Open Mic Night @ IOTA

IOTA has open mic nights every Wednesday. Its usually the only night that there is no cover charge. The venue attracts a range of acoustic guitar talent, each playing about three or four songs. It has a nice atmosphere to hang out and catch a few free live performances.

Everything About IOTA

2832 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington VA 22201
703-522-8340

IOTA hosts open mic night every Wednesday with no cover charge.

IOTA homepage

Yelp review


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Everything about the Clarendon Grill

1101 N. Highland St. Arlington VA, 22201 Google Map
703-524-7455

CGrill Homepage and Calendar of Events

Yelp review

Washington Post review

Cityguide review

Clarendon Grill MySpace



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Matthew Good @ Iota

Caught the Matthew Good show just in time at IOTA on Thursday. I don't remember hearing his music before but someone told me he had a good sound in the late 90's so I was optimistic.

But this was just him doing acoustic solos, and I hear when he used to perform with his band (the appropriately named Matthew Good Band) he was much better.

I was a little taken back by how quiet the crowd was. It was almost a full house that night, but there was a church like hush that creeped me out. Things warmed up a little when he started playing slightly more upbeat songs.

I'm not sure if it was worth paying the steep $15 cover for this show. Don't get me wrong - Matthew Good has an incredible voice that he can turn on effortlessly. And his rants were entertaining, even the political ones.

But I don't think he enjoyed playing at Iota, as he made fun of the lighting as looking like a "bad college dorm room" and gave me the impression he wanted to get the hell out of there.

Boxcar Collision @ Iota

Just happened to walk into Iota on Friday and was very happy to find Boxcar Collision playing. I think I had heard of this DC-native indie band, but couldn't remembering hearing their music.

I really enjoyed their style and am looking forward to their next show. Lead singer Ashlee Vox's vocals were very impressive, as was the huge sparkling rock on her finger. I'm surprised she was able to play that old Fender so well with it weighing down her hand.

The Washington Post gave them a good review recently, and I also would give them very positive marks. They seem like a nice low-key local band with a big sound that I'm hoping to hear again.

Boxcar Collision on MySpace

Boxcar Collision on GarageBand

and on iPower

Big Hair Band @ Clarendon Grill

This Saturday night was the windiest night this year. And it didn't help that there was a unusually long line to get into the Clarendon Grill. I found out later that this was caused by the Ballroom getting closed for some reason, so everyone at that scene where kicked out then proceeded to cram their way into the Grill.

The Grill was the most densely packed that I'd ever seen it. The phrases "madhouse" and "blatant fire code violation" describe it pretty well.

The room packed with post college grads and booming 80's rock music performed by a very talented and entertaining cover band whose name escaped me. The big hair wigs themselves where worth the cover. And so was the knock out blond who danced on stage. Not so much her brunette friend, whose dancing looked like a seizure attack.