Artomatic 2009

Artomatic, the massive come-one-come-all exhibition that for more than a decade has been one of the region's most feverishly attended art events, has been off the grid for a few years now. Its last free mega-exhibition took place in 2009 on M Street SE. Last year, the nonprofit licensed its name to an otherwise independent event in Frederick, Md.

This year, Artomatic is finally back. Its next unjuried exhibition is set for May 18 to June 24 at the Transwestern Presidential Tower in Crystal City, and organizers say it'll be the biggest Artomatic yet. Eric Shutt, Artomatic's marketing coordinator, says they'll have more than 300,000 feet. Unlike the last two Artomatic venues, the Transwestern Presidential Tower isn't a new building but one that's about to be renovated. "It’s an old building, so we’ll have more flexibility in how we can use the space and what kinds of installations we can do," say Shutt. Expect more artists, more performances, and more music.

The 2009 Artomatic had work by 2,500 artists and drew 76,000 visitors, the organization says. But finding another vacant property that was large enough for Artomatic's needs proved daunting, so the concept sat dormant. Last year, Artomatic board member Patrick Oberman told the Washington Post that the group was looking at two buildings near Nationals Park, another in Northeast, and a location in Crystal City.

"This one is just the one that worked out in terms of the availability, the timing, and the permits and all the logistical considerations," Shutt says of this year's Crystal City venue. It helps, of course, that the Crystal City BID offered Artomatic "significant financial support," he says. Artomatic took place in a different building in Crystal City in 2007.

Artists: Registration details aren't up yet, and the fee is still up in the air. Shutt guesses it'll be similar to previous years. At Artomatic 2009, artists paid $100 and volunteered 15 hours.

So: Is this good news? Blake Gopnik wouldn't say so, but I liked City Paper critic John Anderson's 2010 defense of the Artomatic concept:

To declare Artomatic a sprawling display of schlock that has all the personality of a dormitory (minus the scent of incense and the aggravation of sexile) is easy. On the other hand, what a sprawling display of schlock! The fabulous thing about Artomatic is this: It creates a community in which hundreds of people, trained and untrained artists alike, work together.

Weird art, coming soon to a city near you.

Earlier this year, the 11-year-old uncurated arts event Artomatic cloned itself in Frederick, Maryland. Pretty much everything was the same: The name, the logo, the unused building, the treasured "values" of openness and temporary use of space.

It went well enough that the original Artomatic is planning to franchise further. According to founder George Koch, mini-matics are germinating in Baltimore, Vancouver B.C., and D.C.'s sister city of Sunderland, England. They'll all have licensing agreements to use Artomatic's concept and stuff, similar to how TED talks mushroomed into the now (often gratuitous) TEDx events.

Meanwhile, the original Artomatic is still looking for a spot to operate next year, which has been made difficult by the fact that our office market is  actually kind of good these days. Koch says that although he'd prefer to keep the event in the District, they could easily lock down a Crystal City location right now—apparently the Crystal City Business Improvement District has been hounding Artomatic to come back since hosting the event back in 2007 (and D.C.'s BIDs haven't courted much at all).

After that, might as well go to Baltimore...

Photo by flickr user isteve under a Creative Commons attribution license.

The Uprightest Citizen of All: Ian MacKaye was in New York Saturday at the opening of UCBeast—the new East Village outpost of comedy troupe Upright Citizens Brigade—where he offered monologues based on suggestions from the crowd; the comedians then improvised sketches based on whatever MacKaye said. Stories included: the time that skinheads overtook the stage when he was playing at the Chicago club Medusa's; and the time MacKaye was asked to procure "dancers" for Fear's riotous 1981 appearance on Saturday Night Live. [Village Voice, New York Times]

A Blockbuster of Errors: Ron Charles pens a sweet essay on the scholastic anxiety over Anonymous, the Roland Emmerich film that posits that William Shakespeare's plays were in fact penned by Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford, because no one has offered proof that this isn't true. Charles even visits the Folger Shakespeare Library's director Michael Whitmore. "'As a Shakespeare scholar,' he tells me, 'I do not lie awake at night worried about who really wrote these plays.' No, of course not. Not with Bigfoot on the loose and the world about to end Nov. 11."

