LITERATURE, ART, BOOZE, & EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN

TheEagerOne and Round Edges present Reminisce Over You, an art exhibit influenced by the artists memories of the '80s and '90s, featuring Ras, Janelle Sanders, and Elizabeth Stewart at the Fridge. One night only! Friday. 7 p.m.

Attention fashionistas! Who said clothes can't save the world? The 7th Annual Fashion Fights Poverty Gala features Project Runway winner Seth Aaron Henderson, EcoArtFashion founder Luis Valenzeula, renewable apparel designer, Earthtec, D.C.-based eco-friendly artisans, Ginger Root Design, and more! Proceeds will support FFP's programs including Fashion Fights Poverty Summer Fashion Camp. Artisphere. Saturday. 7 p.m. $75.

1869 Society ARTINI 2012 Tour: Inspired by works at the Corcoran, 12 mixologists compete for the most artistic martini. Enjoy an evening of cocktails, dancing, and art in your most creative cocktail attire. Corcoran Gallery of Art. Saturday. 8 :30 p.m. $95.

SwapShop at Hillyer. New clothes for spring! For each item you bring, you'll get a ticket that's exchangeable for another item of choice. Saturday. 2 p.m. - 5 p.m. $10.

You, Me, Them, Everybody! This is a Game Show. Hosted by Brandon Wetherbee, combining every board game, TV game show, trivia night, and quiz book, with prizes! Panelists include The Nation sports writer Dave Zirin, The Vinyl District's Jon Meyers and D.C.'s Own Sideshow Girl Mab, Just Mab. Artisphere. Saturday. 8 p.m. $10.

A.C.T.O.R. presents Race: Are We So Different at Busboys and Poets/14th&V. Sunday. 5 p.m.

The Fridge presents Dissociative by SCOTCH! A series of new works inspired by gang life, Santeria, and Mexican folk art. An opening reception will be held Sunday. The Fridge. 4 p.m.

Charles Kupchan, Senior Fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations, discusses his new book, No One's World: The West, the Rising Rest, and the Coming Global Turn at Politics and Prose. Saturday. 1 p.m.

Fox News political analyst Douglas Schoen, author of The Political Fix and Declaring Independence, discusses his new book, Hopelessly Divided: The New Crisis in American Politics and What It Means for 2012 and Beyond at Politics and Prose. Saturday. 6 p.m.

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'Damsels in Distress'

Whit Stillman wrote, produced, and directed a slew of successful comedies in the '90s, including the Oscar-nominated Metropolitan, and then he fell silent for decade. Stillman returned last year, with Damsels in Distress, a comedy about a group of girls at an East Coast college who try to help severely depressed students with a regime of cleanliness and dancing. Starring Adam Brody, Greta Gerwig, and Analeigh Tipton, the film premiered as the Closing Night film at the 2011 Venice Film Festival. A special sneak preview screening tonight with Stillman and Gerwig at AFI Silver Theatre. Not So Long Ago: The Films of Whit Stillman also ends tonight with a final screening of Stillman's 1998 film, The Last Days of Disco, starring Kate Beckinsale and Chloe Sevigny. 7 p.m. & 9:30 p.m. $15/$12.

SPACE FOOD & MUSIC

SOLD OUT!! Nero at 9:30 Club.

Indie band Wildlife City, formed from a group of bored medical students, performs at Red Palace. With Lethal Peanut and Western Affairs. 8:30 p.m. 18+. $8.

Soul artist Nneka at Jammin' Java. With Bajah and The Dry Eye Crew.  8 p.m. $10/$13.

Food That's Out of This World. Vickie Kloeris, the brains behind space food, talks recipes and how the foods are developed, tested, and packaged before being sent off on the Space Shuttle and International Space Station. S. Dillon Ripley Center. 6:30 p.m. $35.

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April Fools Day is this Sunday, which means you should take everything you see on the internet with a grain of salt, especially when logging in to your gmail account (remember the year that gmail said they were launching "gmail paper", a free printout of all of your mail?!). The shows this weekend are no joke, although they might seem so at first glance.

Alcest
Thursday, Mar. 29 at DC9, $12

Shoegaze black metal sounds like a totally made-up genre name. We're not joking: it is completely real, and France's Alcest is probably the most well-known band in the genre. They're probably more shoegaze (think My Bloody Valentine) than black metal, creating an atmospheric intensity that has garnered them quite a bit of attention outside the metal community as well.

