Last week we noted the “I want Kenny Loggins to play in my living room.” kickstarter made it to Jimmy Kimmel and had raised $10 Grand of the $30 needed. Well, miracle of miracles, with 10 days to spare over $30,000 has been pledged and Kenny is coming to a DC living room to play an acoustic set for 75 minutes. My sources on the inside tell me the concert should happen in early 2015.
Amazing. I love August.
This is pretty hilarious:
“Look, this is simple. If I raise 30 grand, Kenny Loggins will come play an acoustic set at my house for 75 minutes.
Look, this is simple. If I raise 30 grand, Kenny Loggins & Blue Sky Riders will come play an acoustic set at my house.
Like I said, if I can raise $30K, Kenny Loggins, Mr. Danger Zone, and his bandmates, Georgia Middleman & Gary Burr (collectively known as Blue Sky Riders) will fly to DC and play a private show in my living room. You’ll hear some old and new hits, but I need some cash to make this happen. If you’re looking to make a dream come true, put your money where your ears are and drop some cash. Don’t do it for me. Don’t do it for Kenny, Georgia, and Gary. Do it for America.
$300 guarantees you a seat in the house, if you’re one of the first 20 to donate that amount (SOLD OUT). Any other donation will give you a chance to sit in. Audience will be limited to 50 people. No negotiations– those are the rules.
The date of the show will be determined if and when I get fully funded.”
As of this morning they’ve raised $10,199 with 17 days to go. And last night they really hit the big time – Chuck Westover uploads to youtube:
“Jimmy devoted his monologue to a discussion with a DC man named Erick Sanchez who is trying to raise $30,000 to get Kenny Loggins to come play in his living room.”
1007 H Street, NE
Huge news from Frozen Tropics yesterday:
“He’s [owner Tony Puesan] closing HR-57’s H Street location [after Saturday night] to pursue a big opportunity for a space somewhere in NW DC.
HR-57 will also branch out so as to offer not only jazz, but also country, blues, and more.”
This will be HR-57’s fourth location after moving from Logan location on 14th (today Ghibellina) and two stops on H Street, NE.
Looking forward to learning more about the new spot. Stay tuned. in the meantime anyone care to speculate where the new spot could be?
Original Logan location at 1610 14th Street, NW closed in 2010
From an email:
“There is a great concert & flamenco performance by a local group this weekend at Gala theater in Columbia Heights. “Roya World Music.” I saw them at the Glen Echo Folk Festival a few weeks ago. They play a mix of Persian, Tango & Bossa Nova, and the flamenco dancer was wonderful.”
From an email:
“On Saturday, July 26th, 2014, DJ Dredd will present a 30th Anniversary celebration of Prince’s seminal film and soundtrack, “Purple Rain” at the historic Black Cat nightclub in Washington, DC.
The celebration, which takes place at the Black Cat nightclub, will feature a screening of “Purple Rain” at 9pm, followed immediately by a Prince themed dance party–featuring a marathon set of music, remixes, and videos. The event will also feature giveaways, signature themed drinks and a costume contest. The Black Cat nightclub is located at 1811 14th Street, Northwest. Advance tickets are available from Ticketfly.
DJ Dredd has held residencies and created some of DCs most celebrated parties and his sets are constantly discussed as some of the best in the city. His genre-bending style of mixing and his uncanny ability to turn any venue into the best party in town has become his trademark—attracting a following just as diverse and extensive as his record collection.”
From an email:
“Life Out There: A Space Journey with the House Band of the Universe
Evening Seminar with performance
Friday, July 25 – 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Saturday, July 26 – 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Navy Memorial, 701 Pennsylvania Ave., Wash, DC
What is life, really? How did it begin on Earth and where else might we find it in our solar system and beyond? David Grinspoon, an astrobiologist at the Library of Congress, and Ka Chun Yu, curator of space science at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, offer a mind-blowing trip through space and time—set to live funky jazz. See our home in space from a cosmic perspective and search for clues to life, from the infant Earth where life first arose to the mysterious, promising depths of Saturn’s strangely vibrant moons. The journey includes previously unseen state-of-the-art digital visuals and musical interpretation by the House Band of the Universe. Definitely not an ordinary planetarium show, this is an evening that’s guaranteed to be “psychoastrobiofunkiliscious.”
Smithsonian Associates Members $30, General Admission $42. www.smithsonianassociates.org 202-633-3030 for tickets.”