Today on Arts Desk: Photo reviews! Halloween songs!

Hands down, “But is it art?” is the lamest question anyone can ask about art. When artists Alex Ventura and Victoria Milko host the But Is It Art? fair from Sept. 22 to Sept. 25, they won’t be putting that question to their artists or audience. They know what they’re doing is art. Their DIY fair is asking a pointed question about another art fair taking place over the same weekend: the inaugural (e)merge art fair.

“We can show as strong a contemporary art show without the development,” Ventura says. “I’m not judging, but it’s sort of a friendly ‘fuck you.’ Contemporary art doesn’t need that setting.”

That setting is Southwest—specifically, the Capitol Skyline Hotel, where dozens of contemporary art galleries from across the world will congregate for (e)merge. The event is modeled after Art Basel Miami Beach and its satellite events, which draw thousands to South Beach every December. The organizers include Helen Allen, the founder of New York and Miami’s Pulse contemporary art fair, and D.C. dealers Leigh Conner and Jamie Smith. The venue is the Morris Lapidus–designed Capitol Skyline Hotel, which is owned by the prominent Miami-based arts collectors Mera and Don Rubell, one of whom is serving on an (e)merge selection panel.

It’s a pedigreed undertaking, the likes of which the D.C. art scene hasn’t really ever seen—not even with the ill-fated 2007 artDC fair. But Ventura and Milko remain unconvinced. “You hear Corcoran kids talking about (e)merge,” but the fair has nothing to do with them, Milko says. “(e)merge talks about the emerging communities in D.C., but it’s really a national show.”
In response, over the course of the same September weekend, Ventura and Milko hope to show nothing but D.C. artists. The show will take place primarily at Wonderbox, an all-purpose arts warehouse, as well as at the adjacent 52 O St. NW studios.

Stephen Crouch, a resident artist at 52 O, will be building out the warehouse site with walls, lighting, and other features to make it exhibition-ready for the work of about 40 artists.

Ventura—who programs performance art and music for Hillyer Art Space in Dupont Circle—says But Is It Art? will also host about six hours of performances each day. In addition, the curators are seeking permission from warehouse owners near Wonderbox in the Truxton Circle neighborhood to appoint various surfaces with street art.

But why rebel against (e)merge? One explanation could be the anxiety that followed Mera Rubell in December 2009, when during a 36-hour tour of Washington studios she declared to The Washington Post that despite the city’s “wealth of amazing talent,” its lack of art infrastructure left artists essentially in isolation. “There’s nothing to fight for here,” she said. “There’s not enough contemporary art being shown.” That left some local art circles feeling bruised, and a debate ensued on blogs, in Facebook posts, and at a panel discussion (that I moderated).

Now the Rubells seems to be betting on D.C. as an emerging hub of contemporary art—but Ventura and Milko aren’t convinced they’re bringing the missing infrastructure they bemoaned.

“What we’re doing is already going on,” Ventura says, describing the setting for the But Is It Art? fair. “Southwest, a hotbed for artists? That’s just not true.” He says the Rubells engage in a practice of “art tourism” that might be good for the Capitol Skyline and their forthcoming hotel-cum-museum at the former Randall School property a few blocks away at 65 I St. SW, but has little connection to the city’s artists. “There’s a reason [the Rubells] own hotels. They’re not doing it pro-bono. It’s naïve to say they’re trying to help D.C. people out.”

Of course, (e)merge could help D.C. artists who help themselves. Though (e)merge's selections are still pending, some local galleries hope to participate. Hemphill Fine Arts—which represents artists more established than emerging—doesn’t plan to buy a booth, but the gallery will be involved in some other way. And (e)merge will open communal spaces by application to artists who currently lack gallery representation—a group that could have included Ventura, Milko, and many of the artists assembling under the But Is It Art? banner.

Both Ventura and Milko acknowledge that the (e)merge fair helps them from a marketing angle. Ventura describes But Is It Art? as an unofficial “step-sister” fair; he knows artists applying for both (e)merge programming and anti-(e)merge programming. “Let’s be honest,” Ventura says. “It’s a great opportunity to steal their publicity.”

