Cool Things Happening in D.C.- Halloweekend

Do you have Halloweekend plans in the District?

Although trick-or-treating down Embassy Row is an experience every D.C. transplant should have, here's a list of alternative events occurring over the next several days.

1. October 26- RAYGUNOMICS & Emotio

Jamal Gray (middle) and Dajando Smith (right) at Funk Parade 2017. Photograph by Maxwell Young

Kwesi Lee of Emotio.

Jamal Gray, Kwesi Lee, and Dajando Smith are members of Washington, D.C.'s premiere rock-fusion band Nag Champa.  On Thursday, they will be performing as RAYGUNOMICS--an intergalactic parade of futuristic hip hop, funk, jazz, and go-go sounds.

Kwesi Lee, the guitarist from Nag Champa, will also be playing with a "vegan space metal" band from Maryland known as Emotio.

Dew Drop Inn

2801 8th St, NE

$5 | 8pm

2. October 26- Ace Cosgrove & Bob Moe Kill & Hardwork Movement

Ace Cosgrove has been busy performing his latest project Ms. Claire's Basement with experimental jazz group, BADBADNOTGOOD.  He returns to the District on Thursday to play a set at the hip Velvet Lounge with Bob Moe Kill and Philadelphia's Hardwork Movement. 

Velvet Lounge

915 U St, NW

$15 | 8:30pm

3. October 27- ROUGH

We got action at The Factory. #debutparty #DMV

A post shared by InTheRough (@intheroughstyle) on Sep 27, 2017 at 2:26pm PDT

It wouldn't be Halloweekend without a keg and bottomless drinks right? 

'Rough' is InTheRough's debut event.  It is a mixed media music and art show celebrating the youth movement in D.C. and its creative communities.  Friday night's show includes visual contributions from artist Quaishawn Whitlock while Tedy Brewski, Sir E.U, and Rob Smokes are among the musical stylings for the night.  Bring your dancing shoes.

Uptown Art House

3412 Connecticut Ave, NW

$10 drink ticket | 7pm

4. October 28- Mr. Daywalker

Mr. Daywalker photgraphed by Maxwell Young

Mr. Daywalker, AKA percussion's free spirit, will be performing new music at the Love + Solidarity Collective this Saturday.  Go and see what the quirkiness is all about.

Love + Solidarity Collective

439 Park Road, NW

Free | 9pm

5. October 28- Enter the Void

House of MXD is taking over the Art House this Saturday for their artist showcase "Enter the Void."  Artists like Dawn Musa, Kleonaptra, and St. Clair Castro will be setting the vibes.  Costumes are encouraged!

Uptown Art House

3412 Connecticut Ave, NW

$5 | 3-6pm

CMPVTR CLVB presents: CTRL Space CMD

Image produced by CMPVTR CLVB and St.Clair Castro

Last Thursday, CMPVTR CLVB--a collective of musicians, visual artists, and futurists--hosted the first night of their four part event titled CTRL Space CMD at Logan Fringe Arts Space in Northeast DC.  The exhibition, which will be running every Thursday during the month of April, is a "series of conceptual performance pieces dissecting mankind's intrinsic connection to space, time, and The Creator."  Night 1, or "Ritual," focused on contemporary and ancient ideas of idolatry, religion, cults and more.

The event space is part of Capital Fringe's arts bar.  It's reminiscent of Wynwood Walls in the art district of Wynwood, Miami due to its open-air entrance and colorful murals that highlight the side walls.  A few cafe tables and chairs fill out the space, doubling the exterior as a performance space when the weather permits.  As I walked inside the venue, I wasn't sure that I was in the correct location.  It was quiet in the sense that I heard no music and there were only two or three people in the room--a woman tending to the bar and another making fresh popcorn for $1.  The venue is actually separated into a bar/reception area and a theater space by a large wooden door. 

Mr. Daywalker photographed by Lanie Edwards

I opened the door to a black box-style theater where people sat in a sensual immersion.  Mr. Daywalker, a percussionist, and vocalist from Northern Virginia, was tracing a metal bowl with a wooden stick.  As it emitted a melodic ringing noise, video modulation and projection mapping of psychedelic patterns and images of ritual (e.g., African tribes and obelisks) were simultaneously projected onto video screens by Quannum Throw, Anti-Hero and St.Clair Castro.

CTRL Space CMD operates like a festival style format, so each week will feature a number of artists making progressive music that emotes.  After Mr. Daywalker's set, St.Clair Castro, who is one of the two curators of the month-long exhibition, set the ambiance for the remainder of the evening with a DJ mix.  At a particular moment, Castro's explorative sounds had the audience nodding their heads along to instrumentals that sounded like a derivative of Migos' "T-Shirt".

