Washington City Paper (May 6, 2016)

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politics: a ward four challenge 9 food: tipped minimum wage 23 arts: comedy scene 27

Free Volume 36, no. 19 washingtoncitypaper.com may 6–12, 2016

Go-Go RaRin’ to

Rare Essence is keeping D.C.’s hometown beat alive.

It hasn’t always been easy.

By Alona Wartofsky Photographs by Darrow Montgomery

Three words everyone likes to hear.

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2 may 6, 2016 washingtoncitypaper.com

INSIDE 16RaRIN’ TOGO-GO For 40 years, Rare Essence has kept go-go alive in D.C.

By alona WaRToFSKy PHoToGRaPHS By DaRRoW MonTGoMERy

4 Chatter DistriCt Line

7 Concrete Details: A look at the rough designs of the mayor’s new family shelters 9 loose lips: Can Leon Andrews unseat Brandon Todd in Ward 4?

11 The Potanist 12 Unobstructed View 13 Gear Prudence 14 Savage love 15 Buy D.C.

D.C. FeeD

23 young & Hungry: Could a minimum wage increase kill tipping altogether?

25 Grazer: What’s being mixed in D.C.’s bottomless bloody marys and mimosas 25 Underserved: Pepita Cantina’s El Chapo

32 opera: Paarlberg on Wagner’s Ring cycle: The Rhinegold and The Valkyrie 34 Short Subjects: Gittell on Men & Chicken

City List

Neighborhood Party ----Tuesday, May 24 50% Off All Food And Drink

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New Spring Menu Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Daily Chef’s Features Lunch and Wine Flights Dinners Happy Hour Drink and Apps Patio Open

Champagne Brunch Weekends Saturdays - A-La-Carte: $29.95 Sunday Buffet: $38.95

37 City lights: Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore headlines a concert to benefit John Stabb.

37 Music 43 Galleries 44 Theater 45 Film

46 CLassiFieDs Diversions 47 Crossword

on the Cover

andre “Whiteboy” Johnson of Rare Essence at Touché Supper Club

arts

27 Comic Release: D.C.’s comedy scene is gaining steam, but can it rival New York and L.A.?

29 arts Desk: In honor of the Funk Parade, City Paper asks: Is this funky?

29 one Track Mind: Domingues & Kane’s “Black Shuck” 30 Theater: Klimek on Transmission and Wild Sky

Back to the Beach

“What beyond crime? Because I’m not that concerned about crime.” —Page 9

Improving our Communities for Tomorrow

Washington Gas continues to upgrade its natural gas distribution system in the District of Columbia through our accelerated pipe replacement plan, PROJECTpipes. Our Community Outreach Team regularly meets with Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, residents and businesses, and is working to keep any disruptions to you and your communities at a minimum.

We are glad to provide you with several options for obtaining information regarding our activities in your neighborhood. Visit washingtongas.com and click on PROJECTpipes to see our new interactive online map and view the narrative project calendar, email us at dhope.projectpipes@washgas.com or call 202-624-6400.

If there is a gas emergency requiring immediate attention, please call 911 or the Washington Gas Emergency Leak Line at 703-750-1400 or 800-752-7520.

washingtoncitypaper.com may 6, 2016 3

CHATTER Slum Piece

In which our readers talk about slumlords

Darrow MontgoMery

Last week’s cover story (“At What Price?”, April 29), which looked at the appalling conditions some landlords have let their properties slip into, brought a rebuke from reader Common Sense (no, we don’t think Thomas Paine is alive) who wrote, “The reason why wealthier neighborhoods look better is not because they get more or better city services—it’s precisely the opposite. It’s because they DON’T request or wait around for the city to come do something they can handle themselves with a little bit of time, elbow grease, or a few dollars. I haven’t called the city about a graffiti tag in years. I just keep a few cans of electrical box gray, brick red, and lightpole black paint under my sink. I think I spent $15 on all three cans, and a dollar on the little foam brush.” See? It’s as easy as just fixing it yourself, all you renters who have rats, leaks, and drug dealers in your buildings. Pat replied to Common Sense, “I’ll be ‘common sense’ has no sense or experience whatsoever of ever being poor or disadvantaged in his or her (I’m guessing his) life. The lack of empathy in these comments is appalling.” Northwesterner hated the players, not the game. “Apartments are meant for people who need a place to live while saving to buy a house … The idea that someone would spend 45 years in an apartment is a joke.” Home ownership! It’s so easy and affordable in D.C.! At least one person of prominence took note, however, of the residents’ concerns: Councilmember Anita Bonds announced this week that she will introduce legislation to allow the city to go after “slumlords” who let their buildings go to hell.

You’re So Good Looking. You may notice a slightly different look for Washington City Paper as well as a new feature.

Jandos Rothstein, our longtime creative director, is the force behind the redesign, which cleans up the type and will be visually compatible with our redesigned website (more on that next week when it’s live). We’re also rolling out The Potanist, our new monthly column by Bud Baker and Herb Green. They will teach you how to grow (and consume) the District’s favorite semi-legalized substance. Thanks for reading.

—Steve Cavendish Want to see your name in bold on this page? Send letters, gripes, clarifications, or praise to editor@washingtoncitypaper.com.

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PLEASE JOIN THE DC DEPARTMENT of PARKS AND RECREATION FOR

5 pm – 8:30 pm Ward 8: Barry Farm | May 2016

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Office of the Sports, Health & Fitness Division: (202) 671-0314

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CITYPAPER Washington

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Please drink responsibly.

A new report says that more than 100,000 District workers would benefit from a rise in the minimum wage to $15. washingtoncitypaper.com/go/wagerise

DistrictLine First Drafts

ings and floor plans).

Ward 1

A look at the rough designs of Muriel Bowser’s proposed family homeless shelters

By Amanda Kolson Hurley

quired by law, and certainly better than the communal bathrooms of D.C. General. Shelters will have computer labs, offices and support areas for social services, and warming kitchens for heating up food. The city will offer residents three meals a day, cooked off-site.

Family rooms will have two to five beds plus mini fridges. Most will measure about 300 square feet, the size of a small studio apartment.

Overall, the designs—all by local architecture firms—suggest environments where families could get back on their feet with dignity, provided they are well managed and not too crowded. A few of the shelters (in Wards 3, 7, and 8) may even have above-average aesthetics. But there’s still considerable variation between the designs, especially when it comes to common and play areas.

In some shelters, kids will have more room to play and more suitable places to do their home-

Since February, when Mayor Muriel Bowser announced her plan to close D.C. General and replace it with seven neighborhood shelters for homeless families, criticism of the proposal has risen to a steady drumbeat. Opponents have launched websites attacking the administration for a lack of transparency and, in Ward 3, staged a walkout of a public meeting.

Their main objections are the project’s $660 million price tag; an accelerated decision-making process with little public outreach; and the fact that developers who donated to Bowser’s campaign stand to make a lot of money from city leases, while the District won’t own most of the buildings or the land they sit on.

These are serious, legitimate concerns that the city has not yet adequately addressed. It’s easy to see why, when D.C. officials held A rendering of Ward 1’s meetings to discuss the design of the shelproposed shelter ters, some residents felt they were being steamrolled into talking about shrubbery and fences as their more pressing questions were ignored.

But it’s still worth looking closely at the designs presented for the shelters in Ward 1 and Wards 3 through 8. These would be permanent and, yes, pricey additions to the city’s building stock, affecting neighborhoods around the District. And they will be temporary homes for some of D.C.’s most vulnerable residents. Can they avoid replicating the miserable (and allegedly dangerous) conditions of D.C. General?

All of the new shelters must conform to the city’s strict set of functional requirements. Designers have to provide private bathrooms for at least 10 percent of rooms (although advocates have called for more). The majority of residents will use lockable family bathrooms, with a current ratio of one bathroom per two families— better than the one per five families re-

ConCrete Details

work than in others. The convenience of the bathroom will depend on a family’s shelter assignment and unit. Some of the facilities will slot into dense urban fabric (Ward 1) while others will stand behind fences or walls on self-contained lots (Ward 5, Ward 8). In each, ensuring residents’ safety without succumbing to a fortress mentality will be crucial, but the balance will no doubt differ from shelter to shelter.

That’s assuming, of course, that these designs actually get built. The D.C. Council has not put the plan on any kind of fast track. So far, Bowser has not been receptive to site changes, and whether she’ll bend on the Ward 5 site or entertain major changes to any of the designs isn’t clear.

Below is a summary of each design, with some thoughts on their strengths and weaknesses (caveat: the designs are not final, and you can only tell so much from a few render-

2105 10th St. NW Architect: To be determined.

According to the D.C. Department of General Services, an architect has not yet been hired for this project. “The builder will select the [architect/engineer] once the design build team is on board,” a spokesperson writes in an email. The plans released to the public were produced by Cunningham | Quill Architects, the firm designing the shelter in Ward 7. As recently as March 28, though, the intended architect was apparently DLR Group / Sorg; architect Suman Sorg owns the site, which she had previously hoped to convert into condos and an office for her design firm (which merged with DLR Group last year).

Placeholder or not, this design is the only one that features full apartments (two- and three-bedroom units, with kitchens and bathrooms) rather than single-room family units.

That’s because the Ward 1 shelter is replacing an apartment facility on Spring Road NW; the city is required by law to provide a certain number of apartment-style units for homeless families. Plans show a new six-story structure joined to the historic church at 10th and V streets, with a play area on the new building’s roof.

washingtoncitypaper.com may 6, 2016 7

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DistrictLinE Ward 3

2619 Wisconsin Ave. NW Architect: Studio Twenty Seven Architecture The design for this shelter (for 38 families) resembles a tight cluster of houses, with interlocking high-pitched roofs and an irregular pattern of windows on the exterior. The rectangular plan wraps three- and four-bed units and common rooms around a generous courtyard.

The exaggerated gables and staggered windows are more high-design than is customary in D.C. and won’t be to everyone’s taste. But the domestic style and scale of the architecture may help the shelter blend in with the neighborhood’s single-family homes. The plan takes advantage of topography by tucking the computer lab and an exam room below grade at the top of a sloping site, so that other ground-level spaces can get daylight through high strip windows. There are large play areas on two levels.

Ward 4

5505 5th St. NW Architect: PGN Architects In Ward 4, a five-story former medical office building at 5th and Kennedy will become a shelter. It will be expanded at the back, spruced up on the outside, and given a U-shaped recreation area with a playground and a basketball court.

The planned common areas do not look spacious. The main one is in the cellar, and on floors 3 and 5, the city may choose to swap the lounge for an extra unit. With 49 families (i.e., at least 100 people) in residence, a great room that seats 30 and three lounges that sit several people each may feel cramped.

An architect who lives in Ward 4, Lesley Golenor, has other concerns, which she outlined in a letter to Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Brenda Donald. Golenor worries that the metal panels on the exterior may not be durable, that the fencing won’t stand up to bouncing balls and graffiti, and that the site design is “underdeveloped.”

Ward 5

2266 25th Place NE Architect: GTM Architects A warehouse on 25th Place NE near Bladensburg Road will be converted into a large shelter with a second-story addition, and reclad in metal and fiber-cement panels, under the current plan. There will be an on-site health clinic.

The shelter will have a green roof, a small interior courtyard, and three play areas and a basketball court outside.

Neighbors and Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie have sharply criticized the location— it’s close to a Metrobus depot, auto-body shops, and a strip club. Most of the building’s 50 units (a few containing five beds) are planned for the second story, meaning that 100 or so people will share this floor and its small lounge. A separate homework lounge is a plus, but tiny play areas

placed hard against the fence are a real drawback.

The large dining room could feel institutional.

Ward 6

700 Delaware Ave. SW Architect: Soto Architects This L-shaped building, with seven stories on one wing and five on another, will fit around the church that houses the Blind Whino arts space.

The glass-walled tower at the southeast corner will contain a stack of study rooms, which ought to receive plenty of daylight. Perhaps as a result of the L configuration, the arrangement of bathrooms seems awkward—some presumably will be located quite far from the families that use them. This is problematic because a parent going to the bathroom or taking a small child there would have to leave other children unattended. The Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless recommends clear sightlines between every family unit and its bathroom.

D.C. shelter residents surveyed by the Legal Clinic last year overwhelmingly said that private bathrooms were a priority for their safety and wellbeing. (They were split on the importance of full kitchens and separate rooms for parents and kids.) But bathrooms, with their plumbing and fixtures, add considerably to a building’s cost and take up space that could be used for beds.

Dedicated play space at this shelter is scant, although it sits right next to Randall Playground.

Ward 7

5004 D St. SE Architect: Cunningham | Quill Architects The shelter on D and 50th streets SE will have four stories and 35 units, and the designers suggest exterior options of striped or multicolored brick (with or without green walls of trailing plants) or cement panels.

Maybe because the site poses fewer challenges, this plan is one of the most rational of the bunch, with clearly demarcated family and social zones and a good arrangement of bathrooms vis-a-vis the units. The dining room on the ground floor, with large windows on two sides, should be inviting. The architects propose some nice touches like the green walls and a gabion wall (stones in wire mesh) in lieu of a fence, but these could be dropped or value-engineered away.

Ward 8

6th and Chesapeake streets SE Architect: DLR Group / Sorg This site off 6th Street SE will have more green space than any of the others: mostly gardens (including a rain garden), plus a playground at the back. Stacks of three- and four-bed units would be offset for a Jengatecture effect. Sorg leads the DLR Group’s D.C. studio.

The Ward 8 design is one of the most contemporary in style. The ample gardens would need to be well lit and monitored for security.

CP

DistrictLinE Loan Ranger

Tomorrow’s History Today: This was the week that the National Transportation Safety Board reported that Metro’s ineffective inspections led to the fatal smoke event in January 2015.

Leon Andrews looks to seize any opposition he can find in Ward 4—and he’s willing to spend thousands of his own dollars to do it.

By Will Sommer Leon Andrews wAnts votes. On Tuesday, he got a lecture, instead.

After scolding one of the Ward 4 D.C. Council hopeful’s volunteers for knocking on his door instead of ringing the doorbell, an irate, barefoot Chevy Chase man is prodding Andrews hard.

All of Andrews’ talking points that go over well east of Rock Creek Park—more vocational training and crime programs—are fizzling in this leafy, secluded neighborhood. For someone who initially thought Andrews’ reference to “the election” meant Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the Chevy Chase voter has hit on Andrews’ problem with his quest to oust incumbent Brandon Todd in June’s Democratic primary: There’s just not a whole lot of policy difference between them.

“What beyond crime?” the man says, gesturing around his empty street. “Because I’m not that concerned about crime.”

Even one of Andrews’ few breaks with Todd—the location of a family homeless shelter backed by the councilmember’s patron, Mayor Muriel Bowser—comes out muddled.

“Wait, you believe you need to do shelters, but it’s not a great thing?” the man taunts. Andrews, a 40-year-old father of three, sputters.

“I’m going to release you,” the man says, but not before agreeing to vote for him.

Walking to the next house, the candidate claims he loved that exchange. When LL points out that the man gave him a hard time, Andrews points out that he won another vote.

“That’s not a hard time,” he says.

Andrews looks like he has the best chance at unseating Todd, but that doesn’t mean his chances are actually good.

He has the bad luck to face Bowser’s Green Team in what is probably its strongest race. In the at-large race, new Bowser pal Vincent Orange faces two challengers who have at least some shot at beating him. In Ward 7, resurgent ex-Mayor Vince Gray looks set to handily beat foe Yvette Alexander (if his own polls are to be believed). In Ward 8, Trayon White is challenging incumbent and Bowser ally LaRuby May in a repeat of a race that was settled by fewer than 100 votes last year.

On the other hand, Andrews came in third

Darrow Montgomery

Loose Lips

to Todd in last year’s special election to replace Bowser—he got 15 percent to Todd’s 43 percent of the vote. No public polls have been released on the Ward 4 race, but it’s hard to imagine Andrews or the two other challengers—fellow 2015

returner Ron Austin and perennial D.C. Council hopeful Calvin Gurley—easily dethroning Bowser’s pick in the base of her power.

Andrews has the endorsements of seven candidates from last year’s special election, in-

cluding one from Renee Bowser, who came in second to Todd last year with 22 percent of the vote. More importantly, he has gobs of money: $156,223 raised as of the March finance report.

It’s not more than Todd, who had raised more washingtoncitypaper.com may 6, 2016 9

Adopt a friend today!

FACTS ABOUT TOM

BREED: TREEING WALKER COONHOUND MIX • COLOR: TRICOLOR (TAN/BROWN & BLACK & WHITE) • AGE: 8 YEARS • SIZE: MED. ~50LBS • SEX: MALE

Tom’s Story…Tom is an approximately 8 year old Treeing Walker Coonhound mix that arrived at the shelter

MEET TOM

as a stray. He arrived in D.C. on February 11 and started out at doggy daycare but is now settling in nicely at a foster home. Here is what his foster has to say about him: “Tom is a sweet older gentleman who gets along well with people and dogs. His favorite things to do are snoozing on his bed inside and sniffing all the smells outside. He also loves the dog park and car rides. Tom is doing so well in his foster home, he has adapted well to city life and has quickly learned household rules and routines. He is also made big improvements on his potty training. He does well in his crate and is quiet. Tom walks well on leash and is easy going. He’s loving, sweet, patient and very tolerant. Though he loves his creature comforts, Tom also loves the outside and walks. In fact, he is quite the man about town in the neighborhood, greeting all people and dogs -- and people know him by name already. He does well in the city and isn’t afraid of noises or unexpected situations. Tom would be a great addition to a family of dogs or as an only dog. He is a very young 8 years old, and loves to get out and go!” Tom can’t wait to find his forever family in the D.C. area!

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than $233,052 as of March. But it’s far more than Gurley and Austin, who had a little more than $2,200 between the two of them.

As with so much else about Andrews’ candidacy, though, there’s a caveat to his fundraising prowess: It’s nearly all from himself. As of March, Andrews had lent his campaign $140,000, meaning that nearly all of his campaign’s contributions have come from his own pockets. Add in the $90,000 loan he made to his 2015 campaign, and Andrews has put $230,000 over the past two years toward getting himself a Council seat.

It’s not clear to LL how Andrews, who works as a director at the National League of Cities, can afford all this. The organization’s most recent tax returns, for example, don’t list him as one of its highest paid employees. Andrews claims that he didn’t mortgage his Brightwood house for the campaign money, saying only that it “comes from multiple places.”

“I wanted to make sure we gave our campaign what we needed at the front end,” Andrews says.

Money can’t save Andrews from the age-old problem of the challenger whose incumbent isn’t besmirched by scandal: He can’t effectively explain why people should ditch Todd.

Andrews can complain about the usual problems of Ward 4, like the moribund Kennedy Street NW commercial strip. There’s not an obvious answer for getting a Chipotle and a Target, though—if there were, it probably would have been done already.

One woman in Chevy Chase complains to Andrews that Todd wouldn’t get her son a crossing guard for his school bus stop. This is the sort of individual complaint that might swell into a changed Council seat—but Andrews can only tell the woman that the decision lies with the executive branch.

Andrews passes Tuesday night in a 13th Street NW church, convincing a few dozen people that he should be backed by a Caribbean-American PAC. He’s ditched the red T-shirt, swapping it out for a suit accented with a red tie and pocket square. Next to him at the table are Austin and Gurley.

Todd, meanwhile, spends the evening enjoying his incumbency, alternating between a constituent services walk and a Chevy Chase fundraiser. (Todd’s campaign didn’t respond to LL’s requests for comment on the race.)

Andrews keeps walking in front of the speakers with his mic, sending waves of feedback over the audience. When he goes over his time limit, moderator and former District Department of Health Director Ivan Walks cuts in.

“Mr. Gurley,” Walks tells Andrews.

“I’m not Gurley,” he says, before sitting down again.

CP Got a tip for LL? Send suggestions to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com.

Or call (202) 650-6925.

SEE FULL SCHEDULE INSIDE

MEGHAN TRAINOR | HAILEE STEINFELD » DON HENLEY BOB DYLAN | MAVIS STAPLES » SUFJAN STEVENS EDWARD SHARPE AND THE MAGNETIC ZEROS

SUMMER 2016

The

Potanist Marijuana has been legal (ish) in the District of Columbia for just over a year now, and it’s high time that both recreational and medical consumers have a local source of information. We bring you The Potanist, a column dedicated to our favorite plant. We are Bud and Herb, two of D.C.’s most accomplished growers (and smokers). With 35 years of combined experience cultivating and consuming marijuana, the two of us began growing in D.C. the day it became legal. Our buds have placed in competitions including the D.C. State Fair.

This column will provide answers to questions on myriad weed-related topics.

We’ll cover culture, growing techniques, edible recipes, D.C.’s regulations, and other burning questions. We’ll also share schedules for upcoming events and contests.

Our growing tips are intended to offer you a step-by-step guide. We’ll begin with seed selection and germination, and take you all the way to harvest and curing, and of course to rolling and smoking.

