Thursday: Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore at the Birchmere

In 2017, Texas folkie Jimmie Dale Gilmore’s agent suggested he do some duo gigs with California rockabilly and roots musician Dave Alvin, best known from the band the Blasters. The two soon went from acquaintances to pals when they realized they shared interests in blues, old-school New Orleans R&B, and twangy, alt-country songs by Gilmore’s buddies from his cosmic cowboy band Flatlanders. A successful tour led to the duo recording an album named after their childhood hometowns, Downey to Lubbock. Energized by their effort, they hit the road again with a band put together by Alvin. Now after COVID and Alvin overcoming cancer, these music vets are back with another album, Texicali. Over the two albums, these guys offer their share of up-tempo folk and bluesy-rock originals plus some blues covers, but the ballads are what work best. On songs like “Silverlake,” “Death of the Last Stripper,” “Down the 285,” and “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos),” their slow-drawled, tuneful lyrics offer compassionate tales of recent immigrants and longtime locals, plus insightful views from fast-moving trains and cars in rural regions, growing cities, and tract house exurbs alike. A bonus at the show will be the opening set from Welsh punk/alt-country pioneer Jon Langford with his latest roots rocking band the Bright Shiners. Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore play with the Bright Shiners at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 29 at the Birchmere, 3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria. birchmere.com. $45. —Steve Kiviat

Friday: New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Capital Collision at Entertainment and Sports Arena

Professional wrestling fans have never been more spoiled. Not so long ago the idea of a World Wrestling Entertainment rival was a dream. In the past five years All Elite Wrestling has proven to be a worthy second option, Ring of Honor has evolved into an AEW farm system, TNA has never been more relevant, CMLL and AAA have exploded in global popularity, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling is no longer just for Dave Meltzer subscribers. If you’re not a professional wrestling fan, most of that previous sentence reads like gobbledygook. All you need to know is pro wrestling no longer is just Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan. Thank god. The 2024 edition of Capital Collision, the third annual show at the Entertainment and Sports Arena produced by NJPW, features some of the best Japanese wrestlers, the current reigning G1 Climax winner, a former Chicago cop, and an actor you might have seen on The Mandalorian. Whether you’re interested in Naito or Hiromu Takahashi or other members of the Los Ingobernables de Japón stable, the best technical wrestler of the past decade, Zack Sabre Jr., former WWE Superstar Mustafa Ali, or Snoop Dogg’s (and Brandy’s!) cousin Mercedes Moné (formerly WWE’s Sasha Banks, aka Mercedes Varnado), the 2024 Capital Collision is a fine smorgasbord of wrestling styles and wrestling superstars*. With all of these wrestling promotions running well, the need for a company like NJPW operating in the states is becoming less and less needed. But just because it’s not needed doesn’t mean it’s not welcome, so fingers crossed the NJPW continues to run an annual show in the District. (*The lineup is subject to change: Professional wrestling is a contact sport. People get hurt. People miss flights. People are people.) Capital Collision begins at 7 p.m. on August 30 at Entertainment and Sports Arena, 1100 Oak Dr. SE. eventsdc.com $25–$200. —Brandon Wetherbee

Friday: DC Tap Fest All Star Concert at UDC

Long live DC Tap Fest. While New York percussive dance fans are bemoaning the loss of Tap City, their annual confab that’s been canceled due to financial woes, DMV dance fans are grateful that the 16th annual DC Tap Fest is still on, thanks to the dedication of Chloé and Maud Arnold. The sisters and District natives return each August for a weekend of classes, battles, and the annual all-star concert. This year’s iteration features the Arnolds, Star Dixon, Jabu Graybeal, Ashburn phenom Luke Spring, the Syncopated Ladies (the all-woman tap company founded by the sisters), and MacArthur Genius Michelle Dorrance. In fact, the concert will include a special tribute to Dorrance, thanking her for continuing to support DC Tap Fest even though her own company now books regular gigs at the Kennedy Center. When not in Washington, the Arnold sisters stay busy in Hollywood. Recent film gigs include Chloé’s moves performed by Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell in Spirited, and Maud’s choreography for the 2023 comedy Theater Camp. They’re also gearing up for a 14-city Syncopated Ladies tour in early 2025. The only regional stop on that circuit is all the way out in Manassas, so see them this weekend, when tickets are cheap and the venue is only a few Metro stops away. DC Tap Fest All Star Concert starts at 8 p.m. on Aug. 30 at University of the District of Columbia, 4200 Connecticut Ave. NW. dctapfest.com. $35–$65. —Rebecca Ritzel

