Capital Swamp: The DC Resource Thread

According to bios I've read, Stanley was a cousin to Jerry Lee Lewis and Mickey Gilley and in the segregated '50s, he was part of the Rainbows with Marvin Gaye, Don Covay and Billy Stewart, and played in Black clubs on U Street, and also in white clubs with Link Wray and with Roy Clark.

The D.C. Council's reaction to the shooting death of a teenager at a go-go show is to propose banning teenagers from clubs. Hmmm, not sure if that's the answer.

"Due to the death of a 17 year old this past weekend in a club in DC, Rep. Jim Graham is proposing emergency legislation to ban minors from clubs that serve alcohol.

there will be a hearing about the proposed law THIS THURSDAY at 2:00 p.m.

This could affect many readers of this list. Nobody under the age of 21 could go to most of the shows listed. Think no black cat, 9:30 club, Rock & Roll Hotel, Warehouse Nextdoor, etc.

People should contact Jim Graham (jim@grahamwone.com) and Adrian Fenty (you have to use e-mail form at dc.gov) and if it all possible attend the hearing on Thursday. Make it known that while you sympathize with the victim and her family, that banning minors is not the answer. "

On a different subject, are you gonna be doing any dj'ing out and about (or online) soon ...Are there any regular dj nights you (or others) like around here these days..

I'm opening next Friday at the Juan MacLean DJ set at the Black Cat, and the Saturday after that at the Rock & Roll Hotel with Flosstradamus.

There's been some major realignment in the DJ scene here over the past few months, let's see...

There have been a few nights starting at the Rock and Roll Hotel, but although they have great booth equipment their soundsystem is really set up for live acts, not DJs. They also added an upstairs DJ booth, we'll see how that changes the space. Buzzlife has greatly increased the frequency of their events at different locations, but they're still looking for a long term venue. There aren't any more big house nights aside from what you see on the schedule at Five.

Oh Snap! at Wonderland ended but Tittsworth is starting a new monthly there that should be a lot of fun and without a lot of the VA crowd that Oh Snap! was drawing.

More upscale lounges opening, still no Red-style dance clubs (I don't know why someone hasn't tried that on H St - Sanctuary is great but it's tiny).

There are a LOT of new nights at Selam (little Ethiopian bar at 15th & U) - there's something (leaning toward classic house/disco/older dancehall/funk) over there almost every Friday and Saturday night now, the place may become sort of a launch pad/incubator for new nights.

What DC is missing for dance nights:
- a 100-150 capacity venue with great sound and DJs every night
- a 300 capacity venue to take the place of Red
- a big room venue to take the place of Nation

Instead all we may get is a House of Blues (that will compete with 930/black Cat/Birchmere) for live acts and push ticket prices higher. Although that article I read suggested that the existing clubs will be trying to prevent the HOB from coming in.

DC also needs a 4-5000 person concert venue.

The city is to blame with both the Lincoln and the Howard theaters. The Lincoln Theater seemingly has no budget for promoting shows there; some events there I'd only know about if I happened to be walking by and noticed something on the announcement board they have outside (they may have ocassionally had promoters who advertised stuff on radio; but never in any print media that I saw). Why they have not tried to have more outside promoters regularly do things there, I wish I knew. Now the folks who run it are pleading poor. Years ago 930 club/IMP did a show there, but nothing since. I wonder why.

Who knows when and if the Howard will finally be renovated, and will it be run by the same folks who ran the Lincoln (into the ground)?

I'd love to see the Uline arena turned back into a concert hall.

DC is so screwy with the old theaters - they want a private rganization to come in and assume all the risk of running them but with heavy restrictions on what they're allowed to do. With nobody clamoring for the Lincoln Theater DC seriously needs to look at relaxing the usage restrictions on the Howard Theater. There's just no incentive for a promoter to shoehorn themselves into DC's economic model when they could open another place without it.

"The Howard Theatre was the nation’s first full-sized theater for African-American audiences and entertainers. Designed by J. Edward Stock and opened in 1910, the 1,200 seat theater was a prominent performing arts center .... to an Offeror that will satisfy the following policy and programmatic objectives through a redevelopment of the Property:

The District envisions the Property as a “mixed-use entertainment facility.” The Offeror is expected to renovate the building into a 500-600 person live entertainment venue with dining and beverages amenities and a museum or gift shop. The Offeror will also be asked to consider making certain commitments to the local community once the Property is redeveloped, such as making the Property available for local arts and entertainment events and providing discounted ticketing for students and seniors. The redeveloped facility should meet (or exceed) the following programmatic and usetargets: 1.Medium size stage for concerts and solo performances with flexible seating (500-600 person) to enable sit-down or dancing formats; 2.Upscale, full-service food and beverage offerings to meeting ongoing operating revenue needs; 3.Designed to accommodate a broad range of special events; 4.Intermittent programming to celebrate the Theatre’s heritage (e.g., annual jazz weekend, summer jazz series, etc.); 5.Restoration of Howard Theatre’s facade to approximate its 1910 appearance."

