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D.C., this week you can check out an alternative grunge band, a punk band, and a long lost film from 1930. Be sure to check out the arts news and reviews you can use and the latest in ticket sales at the end of To Do This Week. —Kayla Randall
FRIDAY
Dilly DallyDilly Dally are not a hip band. If you look on their Wikipedia page, the listed genres are “alternative” and “grunge,” two types of music that were already overexposed 25 years ago. The thing about Dilly Dally is you don’t go to their shows to be seen. You go because there’s something about the band that gets under your skin. On their 2018 release, Heaven, the distortion and buzz have an austere quality to them. If Seattle’s grunge scene was sludgy, then Dilly Dally’s version of the genre is close to the snarl of whiteout blizzard. Read more>>> Dilly Dally perform at 8 p.m. at Rock & Roll Hotel, 1353 H St. NE. $15–$20. (202) 388-7625. rockandrollhoteldc.com. (Alan Zilberman)
The Barns at Wolf Trap hosts legendary improv comedy group The Second City’s It’s Not You, It’s Me show, which addresses heartbreak, missed connections, and all manner of human relationships. 8 p.m. at 1635 Trap Road, Vienna. $30–$35.
Bluegrass-rock band Railroad Earth performs at 9:30 Club. 7 p.m. at 815 V St. NW. $28.
Hip-hop icon Biz Markie plays DJ at The Fillmore Silver Spring’s ’80s vs. ’90s music dance party. 8:30 p.m. at 8656 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. $7.75–$15.50.
SATURDAY
MambaWhen corporate owners pulled the plug on the streaming service FilmStruck last year, film buffs lost easy access to the deep catalogs of the Criterion Collection and Turner Classic Movies, and many complained that the decision amounted to an erasure of film history. But with arthouse favorites well represented in film archives and on home video shelves, the films more in danger of being lost to history are obscure titles, like the low-budget products of studios that set up shop on what was known as Hollywood’s Poverty Row. This month, the National Gallery of Art showcases efforts to preserve these often neglected titles, including Mamba, a 1930 adventure from the long-forgotten independent studio Tiffany. One of the first color features, Mamba stars Jean Hersholt, for whom the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences named their humanitarian award, in a most inhuman role: a sadistic plantation owner in Africa. Don’t worry, he gets his comeuppance. Read more>>> The film screens at 12 p.m. at the National Gallery of Art, 4th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Free. (202) 737-4215. nga.gov. (Pat Padua)
THEARC hosts the sixth annual Black Love Experience, a celebration which promotes local and international black vendors, artists, food, and drink. 7 p.m. at 1901 Mississippi Ave. SE. $45–$60.
Montreal folk group The Barr Brothers performs at U Street Music Hall. 7 p.m. at 1115 U St. NW. $21.
Americana singer-songwriter Carrie Newcomer performs at Jammin Java. 7:30 p.m. at 227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna. $30–$35.
SUNDAY
Swingin’ UttersIf the last time you checked in with Swingin’ Utters was noting its silly name on a crust punk’s leather jacket, it is high time for a re-assessment. What began as a meat-and-potatoes street punk band has steadily evolved into something more thoughtful and nuanced. The band’s latest, Peace and Love, is a far cry from its humble beginnings, with songs like “Louise and Her Spider” and “Sirens” borrowing more from breezy jangle-pop than Stiff Little Fingers. The band, like most veteran California punk bands, doesn’t make its way out East all that often, making its upcoming trip to DC9 required for any punk worth his or her studs. Read more>>> Swingin’ Utters perform at 8 p.m. at DC9, 1940 9th St. NW. $13–$15. (202) 483-5000. dcnine.com. (Matt Siblo)
City Winery hosts country folk singer Mary Gauthier, performing with up-and-coming folk singer Jaimee Harris. 7:30 p.m. at 1350 Okie St. NW. $22.
Peter Sagar‘s solo lo-fi music project Homeshake performs at Black Cat. 7:30 p.m. at 1811 14th St. NW. $16–$18.
Local soulful musicians Elijah Balbed (sax) and Isabelle De Leon (drums) perform at Pearl Street Warehouse. 7:30 p.m. at 33 Pearl St. SW. Free.
MONDAY
Bon Iver & TU Dance’s Come ThroughWashington needs arts venues and organizations that throw money at MacArthur geniuses and give them time and space to make art together in large-scale collaborations. This spring, D.C. can take in the Kennedy Center’s new DIRECT CURRENT celebration, which includes a show featuring new music from indie rock darling Justin Vernon, otherwise known with his band as Bon Iver. Come Through pairs the Wisconsin-born creator of hazy, atmospheric pop with TU Dance, a small Minnesota company run by veterans of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Read more>>> The show begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, 2700 F St. NW. $49–$189. (202) 467-4600. kennedy-center.org. (Rebecca J. Ritzel)
The Lincoln Theatre hosts cabaret performer Meow Meow and pianist Thomas Lauderdale. 8 p.m. at 1215 U St. NW. $35.
Brit Floyd brings its Pink Floyd tribute show to the Warner Theatre. 8 p.m. at 513 13th St. NW. $43–$95.
Author Albert Woodfox speaks about his book Solitary, in which he recounts the 50 years he was sentenced to in Angola prison and his experience with solitary confinement. 7 p.m. at 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. Free.
