If you’re one of the many who have already bought weekend passes, you can pick them up at DC9 tonight, and if you haven’t, you can buy them in person there as well (CASH ONLY at this point). $35 gives you practically free reign of all 10 festival shows.

We’re adding an extra show to make up for/take the place of the Lottery that was scheduled for Sunday. We now have Telograph and Arbouretum and one mystery band at Iota on the 14th.

37 bands, 10 shows, 5 days: is that enough music? 

Nope. 

We also need DJs. We’ve put together two free after parties for Friday and Saturday, both at the Rock and Roll Hotel Upstairs Bar (21+). Friday is We Fought the Hej, featuring DJ Natalya of Hej Hej vs DJ Trickster of We Fought the Big One. Scandanavian Pop and Rock vs Obscure Post-Punk and Shoegaze.

Then on Saturday, Garutuchi and bigyawn.net present DJ sets from stellastarr*, DJ Ron M (Motherf*cker NYC), and DJ Ca$$idy.

Because you don’t really want to go home just yet.

After struggling through our first year almost completely on our own, we’re thankful for the help of a host of sponsors this year, and WOXY has worked up some particularly cool things for us. First, they’ve put together an hour-long preview of DAM!Fest and its artists that aired twice this weekend, and will also be available as a podcast starting today. Second, they’re giving away several pairs of weekend passes this week. So check them out, and don’t forget that weekend passes are still available to purchase … we want you to be able to sample as much of DAM!Fest as possible.

Unfortunately, we’re going to have to cancel the highly anticipated Rock & Roll Lottery for this year.  Everyone thought it was a great, exciting idea, but in the end, we were unable to get commitment from enough DC musicians to make the concept the success we want it to be. Next year, next year …

Last Thursday, approximately 9:40am, DC Channel 9 to be exact. You probably weren’t watching local news at that hour of the morning, but you can still watch our interview, or read the snarky comments that are sure to follow, thanks to the glory of YouTube.

Passes are now on sale!

Also, please note that unfortunately, Cloud Cult has had to cancel due to personal reasons. But we’re working hard on an equally exciting replacement.

This year you will have the opportunity to show-hop to and from any festival venue all weekend for a mere $35. (Yes, if you get there early enough, even Cat Power.) Passes go on sale Wednesday, and we’ve tried to answer all the questions we could think of here.

The complete schedule for all currently confirmed bands is now available. But there’s still more additions ahead …

Individual guaranteed tickets for the Saturday Synagogue show with stellastarr*, Pela, Exit Clov and Sanawon are now on sale. We also have plans to issue a limited set of full festival passes, details which we will announce next week.

Don’t forget to bring them, because we’ve added “the loudest band in New York” … A Place to Bury Strangers (also a recent addition to Pitchfork’s Best New Music).

Sorry, insider DAM!Fest joke.  But DOZ stands for Dragons of Zynth, and DOZ reminds us of the kilt-classic Zardoz. And we’ve added Dragons of Zynth to the festival lineup.

Oh, and Pela.

We’ve now added stellastarr* and Exit Clov.

Greenland and The Teeth are now confirmed.

We have just as of now officially announced another large chunk of bands. Check back soon (or befriend us on Twitter) for a complete schedule, ticket, and festival pass information. For those who want certain entrance into the Cat Power show, individual tickets go on sale in 10 hours (10am EST).

Newly confirmed: So Many Dynamos and Mahi Mahi.

Administration note: we’ll be collecting official contact info and press materials on the contact page. We’ve just added a higher-res version of the festival logo suitable for articles, tats, or framing.

WASHINGTON, DC – The District’s Awake! Music Festival has announced its highly anticipated 2007 dates, set to take place Oct. 11-15. This year’s festival has confirmed performances by Cat Power, Craig Wedren, The Silent Years, Cloud Cult, Breaking Laces, Slaraffenland, Hallelujah the Hills, The Beanstalk Library, These United States & many more to come.

In its inaugural year (2006), the festival made a lasting impression presenting three days of nonstop music from bands across the country and around the world. While the unprecedented event featured nationally acclaimed indie rock buzz bands, a key element of the event was to spotlight promising bands from the DC area. Performers included Cold War Kids, DJ Spooky, Cloud Cult, Dirty on Purpose, Pela and others.

SPONSORSHIP
This year’s event is on course to be “bigger and better” in the words of festival founder Eric Boucher, who also publishes the music website BigYawn.net . With sponsorship help from Live Nation, the Digital Freedom Campaign and other groups, the festival will be able to bring in bigger names while continuing to provide critical attention to lesser-known and homegrown bands. Like the previous year, venues like the Rock and Roll Hotel, DC9 and the Red and the Black will host bands throughout most of the weekend. However, the diversity of venues also has expanded, including DC icon the 9:30 Club and less traditional spaces like the 700-capacity Historical Synagogue at 6th and I Sts.

ROCK’N'ROLL LOTTERY
In keeping with the innovative and community spirit of DAM! Fest, the event will feature a Rock’n'Roll Lottery, in which local DC musicians will be mixed and matched through a random drawing. Each “superband” will have a limited amount of time to craft a few original songs to be performed at the final show of the festival.

DAM! Fest was launched last year as a partnership between Boucher and DC entrepreneur/club owner Bryan Deily – both of whom wanted to usher the District into the ranks of other metropolitan cities like Austin, TX, San Francisco, CA and Chicago that regularly host rock festivals.

More event details are to follow in the coming months, including band lineups and event schedules. Read the full press release here. For interviews or sponsorship inquiries, email eric@damfestival.org.

We’ve been hard at work planning DAM!Festival the 2nd, and all we can say for now is that we have a few surprises in store. But mark your calendars for mid-October, and keep one eye on this site as we transition into a new year.In the meantime, you can relive last year’s excitement here.