North Carolina alt-country group Hiss Golden Messenger isn’t a stranger to the “saxophone moment,” à la those that punctuate Van Morrison’s best albums. One of those moments creeps in on the band’s 2011 LP Poor Moon, toward the end of album opener “Blue Country Mystic,” when the brass trots downstage to gently tug at the curtains. Songwriter and frontman M.C. Taylor previously whiled away nearly a decade in the San Francisco group Court & Spark, an equally twangy but often oversanitized band with one eyeball trained self-consciously on the audience. With Hiss Golden Messenger now on its seventh release, the rangy and sleepy Haw, Taylor has scraped off Court & Spark’s too-perfect veneer. Read more >>>  Hiss Golden Messenger performs with Daughn Gibson at Black Cat Backstage, 1811 14th St. NW. $15 day of. (202) 667-4527. blackcatdc.com. (Ally Schweitzer)

EAT THIS

Tonight, the Washington Nationals are celebrating D.C. Beer Week with Beer Night at Nationals Park. Premium Distributors, Destination DC, and the Beer Institute will be taking over the Red Porch Restaurant and the stadium’s adjoining concourse while the Nats take on the San Francisco Giants. A special package for $55 per person includes tickets to the game, food, beer, and access to an after-party with live music. Purchase tickets on the Nats’ website.  Nationals Park, 1500 South Capitol St. SE. (202) 640-7000. dcbeerweek.net/flagship-events/nationals-night.  (Dan Singer)

OH AND ALSO

Visit the brand-new Anacostia Playhouse for a preview performance of Nathan Louis Jackson’s Broke-ology, about a single father at the end of his life. Tonight’s performance asks audience members to name their own ticket price, so you can get in on the action for cheap. 8 p.m. at 2020 Shannon Place SE. Pay what you can.

“A Night at the Opera,” an exhibit celebrating the bicentennials of composers Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner, includes manuscripts, scores, and set designs from a variety of notable operas. It opens today in the Library of Congress’ Performing Arts Reading Room. 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. SE. Free.

D.C.-based rocksteady group Caz & The Day Laborers, recently featured in City Paper‘s One Track Mind column, performs at the Millennium Stage. 6 p.m. at 2700 F St. NW. Free.

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