Let’s start with the basics.

First, you need to pick a strain. The question is, sativa or indica? Most smokers have a definite preference for one or the other. Indica produces a more sedative body high, good for sleeping disorders and stress relief. Sativa creates a more alert, cerebral buzz. Combinations of the two strains are called “hybrids.” Indicas, and hybrids with the physical attributes of indica, are better suited for growing indoors than sativa, which can grow up to 20 feet tall. And while adults in D.C. can grow up to six pot plants, this must be done within their residence.

The other critical thing you need to know is: the female rules. The most desirable plant is the female because it produces the buds.

It is very difficult to determine the gender of a seed, and using random seeds from a bag of pot is a roll of the dice at best. Much energy can be spent on growing a plant only to discover at flowering time that you have an undesirable male. It is encouraged that beginning growers procure feminized seeds, preferably through seed-share events which are legal in D.C. (or you can go the Internet route, but it’s a much murkier legal proposition). Feminized seed eliminates the time-consuming process of sexing plants and guarantees you’re putting your time and effort into plants of the superior sex.

So go get your seeds, and we’ll be back in a couple of weeks.

CP The Potanist is written by Bud Baker and Herb Green (yes, those are pseudonyms; yes, they are real people). Reach them at potanist@washcp.com.

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The Ruling Off the Field

By Matt Terl I love the NFL draft and have for years. It’s an event directly related to the game of football, but it’s all hope and very little disaster. No one gets hurt and no one really loses (except for Jets fans), and even if you don’t do well, you don’t really know it for five years. It is 100 percent plan and zero percent contact with the enemy. It’s great.

I don’t really understand it, though.

I mean, I understand the draft itself well enough—it’s people choosing teams, something we’ve done since we were kids at recess— but I find the cottage industry surrounding it gets more and more baffling every year. Draft prognostication, draft analysis, mock drafts, draft grades—if you think about it for even a second, none of this stuff makes any sense.

Teams choose players based on any of number of factors: their current needs, the game’s changing strategies, their future needs, the need to give a particular decision-maker some sense of autonomy and power… the list goes on. Teams dispatch an entire staff of travelling scouts and collect reports from them. They interview players. They refine their list again and again. They attend the NFL Combine. They argue with each other, and they stand on the table for their guys, and all that dramatic stuff.

And, presumably, they also watch some analysis and look at what’s being written and watch the college games.

The information imbalance in this situation is staggeringly on the side of the team. Even the worst-drafting team of all time—maybe the Bengals of decades ago, with their legendarily small scouting department—probably knows more about the available players than any viewer, and they know how that player fits their team better than any commentator.

What I’m saying is that the teams probably know everything that you do, or that Mel Kiper does, plus a lot more. So when a highly touted prospect plummets down the draft, and your team—despite having an apparent need at that position—passes him up again and again, the odds are good there’s a reason for it. (Andrew Billings was an example this year.)

But pundits shake their heads and scold and issue scathing C-plus draft grades, and fans tweet angrily about how their favorite team

left this perfect guy on the board. None of it makes any sense to me.

The local NFL team wound up catching a little of that kind of heat this year, in this case for taking a wide receiver in the first round when everyone knew—KNEW!—that they needed to use that pick to shore up the defensive line.

That’s linear thinking: We are thin at defensive line, so we should draft to fill defensive line positions, regardless of all other considerations.

That approach leads to stasis, as you slot in decent-to-good players at your positions of need every time they open up, but never build a truly talented roster across the board. Second-year General Manager Scot McCloughan does things differently: You take the guys you believe will best contribute, regardless of position; if they’re good, you’ll find a way to use them, and the net result is a more talented roster across the board, even if you still have a nominal “hole” in your lineup.

It’s not a particularly flashy approach to the draft. In many ways it can be boring, and it can even seem disappointing, drafting a guy who may be buried on the depth chart in his rookie year. It draws neither effusive praise nor fiery condemnation from the chattering draft pundits. The overall response seems to be, roughly, “B-plus. Some promising players and some odd choices.”

But—and here’s the weird thing—that’s indicative of how the Pigskins seem to operate these days. Since McCloughan arrived, much of the praise has been focused on his player evaluation savvy. But credit also needs to be given to the holistic organizational change he seems to have implemented. For more than a year now, this team has kept the soap opera to a minimum. They’ve plugged the worst of their information leaks. They’ve made personnel moves that have ranged from “really good” down to “not-so-good-but-it-was-worth-ashot.” Yes, they’ll need to win from September on, not just from March to June, but they’ve taken a big step: Basically, they’ve acted like a professional football team that has some idea of what they’re doing.

And that’s even more baffling than the eight trillion totally wrong mock drafts that accompany the draft every year.

CP

Follow Matt Terl on Twitter @matt_terl.

Gear Prudence Gear Prudence: I’m a daily Capital Bikeshare user, and overall, I’m very happy with it. Once in a blue moon, though, I’ll grab a bike and it’s just kind of broken. But it’s not broken enough to not ride it.

In fact, I sort of like the challenge of trying to ride these wonky bikes. Though I wonder— what’s the most broken a Bikeshare bike can be before it stops being safe to ride?

—Bikeshare User Savors Trying Erroneous Devices Dear BUSTED: First of all, GP hopes that you’re pressing the wrench button on the dock when you return these busted bikes. This tells Bikeshare that the bike needs a little TLC and should be temporarily taken out of service. They’ll even send you an email so you can provide some additional information about what’s wrong, and that’ll help them with a quicker diagnosis and resolution. Even though you might like the sensation of riding bikes that are a little off, do everyone the favor of reporting them.

There is something thrilling about a bike that’s not exactly dialed in. It adds a degree of difficulty and excitement—a brief break from the boring monotony of efficient, cheap, safe, and accessible transportation. Generally speaking, you can ride on flattish tires; if the steering is kind of screwy; if the crank makes weird noises; or if the bike doesn’t shift. If the brakes seem off, don’t chance it.

—GP Gear Prudence: I have a problem. I can’t ride my bike home without needing to stop to pee somewhere along the way. Yes, I’m consulting a doctor. But in the meantime, I need your help: Where’s the best place for a bicyclist to stop his commute in the city in order to heed the call of nature? —Places I Seek Solace Dear PISS: GP is pleased that you’ve recognized that perhaps there’s an underlying medical situation and you’re seeing a professional. GP isn’t qualified to give medical advice (though it would have involved unguents and leeches), so advice on where and how to stop will have to suffice. The advice is this: don’t.

Everyone knows that bicyclists need to have complete traffic-law immunity. Skip stop signs.

Assume red lights are green. Affix a siren to your helmet and/or sound some kind of claxon that announces to the world that you have concerns bladder-wise that subvert the normal rules of the road.

Technically, the laws haven’t quite caught up to the “cyclists can do whatever they want if they need to pee” rule, and it’s sort of antisocial to put your own temporary discomfort ahead of civic order. If you really need to stop, here’s one idea: the library. Pop in, do your thing, and borrow a book. If your condition persists, at least you’ll be well read.

—GP Gear Prudence is Brian McEntee, who tweets @sharrowsDC. Got a question about bicycling?

Email gearprudence@washcp.com.

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SAVAGELOVE I’m a 31-year-old straight woman. I have a good job, great friends, and average attractiveness.

I’ve dated close to 30 men at this point, and I can’t wrap my head around this: I’ve never had a boyfriend or dated anyone for more than a couple months. It’s really starting to wear on my selfesteem. I don’t believe anything is wrong with me, but the more time goes on, the more I think I have to be doing something wrong. The guys ghost me or things fizzle out or we’re not at the same point in our lives. This is particularly true for one guy I’ve remained friends with (common social circle) who is struggling with his career, though things are still awkward because it’s clear there’s still something there. Another area of concern: I’m still a virgin. Catholic guilt resulted in me being a late bloomer, with my first kiss at 21. Once I got more into dating, my low self-esteem coupled with the fact that I’ve basically decided I want to be in a monogamous committed relationship with a guy before having sex, relationships just never happened. I don’t have unrealistic expectations that I’ll marry the first dick that sticks itself into me—but I’ve waited this long, so I’m not going to jump into the sack with just anyone without knowing that I can at least trust them.

The only guy I really do trust is Somewhat Depressed Guy, but propositioning him could further complicate our already awkward friendship. Is something wrong with me, and what the hell should I do?

—What’s Wrong With Me?

I get variations on the first half of your question—is something wrong with me?—all the time. But it’s not a question I’m in a position to answer, WWWM, as I would need to depose a random sampling of the guys you’ve dated, interrogate your friends, and grill you under a bare lightbulb for a few days to figure out what’s wrong with you.

And you know what? Nothing could be wrong with you. You may have pulled the

short straw 30 times in a row, and you just need to keep getting out there and eventually you’ll pull a guy who won’t ghost or fizzle on you.

As for the second half of your question…

What the hell should you do? Well, gee.

What you’ve been doing hasn’t worked, WWWM, so maybe it’s time to do something else. Like fuck some dude on the first date.

Or if that’s too drastic, fuck some dude on the second date. Or better yet, go to Somewhat Depressed Guy and say: “I don’t think you want a relationship right now, and I’m not sure I do either. But I like you and trust you, and I could really use your help with something…”

While the commitment-and-monogamyfirst approach has worked for some, WWWM, it hasn’t worked for you. And being a virgin at 31 isn’t boosting your self-esteem. There are lots of people out there who jumped in the sack and did a little dick-sticking with people they barely knew but had a good feeling about. The jumping/sticking/dicking approach doesn’t always lead to committed and/or monogamous relationships, but it can and it has and it does.

Somewhat Depressed Guy might be somewhat less depressed if he was getting some, you might have higher self-esteem if you finally got some, and dispensing with your virginity might make dating after you part ways—if you part ways with him (you never know)—seem a lot less fraught.

—Dan Savage

I’m a virgin in my late 20s. I’m not waiting until marriage, just for the right person. I’ve dated enough and had enough fun to continue being a happy, normal, socially competent guy, much to the disbelief of my various knuckle-dragging, vagina-blinded pals. I’ve been dating this gal for a few months. She’s special—we have tons of chemistry and she cares about me. We had a brief conversation about my lack of sexperience when we

E’S DAN SAVAG

first started dating, and she was very cool about it. I really like this girl, but I’m not sure yet if she’s the future Mrs. I am a worrier (thanks, mom!), and I find myself thinking that if I share this with her and somewhere down the road we end up breaking up, she’s going to be even more devastated because I shared my first time with her. Am I just having silly virgin worries? Not only am I concerned about her feelings if things don’t work out, but I’m also concerned that I might become vagina-blinded—that I might immediately tell this girl I want to spend my life with her just because she’s having sex with me only to find myself a few years down the road feeling trapped.

What should I do? —Very Indecisive, Really Gettin’ Naughty

You should fuck this girl already—provided, of course, that this girl wants to fuck you.

You could wind up saying things you come to regret or have to walk back—her vagina might be that bedazzling—but that’s an unavoidable risk, and not one that’s unique to virgins. The right vagina, ass, face, skill set, or bank balance can blind a fucker with decades of experience.

The only way to avoid vagina-blindness—or ass-blindness, etc.—is to never have sex with anyone. And I don’t think you’re interested in celibacy, so stop freaking out about the risk that you’ll imprint, duckling-like, on the first vagina your pee-pee sees the inside of.

You must also eliminate “sexperience” from your vocabulary, VIRGN, as it’s equal parts cloying and annoying.

—Dan I’ve been with my boyfriend for more than a year.

He’s the first person I’ve had sex with. Four times now while we were having passionate sex, he has slipped out of my vagina and accidentally penetrated me anally. That shit hurts, and I can’t help but cry. I know he feels super guilty each time. I love sex, but I’m kind of scared every time we have it now. We’ve engaged in a little anal play before,

14 may 6, 2016 washingtoncitypaper.com

My own personal sexperience with anal led me to doubt claims of accidental anal penetration, WHAT, as anal penetration always required focus, precision, and proper breathing techniques—in my own sexperience. But listeners of the Savage Lovecast schooled me in Episode 340, and I’m now convinced that accidental anal penetration is something too many women have sexperienced. (Do you see how annoying that is, VIRGN?) A strategically deployed butt plug sounds like a sexcellent solution to the problem, WHAT, but get yourself a plug with a widerthan-usual base to prevent your boyfriend’s misdirected cock from pushing the plug, base and all, all the way in you (ouch) or his misdirected cock from sliding in alongside the plug. (If you hate single penetration, you’ll really hate double penetration.)

If the problem persists even with a plug— if your boyfriend’s cock is constantly slamming into the plug in a way that you find uncomfortable—a thumbtack glued to the base of the plug will inspire your boyfriend to be more focused and precise.

And speaking of the Savage Lovecast, we’re coming up on our 500th episode, which is a significant milestone for this relatively new genre/platform/doohickey. If you’re not already listening, find it here: savagelovecast. com. And a big thanks to Nancy Hartunian, the Lovecast’s producer since Episode 1, and to the tech-savvy, at-risk youth who pushed me to start podcasting before it was cool. —Dan Send your Savage Love questions to mail@savagelove.net.

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Go-Go RaRin’ to

Rare Essence keeps D.C.’s beat alive, 40 years in.

It’s nearly 2 a.m. at tHe toucHé supper club, and Rare Essence lead talker James “Funk” Thomas is deep in roll call. Over fusillades of percussion, he’s greeting familiar faces in the crowd: folks from his neighborhood, longtime fans, young women in the front, and the guys who come every week.

And then Funk shifts from people to places.

He’s giving shout outs to venues Rare Essence played in the ’70s and ’80s: the old Panorama Room in Anacostia, the East Side in Southwest, and the Masonic Temple on U Street NW. “If you’ve been to Club U, if you’ve been to Triples nightclub, if you’ve been to the Metro Club, we gonna do all that tonight, y’all,” he promises. “Let’s go all the way back, y’all.”

The audience roars back affirmation, outstretched hands slapping the air to the intoxicating beat.

Touché Supper Club is located in Northeast’s gentrified H Street district, but inside the club, tonight belongs to a different D.C.: the predominantly African-American city where go-go began and has thrived for generations. All 11 members of Rare Essence are

crammed onto the stage along with two club photographers documenting the show. Conga player Samuel “Smoke” Dews is wearing a Tshirt that reads “Wind Me Up, Chuck,” a tribute to the late “godfather” Chuck Brown, creator of go-go’s distinctive sound.

Go-go’s continual celebration of its own history is just one aspect of the music’s self-contained culture. Tonight, like so many nights before, Funk is celebrating go-go on several levels: He’s recognizing the music’s fans, its past, and the music itself. By name-checking the long-shuttered venues, Funk is revisiting go-go’s precious history as the heart and soul of a huge swath of D.C.’s African-American community.

Rare Essence is now in its fourth decade as one of D.C.’s top go-go bands. The group has

By Alona Wartofsky Photographs by Darrow Montgomery 16 may 6, 2016 washingtoncitypaper.com

Rare Essence at TouchĂŠ Supper Club in the early hours of April 23

washingtoncitypaper.com may 6, 2016 17

prevailed despite dozens of lineup changes, several deaths, drug violence that threatened the music’s very existence, and the gentrification that has displaced a dismayingly large percentage of the city’s black community. In many ways, the story of Rare Essence reflects the story of black D.C. It’s the story of a group of young boys from Southeast’s Washington Highlands neighborhood who dreamed of becoming music stars. Their story encompasses the pride and optimism of Mayor Marion Barry’s early years in office, as well as the heartbreak of the late ’80s crack epidemic.

The story of Rare Essence is also the story of a homegrown funk music that refuses to fade away.

On May 6, Rare Essence is releasing Turn It Up, the band’s first studio album in 15 years. Not counting the hundreds of PA recordings the band has churned out, Turn It Up is the band’s 15th official album, and it’s aimed squarely at the music’s core DMV audience and, just maybe, the world beyond.

No other go-go act, aside from Chuck Brown, has been as influential within the go-go community as Rare Essence. In 2010, when the band was celebrating an anniversary, go-go historian Kato Hammond designed a graphic for his TMOTTGoGo website. Using a “Welcome to D.C.” sign, he replaced the D.C. with R.E. “Rare Essence has never lost that top tier position in almost five decades,” says Hammond.

“That’s a big thing. That’s a Grateful Dead type of standing.”

Others in the local music community point to the band’s branding, professionalism and consistent release of new original music. “Rare Essence is in the elite group of bands that have stood the test of time,” says Tom Goldfogle, former manager of Chuck Brown. “They’ve had some changes in personnel, but they remain as relevant today as when they first started.”

Tonight’s Touché Supper Club show is evidence of that. The club is jam-packed, with more folks filing through the door. One of them, Darryl Blackwell, born and raised in Washington Highlands, has been a fan since the late ’70s, when he used to hit the go-go shows at Highlands Recreation Center. Now 50, Blackwell doesn’t get out as much as he used to.

“I love Rare Essence,” says Blackwell.

“Whether by listening to CDs or going to the shows, I’m gonna stay a fan for life.” tHe orIgIns of go-go have been well documented. The music dates back to the mid-’70s, when local bandleader Chuck Brown, a former boxer and ex-con, wanted to best his competitors in D.C.’s live music scene. Brown believed that pauses between songs slowed down the party, and so he worked with drummer Ricky Wellman to devise a percussion breakdown that could link songs together. Soon, his band was playing those breakdowns during the songs as well.

The first go-go hit, Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers’ 1979 “Bustin’ Loose,” was also a national hit. It predates the classic go-go sound, but the elements were already in place: percolating percussion patterns, call-and-response chants, a rump-shaking party mood, 18 may 6, 2016 washingtoncitypaper.com

and the bandleader’s charismatic personality.

“That’s how the sound you hear now got started,” Brown told City Paper in 1990. “You take those percussion breakdowns, mix a little music, and the other bands had something they could adapt to.”

One of those other pioneering go-go bands belonged—in a way—to Annie Mack Thomas. A mother of four who was keenly interested in music, Thomas’ house on Xenia Street SE was filled with records, and she regularly took her family to hear the soul and R&B greats who performed at the Howard Theatre.

Eager to encourage her sons’ interest in music, Miss Mack—as she was known to all—bought James his own turntable when he was eight. Her youngest, Quentin Davidson, got a drum set at age six, and after that, all he wanted in this world was to start a band. The boys’ uncle, D.C. Sam, had his own drum and bugle corps and gave Quentin his first lessons. “The drum set was in the dining room,” notes James Funk, “so the rest of us had to sit through the beginnings.”

By the time he was 13, Quentin had enlisted several of his schoolmates at Saint Thomas More Catholic School for his band: Andre “Whiteboy” Johnson, Michael “Funky Ned” Neal, John “Bighorn” Jones, and Quentin’s cousin, David Green.

One afternoon, while the boys were practicing at Johnson’s house, a small kid holding a trumpet knocked on the door. He played Kool & The Gang’s “Hollywood Swinging” for them, and immediately “Little” Benny Harley became the newest member of the band. The boys went through various names—Connections Unlimited, Thesis, and the Young Dynamos—before settling on Rare Essence, after a brand of perfume.

James had already started working as DJ Jas. Funk at Chuck Brown’s shows, and he soon decided that Rare Essence should adopt Brown’s new go-go sound. The first step would be taking the boys—all 13 or 14—to hear Brown perform. “That night was like the beginning of a new band,” says Funk. “Their eyes just lit up, like a kid getting ready to go into Toys ‘R’ Us... You could even tell when they came to that next rehearsal, it was a total different band.”

Brown helped Funk shape the band they jokingly called “the Baby Soul Searchers,” and some of the grownup Soul Searchers coached the boys, helping them master their instruments. Because Quentin was always heavy on the bass drum, he became known as “Footz.”

Whiteboy’s godmother arranged the fledgling band’s first gig at the nearby Linda Pollin recreation center. “We were extremely nervous,” recalls Whiteboy, Rare Essence’s guitarist and only original member. “We only knew two songs. We played both songs back and forth all night.”

Miss Mack legally incorporated the band and served as manager with help from Funk. Her mother, Mattie Lee Mack—known as Miss Sis— became secretary. And Michael Neal’s mother, Margarine Neal—“Miss Neal,” of course—was appointed treasurer.

“They brought stability to what it was we were trying to do,” says Whiteboy. “Along

with Funk, they brought a sense of direction because we didn’t know. All we knew is that we wanted to play.”

The three women and Funk enforced a strict practice schedule, and anyone who was late or missed practice was fined. “If you can’t make rehearsals, then we got a problem already,” says Funk. “Even if we just sitting around in rehearsal, that’s some kind of social thing, a spiritual thing that connects us and keeps us connected.”

Funk continued his career as a DJ, but by 1978, he had joined Rare Essence as a lead talker. “Quentin got tired of me giving orders from backstage and told me to get out front,” he says.