Sunday: Bridging the Gap: A Conversation Across Generations Between Poets Laureate at Politics and Prose

I resist the urge to refer to D.C. as a “transient city” because while that’s true of a certain professional sector of the city, there are so many residents, particularly artists and writers, who’ve been living and creating here for decades. Living proof of this is 92-year-old Maryland Poet Laureate Grace Cavalieri. The longtime DMV resident is the author of 26 books and chapbooks of poetry, and host of the Library of Congress’ long-running radio program, The Poet and the Poem. Cavalieri’s lifelong contributions and patronage of the arts have helped create and sustain a thriving local arts scene for younger writers such as 18-year-old Tara Prakash, a rising senior at Sidwell Friends who was recently named Maryland’s Inaugural Youth Poet Laureate. Prakash was previously the Montgomery County Youth Poet Laureate. The two poets laureate will convene for an afternoon reading and conversation on their poetic practices, and they’ll take audience questions too. The conversation starts at 4 p.m. on Sept. 1 at Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. politics-prose.com. Free. —Serena Zets 

Next Thursday: An Evening with the Washington Ballet at Wolf Trap

The Washington Ballet opens its first full season under new Artistic Director Edwaard Liang with a “season preview” at Wolf Trap. Each work on the program will also turn up at another venue over the next nine months. (The Kennedy Center, Capital One Hall, and the Warner Theatre will all host TWB during the 2024-2025 season.) If this program is any indication—and it may well be—Liang’s plans for the company include classics by George Balanchine, his own choreography, and works by in-demand contemporary dance-makers. The Wolf Trap triple bill opens with Balanchine’s Stravinsky Violin Concerto, which debuted on the opening night of New York City Ballet’s 1972 Stravinsky Festival. Liang, a former soloist at City Ballet, knows Balanchine’s work well, but he’s also a proven dancemaker in his own right. This season, he’s reviving a “Murmuration,” an avian-inspired work created more than a decade ago for Houston Ballet set to a violin concerto by Enzio Bosso. Rounding out the program is a new, untitled work by Jennifer Archibald, an (Alvin) Ailey School graduate who is in major demand at North American companies this season. So in demand that she was unable to finish the piece during her slated choreographic time with TWB. While the full version is coming in February, the company is calling what the audience will see at Wolf Trap a “world premiere preview.” Sadly, unlike the Washington Ballet’s 2022 Wolf Trap appearance, the company will be performing without a live orchestra this time around. But if you still make the schlep, try to arrive early for a free panel discussion featuring Liang, Archibald, and Bart Cook, a City Ballet veteran who was onstage the night Stravinsky Violin Concerto debuted in 1972. An Evening With the Washington Ballet starts at 8 p.m., with a preperformance panel at 7 p.m. at Wolf Trap, 1551 Trap Rd., Vienna. wolftrap.org. —Rebecca Ritzel

Next Friday: Waxahatchee at Wolf Trap

“Right Back to It,” the standout on Waxahatchee’s 2024 album, Tigers Blood, is one of the best songs of the year. It’s so good it should be played at every wedding reception. Katie Crutchfield writes and records the kind of personal and universal songs that most every listener will relate to. She makes music meant to be repeated. After listening to “Right Back to It” on repeat a few times, I did what most everyone with a love for a song with lyrics does, I consulted Genius. Apparently Crutchfield wrote this song backstage at Wolf Trap when she opening for Jason Isbell and Sheryl Crow in 2022. So it’ll be kismet to see the song performed live where it was written—when does that ever happen? If you don’t need some kind of location-based songwriting magic to convince you that seeing Waxahatchee outside in early September is a worthwhile option, listen to “Bored” off the new record or “Fire” from 2020’s also fantastic Saint Cloud and you’ll be sold. Hitting D.C. and the surrounding area consistently for more than a decade, Waxahatchee have gone from the Black Cat to the 9:30 Club to the Lincoln Theatre to headlining Wolf Trap. She’s grown her audience organically and this concert stop is a testament to her growth as a songwriter and live act. Waxahatchee perform at 7 p.m. on Sept. 6 at Wolf Trap, 1551 Trap Rd., Vienna. wolftrap.org. $49–$89. —Brandon Wetherbee

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