Results tagged “galaxyhut”

A couple weeks ago we linked to a post on popular Clarendon bar Galaxy Hut's MySpace blog announcing that owner Lary Hoffman had decided to stop accepting credit cards. The announcement sparked a number of agitated and sarcastic comments accusing Hoffman of passing on unnecessary extra costs, like ATM fees, to his customers. Thanks to the negative reaction, over the weekend Hoffman emailed us and posted a comment on the same thread saying he'd changed his mind.

We're frankly mostly of the mind that New Year's Eve is best spent at a house party with good friends -- going out to a club is almost always overpriced and often a big letdown. But in the event you don't have a party to attend, are new in town, or for any other reason are facing tonight without a firm plan, here's a few of our suggestions on how to have a fun and not too expensive evening at the last minute.

>> It wasn't too far from here -- just a couple hours south in Midlothian, VA, where Aimee Mann got her start. Now the guitar playing song weaver is a bonafide modern music legend. She's treating The Birchmere to her 2nd Annual Christmas Show, and it's not something you should miss. $45.50, 7:30 p.m.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of The Fake Accents is their ability to make their inherent contradictions seamlessly coexist. One might not expect that the same band who records and listens to their own practice sessions would also write a disclaimer on their first album that most of the songs that they'd written were actually just ripped off of other songs. Their songs are identifiable by both their catchy hooks and their noisy guitar riffs....

The name may be unfamiliar, but the players behind Club Tiger Promotions are highly recognizable to any one who follows the D.C. music scene. Local artists Carol Bui and Jay Smith of Middle Distance Runner have started an all-ages venue, The Lab in Alexandria, which will both give under-age bands a place to play with their more seasoned peers and serve as an environment where, as Bui puts it, "kids feel totally comfortable and safe...

FRIDAY: >> It’s been over six years since he last had a properly released album, but crooner Bilal (left) has still managed to catch people’s attention with some of his latest material. Too bad it was illegally leaked and now his label is threatening never to let the refined product see the light of day. Regardless, his Black Cat performance should be noteworthy. 9 p.m., $22. >> We’ve told you about Deleted Scenes many times...

>> Tonight is the annual 17th Street High Heel Race. The classic D.C. drag event kicks off officially at 9 p.m., but you'll want to take your position on 17th St. NW between Church and R well before that (we'd recommend 7 at the latest). If you're looking to make a queer night of it, don't forget about the Hug-In planned at the U Street Rite Aid at 7 p.m., and the pre-Hug-In Happy Hour...

MONDAY >> Do you like screamo? How about metalcore? Us neither, but if you do, get yourself to the 9:30 Club, for Underoath and similarly sinisterly-named Every Time I Die, Poison the Well, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, and Belle and Sebastian. Just kidding about the last one. 6 p.m., $18. TUESDAY >> Stevie Wonder needs no introduction. He's coming to the Verizon Center today. Tickets start at $68, so get your wallet ready....

Clarendon watering hole Galaxy Hut has long been much beloved by fans of good music, cheap, delicious beer and food and wild mid-week karaoke sessions. We spotted this rather odd but fun video of Bill, the Galaxy Hut bartender, put together by The Cassettes Chronicle, "The Official Periodical of The Cassettes Musical Explorer Society," otherwise known as local band The Cassettes.

FRIDAY: >> We will be hard pressed to find a better drinking buddy this Friday night than Freddy Noe, son of Booker Noe and great-grandson of Col. James B. Beam. For those not in the "Noe," this is the family that gave us Jim Beam. Whiskey fans can pay homage to Freddy, Master Distiller Emeritus and Jim Beam brand ambassador (uh, where can we apply for that job?), from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on...

>> Having drawn comparisons to Neutral Milk Hotel since recording their debut album in D.C. last summer, Donny Hue and the Colors, featuring members of the Carlsonics, Nethers, Washington Social Club and Meredith Bragg and the Terminals, will play for free at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage at 6 p.m. If you can't make it there in time, the performance will also be broadcast live on the web. >> Check out our review of...

MONDAY: Oliver August will be at Politics and Prose to discuss his latest book Inside the Red Mansion, which chronicles the hunt for China's most-wanted fugitive, Lai Changxing. For more information, check out this short film on the making of the book. 7 p.m. TUESDAY: Writer Dominic Cicere will be holding a book release party at Galaxy Hut for Near Wild Heaven, which contains a collection of poems, a short story and a screenplay on...

MONDAY >> The wait is over! We've been anxiously awaiting the start of Fort Reno's season, and the day has finally arrived. Head up to the park and hear one of DCist's favorite local outfits, Deleted Scenes, along with Mass Movement of the Moth and The Boom Orangutangs. >> It's movie night at Galaxy Hut, and tonight the theme is 80s Surf Films. Get your Point Break on and drink an Alagash or twelve. It...

FRIDAY: >> DCist favorites The French Kicks are at the Rock and Roll Hotel tonight with The Childballads (the Bon Savants cancelled). $13, 9:30 p.m. >> Exotic Fever Records is keeping the spirit of the D.C. underground scene alive almost singlehandedly, and this weekend they'll celebrate their seven year anniversary with an ecclectic festival to showcase their artists. Tonight it's Mass Movement of the Moth, New Idea Society, Den of Thieves, Kathy Cashel, Worn In...

