Here at ATG, we rarely write about a band so closely affiliated with ourselves. We pride ourselves on bringing you new music from around the world. However, we would be remiss if we did not inform you of the final opportunity to see DC’s Fear of Virginia.

Fear of Virginia is the kind of band we all wish we could play in; a group of DC residents (including ATG writer David) who just wanted to find a way to jam and blow off some steam after work. FoV started out just playing covers and pissing off neighbors with their loud late-night jams, but have developed a sound very much their own. A folk-alt-rock sound that the band describes as “Friday night rock” is both agreeable to the ear and causes spontaneous foot stomping.

What makes their live show so fun is that the band and audience can relate over the same tedium that occurs during the course of their workweek. Their shows are poignant reminders, that though not all of us are rockstars during the day, for a few hours each week, we can sing along and pretend to be rockstars once the weekend starts.

Sadly, the realities of adulthood have caught up with FoV and tonight will be their final show before they scatter their separate ways. Do yourselves a favor and join the boys (and girl) tonight at Rock and Roll Hotel at 9 PM — tickets are only $10 — for one last celebration of “Friday night rock.”

Here are some tracks from their EP  recorded in a shed on H Street.

MP3: Fear of Virginia – Weary Wind
MP3: Fear of Virginia – Take It Out On Me
MP3: Fear of Virginia – Long Day

All Things Gold returns to its regularly scheduled programming on Thursday, May 17th with another line-up worthy of U Hall’s sound system. We’re going heavy on the DJ’s this time, enlisting the proven skills of ATL’s best, Le Castle Vania. Supporting this electro-dance heavyweight behind the decks is San Francisco’s Viceroy, who’s name has been plastered all over the Hype Machine charts these past few months. On stage, we’re welcoming back All Things Gold alums Ghost Beach, who after a string of successful SXSW dates are back with a brand new three-piece line-up, drummer included. Dust off those dancing shoes people. This is one you don’t want to miss.

Join us at U Street Music Hall Thursday, May 17th at 9PM. Tickets are available now for $12, or $15 at the door. Place is sure to be packed so get tickets while you can.

STREAM: St. Lucia – “Closer Than This (Viceroy Remix)”

STREAM: Ghost Beach – “First Time”

This past Friday All Things Go took over the Water St. Project space in Georgetown for a night of amazing art and music. Philly’s Nicos Gun killed it on stage while Penguin Prison and Lightwaves had some of the best DJ sets we’ve seen a while. Mr. Glover even said it himself. Check out photos from the night after the jump, courtesy of Laura Lopez.

STREAM: Penguin Prison – “Fair Warning”

STREAM: Nicos Gun – “Control”

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If there’s one thing we could have used at last year’s Sweetlife Festival, it was more music. Looks like the folks at Sweetgreen have heeded our call and added a brand new Treehouse Stage for the festival’s second go-around. The Treehouse’s line-up is stacked from start to finish. Make sure to get there by 12:55pm to catch the amazing Haim sisters, who wow’ed us at least three times over at SXSW. It’s going to be hard to decide between here and the main stage throughout the rest of the day with artists like Twin Shadow, Delta Spirit, Zola Jesus, RAC, and of course our homeboys in the Knocks. Stick around the Treehouse, though, and you won’t go wrong. Check out tracks from these artist below and after the jump.

Sweetlife released set times for the entire festival today, so get to work on your schedule for Saturday.

STREAM: Haim – “Forever”

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Last Thursday the one and only Alex Winston played one of her first shows in the States for a long while at a special edition of All Things Gold. Fortunately, U Hall now allows concert photos so we were able to capture her, along with fantastic openers Long Walks On The Beach, on camera. Scroll through some fantastic shots of the night, courtesy of the always-amazing Laura Lopez, after the jump.

STREAM: Alex Winston – “Velvet Elvis”

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We’ve already made it pretty clear that if you’re going to do anything this weekend, it’s kicking off spring at the Sweetlife Food & Music Festival this Saturday, April 28th. With sets from the Shins, fun., Fitz and the Tantrums, Explosions In The Sky, A$AP Rocky and more, how could you go wrong? Lucky for you guys, we’re going to be giving away a few pairs of tickets this week, starting with one on the blog right now! To become eligible all you have to do is give us your favorite fake food-themed musician/band (or Food’lebrity, if you will) in the comments. Examples include Flan-a del Rey, Pita Frampton, and Tuna Melton John. See you in the comments, and keep an eye on the ATG Facebook and Twitter for more giveaways this week. For those of you who don’t win, general admission tickets for the Sweetlife Festival are still available HERE.

