Local Ish….

A post by "Stacks " To see more posts click here

Now that (most of) the St. Patrick’s day festivities are over and most of you are nursing your hangovers, I thought I’d put together a list of some things going on this weekend so that you could spend  your time this morning filling your system with coffee and pretending to work.

I’m breaking this down into 2 sections.  The first section is DC and the surrounding areas such as Ballston/Arlington, and parts of Alexandria that I’ll call Metro East.  The second section will be things going on a little farther west for those of you that don’t want to cross the bridge (like myself) and want to stay closer to the Fairfax area.  This will (creatively) be dubbed Metro West.  For those of you that are interested in the goings on in Maryland, please let us know and I will make sure to include MD in future posts.

In general, I think that you will find that many of the places mentioned will be places featuring live music (and/or ridiculous drink specials), but I will also make it a point to try to find some things that are a little different from the norm.  Keep in mind, this list is a mere sampling of things going on and I would strongly encourage anyone who would like to, to add their own in the comments.  We are always looking for new venues and events to check out.

Metro East

• DC Improv – (March 18-22) – Flip Orley is billed as “the nation’s premiere comic hypnotist” (if there is such a thing), Flip has appeared on the “Today Show”, “Entertainment Tonight”, “Comic Strip Live”, the “Maury Povich Show” and many others.  I have actually seen his act before and despite my wanting to hate every minute of it simply because he is a hypnotist, I have to admit that I (surprisingly) had a very good time.
• 9:30 Club – (March 20) – The Ting Tings are an English pop duo that formed in late 2004 and their debut album, We Started Nothing, which was released in 2008 charted #1 in the UK.  They have recently begun gaining popularity here in the States and were nominated for Video of the Year in the 2008 MTV Video awards for “Shut Up And Let Me Go”.  They were also on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night.  I had never even heard about this group until last night, but apparently they’re pretty popular as the show was sold out at the time of writing this.  Of course, if you do want to go, there’s always a way to get a ticket.
• Love – (March 20) – I am torn even suggesting this, but this isn’t all about me, so I’ll let you know, just in case anyone is interested.  The auto-tune (sensation?) T-Pain will be doing a live DJ set.  If you send an email to friday@lovetheclub.com, you can get a free pass (so at least you won’t have to pay a cover to hear Mr. Roboto).
• ESPN Zone – (March 20) – Just to be clear, this is the DC location (not Baltimore).  KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) will be at the ESPN Zone for the March Madness Fundraiser.  Tickets are $200 (its for charity people) and includes dinner, an open bar, the game, a raffle ticket for a great item, a silent auction, and a $20 game card for ESPN interactive games.  For more information, visit KIPP’s website for more information.

Metro West

• A Udothedishes favorite, Future is back (with a new website and a free local show) at Cafe Martini in Centreville (March 20) and another one the following night back at Iota for a mere $10.  If you’ve never seen them live, you are truly missing out.  At the very least, cop some FREE MP3 Downloads and decide for yourself.
• Arlington Cinema N Drafthouse (March 20 & 21) – In addition to having $5 Live Stand-up Thursdays every week; this weekend the drafthouse is featuring Rich Vos (from the “Opie & Anthony Show”, HBO, and Comedy Central).  Opening for Vos is his wife Bonnie McFarlane.  Despite her questionable judgement in men, Bonnie is a very funny comedienne in her own right and could be headlining herself.  2 great comedians for a mere $20 sounds like a pretty good deal to me.
• WJFK events – Now I don’t think that it is any secret that many of the writers for this site are huge fans of this station (shit, I’d have a hard time getting through a day of work without the stream), so of course I’m going to mention the events that they have going on this weekend.  ‘Mad Marchness’ (fuckin’ NCAA bullshit rules) kicks off at The Original Steakhouse & Sports Theatre in Ashburn on March 19th (12-2 PM) and as much as BDK sucks, he will be hosting the ‘I Love You Man’ party later that evening (6-7 PM) at the T.G.I.Friday’s in Tyson’s.

Also for everyone (regardless of where you live), I would strongly recommend tuning in to hear local DJ,  j:cee host Weekend Ignition – Episode #037 this Saturday from 9-11 PM on GlobalBeats.fm (the Blue Channel).  While it isn’t my normal type of music, the talent level being displayed here makes it worth giving a listen.

Like I said, this is a partial list and there is a ton of other shit going on in this area of ours.  What have I slept on?  What venues do you feel are being completely left out?  What are you doing this weekend (other than the dishes)?