Cartoon Johnny, Vox Pop, and Euphonism
Friday, Mar. 30 at Williamsburg Middle School, $15 (adults)/$10 (students)

A concert at a middle school on a Friday night sounds like a rockin' good time, right? In all seriousness, this is an annual show to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society featuring three fantastic local a cappella groups: Cartoon Johnny, Vox Pop, and Euphonism. (Note: the show starts at 6:30 PM and will end early, so you have plenty of time to go out later too!)

A Sound of Thunder
Saturday, Mar. 31 at Empire, $10

If we were to mention a female singer with a giant snake, you'd probably think we were talking about Britney Spears. Well, no joke: local power metal band A Sound of Thunder just released a music video for their new song "Murderous Horde" featuring singer Nina Osegueda singing to a Burmese python named Chubby. The group's concert this weekend is a CD release show for their new album Out of the Darkness and features several other local metal groups.

Fuchida
Sunday, Apr. 1 at the Black Cat, $8

Hey, there's a black metal band playing at the Black Cat on April Fools' Day! No, we're serious: there really is a black metal band playing at the Black Cat. The local club is known mostly for hosting indie-rock bands, although there is the occasional metal show on the venue's schedule. But it's been several years since we've seen a black metal band grace the club's stage, so this should be pretty cool. There's not a lot of information about Fuchida on the web, but this appears to be one of their first shows (if not their very first one); we couldn't find any of their music on YouTube, so you might just have to come check out the show if you want to know what they sound like.

These and other show listings can be found on ShowListDC

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Van Halen (Facebook)

Robert Shiller argues finance isn't inherently amoral in his new book, Finance and the Good Society. A professor of economics at Yale University and author of The Subprime Solution and Irrational Exuberance, he says the financial sector shouldn't be blamed entirely for current economic times. "Further democratization of finance entails relying more on effective institutions of risk management that prevent random redistributions of power and wealth. We have to further develop the financial system’s inherent logic, its own ways of making deals among independent and free people — deals that leave them all better off," he writes. Politics & Prose.  7 p.m.

THEATER & MUSIC

Playwright Will Eno's The Flu Season opens at Georgetown University. Set in a mental hospital, the play "investigates the changes wrought by time on art and affection in this wry drama...where the chief ailments are disengagement and misunderstanding." 8 p.m. $12/$10.

CANCELLED! 9:30 Club Presents Example at U Street Music Hall.

CANCELLED: Former Husker Du dummer, Grant Hart, recently released an album, The Argument, wherein he retells John Milton's Paradise Lost. He performs at Black Cat with The Chance. 8 p.m. Backstage. $12.

Flashback! Van Halen with Kool & the Gang at Verizon Center. 7:30 p.m. $35 - $170.

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(Facebook/STC

Eugene O'Neill's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1928 drama, Strange Interlude, opens at Shakespeare Theatre Company's Sidney Harman Hall. Crushed after the death of her fiance, Nina copes by having a string of affairs, eventually marrying a man she doesn't love. While pregnant with his baby, she learns a family secret, which sets off turmoil that spans two decades. STC's artistic director, Michael Kahn, "spent six months wrestling with the text ... originally running more than five hours (with a dinner break), the play is the multifaceted psychological portrait of a woman, Nina (portrayed here by Francesca Faridany), and the men who seek to possess her," writes the Post.

MUSIC & THE BRAIN

Science Café: Khow Thyself! Outwitting Your Brain's Hard-Wired Ways at Busboys and Poets/5th&K. Science writer and author of On Second Thought, Wray Herbert leads a discussion on how your brain deals with daily life. 6:30 p.m. Free.

SOLD OUT!!  Sleigh Bells at 9:30 Club.

Washington Women in Jazz Festival Closing Night Young Artists Competition and Jam Session at HR-57. 7 p.m. $10/$5 for musicians.

Folk-acoustic-pop singer-songwriter Rachael Yamagata performs at Birchmere. With Madi Diaz. 7:30 p.m. $25.

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Jordan Knight (photo: Brianne Nemiroff)

If you were to ask a teenager who Jordan Knight is, they probably wouldn’t know. But ask any woman between the age of 25 and 50 who he is, and you’ll probably see their eyes bulge out of their head as they begin to profess their love for him.

