Cameo and Sugarfoot's The Ohio Players. $45. 8 p.m. DAR Constitution Hall.

Prince once said, “If you can describe it, it ain’t funky.” It’s hard to express the impact early funk juggernauts Cameo and the Ohio Players had on the genre; by now they’ve informed at least two generations of popular music. Cameo dominated the airwaves in 1986 and ’87 with the heavily synthesized electro-funk singles “Word Up!” and “Candy,” while the Ohio Players—led on this tour by Leroy “Sugarfoot” Bonner—reached the pinnacle of their success a decade earlier with the No. 1 hits “Fire” and “Love Rollercoaster.” Starting out in the early ’70s, Cameo was first known as the New York City Players; the group changed its name to avoid a lawsuit by the Ohio Players. Presumably any acrimony between the two groups has since dissipated.

Violet Says 5. The Five One. The Mighty Heard. $10/$12. 9 p.m. doors. Black Cat.

Best of Saturday:

Jerry "The Iceman" Butler. SOLD OUT. Blues Alley.

Though Gen Y may be most familiar with his voice because of those Cuba Gooding Sr. Time Life infomercials, soul balladeer Jerry “The Iceman” Butler remains one of doo-wop’s most active ambassadors. Butler’s own musical career began against the backdrop of Chicago’s Cabrini-Green housing complex. He and Curtis Mayfield escaped the projects by way of The Impressions in 1958; the group scored its first hit, “For Your Precious Love,” the same year. In 1985 the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer entered politics in Chicago; he’s been a Cook County Board Commissioner for 26 years. He’s been playing Valentine’s Day at Blues Alley even longer: This weekend’s set marks his 30th year performing for lovers at the Georgetown venue.

Arrington De Dionyso is back . $10. 7 – 11 p.m. Yoga District.

Wild Nothing. Abe Vigoda. Deleted Scenes. $10/$12. 9:30 p.m. show.  Rock & Roll Hotel.

Best of Sunday:

Henry Rollins at 50. SOLD OUT. 7 p.m. & 9:30 p.m. National Geographic Live!

Jack-of-all trades entertainer and hometown hero is returning to celebrate the big 5-0. The former Black Flag frontman won't be  "waxing poetic" about the days of yore; instead Rollins is "waxing psychotic" in front of a few a few hundred strangers.

Sm City Presents: Black Milk. SmCity Gods'illa. X.O. $15 w/college ID; $20 at door. 9 p.m. show.

Friday:

Baths. Braid. Blackbird. Blackbird. $10/$12. 9:30 p.m. show. Rock & Roll Hotel.
Friday Night Eclectic: Daddy Lion. Bellflur. Screen Vinyl Image. $10/$12. 8 p.m. Strathmore.
Frank Reyes (romantic bachata) at El Boqueron II in Rockville.
Anthony B. Rasta rapper. Club 12.
Lizz Wright with V. Rich. $35. 7:30 p.m. Birchmere
NE Honor by August. Simplified. Red Wanting Blue. Friday and Saturday w/Darlignside. $12. 9:00 p.m. doors. Iota Club.
Wailin Mailman Buck Hill (Saxophonist). With Bob Butta. Nasar Abadey. Friday and Saturday. 9 p.m. & 11 p.m. Twins Jazz.
Misstallica. Female Tribute Band. $10/$10. 9 p.m. show. State Theatre.

Saturday:

The Postelles. Snowmine. Dinosaur Bones. $10/$12. 9:30 p.m show. The Red Palace.
David Wax Museum. SOLD OUT. 8 p.m. Sixth and I Synagogue.
The Civil Wars. SOLD OUT. 7 p.m. Jammin Java.
Trey Songz w/Lloyd. $55 – $75. 7 p.m.  DAR Constitution Hall.
Island Africa: Cape Verde Diaspora Café.  2 to 4:30 p.m.  Music, discussion, food and more at the Smithsonian Museum of African Art – free with reservation. 202-633-4646.

Sunday:

Emilie Autumn. SOLD OUT. 8:30 p.m. show. Rock and Roll Hotel.
We Were Pirates Anti-Valentine's Day Show. The Silver Liners.Time Travel. $8. 8:30 p.m. doors. Black Cat.
Jimmy Eat World. With David Bazan and Band. SOLD OUT. 7pm doors. 9:30 Club.
Valentines Day with Heidi Martin. $25/$55 for Valentine's package. 6 p.m. show. Bohemian Caverns.

The 2010 Virgin Mobile FreeFest took place at Merriweather Post Pavilion on Saturday, and while it didn't  have quite the heavy-hitting lineup of last year's, it still had a nice cross-section of music and non-music events. The D.C. area is a smidge less humid in September than in August, and the day's weather was lovely. (Let's hope this date change from August to September is a permanent one!)

A few days late, here are our photos of Virgin Mobile FreeFest—now with more ferris wheel!

I started the day out with Jimmy Eat World. Jimmy was never really my thing—its sound always seemed a tad too formulaic to me—but the kids seemed to be into it. Internet radio stations must have been kind to these power pop-punksters in the last few years and playing their stuff a bunch, given the line of kids waiting to get down into the floor's "pit" section and the number of crowd-surfers once the set started.  Jimmy's set included tracks from its  first record in three years, Invented (which came out today), and earlier songs like 2001's "The Middle."

The area between the two stages held the commerce and non-music activities. Wooden forts and draped beds, like the one below, served as areas for folks to sit on something other than grass.

I ran across to the West Stage to catch Trombone Shorty. Shorty has long been a popular figure in the wave of up and coming musicians around New Orleans, but he's probably known more in Yankee country from his spots on the HBO New Orleans-based series Treme. So it was really neat that the FreeFest organizers thought to include someone who is hot these days but not the usual fixture in the indie pop/rock/soul realm.