>> Tragedy strikes the best little bar in Arlington! According to a MySpace bulletin, some miscreant has run off with Galaxy Hut's kareoke equipment, effectively squashing DCist Amanda's favorite way to spend a Thursday night. Why would someone do such a thing? Especially since wherever they take it is sure to have an inferior beer selection to the equipment's original home. Do your part and go spend some money at G Hut so they can...

Steadfast friendships, a taste for whiskey, and a penchant for Iron Maiden and Fugazi. These are the driving forces behind New Rock Church of Fire. The band is made up of bassist Mitchell West – who works with political advertising by day and brews his own beer (Mitchale) by night, guitarist and lead vocalist Floyd York – who pays the bills with a slew of odd jobs from catering to real estate photography, and drummer...

FRIDAY:

The Lede has only been around the D.C. area since 2004, producing self recorded demos featured on their MySpace page and shifting through various rotations of band members. It may seem like these local alt-rockers are still working out the kinks and getting acclimated to the scene, but their mature and innovative sound tells a different story. You need a strong lead to hook the reader (or in this case, the listener), and that they did from the very moment front man Evan ran his fingers across the keys and leaned into the mic. Their work exhibits the class and cohesiveness of a band with many years of experience under their belt, even though they are in fact just getting started.

Monday >> Hear the man behind the sound. Don Zientara runs Arlington's legendary Inner Ear Studio, and has been behind the board for more of this town's seminal punk records than we can count. But it turns out after all these years that Zientara is also an excellent songwriter in his own right. His 2003 collection of stripped down solo tunes garnered solid reviews, and he is joined by Sentai and Shift tonight at the...

What does the term "garage rock" conjure up for you? Perhaps it's the wave of young upstarts in the 1960s who comprise the genre's original incarnation. The Wailers, The Pretty Things, and countless other groups of rebellious youngsters making primitive, minimally-produced noise in American suburbia. These bands became a-dime-a-dozen, and would sparkle and fade -- or not sparkle at all -- before dying out. If they were lucky, they racked up a small fanbase. And if their fans were lucky, the bands would leave one or two bootleg recordings before "creative differences" or sheer apathy led to their hasty demise.

MONDAY >> While DCist tries not to be in the habit of taunting our readership too much, we would be remiss in not mentioning My Morning Jacket’s sold out show at the 9:30 club. The Kentucky band is notable for their innovative take on rock as much as their legendary live shows. Self-described avant-rock trio The Slip will be opening. Best of luck to those of you now scanning Craigslist for tickets. >> Alternatively, two...

After six years of adding to the eclectic flavor of the intersection of 18th and Florida NW, word comes to us this week that Staccato is closing its doors forever next month. Staccato has always sort of been the Little Club That Could, hosting aspiring musicians from a variety of genres in its no-frills, teeny, converted-townhouse venue.

It's cold out there, eh Washington? But apparently not cold enough to stop the notorious Vienna Pants Grabber, who NBC4 is reporting may be branching out from his favorite Metro stop to area apartment complexes. Freaky. Can everyone take good look at those two composite sketches so we can get this jackass off the streets? Thank you.

MONDAY >> If you like your electroclash sample-free, head to the 9:30 Club for Liverpool's Ladytron. $20 >> Not quite sure what to make of it, but the Bodog Battle of the Bands rolls on this Monday and Tuesday at DC9. $15 each night >> The last time Architecture in Helsinki came to the Black Cat, they tested the stage's human-holding capacity. Though Lambchop and the Tosca String Quartet may have given them a run...

The world's most popular sporting event, soccer's World Cup, gets underway tomorrow in Germany. Unlike 2002 when matches took place in the wee hours, this year's start from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern time, meaning it's a lot easier to hit a bar or two and watch a game. Some DC area bars and restaurants are opening early for the fans, including Pour House on Capitol Hill, Lucky Bar in Dupont, and Fado...

Middle Distance Runner’s first full length album may be entitled Plane in Flames, but their fusion of upbeat drum patterns, catchy guitar riffs, and haunting vocals from front man Stephen Kilroy do anything but crash and burn.

Playing bass with Junestar, Tim was tapped to perform a few songs to kill time while a fellow bandmate restrung his guitar. Impressed with his talents, Iota invited him back to open for Todd Snider, which encouraged and propelled his musical output. Unfortunately, contract battles with his independent label postponed the release of his first LP, Disrepair, until 2003. Since a job change last September, Bracken has had more time to focus on recording and playing shows with his full band and solo. His next album, Long Untied, is slated for release at the end of the summer.

You may have noticed a suspicious absence yesterday, this being the last week of the month and Tuesday being the usual Three Stars kick off day. Sadly, this month we're a star short, at no fault of the D.C. music community, but more at the fault of my car that wouldn't start when I was to travel from the burbs and into the city last Thursday to see The Daybreak Line. So this month we...

FRIDAY: >> Get in line early tonight at the Rorschach Theatre in Columbia Heights for a special Pay-What-You-Can performance of their revival of Tony Kushner's A Bright Room Called Day. Set in Berlin in the 1930's, Bright Room is one of Kushner's (Angels in America, Homebody/Kabul) earlier plays, but by no means his least accomplished. If younger District residents aren't able to connect easily with Zillah, who is consumed by a hatred for Ronald Reagan,...

We hope you all had yesterday off, like we did. If we'd been here to write the agenda, we would have told you to check out The Greek Embassy and Paul Kamran at Galaxy Hut. But we weren't so we didn't. If anybody caught the show, we'd love to hear how it was.