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Editor's Note: This story originally ran on Feb. 11, but a snowstorm caused the Feb. 12 and 13 Al Green shows to be rescheduled. According to DAR Constitution Hall's Web site, tickets for Feb. 12's show will be honored March 12; tickets for Feb. 13's show will be honored March 13.
THERE SEEM TO be two very different sides of Al Green. There's Al Green the smooth soul singer, and there's Al Green the regular guy. One takes the stages to perform dazzling feats of falsetto acrobatics and throw roses into the audience for women to fight over, and the other takes the long trips to get himself to those shows and preaches as frequently as possible at his home church in Memphis.
Throughout his 40-year career, Green has had to repeatedly make a distinction between the two. Born in Arkansas but raised in Michigan, he spent his youth singing in family gospel groups, but was reportedly fired when his father caught him listening to Jackie "Mr. Excitement" Wilson. Teaming with producer "Papa" Willie Mitchell and Al Jackson Jr. (of Booker T. & the MGs fame), Green recorded a string of albums for the legendary Bluff City label Hi Records, which yielded such future karaoke standards as "Let's Stay Together," "I'm Still in Love With You," "Love & Happiness" and "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)."
Sadly, Mitchell passed away earlier this year while Green was touring in Australia. A notable trumpeter, bandleader and businessman in addition to one of the greatest soul producers to turn a knob, Mitchell "was just so fantastic," Green says of his old friend and collaborator. "He lived a good life. He knew what it was all about. He taught me. We have to go on and be thankful for the things he showed us and thankful for the time and all that, man, and keep on rockin' 'cause that's what he'd want us to do."
MONDAY: You've seen Milton Glaser's work, even if you don't know it. For one thing, he designed the "I <3 NY" campaign, which is so iconic you probably never thought of anyone coming up with it at all. The Corcoran will screen a documentary, "Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight," about his graphic design history and the posters and images he made famous. The film's director will take questions after the screening.
» Corcoran Gallery of Art, 500 17th St. NW; Mon., March 1, 7 p.m., $15; 202-639-1700. (Farragut West)
Photo courtesy National Design Awards
JUST BECAUSE YOU know movies doesn't mean you know Mike Epps. At least, not his name.
A few years ago, at a screening for the 2007 film "Resident Evil: Extinction," two movie reviewers (older, white, female) sat in front of my friend, discussing how excited they were to catch Omar Epps in the flick. They praised his roles in "ER" and "House," but oops, their bad. Mike and Omar may be cousins, but they're not the same dude — Mike is distinctly, undeniably funnier, the kind of guy who has made the most of what Hollywood has thrown his way.
Whether he's providing comic relief in the zombie-heavy second and third "Resident Evil" films, holding his own alongside Martin Lawrence and Cedric the Entertainer in family-friendly flicks like "Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins" and "The Honeymooners," or being part of the highly entertaining identity mix-up in last year's "The Hangover," which made $467 million on a $35 million budget, Epps is inevitably the guy you immediately laugh at — even though you may first mistake him for his more dramatic relative.
And, yes, the films in which Epps is certainly the funniest — "Resident Evil: Apocalypse," "Resident Evil: Extinction" and "The Hangover" — are also the ones in which he's the only black guy onscreen, providing the most ridiculous (albeit true) observations.
THURSDAY: Hip young comedians, indie musicians and free booze! Oh my.
That's what you'll find at the Family Hemerlein Variety Show, a collection of comedy and musical acts awash in alcohol and hosted at a small, stodgy space downtown that will not be known as stodgy anymore after Thursday night's shenanigans. Rather, it will be "that place we did that thing one time." D.C. comedian Ben Kronberg is the headliner.
» Arts Club of Washington, 2017 I St. NW; Thu., Feb. 25, doors at 8:30 p.m., shows at 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., $15 with free drinks; 202-331-7282, Famhemerlein.eventbrite.com. (Farragut West)
Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo for the Washington Post
BESIDES THE MANY festivals we in the Washington area are blessed with, our local silver screens will be bristling with individual gems. Sobering times, apparently, call for nonfiction, so expect a passel of earnest documentaries. But there's also action, animation and fictional crime to take us into the warm weather.
'NORTH FACE': CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN, OR ELSE
Mountains and Nazis? While it's based on a true story, this ain't "The Sound of Music." Two German climbers are "persuaded" by Nazi propagandists in 1936 to scale the impassable north face of the Eiger (of "Eiger Sanction" fame). It doesn't go well.
» Avalon, 5612 Connecticut Ave., NW; opens Feb. 26, $10.50; 202-966-6000.
'THE RED SHOES': ARCHERS AND ARCHES
Brit auteurs the Archers (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger) were already on the mark (sorry) with "Black Narcissus" when they hit the bull's-eye (sorry!) with this 1948 ballet-within-a-ballet tale. UCLA archivists spent three years restoring it with funding from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Nice to know the Golden Globes are good for something.