Nevertheless, Ventura and Milko haven’t reached out to Conner. They presume (e)merge won’t take any notice anyway. “We’re not on their radar,” Ventura says. “It’s nice to do something without asking the powers that be first,” Milko says.

Actually, Conner knows about But Is It Art? and says she welcomes it. “These people have not contacted us,” Conner says, “but I think it’s fantastic.” She says that (e)merge aims to be inclusive and to broadcast other arts events within the city, including, potentially, But Is It Art? “Casting things as mainstream versus alternative—I’m not sure those are the right terms. If like the Armory, if like Art Basel, if what (e)merge is doing is inspiring others, we’re happy that a satellite is happening.”

—

But Is It Art? may be a tongue-in-cheek send-up of the commodification of contemporary art, but the curators believe theirs will be the better show. If the fair doesn’t exactly compete with the international, gallery-directed (e)merge fair, it may serve as a substitute for a different fair that’s gone missing: Artomatic.

“Artomatic is in a mode of rebuilding the organization before going forward with an event of any magnitude,” says Barry Schmetter, co-chair of the Artomatic leadership team. At this time, an Artomatic for 2011 seems unlikely at best, though Artomatic is considering two sites for a fall event.

Efforts to bring about an Artomatic this year collapsed when negotiations with the city to use a closed junior high school near Eastern Market failed. “We’re back to working with business-improvement districts and development companies,” Schmetter says. An Artomatic fair planned for Frederick, Md., has no direct connection with the Artomatic organization—except for permission to call itself “Artomatic Frederick.”

Once upon a time, Artomatic started much as the But Is It Art? fair. Now it’s a destination event that takes three to six months to produce, a draw for attention-starved BIDs, a city-sanctioned guerrilla event. It’s more circus than art fair, and it might be too big for any tent the city has to offer. And in its efforts to accommodate virtually everyone who wants to participate, its appeal as a venue for artists to get noticed has diminished to the point of irrelevance.

With Artomatic tied up in org charts and brand consulting, But Is It Art? cuts closer to the original Artomatic spirit of generating exposure for untested artists. But Ventura and Milko don’t much care for Artomatic, either. “We’re going to err on the side of inclusivity,” Ventura says, “but it’s not just going to be pay $20 and exhibit anything.”

Ventura and Milko don’t want applications fees—or applications. No images, no jury, no CV: They’re asking for emails from interested artists and curating it from there.

Even an event as hostile to authority and tongue-in-cheek as But It Is Art still costs something. What Ventura and Milko lack in resources, they more than make up for in connections—the ultimate DIY knowledge commodity. For permits, Milko says that But Is It Art? will tap the “basic artistic-political channels that exist in this city.” They expect they’ll need less than $1,000 in total for build-out costs, and they say they’ll find in-kind donations or materials on the cheap.

In the true D.C. DIY spirit, Ventura and Milko want to make But Is It Art? a success without tapping D.C.’s most established artists. “We’re trying to show that strong art can be the people you know—the bartender, the person who works at the coffee shop.” Check and check: Both of them Bloomingdale residents, Ventura is a former Big Bear Café barista, and Milko tends bar at Sticky Rice.

“I like that we don’t have big D.C. art names at this point,” Milko says. “Hopefully names will be born out of it.”

Clarification: The article originally listed Mera and Don Rubell among the organizers of September's (e)merge art fair. And although selections are still pending, the application process was closed before the story ran.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

The budget will reduce the Commission on the Arts and Humanities' funding for fiscal 2012 to $3.92 million, down from $4.3 million the agency received for grants and operations in 2011. The reduction continues a slide that began after the commission's funding peaked at more than $13 million in fiscal 2009.

While the so-called "ticket tax" was eliminated on May 25, arts advocates had to settle for that as their lone victory in this year's city budget negotiations. Continued budget slashing will leave Washington lagging behind other cities, says Helen Hayes Awards President and CEO Linda Levy Grossman, who spearheaded the public outcry against the proposed sales tax. Grossman believes the "ticket tax" and repeated funding cuts stem from some of the Wilson Building's current occupants thinking the arts are for the few and the privileged.

