You waited until the last minute to try to buy tickets for Saturday’s “Hip-Hop Honors” concert, only to discover it sold out. Fear not, because D.C. will be having a number of other noteworthy shows over the next week. First up is Eric Roberson’s Friday night set at the Black Cat. Who’s Eric Roberson? New Jersey native Roberson began his professional singing and songwriting career while a student in Howard University’s Musical Theatre program in......

FRIDAY: >> Odds are good that you'll be able to happily dance the night away at Rock and Roll Hotel, no matter what kind of music you're in the mood for. Downstairs you've got Party Bros., a tongue-in-cheek tribute to party music by DJs Gavin Holland and Chris Burns, featuring tunes ranging from Black Sabbath to Taylor Dayne, 9:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m., while upstairs is a free funk and soul session from Moneytown, also......

Story and photo by DCist Contributor Jason Cox The last time Paul Van Dyk was in town, it was an almost somber occasion -- his trance anthems pulsed through the chambers of Nation one last time, only weeks before the raver haven shut its doors for good. When would he return? Where would he play? Fur, the most obvious choice, was likely out of the question if you listen to the urban legends about PVD......

Written by DCist contributor Gayle Putrich We might get the shaft in Congress, but there is at least one place your vote counts, Washington: the 2007 Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington Awards; the Associations 25th (Happy Anniversary!). Of the myriad categories for the annual awards, affectionately known as the RAMMYs, three are determined by vox populi from a list of nominees. There's also a write-in free-for-all for the "People's Favorite," where you just type the......

Friday night D.C. welcomed a fresh face, an old friend, and a foreign band with a peculiar fascination with hands, eyes, and lights. We walked in to American University’s Bender Arena catching only the tail end of the Silversun Pickups' set to find the bleacher seats completely filled. It was as if the concert goers were forced to attend some lecture rather than voluntarily choosing to buy tickets to a show. Maybe they were just......

As you may have heard, one of the most beloved and, in our opinion, best bands ever to come out of the District, The Dismemberment Plan, are reuiniting next month for the sake of Callum Robbins. The overwhelming, fast sell out of the first show lead the guys to agree to a second night -- April 27, which went on sale last night relatively under the radar — but openly enough to sell out pretty......

In what could be described as either the rebirth of Fear Factor or Anthony Bourdain's dream come true, TasteDC.com -- that hard-hearted harbinger of haggis -- has organized the 1st Annual Unique and Unusual Food and Wine Festival. Scheduled for Wednesday, October 25 at the Women's National Democratic Club in Dupont Circle's Whittemore House, the festival will spotlight both rare ingredients and seldom seen animal parts that will make you moan with delight or squirm......

FRIDAY: >> It's going to be a stormy, steamy night in the District, so we'd recommend heading over to catch one of the Capital Fringe Festival's most buzzed-about plays, Rorschach's The Arabian Night, at the Sanctuary Theatre at Casa Del Pueblo. The space doesn't have air conditioning, so take a cue from our theater critic: "All in all, the dreamy, smoldering Arabian Night is worth every sweltering moment. But follow the cue of the play's......

With Passover and Easter, this week is mostly about taking off work and preparing food. Not surprisingly, there is not much to tell about concerts, but there are a few interesting things that I must mention. Classical music life in Washington will get its buzz back next week, lasting another eight to ten weeks or so until the summer doldrums settle in. CONTEMPORARY MUSIC: On Monday (April 10, 7:30 p.m.), the Diotima String Quartet will......

FRIDAY: Tired of us telling you about good concerts that have already sold out? Ready to get your St. Paddy's Day celebrations started a week early? Well consider Fado Irish Pub as here to the rescue. They'll be hosting a raffle tonight at 8 p.m. for tickets to the sold-out Pogues concert at 9:30 Club this very night. So if you're desperate for the good craic and without tickets, run on down to the pub......