Jordan Knight is the lead singer of New Kids on the Block, the original boy band that hit it big in the '80s and sold over 70 million albums worldwide. He's also sold 1.5 million copies of his solo albums. Today, those fans are still around, as proven by the audience at The Fillmore in Silver Spring, Md., on Sunday night.

There were women waiting in line to see the pop star hours before his performance. Some wore vintage NKOTB T-shirts, and some women just looked vintage themselves. But they were there to meet their teenage idol, to meet the guy in the poster on their bedroom wall that they kissed all throughout high school. Knight met and took a picture with every person who purchased a VIP ticket, as well as some radio contest winners, and let them watch his sound check.

Pleasing one woman is hard enough, but Knight had to entertain hundreds and seemed to do it effortlessly, at least to his fans. Behind the scenes, however, he let his guard down, and it was obvious that he was exhausted. But by still going on only an hour later to perform for his fans, it only proved to me more how dedicated he was to each and every one of them.

Knight performed a 90-minute set consisting of tracks off of his latest release, Unfinished, his first solo album, Jordan Knight, as well as an NKOTB track, “You Got It (The Right Stuff).”

Knight appears to have been touring non-stop since 2008 when New Kids on the Block reunited, released an album, and toured after a 14-year break.

“To see the fans after all this time is pretty wonderful. To go away for that long and to see all of our fans still there is pretty mind-blowing,” Knight said.

Following that release, NKOTB decided to collaborate with another boy band, The Backstreet Boys, for a tour and collaborative album release, under the name NKOTBSB.

“It was fun," he said. "A lot of people thought we didn’t get along or wouldn’t get along. They’re very talented individuals and they have a lot of great songs that people love. The combination just fit: two boy bands coming together. I don’t think two boy bands have ever done that before. For us to do that, we paved the way for other boy bands once again by doing that tour, showing that you don’t have to be rivals. You can actually team up to do something big.”

The tour was a huge success across the U.S. and they are set to perform the European leg of the tour this summer.

Unfinished encompasses the current music trends of Dance/Pop and blends them with his own Pop/R&B style. Knight’s tracks are very upbeat and fun, usually about love and relationships. When I asked him why, his answer was particularly humorous as well as bluntly honest.

“My audience happens to be 99 percent female. It might be a good idea to write a little bit about love and relationships. I also like to write fun, sexy songs like ‘O-Face’ and ‘Up and Down’ and ‘Give It to You’. Those kinds of song are fun, sassy, and frisky. I like them and my fans like them.”

Talking to Knight about his music, you could tell that he loves what he does and always writes with his fans in mind.

“I pictured [the fans] driving in their cars, out running, or doing stuff around the house, just being able to put on their headphones and listen to it and be swept away. The main thing about music is that you have to make sure that it has an emotional connection and that’s what I really wanted: to make sure that there was substance to it and that you could draw out any emotion that it may be.”

Knight has three more tour dates left on his solo tour before he returns to touring with NKOTBSB. If you didn’t catch him in Silver Spring, he will be performing in Philadelphia, New York City, and in Foxborough, Mass., this weekend.

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Teebs (Facebook/Bree Kristel Clarke)

The State and the Individual: Films by Marc Bauder and Dörte Franke opens at Goethe-Institut. The film series explores life after the reunification of West and East Germany. Although it's been 20 years, Germany's "extensive spy network and the state's repression of dissident thought continue to have tremendous effects on the cultural fabric of German society." Last to Know screens tonight. The 2006 documentary, nominated for the 2007 German Film Critics Award, tells the story of three German families who had members imprisoned during the GDR's existence. 6:30 p.m. $7/$4. Films are in German with English subtitles.

MUSIC & LITERATURE

Electronic 'beat music' artist Teebs with Sonnymoon and Time Wharp at DC9. 8:30 p.m. $10.

Happy New Year at Montserrat House featuring Cornell West Theory and Red Line Graffiti. 8 p.m. $10. 18+.

Pulitzer-prize winner Art Spiegelman — Metamaus: A Look Inside a Modern Classic, Maus at DCJCC. 7:30 p.m. $15/$20.

