Stories from the October 6, 2005, Print Edition
Staying powerful is a tough thing to do in the music industry. One-hit wonders come and go, and most bands with pop hits in 1994 are not still touring sold-out venues and festivals today. Blues Traveler, however, is an exception. With eight albums on the market and a near non-stop touring effort for years, Blues Traveler's fan base is as loyal as it is disparate.
You've passed by the building every time you walk around Dupont Circle. On the northeast corner of Florida and Connecticut there is a large white staircase, a Russian flag and a neon sign saying "Russia House." Don't let the flag or the name confuse you. It's not an embassy, it's a bar.
If you have $5 Check out some of the events at the Kennedy Center's Festival of China. With dozens of free and low-cost events running throughout the weekend and the month, you can choose from dance (the National Ballet of China has an open rehearsal on Friday), music (the Festival of 250 Drums, at the Millennium Stage on Saturday) or exhibits, such as a fashion show with Chinese designers including Vera Wang and Anna Sui.
October brings a plethora of live music to the greater D.C. area, with enough music to fulfill your concert yearning practically every night of the week. From alternative to hip-hop, bluegrass to funky brass, and rock to, well, Hanson, there's a concert out there for every music lover this month.
10/6 - The Cat Empire (9:30 Club) - $15 10/8 - Metric (9:30 Club) - $15, Sir Paul McCarthy (MCI Center) - $49.50-$253 10/9 - Nickel Creek (9:30 Club) - $25, Guru w/ Kool Keith (9:30 Club) - $20 10/10 - Foo Fighters + Weezer (Patriot Center) - $45 10/11 - Blues Traveler ( Club) - $25, Victor Wooten (Recher Theatre) - $20, "Bail out the Big Easy" benefit concert, feat.
Don't call Nickel Creek a bluegrass band. They say their music should not be locked into that genre. Don't call them a pop group either because they'll be quick to shed that title as well. But in their third album, Why Should We Let the Fire Die? (Sugar Hill), Nickel Creek combines classic bluegrass techniques, traditional Celtic melodies and angst-ridden emo-pop lyrics to create a musical Frankenstein that can only be described as delightfully unique.
If "Waiting ." (Lion's Gate) is any indication, the gross-out teen slacker comedy genre is on its last legs. It's a sloppy mess of a comedy that's a little too derivative of Kevin Smith's "Clerks" and doesn't attempt to do anything different from what we've seen in similar movies.
"I hate fathers, and I never wanted to be one." -Steve Zissou, "The Life Aquatic" There is little doubt that Noah Baumbach, who co-wrote last winter's "The Life Aquatic" with wunderkind Wes Anderson, is the author of that line. In his smart, resonant new film "The Squid and the Whale," writer-director Baumbach depicts the autobiographical account of a mother and father's divorce from their two children's perspective, examining the resulting rivalries, warped pretenses, and broken relations that arise with masterful skill.
Fans of Wallace and Gromit, clay companions created by Nick Park and Aardman Animations ("Chicken Run"), have waited 10 years to see the British duo again and for the most part, it's worth the wait. The first three Wallace and Gromit movies were shorts; "The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" is the first full-length.
I sat in the Betts Theatre's house seat, overhearing the lighting crew of the latest Department of Theatre and Dance production Proof joking as the stage manager called the actors to take their places for the opening scene. "So what show are we doing tonight?" the lighting designer asked with a straight face.
Bad things don't always happen to good people, but stories about horrific crimes often paint victims with this picture. Woolly Mammoth Theatre exposes this charade in its scathing portrayal of American pop culture, "After Ashley." In the hands of director Lee Mikeska Gardner, Gina Gionfriddo's story comes to life, comically portraying the ridiculousness of making upper-middle-class white females the poster children of violence in America.
Nicole Kidman is coming to campus to film a movie - but really, it's no big deal. Students might as well shrug their shoulders and walk away as she films "The Visiting" at the GW Hospital later this month - after all, she's just one in a line of Hollywood demigods that have used the sights of the District as a backdrop for their films.
Vol. 108
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