Throughout the years, Funk has come and gone but has always remained connected to Rare Essence—since 2001, he has performed regularly

paid to perform at parks all over the city as part of the Showmobile performance series.

Funk says that Rare Essence played more often than other Showmobile acts because the other bands were more particular about where they played. “I guess they thought they was a cut above,” he says. “But for us? Alright.

Ivy City? We’ll go there. Douglas Terrace?

We’ll go there, too. All them little holes—we’ll go over there.”

As the band’s popularity grew, kids began following Rare Essence to venues all over the city. “It got to the point where wherever we performed there was this sea of boomboxes,” says Michael Neal, who left the band in 1998 for tours with Maxwell and Meshell Ndegeocello.

“People had their radios on their shoulders.”

Bookings came faster and the band’s three

“I try to picture myself in the audience. I can concentrate on the crowd, from front to back, side to side.

—James “Funk” Thomas, Rare Essence with the band. While the boys of Rare Essence honed their musical skills, Marion Barry’s Summer Youth Employment Program played a huge role in raising the band’s profile. During the summers of ’78, ’79, and ’80, the boys were

matriarchs became fixtures at Rare Essence shows. They often collected admission at the door dressed in red and white, the band’s colors, with Miss Sis topping it off with her signature red tam over bleach-blonde hair.

whole lot of other artists, national and international artists.”

“lIttle” benny Harley, the diminutive trumpeter with a big voice, soon became one of Rare Essence’s most popular performers. He was also the first of a number of high-profile band members to leave. In 1984, he recorded his own

Rare Essence was often playing six nights a week, and on some weekend nights, they could play two or even three separate shows in different quadrants of the city.

“We would start out doing 8 to 12 someplace at a high school or wherever,” recalls Whiteboy. “Then we would end up at the Howard Theatre at 2:30 or 3 o’clock in the morning and go to 6 a.m.”

Rare Essence ended up signing with Polygram in 1984. But “Flipside,” the 1986 technofunk styled single that was the only result, was an embarrassment. “They didn’t want a go-go band. They thought they did,” says Whiteboy.

“We gave them 10 or 12 other songs before ‘Flipside,’ and the only reason we recorded that record was to get out of the deal.”

A 1988 deal with Andre Harrell’s Uptown

by 1987, tHe drug-related violence that had swept through America’s urban areas hit D.C. hard. As the crack epidemic took hold, dealers’ disputes were often settled quickly and with terrible finality. “Nobody was fighting with their fists any more,” recalls Michael Neal. “I remember the days when a guy would get stomped. After a few minutes, that guy got up and went home to his momma. Those days changed.”

Go-go shows attracted people from all over the city, so they offered a convenient setting for dealers looking to settle scores. “If I see you at the club, that’s my opportunity to have whatever kind of words with you,” says Neal. “If this is where

single under Little Benny & the Masters, “Who Comes to Boogie,” which became a chart-topping hit in England. For the boys of Rare Essence, his departure was an enormous blow. “That was a heartfelt thing,” says Funk. “I begged him. I really cried when he left, like a big ol’ baby.”

Around the same time, Island Records chief Chris Blackwell became infatuated with go-go and announced he would bring the music to a worldwide audience, just as he’d done with reggae via Bob Marley.

Rare Essence was apprehensive about signing with any major label. Perhaps there was less incentive to sign because the band was doing so well. The mid-’80s were go-go’s golden era: The bands were wildly popular, and it seemed like every black D.C. neighborhood had at least one up-and-coming go-go band.

Records also proved disappointing, although Rare Essence’s local hit, “Lock It,” appeared on the soundtrack for the film Strictly Business that was released by the label. But once again, a label seeking to sell records worldwide wasn’t interested in pure go-go, they wanted a diluted radio-friendly sound that was anathema to the band.

Rare Essence learned a crucial lesson: “That we should probably do it ourselves because we know what it is we wanna do,” says Whiteboy.

“The labels they think they know what they want, but they don’t really know the inside of what go-go is and what makes go-go work.”

“What we’re trying to do is just stay true to what it is we are,” he adds. “Which is a go-go band, whether it be unpopular outside of here or not. That’s how we’ve been able to outlast a

those people who would do those kind of things see each other, it just happens to be. I mean, suppose they’re vegans and they meet each other at the produce stand at the Giant?”

On April 11, 1987, gunmen sprayed bullets into a crowd leaving a Rare Essence show at U Street’s Masonic Temple. Eleven people were shot. In the years that followed, the death toll around the city rose, but any time violence took place during or after a go-go show, the media blamed the music. And so did police and local politicians.

It was easier to point fingers at the go-go bands than to dig deeper and explore the inner city miseries behind the violence. “They never blamed the drug culture,” says Margarine Neal.

“They always just blamed whatever bands were there, especially when we were there.”

“Those three ladies kept that organization together,” promoter Darryl Brooks told the Washington Post just after Annie Mack’s death in 2003. (Miss Sis died in 1998.) “Those ladies ran. When they couldn’t get the clubs right, they would take over the clubs—they would do the security, the doors, everything.”

“They gave so much to their community,” he added. “They gave that band a foundation.

They kept a lot of families together. They kept a whole lot of kids out of trouble. And they sold a lot of records.”

During the ’80s, competition between the top go-go bands—Rare Essence along with Trouble Funk, Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers, and Experience Unlimited—was intense, and Miss Mack believed that a good stage show required uniforms. Early on, those

al Washington, limning the desperation that comes when ends won’t meet: “Times are so very hard, sometimes I think I’m living in hell/ It’s not easy to find a job, when will everything be well/ I can’t get no money, gotta pay your bill/ Gotta get the dollar before I lose the will/ Try to find a hustle, but it’s just too hard/ Gotta get it together before it goes too far/ Some people say they just can’t cope/ So what do they do, I say they turn to dope/ Seems like there’s just no hope at all/ Now how you gonna do it with your back up against the wall?”

uniforms were usually red and white silk, and Miss Neal sewed them herself. Mandatory dress rehearsals were part of the drill, just to make sure everything fit right.

Far more challenging was monitoring the boys at the clubs. “We had to watch everywhere they went if we was playing any place where there was alcohol,” Miss Neal recalls. “And you know how young kids are, they were trying us all kinds of ways. They kept Miss Mack and I busy watching them, and they trying to duck us.”

Most of Rare Essence’s early singles were party tunes, tracks like “Shoo-Be-Do-Wop” and “Body Moves,” which was produced by Brown and Funk and distributed by Fantasy Records in 1982. But “Back Up Against the Wall,” released in 1983, depicted the grim realities of poverty in the shadows of feder-

washingtoncitypaper.com may 6, 2016 19

six children and an enduring musical legacy.

“His beats were incredible—and clean. He played as if you were in the studio as far as keeping the straight 16,” says Charles “Shorty Corleone” Garris, a rapper and singer who joined Rare Essence in 1993. “There might need to be a workshop about how Footz set new standards for go-go drummers. It all started with his breakbeats—he was the breakbeat king.”

More than 20 years later, most Rare Essence sets include a tribute to Footz: “Put your hands in the air, and let’s do it for Footz.” a student of go-go might divide Rare Essence’s lengthy run into four not-quite-distinct periods.

Scenario,” all of which have a harder, more hiphop influenced sound.

Floyd left in 2001 over a dispute about publishing rights, and now he leads Team Familiar, which includes a number of other Rare Essence alums, including popular conga player “Go-Go” Mickey Freeman.

Go-Go Mickey participates in the occasional Rare Essence “reunion” shows—featuring bandmembers who have left the group—but Floyd doesn’t. Still, Floyd appreciates his tenure with the band. “Rare Essence is a great fraternity,” he says. “And at the end of the day, no matter what our differences are, I am proud to have been part of that fraternity.”

Whiteboy, who officially took over the

CDs, this one’s brilliant cover was designed by D.C.’s reigning muralist, Aniekan Udofia.)

If anyone associated with Rare Essence represents go-go’s tenacity, it would be James Funk.

During the late ’80s, he overcame a crack addiction. And when he emerged clean from Montgomery General Hospital’s First Things First program, hundreds of fans celebrated his return at a welcome home party at the Ibex Club.

His openness about his struggle spoke volumes over the “Just Say No” sloganeering of the time.

Since then, he’s remained a true local hero, a role model deeply loved and respected by fans and colleagues alike.

During his occasional hiatuses from the band, Funk formed a side band, Proper Uten-

Courtesy of Liason Records

Richard Simms

Either due to ignorance about the go-go scene or plain old racism, go-go—a distinctly AfricanAmerican form of music—was censured again and again. Go-go bands kept thousands of kids off the streets and out of trouble, but that was hardly ever acknowledged. “Sometimes we weren’t even a part of what was going on, but our name would come up,” says Margarine Neal. “At the time, most of the guys who were doing the writing were white, so what would you expect?”

While there seemed to be no direct connection between go-go bands and the city’s drug culture, the two worlds did intersect. “I think the most painful night for me... was a young boy that was murdered right in the Black Hole, Celebrity Hall,” says Michael Neal. “I re-

Courtesy of Liason Reco rds

Rare Essence in its matching uniform days.

member the sound of the gun going off, people screaming, of course. And the young man crawling up on stage and lying behind Footz’s drum set. And that’s where he died. He had a big hole right through his heart.”

In 1989, Fat Rodney, a popular local rapper who frequently joined Rare Essence on stage, was fatally shot outside Crystal Skate in Temple Hills. And five years later, on a warm September night in 1994, the violence took one of Rare Essence’s own. A motorist discovered the body of Quentin “Footz” Davidson along Route 50 in Landover. According to police, he had been shot in the chest. His murder remains unsolved. “It still is devastating,” says Funk. “He was my blood brother, but he was also the heart of the band.”

Footz was 33 when he died, leaving behind

The first was the earliest days, when Little Benny was with the band and they were still developing their go-go style. The second might be its old school sound of the mid-’80s, characterized by intensified percussion and Funk’s easy charisma. A good example of this is the Live at Breeze’s Metro Club album, which included the Rare Essence classic “One on One” and was affectionately known as “the album that kept the whole neighborhood rockin’.”

The third period is the Donnell Floyd era.

Floyd was still a student at Duke Ellington School of the Arts when he joined Rare Essence in 1983. He started as the band’s saxophone player, but over time, Floyd wielded a greater influence over the band, both as a rapper and co-writer of the band’s biggest hits of the ’90s: “Lock It,” “Work the Walls,” and “Overnight

20 may 6, 2016 washingtoncitypaper.com

band’s management in the late ’90s, has continually replaced departing band members with new blood. The band’s fourth and current phase includes Samuel “Smoke” Dews, the prodigiously gifted conga player and winner of the 2013 “King of Congas” local competition (Go-Go Mickey was one of the judges). Whiteboy also recruited Calvin Henry, better known as rapper “Killa Cal,” in 2012.

On the new album’s first single and title track, Killa Cal and Shorty Corleone are joined by longtime D.C. favorite DJ Kool for an energetic party anthem that is sure to be pumping out of car windows this summer. The rest of the album is by no means filler and includes collaborations with Raheem DeVaughn and Black Alley’s Kacey Williams. (For those who still buy

sils. But his allegiance was—and will always be—with Rare Essence.

“I remember Funk saying that as long as he lives, he would never see Rare Essence go down,” Hammond says. “Every time the band has started to take a dip in ratings and popularity, Funk has stepped in… Funk is their savior.”

In one of several go-go documentaries filmed during the ’80s, Funk talked about his connection with Rare Essence fans. “I try to picture myself in the audience,” he said. “I can concentrate on the crowd, from front to back, side to side. They need role models. Some of them be fatherless or motherless; they don’t have that image. And it kind of does something to them mentally. Maybe not mentally, but they have low self-esteem.”

Off stage, Funk seems lethargic, reticent, and a bit of a mumbler. But when he’s onstage, his transformation is complete: He’s friendly, engaging, and somehow manages to make playing air guitar look pretty cool.

“Every rapper has some kind of metronome— their hand or leg doing something to keep them in rhythm,” Hammond says. “Funk looks like he actually has a pick in his hand, and he’s picking strings, with the other hand holding strings on a fret. He’s listening intently. If his eyes closed and his head is down, he’s listening to every single instrument on that stage.”

These days, Funk still works as a DJ, both at clubs and on Saturday mornings on D.C.’s “Jazz and Justice” station WPFW. He per-

the genre’s unofficial blueprint for survival, which goes something like this: The harder things get, go-go will move that much deeper underground.

“Go-go has always been about ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way,’ and that’s how it’s been for Rare Essence, too,” Hammond says. “Go-go is intertwined with D.C. culture, and it goes deeper than just the music. Community connection has a lot to do with it.”

These days, finding venues can be challenging for go-go acts, including Rare Essence. But plenty of go-go bands continue to perform regularly: Backyard Band, Junkyard Band, Team Familiar, Experience Unlimited, and Be’la Dona, among others.

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forms at about half of Rare Essence’s shows, and when he does, the band plays more of an old-school set. “When he’s not on there, we just keep pounding start to finish,” says Whiteboy.

“So it’s more uptempo, and we’re playing to a younger demographic.”

Juggling the young- and old-school fans is part of what keeps Rare Essence going strong.

“We have a loyal fan base,” says Whiteboy.

“They love Rare Essence. They love go-go music, and they’re introducing their children to the music.”

In the years since Brown died, the Washington Post and other publications have mulled the possibility of go-go’s imminent demise. If you haven’t been around go-go since way back, you might not recognize

Richard Simms

Ron Thomas

Funded by grants from the Mayor’s Office on African Affairs and the Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs

“All the go-go bands want to continue what they started. It’s not only their livelihood, it’s their culture, and it’s their form of expression and way of life,” says Goldfogle. “It’s important for Whiteboy to continue Rare Essence and continue to have that conversation with D.C., which is what go-go in D.C. is—a conversation between the band and the audience.”

And maybe a little more than that. Growing up in the District, Killa Cal says that the city had the NFL team, “we had Marion Barry, and we had Rare Essence.”

“Some people may not see it on that level, but that’s a part of our culture, and it is on that level. Rare Essence has love and the admiration of the fans, the people, and the city. Rare Essence is D.C. Period.”

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The project described was supported by Grant Number 1C1CMS331343 from the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The contents of this advertisement are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or any of its agencies.

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Abandon Tip

If D.C. raises the tipped minimum wage, will restaurants get rid of tipping?

One Of the biggest restaurant industry headlines of the past year was Danny Meyer and his grand no-tipping experiment. The famed New York restaurateur announced last fall that he would eliminate gratuities (and raise prices) at 13 of his Union Square Hospitality Group restaurants by the end of 2016.

The company is by far the largest and most notable American restaurant group to change up its business model in this way.

Locally, only a few places, including Sally’s Middle Name and The Public Option brewpub, have opted for gratuityfree systems, whether that means increasing prices or adding a flat fee to the check. Other restaurateurs say they’re curious about getting rid of tipping, but few want to be among the first to take the leap to see if it actually works.

Proposed changes to D.C.’s minimum wage laws could ultimately force the issue to a head sooner rather than later.

Mayor Muriel Bowser recently introduced legislation to the D.C. Council to increase the minimum wage from $10.50 (becoming $11.50 in July) to $15 an hour by 2020 and the tipped minimum wage from $2.77 to $7.50 by 2022. Employers are required to make up the difference if the wages of tipped employees, who get the bulk of their pay from gratuities, fall short of the full minimum.

Meanwhile, a coalition of advocacy groups is collecting signatures for a ballot measure that calls for a universal $15-an-hour minimum wage.

Many restaurateurs say raising the tipped minimum would force them to raise prices and cut back on staff or staff hours. It could also result in an even more profound shift: “It will for sure threaten the existence of the tipped system,” says Kathy Hollinger, president of the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington. “In order to cover the added costs, they’re going to have to impose some kind of mandatory service charge, and then tipped employees will earn a set hourly wage.”

While no-tipping models might be a hot topic of discussion, Hollinger says a lot of her organization’s members want to see how

Young & hungrY

it plays out for the restaurants experimenting with it already. So far, she says, there’s not enough longterm data about how such a change would affect the bottom line and quality of service in American restaurants.

“It’s a huuuge national culture shift, and it’s very, very difficult for a jurisdiction to push that issue versus allowing it to play out and see the impact nationally,” Hollinger says.

In other words, it’s one thing to choose a new business model, but another to be cornered into one.

Meyer opted to get rid of tips in large part to help eliminate the pay disparity between the kitchen staff and dining room staff. In New York, cooks and dishwashers aren’t legally allowed to share in tips. By increasing prices and adding a “hospitality” charge to checks, Meyer is looking to help spread the wealth to the kitchen and attract and retain better backof-house employees.

Restaurateur Paul Ruppert, who owns Petworth Citizen and soon-to-open Slim’s Diner, predicts restaurants will move away from tipping one way or another. “I don’t know how long it’s going to take to get there, and I think it’s going to be a bumpy process along the way,” he says.

Ruppert is not opposed to an increase in the tipped minimum wage, but if it happens, he’d like it to be a very gradual process.

Others consider “bumpy” an understatement. “Nothing has ever worried me so much,” says Joe Englert, an owner in a number of bars including Capitol Lounge, H Street Country Club, and Rock & Roll Hotel. “You can’t base life on Danny Meyer’s $46 lamb chops… What do I do on chicken wing night at Capitol Lounge? Two beers and a dozen chicken wings are $10. Am I going to service charge people?”

Englert says he would likely cut staff down to part-time and probably serve less food to make up for an increase in wages. If he opened another place, he’d avoid serving food altogether. But really, Englert isn’t sure he’d even want to do that if the tipped minimum increases. “I don’t know how much I’d like to be in business at that point,” he says.

“They’re going to kill restaurants.”

Gaby Madriz, the D.C. director of Res-

Stephanie Rudig

By Jessica Sidman

taurant Opportunities Centers United, says these doomsday scenarios are overblown.

She thinks Bowser’s proposal doesn’t go far enough and would like to see “one fair wage”

of $15 an hour for all. Madriz points out that seven states—Alaska, California, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington—already have a uniform minimum

washingtoncitypaper.com may 6, 2016 23

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wage. “Those places, even with the highest minimum wages, are booming,” she says.

ROC United isn’t anti-tipping, but Madriz says businesses should pay employees a wage that doesn’t require them to rely on the generosity of their customers to make a living.

She argues that a tip should be a bonus on top of a wage, not most of the wage.

Some restaurants might decide to eliminate tipping because of minimum wage law changes, but the way Madriz sees it, that wouldn’t be the worst thing. “It’s new, it’s different, it seems scary, it seems not possible— until restaurateurs have to do it, and they figure it out,” she says. “And it turns out that having people who have higher wages and stable wages means less turnover and eventually more money in the economy.”

Jessica Wynter Martin spent a decade working in the restaurant industry—including a recent stint as a server at L’Hommage Bistro Francais—but recently left for a job with Good Sense Farm. She says on average as a server, she made little more than the minimum wage, but her pay could vary from $40 for a Monday lunch shift to $200 for a Friday night. Even the weather might have had an impact on how much she made.

That uncertainty and instability is one of reasons why she supports one minimum wage for all.

“The way the financial system is setup, we can’t live off of potential,” Wynter Martin says. “I can’t go to a rental company when I’m looking for an apartment and say, ‘Well, sure I might have only made $400 last week, but I could’ve made $1,000.’”

Wynter Martin also finds tipping innately discriminatory. “Men get tipped better than women. White people get tipped better than brown people,” she says.

Wynter Martin says she would be OK with restaurants eliminating tipping if it meant a “fair” living wage for workers. But she argues that the issue—whether restaurants forgo tipping or not—has nothing to do with increasing the minimum wage. “It’s just thrown out there as a strawman argument to get the workers to be against one fair wage so they can justify paying their workers less,” she says.

But many other servers don’t see it that way. They see a real threat to the tipped system in D.C. and their livelihoods. Many tipped employees already make far more than minimum wage—and sometimes more than salaried managers or even owners. They argue the latest legislative efforts attempt to solve a nonexistent problem.

“I’m all for everyone getting a living wage, but we already have it,” says Ripple bartender Ryan Aston, who makes between $25 to $40 an hour with tips. “If tipping went away, I would move, which is terrible because this is my hometown.”

Shannon Donohue, a bartender and server at District Commons and Burger Tap & Shake, likewise predicts a mass exodus of skilled waitstaff if D.C. restaurants phase out tipping. Donohue previously worked in corporate events for professional sports but left to come back to the restaurant industry, which ultimately pays more.

Donohue argues that what servers make generally correlates to how hard they work.

Those who go above and beyond to educate themselves about food and wine and provide excellent service wouldn’t be rewarded adequately without tips. “I have never met a server in my 18 years in the industry that walked around complaining about being tipped,” she says.

Aston agrees: “The restaurant industry is this really cool and unique thing where it doesn’t matter where you came from… You work hard, you do well, you make money.