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(La Boheme)

THE CREATIVE, SPEAKEASY & BOOKS

Jack Goldsmith, a Harvard Law School professor, discusses his new book, Power and Constraint: The Accountable Presidency after 9/11 at Politics & Prose. Friday. 7 p.m.

TED x WDC at THEARC. TEDx brings people together in the spirit of ideas worth spreading in the theme of "The Creative City: Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation." The day-long event features speakers, lunch by Busboys & Poets, a cocktail reception, and live entertainment. Saturday. $65.

5x5 Kickoff at Capitol Skyline Hotel. A launch party for 5x5, a public art initiative that will produce 25 temporary public art installations throughout the city. With music by Elijah Jamal Balbed Trio and Heavy Breathing. Saturday. 7 p.m. Free. Cash bar.

SpeakeasyDC presents At Your Service: Uncut Stories From Inside the Restaurant Industry at the Dunes. A night of true stories in the restaurant industry — Vol. 1 Into the Fire. The night also features a cocktail menu by bartender Jonathan Harris and live music before and after the performance. Sunday. 8 p.m. $15.

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AP

 A screening of the film Deadline Every Second: On Assignment with Twelve Associated Press Journalists, award-winning photojournalists talk about what happens behind the scenes and how they gathered breaking news stories — from "one photojournalist's wounds in a suicide bombing in Pakistan to another's imprisonment for his coverage in Iraq." Filmmaker Ken Kobre will lead a discussion following the screening, with AP's Richard Drew, Charles Dharapak, and European Pressphoto Agency's Shawn Thew. Corcoran Gallery of Art. 7 p.m. $12/$6.

Trailer from Ken Kobre on Vimeo.

MUSIC, FILM & SOAPBOX

SOLD OUT!! Gotye with Kimbra at 9:30 Club.

Jazz guitarist Kevin Eubanks, former leader of Jay Leno's Tonight Show band at Blues Alley. 8 p.m. $30.

To What Strange Place: 78s Listening Session with Ian Nagoski at the Fridge. The music researcher, musician, and record producer's recently released record, To What Strange Place, depicts the lives of Middle Eastern musicians in and around NYC. Free. 7 p.m.

Obama in Ghana: The Untold Story, an award-winning documentary about the President's first visit to the Republic of Ghana, screens at Busboys and Poets/14th&K. Producer and filmmaker Tony Regusters will present and discuss the filmmaking experience. 6 p.m. Free.

Soapbox at Hillyer presents performances inspired from fashion and clothing. The performance art series features Vincent Valerio's The Vincenzo Couture Experience, Matthew Rossetti's #Eating, and Rene Medrano's SULDOGA. 7 p.m.

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Bad Religion is performing for free this weekend. (Photo: mythicseabass via Flickr)

I've been hearing a lot of conversations recently about taxes and money challenges. This time of year can be brutal on our wallets, but luckily, there are a lot of great FREE shows this weekend to help ease that pressure. Too bad the beer isn't free too ...

André Henry
Thursday, Mar. 22 at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, FREE

No listing of free DC-area shows is complete without mentioning the Kennedy Center, whose Millennium Stage hosts a gratis performance every day of the year at 6 PM. This Thursday's performance features André Henry, a New York-based singer/songwriter whose jazz/pop blend invites comparisons to John Legend and Steve Wonder.

Sons of Bill
Friday, Mar. 23 at IOTA, FREE

Other than their weekly open mic nights, IOTA doesn't often waive the cover charge, so this Friday night performance is a special treat. This show features Charlottesville quintet Sons of Bill, whose twangy alt-rock sound is reminiscent of bands like Son Volt and Wilco.

Bad Religion, Tim Minchin, and more
Saturday, Mar. 24 on the National Mall, 10 AM to 6 PM, FREE

Most people are going to the Reason Rally to hear Dr. Richard Dawkins speak. That's certainly reason enough to go, but the "largest gathering of the secular movement in world history" will also feature a performance by longtime Los Angeles punkers Bad Religion. Interestingly, Bad Religion's vocalist Greg Graffin will also be speaking at the rally-- he holds a Ph.D. in zoology from Cornell and currently teaches Evolution there. The rally will also feature comedian/musician Tim Minchin, singer/songwriter Dan Barker (who's also a co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation) and tons more.

the Bobby Thompson Project
Saturday, Mar. 24 at Hill Country Live, FREE

You might not expect to see a twang venue in the middle of Chinatown, but Hill Country Live somehow fits right in. The venue features a ton of free performances (including a regular live band karaoke night) in addition to (typically inexpensive) shows with touring musicians. Saturday's show features blues-rock band the Bobby Thompson Project, a group that plays originals as well as covers.