Also in the W. Post today, The Fake Accents (with several ILXers) are reviewed in the Weekend section. A Gig on Thursday.

Brian, Joe Englert is gonna open 2 more places on H. St Ne. One is gonna be called the H St Country Club and feature indoor miniature golf and stuff. Maybe you can get him and his fellow investors to branch out and try to open one of the above items with you doing the programmming!!!...

hey!

In my car I can pick up 92 Q out of Baltimore which I find to be a superior commercial rap/r'n'b outlet to KYS and PGC most of the time.

Woah, that's alot of research and crate-digging. I've never heard Coombes spin at St Ex on Thursdays

from the Lisner site:
"Alpha Phi Alpha presents

Step Show 2007: Step Your Game Up

The Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity will host their 10th annual charity step show Feb. 3 to benefit the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Fund and the Black Genesis Scholarship Fund.
The show, Step Your Game Up, will feature "traditional step dancing" and hip-hop dance performances by GW's Capital Funk and Georgetown University's Groove Theory, said junior Eric Woodard, president of Alpha Phi Alpha. The chapter will also host an after party in the Continental Ballroom of the Marvin Center."

Performers Include: (in Alpha Order)
Ruth Brown Remembrance
featuring Daryl Davis, Ruby Hayes, Melanie Mason,
Mavis Waters, & Cha Chi Goyette
Fools & Horses
Wil Harris Band
Shane Hines & the Trance
Hoag, Kelley & Pilzer
The Howling Mad
Robert Lighthouse
Randy Waller & the Country Gentlemen

Host:
Bob Schieffer
Neal Augenstein

Keynote:

Fred Cannon
SVP, Government Relations
BMI

Pit Band:
Tommy Lepson Band

After Event Party:
Ireland's Four Provences

Scythian

Tickets:
$25 Non WAMA Members
$15 WAMA Members (up to 4)
$10 Nominees (up to 10 per nominated group). .
$550 Corporate Table of 8 (includes full page ad in souvenir program, admission to pre-reception)(Camera-ready ad deadline Feb 3)
$300 Corporate Table of 4 (includes half page ad in souvenir program, admission to pre-reception)(Camera-ready ad deadline Feb 3)
$100 Patron Table of 2 (includes recognition in souvenir program, admission to pre-reception)(program deadline Feb 3)

Check out the electronica and other nominees (it looks like they left alot of folks out)... No local dancehall artists under reggae I see. I forget what category I saw them under, but is Basehead still together and performing locally?

No Aquarium, Evens or Joe Lally, and several go-go bands absent as well.

Any District club, bar or restaurant with entertainment that serves alcohol after 11 p.m. would be required to have a special license to admit anyone younger than 21, under a D.C. Council proposal.

Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) said he would introduce a bill today requiring that establishments present a detailed, written security plan before obtaining the annual license, which would cost $375 and be in addition to the regular alcohol license.

The nightspots would have to assure the city that they have a certain level of security and maintain logs of violent incidents. They would have to train employees to handle unruly crowds and specify procedures for checking identification and searching customers. And if the measures weren't enough to maintain order and prevent underage drinking in the city's entertainment spots, the proposal would reserve the right of the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration to tighten the measures.
.... His colleagues had not seen his proposal yesterday, so it was difficult to asses the bill's chances for approval. But D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) said he was worried that the bill could make it "onerous" for businesses to operate.

"We don't want to interfere with parents going out with their children. We want to encourage parents to have that experience with their children," Gray said.

Restaurant executives worry that the bill could reduce revenue and burden restaurants with more paperwork. Andrew J. Kline, general counsel for the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington, called the plan "overly broad" and added that an 11 p.m. curfew at restaurants could inconvenience businesses and patrons.

"I would hate to walk into a restaurant after the theater and be told that I cannot dine there [with my children] because they don't have a permit," he said.

Parents often take their children for late-night dinners or a show at a club such as Blues Alley, Kline said. "I am troubled that there is no exemption for a minor accompanied by a parent or guardian," he said. "If I want to take my daughter to Blues Alley, I should be able to do so without an impediment."
....Nightclubs that cater to younger crowds also would have to implement a $1 surcharge on all under-21 admissions at the door. That fee, Graham said, would be used to fund the expansion of the city's underage-inspection unit, part of the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration. "

DEPECHE MODE DANCE PARTY w/ DJs Steve EP, Killa K, Krasty McNasty
Blact Cat mainstage $10

IT'S NO GOOD: The music of Depeche Mode spun all night long

Friday 25 May 2007
@ THE ROCK AND ROLL HOTEL
1353 H Street, N.E.
Washington, D.C.
9 p.m. - 2.30 a.m.
$10 cover - 18+