And taking away the idea of tipping would radically change that. Everyone would be the same. And unfortunately, not everyone is the same. Some people work harder than others.”

Clyde’s Restaurant Group Managing Director David Moran notes that restaurants have been a major part of the revitalization of areas like 14th Street NW and H Street NE. “I think we’re about to put the brakes on a very organic part of our economy,” he says.

Tipped employees cumulatively work 11,500 hours a week at the Clyde’s group’s five D.C. restaurants. An increase in the tipped minimum wage would add up to millions of dollars in additional labor costs. “Even the most successful restaurants, there’s not just sacks of money laying around,” Moran says.

Still, Moran believe that the Clyde’s group will figure out a way to operate no matter what, likely by increasing prices and eliminating tipping. But smaller restaurants? “I don’t believe many single operators are going to be able to survive this kind of drastic change.”

Indeed, smaller restaurants are worried too. Granville Moore’s owner Teddy Folkman has calculated that an hourly increase to $7.50 for tipped employees would cost him an additional $30 an hour—or around $300 a night—to keep the restaurant open.

“We would have to close… That’s your profit. That’s actually more than your profit,” he says. “It’s going to destroy us.”

Actually, Folkman says, he wouldn’t close the restaurant. He’d do what he had to to keep it open. But he’s not happy about what it would take.

“I’ve been in restaurants for 20 years now, and there’s been formulas and ways of doing things for so long,” he says. “And this completely throws everything out.”

CP Eatery tips? Food pursuits? Send suggestions to jsidman@washingtoncitypaper.com.

HAS NEVER SOUNDED BETTER!

DCFEED

what we ate last week: Mediterranean mussels, $26, Brasserie Beck.

Satisfaction level: 4 out of 5 what we’ll eat next week: Lamb belly tacos with curried chickpeas, $14, Radiator. Excitement level: 3.5 out of 5

Grazer

Shelf life Restaurant

Bloody Mary Vodka

Mimosa Sparkling Wine

Acadiana

Smirnoff

Poema Cava

Cuba Libre

Laura Hayes

D.C. has some damn good bargains when it comes to brunch. But have you ever wondered what exactly is being mixed into your bloody mary or mimosa? We did a random survey of brunch spots to find out what brands they use in their bottomless drinks and what food is included in the price. Keep in mind that many “unlimited” deals actually have a two-hour limit.

—Jessica Sidman

UnderServed The best cocktail you’re not ordering

Price

Time limit

$10 with the $29 prixfixe menu

None

Ultimat Vodka

by Patron

Campo Viejo Cava Brut

$16.50, available only to diners who get the $28.50 unlimited tapas

Two hours. Must be ordered by everyone at the table.

DGS Delicatessen

Sobieski

Simonet Vin Mousseux Blanc de Blancs

$27, includes entree with a dessert or appetizer

Two hours

Dino’s Grotto

Velicoff

Muscanti Brut Cava

$29, includes an antipasto and entree

Two hours

District Commons

Smirnoff

Poema Cava

$16 with the purchase of an entree

Two hours

Duke’s Grocery

Zelko

J Roget or Wycliff

$16

Two hours

The Fainting Goat

Sobieski

Veneto Prosecco

$17

Two hours

Georgetown Piano Bar

Stolichnaya

J Roget

$25, includes entree

Two hours

Medium Rare

Stolichnaya

Dibon Cava

$25, includes entree, bread, and a starter

None

Provision No. 14

Not included

Muscanti Brut Cava

$18

Two hours. Must be ordered by everyone at the table; available before 2:30 p.m.

Range

Rock Town

Cielo Prosecco

$38, includes entree and dessert

Two hours

Station 4

Svedka

J Roget

$30, includes entree

Two hours

STK

Absolut

Stellina Di Notte Prosecco

$19.99 with the purchase of an entree

Two hours

What: El Chapo with mezcal, dry curaçao, lemon, nutmeg, and tamarind-infused falernum Where: Pepita Cantina, 4000 Wilson Blvd., Arlington Price: $11 What You Should Be Drinking Yes, that El Chapo. When Ballston’s Pepita Cantina opened its doors in July 2015, the Mexican drug lord was on the loose, having escaped prison through a tunnel.

Even though the fugitive has since been captured (thanks, Sean Penn!), Mike Isabella Concepts Beverage Director Taha Ismail has kept it on the menu. The mezcal cocktail leans a little tiki with dry curaçao, lemon, nutmeg, and tamarind-infused falernum. Each ingredient is poured in equal quantities, just like a Last Word cocktail.

Anyone that’s encountered a bodega selling Jarritos soda knows that tamarind is pure Mexico. Ismail takes fresh pods, roasts them in the oven, and lets them sit in falernum—a spiced, citrusy liqueur—for 48 hours.

Why You Should Be Drinking It “I think people are still scared of mezcal,” Ismail says. “We sell a lot of mezcal margaritas, but not so much the cocktails because people are afraid of the smoke and waking up with a hangover—but that’s not true.” Ismail joins the ranks of bar folk on a crusade to #MakeMezcalGreatAgain.

While any booze can leave you feeling icky after a bender, forget the next day for now, because El Chapo is velvety, balanced, a little smoky, and goes down smooth. The freshly grated nutmeg, one of Ismail’s calling cards, is always a nice touch.

—Laura Hayes washingtoncitypaper.com may 6, 2016 25

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CPARTS Comic Release

“Is This Venue Accessible?” website will become an app. Read more at washingtoncitypaper.com/go/ITVAapp.

Woodbridge native Jamel Johnson is moving to L.A.

D.C. is still losing its best comics to New York and L.A., but the standup scene is more than a coastal city feeder system.

The basemenT of the Big Hunt is nicknamed Hell’s Kitchen, thanks to its devilish decor, claustrophobic ambience, and red-light glow. The name was especially fitting on a recent Friday night.

A capacity crowd was there for an alt-comedy show, but the mood was tense, as if the people assembled didn’t sign up for an evening of absurd, surreal, and awkward bits about parental sex and nuclear winter. For some, it was comedy nirvana; for others, comedy hell.

“It felt like a lot of first dates were going bad in there,” says comedian Jamel Johnson, who performed that night. “Generally there are two kinds of audience member: one that wants to laugh and another that challenges you to make them laugh.

You see the latter more often at local shows. Fools just act different when they’ve never heard of you.”

The audience might not have heard of Johnson before, but that will probably change soon. The six-year veteran is on his way to Los Angeles, where he’ll be one of a number of growing fish who have fled the District’s small-pond comedy scene for better opportunities in L.A. or New York.

For decades, the District has been a proving ground for comics on their way to bigger and better things. Mike Birbiglia, Dave Chappelle, Martin Lawrence, Patton Oswalt, Rory Scovel, and Wanda Sykes are just a few of the comedians who have started their careers here. In recent years, rising talents Aparna Nancherla, Seaton Smith, and Brandon Wardell have followed.

That tradition was the focus of the 202 Comedy Festival, held in April. “We wanted to have a festival to celebrate all the great comics who have developed in D.C. over the years and to get everyone back in one place,” says Sean Joyce, the comedian and promoter who co-produced the festival, which featured more than 100 comics across 18 shows on four days of programming.

But while the festival had a decidedly local bent—about three-quarters of the festival’s talent was based in the D.C. area—its opening and closing shows were headlined by some of D.C.’s most successful recent exports. That comics have to leave D.C. before they become a headliner at a local festival

Darrow Montgomery

By Chris Kelly

says something about the state of comedy in the District, but it doesn’t paint a complete picture of the local scene.

The 202 Comedy Festival was the culmination of Joyce’s groundwork: Under his Underground Comedy banner, he produces stand-up shows every night of the week and has built a new infrastructure for D.C. comedy. With shows held primarily at the Big Hunt and Bier Baron, his mini-empire provides local comics with much-needed stage time at places besides the D.C. area’s establishment comedy venues (the D.C. Improv and Arlington Drafthouse).

“Thanks to Sean Joyce, there’s this whole level of comics that can get up every single night and really try to do unique and interesting stuff,” says Brandon Wetherbee, the host of the You, Me, Them, Everybody podcast and managing editor of Brightest Young Things.

Nancherla left D.C. for L.A. in 2010, and recently returned to headline 202’s closing show. The District’s comedy landscape now looks different from when she left it, she says, but the spirit remains

the same. The McLean native, who has written for Late Night with Seth Meyers and Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell, says that D.C.’s DIY attitude is what makes its comedy scene great. “Whoever is active in the scene helps structure which shows are going on,” she says. “A lot of the stage time would be people putting on their own shows.” But eventually, playing the same circuit felt “stagnant,” and Nancherla felt the itch to move.

“When I started here, there were a lot of people that I felt were upperclassmen to look up to,” she says, “but when you feel like you’re the upperclassman, then it’s time to leave.”

Johnson is the next D.C. “upperclassman” whose time has come. He has earned a reputation as one of the best comics in D.C., whether by himself or as part of his “avant-garde musical comedy band and variety show” Romane & Lettuce.

“Jamel Johnson is the funniest stand-up comic in Washington, D.C., in terms of consistency and quality output,” says Wetherbee. “Even when he’s performing stuff I’ve seen a dozen times, I still enjoy watching him.” He adds that Johnson’s washingtoncitypaper.com may 6, 2016 27

CPARTS

intangibles—his ability to read a crowd and play any type of room—have made him the “litmus test” for D.C. comics.

Johnson, a 28-year-old Woodbridge native, works relentlessly, performing at eight or nine shows a week. Not only was he on four bills during the festival, but Johnson was coming off a major week: He opened for Louis C.K. at the Lincoln Theatre and was part of a show Kevin Hart filmed in D.C.—a new Comedy Central stand-up showcase called Hart of the City.

“The Kevin Hart thing was very unexpected,” Johnson says.

As part of the show, he filmed both a stand-up set at the Big Hunt and a conversation with Hart at Ben’s Chili Bowl. “I didn’t get a lot of one-on-one time with the man, but he was very chill and definitely about his paper.” (That’s an understatement: In 2015, Forbes calculated Hart’s one-year earnings at $28.5 million.)

The bookings were the most recent in a string of shows that have put Johnson on the path to L.A. He started performing there back in 2014, an experience he compares to “seven people talking about what award show they wrote for, and your boy.”

But despite his outsider status, he was able to get on shows like The Meltdown, the popular stand-up showcase hosted by Kumail Nanjiani and Jonah Ray that has spawned a Comedy Central show of the same name. After gigs like that, Johnson knew a change in location would soon be in the cards.

“When I went to L.A. and had success getting on shows, I was like, ‘fuck, I’m gonna do this here now,’” he says. “It wasn’t because of the ceiling [in D.C.]—the reason was because the money aspect. I feel like six months in L.A., if you’re really grinding, who knows.”

Johnson says he has “no goal and no plans,” but has “never been

this busy before in [his] life.” And while the move will mean leaving his hometown, he seems excited for a new set of challenges in a place that appreciates the novelty of a “new guy” on the scene.

Even as D.C. prepares to graduate one of its best, the city has no shortage of underclassmen ready to fill the void. A handful of “the city’s brightest 20’s-ish comedians” were the focus of It’s Lit, a show hosted by Shelley Kim (she originally wanted to call the show Fuckboys and Poets, but decided to go with the more marketable name). The 23-year-old started doing comedy during college, and even though she’s not seasoned enough to make a move yet, Kim sees one in her future.

“I think it’s possible to have a comedy career outside of L.A. or New York, but those cities just have more opportunities to do comedy full-time.”

Apparently, no matter how long you’ve been a comic in D.C., the twin sirens of the coastal capitals are irresistible. But that doesn’t mean D.C. must suffer as a second-class comedy city. In fact, the District’s status as a feeder system for the big leagues keeps the scene from stagnating, offers audiences a wide variety of styles, and lets comics find their voices away from the eyes and ears of industry professionals.

Plus, there are more opportunities to perform and watch comedy in D.C. than in recent years. “In the late ’90s and early 2000s, if there was one open-mic location a night, that was a lot,” says D.C. Improv owner and manager Allyson Jaffe, who has seen the D.C. scene grow during her nearly two decades at the Improv. “Now there are multiple places running open mics every night of the week.” The club is still the preeminent venue in D.C. for national headliners, many of whom

ROBERT E. PARILLA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

now bring their own opening acts. That’s led Jaffe and her team to get creative with their programming, booking local comics for weekend showcases in the lounge and mid-week shows in the main room.

Bars like Wonderland Ballroom feature long-running shows, theaters like the Howard and Lincoln nab marquee names, and venues like the Black Cat and 9:30 Club are booking more comedy shows than ever. In April, Arlington Drafthouse opened a downtown D.C. location modeled after the legendary Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. And while the 202 Comedy Festival offered a hyper-local approach to booking, Brightest Young Things’ Bentzen Ball has given national comics a reason to visit every fall, with about a score of slots reserved for local comics each year.

“People don’t necessarily think about D.C. as a comedy town, but the audiences are really smart, passionate about the world, and well-informed, and they make for good comedy audiences,” says Nancherla. “The scene has been active in various forms for so long that it just sustains itself in different iterations.”

Many of those generations were on display across the 202 Comedy Festival’s four days, often in the same show. Johnson opened for D.C. success stories like Nancherla and Smith at the Black Cat, and relative newcomers like Kim opened for new successes like Wardell in the Big Hunt basement. It was a winning formula, with several shows selling out and packed houses every night of the festival.

“It was more than we could have asked for,” Joyce writes.

“We would be crazy not to have another festival next year.”

And if history is any guide, some of the names will be familiar—even if they had to leave D.C. to get that way.

CP

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Saturday, May 7, 2016, 11 a.m.

Tickets are $7 Adults, $6 Seniors, & $4 Children/Students w/ID Montgomery College • 51 Mannakee St., Rockville, Maryland 20850 www.montgomerycollege.edu/pac • Box Office: 240-567-5301 28 may 6, 2016 washingtoncitypaper.com

CPArts Arts Desk

Longtime Adams Morgan record store Crooked Beat will close at the end of the month. washingtoncitypaper.com/go/crookedbeatclosing

Is ThIs FuNKy?

This weekend is the third annual Funk Parade, a self-described “one-of-a-kind parade, street fair, and music festival to celebrate U Street, D.C., and the spirit of funk.” Over the years, D.C. has been described as many things—Chocolate City, This Town, swagger-jacked—but how many things in and about the District can you truly describe as —Matt Cohen “funky?” Washington City Paper investigates.

James “Funk” Thomas

u street Corridor

Funky? Yes. Jas.Funk, the lead talker of longtime gogo progenitors Rare Essence, has been one of the driving forces of the genre—arguably the most funky thing to come out of D.C.—for more than 30 years, so yes, he is indeed funky.

Funky? No. Like Mount Pleasant, the U Street corridor has a rich and vibrant history. What was once known as “Black Broadway”—with places like The Lincoln Theatre, The Howard Theatre, Bohemian Caverns, and Ben’s Chili Bowl serving as beacons of black culture—is now gentrified with expensive condo buildings, bougie restaurants, and what seems like an infinite number of Hilton Brothers establishments.

Parliament’s Chocolate City

Mount Pleasant Mark Ronson’s “uptown Funk” Darrow Montgomery

Funky? Kind of.

Peruse Airbnb listings for Mount Pleasant and the most common adjective used to describe the neighborhood is “funky.” The neighborhood, a longtime hub for D.C.’s Latino population, was at one time one of the city’s weirdest and funkiest neighborhoods, but with the loss of Heller’s and the addition of a Subway, it’s certainly become less funky. Hey, there’s still places like Haydee’s, La Casa community space, and Marx Cafe keeping things weird.

Funky? Eh… OK, so Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk” has nothing to do with D.C., but it’s so ubiquitous that it’s pretty much guaranteed to be played during the Funk Parade. The song— with its disco-styled guitar licks, thumping slap bass, and Bruno Mars’ smoothly stylized vocals—is technically funk, but it’s the Kenny G of funk: corny, tame, and safe.

Domingues & Kane “Black Shuck”

Standout Track: No. 2, “Black Shuck,” on Domingues & Kane’s Gut+Voltage: Viola da Gamba and Electronics, captures the imagination and paints evocative images. There’s an edge—almost a growl—to the sawed strings of Amy Domingues’ viola da gamba as she invokes the titular menacing, mythical hound on the prowl. The song transitions into a gentle, almost magical second half as Dennis Kane’s electronics and production seem to whisper questions about whether the beast is real.

Darrow Montgomery

Funky? Yes. Legendary funk band Parliament’s 1975 album Chocolate City is a tribute to D.C. Parliament and its leader George Clinton are kind of the keepers of all that is funky and weird, so yes, this album is funky as hell.

ONE TRACK MIND

Musical Motivation: “We didn’t purposely start writing the song with the idea of this mysterious, fantastical hound that roams the English countryside,” Domingues says. “I think it was after the fact that Dennis suggested it, ‘cause we were really stumped on names for some of the songs and that one was like, ‘Oh, yeah, it totally makes sense.’” The group’s main motivation is to experiment with sound together. “[String instruments have] this incredibly rich history,” she says, “and yet with technology you can manipulate the sound, you can add effects to it. The challenge to me is doing it in a way that is tasteful.”

Bringin’ Gamba Back: “I mean, people don’t know what it is. They’re like, ‘What is that? It’s crazy,’” Domingues says about reactions to her instrument. After years of mainly playing the cello, Domingues went back to school at Peabody in Baltimore to learn everything she could about the viola da gamba, a old cello-like bowed instrument with six strings and frets. With the help of modern technology (Domingues added a pickup), she’s bringing the viola da gamba back. “It gets this really extraordinary resonance which I think is one of the most attractive qualities of the instrument,” she says.

—Justin Weber Listen to “Black Shuck” at washingtoncitypaper.com/go/blackshuck. washingtoncitypaper.com may 6, 2016 29

theater

Observable Phenomena Solas Nua comes back from hiatus with a strong showing, and a provocative monologue needles its audience.

Wild Sky

By Deirdre Kinahan Directed by Rex Daugherty At various venues (see solasnua.org) to May 15

By Chris Klimek Writer-performer GWydion Suilebhan’S website lists nine plays and a half-dozen film projects among his credits. That’s an odd resume for a guy whose new show gradually reveals itself as a jeremiad on the dangers of storytelling. Or rather, on the unchecked proliferation of stories made possible by modern technology.

Naturally, he’s talking about the printing press.

“Books,” Suilebhan rails, “are selfish.” In the oral tradition, replication without variation was almost impossible. But once innumerable copies indistinguishable from the original “text” could be made, an element of humanity was lost. Meanwhile, a more resilient feature of humankind —our insatiable appetite for narrative—makes us susceptible to manipulation and falsehood. ...or something like that. Less a story than a sermon (Suilebhan’s word), Transmission introduces more provocative notions in its 45-minute first half than many theater companies manage in a season. In the dexterity with which it hopscotches from Big Thought to Big Thought, it recalls a Mike Daisey monologue: Ideas are like viruses! Railroads were the world’s first high-speed data network! Three examples are always better than two!

As with Daisey’s output, you may find yourself wondering afterwards whether you were persuaded on substance or merely dazzled by how good Suilebhan talks. (Daisey uses only an outline, Suilebhan is performing from a full script.) But even a response like that serves Suilebhan’s point, which boils down to brush up your skepticism. Only the way he says it is better: Suspend Your Belief.

The wizardry isn’t solely rhetorical. Sound designer Eric Shimelonis, scenic designer Jacy Barber, and “experience and lighting designer” Colin K. Bills have transformed the Atlas Performing Arts Center’s Lab II black box space into an inviting recreation of a 1930s living room, one ringed with console-style radios that echo and chime in thrilling sequence when Shimelonis waves his magic wand.

Suilebhan chose this period with care: It is the moment when replication-absent-variation became globally instantaneous. As an example of the how these devices focused the attention of the world, you hear a snippet of Joe Louis’ 1938 rematch against German heavyweight boxer Max Schmeling, when the Brown Bomber knocked out a man whom the Nazis had promoted (against his will) as an example of their genetic supremacy. Seventy thousand people witnessed it at Yankee Stadium, but 70 million heard the broadcast. Others have used Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds radio play from that same year to address similar themes, and that’s probably a more cautionary example: Welles 30 may 6, 2016 washingtoncitypaper.com

crafted his fiction so expertly that the fear and suffering it wrought were real.

In Transmission’s second half, performance gives way to a discussion group wherein you’re encouraged to unpack what you’ve just experienced with the person in the armchair or the tasteful settee next to you. It’s a tribute to Suilebhan and his collaborators’ showmanship up to this point that the latter portion doesn’t end up feeling like a pretentious and infuriating circle jerk, as participatory theater shows have what Don Cheadle in Out of Sight would call “a high potentiality” to do. Or didn’t, at any rate—the quality of your experience is likely to hinge on the quality of your neighbors, but that’s a risk you take attending any play. You should know going in that you’ll be asked to share some fairly personal stuff in that small room. Those who prize their right to remain silent should direct their attention elsewhere. But if you’re nostalgic for steam locomotives, or your 400-level media theory class, and you fear no stranger-danger, your odds of a rewarding evening are better than fair.

