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Fools and Horses is part of a three-venue, 12-hour Sunday.
(Courtesy Of Diana Stagnato)
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Your energy might give out before the music does at the Throwdown Music Festival, scheduled to open tonight in the heart of Fairfax City.
The first Throwdown was last year in Fredericksburg, and one of the producers said so many bands were from the Fairfax area, it made sense to move closer to their homes.
"Wes and I are trying so hard to get the music scene here recognized," said George Dibble, owner of Northern Virginia-based Elysium Productions, who is producing the event with Wes Neidig, the founder of Locals Only Radio at George Mason University.
In a phone call, Dibble said: "It's been over a decade since the Washington area has been on the map musically, and there are so many good bands. . . . Moving it from Fredericksburg to Fairfax will definitely help."
The festival offers more than 60 bands on four stages, including hip-hop, hard rock and pop-punk.
"We work with hundreds of bands, and it is tough," Dibble said of selecting this year's roster. "For a festival, you want there to be a big draw, so you pick your top-draw bands."
For the first two nights, T.T. Reynolds will host the event, starting at 8 p.m. today, with multi-act bills such as Younglordz, Bludshot and the Echo Boomers. Ballyhoo and Temporary Basement are part of the bill tomorrow. Starting at 2 p.m. and running through midnight Saturday, T.T. offers 11 acts, including Jackie Gino (6 p.m.), Everyone But Pete (7 p.m.), which is celebrating the release of a CD, and Crash Boom Bang (8 p.m.).
On Sunday, the venues spread in what will be a veritable citywide sound explosion as T.T. Reynolds, Firehouse Grill and Auld Shebeen -- the last with upstairs and downstairs stages -- begin simultaneous music marathons that run from noon to past midnight. The venues are all within a shout of each other, so those quick on their feet who know how to elbow through a throng can hop from Fistful of Fifties (T.T. at 1 p.m.) to Baltimorean female pop-punksters Odd Girl Out (2:15 p.m. at Firehouse) and maybe even grab a bite to eat before the evening gets into full groove.
Area stalwarts Shane Hines and the Trance appear at 5:30 p.m. at Auld Shebeen downstairs, followed immediately on the same stage by Fools and Horses, whose Brit-pop-inflected rock is featured on a Starbucks compilation CD.
The rock continues as Agents of the Sun play T.T. at 9 p.m., and the folk-core acoustic rock of the Dreamscapes Project dominates the Auld Shebeen upstairs at 11 p.m.
As midnight approaches, there will be a choice for a finale: Fairfax's Numa at T.T., Breakdown Boulevard at Firehouse or Future, a Northern Virginia quintet that experiments with rock, hip-hop and blues, at Shebeen downstairs.
These venues are not usually open to all ages. "If you do have a parent accompanying you, you can come," Dibble said. Otherwise, it's 18 and older.
-- MARIANNE MEYER
All venues are in Old Town Fairfax. Auld Shebeen Irish Pub and Restaurant, 3971 Chain Bridge Rd., 703-293-9600,http:/
Admission is $10 per day; $15 for a weekend pass. For information on the Throwdown Music Festival, call 703-475-9235 or visithttp:/
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