The Upstate Life

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Virgin America to Offer Free Flights to Virgin Fest?

That's what Richard Branson said last night on the Jimmy Fallon show. Unfortunately no other information is available about this at the moment.

Also, tickets from today's presale sold-out this morning in nearly 45 minutes. Those who missed out will have a second opportunity at 10am this Saturday when the rest of the allotment goes on-sale.

Posted by Brett at 1:44 PM |

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Job Well Done, Seth

Seriously, mad props for not only pulling together a solid lineup for Virgin Mobile Free Fest, but having the entire cost absolutely nothing for concertgoers (inlcuding convenience charges, woot!).

The lineup was officially announced this morning and the list of artists was kept secret until the very last minute (for the exception of Weezer, Blink, and Holy F*ck of course). I'm very impressed with who they were able to book and keep it under wraps for so long (The National, Wale, Mates of State, St. Vincent, etc).

It's times like these where you really appreciate the local, homegrown businesses such as I.M.P. when corporate tyrants like LiveNation have nearly destroyed the live concert experience. Seth's company actually cares about its patrons and I was quite pleased when I heard that past Virgin Fest attendees would be rewarded with their own presale in order to acknowledge their past attendance. Everything, up to the last very detail, was well though out which seems to be rare these days.

Merriweather is an excellent venue, the Sangria is top-notch, and getting to/from there is rather painless (unlike the hellhole known as Nissan). So, again, thank you Seth and IMP, you guys have really outdone yourselves this year.

Posted by Brett at 10:53 AM |

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Virgin Fest Announcement Set for Tomorrow!

Literally just moments after I posted today's earlier entry, I received a Retweet from PostRock that was originally from WTMD stating that an official announcement about this year's festival will be made tomorrow.

Considering the fact that the Virgin Freefest name is already floating out there, this should be very interesting.

Posted by Brett at 12:05 PM |

Holy Fuck Confirmed for Virgin Mobile Fest, Truth to Rumor of Free Tickets and New Festival Name?

So I was doing some research on the web this morning, trying to scrounge up any sort of news regarding this year's Virgin Mobile Fest when I came upon the event's last.fm page. There were some comments left last evening from a user stating that not only is Holy Fuck confirmed for Sunday Auguest 30, but that the event will be renamed Virgin Freefest. You can see for yourselves on the band's website.

Holy fuck is right.

I mean, given the new name of the festival, this would certainly indicate that this year’s rendition will be free of charge.

Then again, while most summer music festivals not only have their lineups confirmed but their schedules set, IMP has yet to officially make an announcement of the event itself let alone who will be featured on the bill. One has to think details will be released by the end of the month. I mean, we're a week away from it being July already!

But still, free??? Woot!

UPDATE - Looks like I missed the WaPo tweet about this

Posted by Brett at 11:45 AM |

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

I Want These.... NOW

Posted by Brett at 11:23 PM |

Monday, June 15, 2009

Vasquez to Return to Maryland for Senior Season

Literally waiting until the last minute, Maryland basketball fans rejoiced when junior guard Greivis Vasquez withdrew his name from the NBA Draft just a couple of hours before the 5pm deadline.

The Venezuelan led the Terps in points, rebounds, and assists last season and returns to a team who only lost one player after returning to the NCAA Tournament that advanced to the second round.

In other words, best Monday ever.

Posted by Brett at 3:35 PM |

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

TUL's Take: Dinner @ Eatonville

Smell ya later, Georgia Browns. This place is legit.

Rachel and I stopped here before the TV on the Radio show last night at the 9:30 and this place was downright fantastic. The décor alone sets the restaurant apart from other places in the District while the location is undeniably perfect. Just across the street from its relative Busboys & Poets, Eatonville features a southern-style menu with reasonably priced entrees and some of the best collard greens I've ever ate.

This was also the first restaurant I went to where they had Abita on tap, not that I'm looking for Abita specifically, but it was a damn good beer. We started things off with the fried green tomatoes and they were really, really good. They were so breaded you'd think they were potato pancakes but the mixture of corn salsa and arugula made them delectable.

We decided to split the crab burger as our entrée and let me tell you, this plate was no joke. Topped with remoulade and pickled onions, the crab cake/burger was incredible. There was no filler and it was cooked flawlessly. The fries, by the way, are some of DC's best and now present themselves as fierce challengers to those found at Granville Moore's and Amsterdam Falafel.

Then there are the collard greens. Get them, especially if you like vinegar. You could really taste the flavor in each bite.

I'll definitely be coming back since I really want to try the gumbo, hushpuppies, crispy chicken breast...hell, the whole menu.

Posted by Brett at 1:52 PM |

Friday, June 05, 2009

Now I Really Want Lance Stephenson to Come to Maryland

If only because of Lance's father's completely awesome quote:

"Well, The Washington Post’s opinion is like an asshole. Everybody got one. It’s just opinion."

Well said, Lance Sr., well said.

Posted by Brett at 2:02 PM |