"There’s no investment in the arts community here even though it delivers exponentially because there’s still there’s a short-sighted idea of who attends and who supports it," Grossman says. With other major cities building up their artistic communities—Grossman named Atlanta and Pittsburgh—Washington risks falling back. "These are cities not necessarily known as being cultural centers, but boy-oh-boy do their governments recognize the power of the arts."

In addition to the increasingly austere level of local funds, the District's budget plans for another $5 million in federal funding—the result of a line item in the White House's proposed 2012 budget that would shift the National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs grant program from the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts to local administration. (The program's 2011 funding was gutted earlier this year from $9.5 million to $3 million.) A White House spokeswoman told Washington City Paper in April that the transfer would make arts grants more competitive, but local arts supporters take a more skeptical view—that the $5 million will evaporate in the next round of federal budget negotiations.

"I think it's really risky," Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans says of the White House proposal. "Given what the federal government is doing in their approach to things I believe it will be cut out." Artomatic's George Koch called it a "red herring" at a May 2 council hearing.

Evans, who voted against the budget last week largely over cuts to police hiring and a tax on non-District municipal bonds, expresses frustration that District arts funding continues to sag. "We’re at the point where we are restoring the social service budget, he says. "We should be restoring the arts budget and we’re really not talking about that."

The confluence of the "ticket tax" proposal, District budget cuts, and the paring down of the NCACA program was a "triple whammy," Grossman says. Even with the sales tax off the table, the double whammy was no less "devastating."

Earlier this week, DCist reported that Artomatic organizers have been scouting Hine Junior High School at 7th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue SE as a possible location for the gargantuan, uncurated exhibition this fall. Rebecca Stone Gordon, a member of the board of directors for AoM, partially squashed the rumor in the comments section: In all likelihood, she wrote, the next Artomatic won't happen until 2011.

Chatting with Arts Desk today, she gave a few reasons: Even after a building is found, it takes months to nail down lease agreements and relaunch the website, and for artists to complete the registration process. So far, no building has been found, though several are under review, including Hine.

Currently, Artomatic's board is dealing with what could be seen as identity issues. The show started as a smaller cluster of artists exhibiting in a laundromat in 1999, and in the 10 years since it has mushroomed into a 501(c)(3) juggernaut of 1000 artists exhibiting in a massive space. The show has moved from a biennial to an annual, and in recent years has become a sophisticated pop-up operation—even as the people who help it run electricity, build partitions, and keep the show running are unpaid.

Because of Artomatic's increasingly elaborate needs, the cost for participation has gone up, moving the event out of reach for some participants, a fact Gordon says she laments. Artomatic won't be able to reduce prices anytime in the future, but its board is hoping to keep them at current levels. That's why a place like Hine is of interest: The space will have fewer associated costs because the electricity is wired, there are ready-made places to hang work, and the plumbing offers few mysteries.

So, should we breathe a sigh of relief, or of disappointment? It's easy to unload on the copious amounts of schlock Artomatic exhibits each year. Since Duchamp exhibited a urinal in 1917, the question of what constitutes worthwhile art at an uncurated, come-one-come-all exhibition gives critics plenty to ponder, and Artomatic is no exception.

Gordon has a special place in her heart for such criticism. "It means that we have so engaged them that we have done something right," she says. "We have caused them to expend a lot of energy thinking about this art." She recalls fondly the night in 2004 when people came in droves, in heavy rain, to see the exhibition following a disparaging critique by Blake Gopnik.

To declare Artomatic a sprawling display of schlock that has all the personality of a dormitory (minus the scent of incense and the aggravation of sexile) is easy. On the other hand, what a sprawling display of schlock! The fabulous thing about Artomatic is this: It creates a community in which hundreds of people, trained and untrained artists alike, work together. Given Mera Rubell's observation that artists in D.C. are isolated, any sort of community-minded art show, frenzied or otherwise, is welcome.

If it takes until 2011, that's OK. For the sake of volunteers, a biennial schedule may be a good thing. As for audiences: We can wait a little longer to cheer and jeer.