Transmission

Handout photo by Ryan Maxwell

Written and performed by Gwydion Suilebhan Directed by Ryan Maxwell At Atlas Performing Arts Center to May 28

Wild Sky

iriSh playWriGht deirdre Kinahan’s new romantic history Wild Sky observes the centennial of the Easter Rising, the six-day rebellion in Dublin and surrounding counties in late April 1916. British forces quelled the revolt with overwhelming man- and firepower, literally bringing a gunboat to a gunfight. But it remains a culturally significant occasion in Ireland, one Kinahan interprets through the eyes of two young, poor, rural Irish—Josie (Megan Graves) and Tom (Dylan Morrison Myers)—each moved to join the cause for their own reasons. They’re rarely given scenes together, instead performing interlocking monologues. Four other performers comprise an “Irish chorus,” to use director/chorus member Rex Daugherty’s phrase, offering traditional musical accompaniment for voice, drum, and strings. (Michael Winch and Aaron Bliden directed the music.)

Taking a cue from Kinahan’s personal-is-political M.O., Daugherty is staging the show in two private homes in Dupont Circle and Mount Pleasant, erasing the barriers that typically separate the performers from the audience. The marriage of form and content is a happy one. Set designer Paige Hathaway has covered a simple table in pasted copies of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. It looks like the only piece of furniture that wasn’t in the house before someone decided to put on a play there. The set choice cleverly embodies the idea of ordinary people bringing ideology into their lives like an accessory, another examination of how witnesses become radicalized into revolutionaries.

Graves is especially compelling as an apolitical shopgirl enticed by the prospect of building a government that would afford women the legal rights men enjoyed. She’s long been infatuated with a boy from her village who believes he can advance the cause

Handout photo courtesy Solas Nua

Transmission

of Irish independence by enlisting in the British Army, then being ground up by the hundreds of thousands on the Western Front against Germany and Austria-Hungary. Kinahan, whose contemporary family drama Moment just wrapped up a celebrated run at Studio Theatre, does a fine job of distilling the churn of history down to intimate scale.

The smaller but more cheerful occasion this Wild Sky marks is the return of Solas Nua, the D.C.-based contemporary Irish theater company that has, with the exception of readings and film screenings and such, largely been on hiatus since 2011. Daugherty, who co-starred with Madeleine Carr in Solas Nua’s well-reviewed Off-Broadway production of Enda Walsh’s Disco Pigs seven years ago, has now taken the reigns of the company that built a reputation for compact but powerful work—and for grand experiments, like their 2011 production of Swampoodle in the cavernous Uline Arena. Wild Sky combines the company’s yen for intimate material and unconventional spaces. It’s a sad story from group of artists I’m happy CP we’ve gotten back.

1333 H St. NE. $15–$30. (202) 399-7993. atlasarts.org.

Various locations. $37.74. (202) 315-1317. solasnua.org.

Take Metrobus and Metrorail to the...

DC JAZZFESTIVAL JUNE 10 –19, 2016 Events DC Presents:

contemporary A R T iconic A R C H I T E C T U R E authentic A L E X A N D R I A

3rd and Water Street SE on the Capitol Riverfront JUNE 17–19 Music til 10 PM Visit Ticketmaster.com

3-Day Outdoor Festival experience featuring Grammy-winning performers, food/drink, & marketplace.

Kamasi Washington • Eddie Palmieri Latin Jazz Septet • Cécile McLorin Salvant Igmar Thomas & The Revive Big Band with Talib Kweli, Bilal and Ravi Coltrane The Chuck Brown Band • E.J. Strickland & Transient Beings • Fred Foss Tribute to Jackie McLean • Sharel Cassity & Elektra • Cissa Paz • DC JazzPrix Finalists!

Rent the historic Athenaeum for your next party or special event.

Photo: Willy Hoffman

PRESENTED BY THE WASHINGTON POST

600 14TH STREET, NW

The Athenaeum Gallery is dedicated to LOCAL talent.

April 28 - June 12: Judith Seligson | A Gap Frame of Mind Sponsored by TTR | Sotheby’s International Realty

June 16 - July 31: Julia Bloom & Susan Hostetler The Beauty of Inflections

Regina Carter • Maceo Parker • Ben Williams • Kurt Elling • Steve Turre Etienne Charles • Ernest Ranglin • Cymande • Joey DeFrancesco Trio • Harold Mabern • Cory Henry & The Funk Apostles • Jimmy Greene • Chelsey Green and The Green Project • Yotam Silberstein • Jody Nardone Trio

Opening Reception Saturday, June 18, 4 - 6

For tickets visit LIVE.THEHAMILTONDC.COM For artists and complete schedule, visit DCJAZZFEST.ORG PLATINUM & GOLD SPONSORS

Top Right: Judith Seligson, Lower Left: Susan Hostetler, Lower Right: Julia Bloom (all photos: Greg Staley)

It’s easy to get to the Atheaneum. Take the Blue or Yellow Line to the King Street Metro, ride the FREE trolley down to Lee Street. Walk one block south - you’re here!

The Athenaeum 201 Prince St. Alexandria,VA 703.548.0035 Open Thursday, Friday & Sunday, noon - 4; Saturdays, 1 - 4.

This advertisement was made possible through the support of the Alexandria Marketing Fund.

nvfaa.org

The DC Jazz Festival®, a 501(c)(3) non-profit service organization, is sponsored in part with major grants from the Government of the District of Columbia, Muriel Bowser, Mayor; and, in part, by major grants from the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, The Mayo Charitable Foundation, CrossCurrents Foundation, The Dallas Morse Coors Foundation for the Performing Arts, MidAtlantic Arts Foundation, The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation,and with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts; and by the City Fund, administered by The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region. ©2016 DC Jazz Festival. All rights reserved.

washingtoncitypaper.com may 6, 2016 31

Ring of Ire

It’s taken 10 years and millions of dollars, but Washington National Opera’s Ring cycle is finally here.

The Ring Cycle: The Rhinegold and The Valkyrie

By Richard Wagner Directed by Francesca Zambello Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center to May 22

By Mike Paarlberg It’s the everest of opera, for fans and companies alike. Can you sit through 15 hours of opera (18 with intermissions) without permanent nerve damage to your ass? Can you stage such a production without going bankrupt? For the Washington National Opera, it’s been a long time coming: a decade in the making, their last attempt aborted three-quarters of the way through after they ran out of money. Director Francesca Zambello eventually staged the whole thing in San Francisco, before she was brought back to D.C. as WNO’s artistic director, with a mandate to finish what she started.

It’s Wagner’s Ring cycle, of course, but 32 may 6, 2016 washingtoncitypaper.com

you don’t need to be told any of this: If you’re bothering to read this, you’ve probably already seen it elsewhere, maybe a whole bunch of times. Reviews are for people deciding whether to see something or not, but no one is on the fence about the Ring. Or about Wagner, for that matter. Personally, I’m agnostic—my favorite of his is The Flying Dutchman, a less Wagnerian Wagner opera—but this is for the true believers, and I’m not the target audience.

So, if you dropped the $500 WNO is charging for the best tickets, you’re damn confident you enjoyed it, and don’t let me try to convince you otherwise. But as a reviewer for whom this is my first complete Ring cycle, the whole giants and dwarves and incest thing is pretty silly, and that silliness is hard to get past, even with the singing—much of it superb— and Wagner’s music, all of it majestic and unsubtle. Indeed, Philippe Auguin’s conducting is the highlight so far, and his approach is often surprising: For the famous “Ride of the

Scott Suchman for WNO

MusicOpera

Valkyries,” Auguin reins in the horns and emphasizes the shimmering strings. It’s a suspenseful, less ferocious take on the usually bombastic (literally, in Apocalypse Now) leitmotif that dovetails well with Zambello’s sensitive interpretation of Brünnhilde. Here, the old “fat lady sings” caricature is less warrior princess, more three-dimensional character: a mischievous, headstrong, doting daughter rejected by her father, who expresses her pain in raw, emotional terms.

Still, it’s Wagner, with his nation-building project to create an origin myth for the German volk with a crazy mashup of Norse and Teutonic legend. Ethno-nationalist myth-making is creepy enough even setting aside Wagner’s anti-Semitism, which is hard to do in a work that’s superficially about Aryan gods warring with moneygrubbing dwarves (although it’s not that simple; those gods are ultimately doomed by their ambitions). And then there’s the incest: Siegmund and Sieglinde, twin siblings with the hots for each other, which you’d think wouldn’t be the best way to start a master race. Judging by the chuckles from the audience when Siegmund whips out his sword and Sieglinde strokes it lasciviously, there’s some self-awareness of the Ring’s more ridiculous elements from Zambello, even if there was none from Wagner.

Yet it’s unclear, two operas in, what exactly Zambello wants to do with it. Zambello’s conceit was, and is, an “American Ring,” and the original, abandoned production for

WNO reportedly (I wasn’t around for it) made explicit reference to America’s original sins—of slavery and the genocide of Native Americans. That stuff was downplayed in the subsequent SFO production, and by now it’s gone, in favor of a vaguely art deco/ aviation-age theme. The setting is the 1920s, Brüunhilde is Amelia Earhart, the Valkyries are paratroopers, Wotan is a CEO, and Valhalla is his skyscraper. What this offers, other than an excuse to outfit most characters in some stylish leather dusters by costume designer Catherine Zuber, escapes me. (The giants in Rhinegold look like they’re wearing selections out of Mario and Luigi’s closet, a similarly baffling choice.)

Michael Yeargan’s sets are thematically all over the place (a cabin in the woods, a corporate office, a homeless encampment under a highway overpass). Jan Hartley and Katy Tucker’s projections are at times hypnotic and campy, with a giant snake evoking a Syfy monster movie starring Coolio. The only consistent motif, oddly appropriate given the political movement Wagner helped inspire, is a confluence of militarism, capitalism, and romanticism of ancestral land.

Hmm, if only there were a word for that.

Putting on the Ring is risky, and there are plenty of expensive ways to screw it up. The most notorious recent example is the Metropolitan Opera’s disastrous 2010 production, for which the company dumped all their money into a 90,000-pound mechanical transforming stage that didn’t work, and which was panned as “the most witless and wasteful production in modern operatic history.” Zambello and WNO would clearly want to avoid such a fiasco, so it makes sense to play it safe, with a measured approach that’s neither strictly traditional, nor terribly experimental, and as a result thematically confusing.

But if nothing else, Zambello’s Ring is a showcase for strong vocal talent. In particular, William Burden’s impish performance as the demigod Loge and Soloman Howard and Julian Close as the giants stood out in Rhinegold.

In Valkyrie, Alan Held huffed and puffed as Wotan, brooding over his empire from Wotan Tower like an Orson Welles villain or an Ayn Rand hero. Monday’s show had an unexpected change up when British soprano Catherine Foster dropped out at the last minute due to a leg injury sustained during a dress rehearsal. She was replaced in the role of Brüunhilde by Christina Goerke, who was terrific: Last seen here in Florencia in the Amazon, Goerke’s range is broader, and her fluttery vibrato gives Brüunhilde a playful demeanor. As of press time, Foster is scheduled to be back for Wednesday’s Siegfried, barring lingering mobility issues. Maybe they should have invested CP in a transforming stage after all.

2700 F St. NW. $75-$500. (202) 467-4600. kennedy-center.org.

Fiona Shaw

BOYZ II MEN

The Plough and the Stars

Photo by Ros Kavanagh

May 17–June 5

STEVEN REINEKE, conductor

MUSIC • THEATER • DANCE • LITERATURE CUISINE • INSTALLATIONS • AND MORE! MAY 17

MAY 21

Festival Opening Performance

Concert Hall | 8 p.m.

Tickets from $15 To officially kick off the festival, Artist-inResidence Fiona Shaw directs and hosts this performance celebrating the talent, soul, and enthusiasm of the Irish with performers from Ireland and the United States— including Colin Dunne, Tara Erraught, Anthony Kearns, Liz Knowles, Louis Lovett, Barry Douglas, a trio of uilleann pipers from Na Píobairí Uilleann (NPU), Iarla Ó Lionáird, the National Symphony Orchestra and conductor David Brophy.

MAY 18 & 19

LIMITED

Abbey Theatre AVAILABILITY The Plough and the Stars

Eisenhower Theater | 7:30 p.m.

Tickets from $29 Set in Dublin amidst the tumult of the 1916 Rising, Seán O’Casey’s classic in the repertoire of Irish drama comes to life once more in the Abbey Theatre’s production directed by Sean Holmes.

Camerata Ireland with The Harmony North Choir and Codetta

Eisenhower Theater | 7:30 p.m.

Tickets from $15 Camerata Ireland showcases the varied repertoire the orchestra has explored since its founding 15 years ago, and is joined by the Harmony North Choir and Codetta chamber choir as part of a musicbased project to promote unity.

MAY 22

Camille O’Sullivan: Changeling

Terrace Theater | 7 p.m.

Tickets $29 The vocalist, actress, and musician, also known simply as Camille, offers a solo concert demonstrating her international reputation for interpreting the songs of Jacques Brel, Nick Cave, Tom Waits, and Kurt Weill.

Presented in collaboration with the Irish Arts Center.

For tickets and complete festival schedule, visit

kennedy-center.org/IRELAND100 (202) 467-4600 Tickets also available at the Box Office.

The Presenting Underwriter of IRELAND 100 HRH Foundation

Major support is provided by David and Alice Rubenstein and the Embassy of Ireland.

Additional support is provided by The American Ireland Fund; Ambassador Elizabeth Frawley Bagley; The Coca-Cola Company; William B. Finneran; Ingersoll Rand; Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater; Amalia Perea Mahoney and William Mahoney; Malin Corporation plc; Marcia V. Mayo, The Mayo Charitable Foundation; Medtronic; Angela Moore; and Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan.

International Programming at the Kennedy Center is made possible through the generosity of the Kennedy Center International Committee on the Arts.

Festival curated by Alicia Adams, Vice President of International Programming and Dance

May 20 & 21 | Concert Hall TICKETS ON SALE NOW! KENNEDY-CENTER.ORG (202) 467-4600 Tickets also available at the Box Office. Groups call (202) 416-8400.

David and Alice Rubenstein are the Presenting Underwriters of the NSO.

NSO Pops: Boyz II Men is presented with the support of

Additional support for the 2015-2016 NSO Pops Season is provided by The Honorable Barbara H. Franklin and Mr. Wallace Barnes.

washingtoncitypaper.com may 6, 2016 33

FilmShort SubjectS CORPORATE TEAM BUILDING PORTABLE/ MOBILE EVENTS

thegreatescaperoom.com

For groups of 40+

COMPETITION ROOMS

Teams of 2 up to 35 with one goal - getting out!

RECEIVE A 10% DISCOUNT when you purchase 10 or more tickets at one time. Discount applies for full price ($28) tickets only. This offer does not apply to discounts tickets, special events or private parties outside regularly scheduled hours.

Hidden

Compartments Devilishly Clever Clues

Trapped With No Way Out!

A 60 Minute Frantic Search for Freedom

Dupont Circle WASHINGTON DC 1730 Connecticut Ave., NW Basement Level (202) 930-1843

Find out what ToDo Today online.

All in the FAmily Men & Chicken

Directed by Anders Thomas Jensen In the openIng minutes of the darkly comic Danish film Men & Chicken, writer/director Anders Thomas Jensen sets himself up for a daunting challenge. He puts two repulsive human beings on screen and tries, over the course of the next two hours, to make us sympathize with them. When we first see Elias (Mads Mikkelsen), he’s on a date with a psychologist he met online, although he’s only trying to scam her for free therapy. He needs it badly. In no time, he chides her for interrupting him, cruelly mocks her disability, and then rushes off to the men’s room to masturbate. His brother Gabriel (David Dencik), who sports the same distinctive harelip as Elias, is only slightly more appealing. He appears perfectly normal, except for a disgusting habit of frequently retching for no particular reason.

They are an ugly and odd couple, and yet Jensen does make us feel for them and even see them as heroic, through both effective emotional shortcuts and hard-earned character work. The two brothers come together after the death of their father and a revelation that they were adopted. It turns out their real father is a disgraced scientist who lives in the tiny island town of Ork. Elias and Gabriel travel there, where they meet their three halfbrothers, who are, to varying degrees, even more grotesque and unpleasant than they are.

The boys move in, and while their elderly father never comes out of his room, they get a weird and wonderful education in their family history all the same.

Most of the action takes place inside the house, which the brothers, uneducated and unemployed, rarely leave. It’s a mansion that has 34 may 6, 2016 washingtoncitypaper.com

become dilapidated, redneck-style. Picture Grey Gardens but in Mississippi. The paint is peeling from the walls, the furniture is falling apart, and farm animals roam the house uncaged. When asked what the animals are for, Gregor (Nikolaj Lie Kaas), the youngest and most lonely of the brothers, doesn’t mince words: “They won’t feel a thing. They’re used to laying eggs.”

Bestiality is only one of the increasing perversions with which Jensen confronts his audience, but he is not simply a provocateur in the tradition of John Waters or even Tom Six (of The Human Centipede series). There are surely moments of pure ickiness, but Men & Chicken is more interested in the interior emotional lives of its human subjects. Elias is a fascinating contradiction of a man: fiercely loyal, violent, and quick to anger, and yet undeniably vulnerable. The against-type casting of Mads Mikkelsen, a hunky Dane known for playing Hannibal Lecter on TV, goes a long way here; when Elias brags (often) of his sexual prowess, we find ourselves believing him despite all evidence to the contrary.

By the time Gabriel is trying to civilize the poor triumvirate of yokels, Men & Chicken has morphed into something of a domestic comedy. They practice table manners and read the Bible, arguing hilariously over its meaning. When Elias promises to introduce them to some girls, he takes them to the island’s retirement home, where, amazingly, the old ladies are happy for some romantic attention.

To some, Men & Chicken will be a painfully dichotomous experience, with the provocative elements too disgusting to watch and the sentimentality entirely unearned. But there are those weirdos who will be tuned to its frequency and can celebrate a film that finds sweetness even in the most dirty, grimy, and perverse corners of the human soul.

—Noah Gittell Men & Chicken opens Friday at Landmark E Street Cinema.

Vocal Music Program

The school’s award-winning program brings the Concert Choir, Women’s Choir, Vocal Jazz Ensemble, and The Wilson Singers to perform a varied repertoire of music.

IN THE TERRACE THEATER

10 TUE DC Youth Orchestra,

DCYO Children’s Orchestra, WPA’s Capitol Strings*

Young musicians come together for a collaboration of music performing repertoire including Telemann, Mozart, and Haydn.

11 WED 100 Years of Classical

#MSTAGE365

MAY 5 THU Music, Miles, Mari-Liis, and More

Violinist Mari-Liis Uibo with pianist Shuhui (Sophie) Zhoi, cellist Iva Casian Lakos, and accordion player Simone Baron journey to new dimensions through music including compositions from Pärt and Rachmaninoff, among others.

Part of the Fourth Annual European Month of Culture.

Presented in collaboration with the Embassy of Estonia.

James A. Johnson Young Artist Series: The Muffinz

6 FRI

The guitar-inclined South African band presents an evening of music described as “Liberated Afro Retro.”

Family Night: Arts on the Horizon

7 SAT

Blossom’s Rainbow, a nonverbal theater piece celebrating Japanese culture and specifically designed for children ages 2–5, is infused with whimsical dance, vibrant colors, and dynamic live music. Follow Blossom on her journey from the red mountains down to the indigo city after a painter’s brush sets the young cherry blossom’s world into motion.

8 SUN McLean Youth Orchestra

John Devlin conducts the honor-level MYO in a concert version of Mozart’s opera, Don Giovanni, with soloists Mandy Brown (Anna), Elizabeth Mondragon (Elvira), Jeffrey Gates (Don Giovanni and Leporello), and Patrick Kilbride (Ottavio).

Also featuring original narration by dramaturg Robin Phillips.

*Free general admission tickets will be distributed in the States Gallery starting at approximately 5:30 p.m., up to two (2) tickets per person.

Croatian Music

This concert includes works by celebrated Croatian composers Bruno Bjelinski, Boris Papandopulo, Marko Ruždjak, and Marko Tajcˇevic´, as well as premieres by emerging composers Tomislav Oliver and Lana Janjanin.

Part of the Fourth Annual European Month of Culture.

Presented in collaboration with Audeamus International Music Festival and the Embassy of Croatia.

12 THU Ring Company in Concert

Artists of Washington National Opera’s Ring company showcase a variety of repertoire beyond the Ring in this special concert with piano.

13 FRI Ingrid Jensen

The jazz artist (trumpet and flugelhorn) performs with her ensemble as part of the Kennedy Center’s Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival.