Tribute to Abbey Lincoln with Jessica Boykin-Settles
Sunday, Mar. 25 at the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum, 2 PM, FREE

The Washington Women in Jazz Festival kicks off this week, featuring a full schedule that includes this matinee performance. It's a tribute to the late jazz singer Abbey Lincoln, performed by Jessica Boykin-Settles, a singer who teaches jazz voice at Howard University and is a former member of Howard's a cappella jazz ensemble Afro-Blue.

These and other show listings can be found on ShowListDC.

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(Dcist Photo Exposed)

DCist Exposed celebrates its opening night. In its sixth year, of the more than 650 submissions of photographs from diverse vantages of the District, 40 were chosen. LongView Gallery. Opening reception: Wednesday & Thursday. 6 p.m. The exhibit runs until April 1.

MUSIC & THEATER

SOLD OUT SHOWS! Justice at 9:30 Club and Fiona Apple at Sixth & I.

Washington Women in Jazz Festival celebrates its second annual opening night with Alison Miller and the WWJF All Stars at Atlas Performing Arts Center. 8 p.m. $20. The week-long festival runs until March 27 at various venues.

Obsessed with YouTube singer/songwriters? The Digitour 2012: YouTube Stars features Dave Days, DeStorm, Ricky Ficarelli, Alex Goot, Asher Monroe, Nice Peter, The Key of Awesome and WhatADayDerek at Jammin' Java. 8 p.m. $15.

9:30 Club and Spain Arts & Culture Present Vetusta Morla at U Street Music Hall. Formed in the late '90s, the Spanish rock band released their latest album, Mapas, in 2011. 7 p.m. $15.

August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, the story of an African-American blues star struggling to establish a place in Chicago's music scene during the winter of 1927 opens at Georgetown University. 8 p.m. $8.

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(PromaxBDA)

Brainstorming doesn't really breed creativity, and people are able to solve 30 percent more insight puzzles when they're slightly inebriated. In Jonah Lehrer's new book, Imagine: How Creativity Works, the contributing editor at Wired explains the cognitive science behind decisions. "We’ll learn about Bob Dylan’s writing method and the drug habits of poets. We’ll spend time with a bartender who thinks like a chemist and an autistic surfer who invented a new surfing move. We’ll look at a website that helps us solve seemingly impossible problems and we’ll go behind the scenes at Pixar," he writes. Politics & Prose. 7 p.m.

LAUGHS, FILM & MUSIC

Kasabian at the 9:30 Club is SOLD OUT!

The Wedding Present performs with the Jet Age and Pinky Piglets at Rock 'n Roll Hotel. 6 p.m. $15.

The Bottom Dollars with the Nuclears at DC9. 9 p.m. $8.

Book Club with Michael Smerconish at E Street Cinema. Chris Matthews sits down with radio and TV personality Michael Smerconish and "Book Club" to discuss his new bestseller, Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero.

Ivy League of Comedy — Spring Edition, a night of stand-up comedy by professionals who went to Ivy League schools only to disappoint their parents by quitting their high-paying jobs for gigs at comedy clubs. Riot Act Comedy Theater. 7 p.m. $22.

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U.S. Army Cpl. Joseph Casiano pulls security during a combined cordon and search with the Iraqi National Police in the Ur area of Baghdad, Iraq, Feb. 14, 2007. (Flickr/U.S. Army)

On March 19, 2003, the U.S. invaded Iraq. On the  ninth anniversary, questions still remain. Iraq: 9 Years of War and Activism. Is It Over? is an evening of reflection, stories from those in the anti-Iraq occupation movement and panel discussion. "Is the occupation truly over? What are we leaving behind? How is the current posturing around Iran similar and different from the buildup to Iraq?" Busboys and Poets/14th&V. 6:30 p.m.