Artomatic 2009, courtesy Vincent Gallegos

David Hagen has a cool day job at Georgetown University's library, working with its special collections, but he's also a painter of cartoons—hardly a common way to make them. Although he says he's shy (and admits that's not the best quality in a freelancer), when my ComicsDC blog was playing around with logos, David sent me one out of the blue. Recently, he's had some success with his paintings—first with a show in Arlington and then even more so at last summer's Artomatic.

Washington City Paper: What type of cartooning do you do?

David Hagen: I'm a hired hand, a freelance cartoonist/illustrator.  I draw mostly spot illustrations for advertising, children's markets, magazines, newspapers, textbooks, newsletter, lots of work for associations.

WCP: When (within a decade is fine) and where were you born?

DH: I was born in 1957, as were many people my age.  Birthplace was Alexandria Hospital, but I grew up in London, Tokyo, and Vienna (Virginia, that is).  I went to Madison High School.

WCP: Why are you in Washington now?  What neighborhood or area do you live in?

DH: I got my master's degree in American History at Georgetown University and never left the campus. I've been head of graphic and photographic production for the university for...erm... 27 years (pre-Photoshop). I live in Sterling, Va., and have a mindless hour commute which allows me to come up with artistic inspiration.

WCP: What is your training and/or education in cartooning?

DH: Well, both my parents have wonderful artistic talent and always encouraged me to draw.  I took a number of art classed as a kid. I remember taking a class from Ellen Vartanoff in the 1970s that opened my eyes, but I was pretty much self-taught, copying Peanuts from the newspaper. I was a cartoonist for the high school yearbook and drew a strip, Fool' N Me, for college newspapers at James Madison University and Georgetown. Later, I took art classes for over 10 years from the Corcoran School of Art and worked with many of their wonderful instructors.

WCP: Who are your influences?

DH: I would have to say my major influence is Herge and the clear line of his Adventures of Tintin books.  I would have to call myself a Tintinophile. Tintin is my favorite comic creation.
My favorite comic strip of all-time was Bud Blake's Tiger, and I was lucky enough to carry on a correspondence with him for a number of years before he died. I loved the humor and simplicity of his strip. Sprinkle in some Dr. Seuss and a dash of Warner Bros. cartoons.

DH: I probably would have hired an artists' rep and not been so lazy marketing myself. I'm a pretty shy person which is probably the worst trait to have as a freelance artist.

WCP: What work are you most proud of?

DH: I'm very proud of the illustration work I've done for the American Diabetes Association through the years, especially the Wizdom kits that educate kids and parents about children's diabetes. I did some posters about nutrition and exercise that were displayed nationally in schools that I was proud of. Also, I'm very proud of the cartoons and illustrations I did for many years for the National Science Teachers Association's Science Scope magazine. I did some fun illustrations for Clorox, Texaco, 3M, and Dunkin' Donuts. I've done cartoon work for both Republican and Democratic National Committees. In the end though, I'm most proud of the illustration work that I do connected to education or children. I'm very flattered when a client says that because of my drawings, children get a better grasp on things. Texaco gave me an award for illustrations I had done for a training manual for non-English speaking people. The cartoon work I did for Clorox was to educate third world people about the beneficial qualities of bleach and sterilization of water and food. I felt like I made a difference in people's lives with my drawings.

Recently, I participated in Artomatic and have had over 50 commissions for my cartoon paintings...everything from family or pet portraits to monsters devouring D.C.!

WCP: What would you like to do  or work on in the future?

DH: More of the same work. It's amusing and interesting to find what the next day brings. One day you're drawing hissing cockroaches for a pest nanagement company and the next day you're drawing bunnies flying in oversized carrots. I'm enjoying painting cartoon family portraits for people right now. It's great to see the smiles when they see the paintings.

WCP: What do you do when you’re in a rut or have writer’s block?

DH: I let my mind wander while sitting in traffic. I think of strange situations or things I've seen on tv or movies. Google Images is a great photo resource.

DH: I'm wondering if there'll be any newspapers in 5 years. Drawing spot illustrations isn't the most lucrative business to get into, especially in a recession. A lot of clients' budgets have drastically shrunk or disappeared. Stock art and photography sites on the Internet are an easy way to go for many clients. I like the personal touch.

