Around 8:00 last night, an a cappella group showed up outside the Clarendon Metro station and began singing for a small crowd of bystanders.
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live music
The launch party, which is being held from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m., will feature brewery representatives and five New Belgium beer varieties on tap. Among the planned draught offerings: the brewery’s popular Fat Tire Amber Ale, the Hoptober Golden Ale, 1554 Enlightened Black Ale, Ranger Indian Pale Ale and Clutch Dark Sour Ale. Numerous New Belgium bottled varieties will also be offered.
Up until very recently, New Belgium beers were not available in the D.C. area. Tonight’s event will celebrate the arrival of New Belgium to D.C. and Arlington. Admission is free, but attendees must be 21 or over.
The annual wine and food festival known as Vintage Crystal: A Taste of Wine and Jazz was held Sunday afternoon in Crystal City.
The event featured tastings of more than 30 types of Spanish and South American wines, as well as free food samples from local eateries like Jaleo, Ruth’s Chris Steak House and Kora. There was also live performances of Latin jazz, rumba, salsa, and samba music — complete with dancing.
Car Runs Into Apartment Building — A car ran into an apartment building on Lee Highway over the weekend. The impact punched a big hole in the side of the brick building, located at 4343 Lee Highway in Waverly Hills. [WUSA9]
Chorus Performances Relocated — The Potomac Harmony Chorus has announced that its 35th anniversary show, Melodies, Memories and Magic, will be relocated to the Washington-Lee High School Auditorium from the earthquake-damaged Thomas Jefferson Community Theater. The all-woman chorus is also seeking a new venue for its December holiday concert and sing-along. [Potomac Harmony Chorus]
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On Saturday, the Smithsonian Latino Center and Arlington County’s Tell Arlington’s Story initiative are sponsoring a “family afternoon” at the Walter Reed Community Center (2909 16th Street S.).
The afternoon will feature “hands-on activities inspired by Central American ceramis, Mayan dance presentations, live music, storytelling and talks by archeologist Favio Amador about Central America’s indigenous civilization.” The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place between 1:00 and 5:00 p.m.
The newly-reopened Lubber Run Amphitheater will host two very different musical performances this weekend: Arlington native singer-songwriter Margot MacDonald and Russian folk ensemble Russkie Musikanti.
Here’s how organizers describe both.
The festival headliner for 2011 is Dee Dee Bridgewater, who won a Tony Award for her acting performance in ‘The Wiz’ and who has also snagged two Grammy Awards for ‘Best Jazz Vocal Performance’ and ‘Best Arrangement Accompanying a Vocal.’ In addition to her musical and acting accomplishments, Bridgewater hosts the weekly NPR jazz program ‘JazzSet.’
Also on the bill is New Orleans native Henry Butler, an eight-time W.C. Handy ‘Best Blues Instrumentalist – Piano’ award nominee. Blind since birth, Butler not only is a musical chameleon — mixing jazz, Caribbean, classical, pop, blues and R&B influences — but he’s also an accomplished photographer whose work has been displayed at exhibitions.
Today’s Rosslyn lunchtime concert, slated to feature New Orleans-inspired rock quartet The Grandsons, has been canceled “due to excessive heat.” Thursday’s lunchtime concert has also been canceled, as has the Thursday lunchtime farmers market.
The group is making its only D.C.-area stop here for Artisphere’s Salsa Tuesdays. Dancing lessons start at 7:30 p.m., followed by the band’s performance and dancing from 8:30 to 11:00 p.m. Tickets are $25, discounted to $22 for students, military servicemembers and senior citizens.
Many of the members of Sierra Maestra have performed with the Buena Vista Social Club, the international “supergroup” created by Sierra Maestra founder Juan de Marcos Gonzales.
Ross, a staffer in the Manhattan District Office of Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), has played South by Southwest, the CMJ Music Fest and NYC’s Mercury Lounge, among other major venues, but he has yet to play the city that’s the focal point of his day job.
Ross cites Wilco, the Beatles and Ryan Adams as influence, and his eclectic, often ballad-y music has also garnered some comparisons to Ben Folds. He will perform with his 9-piece band and horns at 8:00 p.m. on Sunday at Iota Club (2832 Wilson Blvd).
Local Real Estate Market Lags — While the average home sales price in Arlington was up 4.6 percent for the first half of 2011, the total volume of sales was down 19 percent compared to 2010. [Sun Gazette]
Garvey ‘Home’ in Alexandria, Arlington — State Senate candidate and Arlington School Board member Libby Garvey is trying to play up her local chops to both Arlington and Alexandria Democrats. “Garvey, a resident of Fairlington, considers Alexandria to be her neighborhood,” the Huntington-Belle Haven Patch reported yesterday. Meanwhile, Garvey told the Arlington County Democratic Committee last night that after debates in Fairfax and Alexandria, “it’s really nice to be home tonight.”
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Amphitheater supporters just released a schedule of performances for the upcoming summer season. The season will kick off on Friday, July 29, with a performance by Blues/R&B singer/songwriter Mary Ann Redmond. Organizers are planning on serving cake to attendees to celebrate the new season — the first since 2009.
“This wouldn’t have been possible without a community that appreciates the unique venue for family entertainment the Lubber Run amphitheater has offered for many years and a caring and responsive County government,” Lubber Run Amphitheater Foundation President Esther Bowring said in a statement. “We are looking forward to the amphitheater’s reopening and to working with Arlington County and the community to bring great entertainment to the Lubber Run stage for summers to come.”