Blarney Blowout Breakfast

Instead of a St. Patrick's Day bar crawl in Arlington, Project DC Events is throwing a Blarney Blowout breakfast bash on Saturday March 18 morning at multiple Arlington locations. Keep the fun going from the Friday night festivities with a little help of hair of the dog at this Irish breakfast at either A-Town, Pamplona, Clarendon Grill or Courthaus Social.

Tickets are $25 and are for one of the four venues only, so choose your adventure wisely. Tickets include an all you can eat breakfast from 8 to 11am, drink specials, DJs, raffles and outfit contests. Wearing as much green as possible is recommended.

Derek Evry at Black Cat

Local favorite Derek Evry is taking the stage at Black Cat in DC on Friday March 10 for the first time playing in his own band. Derek frequents many Clarendon and DC venues often and is a huge part of our local music scene. In addition, the $12 show ($10 in advance) will feature more music and burlesque:

LIVE MUSIC from:
Jonny Grave & the Tombstones
Oh He Dead
Derek Evry & the Rhythm Section

BURLESQUE by:
GiGi Holliday of Chocolate City Burlesque and Cabaret
Whiskey Joy of Baltimore, MD

Hosted by:
Jenn Tisdale

This is an exciting time for Derek, as last week was not only his birthday but he also announced his engagement to Emily Henry, also a super talented singer-songwriter. Congrats!

Qianlei Li at Iota

Qianlei Li returns to Iota this Wednesday, March 8 at 10pm to once again play the unique Chinese violin Erhu and perform a variety of music from classic traditional songs to Adele covers. Qianlei has been playing the Erhu since she was six and has performed many times at local venues, including recently at the Verizon center before a Caps game. This Wednesday Qianlei will play along with other local talents at Iota's open mic night, presented by Alex Parez. Free show starts at 8pm.

Mardi Gras Parade and Ball

The Clarendon Alliance is producing the 2017 Clarendon Mardi Gras parade on Tuesday, February 28 starting at Wilson Blvd and N. Barton Street and will continue up Wilson Boulevard, past Liberty Tavern and end on N. Irving Street. Clarendon has for a number of years brought the community together to celebrate Fat Tuesday with an annual parade and nightlife celebrations. After the parade, there will be the Second Annual Mardi Gras Ball at Clarendon Ballroom. There will be live music, great food in the Fat Tuesday tradition with beer, wine and punch. The Mardi Gras Ball is a ticketed event, which along with parade entry fees helps the Clarendon Alliance defray their substantial parade expenses. A portion of the proceeds from the Ball will be donated to our nonprofit partners, Arlington Independent Media, and WERA-FM 96.7. Purchase Mardi Gras Ball Tickets here.

Save IOTA!

I nearly had a heart attack when ArlNow.com broke the story of the possible future closing of Iota given the developer Regency Centers plan to the demolish 2800 Clarendon building. Since then, the developer who also owns Market Common Clarendon has responded saying they have "been actively working with the owner of IOTA since we acquired the center to do what we can to keep her as a part of the redevelopment."

Despite those assurances, local fans of the small live music venue that has graced our neighborhood for decades have created a petition to Arlington County to Save Iota and oppose the demolition plan. The next Clarendon Courthouse Civic Association meeting is happening this Thursday February 23 at 7:30pm at the Hyatt Place hotel in Courthouse (where Wilson Tavern used to be).

Come out to the Civic Association meeting Thursday night to voice your opinion and talk directly the developers. With the recent rash of local restaurant closings last year I don't think the community can stomach another loss, let alone a long time historical staple like Iota Club and Café.

Reston Bar Crawl for Fairfax Boxing Club

A former Clarendon resident created the promotion company Rabid Events to help fundraise for local non-profits. Rabid's first event is the bar crawl for the Fairfax Boxing Club being held this Saturday February 11 2-8pm in Reston Town Center. Starting at World Of Beer, portions of the sales will go to support the Fairfax Boxing Club which strives to mentor at-risk youth through boxing and to put them on a track of health, fitness, and community involvement. FBC will receive 25% of every sale and a percentage of restaurant sales as well. Tickets are $20 at the door or $15 online.

Silent Disco at A-Town

On Thursday, February 9th, join the crew at A-Town for the grand opening of Silent Disco Thursdays! Watch three DJs compete and go head to head at the same time while you choose any of the three on your headphones and rock out to whichever you choose!

DJ Phlipz - EDM, Top 40, House
DJ Emervize - Bachata, Salsa
DJ Reckless - International, Latin

Tickets are just $5 for your headset for the night.

White Ford Bronco at Clarendon Ballroom

One of the best 90s cover bands out there White Ford Bronco will be playing Clarendon Ballroom  on Friday, February 3. Since 2008, this five member band has played all around the DC area at Clarendon Ballroom, Clarendon Grill and Truckeroo amongst over places. It's no surprise they were named Best Local Cover Band in Washington City Paper earlier this year, as their energetic renditions of your favorite songs and Gretchen's vocals will make you an instant fan of theirs. Music stars at 10pm and cover is $12.

1969 Classic Albums at Iota

Throwback to 1969 Classic Albums with local musicians at Iota this Saturday January 28! Cover is $12 and music starts at 8:30 pm.

• Alex Vans' Bad Business as The Stooges
• Jonny Grave feat. Maryjo Mattea as Led Zepplin
• Oh He Dead as The Beatles

Goodbye Mad Rose

Another late night staple in Clarendon has shut it's doors this weekend with Mad Rose Tavern throwing its Last Call party Saturday Jan 21. This isn't as much as a tear jerker as other recent closings, as the next door Pampola owners Social Restaurant Group also are involved with Mad Rose and are planning on opening a Taiwanese food restaurant Bao Bar to replace Mad Rose.

Mad Rose opened in 2011 with a strange layout and mediocre food. They worked on focusing themselves on their patio hooka service and late night DJ's. In 2013 they made a splash by hosting a Sisqo concert, which I was hoping was going to lead them to more live music shows in the future. They did well with events and parties thrown by Social DC PR and others as well as frequently hosting popular DJs like Yezmin Soliz. Their back patio was their biggest draw, even if it was in an easy to miss location hidden behind 3100 Clarendon office building.

Looking forward to Bao Bar! Hope it opens soon, maybe later in 2017.