DH: It's a beautiful city.  I drove some out-of-towners on the George Washington Parkway and they couldn't believe it was one of the main routes into the city. There's so much national history and things to see and do (for free).

WCP: Least favorite?

DH: Parking downtown and the Wizard's uniforms.

WCP: What monument or museum do you take most out-of-town guests to?

DH: I used to take people to see The Awakening statue when it was on Hain's Point, which was always a good photo-op.  The Albert Einstein statue has replaced that now.  We always hit the circuit of national art galleries. Great Falls is impressive.

WCP: Do you have a Web site or blog?

DH: My Web site is under construction, but my blog is hagenillustration.blogspot.com.

• Eric Felten Jazz Orchestra. Blues Alley. $25.
• L.A. Guns w/ Mis-Fit, Tilt, Sinner’s Trail, Bitter Pill. Jaxx. $18/$20. +21.
• Sheryl Crow, Ari Hest. Filene Center at Wolf Trap. $30-$48.
• TheoryCast, ReVeL, Fight The Bear, Conshafter. Rock and Roll Hotel. $10. All ages.
• DC Summer Extravaganza w/ Tittsworth, Nadastrom, Will Eastman, Bobby Jae & Ken Lazee, Dmerit. 9:30 club. $10. All ages.
• Canda, Bobbie Allen, Mila Levine, Michelle Murray, Treevibes, Lulu Fall, Vox Pop, Lux Operon, Peter S. Pinocci, Liberated Muse, Rob Wolcott. Artomatic. (For more info, see our Artomatic Manual)

Saturday

• 40th Annual Smoke-In: Human Rights (HR of the Bad Brains), See-I, Christos, Telesma, The Package, The Omsteaders, J.B. Bevereley and The Wayward Drifters, and DJ Bedroom. 23rd and Constitution Avenue NW. Free.
• National Symphony Orchestra: “A Capitol Fourth.” US Capitol, West Lawn. Free.
• DJ Regal, Fort Knox Five, All Good Funk Alliance. Black Cat. $10. All ages.
• Independence Day Noon:30 Release Party w/ The Laughing Man, Achtung Panda, Ghost Light, DJ Natty Boom. Velvet Lounge. $3-$8. +21.
• DJ Dk. Cafe Saint Ex.
• NoiseHouse, BLOODSHOT, HeeBeeGeeBees, Jeremy Steinhaus, Machines of Living Death, Anil Rock, Copper Rose & Bone, Julie O., Fat Roberta, Princess of Controversy, C.O.M.P., Mother Courage, The Very Small, Mambo Sauce, Zip The Uncanny, Vmasta & Cortez, Glasgow Tunnel, The FiF. Artomatic.

Sunday

• Blues Jam with the Idle Americans. Bangkok Blues. Call for price.
• Jay Reatard, TV Smith. Black Cat. $12. All ages.
• The Scare, Energy, Fallen From The Sky, Ante Up, Debaser. Velvet Lounge. $8. +18.
• St. Croix Virgin Islands Reggae Tour 2009 w/ Batch, Ras Attitude, Empress Ima, Jah Empress. IOTA Club & Cafe. $12. +21.
• Smithsonian Folklife Festival: Only Men Aloud! Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. Free.
• Triple Staccs, Mzery Loves Company, Mary Battiata & LITTLE PINK, RC Rex & the Progressionals, SAW Showcase, Seth Barna, House of Echo, Rob Wolcott, Dark Electric Showcase II, Sesshin No-Fi, Sarah Fridrich. Artomatic.

"A Capitol Fourth" 2007 photo by boboroshi, Creative Commons Attribution License.