Traditional Nawlin's music is always so happy and fun, and Shorty's take on it is no exception. Using his trombone like a lead guitar, Shorty and company tore up the jazz-funk with pop songs in a big way. There was a small crowd at first but  as the infectious sound caught the ears of the folks moving between the stages, much like a second line, it proved impossible to resist. Trombone Shorty definitely won some converts at FreeFest.

One of the non-musical things to do between the stages was a "Psychic Soula," or a Magic 8-ball for the new generation.  I wonder if one of her responses was, "Reply hazy, try again"?

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros came next. I wasn't really impressed by the tracks I'd heard from them as it just seemed like the usual noodle rock.  But there is quite a buzz about them so they had to have something. Maybe it was the prevalence of dirty bare feet?

Or half-nekkidness?

Or all of the above, and lots of long hair?

I think my tweet about the set went something like, "Edward Sharpe-part of the unwashed hippie movement for the indie generation, picking up where Phish left off...no wait where moe. left off. Blech." I wasn't impressed overall, but who can say what makes a person connect to a band or a song?  I think the attraction with Edward Sharpe may have something to do with his showmanship. Early on, he bridged that two-foot gap between the stage and his audience by cat-walking most of the barricade and climbing into the crowd. Sometimes it's just feeling a bit of that human touch that makes all of the difference for people. The 9:30 stage staff weren't enamored by his actions I'm sure,  but it was obvious that the crowd adored and loved him for it.

Costumes and photo flipbooks were also part of the fun things to do between the stages...

I stopped over to check out Yeaysayer. The band proclaims their sound as "Middle-Eastern-psych-snap-gospel." Uh-huh. All I heard was "plain ol' keyboard synth and guitar." Then again, I think "snap" is an activity, not a musical style, so what do I know?

Two acts I really wanted to see this year were Pavement and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. For the latter, it seems I wasn't the only one...

Joan Jett's voice can still go from lullaby-sweet to snarly within three seconds ("Crimson and Clover").  Her set also included the Runaways' hit, "Cherry Bomb;" the first song she ever wrote ("You Drive Me Wild");" The French Song" ("Love between two people is a beautiful thing. Love between three people is a more beautiful thing, especially when one of them is me," she said), and "Backlash," one of her collaborative songs with Paul Westerberg. And she got the loudest and best sing-along of the day going for "Do You Wanna Touch."

Joan Jett proved that she is still one big bad ass under those killer cheekbones. It was  cool to see kids who weren't even alive when "I Love Rock and Roll" came out be wowed by her. It was also neat to hear the collective cheer go up from the seats and the lawn when she launched into "Rock and Roll"'s opening chords. Everyone wants Joan Jett to be their bad-girl biker girlfriend.

See the rest of the photos from all sets here.

Next up: Chromeo, Ludacris, Pavement, and MIA.

- Toward the end of the day, the beer dropped in price by $1 (a 24 0z. Bud was going for $8 most of the day); water and Gatorade held constant at $4.

- It sure felt chaotic, but Merriweather keeps a tight ship. I saw a girl collapse during LCD Soundsystem's set; she was escorted out of the pit by security in less than 30 seconds.

- There's really never a reason not to get a Ferris Wheel for your festival.

- People will not necessarily get down to HBO-approved brass assaults, even if they cover "Lollipop."

- People still really, really love Jimmy Eat World:

- Very few people seemed to have come for Ludacris. Judging by the handful of his songs I caught, he turned hearts and minds (and propelled asses).

- Neon Indian has really pro-ed up.

- Joan Jett is from Rockville. (OK, I knew this already; but not everyone did.)

- Free yoga mats basically fulfilled the role of glowstick throughout the day, until actual glowsticks were  distributed during LCD's set.

- At least some of the crowd was willing to meet Thievery Corporation halfway.

- Say what you will, but Matt and Kim's dumbass jock-jams pop is shockingly bankable. The crowd ate it up.

- Costumes!

- I think I spotted him rolling his eyes once or twice during Pavement's set, but Stephen Malkmus was very plainly in a good mood, and super-talkative.

- I think Malkmus said something about supporting D.C. statehood, but he might have been talking about Northern Virginia statehood.

- Festival crowds love swag.

- My intern is really funny.

- I take it there was some backstage drama re: the seating arrangement. In brief: You had to have one kind of wristband to access the highest tier of pavilion seats (free-ticket holders were relegated to the lawn), another kind to access the closest tier of seats, anyone could hang out in the pit by the stage but this wasn't plainly clear, and for a bunch of sets the elite pavilion seats were half-empty. Matt Johnson, the goofy singer of Matt and Kim, got all political and bantered about how the crowd should "free the FreeFest!" Later, James Murphy thanked organizers for opening up the elite seats to the masses. "This is much better," he said.

- The Ted Nugent pinball machine did not make it.

- Joan Jett rocks a lot harder than her biopic counterpart.

- LCD Soundsystem's set was really, really loud, and really, really good, and didn't offer so many surprises, but more than a few moments of sweaty catharsis.

- I missed Sleigh Bells and M.I.A., which is a real shame; I heard that former was great, the latter meh.

- That shit was dusty! Especially in the dance forest, where most of the electro-minded acts played. Like, reduced-visibility, sneezing-out-soot dusty. My eyes still hurt.

- I killed my voice singing along to the Pavement set, and it was worth it.

What did you learn at FreeFest? Tell us in the comments! And check back here tomorrow: I'll have some more thoughts, we'll have some video, and Erica Bruce will have a ton of photos.