Stars, Fireworks Mark Memorial Day
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Memorial Day is Monday, and there are a number of events marking the occasion this weekend, including a pair of major concerts, which are free.
Plan on a late night capped off with fireworks if you head to Wolf Trap on Sunday night for its annual Summer Blast Off! Featured is "The President's Own" U.S. Marine Band, which regularly performs at White House functions. The band will set the mood with patriotic music, then about 9:45, the annual 20-minute fireworks display begins. Free. Gates open at 7 p.m., concert at 8. (Get there early, however, because it is possible to get seats in the Filene Center pavilion and because the park has filled to capacity at previous Blast Off! concerts.) Wolf Trap National Park, 1551 Trap Rd., Vienna. 703-255-1868.
The PBS National Memorial Day Concert is broadcast live across America, but only Washingtonians have the opportunity to see it in person. The event returns to the Mall on Sunday with actors Gary Sinise and Joe Mantegna as hosts and performers including Gladys Knight, "Wicked" star Idina Menzel and Denis Leary, among others, honoring veterans of World War II and the wars in Korea and Vietnam. (The song list includes "God Bless the USA," "Pie Jesu" and Menzel's "Where Do I Begin.") Free. Gates at 5 p.m., concert at 8 p.m. West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. For details, visit http:/
And if you don't want to contend with the crowds Sunday (or the weather looks like it's set to ruin yet another evening outdoors), the dress rehearsal Saturday is also open to the public. It's on the Capitol West Lawn at 7:30 p.m., and gates open at 5 p.m. For Park Service information, including picnicking, call 202-619-7222.
Save the Date
CONCERT: Hot Chip The Cut Copy show a week ago made it so clear to us: After months and months of cold and rain, cooped-up kids don't necessarily want intelligent lyrics or innovativeness from their concerts. Sometimes, all people want is energy, charisma and a reason to dance. Electronic rock act Hot Chip provides this in spades -- that is why the London rockers sold out the 9:30 club on its visit last month. (Their power is immense: They even got boring old us dancing at one of their DJ after-parties.) Tomorrow, tickets are on sale at 10 a.m. for the band's next show at the 9:30 club, on Oct. 8 -- five months away. 9:30 club, 815 V St. NW. 800-955-5566.
FESTIVALS: Vintage Virginia Wine Festival This 27th annual festival celebrating the state's wine communities returns to Bull Run Regional Park next month with 50 wineries from across Virginia pouring samples (which are unlimited with admission). If you're bringing a family, there is a kids' area with face painting, live music and food. $25 in advance; designated drivers and ages 12-20, $16; ages 6-12, $5; younger than 6, free. May 31-June 1, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Bull Run Regional Park, 7700 Bull Run Dr., Centreville. For details and advance tickets, visit http:/
The District
Today
THE SCENE: Burma Relief Tonight, make your gallery-going socially conscious. Gallery Plan B on 14th Street NW, which featured a show of Burmese art a year ago, now hosts a benefit for the Asian nation after May 3's devastating cyclone, which has killed more than 75,000 people according to government reports, and faces famine because of the destruction. The gallery hosts a silent auction from 6 to 7:30. Free admission (but donations for charity will be accepted). 6-9 p.m. 1530 14th St. NW. 202-234-2711.
ON STAGE: Shakespeare Free for All It's a rite of summer. The Shakespeare Theatre Company is restaging last summer's "Hamlet," which featured actors in modern dress, outdoors and free of charge (hence the name Free for All). The shows begin tonight, and theatergoers have to get their tickets (up to four) the day of the show at The Washington Post (Tuesdays through Fridays beginning at 8:30 a.m.), the company's Sidney Harman Hall or Carter Barron box office (both open at noon Tuesday-Sundays), or grab some of the handful online at http:/
FILM: "Mister Lonely" Tonight is your last chance to see this Harmony Korine film about a Michael Jackson impersonator (Diego Luna from "Y Tu Mam¿ Tambi¿n"), who is taken in by a ringer for Marilyn Monroe and led to a commune of others like himself, from a fake queen of England to a wannabe Shirley Temple. Post critic Desson Thompson called the movie "a visually and conceptually mesmerizing and mystical movie." $7-$9.75. Today at 5:30 and 9:55 p.m. Landmark's E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW. 202-452-7672.