• Never Too Late, Crimestoppers. Bangkok Blues. Call for price.
• Hermans Hermits featuring Peter Noone. Birchmere. $45.
• Pat Martino Trio (June 26-28). Blues Alley. $32.50.
• Ozric Tentacles. The State Theatre. $20.
• Anthony Nelson (second performance on June 27). Twins Jazz. $15.
• Sunsets with a Soundtrack: The U.S. Army Blues Band performs an Evening of Latin Jazz. West Steps U.S. Capitol. Free.
• Hot Coffee, Mississippi, The Convertible Jennifers, The Long Time Darlings. The Red & The  Black. $8. +21.
• Who's Bad Michael Jackson Tribute Band. 9:30 club. $15. All ages.
• Doris Justis, The Cold June Tomorrows, Colin Jenkins, h double, Flo Anito, Riots On U, Wesley Gentle, Paper Ship Armada, The Yawns, Pup Tent, Jay Paslay, Miss Jess, Reversal, Space Tigers, WATERPLANET, David Correy. Artomatic. Free, donations accepted. Check out WCP's Artomatic Manual for more info.

Saturday

• Femi Kuti & The Positive Force. 9:30 club. $27.50. All ages.
• The Big Cheese, Big Tow. Bangkok Blues. Call for price.
• The Seldom Scene, The Dillards. Birchmere. $25.
• The Lemonheads, Appomattox, Title Tracks. Black Cat. $15. All ages.
• Del Ray Music Festival. Mt. Vernon Recreation Center. Free.
• Buddham Sharanam Gachaami: “Celebrating Lord Vishnu and the Path of Peace.” Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater. $40–$75.
• The Washington Korean Symphony Orchestra: Jeong-Won Suh, piano. Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. $35.
• Lode Runner, Wild Fictions, Ribbons. Velvet Lounge. $8. +21.
• Dogs Without Boarders, Eagle and Talon. The Red & The Black. $8. +21.
• Nick, Solograph, Ember, Music Temple, Matt Ambrosio, Someone Special, Latricia Lee, Rob Martino, Andrea Zarkauskas, Treevibes, The Galt Line, James Stephen Terrell, Eubonics, Long Walks On The Beach. Artomatic. Free, donations accepted.

Sunday

• Blues Jam with the Idle Americans. Bangkok Blues. Call for price.
• The Soul Sista Summit: Conya Doss, SY Smith, Maya Azucena, M.C. YahZarah. Birchmere. $29.50.
• The Shondes, The Bitter Tears. Black Cat Backstage. $10. All Ages.
• Team B, New Numbers, Evan Voytas. DC9. $8. +18.
• The Kennedy Center Chamber Players. Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. $35.
• 311, Ziggy Marley, The Expendables. Nissan Pavilion. $30-$45.
• The Church, Adam Franklin, Bolts of Melody. The State Theatre. $25.
• Sugarplums, Puffy Areolas, Nun Party, Secret Pop Band. Velvet Lounge. $8. +18.
• Tiny Vipers, Balmorhea, Argos. The Red & The Black. $8. +21.
• Daniel Gage, Organize, ALONA, SAW Showcase, Iritis, Copper Rose & Bone, Y. Misdaq aka Yoshi, Storm The Unpredictable, The Mesmers, Walker & Red, Moon Pie, Sweet Interference. Artomatic. Free, donations accepted.

Photo of Femi Kuti via MySpace.

Fresh off a well-reviewed performance at NEARfest, the most prestigious progressive rock festival in the United States (don't laugh), Mexican instrumental trio Cabezas de Cera are playing two dates this week in D.C. plus one in Baltimore. Cabezas de Cera aren't your typical bombastic prog band; rather, they combine folk, prog, free improv and a touch of the avant-garde into a fascinating and fairly uncategorizable mish-mash, and they've been doing it for about ten years now. While the basic format of the trio (plus a member credited as a "sound designer") is guitars/saxes/drums, in reality they play a bewildering array of instruments, from traditional instruments to nontraditional rock instruments like the Chapman Stick, plus a variety of homemade implements.

Cabezas de Cera are playing the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage tonight at 6pm sharp, then at Artomatic tomorrow night at 8:30pm. Both these shows are free. On Sunday, they will make an appearance at Orion Sound Studios in Baltimore alongside Might Could – you can expect a longer set at this show for your $15. Orion is at 2903 Whittington Ave, shows are usually scheduled to start around 8pm.

Have a listen at Myspace or check out their website for more info.

Image courtesy Cabezas de Cera's Myspace page