14 SAT Savannah Harris Trio

The trio, featuring drummer Savannah Harris, a recent graduate of Howard University, performs as part of the Kennedy Center’s Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival.

IN THE TERRACE THEATER

15 SUN

Brooks Wheelan*

A self-proclaimed “chill dude from Iowa,” Wheelan got a biomedical engineering degree before pursuing comedy. His first album, This Is Cool, Right?, debuted as the #1 comedy album on iTunes in January 2015 to rave reviews. Max Rosenblum opens.

16 MON The Columbia Heights

Educational Campus

The Kennedy Center–DC Partnership Initiative School is proud to present the Lincoln Middle School Band, CHEC Orchestra, CHEC Concert Band, and the CHEC Choir.

17 TUE RebollarDance

EVERY DAY AT 6 P.M. NO TICKETS REQUIRED* *Unless noted otherwise

Participants in the National Symphony Orchestra training program play works including Malcolm Arnold’s Quintet for Brass, Op. 73 and Three Shanties for Wind Quintet.

20 FRI NSO Youth Fellows

Program participants play works including Dvorˇák’s Serenade for Strings and Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 4.

IRELAND 100: Celebrating a Century of Irish Arts & Culture

May 17–June 5, the Kennedy Center presents a major festival highlighting Irish culture and its relationship to America. For full schedule, visit kennedy-center.org/ireland100.

Veteran mainstays on the international Irish music scene, the trio (Liz Knowles, fiddle; Kieran O’Hare, uilleann pipes; Pat Broaders, bouzouki and vocals) showcases its signature sound.

21 SAT Matt & Shannon Heaton

An integral part of Boston’s vibrant Irish music and neo-Celtic acoustic scenes, this passionate husband-and-wife duo offers well-traveled Irish music from the heart.

22 SUN Danny Burns Band

Burns’s Irish blood has cultivated his passion for narrative songwriting, unique vocals, and soulful delivery on his debut CD, Off the Grid.

Since he was 17, he’s been honing his craft on the road, playing throughout the U.S. and European circuit.

23 MON The Gothard Sisters

These three siblings from the Pacific Northwest bring the exciting rhythms of Ireland to their live shows with dance, music, and storytelling.

24 TUE The Tossers

The Celtic punk band from Chicago has been proudly spreading their Irish gospel across the globe, with no plans of slowing down.

25 WED Chef Cathal Armstrong

Cooking Demonstration

Chef Armstrong (Restaurant Eve in Alexandria; multiple James Beard Award nominee) showcases his commitment to complex, thoughtful dishes that combine his Irish roots and French training with American cuisine.

26 THU Screaming Orphans

DAILY FOOD AND DRINK SPECIALS 5–6 P.M. NIGHTLY • GRAND FOYER BARS FREE TOURS are given daily by the Friends of the Kennedy Center tour guides. Tour hours: M–F, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., and Sa./Su. from 10 a.m.–1 p.m.

For information, call (202) 416-8340.

PLEASE NOTE: There is no free parking for free performances.

ON THE FRONT PLAZA

29 SUN Celebrating the Past

to Awaken the Future

18 WED Open the Door for Three

This Celtic rock band from Ireland consists of the four Diver sisters who play their own melodic pop as well as traditional songs, garnering an Irish Music Award for Top Celtic Rock band.

On the late President Kennedy’s 99th birthday, the Kennedy Center presents a very special event: composer and pianist Jason Moran; multimedia artist Laurie Anderson; choreographer Debbie Allen and the Debbie Allen Dance Academy Ensemble and Redbirds; composer and oud player Hadi Eldebek with percussionist Mohamad Eldebek; jazz pianist José André Montaño; the Sphinx Quartet; and the Children’s Chorus of Washington. Guest speakers include Dr. Buzz Aldrin, astronaut; Carrie Hessler-Radelet, Director of the Peace Corps; Maria Keller, creator of Read Indeed; H.E. Anne Anderson, Ambassador of Ireland to the United States; Deborah F. Rutter, Kennedy Center President; and David M. Rubenstein, Kennedy Center Chairman. The evening concludes with the unveiling of a special water garden installation created for the Center’s Centennial Celebration of President Kennedy by ATOPIA Innovation.

31 TUE Skylark

With fiddle, flute, and guitar, the trio’s songs conjure the enchantment of Celtic music.

Alexander Mitchell, Elise Kress, and Zan McLeod are joined by dancers Joe Duffey and Erika Nielsen for driving rhythms, poignant songs, and a contagious energy.

27 FRI 2016 VSA International Young

Soloists Competition Winners

The concert features outstanding musicians with disabilities, aged 14–25: Gabrielle Barker (KY), soprano; Stuart Carlson (MI), violin; Andrew Nguyen (CA), piano; Abigel Szilagyi (CA), violin; and Roi Aldric Trawon (Philippines), violin.

28 SAT Leah Glenn Dance Theatre

LGDT seeks to cultivate a greater understanding of the world through thought-provoking dance works.

This eclectic collection of choreography includes performances by guest artists Parisa Khobdeh (courtesy of the Paul Taylor Dance Company) and Jamal Story, as well as LGDT members.

30 MON SOLE Defined

Directed by local choreographer Erica Rebollar, 2077 is a performance of post-human ideas.

With live sound by John Moletress and original composition by Jeffrey Dorfman and Charlie Campagna.

FOR DETAILS OR TO WATCH ONLINE, VISIT KENNEDY-CENTER.ORG/MILLENNIUM.

18 Open the Door for Three

19 THU NSO Youth Fellows

Photo by Earl Richardson

9 MON Woodrow Wilson High School

Soleful Soundz is a new, power-packed show that creates an exciting twist on percussive dance by electrifying local performers, celebrating the rich history of percussive dance in D.C.

TAKE METRO to the Foggy Bottom/

GWU station and ride the free Kennedy Center shuttle departing every 15 minutes until midnight.

GET CONNECTED!

Become a fan of KCMillenniumStage on Facebook and check out artist photos, upcoming events, and more!

The Kennedy Center welcomes persons with disabilities.

ALL PERFORMANCES AND PROGRAMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

The Millennium Stage was created and underwritten by James A. Johnson and Maxine Isaacs to make the performing arts accessible to everyone in fulfillment of the Kennedy Center’s mission to its community and the nation.

Additional funding for the Millennium Stage is provided by Bernstein Family Foundation, The Isadore and Bertha Gudelsky Family Foundation, Inc., The Meredith Foundation, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, Dr. Deborah Rose and Dr. Jan A.J. Stolwijk, U.S. Department of Education, and the Millennium Stage Endowment Fund.

The Millennium Stage Endowment Fund was made possible by James A. Johnson and Maxine Isaacs, Fannie Mae Foundation, The Kimsey Endowment, Gilbert† and Jaylee† Mead, Mortgage Bankers Association of America and other anonymous gifts to secure the future of the Millennium Stage.

Kennedy Center education and related artistic programming is also made possible through the generosity of the National Committee for the Performing Arts and the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts.

washingtoncitypaper.com may 6, 2016 35

I.M.P. PRESENTS Merriweather Post Pavilion • Columbia, MD

THIS SATURDAY!

Jason Aldean w/ Thomas Rhett • A Thousand Horses • Dee Jay Silver .................. MAY 7 I.M.P. & AEG LIVE PRESENT

THIS WEEK’S SHOWS

The Brian Jonestown Massacre....................................................................... Th 5 THE COVEN PRESENTS

Pentatonix w/ Us the Duo & AJ ............................................................................ MAY 12 SWEETLIFE FESTIVAL FEATURING

The 1975 / Halsey / Blondie / Flume / Grimes and more! ................................... MAY 14 Cage The Elephant w/ Portugal. The Man & Broncho .................................. MAY 15

Halloween in May featuring The Lothario and DJ Abichula ............... F 6 I Would Dance 4 U: A Prince Inspired Dance Party featuring

GV/FRANK PROD. PRESENT

Old 97’s & Heartless Bastards w/ BJ Barham (of American Aquarium) .... M 9

CAPITAL JAZZ FEST FEAT

DJs Mathias, Gudo, James Nasty, Jerome Baker III, and Spinser Tracy .. Sa 7

MAY

Parquet Courts w/ B Boys Early Show! 6pm Doors ...................................... Th 12 Titus Andronicus w/ La Sera Late Show! 10pm Doors ................................. Th 12 Penguin Prison w/ ASTR & Savior Adore ......................................................... F 13 Mixtape: Alternative Dance Party

with DJs Matt Bailer and Shea Van Horn Late Show! 11pm Doors ........... Sa 14

Yeasayer w/ Young Magic .................................................................................. M 16 Say Anything w/ mewithoutYou • Teen Suicide • Museum Mouth .................. Tu 17 White Ford Bronco: DC’s All 90s Band........................................................ F 20 JMSN w/ Tiffany Gouché .....................................................................................W 25 Caravan Palace .............................................................................................. Th 26 Hot In Herre: 2000s Dance Party ................................................................. Sa 28 RJD2 ...................................................................................................................Su 29 Christine and the Queens........................................................................... Tu 31 JUNE

Nada Surf w/ Big Thief & Bird Of Youth ..............................................................W 1 Charles Bradley and His Extraordinaires .............................................Th 2 U STREET MUSIC HALL PRESENTS

Kenny Chesney w/ Old Dominion ....................................................................... MAY 19

New Edition • En Vogue • Toni Braxton and more! ............................................. JUNE 3-5

Ellie Goulding w/ Matt and Kim ......................................................................... JUNE 13 Tame Impala w/ M83 ................................................................................................. JUNE 16 Chris Stapleton & Jason Isbell w/ Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls . JUNE 18 DC101 KERFUFFLE FEATURING

blink-182 • Silversun Pickups • Cold War Kids and more! .............JUNE 26

ALL GOOD PRESENTS MERRYLAND MUSIC FEST FEATURING

The String Cheese Incident • Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals and more! . JULY 9 & 10

Modest Mouse / Brand New ................................................................................ JULY 12 VANS WARPED TOUR PRESENTED BY JOURNEYS FEATURING

Falling In Reverse • Issues • Four Year Strong and more! .................................... JULY 16

Brandi Carlile & Old Crow Medicine Show w/ Dawes ......................... JULY 23 SUMMER SPIRIT FESTIVAL FEATURING

Jill Scott • Erykah Badu • The Roots and more! ..........................AUGUST 6 & 7

Shinedown w/ Halestorm • Black Stone Cherry • Whiskey Myers ....................AUGUST 10

Train w/ Andy Grammer ...............................................................................................AUGUST 20 Miranda Lambert w/ Kip Moore & Brothers Osborne .....................................AUGUST 25 The Lumineers w/ BØRNS & Rayland Baxter ..................................... SAT SEPTEMBER 10 • For full lineups and more info, visit merriweathermusic.com • 930.com

Kaytranada w/ Lou Phelps .................................................................................F 3 STORY DISTRICT & CAPITAL PRIDE PRESENT

The Music Center at Strathmore • N. Bethesda, MD

Out/Spoken: Queer, Questioning, Bold, & Proud

True stories through an LGBT lens Early Show! 6pm Doors ......................... Sa 4

Kraftwerk 3-D Concert..........................................................SAT SEPTEMBER 3

Late Show! 10pm Doors........................................................................................ Sa 4

Ticketmaster

Who’s Bad: The World’s #1 Michael Jackson Tribute Band D NIGHT ADDED!

FIRST NIGHT SOLD OUT! SECON

Purity Ring w/ Lydia Ainsworth ..........................................................................W 8 The Heavy ...........................................................................................................Th 9 Alice Smith ...................................................................................................... Sa 11 Birdy w/ Bahari ..................................................................................................Su 12 THE WILD HONEY PIE PRESENTS

Matt Corby ....................................................................................................... M 13 ALL GOOD PRESENTS

Atlas Road Crew w/ The Southern Belles & Bencoolen ............................... Th 16 AlunaGeorge w/ Cleopold .................................................................................F 17 Lucius w/ Margaret Glaspy ................................................................................Su 19 Jon Bellion .........................................................................................................F 24 Balkan Beat Box w/ A-WA ............................................................................. Sa 25

MANY MORE SHOWS ON SALE!

9:30 CUPCAKES

930.com

The best thing you could possibly put in your mouth Cupcakes by BUZZ... your neighborhood bakery in Alexandria, VA. | www.buzzonslaters.com

9:30 CLUB PRESENTS AT U STREET MUSIC HALL Freddie Gibbs w/ Jay IDK • Del the Funky Homosapien Dutch Capital • NAPPYNAPPA ......... W MAY 4 w/ Sean Anonymous .............................. Th 5 • Buy advance tickets at the 9:30 Club box office Echostage • Washington, D.C.

X Ambassadors w/ Robert DeLong & Sara Hartman ...................................................... MAY 12 Bloc Party w/ The Vaccines & Oscar ..................................................................................... MAY 19

1215 U Street NW Washington, D.C.

JUST ANNOUNCED! AEG LIVE PRESENTS

K ian ‘ n ’ JC .................................................................................................SAT JULY 16 On Sale Now

ADDED!

NIGHT FIRST NIGHT SOLD OUT! SECOND

JENNY LEWIS - Rabbit Fur Coat Anniversary Tour with THE WATSON TWINS ....................................................... SEPTEMBER 18

JAKE BUGG ....................................................................................... SEPTEMBER 29 On Sale Friday, May 6 at 10am

JUSTICEAID CONCERT BENEFIT FOR THE CFSY AND NJDC

Ozomatli plus Big Tony & Trouble Funk .................................................... MAY 15 Sam Beam and Jesca Hoop w/ Marlon Williams .............................................. MAY 21 Plastic Cup Boyz ................................................................................................... MAY 29 The Jayhawks w/ Folk Uke ...................................................................................JUNE 18 John Carpenter: Live Retrospective

Performing themes from his classic films and new compositions ............................. JULY 12 NIGHT ADDED!

FIRST NIGHT SOLD OUT! SECOND

Bryan Ferry w/ LP ................................................................................................. JULY 25 Gad Elmaleh ................................................................................................ SEPTEMBER 1 The Gipsy Kings feat. Nicolas Reyes and Tonino Baliardo ..................... FRI SEPTEMBER 9 Loretta Lynn ........................................................................................SAT NOVEMBER 19 • thelincolndc.com • U Street (Green/Yellow) stop across the street!

2135 Queens Chapel Rd. NE • Ticketmaster

Pimlico Race Course • Baltimore, MD BUDWEISER INFIELDFEST AT THE PREAKNESS FEATURING

The Chainsmokers • Fetty Wap • All Time Low and more! ......................................MAY 21

Tickets for 9:30 Club shows are available through TicketFly.com, by phone at 1-877-4FLY-TIX, and at the 9:30 Club box office.

9:30 CLUB BOX OFFICE HOURS are 12-7PM Weekdays & Until 11PM on show nights. 6-11PM on Sat & 6-10:30PM on Sun on show nights.

9:30 CUPCAKES The best thing you could possibly put in your mouth.

Cupcakes by BUZZ... your neighborhood bakery in Alexandria, VA. www.buzzbakery.com

36 may 6, 2016 washingtoncitypaper.com

PARKING: THE OFFICIAL 9:30 parking lot entrance is on 9th Street, directly behind the 9:30 club. Buy your advance parking tickets at the same time as your concert tickets!

HAPPY HOUR DRINK PRICES

AFTER THE SHOW AT THE BACK BAR!

930.com

TAKE THE METRO!

PACK A PICNIC!

FIND YOUR SWEET SPOT!

Only 20 minutes from D.C. Park for free or take Metro

Bring your own food and drinks or pick up delicious

Choose covered, in-house seats or general

and the Wolf Trap Express bus right to the entrance.

fare, wine, and local microbrews at Wolf Trap.

admission tickets on the lawn.

INER

60S-INSPIRED D

CITYLIST

Music 37

Galleries 43

Theater 44

Film 45

Search Listings at washingtoncitypaper.com

Serving

EVERYTHING from BURGERS to BOOZY SHAKES

HAPPY HOUR:

$2 TUESDAY $3 THURSDAY $4 FRIDAY (ALL DRAFTS AND RAIL)

BRING YOUR TICKET

AFTER ANY SHOW AT

Music

CITY LIGHTS: Friday

Friday rock

DC9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. Ryan Beaver, Jonny Grave. 7 p.m. $12. dcnine.com.

Gypsy sally’s 3401 K St. NW. (202) 333-7700. Yarn, Will Overman Band, Mountain Ride. 8 p.m. $14–$16. gypsysallys.com.

The hamilTon 600 14th St. NW. (202) 787-1000.

Spyro Gyra. 8:30 p.m. $30–$40. thehamiltondc.com.

Flashback. 10:30 p.m. Free. thehamiltondc.com. howarD TheaTre 620 T St. NW. (202) 803-2899.

Buckcherry, Biters. 7 p.m. $27.50–$65. thehowardtheatre.com.

Jammin Java 227 Maple Ave. East, Vienna. (703) 2551566. CommuniBasecamp, Blue Healer. 8 p.m. $10–$18. jamminjava.com. roCk & roll hoTel 1353 H St. NE. (202) 388-7625.

Taylor McFerrin, Cautious Clay. 9 p.m. $15. rockandrollhoteldc.com.

U sTreeT mUsiC hall 1115 U St. NW. (202) 588-1889.

Lou Doillon. 7 p.m. $20. ustreetmusichall.com.

Funk & r&B

Club

TO GET A

FREE SCHAEFERS

SABBATH SUNDAY NIGHTS Punk/Metal/Hardcore Classics

10:30 pm - Close $5 Drafts & Rail Specials

amp by sTraThmore 11810 Grand Park Ave., North Bethesda. (301) 581-5100. Luther Re-Lives featuring William “Smooth” Wardlaw. 8 p.m. $25–$35. ampbystrathmore.com.

Fillmore silver sprinG 8656 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. (301) 960-9999. Santigold, DonMonique.

9 p.m. $28. fillmoresilverspring.com.

ElEctronic

U sTreeT mUsiC hall 1115 U St. NW. (202) 588-1889.

Grum, Christauff, b2b, Dave Cortex. 10:30 p.m. $15. ustreetmusichall.com.

Jazz

blUes alley 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. (202) 3374141. Arturo Sandoval. 8 p.m. (sold out) & 10 p.m. $50–$55. bluesalley.com. kenneDy CenTer millenniUm sTaGe 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. The Muffinz. 6 p.m. Free. kennedy-center.org. mr. henry’s 601 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. (202) 5468412. Dial 251 for Jazz with Steve Washington. 8 p.m.

Free. mrhenrysdc.com.

country

birChmere 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria.

(703) 549-7500. Jerry Jeff Walker. 7:30 p.m. (Sold out) birchmere.com. monTpelier arTs CenTer 9652 Muirkirk Road, Laurel. (301) 377-7800. Bumper Jacksons. 8 p.m. $25. arts.pgparks.com.

Hip-Hop

aTlas perForminG arTs CenTer 1333 H St. NE. (202) 399-7993. B-fly Entertainment. 8 p.m. $22. atlasarts.org.

Go-Go

2047 9th Street NW located next door to 9:30 club

howarD TheaTre 620 T St. NW. (202) 803-2899.

Big G & Backyard Band Birthday Bash. 11 p.m. $40–$50. thehowardtheatre.com.

opEra

ClariCe smiTh perForminG arTs CenTer Stadium Drive and Route 193, College Park. (301) 405-2787.

laura lippMan

With true-crime programming riding a wave of popularity (it seems like everyone is still talking about The People v. O.J. Simpson, Making a Murderer, and Serial), it’s about time the good old murder mystery novel made a comeback. Sure, those mass market paperbacks have a dedicated space at your local library, but if you want a new title that combines the quickly consumable qualities of detective fiction with some literary heft, look no further than Laura Lippman. The Baltimore-based novelist has written 12 books about Tess Monaghan, a journalist-turned-private investigator, but her latest book, Wilde Lake—released just in time for summer beach reading—focuses on Luisa Brant, a Howard County state’s attorney who tries a drifter for murder.

The case brings up all sorts of dark and repressed memories that Luisa had buried for years. Part psychological study, part gripping thriller, the book looks at the lasting impact of crime while providing locals with a scene they just might recognize. Laura Lippman reads at 7 p.m. at Politics & Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. Free. (202) 364-1919. politics-prose.com. —Caroline Jones UMD Wind Orchestra, Maryland Opera Studio: Die Zauberflöte. 8 p.m. Free. theclarice.umd.edu.

dJ niGHts

classical

DC9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. Discnotheque

kenneDy CenTer ConCerT hall 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. National Symphony Orchestra: Andrew Litton, conductor; Vadim Gluzman, violin.

