Hey everyone! This week’s selection of events on D.C. BEST WEEKEND BETS are, as always, hand picked from our awesome AGENDA HOMEPAGE and carefully calibrated for maximum fun, minimum stress with the cast of Friends From College as a theme because it’s too hot to go outside every night so we’re staying inside to watch Friends From College (jk, totally do the things below).
Some really cool things coming up in the next few weeks
• We are THRILLED the Bentzen Ball Podcast Studio is coming back to the Kennedy Center BEGINNING TODAY! Michael Ian Black! Mortified! Reductress!
• Plus, some BIG, MASSIVE, SUPER SHINY announcements coming up so: stay forever in the loop and follow us on Facebook & Twitter & Instagram & Pinterest. Use #BYThings too.
Can you even contain the excitement? Contain it.
All sorts of great stuff:
• RIP, George Romero.
• We’re recapping Game of Thrones.
• Go to Hank’s Cocktail Bar and order the Club Med.
• Did you celebrate National Hot Dog Day? We did. Related, check out If Video Games Were Hot Dogs.
• It’s so hot outside. Eat some ice cream.
• Have YOUR BEST JULY.
• Plus, we brought you our weekly FREE AND ALMOST FREE THINGS TO DO IN D.C. & SHOWS TO GET PUMPED FOR THIS WEEK & EATING OUT & COME EARLY FOR & HAPPY HOUR HOTLINE & 5 BRUNCHES FOR THIS WEEKEND & THE WEEK IN OUTSIDE. USE THEM.
SOCIAL MEDIA BONUS: tag all your Instagram stuff #BYThings (@brightestyoungthings) and get a chance to shine on OUR Instagram feed too.
Nice.
• Our pick of the night is The Bentzen Ball Podcast Studio: How to Be Amazing with Michael Ian Black featuring special guest DeRay Mckesson of Pod Save America at The Kennedy Center. Read our interview with Michael Ian Black.
• Our almost pick of the night is Brew at the Zoo.
• Amadou & Mariam at 9:30 Club should be good.
• Hang out with Angela J. Davis at Politics & Prose.
• A good free option is Happy Birthday, Nam June Paik! with Sound Art Advocate Barbara London in the Smithsonian American Art Museum McEvoy Auditorium.
• If you’re going to see an outdoor movie, you can’t do much better than Ferris Bueller’s Day Off on the Library of Congress North Lawn.
• The Jane Krakowski & Tituss Burgess with the National Symphony Orchestra Pops show at the Kennedy Center is sold out but we have to recommend it. The second hand ticket market exists for shows like this.
• See Bitter Medicine, The Southern Ocean and Data Recovery Project at Fort Reno. You’re legally required to at least try to see one show at Fort Reno every year.
• Go to Kramerbooks to hear Carl M. Cannon talk about On This Date.
+ ALL SORTS OF other stuff (SERIOUSLY, JUST SO MANY)
• Our pick of the night is The Bentzen Ball Podcast Studio: Reductress presents Mouth Time! at The Kennedy Center. Read our interview with Mouth Time.
• Our almost pick of the night is Kendrick Lamar at Verizon Center. Tickets are very $$$. The cheapest seat is over $100. Good for him.
• PJ Harvey is at Wolf Trap. She had the best set at the Pitchfork Music Fest.
• Hey fans of The Daily Show, you might like The Daily Show Correspondents Stand-Up Tour at the Kennedy Center.
• Hans Zimmer plays dramatic music at Merriweather Post Pavilion.
• The POV Lounge consistently has great, free shows. Tonight is no exception with Eau Claire.
• Attention My Chemical Romance fans, Frank Iero is at U Hall.
• Truckeroo is back.
• The DC Improv Lounge has a locals showcase.
• Venn is at Black Cat. I bet they get a lot of Venmo jokes. That must suck.
• The Originalist is back on the Arena Stage.
• Sleep with the animals (near, not with but you know what we mean) at the National Zoo’s Snore & Roar: Asia Trail.
Do some daytime stuff:
• Come party with us at REI’s Skillet Battle!
• If you’re enjoying Twin Peaks: The Return and haven’t seen Eraserhead remedy your error at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
• The opposite of Eraserhead in a museum is the 2017 All American Beer Fest in The Bullpen.
• Spend some time inside at NGA and watch House of Bamboo.
• Do some yoga in the Botanic Gardens.
• Time for the annual Tour de Fat.
• Watch some polo in West Potomac Park.
Go home and regroup for the evening:
Then:
• Our pick of the night is The Bentzen Ball Podcast Studio: Mortified at The Kennedy Center. Read our interview with Alex Hewett of Mortified.
• A fantastic free show option is Aparna Nancherla & Friends on the Millennium Stage.
• Aztec Sun headlines Rock & Roll Hotel.
• Podcast Uh Yeah Dude records at 9:30 Club.
• “Sing” some songs at Punk Rock Karaoke at Black Cat.
• Some of us are excited for The Legend of Zelda Symphony at Wolf Trap.
• Recent Emmy winner Louie Anderson is in the Kennedy Center Family Theater.
• Rick Ross is at Pier Six Pavilion.
• Chris Stapleton is at Jiffy Lube Live. There has to be some people torn between Rick Ross and Chris Stapleton.
• Looking for some good new brunches to try? Check out our food section.
For your viewing pleasure:
• Consult our Weekly BYT Guide To DVD Releases / On Demand / Instant Streaming.
• Not sure what to see in the theater? Check out our film section for reviews.
Leaving the house?
• Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers play Royal Farms Arena. USA!
• Thurston Moore Group plays Rock & Roll Hotel. Read our interview with Thurston Moore.
• Shark Week is still a thing so Hank’s Cocktail Bar has a Shark Week Seafood Boil.
• Ride is at Sixth & I. They still look and sound great.
• Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry is playing at Hirshhorn. It’s also on Hulu.
• The DC Public Library sure loves local music. Des Demonas plays the Southwest Library.
• See Icelandic band Dauðyflin at Slash Run! They came so far! Good for them!
• Pleasant Pops has a Pleasant Pops Summer Bash.
• Comet Ping Pong has a packed bill with The Max Levine Ensemble, Good Shade, Cherry, and Psychic Subcreatures,
And just like that, the weekend is over. How do you feel about that?
PHEW. THAT WAS A LOT. BUT: THERE ARE A BAJILLION OTHER THINGS TO DO LISTED IN THE BYT AGENDA PAGES, so use it (to both post your events and search for them) and if you think we may have missed something, comment away–you know you want to. NO EXCUSES.
Till next time, keep up the good work:
