DC Sessions is a free concert series that features big-name and smaller acts appearing from 5 until 11 p.m. every Saturday night through August 17. Headliners that have already appeared this summer include alternative radio hitmakers Better Than Ezra, Cake and They Might Be Giants. Still to come are national acts including Sister Hazel on July 20, Cracker on August 3, and, rounding out the DC Sessions season, Blues Traveler on August 17.
The gates for each show open at 4 p.m. Most weeks, four bands play during the course of the evening, and the events have been drawing anywhere from 12,000 to 15,000 fans. It's a packed, all-ages show.
The best way to get to DC Sessions is to ride the Metro to the Gallery Place station, which is accessible via the Red, Green and Yellow lines. Parking in the area is tight, and the event itself includes G Street from 7th to 9th Streets and 8th Street from G to H Streets, so that eats up a lot of parking right there. The event is fenced in, and concertgoers are only allowed to bring blankets, a disposable camera, an umbrella, and one unopened bottle of water. The concert promoters and area businesses want to make back their investment on merchandise and food and beverage sales, so they want to make it more likely that you'll buy anything else you need once you're inside the fence.
But that requirement isn't all bad. Some of the food and beer vendors include local favorites Fado (an Irish pub), The Irish Channel, Capital Q Barbecue and the Austin Grill. Other vendors include K Street Bagels and the Hard Rock Café. And if you haven't had enough partying during the concert, every Saturday night the after-party gets going at 9 p.m. at Lulu's Club Mardi Gras at the corner of 22nd and M Streets NW, near the Foggy Bottom metro station.
Another way to get in, guarantee yourself a spot near the stage and possibly meet a rock star is to volunteer. To find out more about volunteer opportunities, send an email to volunteer@downtowndc.org.
For more information and for pictures from past events, stop by the DC Sessions website at http://www.dcsessions.com. Then put on some cool and comfortable clothes, grab a blanket, and head for Chinatown for an unforgettable night of free music.
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