: did you know the National Zoo itself has an awesome Flickr page? It makes sense, given what they work with is so photogenic. A quick scan of their photostream comes away with such things as photos of Clouded Leopard, Andean Bear, AND Cheetah cubs, along with two different types of pandas in the snow. And that’s only looking for five minutes! Did I mention they have videos too? There goes your productivity today; you can thank me tomorrow.
Photo Courtesy of Marlene Hall
She/He Loves DC is a series highlighting the people who love this city just as much as we do.
Marlene Hall is a go-getter. She’s someone who faces the adversity life throws and embraces it. Hall grew up an Army brat and has lived all over the world but it’s DC she calls home.
She takes great pride in contributing her time to veteran organizations and causes like Team Red, White, and Blue. She was also a supernumerary in the Washington National Opera’s Carmen with opera singer Denyce Graves. She recently started her own Public Relations company and also works with Viridian Green Energy where she gets people to switch their utilities to green energy.
What is it about DC that makes it home to you?
Well, I’m from here. I grew up here, my parents grew up here, my relatives are here, so this is home. I love being surrounded by family. I have a strong support network because of my family and friends. I don’t need to get plane tickets for Christmas or Thanksgiving as everyone is here. Everywhere I go, I usually see someone I know.
I also love the military tradition here. My dad and my grandfathers all served here in the area. One of my grandfathers served in the Old Guard and is buried at Arlington. I too served in the military and being surrounded by military is always home to me. Continue reading
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