By Fritz Hahn, Rhome Anderson and David Malitz
washingtonpost.com Staff Writers
Thursday, February 8, 2007 12:00 AM

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Thursday, February 8
It's a local band blowout tonight at the 9:30 club, with a four-band bill headlined by Dust Galaxy, the slightly jammy, psych-rock side project of Rob Garza, better known as one-half of Thievery Corporation. The band also features members of GoGoGo Airheart, the Make Up and French Toast, and while the results don't sound exactly like Garza's main moneymaker, they at least give off the same vibe. Georgie James will also be playing, but we'll focus most of our attention on the two other acts.

The first act of the night has David especially excited, as it's the D.C. return of Stewart Lupton. Ask around about the best band to come out of D.C. in the '90s and you'd get plenty of fine answers, but probably not many would pick Jonathan Fire*Eater. Well, David would, and the band's one album and handful of EPs of pulsing, organ-heavy indie rock sound as good as ever, many thanks to Lupton's over-the-top vocals and lyrics. Unfortunately for JF*E, the band had more articles claiming it would be the Next Big Thing than actual albums sold. Three members went on to form the Walkmen, but Lupton went a full 10 years between albums. That drought is finally over as the Child Ballads, his longtime on again/off again project, finally has a release to its name. OK, so it's just an EP and it's only available as an import. But the ragged Americana on songs like "Green Jewelry" and "Cheekbone Hollows" rings true and even trumps anything from the Walkmen's latest album, on which that band was using the same influences. (Not there's any competition, mind you.) Tonight's performance is Lupton solo and not a full band outing; hopefully we'll get one of those in the near future.

Next up on the bill is Revival. Tonight's show serves as the CD release for the band's debut album, "Horses of War," the second release on the fledgling Gypsy Eyes label. It's a pretty extravagant record, especially for a debut. There's drama around every corner, be it in frontman Joshua Read's lyrics ("Well if you're leaving anyway / I'm not going to share the stars with you") or the music, as many tunes build from quiet folk songs to sweeping rock epics. There's a lot of depth to the songs, especially considering the group functions as a simple guitar/bass/drums trio. Whereas most of Revival's colleagues in the Federal Reserve collective are best appreciated in more intimate settings, Revival has a sound that is built for the big stage. Listen to "Fog Rolling In" and you'll understand why.

The Urban Film Series tour specializes in showing shorts and progressive movies instead of box office blockbusters, while recognizing greats of the past, like the legendary Melvin Van Peebles, who's speaking as part of the series on Friday. Tonight at Bohemian Caverns the organizers honor jazz fusion legend Roy Ayers with a Spiritual Legacy Award. A robust slate of poets, including Etan Thomas of the Washington Wizards, will perform to pay tribute to him. Advance tickets are available at UrbanFilmSeries.com

Listening to "Silver City," the 2005 debut from Boston honky-tonker Sarah Borges, it's easy to get the feeling she's not your typical country girl. And not to read too much into MySpace pages, but the fact that the "Influences" section on her page starts with punk/garage/indie stalwarts X, the Reigning Sound and Pavement pretty much confirms this. "Silver City" has the sound of someone who grew up on punk and indie rock but realized that her strong, smoky voice worked best with twang and not distortion. Borges recently signed to Sugar Hill Records, one of the nation's preeminent roots rock labels, and she should be a fine fit there, even as she brings a bit of edge to the roster. Catch her at Iota.

Friday, February 9
One of the most important melodic hardcore bands in history (no, seriously), Lifetime is New Jersey's greatest musical export since that other guy from Asbury Park. While so many hardcore groups went down the "I'm straight edge. ROWR!" or "I'm gonna beat you up! ROWR!" paths, Lifetime was always more melodic -- think Husker Du rather than Sick of It All -- and wrote songs about crushing on girls and hanging out. Good stuff. (Fritz wore out a cassette of the debut "Background" in the mid '90s.) Lifetime broke up in 1997 after the release of the epic "Jersey's Best Dancers," but the members reunited for a few shows in 2005 and found that they enjoyed it so much that they reformed for good. A new self-titled record arrived this week, and tracks like "Airport Monday Morning" and "Haircuts and T-Shirts" find the band's sound veering closer to Green Day or Get Up Kids territory -- especially the latter -- thanks to Ari Katz's ever-anthemic vocals, though the lickety-split drums and insistent hardcore riffing have much more muscle than the pop-punk dreck that's clogged the airwaves in recent years. Tonight's show at the Black Cat should feature plenty of new material, but I'm sure, if you ask really nicely, they'll haul out "Irony Is for Suckers" and "Theme for a New Brunswick Basement Show." World/Inferno Friendship Society and Government Warning open.