Saturday
FOR FAMILIES: XMKids Traveling Roadshow Saturday on the Mall, families can check out Lisa Loeb (yes, that Lisa Loeb), Meredith Brooks (parents: she will not be performing her 1997 hit with the unprintable title; instead she and Loeb are celebrating new children's records) and kid-indie rockers the Jimmies and Rhythm Child, when they perform a show raising money for the Children's National Medical Center in Washington. The concert, hosted by XM, is part of an 11-city tour aiming to raise millions for children's health care. Free (but donations are being accepted for the medical center). Noon-3 p.m. (shows are on the hour, with Brooks at 2 p.m. and Loeb at 3). The Mall, Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, 15th Street and Independence Avenue SW. 866-328-2345.
Maryland
Today
CONCERT: KRS-One The Bronx-bred hip-hop pioneer continues to tour and speak out for social causes, and this time, he's even on a tour titled "Stop the Violence." How's that working out? Well, the rapper had to cancel several dates, resuming the tour just over a week ago, after he was struck by an errant bottle during a Connecticut concert. He is at Sonar tonight (and the Black Cat in Washington on Saturday, $22). Keep the peace, people. $18. 8 p.m. 407 E. Saratoga St., Baltimore. 410-783-7888 or 202-397-7328.
Tomorrow
CONCERT: DelFest A whole weekend of concerts in Cumberland, Md., begins tomorrow in honor of the Del McCoury Band's 50th anniversary. It's two hours away, but hey, it's Memorial Day weekend. Over three nights, you can see the Del McCoury Band nightly, as well as an impressive list of fellow performers: Vince Gill; Punch Brothers (featuring Nickel Creek's mandolin player Chris Thile); and Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet, with B¿la Fleck. The family-friendly festival is tomorrow through Sunday. Three-day pass, $145; two-day pass, $130; ages 6-12, $30 and $20; children 5 and younger, free. Single-day tickets are $35-$45 and available online or at the festival gate. Allegany County Fairgrounds, 11490 Moss Ave., Cumberland. Visit http:/
Saturday
FESTIVALS: Hometown Holidays This mostly free, three-day fest is one of Rockville's biggest happenings, with a Taste of Rockville foodie event, a fine arts festival, concerts, kids' rides (which will have admission charges) and Memorial Day events. On Saturday at 8:30 p.m., pop singer Vanessa Carlton performs (her big hit was "A Thousand Miles," from a few years back); Sunday night at the same time, it's '80s rock singer Rick Springfield (who sang "Jessie's Girl"). On Saturday and Sunday, you can find the fine arts festival from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day, and the Taste of Rockville event, with 30 restaurants, from 1 to 10 p.m. (Tasting tickets are $1.25 each, and items typically are two to four tickets.) The event culminates in Memorial Day observations Monday, including a parade at 10:30 a.m. beginning at Martins Lane and North Washington Street. Free. Most events run 1-10 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, and 9 a.m.-noon Monday. Rockville Town Center area, Middle Lane between Monroe and Gibbs streets, Rockville. Visit http:/
Northern Virginia
Today
CONCERT: Gin Blossoms The band made famous by the 1993 radio hits "Hey Jealousy" and later, "Found Out About You" broke up for five years or so in the late 1990s, then regrouped. They visit the State Theatre in Falls Church tonight with Crash Boom Bang. $27. 8:30 p.m. 220 N. Washington St., Falls Church. Visit http:/
Tomorrow
ON STAGE: "The Tree Project" The people behind the Fringe Festival hit "The Pabst and Popcorn Hour Presents an Adaptation of the Tragedy of Doctor Faustus" (how's that for a title?) are behind this more ambitious production, a "part performance, part installation" work created by Dan VanHoozer and Denman Anderson and shaped by nine writers and set amid a backdrop of work by yet another group of young, up-and-coming local visual artists -- sorry, no free beer this time, kids. The show clocks in at just under an hour, and is an awfully manageable price, too: $5. Friday and Saturday at 11 p.m. Various times through June 7. Clark Street Playhouse, 601 S. Clark St., Arlington. $5. 202-544-1960. For reservations, call 202-544-1960 or e-mail razeraise@gmail.com.