Members of the Kirov Opera and its Orchestra, normally in residence at the historic Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia, come to the Kennedy Center periodically to present touring productions of operas and other great pieces of music. Last night, we were in the Opera House to see the first performance of their staging of Giacomo Puccini's last and perhaps greatest opera, Turandot. It was an excellent show, with well-performed music and a splashy, colorful......

Editor's Note: This week's agenda was compiled by DCist staffers Kyle Gustafson, Tom Lee, and Sommer Mathis. This week kicks off at the 9:30 Club with a doubleshot of artists from Wales. One is legendary, one should be (and might be yet). One is proud of their Welsh heritage, one not so much. One has panties thrown at him on a regular basis, the other throws carrots at their audience on a regular basis. Tuesday:......

Seriously, the boos aren't helping. Last night, in the top of the third with two outs and two on, John Patterson struck out Barry Bonds to end the threat. Patterson returned to the dugout in happy kid form, practically skipping his way off the field. Bonds went down again in the fifth and was intentionally put on in the seventh. It was almost an uneventful night for the slugger. Except for that time up in......

>> In case you missed it, the dates for the inaugural Capital Fringe Festival (which DCist told you about back in April) were announced on Saturday during the Arts on Foot festival in Penn Quarter. Mark July 20-30, 2006 in your calendars now! You can celebrate and get more info about the festival tomorrow night at The Warehouse Cafe & Bar at a happy hour from 6 - 8 p.m.; with the promise of $2......

A day late, but no tickets short. The 9:30 Club finally released its grip on a slew of sought after tickets yesterday (no, not Death Cab). Spit shine your credit card and get yours before they’re gone. >> Run – don’t walk – for indie rock. The Decemberists’ Picaresque has been one of the most talked about albums of 2005, and they’re bringing their tales of pirate ships and barrow boys to the 9:30......

We're continuing our summer of concert love here at DCist with the tickets you need to be purchasing...so make sure to have your mouse and credit card at the ready! And remember, you can always buy tickets in person at the 9:30 Club, and the Black Cat box office is open from 8 p.m. to midnight. Which tickets do you plan on getting? >> Our favorite star-spangled, big-chested, country crooning lady is coming to D.C.......

We here at DCist realize that living in such an information-saturated age has its disadvantages. On one hand, there are about a million great things out there; on the other hand, how are you supposed to wade through the dreck of internet to find out about them or keep tabs? With that in mind, we present a list of great, upcoming shows on sale this week that we hope will allow you to plan your......

Sorry for the delay in this week's music agenda - sun, surf, and a whole lotta beer over the Memorial Day weekend kept us from getting it to you in a more timely manner. But judging by the absolute clamor from those wondering where it was (okay, the one email kind of vaguely asking what was up), we figured, though it's late in the week, that we'd put it together anyway. But first things first!......

Everyone outside the show had a story -- one guy waited in line for four hours to get tickets, another eight, a third was said to have taken his place at 5:30 the previous afternoon. After all, it's not everyday that System of a Down plays a show at the 9:30 Club, much less is there any better time to prove your dedication to the band than by standing in line to buy tickets......

>> Don't forget to catch part of the US ASEAN Film, Video & Photography Festival before it ends on Saturday. The festival features fifteen nominated and selected films by talented independent filmmakers from Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia. The accompanying photography exhibitions showcase works that capture the beauty of Southeast Asia. Films are shown in the National Geographic Society's Gilbert H. Grosvenor Auditorium. You can buy tickets here. >> Another photography exhibit of interest opens......

The sixth annual Washington D.C. Independent Film Festival (the "Ground Zero of Washington D.C.'s Indie Scene" according to their website) kicks off March 2 at the City Museum. The festival includes a smorgasbord of films including features, documentaries, shorts, and animation by local, national and international filmmakers. DCIFF's opening night includes the world premiere of "Aryan Couple ,"a feature-length film by John Daly, the pioneer of independent film financing. (His previous productions include "Platoon," and......