Although we’re much more relaxed now that the weekend’s over, DAM!Fest itself isn’t quite through … tonight is our final show, the hangover party at DC9. And our TBA is finally A, locals Middle Distance Runner will start out the night followed by the Hot IQs (Denver) and Cloud Cult (Minneapolis). Tomorrow night Cloud Cult plays a CMJ show at Mercury Lounge that’s the NYTimes festival pick for that night, so why not catch them here instead?

And while not officially a festival show, during our planning we’ve also put together a DC9 show on Thursday the 16th with one our personal favorite bands of all time, Trespassers William, plus The Czars. Keep an eye on bigyawn.net for more details, and keep an eye on this site for festival pics, press updates, etc.

See you tonight.

whew… a fantastic first nite of DAM!Fest if we might say so ourselves. it was one of those rare nights in DC where you had to choose between several great shows.

we’ll post a couple action shots from last night by DAM!Fest photogs Bill Jenne and Matt Humphrey.

DAM!Fest T’s
We have snazzy DAM!Fest ‘06 tshirts for $10 — available at the merch table at any DAM!Fest show. The shirts list all the bands playing the festival this year. Get one so you can say you were there when it all started.

CHIME Charity
Remember to bring old, good-condition instruments to donate to DC public schools. We are accepting them at all DAM!Fest shows this weekend. We also have a donation jar for CHIME at the merch table.

AfterParty!
The afterparty tonight will be at the Rock and Roll Hotel. The DJ is TBA as Sharkey had to cancel. Get your free passes at the merch table at any DAM!Fest show. Apologies for the mix-up last night. Several party people showed up at DC9 for the afterparty, but because the show ran late, DC9 had last call soon after the show. The club closes at 2:30am.

DAM!Fest ‘06 is coming our way!

We jumpstarted things last Friday with a raucous festive pre-party at the Rock and Roll Hotel. but never fear, more DAM! shows are near.Check out the schedules for Thursday, Friday and Saturday and pick out your favorite shows.

DON’T FORGET:
+ to take note of the afterparties. The idea is for DAM!Fest goers to converge on one club each night to keep the party going all nite long. FREE PASSES to the afterparties will be available upon inquiry at the merch tables at every DAM!Fest show.
+ to bring musical instrument donations to CHIME. All DAM!Fest shows will have a collection booth set up for donations.

AFTERPARTY DJ’s
Thursday DC9 ~ DJ Trickster (of ‘We Fought the Big One’)
Friday RnR Hotel ~ Sharkey
Saturday DC9 ~ DJ James F!@#$%^ Friedman

Keep an eye out for a feature on DAM!Fest in the Washington Post Express this week

by the sound of this web chatter, DAM!Fest is where it’s at. see what DCist, Washington Post (and again in the Nightlife Agenda section) and DCeiver had to say about the festival.

Or listen to The Post give their DAM!Fest picks on their Nightlife Agenda podcast.

Also, pre-party festivities are getting dangerously close. brace yourselves for mucho peligro * Friday nite * October 20 * RocknRoll Hotel * $9 * All Ages * CHIME will be collecting instrument donations (great for tax writeoffs) * we gots hot new DAM!Fest shirts for sale * & more peligro!

Rock and Roll Hotel
1353 H St. NE
Washington DC 20002
$9 | DAM!Fest Pre-Party | All Ages
Exit Clov (CD Release)
Dirty on Purpose
The Dance Party
DJ Sets by Geologist (of Animal Collective)

We now have James F!@$%^ Friedman to DJ Saturday’s already packed show and after party at DC9.

The Hill: The Newspaper for and about the US Congress … and DAM!Fest. At least for today - check out our coverage in the October 11 special section on “The Scene.” Plus we add 302 Acid to our list of scheduled performers.

Three more announcements for today: DJ sets by John Davis (Georgie James, Q & Not U) and Sharkey, plus Hot IQs for the Hangover party.

amid the sounds of a detuned radio, you hear this announcement — there is yet another dimension to this mythological beast called DAM!Fest.

we’re partnering with a homegrown DC group called CHIME — short for Community Help in Music Education.

together we shall shamelessly solicit all the instruments you could possibly donate for a good cause. all instruments collected at DAM!Fest shows will go to DC public schools to improve their music programs.

so… let’s do good things. please take a moment to search your closets (and your souls) for dusty, unloved instruments. donate them to CHIME. this will help DC breed more kids who play music and who will carry on the tradition of DAM!Fest for decades to come!

(Keyboards, acoustic/electric guitars, brass/wind/string instruments, recorders, in good condition are all welcome)

Three more bands just added to the Saturday Velvet Lounge show: Over the Atlantic (from New Zealand), The Chance, and The Object Lesson.

So we finally have lots to tell you. If you haven’t noticed already, we now have a band area, where you can see sexy pictures of every DAM!Fest band, and listen to their songs or watch their videos without ever leaving the page. We have a schedule so you can start planning your venue-hopping strategy. And we have a press page, just because we’re feeling kind of sensitive to what others are saying about us, this being our inaugural year and all. Stay tuned for even more …

The DAM! Festival is your brain on music. Over the course of five incredible days, DAM! Fest will spotlight the U.S. independent and underground music scene, with the District of Columbia as its stage.

As a service to both the great city of Washington, DC and serious music fans throughout the country, our vision is to reignite the DC music scene and promote greater visibility on the national radar. On October 26-28, 2006, The first annual DAM! Festival will host a city-wide weekend extravaganza, when prominent indie rock and hip-hop acts will be crashing DC in the spirit of our city’s historical (and now reawakened) celebration of musical diversity and community. Pre- and post-party shows will also take place on October 20th and November 2nd.
In the vein of San Francisco’s Noise Pop Festival and the Pop Montreal Festival, DAM! Fest will showcase members of the local music community alongside national acts, including bands you might not know, but should. We will bring them all together at four venues throughout the District.

DC music - from Duke Ellington to Fugazi - has characteristically been unified by a sense of community, independence and homegrown pride in the city we live in. In keeping with this identity, all proceeds from the DAM! Festival will go straight into the hands of local charities and community groups, not into the pockets of a faceless entertainment conglomerate.

We are still actively looking for enthusiastic volunteers and sponsors. You will be joining an eclectic mix of musicians, artists, promoters, writers, web-publishers, entrepreneurs, venue owners and music lovers. If you’re interested in being part of the DAM! Festival, please contact us at participate@damfestival.org. If you are a band interested in playing the DAM! Festival, please drop us a line at perform@damfestival.org.