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Sulu DC presents Spoken Explosion, a night of spoken word and comedy featuring artists Moana Love, Mouth, G Yamazawa, comedian Vijai Nathan, and a screening of director Jason Nou's Hip Star. Artisphere. Saturday. 7 p.m. $15/$12.

EXHIBITS, CUISINE & VINTAGE CLOTHES

The Floating Lab Collective: reMuseum opens at the Corcoran. Curated by Laura Routlet, the exhibit is a "participatory, mobile experiment." The Floating Lab Collective has replicated personal objects from homes and recreation centers in various D.C. neighborhoods as part of the exhibition. Saturday.

There's nothing like a relaxing Sunday vintage shopping at the House of Eloise Tea Time Trunk Show at Marvin. Featuring Eloise Tea, cupcakes from Sprinkles and Sweet Treats, and an exclusive gift for attendees. Sunday. 5:30 p.m. Free. RSVP preferred.

A Taste of Three Cities at culinAerie offers a cooking class and food tasting through Budapest, Prague, and Vienna. Saturday. 11 a.m. $100. Advance purchase only.

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(Sprinkles)

Sprinkles Cupcakes in Georgetown is celebrating its extended hours with free cupcakes today and Friday! One per person from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. For St. Patty's Day, the bakery is debuting two specialty cupcakes — Irish Chocolate and Green Velvet. New hours are Monday - Saturday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Physicist and climatologist Michael Mann, lead author of a 2001 report by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change that won a 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, discusses his recent book, The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines. In the late 90's, he co-published a paper that showed a spike in rising temperatures in the last half of the 20th century — the graph was dubbed the "hockey stick." "Natural factors could explain the temperature changes of the past millennium through the dawn of the industrial revolution, but only human influences could explain the unusual recent warming," reads an excerpt from the book. Politics and Prose. 7 p.m.

Jenny Owen Youngs peforms with Beach Week and Marian McLaughlin at Red Palace. 7 p.m. $10/$12.

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(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

You've probably already realized that this Saturday is St Patrick's Day. Depending on the stamina of your liver, you're either elated or annoyed by this holiday, but either way, we've got you covered. There are plenty of events this weekend that will feature green beer and rowdy sing-alongs-- as well as plenty more less Irish-influenced events. Whichever path you choose, though, don't blame us if you get pinched for wearing the wrong wardrobe.

Not Green: Hank3
Thursday, Mar. 15 at the 9:30 Club, $20

Hank3 is the grandson of Hank Williams, so there's understandably a large country influence to his music. His concerts always start out with about 90 minutes of traditional country tunes, both his own songs as well as those from his grandfather's era. But he's also a huge fan of punk and metal, and he'll perform a "hellbilly" set (punk music played with traditional country instruments) as well as a doom metal set (his project Attention Deficit Domination) and a so-called "cattlecore" set (a combination of death metal and thrash with cattle auctioneering on top-- and no, we couldn't make this up if we tried). There's also apparently a screening of the alien invasion film Tribulation 99. Bottom line: you'll get your money's worth, but be prepared for a long night.

Green: the Chieftains
Friday, Mar. 16 at the Kennedy Center, $28-$65

In music, you can't get much more Irish than the Chieftains, who started popularizing traditional Irish music back in 1962. This stop at the Kennedy Center is part of their 50th anniversary tour, so expect to hear many of their greatest hits.

Green: the Fighting Jamesons
Friday, Mar. 16 at the State Theatre, $12 advance/$15 day of show

The Fighting Jamesons are from Virginia Beach, but they've dedicated themselves to performing music inspired by traditional Irish tunes. This show, after all, is billed as "the Fighting Jamesons Performing Irish Rock's Greatest Hits". The band has barely been around for two years, but they've garnered quite a bit of attention, and many of the reviews of their debut album imply that you'll want to dance and drink while listening to their music. So wear your dancing shoes-- and come thirsty.

Somewhat Green: Vox Pop and Euphonism
Friday, Mar. 16 at the Mansion at Strathmore, $10 advance/$12 day of show

This show is billed as a "St. Patrick's Day A Cappella Celebration", but these two local a cappella groups don't usually perform Irish tunes. We've been told that they have a few special St. Patty's tunes for this show, but we're also expecting a heavy dose of American pop/rock hits as well. (Warning: Strathmore's site advertises green beer at this show.)