DOWNLOAD: The Sweetlife Festival Mixtape

The changing of the seasons from winter to spring has always been a long-awaited moment here in the District. Beginning last year, however, this change has taken on importance beyond its weather-related implications. Thanks to the folks at Sweetgreen, the springtime now marks the beginning of festival season in DC. Hope you got your shorts ready people because this Saturday, April 28th is the second annual Sweetlife Festival, a day-long celebration of great music and food at the Merriweather Post Pavillion. This year, Sweetlife is bringing us two stages stacked with amazing bands from start to finish. The main stage will feature headlining sets from Avicii and Kid Cudi, as well as performances from other heavy-hitters like the Shins, Explosions in the Sky, fun., Fitz and the Tantrums and more. As awesome as those bands are, we here at ATG are just excited for the second Treehouse stage, which will showcase up-and-coming artists like Haim, The Knocks, Zola Jesus, Twin Shadow, Delta Spirit and more.

If you live even remotely close to the District, then this is where you need to be on Saturday. If you’re still not convinced check out the Sweetgreen-curated Sweetlife mixtape below, a nine-track taste of what you’re in store for this weekend. If you like what you hear, make sure to snag tickets to the festival HERE.

DOWNLOAD: The Sweetlife Festival Mixtape

All Things Gold returns to its regularly scheduled programming next Thursday, March 8th. This time around we’ve got a headlining set from one of our favorite artists as of late, Niki & the Dove. Hailing from the pop Shangri-La that is Sweden, the Scandinavian duo has a heavy arsenal of electro-dance gems like “The Drummer,” “The Fox” and “DJ, Ease My Mind” that should make for an incredible show. For live support we’re bringing back an early ATG alum, Gordon Voidwell, who got the crowd seriously moving at last year’s Cherry Blast festival with his upbeat synthy stylings. At the other end of the room we’ve got a headlining DJ set from…well, it’s a surprise. An awesome surprise. Trust us, we’ll let you know soon. What we can tell you, though, is for DJ support we’ve brought in our boy Lightwaves, who never disappoints. Get into it.

Join us Thursday, March 8th at U Street Music Hall. Doors are at 9pm. As usual, all of this will be going down for the low price of $10 advance tickets (or $13 at the door). Buy yours HERE.

STREAM: Niki & The Dove – “The Drummer”

STREAM: Gordon Voidwell – “Ivy League Circus”

STREAM: Lightwaves – “Working All Day”

Were you able to make it to our inaugural New Noise show at the Gibson Guitars Showroom earlier this month? If you did, then there’s no need to explain how Savoir Adore and St. Lucia are two unstoppable musical forces you’re going to want to watch out for in 2012. If you didn’t, you missed out. But don’t fret — at least we took photos of the whole thing. Big thanks to Laura Lopez for snapping these shots. You can check them all out after the jump. Until next time.

MP3: Savoir Adore – “Dreamers”
MP3: St. Lucia – “The Old House Is Gone”

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Ah, the coveted album anniversary tour — it doesn’t get quite better than that. I remember heading to the 9:30 Club earlier this year to check out Coheed and Cambria, who were playing The Second Stage Turbine Blade — a high-school favorite of nearly everyone I know — in its entirety. My opinions on their later material aside, the opportunity to relive this seemingly ancient album was incredible and a much-needed dose of nostalgia. Last week, Minus the Bear, another long-time favorite of mine, came to the same venue and pulled a Coheed of their own by playing their breakout album, 2002′s Highly Refined Pirates, the whole way through. Immediately after the band kicked into album opener, “Thanks for the Killer Game of Crisco Twister,” you could tell the crowd was hungry for it. The band’s main set was interspersed with a few songs from their later catalog, but being able to hear classics like “Absinthe at the Fly Honey Warehouse” and “Spritz!!! Spritz!!!” was what people were here for. As an added bonus — and I mean bonus — after closing out the album, Minus the Bear returned onto the stage for a hefty encore of even more songs which they closed out with “Pachuca Sunrise.” This is how anniversaries are done.

Franz Mahr caught the show on camera. Check out his photos after the jump.

STREAM: Minus the Bear – “Into The Mirror”

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