Tonight's indie-folk show at the Rock and Roll Hotel is brought to you by the letter V. Vashti Bunyan released a pristine underground classic, "Just Another Diamond Day," back in 1970. But "underground classic" is really another way of saying "nobody really noticed it" and the album became just another one of those sought-after used record store gems. Then the whole freak-folk thing caught on, and buzzed-about artists like Devendra Banhart and Joanna Newsom claimed Bunyan as a major influence. Suddenly, she was back in vogue and took advantage of that to record her follow-up album, "Lookaftering," a mere 35 years after her debut. The sound is basically the same: mostly voice, acoustic guitar and a bit of flute or other instruments, all played very gently. Vetiver opens, with a sound that's more country-folk than freak folk. The band's July performance at the Warehouse Next Door was often rollicking, never quite rocking, but plenty catchy. Local singer-songwriter Vandaveer kicks things off.

Maybe you've heard the radio ads and seen the flyers for the Rick Ross Birthday Bash: Huster's Night Out Pt. 2. Maybe, like us, you thought it would be cool to see Mr. Port of Miami at a club the size of Avenue. However, when you read the flyer, there's NOTHING about Rick Ross actually being anywhere near D.C. tonight, and we can't get the club to give us a straight answer. So if you're heading down to Opium, madpowerunit.com event pass in hand, consider yourself warned. If Rick Ross shows, it's going to be one of the biggest parties of the year thus far. If he doesn't, well, you'll still get the full lavish open bar from 9:30 to 11, that soul food buffet at midnight, and DJ Quicksilva knocking out the hip-hop hits, but we can't guarantee that you'll get your hustle on.

Saturday, February 10
When Krunk first hit Bethesda in the summer of '03, it gave all of us more incentive to hang out in Montgomery County more often. DJ Jesse Tittsworth, DJ Cam One, Dave Nada and Optimist Rhymez turned an unremarkable restaurant into a nightlife scene that hasn't since been matched around those parts. Battle hungry local rappers clamored for mike time in front of a mixed audience of party girls, serious music heads and singles on the prowl. Baltimore club music mixed with underground hip-hop and retro hits and no one's groove was displaced, probably because the drinks were so large. Krunk eventually moved to Dupont Circle and ended its run shortly after hitting the big city, but our memories remain strong. In honor of frequent Krunk guest DJ Ragz's imminent move to the West Coast, the Krunk crew is cranking up the wagon again for one night only. Get liquored up, sweated down and rocked out by all five Krunk DJs for free tonight at Comet.

Comedy, go-go music, food and DJs: These are the main ingredients for a true cabaret experience. Cabarets take place outside of the influence of the nightlife biz, where grownups put on nice clothes to party with each other at fire halls and other community spaces around town. You usually have to hit up local boutiques, barber shops and restaurants to cop advance tickets, and don't even think about wearing athletic gear. This is the type of atmosphere that comes to mind to describe what's going down at Mirrors tonight. The Reflection of Laughter & Soul starts with an open bar and buffet at 8 with Billy the Kid leading a slate of stand-up comics. The ASAP Band and Chuck Brown crank up the latter portion of the evening, and you know how they're going to do.

Even if we're honeyed-up, none of us can stand Valentine's Day. Flowers! Cards! Chocolates! Waaaaay overpriced dinner reservations! Copious, gratuitous amounts of PDA! It's enough to turn us to the dark side. We'll find solace tonight at the Palace of Wonders, where the Evil Hate Monkey is hosting the Hatentine's Day All-Hate Review. Best known as one half of the burlesque duo Trixie Little and the Evil Hate Monkey, the latter is half-man, half-monkey, and bent on world domination. For this anti-love, anti-Valentine's Day show, the risque schemer is joined by Skeletor (yes, He-Man's nemesis) and accordionists Full Bladder and the Grim Reaper. Expect racy hijinks to ensue.

Sunday, February 11
The Grammys are Sunday night and that's all well and good if you want to stay home and watch three-plus hours of industry self-congratulation, questionable onstage collaborations and money-grubbing reunions. But if you're looking for some, y'know, good and interesting music, try the Black Cat. Deerhoof has been making weirdly accessible (and not so accessible) indie rock for about a decade. Singer Satomi Matsuzaki has a sweet chirp of a voice, but it's usually floating on top of some harsh noise. The band's songs have a tendency to zig and zag, switching directions just when you got comfortable with where things were headed. It's sometimes gentle, but mostly pretty heavy. In the hands of less-experienced and less self-assured performers it would be a recipe for disaster, but the Oakland group has been doing it long enough to know how to pull it off with always pleasing results. Be sure to arrive early for openers Harlem Shakes. The quintet is actually from the next borough over, in Brooklyn (shocker, I know), and is one of those bands that has songs that are instantly familiar, yet not derivative. You can certainly hear a bit of the Strokes and Ted Leo, but it's the ever-present harmonies and background vocals that may be the group's defining feature. We talked about the band on the latest edition of our podcast, so check that out for more info on these up-and-coming blogland favorites.

