Ah, D.C. - a capital in constant flux, an uncertain city in a questionably legal state of un-statehood. It's a city that many people are proud to call home, as well as a city many quickly claim to be just passing through.
However, D.C. conjures up strong feelings for most folks who follow the music wrought out of the D.C. punk community. Ever since Ian MacKaye and friends formed Dischord Records back in 1980, after attending Wilson High School right here in T-town, D.C. has been in many ways synonymous with punk rock: a little angry, often changing and deep down not really knowing what it wants.
For almost 40 years, the annual Fort Reno concert series, which started June 15 and will carry on every Monday and Thursday until Aug. 17, has given local D.C. music its time to shine. Out there in the open air behind Wilson High, legions of families and fans crowd the lawn to see the free shows put on by the Northwest Youth Alliance. The rules are simple: shows start promptly at 7:15 p.m. and are over by 9:30 p.m. Don't bring glass bottles or booze. Do bring babies and dogs.
Local post-punkers Gist headlined the first show, supported by Diacritical and Jinxed at Twelve. And despite a bunch of annoying "TBAs" littering the schedule on the Fort Reno Web site (www.fortreno.com), some bands are not to be missed. Eyeball Skeleton (July 24) is a band fronted by two elementary school-age brothers (with their dad, the drummer, who sometimes wears a gorilla mask).
Joe Lally (August 10), bassist of Fugazi, will play. Also, don't miss Georgie James (August 3), the new, insanely catchy project by former Q and Not U drummer John Davis.
Past shows are a veritable laundry list of important D.C. bands, including, but not limited to, Q and not U, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists and the Dismemberment Plan. The thing about D.C. music is that there's a feeling of history in pretty much everything. Remember, when you're sitting on the grass swatting away mosquitoes, listening to an 11-year-old sing about apes, that this is the very spot where Guy Picciotto of Fugazi called some moshing kid an "ice cream-eating motherfucker." Priceless.
Since the shows are free, volunteers run the series. Check out the Fort Reno site for information on how to donate time or money.
