Late August turned out to be an amazing month for getting out of the house.  I had a chance to see two amazing shows at the end.

The first was at the Red Palace in DC.  I had been trying to get out there for quite some time and was simply amazed at it.  Myself, Joe, and James went out on a Wednesday night to see a neo-vaudevillian show.  The place is located on H St. NE in DC.  A wonderful old neighborhood, full of local character, hole-in-the-wall restaurants, and tiny bars.

We started off the night at the Biergarten Haus for dinner and… beer, clearly.  It’s a not so tiny German place, also on H St., with an amazing selection of imported beer.  Also, the food was top notch, with the best sauerkraut I’ve ever had (though the inclusion of bacon helps dearly).  It was only medium expensive, I got out of there for under $40 for two beers and a wurst plate.  But if you’re out for a night of drinking fine imported beers, it could get expensive.  A couple of the 1L beers run close to $20, so watch out.

The show at the Red Palace was, like I said, a neo-vaudevillian variety show.  This was complete with a sideshow act, comedy duo, and burlesque.  Most people when I mention “burlesque” think “stripper”.  Somehow, that makes it sound much more tawdry than it is.  There’s no waving of singles around, offers of champaign, or any of the other really skeevy things that people think of when they think “stripper”.  That being said, yes the dancer did end up in a thong and pasties.  But once she was down to that, it was 30 second then off the stage.

The musical act was a little late, but they were worth it.  They’re The Judy Chops out of Staunton, Virginia and they kicked some serious ass.  Their cover of “I Wan’na Be Like You” off the Jungle Book soundtrack was simply awesome.  I picked up a copy of “Give Her The Gun”, their album, and haven’t stopped playing it since.  It’s a fusion of rockabilly, blues, and folk and was worth the trip alone.

The following week I managed to hit up a pretty popular venue for live music in Vienna, Jammin Java.  A friend of mine’s band, The Only, was playing their first gig.  The opening act was the Tom Lohrmann Band.  Let’s not kid ourselves here, this guy has got some serious game.  The show was good, but the EP was better.  It reminded me of some of the very good rock of the late ’90′s.  He actually covered a Blink 182 song during the show and that or Green Day are pretty good analogs.  I can’t wait to see where this guy goes.

When The Only took the stage, the energy was incredible.  Their front man has some serious stage presence and plenty of versatility.  All in all an excellent show, but a low point was reached in covering Huey Lewis’ “Power Of Love”.  It just didn’t quite do it justice, but then again I’m kind of a 80′s pop snob, so it was probably me.  I got a chance to talk with my buddy (the guitarist) after the show and I’ve never seen him so pumped.  It was just nice to enjoy the spectacle.  I picked up the EP, “Don’t Let Go”, afterwards and it’s also found it’s way into heavy rotation on my iPod.  They’ve got a show coming up here soon that I’ll probably hit up.

Overall it was a pretty good month for social.  I can’t wait to get out and see what September has in store for me.