Onward Chariots and J Lima Foxtrot at Galaxy Hut

Brooklyn band Onward Chariots will appear at Galaxy Hut on Sunday, Sept 28.Their catchy beats have gotten positive reviews globally and have been compared to the Beach Boys, the Shits and Belle and Sebastian. Check out their hit video Save Me Maryann for a sample.

Also appearing on the cozy stage is J Lima Foxtrot and her full band opening at 9pm. Her vocals and indie-synth-pop on tracks like Flashbacks have me mesmerized. Cover is $5 for both acts.

Clarendon Day this Saturday

Clarendon Day, our annual giant music, dance, art exhibition and chili cookoff festival is returning this Saturday, September 27. This family friendly event lasts from 11am to 5pm, with 40 bands and musicians on five stages!

Songwriters Stage

• 11:00 Rachel Levitin
• 11:30 Juels Bland
• 12:10 Australis (Duet)
• 12:50 Nita Chawla
• 1:30 Kevin De Souza
• 2:10 Grogan Social Scene (Duet)
• 2:50 Alex Martin
• 3:40 Nila Kay
• 4:20 Nick Depuy

Chili Cook-Off Stage

• 11:00 Boundary Stones
• 11:40 Finley Martin
• 12:20 Caroline Park Trio
• 1:00 Aaron Tinjum and the Tangents
• 1:40 Cody McGuire
• 2:20 The Iris Bell
• 3:00 The Mayfields
• 4:00 Shiloh

 Car-Free Diet Stage

• 11:00 Songwriter Rounds Cody McGuire, Laura Schwartz, Nick Depuy
• 12:15 Gramophonic
• 1:05 Lauren Calve Band
• 1:55 June Star
• 2:45 Amber Rubarth
• 4:00 Cricket Tell the Weather

Clarendon Blvd Stage

• 11:00 Orion Wildflower
• 11:30 Abandon the Shadows
• 12:00 Static
• 12:30 The Unexpected
• 1:00 The Diamond Dolls
• 1:30 Red Light Distraction
• 2:00 The Noah Silver Band
• 3:00 3PM
• 4:00 Bencoolen

Central Park Stage
• 11:00 Cricket Tell the Weather Children’s’ Workshop
• 12:00 The Music in Me
• 1:00 Nova Ballet
• 2:00 Adagio Ballet
• 3:00 Saffron Dance
• 4:00 Oneill – James School of Irish Dancing

Clarendon Day Ice Breaker Party

Come on out to Clarendon Friday Night and Break the Ice this Friday Sept 26 at the Hard Times Café second floor and join a showcase of many of the musical artists of Clarendon Day along with award winning Bluegrass Headliners for the evening and the Highland Stage Saturday Cricket Tell the Weather! $10 cover, or free to all Chili Cook Off Contestants. Event starts at 8pm, music at 9pm.

Margot MacDonald at Iota

Amazing local talent Margot MacDonald is returning to Iota for a performance this Thursday, Sept 25. Margot has phenomenal vocal abilities which she uses expertly with on stage live looping. Her music is haunting and memorable, as shown by this rendition of Twice.

Margot is joined by Angela Sheik and Carolyn Crysdale on Thursday. Cover is $10 for all three performances and music starts around 8:30pm.

Photo credit to Denuine.

Invisible Witches at Galaxy Hut

Northern Virginia based rock band Invisible Witches plays their third show this Monday night at Galaxy Hut. The show starts at 9pm with David Barker on guitar, Simon Ley on drums and great vocals and bass by Josh Padgett. Cover is $5 and the small but character rich Galaxy Hut can only hold a small crowd so make sure not to miss the show by arriving late.

Middle Distance Runner at Iota

One of my favorite live bands to watch, Middle Distance Runner, is playing at Iota this Saturday, Sept 13. The band has been around since 2005, and I've been attending their shows in Clarendon for the past five years. The pop/rock band has great musical creativity and songs that are very catchy like "The Unbeliever". Music starts at 9:30 with Sun Parade, and then Middle Distance Runner goes on after them with a $12 cover for the night.

Iota is also hosting an early music event on Saturday starting at 5:30pm. Four performances start night with:

Lily and the Parlor Tricks

Simone and the Spectrum

Honor Finnegan

Fortuna

Beck and Cake tribute show at Iota

Beck and Cake fans take over Iota this Friday, Sept 12 for a tribute show by two great local acts. Alex Vans leads the Beck tribute band The New Pollution starting at 9pm. Also that night, the very talented Derek Evry And His Band Of Misantropes take over that stage with Cake songs like "The Distance". This should be a great performance, as Derek did a phenomenal job back in February by channeling Green Day in the Classic Albums of 1994 night. Cover is $12 for both acts.

If you are the 75th person to RSVP on the Facebook event page and Alex Vans will give you a free high five, as well as singing your name during their rendition of "Debra".

Learn to Bartend in Courthouse

The always active 20s and 30s Meetup group is hosting another bartending class on Sunday, September 7 at 1pm. The Learn to Bartend event is hosted at the Professional Bartending School in Courthouse, right next to Arlington Rooftop Bar and Grill.  The organizer JT used to bartend at Ultrabar in DC and got his certification at PBS in Arlington. This is a class to learn to mix drinks, so colored liquids instead of actual alcohol is used. As of Thursday, there are still 8 early bird spots available at $40 per person and price will go up to $50 a week before the event.

Rosslyn Jazz Festival

Drawing around 8,5000 music fans each year, the 24th annual Rosslyn Jazz Festival will be held this Saturday, September 6 in Gateway Park. New to this year's event will be food truck row and an expanded beer and wine garden. The music festival is from 1 to 7pm and is free to the public, with hosts from 89.3 FM introducing four jazz acts:
1pm The Corey Wallace DUBtet
2:15 Ghost Train Orchestra
3:45 Red Baraat
5:30 Rebirth Brass Band

Bracket Room 1 Year Anniversary

When Bracket Room was first launched in 2013 by Chris Bukowski of Bachelorette fame and two other owners, there was much criticism over the so called "female friendly sports bar" theme and doubts that it would be successful in the highly competitive bar scene in Clarendon. So far Bracket Room as exceeded my expectations and I'm looking forward to celebrating both the bar's one year anniversary and Chris Bukowski's birthday on Saturday September 6.

Starting at 8pm on Saturday, the ladies of Social DC Public Relations are throwing a party with food and drink specials including 312 beers on tap, Gia shooters and Fireball shots. They will also be collecting donations in memory of ABC's The Bachelor contestant, Gia Allemand, who was also one of Chris Bukowski's very close friends. The proceeds will go directly to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention charity that has just been started in her honor.