» National Gallery of Art, 4th Street & Constitution Avenue NW; March 14, 4:30 p.m., free; 202-842-6799. (Archives-Navy Memorial)
THIS WEEKEND: It seems like at a certain point — say, after you've had a hit show on Bravo and a successful stand-up career — you're no longer on the D List. But whatever works, Kathy Griffin.
She's performing tonight at the D.A.R. — we're hoping for some Benjamin Franklin jokes.
» Constitution Hall, 1776 D St. NW; Fri. and Sat., Jan. 22 and 23, 8 p.m., $48-$58; 202-628-4780. (Farragut West)
Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images
» RELATED: "Charming Clash: Vampire Weekend, 'Contra'" CD review [Express, January 2010]
"WE MOSTLY WORK TO LIVE / until we live to work," Ezra Koening sings on "Run" — one of the most evocative songs on Vampire Weekend's second album, "Contra."
After the rapid success of the Brooklyn outfit's self-titled 2008 debut, Vampire Weekend is about getting back to and down to business — and it shows.
The disc is decidedly more experimental, expansive and bolder than the debut. Songs go past the five-minute mark ("Giving Up the Gun," "Diplomat's Son"), there are ballads ("I Think U R A Contra") and Koening even sings through Auto-Tune ("California English"). But the Afro-punk influences and pop sensibilities that made "Vampire Weekend" so likable remain and — especially on a song like "Cousins" — are amplified.
"I think the way that we thought about it was we wanted the album to have connections to the first, and it being in a way a continuation of things we explored," said bassist Chris Baio. "We feel like there's variety on our first record, but there is — to a degree — a similar tempo throughout the whole thing. It's interesting: by creating a kind of contrast and having two straight-up ballads on this album makes the fast songs seem faster than anything on the first record."
In many ways the album is a showcase for keyboardist, guitarist and producer Rostam Batmanglij. There's just more to the songs on this record — with more layers and textures revealed upon repeated listens.
With "Contra" out, Vampire Weekend will hit the road hard, with plans to tour for a year straight, Baio said. The group headlines Constitution Hall in Washington on April 3.
Express chatted with Baio about approaching the dreaded sophomore slump, blogosphere backlash and recording in Mexico City. (Listen along with the album here)
» RELATED: "Metering Rhythm: Vampire Weekend" interview with bassist Chris Baio [Express, January 2010]
VAMPIRE WEEKEND'S 2008 self-titled release could have been an album version of a one-hit wonder. A group of Ivy League prepsters came out of nowhere to smack the world over the head with a perfectly adorable collection of tunes, at least five of which could be stuck on mental repeat at any given moment.
The band's second album, "Contra," has been awaited with much curiosity, since we all want to see whether this Paul Simon-inspired bunch of white guys doing Afro-pop is actually talented, or if they exhausted their cultural-tourism funds on their first project.
And we're rooting for them in a way, since there was virtually no pressure with their first album compared with the buildup for this one.
The result? While "Contra" (stream the album here) is not a brilliant success, Vampire Weekend does the almost-impossible on a follow-up to a breakout hit: the group evokes what worked on the first album without repeating itself and while managing to mature along the way.
Where the band's earlier self-titled release settled into safe repetition of cute hooks ("Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"), "Contra" pushes some basic melodies and riffs on them, exploring them in a more nonlinear way — the edges are rougher, the experimentation a little deeper, the influences a little more varied.
The lyrics, unfortunately, remain alternately esoteric and cheap — "Horchata" exists primarily to rhyme "balaclava" with "aranciata," and "White Sky" presents the couplet "Waited since lunch / It all comes at once" as somehow being acceptable.
Continue Reading "Charming Clash: Vampire Weekend, 'Contra'" »
ONGOING: The Art Museum of the Americas tends to get forgotten next to all those big, well-funded — well, by U.S. arts-funding standards — Smithsonians. But this little space uses its resources well, as in the new sculpture exhibition "Bilateral Engagement." The title refers to the show's blend of items from the museum's collection and new pieces by locals.
» Art Museum of the Americas, 201 18th St. NW; through Jan. 15, free; 202-458-6016, Museum.oas.org. (Farragut West)
D.C. HAS SLOWLY been accumulating more food carts, though we're not a street food destination on the level of Singapore or Mexico City yet. But you can get a taste of street dishes from around the world at G Street Food, which opened in late September and sells everything from Vietnamese bánh mì sandwiches to a sausage of the day.
G Street Food was the idea of Mark Furstenberg, a baker and the former owner of Marvelous Market and the Breadline. He created the menu and concept, and teamed up with owner and manager David Choi. Last week, Furstenberg, who planned to work full time at G Street Food through May and then stay on part time, resigned, citing differences with the owners.
Choi said that he felt the menu was too small, with only five or six items, excluding salads, when the restaurant opened, and he asked Furstenberg to expand it.
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