8 p.m. $15–$89. kennedy-center.org. library oF ConGress Thomas JeFFerson bUilDinG 10 First St. SE. (202) 707-5000. Musicians from Marlboro. 8 p.m. Free. loc.gov.

with DJs Sean Morris and Bill Spieler. 10:30 p.m. $2–$5. dcnine.com. marx CaFé 3203 Mt. Pleasant St. NW. (202) 5187600. We Fought the Big One: Post Punk. 10 p.m. Free. marxcafemtp.com.

washingtoncitypaper.com may 6, 2016 37

RAY L aMONTAGNE » THE BAND PERRY LAKE STREET DIVE | THE LONE BELLOW PHILLIP PHILLIPS | MATT NATHANSON GOO GOO DOLLS | COLLECTIVE SOUL SETH MacFARLANE | NSO » AND MANY MORE!

SUMMER 2016

WPFW Presents

Voices of Resistance Spring Fundraising Gala From Nikki Giovanni to Tupac Shakur

SEE FULL SCHEDULE INSIDE

SATURDAY ROcK

The hamilTon 600 14th St. NW. (202) 787-1000.

Delta Rae, Aubrie Sellers. 8:30 p.m. $25–$35. thehamiltondc.com. Rachel Ann Morgan. 10:30 p.m. Free. thehamiltondc.com.

RobeRT e. PaRilla PeRfoRming aRTs CenTeR 51 Mannakee St., Rockville. (240) 567-5301. Jonathan Edwards, Danny O’Keefe. 7 p.m. $49.95–$99.50. montgomerycollege.edu/pac.

RoCk & Roll hoTel 1353 H St. NE. (202) 388-7625.

Cate Le Bon, Megabog. 8 p.m. $13. rockandrollhoteldc.com.

FUNK & R&B

DC9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. Aztec Sun, Sub-Urban Sol, DJ Jon Q. 2 p.m. Free. dcnine.com.

Monday, May 16, 2016 • 7:30 pm

Mulebone • 2121 14th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20009 This event promises to be a magical evening featuring poet Nikki Giovanni, Jazz/Funk ensemble Joe Keyes and the Late Bloomer Band, and DJ sets by Lance Reynolds, co-host of the House of Soul. To round out the evening, delicious food and a Signature 39 WPFW Cocktail along with the inspired ambiance provided by Mulebone.

Tickets: General admission $100 • VIP Admission $250 includes pre-reception with Nikki Giovanni at 6:30pm @wpfwdc

Tickets available at www.wpfwfm.org

TRoPiCalia 2001 14th St. NW. (202) 629-4535. Johnny Popcorn, Rufus Roundtree and Da Bmore Brass Factory, People’s Champs, JAZ:DUX, Fort Knox Five.

7 p.m. Free. tropicaliadc.com.

U sTReeT mUsiC hall 1115 U St. NW. (202) 588-1889.

PitchBlak Brass Band, Nappy Riddem, Fort Knox Five featuring QDup. 7 p.m. Free. ustreetmusichall.com.

JAzz

blUes alley 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. (202) 3374141. Arturo Sandoval. 8 p.m. (sold out) & 10 p.m. $50–$55. bluesalley.com. mR. henRy’s 601 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. (202) 5468412. Tacha Coleman Parr. 8 p.m. Free. mrhenrysdc.com.

cOUNTRY

biRChmeRe 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria.

(703) 549-7500. Jerry Jeff Walker. 7:30 p.m. (Sold out) birchmere.com. gyPsy sally’s 3401 K St. NW. (202) 333-7700. Hot Buttered Rum, The Herd Of Main Street. 9 p.m. $15–$18. gypsysallys.com. meRRiweaTheR PosT Pavilion 10475 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia. (410) 715-5550. Jason Aldean, Thomas Rhett, A Thousand Horses. 7:30 p.m. $55–$75. merriweathermusic.com.

Hip-HOp

aTlas PeRfoRming aRTs CenTeR 1333 H St. NE. (202) 399-7993. B-fly Entertainment. 8 p.m. $22. atlasarts.org.

waRneR TheaTRe 513 13th St. NW. (202) 783-4000.

Al B. Sure!, Angie Stone, Flow, Peter Gunz. 7:30 p.m. $32.50–$52. warnertheatredc.com.

clASSicAl

ClaRiCe smiTh PeRfoRming aRTs CenTeR Stadium Drive and Route 193, College Park. (301) 405-2787.

Annual Pops Concert. 8 p.m. $10–$25. theclarice.umd.edu. kenneDy CenTeR ConCeRT hall 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. National Symphony Orchestra: Andrew Litton, conductor; Vadim Gluzman, violin.

8 p.m. $15–$89. kennedy-center.org. kenneDy CenTeR TeRRaCe TheaTeR 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. Yury Shadrin and Tian Lu, pianos. 2 p.m. $48. kennedy-center.org. mUsiC CenTeR aT sTRaThmoRe 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. (301) 581-5100. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra: A Celebration of Uncommon Women with Marin Alsop, conductor, Alexandra Soumm, violin. 8 p.m. $35–$99. strathmore.org.

The sChlesingeR CenTeR aT nova CommUniTy College, alexanDRia CamPUs 3001 N. Beauregard St., Alexandria. (703) 845-6156. Alexandria Symphony performs Copland, Gershwin, Kluge & Kluge, and Zimmer. 8 p.m. $5–$80. nvcc.edu/schlesingercenter.

DJ NigHTS

blaCk CaT baCksTage 1811 14th St. NW. (202) 667-4490. Heavy Rotation with Sol Power All Stars, Tommy Cornelis, Martin Miguel, and Trevski. 10 p.m. $5. blackcatdc.com.

U sTReeT mUsiC hall 1115 U St. NW. (202) 5881889. REV909: Daft Punk/French House Tribute and Indie Dance Classics with DJs Will Eastman and Ozker.

10:30 p.m. $10. ustreetmusichall.com.

SUNDAY ROcK

9:30 ClUb 815 V St. NW. (202) 265-0930. Frightened Rabbit, Caveman. 6 p.m. (Sold out) 930.com. biRChmeRe 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria.

(703) 549-7500. Mother’s Finest. 7:30 p.m. $35. birchmere.com. blaCk CaT baCksTage 1811 14th St. NW. (202) 6674490. Thurston Moore, J. Robbins, Give. 7:30 p.m. $15. blackcatdc.com.

DC9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. Max Frost, Rozes. 8 p.m. $12. dcnine.com.

CITY LIGHTS: SATURDAY

JONATHAN EDWARDS AND DANNY O’KEEFE

If you’re under the age of 40 and grew up listening to rock music in D.C., you probably remember WHFS as the sponsor of HFStival, a massive rock show held annually at RFK Stadium featuring sets by mid’90s icons like Rage Against the Machine, The Offspring, and Soul Asylum. If your parents grew up listening to rock in D.C., they might remember a more progressive, freeform station helmed by DJs like Weasel and Damian Einstein, local icons in their own right. It’s that revered station that’s celebrated in Feast Your Ears, a new documentary-in-progress from executive producer Jay Schlossberg. In order to complete the film, the production team is raising funds with a benefit concert featuring two mainstays on the station during its prime: singer-songwriters Jonathan Edwards and Danny O’Keefe. Best known for his 1971 hit “Sunshine,” Edwards continues to tour the nation performing his folk-pop standards; O’Keefe’s music, including his memorable 1972 song “Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues,” bends a bit more country. Together, they’ll dig up memories of Bethesda’s finest FM station. Jonathan Edwards and Danny O’Keefe perform at 7 p.m. at the Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center at Montgomery College, 51 Mannakee St., Rockville. $49.95–$99.50. feastyourearsthefilm.com.

—Caroline Jones

38 may 6, 2016 washingtoncitypaper.com

washingtoncitypaper.com may 6, 2016 39

AREYOUAWINNER?

PROvEIt!

Songbyrd MuSic HouSe and record cafe 2477 18th St. NW. (202) 450-2917. Solids, Stove, Clique.

8 p.m. $10–$12. songbyrddc.com.

naTional gallery of arT 4th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. (202) 737-4215. Oran Etkin, clarinet. 3 p.m. & 4:15 p.m. Free. nga.gov.

Funk & R&B

PHilliPS collecTion 1600 21st St. NW. (202) 3872151. Metropolis Ensemble: Electro-Acoustic Music.

4 p.m. (Sold out) phillipscollection.org.

Howard THeaTre 620 T St. NW. (202) 803-2899.

Mother’s Day Celebration featuring Damien Escobar.

8 p.m. $49.50–$100. thehowardtheatre.com.

Jazz

Monday

blueS alley 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. (202) 3374141. Arturo Sandoval. 8 p.m. (sold out) & 10 p.m. $50–$55. bluesalley.com.

RoCk

9:30 club 815 V St. NW. (202) 265-0930. Old 97’s, Heartless Bastards, BJ Barham. 7 p.m. $30. 930.com.

boSSa biSTro 2463 18th St NW. (202) 667-0088.

Generational Jazz Combo. 9:30 p.m. $5. bossadc.com.

bircHMere 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria.

(703) 549-7500. Chris Isaak. 7:30 p.m. $95. birchmere.com.

Hip-Hop warner THeaTre 513 13th St. NW. (202) 783-4000.

Al B. Sure!, Angie Stone, Flow, Peter Gunz. 3 p.m. $32.50–$52. warnertheatredc.com.

ClassiCal Visit washingtoncitypaper.com/promotions and enter to win anything from movie tickets to spa treatments!

You can also check out our current free events listings and sign up to receive our weekly newsletter!

Take Metrobus and Metrorail to the...

aTlaS PerforMing arTS cenTer 1333 H St. NE. (202) 399-7993. Capital City Symphony: Haunted Topography, Heavenly Life. 5 p.m. $15–$25. atlasarts.org.

Kennedy cenTer MillenniuM STage 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. McLean Youth Orchestra. 6 p.m.

Free. kennedy-center.org.

blacK caT bacKSTage 1811 14th St. NW. (202) 6674490. The Spook School, Bent Shapes, Bad Moves, Lauren Denitzio. 7:30 p.m. $10. blackcatdc.com. dc9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. Avers, The Can’t Tells, Wanted Man. 9 p.m. $12. dcnine.com.

ElECtRoniC

u STreeT MuSic Hall 1115 U St. NW. (202) 588-1889.

Låpsley. 7 p.m. $15. ustreetmusichall.com.

VoCal

Kennedy cenTer MillenniuM STage 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. Woodrow Wilson High School

CITY LIGHTS: sunday

PRESENTED BY THE WASHINGTON POST

600 14TH STREET NW

Regina Carter • Maceo Parker • Ben Williams • Kurt Elling • Steve Turre Etienne Charles • Ernest Ranglin • Cymande • Joey DeFrancesco Trio Harold Mabern • Cory Henry & The Funk Apostles • Jimmy Greene Chelsey Green and The Green Project • Yotam Silberstein • Jody Nardone Trio

For tickets visit LIVE.THEHAMILTONDC.COM For artists and complete schedule, visit DCJAZZFEST.ORG PLATINUM SPONSORS

The DC Jazz Festival®, a 501(c)(3) non-profit service organization, is sponsored in part with major grants from the Government of the District of Columbia, Muriel Bowser, Mayor; and, in part, by major grants from the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, The Mayo Charitable Foundation, CrossCurrents Foundation, and with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts; and by the City Fund, administered by The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region. ©2016 DC Jazz Festival. All rights reserved.

40 may 6, 2016 washingtoncitypaper.com

JoHn staBB BEnEFit

In late January, John Stabb, best known as the vocalist of ’80s D.C. hardcore band Government Issue, thought he had appendicitis. It turns out Stabb, who added sarcastic lyrics to GI’s psychedelia-tinged roar, has malignant stomach cancer. With his immune system compromised following surgery and chemotherapy, Stabb’s spent most of his days since diagnosis in the hospital. To help raise funds for his medical and living expenses, friends and colleagues have put together a three-act gig, “Boycott Cancer: A Benefit for John Stabb.” Headliner Thurston Moore, best known as a guitarist for post-punk band Sonic Youth, has been a fan of D.C. hardcore since the early ’80s, as he made enthusiastically clear in the documentary Salad Days. J. Robbins played bass for Government Issue in the late ’80s and has since performed and sung with postpunk outfits like Jawbox and Burning Airlines, in addition to working as a producer. Opening act Give, a young D.C. hardcore ensemble, adds a metallic tint to its frenetic sound. Stabb has long been known for his humor, so despite the seriousness of his situation, look for the bands and promises of surprise guests to be true to John’s fighting spirit.Thurston Moore, J. Robbins, and Give perform at 7:30 p.m. at The Black Cat Backstage, 1811 14th St. NW. $15. (202) 667-4490. blackcatdc.com.

—Steve Kiviat

---------3701 Mount Vernon Ave. Alexandria, VA • 703-549-7500

For entire schedule go to Birchmere.com Find us on Facebook/Twitter!

Tix @ Ticketmaster.com 800-745-3000

AN EVENING WITH

JOAN BAEZ SUN OCT 16 • 8PM

FRI MAY 6TH

GW Lisner Auditorium, Wash DC

BUCKCHERRY WITH BITERS

SUN MAY 8TH MOTHER'S DAY FT DAMIEN ESCOBAR

Tickets on sale Fri. May 6 at 10am through gwutickets,com or call 202-994-6800.

Luther Re-Lives {Tribute to Vandross}

TONIGHT! May 6

WED MAY 11TH

MYA

SUN MAY 15TH

CURREN$Y THU MAY 19TH

THE FOREIGN EXCHANGE FRI MAY 20TH

HERMAN'S HERMITS

STARRING PETER NOONE

FRI MAY 27TH

JOE

FRI JUNE 3RD

MAX MAJOR'S THINK AGAIN MON JUNE 6TH

GREGORY PORTER

SAT JULY 23RD

MEN ARE FROM MARS, WOMEN ARE FROM VENUS,

LIVE!

BUY TICKETS AT THE BOX OFFICE OR ONLINE AT THEHOWARDTHEATRE.COM 202-803-2899

DWEEZIL ZAPPA Mothers’ Day with

8

MOTHER’S FINEST CHRIS ISAAK 10 First Comes The Night Tour IRIS DEMENT & LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III WALTER BEASLEY 13 GARY TAYLOR 14 ® 15 SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK AUBRIE 18 BRANDY CLARK SELLERS & Luna 19 OTTMAR LIEBERT Negra

11

BUCKETHEAD FRI MAY 13TH

May 5 (Via Zammata Tour) with Reformed Whores

Big Pants & Hot Flashes

Julia Scotti & Kevin Meaney with host Rahmein Mostafavi Fri, May 13 Co-presented with Cool Cow Comedy

Chopteeth Sat, May 14

STRAWBS

HERO & HEROINE LIVE {Original prog rockers}

Wed, May 18

Sultans of String Thu, May 19

The Eric Felten Septet {Classic crooner-led swing}

Fri, May 20

The Dustbowl Revival with Letitia VanSant

{Rip-roaring roots music}

Thu, May 26

DONNY McCASLIN GROUP {Bowie’s sax player}

FRI, MAY 27 11810 Grand Park Ave, N. Bethesda, MD Red Line–White Flint Metro

www.AMPbyStrathmore.com

In the

20

!

Doors 6pm

HARD WORKING AMERICANS

featuring TODD SNIDER, DAVE SCHOOLS, NEAL CASAL, DUANE TRUCKS, CHAD STAEHLY and JESSE AYCOCK with REED FOEHL

DELBERT McCLINTON DIANE SCHUUR 22 BILLY MISSY HIGGINS RAFFOUL 24

Amy Black

21

An Evening with

25

RICHARD MARX PETER 27 ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO CASE FREDDIE JACKSON 28

1811 14TH ST NW

www.blackcatdc.com @blackcatdc

MAY SHOWS FRI 6 & DAN SAVAGE’S

HUMP! FILM FESTIVAL

SAT 7

STRAIGHT OUTTA BURLESQUE AN ODE TO HIP HOP (21+)

FRI 6 SAT 7

THE FUNK PARADE PRESENTS:

HEAVY ROTATION

ALL VINYL DANCE PARTY

BOYCOTT CANCER

SUN 8

A BENEFIT FOR JOHN STABB

MON 9 TUE 10 WED 11 THU 12

FRI 13

THE SPOOK SCHOOL

OUGHT // PRIESTS

WILD NOTHING

HOP ALONG SPEEDY ORTIZ THE OBSESSED DEPECHE MODE DANCE PARTY

SAT 14

15TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION SUN 15

LET’S SAVE PARADISE

JOE’S RECORD PARADISE BENEFIT

MON 16 TUE 17 THU 19 FRI 20

BIG BLACK DELTA

ROGUE WAVE TURTLE RECALL ROME FORTUNE THE RANGE

FRI MAY 6 & SAT MAY 7

THE MOODY BLUES’

29

JUSTIN HAYWARD Presents

Stage Door w/Mike Dawes

June 1

Midnight PETER WOLF & The Travelers 3&4 ROAMFEST 2016 7pm Solo 9 JOSHUA RADIN Acoustic 10 THE DAN BAND 11 SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY & THE ASBURY JUKES W/Gary Douglas Band

MICHAEL FRANKS BOY&BEAR 15 THE AVETT presents BROTHERS

12

with special guest

BRETT DENNEN

May 15, 7:30pm

Tickets On Sale Now through Ticketmaster.com 800-745-3000

DAN SAVAGE’S HUMP! FILM FESTIVAL

FRI MAY 20 ROME FORTUNE THE RANGE

TAKE METRO!

WE ARE LOCATED 3 BLOCKS FROM THE U STREET/CARDOZO STATION

TO BUY TICKETS VISIT TICKETFLY.COM washingtoncitypaper.com may 6, 2016 41

$10 BURGER & BEER MON-FRI 4 P M -7 P M

TRIVIA EVERY M O N D AY & W E D N E S D AY

$3 PBR & NATTY BOH ALL DAY EVERY DAY

600 beers from around the world

Downstairs: good food, great beer: $3 PBR & Natty Boh’s all day every day *all shows 21+ M AY 5 T H

UNDERGROUND COMEDY

DOORS AT 8PM SHOW AT 830PM M AY 6 T H

TREVOR JOYNER COMEDIAN[2 SHOWS] DOORS AT 7PM /9:30PM SHOWS AT 830PM/10PM

Vocal Music Program. 6 p.m. Free. kennedy-center.org.

TUEsDAY

WEDNEsDAY ROCk

ROCk

Birchmere 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria.

(703) 549-7500. Iris Dement & Loudon Wainwright III. 7:30 p.m. $39.50. birchmere.com.

Birchmere 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria.

(703) 549-7500. Chris Isaak. 7:30 p.m. $95. birchmere.com.

Black cat 1811 14th St. NW. (202) 667-4490. Wild Nothing, Charlie Hilton. 7:30 p.m. $18. blackcatdc.com.

Black cat Backstage 1811 14th St. NW. (202) 6674490. Ought, Priests. 7:30 p.m. $15. blackcatdc.com.

Dc9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. Good Graeff, The Duskwhales. 9 p.m. $10–$12. dcnine.com.

Dc9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. Plants and Animals, Wintersleep. 9 p.m. $14. dcnine.com.

gypsy sally’s 3401 K St. NW. (202) 333-7700. Midnight Snack, Wylder. 8 p.m. $10–$12. gypsysallys.com.

Fillmore silver spring 8656 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. (301) 960-9999. BABYMETAL. 8:30 p.m. $37.50. fillmoresilverspring.com.

howarD theatre 620 T St. NW. (202) 803-2899.

Buckethead. 8 p.m. $26–$45. thehowardtheatre.com.

FUNk & R&B the hamilton 600 14th St. NW. (202) 787-1000. The New Stew featuring Corey Glover and Roosevelt Collier, Ruby Velle and The Soulphonics. 7:30 p.m. $17.25–$20.75. thehamiltondc.com.

ELECTRONIC

rock & roll hotel 1353 H St. NE. (202) 388-7625.

Crystal Fighters, Chela, Psymon Spine. 8 p.m. $20. rockandrollhoteldc.com.

U street mUsic hall 1115 U St. NW. (202) 588-1889.

Bernhoft and The Shudderbugs, Jonny P. 7 p.m. $20. ustreetmusichall.com.

ELECTRONIC

U street mUsic hall 1115 U St. NW. (202) 588-1889.

Animal Collective DJ Set with Avey Tare and Geologist.

10 p.m. $10. ustreetmusichall.com.

U street mUsic hall 1115 U St. NW. (202) 588-1889.

Opiuo. 10:30 p.m. $10–$15. ustreetmusichall.com.

CLAssICAL

the hamilton 600 14th St. NW. (202) 787-1000.

Albert Cummings. 7:30 p.m. $15–$25. thehamiltondc.com.

kenneDy center concert hall 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. Itzhak Perlman, violin and Emanuel Ax, piano. 7 p.m. $55–$135. kennedy-center.org. kenneDy center millenniUm stage 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. DC Youth Orchestra. 6 p.m. Free. kennedy-center.org.

COUNTRY

WORLD

Bossa Bistro 2463 18th St NW. (202) 667-0088.

