In a presidential election cycle where the real candidates have flipped the script on civility, you’d think that political comedy troupe Capitol Steps would be hard-pressed to wring more humor from the headlines. However, the group, founded as a holiday party gag in 1981 by former Capitol Hill staffers, is determined not to be upstaged […]
Director Anne Fontaine’s The Innocents takes place in Warsaw in December 1945, when much of the world was ecstatic at the conclusion of World War II, yet those most affected were too deeply traumatized to feel anything close to relief. And for many in the occupied territory of Poland, the horrors continued long after hostilities […]
During the second weekend in September, members of the community will have the opportunity to view and contemplate art while enjoying the outdoors and mingling with neighbors in what local artist James Yates calls an “out of gallery” experience. “Yard Dreams” is a collective of installations in the front yards of select homes along Belmont […]
Was rock band Atlas Gray really formed as an effort to ward off an elephant stampede with a wall of sound? Despite the myth, Hartford, Connecticut’s power-soul five-piece deftly leads listeners on a fantastic exploration marked by signposts of jazz and funk, while navigating what the band deems an “emotional safari.” Since 2014, the group […]
Through a fast-flowing, modern take on reggae, Richmond’s Mighty Joshua makes magical connections with his audience. The uplifting performer uses his art to fight HIV/AIDS and support children’s programs in Africa with a passion that’s resulted in garnering the official title of Virginia Reggae Ambassador. Vibe Riot opens. Free, 5pm Saturday, September 10. IX Art […]
No film is completely perfect, but it takes a special kind of wrongheadedness to make a decision that completely divorces an audience from enjoyment by being both morally repugnant and betraying its own narrative. This is the experience of watching Don’t Breathe, technical wunderkind Fede Alvarez’s follow-up to his promising remake of Evil Dead, which […]
In May 2015, housemates Judith Young and Will Mullany went to the Paramount Theater for a screening of Salad Days: A Decade of Punk in Washington, D.C. (1980-90). In the cushy theater seats, they watched how the early D.C. DIY scene unfolded, how now-legendary bands such as Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Government Issue and Fugazi […]
The last time I went on an online date, I found myself at Buffalo Wild Wings with a guy named Tony. It was 2010, and I was living on the New Jersey shore at the time. (He was actually the second Tony I’d gone out with, it being the Jersey shore.) I remember feeling…underwhelmed. Missing […]
Thee Oh Sees A Weird Exits (Castle Face) Led by John Dwyer, garage-psych wrecking crew Thee Oh Sees has churned out 15 albums, the latest being A Weird Exits. It covers familiar territory, though previous forays into jangly, poppy material have been obliterated. For the uninitiated, A Weird Exits is not an easy introduction; song […]
Over the course of two decades and 14 LPs, of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes has established himself as a bit of a sonic chameleon while usually covered in glitter. He swallowed up ’60s psych-pop, Prince-ly funk and glassy prog while morphing deftly between the personal and the fantastical. On the new record Innocence Reaches, the first […]