Nightlife Agenda

Trying to create the over-the-top fairy-tale romance of a Bollywood musical is no easy task, but the Bollywood 2 Night crew is up for the take at Heritage India tonight. "A Tribute to Love" features DJ Tap spinning Bollywood films, Bollywood Hindi remixes, bhangra, Indian pop and Bollywood classics, 95 percent of which seem to be about wooing or being wooed. Tickets are $15 for singles and $25 for couples from Groovetickets. Don't miss tonight's drink special: Pani Puri shots.

The last time we saw Leslie Hall (listen), the Iowa electro-hip-hop sensation was tearing up Taint at DC9, rapping about jewel-encrusted sweaters and trailer parks and showing off the tightest gold-lame outfits since ¿ well, we can't remember. Leslie's back on 9th Street tonight with her band the Lys to help DC9 celebrate the club's fourth anniversary. Leslie is a force of nature -- truly better than even her YouTube videos suggest. Also on the bill are polished pop-rock band Hello Tokyo (listen), organ-driven classic-alternative rockers John Wayne Hero (listen) and New York-based DJ Dubta (listen), who just took his mashes of dub, drum 'n' bass and other thunderous sounds on tour with Gogol Bordello. Tickets are $10.

Listen up, poker sharks: If you think you're good enough to play in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, there's a $10,000 dollar seat at the table up for grabs tonight in Georgetown. A marathon six-hour poker tournament is the highlight of the Chance for Life fundraiser at the City Tavern Club. There are 150 seats available with a $300 buy-in, and only about three dozen remained at press time. You're playing for a trip to Vegas, of course, but your fees benefit the Spinal Cord Tumor Association and the Kennedy's Cord Foundation, which helps raise money to research spinal cord tumors. The buy-in includes an open bar and food while the tournament lasts. Not into poker? Not a problem. Chance for Life is also sponsoring a beer and wine tasting party from 8 to 10, which offers guided samples of 30 wines and beers and suggestions for pairings with food. There's also a poker after party, from 10 p.m. on, with live music, dancing and an open bar. Admission to these events is $50 for the tasting and the after party, or $30 for just the after party. Proceeds from these events also go to charity. Besides, the members-only City Tavern Club opens to the public just a few times a year, and if you have never been inside the Federal-era gem, which occupies several adjacent rowhouses along M Street in Georgetown, tonight's your chance.

Combining underground music and art is the aim of this weekend's Forward Festival, which kicks off tonight with a two-headed party at BeBar. First up (from 6 to 10) is X, which features the glitchy, dubby-heavy grooves of San Francisco DJ Ana Sia (listen to/download a set of hers) and the lush, atmospheric electronica of the local Aligning Minds crew. As they set the mood, check out art being created by several local artists, including Thom Flynn, who crafts densely layered collages of paper and painting, and abstract painter Michele de la Menardiere. You'll pay $8 at the door, but you can save $3 if you wear a scarf. (We know. Random.)

As X winds down, it's time for Pulse to heat up. Three Mexican DJs from the StirSound label are featured, including the legendary Jorge HM, who's been pushing boundaries for more than two decades, bringing his mix of house, techno, minimal, electro and other dance music to clubs across North America. (Download one of his StirSound EPs.) D-Bug and Paravoice open. There's a $5 cover, but don't miss the all-night drink specials, including $3 Peronis.

We like to think we know a lot about the local DJ scene, but we don't know much about DJs Colin C, Cruxial, JJ and Brandon Black. We understand Cruxial spins tribal house and trance, and Brandon Black's opened for big-shot house DJ Doc Martin, but we're not really that familiar with them, and you might not be either. Here's one reason you may want to be: These four DJs are taking turns on the decks at Five tonight, beginning at 7, and the club is offering free beer until 11. Free beer. For checking out some local DJs. Seems like a pretty simple decision to us.

Sunday, February 17
If last week's Grammys left you wanting more ... OK, that's not too likely. In any case, the local version, the Wammies are tonight at the State Theatre. Like the Grammys, the Wammies, have a tendency to honor the more ... let's say, established acts around town, so you won't see many Nightlife Agenda favorites on the list of honorees, although bands like Georgie James, the Hall Monitors and the Points are up for some major awards. Performers include folk mainstays Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer (fresh off hosting the pre-telecast Grammy ceremony in L.A.), roots rockers Billy Coulter Band, harmonica wizard Frederic Yonnet, go-go upstarts Mambo Sauce and country rockers Honky Tonk Confidential performing with CBS news veteran Bob Schieffer.

Fur Nightclub is turning the clock back 20 years tonight with a lineup straight off of a "Live From the Capital Centre" PA tape. At A Presidential Affair, Sugar Bear and E.U. will be doin' "Da Butt," Jas. Funk leads Rare Essence through classics like "RE Herman" and "Do the Mickey," and to top it all off, Biz Markie is making a special appearance to make some music with his mouth, and we all know that "Nobody Beats the Biz." Drinks are two-for-one before midnight.

Local dubstep DJs don't get bigger than Joe Nice, the Charm City selector who was featured in a BBC documentary about the growing underground scene in London. Mixing the sparse atmospheres of Jamaican dub and the urban bass and attitude of grime, dubstep has yet to break into the fringes of the mainstream, despite artists like Burial and Skream getting nods from Pitchfork and showing up in the Village Voice's annual Pazz and Jop poll. Let Joe Nice show you what it's all about tonight as the Forward Festival wraps up at Jimmy Valentine's Lonely Hearts Club. Dive and Lie Wrecked also features glitchy, gloriously fuzzed out breakbeats and hip-hop from San Francisco's BreakBeatBuddha, who will have you nodding to every platter that touches his tables, and locals Tiernan and Tanc. There's no cover, and doors open at 9.

Monday, February 18
Blood on the Wall (listen) -- not a death metal band, surprisingly enough. The Brooklyn trio makes plenty of noise, while also offering interpretations on classic indie rock. Singer/bassist Courtney Shanks does one of the best Kim Gordon impressions you'll hear, and her brother, singer/guitarist Brad Shanks, has a yelp that brings to mind Pixies howler Frank Black. The band's recent "Liferz" careens back and forth between subdued jams and all-out racket, culminating with the sonic assault of "Acid Fight," which makes more noise than you'd ever expect from just a trio. Openers Cause Co-Motion! (listen) are similarly ramshackle, but they're more focused on their sound. The Brooklyn group does a great job recreating the jangly dynamic of classic C-86 British bands like the Pastels and the Wedding Present. Songs rarely last longer than two minutes; they are all punchy, bouncy delights. More Humans is also on the solid triple bill at DC9.

Tuesday, February 19
One of the strangest concert pairings in recent memory was when Coldplay tapped Black Mountain (listen) as an opening act for its tour a few years ago. The experimental Vancouver group plays heavy, sludgy rock-and-roll, and singer Stephen McBean sounds like he's just been roused from a deep slumber. That's about as far off as you can get from the Chris Martin-led safe-rock superstars. Black Mountain's new album is called "In the Future" and it has to be at least a bit of a joke. The band certainly looks to the past for its big rock sound, drawing on elements of classic rock, prog rock and even early heavy metal. There are heady delights aplenty on "In the Future," even if the 17-minute opus "Bright Lights" finds them biting off a bit more than they can chew. Intriguing singer-songwriter Bon Iver (listen) opens at the Rock and Roll Hotel.