TUESDAY
Earl SweatshirtEarl Sweatshirt is barely half the age of rap titans like Jay-Z and Snoop Dogg, but thanks to his early start as a teen wunderkind, his fans have already been watching his work evolve for years. The legend begins with Earl (real name Thebe Kgositsile) exiled by his mother to a boarding school in the middle of the Pacific Ocean after he dropped a jarringly profane viral mixtape. Earl returned to the states to find that “Free Earl” had become a rallying meme, and that his music was near the center of a new rap subculture. Since then, he has shifted away from lyrics designed to disorient and shock, toward an introspective, deconstructionist style. His new album plays more like a fluid, continuous epic than it does a series of hooks and samples, to the extent that the album’s title, which simply promises Some Rap Songs, might be intended as an ironic joke. Combine the music with visuals that look like something David Lynch directed on a dare (see the short film: Nowhere, Nobody) and you’ve got a musical 3D-chess demonstration that utilizes jazz, rap, poetry, film, and meta-spectacle. Read more>>> Earl Sweatshirt performs at 8 p.m. at The Fillmore Silver Spring, 8656 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. $30. (301) 960-9999. fillmoresilverspring.com. (Will Lennon)
Beloved country singer Robert Earl Keen performs at The Birchmere. 7:30 p.m. at 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria. $55.
Moluba, a Liberian hip-hop jazz artist now based in Silver Spring, performs at the Anacostia Arts Center. 7 p.m. at 1231 Good Hope Road SE. Free.
Self-produced pop artist Choker performs at Union Stage. 7:30 p.m. at 740 Water St. SW. $15–$20.
WEDNESDAY
Summer WalkerOn her breakthrough single “Girls Need Love,” R&B singer-songwriter Summer Walker explores the double standards that exist when women look for love and sex. Or, as the Atlanta artist cheekily posed on Twitter: “text ur man ‘i just need some dick with no complications’ and tweet me his reply lol.” That tweet went viral, and the responses were hilarious, raunchy, and revealing: It turns out men think they’re getting a rough deal in relationships, too. Perhaps that’s why Walker’s woozy, back-to-basics R&B is finding such an audience, no matter the gender. Read more>>> Summer Walker performs at 7 p.m. at U Street Music Hall, 1115 U St. NW. $20. (202) 588-1889. ustreetmusichall.com. (Chris Kelly)
Author Pat Garofalo speaks about his book The Billionaire Boondoggle, a chronicle of why politicians allow corporations to rule over working class Americans. 7 p.m. at 600 H St. NE. Free.
Classical-pop singer-songwriter Gabriel Kahane performs at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. 7:30 p.m. at 2700 F St. NW. $45.
Jazz fusion bass player Eliot Seppa performs at The Mansion at Strathmore. 7:30 p.m. at 10701 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda. $17.
THURSDAY
A Bronx TaleAll Bronx tales begin on Belmont Avenue, or so croons Calogero Anello in the opening number of A Bronx Tale as he introduces the audience to the cannolis, nonnas, and colorful storefront awnings that frequent the sidewalks of the Italian-American neighborhood of his 1960s youth. Based on the autobiographical one-man show of the same name, the 2016 Broadway musical chronicles the true story of a young man who vacillates between the mentorship of his straight-laced father, Lorenzo, and that of the respected local mob boss, Sonny. Ensemble dance numbers and doo-wop music from Disney hitmaker Alan Menken electrify this coming-of-age story while the trappings of love, loyalty, and violence haunt its edges and call to mind the energy of classics like West Side Story and Jersey Boys. Read more>>> The show runs to March 31 at The National Theatre, 1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. $54–$179. (202) 628-6161. thenationaldc.org. (Amy Guay)
The Anthem welcomes punk rock band Jawbreaker. 8 p.m. at 901 Wharf St. SW. $45–$75.
Louisiana bayou soul singer-songwriter Marc Broussard performs at The Hamilton. 7:30 p.m. at 600 14th St. NW. $25–$35.
The Smithsonian American Art Museum presents Tiffany Chung: Vietnam, Past is Prologue, an exhibition in which the acclaimed artist responds to the Vietnam War and its legacy. 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. 8th and F Streets NW. Free.
NEWS & REVIEWS YOU CAN USE
Film:Good acting can’t save The Hummingbird Project‘s bland script.
Museums and Galleries: A conversation with the National Gallery of Art’s new director, Kaywin Feldman.
Theater: With Faust and Eugene Onegin, the Washington National Opera celebrates country living.
Theater: Actors examine the issues of the world in Studio’s Queen of Basel.
Theater: Aaron Posner celebrates the 6th president in Arena’s JQA.
Theater: The Wheel’s The Seagull builds more stories into Chekhov‘s classic play.
Music: Meet the local DJs carving out space for themselves and other women in the male-dominated music scene.
OFFICE OF FUTURE PLANNING
Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. for reggae rock bands 311 and Dirty Heads, performing at the Merriweather Post Pavilion on July 27. 5:45 p.m. at 10475 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia. $46–$76.
Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. for indie pop-rock duo I Don’t Know How But They Found Me, performing at Union Stage on May 6. 7:30 p.m. at 740 Water St. SW. $20–$40.
Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. for electropop trio Elder Island, performing at Union Stage on Oct. 7. 8 p.m. at 740 Water St. SW. $16–$30.
Tickets go on sale 10 a.m. for blues-rock sensations The Black Keys, performing at The Anthem on Oct. 12. 7 p.m. at 901 Wharf St. SW. $125–$250.
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