Hey DC! Looking for things to do this weekend? BEST WEEKEND BETS are, as always, hand picked and carefully calibrated for maximum fun, minimum stress. This week’s theme features high quality gifs of Lil Nas X and poor quality gifs of Brooks & Dunn because the Grammys are this weekend and I love country music. 7 and Reboot make for a delightful album double feature.
• More announcements coming soon. Stay in the loop and follow us on Facebook & Twitter & Instagram + keep and eye out on Upcoming BYT Event tab. Use #BYThings too.
• 2020? More like 20 Funny. (I’m so sorry.)
• These photos of The REACH’s winter lanterns are mesmerizing.
• We talked to Sarah Hurwitz, Michelle Obama’s former speechwriter, about religion and her new book.
• In honor of Jim Jarmusch’s birthday, we wrote a mini guide to his movies. Press play on some good films.
• Check out our behind the scenes look at Arena Stage’s A Thousand Splendid Suns.
• RADIORADIORADIO: Listen to BYT radio! Hosted by Brandon Wetherbee, it streams every Thursday at noon on Full Service Radio. Listen live. Subscribe in iTunes.
SOCIAL MEDIA BONUS: Tag all your Instagram stuff #BYThings (@brightestyoungthings) and get a chance to shine on OUR Instagram feed too.
• The Daily’s Michael Barbaro joins Jodi Rudoren for a talk at Sixth & I called 2020 Through a Jewish Lens.
• Swing by the Club at Studio K to catch some tunes from the Elijah Jamal Balbed Quintet.
• Join Maggie O’Neill for a round of feminist bingo at The Whittemore House.
• Author Tochi Onyebuchi talks about his novel Riot Baby at the Petworth Neighborhood Library.
• Myspace band Breathe Carolina are at Soundcheck. Relive your Warped Tour days!
• Republic Cantina is hosting a Tex-Mex feast with James Beard nominated Chef Quinten Frye.
• Hannah Cohen, Renata Zeiguer and Pen Palindrome are jamming out at Comet Ping Pong.
• Catch a screening of When the Moon Was Full at AFI‘s Iranian Film Festival.
• Learn all about the art of darkroom photography at The Phillips Collection.
• FREE PICK: Watch The Great Battle with some cool strangers at the Korean Cultural Center.
• You can always try and sneak into DJ James Murphy’s very sold out show at U Street Music Hall. (Don’t actually do this.)
• Play hooky from work and go see Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake at the Kennedy Center. We’ll have behind the scenes photos up on BYT soon!
• Grab your gearhead friends and swing by the first day of the Washington Auto Show.
• We highly recommend Desiree Dik’s Oddball show at Slash Run.
• Suns Cinema is screening the aesthetically striking film Tokyo Drifter.
• Fill your stomach with beer and get rowdy with Humungus, Tomb Warden, Traitor and Nuclear Tomb at Atlas Brew Works.
• Explore the entirety of the color pink with the art experts at the Hirshhorn.
• K. Roosevelt, Tommi and Licui are at Union Stage.
• Dance it up at DC9‘s Sexy Back / 2000s dance party.
• FREE PICK: Because the Folger loves you, they’re putting on a free staged reading of The Bardy Bunch.
Do some daytime stuff:
• The hottest party of the weekend is going down at the DC Puzzle Swap.
• The Bruery Store is celebrating their 2nd anniversary with the best gift of all, rare beer!
• Swing by Take Care for mini-facials and some sweet discounted shoes by Margaux.
• Spend your day shopping at the Below Zero arts market at Dupont Underground.
Then:
• Grace Potter is Grace Potter at The Anthem.
• Sonny’s Pizza is throwing a late night wine and pizza party called Abbondanza and we’re very into it.
• Hit up a Chinese New Year party at The LINE Hotel.
• Catch up with American Television, Foxhall Stacks, Crossed Keys and Teen Cobra at the Pie Shop.
• Get wild to Debt Crisis, The Rememberables and Chilton at Slash Run.
• Check out the opening of RS/24 at the Anacostia Playhouse.
• FREE PICK OF THE DAY: Get your fill of Robert Frank at NGA‘s double feature of Fire in the East: A Portrait of Robert Frank and Leaving Home, Coming Home: A Portrait of Robert Frank.
For your viewing pleasure:
• Not sure what to see in the theater? Check out our film section for reviews.
• Looking for some good new brunches to try? Check out our DC BRUNCH GUIDE. It’s useful.
Leaving the house?
• The National Museum of Asian Art is hosting some sweet Lunar New Year celebrations.
• Then eat some Lunar New Year ice cream at Ice Cream Jubilee.
• Bring all your cash to Penn Social‘s record fair.
• This is your last chance to drink all the Chilcano’s at China Chilcano‘s Chilcano Fest.
• If you’d like to drink and learn at the same time, catch a lecture about the dolphins of the Potomac with Profs & Pints at Bier Baron.
• Swing by Bluestone Lane in Logan Circle for an Australian Bushfire fundraiser featuring plenty of food, beer and wine.
• Kick back with Erykah Badu’s album Mama’s Gun at Songbyrd.
• Do you have a fiddle? Bring it to the Petworth Citizen!
• FREE PICK: Clibbus, Period Bomb, Lucky Baby Daddy and Thee Deluxe are at Songbyrd.
THERE ARE OTHER THINGS TO DO LISTED IN THE BYT CALENDAR PAGES, so use it and if you think we may have missed something, comment away–you know you want to. NO EXCUSES.
Until next time…
