Happy Funtime Friend Service

You know there’s nothing I love more than free concerts. And good concerts in places built for outstanding musical sound - all for free… this is why I love Washington. The Library of Congress has announced their 2007 - 2008 series of concerts, and I’m impressed. The 50th birthday of West Side Story, Allen Toussaint and Henry Butler, the Beaux Arts Trio and the Orion Quartet. If you don’t know the drill, tickets are free, you just have to pay Ticketmaster service fees. You can reserve a maximum of two tickets in advance and they go quickly - sign up for Ticketmaster alerts. If you don’t get there in time and it’s sold out, go anyway. The Library of Congress is right by the Capitol South metro station and they release all unclaimed seats about 15 minutes before the show begins. I’ve seen amazing concerts here and people that I’ve paid much more to see at the Kennedy Center at other times including Jimmy Scott and Joshua Bell. This is a great resource for anyone who likes good music of all kinds (classical, jazz, chamber, etc.) on a budget.

I keep forgetting that the Carter Barron Amphitheatre is in my backyard (well, if my backyard were really, really, really big). But there it is, and with a Schedule of Events no less - a schedule which is culminating with this Labor Day weekend’s 19th Annual DC Blues Festival on September 1 from noonish to 7:30. Man, am I a sucker for fests or what?
So grab a blankie, some snacks, doctor up a bottle of lemonade with a little something-something, and head on over to listen to Clarence “The Bluesman” Turner and Band, Mary Shaver and the Smokin’ Polecats, The Orioles, The Nighthawks, and more.

Can you resist a band called the Smokin’ Polecats?

Over the weekend, AMK called and said, “You’re the only person I know who will go see a movie about a guy who places guitar on the street in Dublin.  Will you go tonight?”  With nothing better than a night of Law & Order re-runs planned (because it was that or cleaning my apartment), I agreed and we headed off for Landmark Theatre in Bethesda.  All I can say is go see this movie.  It’s called Once and features the music of The Frames.  I came home from the movie and immediately bought the soundtrack on iTunes and have been listening to it every day.

While August is traditionally dead in Washington, we’ve also been traveling.  Alycia went off hiking in the west in celebration of her father’s birthday, and I spent 2 weeks in India with Habitat for Humanity.  So excuse our break.  We’ll be back shortly.