Orchester Prazevica, Junkie Twins. 9 p.m. Free. bossadc.com.

M AY 7 T H

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DOORS AT 8PM SHOW AT 9PM

CITY LIGHTS: MONDAY

M AY 8 T H

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DOORS AT 7 PM SHOW AT 8PM M AY 9 T H

DISTRICT TRIVIA STARTS AT 730PM M AY 1 0 T H

LAST RESORT COMEDY

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42 may 6, 2016 washingtoncitypaper.com

“IN CELEBRATION OF PAUL MELLON”

From Julius Caesar Ibbetson’s ebullient watercolor of “Skaters on the Serpentine in Hyde Park”— their coats swaying as they glide over a swath of translucent ice, infusing the scene with a sense of immediate motion—to Édouard Manet’s textured monochromatic lithograph of a balloon, “In Celebration of Paul Mellon” is an exhibit whose scope reveals its benefactor’s profound impact. Mellon was a memorable 20th-century philanthropist and prodigious art collector, and the son of the great financier Andrew Mellon, who founded the nation’s art museum. After his father’s death, Paul Mellon assumed responsibility for the museum, presenting the collection to President Franklin Roosevelt in 1941. Today, as visitors gaze upon works like Paul Cezanne’s graphite self-portrait and Pablo Picasso’s stark and haunting “The Death of Harlequin,” they view the gifts of a man who firmly believed that the pieces belonged to all Americans. The rich collection conveys Mellon’s boundless generosity while also capturing the spirit of a man whose passion for art was so renowned. The exhibition is on view Mondays through Saturdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., to Sept. 18, at the National Gallery of Art, 6th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Free. (202) 737-4215. nga.gov.

—Victoria Gaffney

CITY LIGHTS: TUESDAY

OUGHT

Towards the climax of the song “Habit” from Ought’s 2014 debut album More Than Any Other Day, the Montreal post-punk group hits its listeners with one of life’s enduring questions of love and companionship: “Do you feel it/ Like I feel it?” On the band’s rowdy and excellent sophomore album Sun Coming Down, though, lead singer Tim Beeler seems to shun the importance of asking such a question, instead suggesting it’s the small, boring minutiae of everyday life that keeps people connected and happy.

“Suit and tie/ Fits okay/ Don’t take much/ To make my day,” he sings on the noisy “Celebration.” The record’s standout song, “Beautiful Blue Sky,” sums up this point the best, especially when Beeler sings, “It’s all that we have/ That, and the big, beautiful blue sky,” as if to say: Nothing makes sense, but the sky is transcendent, and that’s something we can see and feel together. Ought performs with Priests at 7:30 p.m. at The Black Cat Backstage, 1811 14th St. NW. $15. (202) 667-4490. blackcatdc.org.

—Dean Essner

Kennedy Center MillenniuM stage 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. Dmitry Samogray, Dorotea Racz, Gleb Kanasevich, Javor Bracic, Lydia Chernikoff, Yisak Lee. 6 p.m. Free. kennedy-center.org.

MansiOn at stratHMOre 10701 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda. (301) 581-5100. Artist in Residence: Kimberly Kong, classical piano. 7:30 p.m. $17. strathmore.org.

THUrSDAY rOCk

BlaCK Cat 1811 14th St. NW. (202) 667-4490. Hop Along, Speedy Ortiz, Two Inch Astronaut. 7:30 p.m. $15. blackcatdc.com.

BOssa BistrO 2463 18th St NW. (202) 667-0088.

Big Lazy, El Reys. 10 p.m. $8. bossadc.com. dC9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. Day Wav, Color Palette. 9 p.m. $12. dcnine.com. gypsy sally’s 3401 K St. NW. (202) 333-7700. The Nighthawks, Steady Rollin Bob Margolin. 7:30 p.m. $16–$18. gypsysallys.com.

MOntpelier arts Center 9652 Muirkirk Road, Laurel. (301) 377-7800. The Doo Wop Cops. 12 p.m. $12. arts.pgparks.com. rOCK & rOll HOtel 1353 H St. NE. (202) 388-7625.

Screaming Females, Aye Nako, Nox. 8 p.m. $15. rockandrollhoteldc.com.

ElECTrOniC

u street MusiC Hall 1115 U St. NW. (202) 588-1889.

Claude VonStroke, Julius Jetson. 10:30 p.m. $15–$25. ustreetmusichall.com.

COUnTrY

Mr. Henry’s 601 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. (202) 5468412. Hollertown. 8 p.m. Free. mrhenrysdc.com.

OpErA

Kennedy Center MillenniuM stage 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. Ring Company in Concert. 6 p.m.

Free. kennedy-center.org.

ClASSiCAl

Kennedy Center COnCert Hall 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600. National Symphony Orchestra: James MacMillan, conductor, Alban Gerhardt, cello.

7 p.m. $15–$89. kennedy-center.org.

SATURDAY, 5/14 • 8:30PM TIX $12-$20

Galleries

H

Thu 5.5 Tue 5.10 Thu 5.12

atHenaeuM 201 Prince St., Alexandria. (703) 5480035. nvfaa.org. OngOing: “The Gap.” Judith Seligson presents a wide variety of works, including hardedged oil paintings, digital prints, and text collages.

April 28–June 5.

Fri 5.13

BrentwOOd arts exCHange 3901 Rhode Island Ave., Brentwood. (301) 277-2863. arts.pgparks.com.

OngOing: “The ‘Late’ Style.” University of Maryland students work with Brentwood Arts Exchange staff to create this exhibition featuring work by senior artists who come to art late in life. March 28–May 28.

Tue 5.17

FlasHpOint gallery 916 G St. NW. (202) 3151305. culturaldc.org. Opening: “Try and Try Again.”

This sculptural installation by artist Brian Davis turns Flashpoint’s gallery into a self-contained world that includes projections of skyscrapers and structures that react to human intervention. May 7–June 4.

HOnFleur gallery 1241 Good Hope Road SE. (202) 365-8392. honfleurgallery.com. OngOing: “French Doors.” Artist and educator Aziza Claudia GibsonHunter combines Parisian architecture with West African prints in her large mixed-media works. March 25–May 13. lOng view gallery 1234 9th St. NW. (202) 2324788. longviewgallerydc.com. OngOing: “Gian Garofalo.” The artist, who frequently showcases his work at Long View, creates striped works by dripping resin across canvases and boxes. April 28–May 29.

MOntpelier arts Center 9652 Muirkirk Road, Laurel. (301) 377-7800. arts.pgparks.com. OngOing: “Less Is More.” Artist Judith Kornett presents a series of sculptures that focus on themes of peacefulness and anti-violence. April 30–May 22. target gallery at tOrpedO FaCtOry 105 N. Union St., Alexandria. (703) 838-4565. torpedofactory.org. OngOing: “Always Into Now.” Artist Lisa Kellner presents a painting that takes over the entire gallery and immerses the viewer in the experience. April 16–May 29. vivid sOlutiOns gallery 1231 Good Hope Road SE. (202) 365-8392. vividsolutionsdc.com. OngOing: “Primordial Planes.” Alexandra Chiou creates delicate collages that mimic elements of the natural world in this exhibition inspired by National Geographic studies. March 25–May 13. wasHingtOn printMaKers gallery 1641 Wisconsin Ave. NW. (202) 669-1497. washingtonprintmakers.com. OngOing: “Natural Connection.” Artists Gabriel Jules and Nina Muys display prints inspired by

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TONY FURTADO & GURF MORLIX

Sat 5.14

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washingtoncitypaper.com may 6, 2016 43

Fri & Sat, May 6 & 7 at Midnight!

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D.C.’s awesomest events calendar. washingtoncitypaper.com

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WES CRAWFORD DRUM STUDENT SHOWCASE SUNDAY, MAY 15TH

DR. NITTLER’S ELASTIC SOULTASTIC PLANET GROOVE JAM

W W W. V I L L A I N A N D S A I N T. C O M 44 may 6, 2016 washingtoncitypaper.com

resides with a curator who must authenticate the work and determine whether Maude is living with a treasure or an imitation. Olney Theatre Center. 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney. To June 12. $22–$65.

(301) 924-3400. olneytheatre.org.

Theater

Black Pearl SIngS American folk songs and spirituals are put to use in this play set in Depression-era Texas, about two women whose love of music draws them together during difficult times. MetroStage.

1201 N. Royal St., Alexandria. To May 29. $55–$60.

(703) 548-9044. metrostage.org.

110 In the Shade A young woman aches for a life outside her small town and when she meets a handsome stranger who promises her opportunity and the ability to ease the region’s drought, her dreams appear within reach in this lively romantic musical

by Harvey Schmidt, Tom Jones, and N. Richard Nash.

Ford’s Theatre. 511 10th St. NW. To May 14. $28–$69.

(202) 347-4833. fords.org. all the Way Explore the power and personality of Lyndon Johnson in this drama from playwright Robert Schenkkan. Featuring appearances by Martin Luther King, Jr., J. Edgar Hoover, and other public figures from the era, this play serves as both history lesson and cautionary tale. Arena Stage. 1101 6th St. SW. To May 8. $55–$110. (202) 488-3300. arenastage.org. an amerIcan daughter Keegan Theatre presents the D.C. area premiere of Wendy Wasserstein’s drama about a doctor whose sudden appointment to a Cabinet position unleashes a series of scandals that she has to reckon with. Keegan Theatre at Church Street Theater. 1742 Church St. NW. To May 28. $35–$45.

(202) 265-3767. keegantheatre.com.

BakerSfIeld mISt A poor bartender buys a painting that just might be a lost Jackson Pollack in this lively comedy from author Stephen Sacks. Her fate

the Body of an amerIcan A war reporter and a playwright, both haunted by their pasts, form a friendship that takes them around the world in this new play by Dan O’Brien, who based the drama on his own relationship with friend Paul Watson. Theater J. 1529 16th St. NW. To May 29. $27–$67. (202) 777-3210. theaterj.org. chronIcle of a death foretold A young woman returns to her family after her husband discover she is not a virgin, leading her brothers to take revenge in this exciting tale based on the novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. GALA Hispanic Theatre. 3333 14th St. NW. To May 8. $20–$42. (202) 234-7174. galatheatre.org. dISgraced Ayad Akhtar’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama considers the consequences of the American dream from the perspective of Amir, a South Asian immigrant who fears that his lavish lifestyle has alienated him from his roots. Arena Stage. 1101 6th St. SW. To May 29. $40–$110. (202) 488-3300. arenastage.org. the electrIc BaBy Rorschach Theater presents Stefanie Zadravec’s spooky thriller about a woman

CITY LIGHTS: WEDNESDAY

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the wildlife and plants they see from their waterfront homes. April 27–May 28.

THEHAMILTONDC.COM

GENG

On Facebook, Geng lists his genre as “brutality,” and while that descriptor might sound a bit tongue-in-cheek, it’s not inaccurate. Whether as a DJ, event curator, or boss of the fringe-dwelling Purple Tape Pedigree label, the born-and-bred New Yorker promotes electronic club music that seems drawn from dystopian nightmares: all rough edges, hypnotic grooves, and pneumatic energy. This is metal machine music meant for catharsis, not escapism. Geng is one of the most connected and respected selectors in the club music underground, in New York and beyond. When DJing, he’s as likely to chop-and-screw Black Sabbath as he is to mix street rap cuts with horror movie scores, and as he opens the Forward Festival at Silver Spring cafe-record shop-event space Bump ‘n Grind, listeners should expect the unexpected. Forward, now in its ninth year, always brings exciting and experimental electronic music to town, but never before has it hosted music this brutal—especially in a suburban coffee shop. Geng performs at 6 p.m. at Bump ‘n Grind, 1200 East-West Highway, Silver Spring. Free. (301) 588-8000. bumpngrind.com.

—Chris Kelly

StreetSense who kills a young man and finds herself haunted by a series of lost souls and spirits that gather around and illuminate a young child. Directed by Randy Baker, this production explores how strange beginnings can lead us on unexpected paths. Atlas Performing Arts Center. 1333 H St. NE. To May 15. $15–$30. (202) 3997993. atlasarts.org.

Happy Hour Spooky Action and German theater collective machina eX present this video game production in which audience members control the action. Two teams of players must help their counterparts escape from an evildoer using only the tools they can find before time runs out. Spooky Action Theater. 1810 16th St. NW. To June 5. $20–$40. (202) 248-0301. spookyaction.org.

Hedda Gabler Mark O’Rowe presents a contemporary adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s classic play about a woman who returns from her honeymoon and is devastated by the banality of married life. Studio Theatre.

1501 14th St. NW. To June 19. $20–$91. (202) 332-3300. studiotheatre.org.

Journey to tHe West Mary Zimmerman’s take on this ancient Chinese legend about a monk on the search for sacred scriptures is both mystical and dreamy, as presented by Constellation Theatre. Constellation Theatre at Source. 1835 14th St. NW. To May 22. $20–$45. (202) 204-7741. constellationtheatre.org. a lesson from aloes Laura Giannarelli directs this acclaimed drama by Athol Fugard about three civil rights activists whose work has driven them apart. The arrival of another friend, a black man who is imprisoned for his work, forces all the characters to confront their failures and the realities of the nation in which they live. Quotidian Theatre Company at The Writer’s Center. 4508 Walsh St., Bethesda. To May 29. $15–$30. (301) 816-1023. quotidiantheatre.org. tHe man in tHe iron mask In this follow-up to The Three Musketeers, D’Artagnan continues to serve King Louis XIV, only to be interrupted by his former comrades who rescue his twin brother from the Bastille. Synetic’s production features more swashbuckling fun and pageantry. Synetic Theater at Crystal City. 1800 South Bell St., Arlington. To June 19. $15–$60. (866) 811-4111. synetictheater.org. tHe mystery of love & sex On the eve of their college graduations, two longtime friends debate pursuing a romantic relationship and in the process, learn about themselves, as well as about love and sex, in this warm comedy from author Bathsheba Doran. Signature Theatre. 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. To May 8. $40–$85. (703) 820-9771. sigtheatre.org. reduced sHakespeare company The popular British comedy group, which presents the Bard’s

work in silly, abbreviated form, returns to the Folger with its take on “William Shakespeare’s Love Lost First Play.” Folger Elizabethan Theatre. 201 E. Capitol St. SE. To May 8. $35–$75. (202) 544-7077. folger.edu.

‘‘

Street

A REMARKABLE ,

STARTLINGLY BEAUTIFUL MOVIE. The cast is absolutely superb.’’

Joe Morgenstern, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Film

captain america: civil War The bond between allies Captain America and Iron Man is tested by political interference and international chaos in this latest film from the Marvel universe.

Starring Chris Evans, Robery Downey Jr., and Chadwick Boseman. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information)

n

keanu Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele star in this manic comedy about friends who aim to rescue a stolen cat by posing as drug dealers. Directed

by Peter Atencio. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information)

“

EXHILARATING .

So much heart that you surrender to its charm.’’

Stephen Holden, THE NEW YORK TIMES

GRADE A-

“ .

Havana’s trapped-in-time beauty also plays a starring role.”

Educating the public and empowering the homeless one newspaper at a time.

Leah Greenblatt, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

“ THIS ONE’S A GEM. Deeply affecting and beautifully acted.”

Alynda Wheat, PEOPLE

man WHo kneW infinity After growing n tHe up poor in Madras, Srinivasa Ramanujan Iyengar studies at Cambridge University and goes on to pioneer important mathematical theories. Starring Dev Patel and Jeremy Irons. (See washingtoncitypaper. com for venue information) tHe meddler This independent comedy starring Susan Sarandon and Rose Byrne follows an aging widow as she attempts to start a new life with her daughter on the West Coast following the death of her husband. Written and directed by Lorene Scafaria. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information)

VIVA

motHer’s day A plethora of stars, including Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston, and Jason Sudeikis, appear in director Garry Marshall’s latest ensemble comedy centered around a holiday. This time, the characters have to deal with complicated emotions surrounding the women who birthed them. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information) ratcHet & clank A space mechanic and his new robot pal fight to save the universe in this animated caper from directors Kevin Munroe and Jericca Cleland. Featuring the voices of Rosario Dawson, Paul Giamatti, and John Goodman. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information)

Film clips by Caroline Jones.

CITY LIGHTS: THURSDAY

F I N D

Pick up a copy today from vendors throughout downtown D.C. or visit www.streetsense.org for more information.

V O I C E

FOR LANGUAGE THROUGHOUT, SEXUAL CONTENT AND BRIEF GRAPHIC NUDITY.

STARTS FRIDAY, MAY 6

AN AMERICAN DAUGHTER

The nonstop nattering about who President Obama would nominate to succeed Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia got tiring after the first week, but watching these upstanding citizens get dragged through the ringer does make viewers consider what investigators would find if they were nominated for a national position.

Wendy Wasserstein’s drama An American Daughter considers that question from the perspective of Dr. Lyssa Dent Hughes, a candidate for surgeon general. She appears to be a shoo-in: A descendent of Ulysses S. Grant and the daughter of a senator, Lyssa is exactly the kind of pro-choice woman a liberal electorate desires. Soon, however, some problems arise when her husband reveals that Lyssa might have ignored a jury summons in the past and she describes her less-than-perfect relationship with her mother. Setting the media and political circuses ablaze, Lyssa must decide whether to withdraw her name from consideration or weather the storm, all while trying to mend the relationships she hurt in the process. If you think the current nomination crisis lacks wit and candor, Wasserstein’s play provides just that.

The play runs May 7 to May 28 at Keegan Theatre, 1742 Church St. NW. $35–$45. (202) 265-3767. keegantheatre.com.

—Caroline Jones

Y O U R

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Legals

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ATTENTION VETERANS seeking benefi ts; anyone who needs legal help with IRS,adoption,recent arrest.other legal problems.

Contact Attorney Effi e Forde-202-508-1483 for appointment. Offi ce located at Farragut North Metro Station.

Offices For Rent, DC Petworth & Cheverly, MD (parking in MD) for church services, recording studio /rehearsal space, etc. Wide range of uses. $600-$1600 rent. Call 202-355-2068 or 301-772-3341.

Apartments for Rent Columbia Heights basement rental close to Metro, mall & restaurants, short-term 3-6 months, nonsmoking, W/D, interns welcome. Contact 6pm9pm, Send text message to 202431-4386.

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FIND YOUR OUTLET. RELAX, UNWIND, REPEAT CLASSIFIEDS Diversions HEALTH/MIND, BODY & SPIRIT Ink Well Crossword....................47 Maya Angelou Public Charter School in Washington, DC is soliciting for procurement of gym bleachers and electronic basketball scoreboard. All necessary information about this RFP announcement can be obtained from http://www.seeforever.org/ requestforproposal/

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46 May 6, 2016 washingtoncitypaper.com

ROOMS FOR RENT 2 blocks from Columbia Heights Metro Station, for international students, men. 14th St NW, $600/ mo. and $680/mo. Contact Ana, 202/306-1639.

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Local library seeks temporary staff to serve as book shelvers for upcoming week long membership convention. June 13-June 18, hourly rate is $10.50 per hour.

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DATABASE ADMINISTRATOR: Must have either BS degree & 5Yrs exp or MS degree & 1Yr exp.

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COMPUTER SYSTEMS ANALYST (Business): Although no exp req’d, must have MS degree & specifi c coursework in Systems Analysis; Business Analysis; & Proj Mangmnt. Salary $103,750/yr. Ref# CSAB-1215 MANAGEMENT ANALYST (Managerial Finance): Although no exp req’d, must have MS degree & coursework in managerial fi nance; managerial economics; & mangmnt decision analysis.

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Restaurant/Hospitality/ Hotel

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Seeking individual(s) to work as part of the Dining Services team for a small senior citizens’ residence. Creative minds who want to let their culinary skills shine are WELCOME. Experience working with senior population in similar type atmosphere preferred. Current Food Handler Certifi cation REQUIRED. Current Adult First Aid/CPR certifi cation, or ability to obtain within forty-fi ve (45) days of hiring. Ability to work some weekends AND holidays REQUIRED. AVAILABLE CLUDE:

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IN-

DINING SERVICES MANAGER Full-time, 36-40 hrs/wk; $13.50$14.00/hr. Benefi ts include Group http://www.washingtHealth Insurance, paid Dental oncitypaper.com/ Insurance, Term Life Insurance & PTO. PART-TIME/ON CALL DINING SERVICES PERSONNEL Parttime, 16-24 hrs/wk (with potential for more, as needed). $11.50/hr INTERVIEWS BEING CONDUCTED NOW FOR IMMEDIATE HIRE. FAX COVER LETTER AND RESUME TO 202-265-6776 OR CALL 202-265-6777 FOR EMAIL ADDRESS.

Security/Law Enforcement Local nonprofi t seeks temporary event security staff for upcoming week long convention. Day and evening shifts available, $11.00 per hour. For more info www.dar. org/job-openings

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