A theme that is central to mankind's connection to space and time is race.  Though it is an unfortunate truth, race is a part of man's historical context, and especially within the context of the District of Columbia.

"Gentrification.  Boy I'm about my isms," rapped Nate G x Afro Velvet, a duo of visual artists who synthesized their interests of design and fashion into a musical performance of Afro Futurism.  They will return to the CTRL Space CMD exhibition on April 27th for Night 4: Meta- The Evolution of Blackness.

Sir E.U and RobSmokesBands' collaborative performance created a juxtaposition of those who were content to sit and watch the musical performances in the audience versus those who felt the vibe change to a more participative, turn-up environment.  On songs like "Walk to Japan" where Sir E.U strutted around the stage with two microphones, the audience was encouraged to dance and jump around much like at any hip hop show.

RobSmokesBands closed out the show in another collaborative effort as jazz/blues fusion band Funk Disaster paired with the Pittsburgh drummer.  Singing similarly to Bob Dylan's nasally, high-pitched riffs, RobSmokesBands Funk Disaster played covers of Hall & Oates' 1981 single "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)" and Bobby Caldwell's rendition of "What You Won't Do For Love."  Multiple people in the audience began to cheer as vintage highlight reels of the 1970s Steel Curtain dynasty played along with the sounds.  The band also brought out lineformation MILF's very own, Tedy Brewski for a surprise performance. 

Tedy Brewski and RobSmokesBands Funk Disaster (left to right: Joe Wilson, Sam Catherman, Rob Stokes and Jack Delamater) photographed by Maxwell Young

In an interview with DC Music Download, St.Clair Castro and Jamal Gray talked about how CTRL Space CMD is the culmination of three years of research and education.  Through performances at other creative venues, like Velvet Lounge, Black Cat--where Glow End Theory is held--as well as smaller gatherings at the homes of artists, such as Rob Stokes' 'HOUSEWARMING' series, CMPVTR CLVB has tinkered with how to present an amalgamtion of production and beat making with live instrumentation, dance, installation art, and video mapping.  What's more though, is that their experimentation has also cultivated a network of creative artists in the District of Columbia who are striving to define what the cultural community is going to look like in the nation's capital in the near future.

Gray says of the event, "CTRL Space CMD is just preparing everybody for what's to come from Nag Champa, St.Clair Castro, CMPVTR CLVB, and the extended family...it's a launch pad."

CTRL Space CMD will be an exhibition for the remainder of April, every Thursday, at Capital Fringe's Logan Fringe Arts Space.  RSVP here.

4/13/17- Night 2: Alter- Interstellar Escape Plan

4/20/17- Night 3: Sauvage- The Untamed Planet

4/27/17- Night 4: Meta- The Evolution of Blackness

Capital Fringe

1358 Florida Avenue Northeast

Washington, DC 20002

Glow End Theory 003

Between 1966 and 1967, Andy Warhol was the maestro of a series of multimedia shows called Exploding Plastic Inevitable.  The simultaneity of musical performances by The Velvet Underground and Nico, dance and theatrical choreography by the creative regulars of Warhol's Factory, and screenings of the Pittsburgh native's revealing films created a dynamic sensual environment new to performance art.  Glow End Theory, a series of events that empowers and shines a light on the women of color in the art/music scene around D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, is a contemporary version of the Exploding Plastic Inevitable multimedia experience. 

Founded by Jamal Gray, bandleader of DC's Nag Champa Art Ensemble, this past Thursday's Glow End Theory was organized by CMPVTR CLVB, a collective of creative acts who influence the DC and New York electronic music scenes through underground parties and shows.  Between the sixteen contributors of CMPVTR CLVB, like Robb Smokes who has done production for lineformation MILF and Quannumthrow who conducted the visual display for the night's event, there are a variety of creative identities expressed in the collective's individual performances. The third iteration of Glow End Theory, with sounds by DJ Little Bacon Bear, Jessicunt, Kryptk and Tomi Yeyo--also a member of CMPVTR CLVB--hit Black Cat on DC's 14th Street.  Meche Korrect, one of the performers from Glow End Theory 002, hosted the show as alem worldwide, Joy Postell, and Alex Vaughn shared songs from their recent projects too.

"The future is women," Vaughn said as she warmed up her vocals.

From the Women's March that unified 470,000 people in solidarity on the streets of  the U.S. capital to an event that catered to the creative expressions of African American women, we must respect and listen to the talents and voices from women's youth.

For a closer look at the female artists who have performed at Glow End Theory, follow their Facebook page or shoot them an email at glowendtheory@gmail.com to be included in their newsletter.  CMPVTR CLVB's website is also a place to explore the images and music of the collective's members.

Stay tuned for details on the next Glow End Theory.

Black Cat DC

1811 14th St. NW

Washington, DC 20009

Photograph by Maxwell Young