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The Godfather of Go-Go would have turned 78 on Friday, Aug. 22. Tonight, two years after his death, his final album of new music, Beautiful Life, will be feted at a release concert featuring the Chuck Brown Band and special guests. True to Brown’s modus operandi, Beautiful Life incorporates songs and stylings from multiple decades of African-American popular music—the gospel standard “Oh Happy Day” and the suave Lou Rawls cut “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine” appear alongside the rap track “Pop That Trunk” and “Still Crankin’.” While Brown’s raspy and soulful vocals and warm guitar-playing will be noticeably absent at the release show, the onstage cast will compensate as best they can. Read more >>> The Chuck Brown Band performs with Black Alley at 9 p.m. at the Howard Theatre, 620 T St. NW. $22.50–$40. (202) 803-2899. thehowardtheatre.com. (Steve Kiviat)
EAT THIS
Bardo’s bimonthly brewery bicycle tour is back tomorrow. At 1 p.m., meet at the Brookland Metro’s west entrance then ride to DC Brau, New Columbia Distillers, and Atlas Brew Works. Then 5-mile journey ends at Bardo’s brewery and beer garden at 4 p.m. with $4 pints, $11 pitchers, and a cornhole tournament. Bardo, 1200-1260 Bladensburg Rd. NE. bardodc.com. (Jessica Sidman)
OH AND ALSO
Friday: It’s not quite a Graceland tribute but it’s close. The African super group Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars is joined onstage at the Black Cat by Harper Simon, son of Paul, for a night of traditional songs. 9 p.m. at 1811 14th St. NW. $20.
Friday: Local music collective Lucky Dub combine its African, Latin, and American roots for a performance at Tropicalia featuring Spanish rock group Kickoman. 8 p.m. at 2001 14th St. NW. $10.
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday: 1814! The War of 1812 Rock Opera, a hit at the 2013 Capital Fringe Festival, returns for three performances at the recently renamed Silver Spring Black Box Theatre. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at 8641 Colesville Road, Silver Spring.
Saturday: Big Star’s 1978 masterpiece Third/Sister Lovers is to bandleader Alex Chilton as SMiLE is to Brian Wilson: It’s zany, a little all over the place, and bursting with uncanny brilliance. Like SMiLE, it also has a folklorish backstory about its creator’s descent into insanity and loss of his bandmates’ support during its creation. Now, a few years removed from Chilton’s death, Third finally gets the proper live production it deserves. Read more >>> The performance begins at 7 p.m. at 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW. $30. (202) 265-0930. 930.com. (Dean Essner)
Saturday: It’s time for Trillectro. Local acts like Redline Graffiti join acclaimed national performers like Big Sean and GoldLink for this day-long celebration of hip-hop at RFK Stadium. Noon at 2400 East Capitol St. NE. $49–$130.
Saturday: Jim Byers, host of the Anacostia Community Museum’s Metro Mambo series, discusses the legacy of the Latino community in D.C. with bandleader Harold Harriston, and salsa vocalist Verny Varela performs and leads a dance party. 2 p.m. at 1901 Fort Place SE. Free.
Saturday: The National Museum of American History hosts a screening of the silent World War I film The Big Parade, which chronicles a young man’s growing disillusionment as he fights in the trenches. 2 p.m. at 14th St. and Constitution Ave. NW. Free.
Sunday: You step inside the Atlas Performing Arts Center. According to the playbill, there’s a play tonight: Rorschach Theatre’s She Kills Monsters. The story centers around Tilly, an odd Ohio teenager who lived long ago, in a dark age known as the 1990s. Tilly copes with high school stressors by writing friends and enemies into a custom Dungeons and Dragons module. But when Tilly meets the spectre Death—and perishes in a car crash—her older sister, Agnes roleplays through her late sister’s world in an effort to truly understand her mysterious sibling. Read more >>>The play runs Aug. 15 to Sept. 14 at Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. $20–$30. (202) 399-7993. atlasarts.org.
Sunday: Close out the weekend with a different kind of funk. George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic perform at 9:30 Club with Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band. 7 p.m. at 815 V St. NW. $45.
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