Green: O'Tasty
Saturday, Mar. 17 at IOTA, $12

DC's O'Tasty used to go by the name Potato Famine. Both are obvious nods to their Irish influences (the latter is a reference to the great famine in Ireland in the mid-1800s), but their current moniker certainly is less subtle. The Celtic punk septet won NYC's Irish Rhapsody Festival in 2005 and blends traditional Irish instruments (fiddle, acoustic guitar, accordion) with newer ones like the clarinet and trumpet.

These and other show listings can be found on ShowListDC.

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Newt Gingrich (Flickr/AmericanSolutions)

The Beltway Drama Series presents The Accidental Activist, a play about Newt Gingrich and his lesbian sister, Candace Gingrich-Jones, written by her partner, Rebecca Gingrich-Jones. Starring Candace as herself, the play delves into growing up gay, tackling the issues on a national level, and dealing with one's family. "At times, this careful separation between the personal and the political seems like wishful thinking. The issues in Accidental Activist don’t just affect policy — they affect people, and Candace Gingrich-Jones particularly," writes the Post. Busboys and Poets/Hyattsville. 7 p.m. $10 suggested donation, cash only.

MUSIC & IMPROV

U Street Music Hall celebrates its second anniversary week with Moombahton Massive XIII featuring Nadastrom, Sabo, and Toddla T. 9 p.m. 18+. $12 advance.

FIST Tailgating Party at Big Bear Cafe features two 30-minute open mic "warm-up" shows and food and drink specials to kick off the sixth annual Fighting Improv Smackdown Tournament. Fifteen percent of the evening's bar tab goes to Washington Improv Theater. 7 p.m.

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(Flickr/wwarby)

The 2012 Environmental Film Festival explores how the environment affects human health. On this 20th anniversary, 180 films will be screened at various venues. The Broken Moon, Switch, The Forest and its Friends, and You've Been Trumped premiere tonight with a special tribute to Kenyan Environmentalist Wengari Maathai. E Street Cinema/National Geographic Society/Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library. The film festival runs until March 25.

CIRCUS

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus arrive in town tonight with an elephant parade, beginning around 8 p.m. at Virginia and New Jersey avenues SE.

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(Sixth & I)

It's a gorgeous Monday, and March Madness is in the air. Don't have a clue about basketball, but trying to fill out a bracket anyway? The Post's sports writer, Dan Steinberg, and Comcast SportsNet's Ben Standig host Bracketology 101, a guide through the bracket, their favorites and other tips. Sixth & I. 7 p.m. $8/$10. Each ticket includes entry into Sixth & I's March Madness pool and a free drink.

FILM & PINTS

Pints to Help Half-Pints: A Beer Dinner Benefiting 826DC at Birch and Barley. The five-course dinner pairs nine craft beers and is curated by Neighborhood Restaurant Group Beer Director Greg Engert and Birch and Barley's Chef Kyle Bailey. 7 p.m. $150.

What Kids Aren't Learning: History Under Attack and Why it Matters at Busboys and Poets/14th&V. The Teaching for Change fundraiser features a panel discussing the question, "How intentional is it that children aren't learning history and what are the implications?" in light of the recent ethnic studies classes debate in Arizona. 6 p.m.

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(Facebook/Montserrat House)

Pho-U, the Vietnamese pop-up cancelled last month because of the death of Toki Underground chef Thang Le, opens at Montserrat House. Chef James Claudio and chef Brendan L'Etoile will dish out pho and crispy pork and shrimp spring rolls. Friday & Saturday. 7 p.m. - 1 a.m.

BICYCLES & STORIES

For bicycle and obstacle course lovers: Dandies & Quaintrelles' Crystal City Diamond Derby, a garage race, river ride, and party takes place in Crystal City. Saturday.

SpeakeasyDC's Story Showdown: A storytelling game show with host Rob Parker at Dance Place. It'll be a night of competing true stories and audience participation. Saturday & Sunday. $10 students/$22 general admission.

THEATER & FILM

Opera in Cinema features Cendrillon, the story of Cinderella from the Royal Opera at West End Cinema. Sunday. 11 a.m.

How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found opens at H Street Playhouse. Based on Fin Kennedy's Peter Brook Award-winning dark comedic drama, this play is a story of "one man's journey down the rabbit hole of identity." Saturday.

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