Tuesday, February 13
There's nothing punk rock about being in love -- haven't you seen "Sid and Nancy"? -- so tonight's punk/metal/hardcore-centric Valentine's Day Boozer at Asylum should be just the place for everyone who doesn't want to be around hand-holding, lovey-dovey couples. (This event is so punk rock that we can't even print the full name.) Self Abuse and the Anchors perform live, while DJ Joshua, who used to host the Riff Raff raveups at Chief Ike's, is on the 1s and 2s.

Here's a novel idea: Hey, singles! Go to a bar to meet people! Though it's targeted exclusively at single men and women, Chi-Cha's Valentine's Day Eve party won't include any of those speed-dating or lock-and-key games, so you're left to your own devices when it comes to mixing and mingling. Maybe $6 martinis and $5 sangria will help you chat someone up before hitting the dance floor. Doors open at 8.

Wednesday, February 14
Dear happily coupled-up: We like you. We really do. We'd just prefer not to be around you on Valentine's Day. See, the single-and-looking among us would prefer if we could be around other single-and-looking types on Valentine's Day, and well, your presence might make us resentful and bitter. No offense, of course. So we'll make you a deal: For one night only, we'd like you to keep out of Chief Ike's. Just for one night, okay? That way we'll all know who's trying to find someone to take down. Don't worry -- the half-price drinks for ladies and the singles-only dance floor mean we'll still have fun while you're out somewhere else being the cutest couple ever. Thanks! Talk to you tomorrow!

Sometimes you need a strong drink on Valentine's Day. Like, say, Gordon Biersch's rich, divine Baltic Porter. Or the Cerberus, a strong Belgian-style Tripel from Baltimore's acclaimed Brewer's Art. Maybe a dark, heavy Russian Imperial Stout made at Ballston's Rock Bottom. In any case, you should get yourself over to R.F.D. for the annual Strong Ale Tasting, a two-night beerathon that features 20 of the region's top brewers showing off their special winter beers and offering tasting notes. (Your $30 ticket includes a sample of each beer, plus the chance to suck down any leftovers at the end of the night.) This year, says R.F.D. owner Dave Alexander, special guests include the brewers from Michigan's Arcadia Brewing Company and Jeremy Cowan, the founder of San Francisco's He'Brew. Cowan will lead a tasting of his Bittersweet Lenny's, a double IPA named after Lenny Bruce, on Thursday. (A full list of participants and their beers is listed on the Going Out Gurus Blog.

"Bachelor #1: Do you prefer frozen swirlie margaritas or are you a lick-the-salt kind of guy?" This is the kind of question we'd brace ourselves for at Freddie's Beach Bar tonight, where the gay hangout's usual Singles Night party is being enlivened with a special edition of the Dating Game. Hosted by drag queens and featuring performances throughout the night, this isn't an event for the timid -- but it's sure to be a lot of fun. The party begins at 9.

We've always thought salsa was a particularly romantic dance, and there are two chances for salsa lovers to celebrate on Valentine's Day -- and maybe even meet someone new on the dance floor. At Cecilia's, top big-band Orquesta La Romana is performing at "A Tribute to Love," so we expect there will be plenty of opportunities for a hold-close slow number. DJ Mike Morales works the breaks, and there's a $10 cover. Over at Habana Village, meanwhile, there's a "Jack and Jill" dance contest, where partners are randomly matched with each other, and a more traditional contest for couples. It costs $5 to enter, and there's a $150 prize for the top "advanced" couple and $80 for the novices. Call the bar to register in advance.

If you're just looking for a classic dinner-and-live-jazz date tonight, we're pretty keen on Felicia Carter and the Chris Grasso Trio at Twins Jazz. Carter has played around town for years, recording with Victor Dvoskin, the New Legacy Jazz Band and the Unified Jazz Ensemble, and performing, usually with a pianist or piano trio, at Twins, the Willard Room and the Mandarin Oriental. She has a cool, husky drawl that's fetching and sometimes reminiscent of Billie Holiday. (Click over to our very special Valentine's Day podcast and you can hear a clip of Carter performing the classic "There's A Small Hotel.") Expect a night of romantic standards, and note that there are two shows, at 8:30 and 10. We'd go for the latter if we were you.