From a press release:
“The 2015 NSO In Your Neighborhood will take the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) to Brookland and NoMa (North of Massachusetts Avenue) neighborhoods. Between January 6 and 12, free community engagement activities will again find the NSO performing orchestral concerts and working with nearly 20 community partners to create the mosaic of chamber music performances, events in schools, libraries, daycare centers, community centers, and unique events that has become the distinguishing characteristic of this cornerstone of the NSO’s community engagement programming. The events will culminate in a concert at Catholic University of America’s Hartke Theatre led by NSO Music Director Christoph Eschenbach on January 12. (more…)
Photo by PoPville flickr user yostinator
From the Kojo Nnamdi Show:
“Amanda MacKaye told Kojo Nnamdi on his radio show Monday that the Fort Reno Concert Series would continue, a victory for supporters of the decades-long event who feared it would be canceled because of new National Park Service policies.”
Updates when the schedule is released.
Photo by PoPville flickr user yostinator
A reader sends word via DCist and notes: “I don’t know if you’re a fan, but this is a 40+ year tradition in DC.”
Absolutely horrible news from the Fort Reno organizers:
“Where’s the Schedule?
Around the time that we should have received our finalized permit for this summer, the concert series was informed by National Park Service that U.S. Park Police was imposing a requirement that we pay for an officer to be posted on site at each concert. Inquiry with our ranger led to me placing a call to U.S. Park Police.
U.S. Park Police cited differing reasons as to why this had come up after all these years. The reasons felt vague and when asked for specifics, none were given.
I requested a sit down meeting with NPS and USPP with the hope that our long standing (very good) relationship with NPS coupled with people seeing that we are just folks having a small community related event would bring about a better understanding and resolution.
Two messages to schedule went unanswered and when I did reach someone, a meeting was scheduled for the next morning (yesterday). The meeting happened but none of the invitees attended except myself and one extremely kind NPS employee who works in the office where meetings are held but despite being familiar with the park and the concert series as being an annual event, knew nothing about why the permit was being stalled.
So as it stands today, not only does the concert series not have the funds to cover this cost at the last minute but we don’t feel we should have to do this without just cause. Our feeling is that if something had changed within the operations at NPS or USPP regarding public events since last summer, there was ample time to inform us. NPS has all of my contact information. And this is not a little cost as USPP seems to think. It will literally double the VERY small budget of the concert series. It will affect how many shows can happen because the money must be paid up front. I didn’t even bother to get into what happens if we are dark due to rain…
That all said, with the heaviest of hearts the decision is that the concert series will be dark for 2014 in an effort to resolve this for the future. I hope it goes without saying that this is not the outcome we expected and certainly don’t want.
With love, gratitude and sincerity,
Amanda
June 26, 2014″
“In anticipation of their upcoming album release, DC indie-rock band, Grogan Social Scene is throwing a DIY party. For the event, Grogan Social Scene is collaborating with local artist, LA Johnson, as well as local craft brewer, Kyle Gildea. Johnson will be exhibiting pieces of art inspired by the songs on Grogan Social Scene’s upcoming album, Conceptual Arrangements, while Gildea will offer up several selections of his home-brewed beer in commemorative bottles designed by Johnson. The evening, which has been titled The Lamont Street Collective Summer Bash, takes place on Saturday, June 28th at the Lamont Street Collective (1822 Lamont Street, NW) beginning at 8pm. Opening for Grogan Social Scene is local band, Peyote Pilgrim.
Conceptual Arrangements is Grogan Social Scene’s second full-length album and is set for release in the fall. “We thought this would be a nice opportunity to preview songs from the upcoming album while spotlighting a great local brewer and an amazing artist,” says band founder, Thomas Grogan. Grogan Social Scene is a collective that changes and rotates its lineup on any given night. For this performance, Grogan will be joined by several members who also show up on the album including Erika Seberhagen, a former member of Once Okay Twice, whose violin is now an integral part of the band’s sound.
DC-based artist, LA Johnson, graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design in 2009. She has lectured at George Washington University and Artisphere and has held exhibitions in Washington, DC at The Dunes, Hole in the Sky, Jojo’s and Mid City Café. Most recently she has become the Art Director at The Intentional.
Local Brewer, Kyle Gildea, has crafted several unique beers for the event including, Smokey Whiskey Barrel Stout, Belgian Caramel Wit and an English Brown.
Opening band, Peyote Pilgrim, is an indie-blues band from DC.
Lamont Street Collective, a community space that has been devoted to supporting art, activism, social justice and fun rock shows since 1975, will host the event.”