The 1st of two back-to-back weekends at DC''s Velvet lounge was started off with ADOPT-A-HIGHWAY letting us all know why "Rock Stands Alone." THE NUCLEARS followed up with a hard-hitting set of hard rock tunes. Jorge, the lead singer for MUTATIO FORMAE donned a crown of thorns, and along with a few roto-toms, and an old-school keyboard took us to another world. THE PEOPLE 606 hit us with a stunning array of beautiful female vocals, and did a super-soulful version of the Beatles hit "Come Together." WRITTEN PRISMS traded in the two turntables for a a slew of live instrumentation, and threw some sick flows on top of funky rhythms. HAZ-COM blew THE VELVET LOUNGE away with 25 minutes of rock-metal fury. CHROME definitely wins the award for best cover of the night for their rendition of "You Are Beautiful" by none other than Ms. Christina Aguilera herself. SEED IS... amazing. They will be performing a ton in the coming weeks, so check them out if you get a chance. Friday started off with HEROES FOR HIRE, and their ode to Cheech and Chong called, "Dry Mouth." ADRENALINE, although their name was slightly misleading, played a great set, threw in a "wonderful beautiful bone-crushing solo," and even wrote a song for their kitty cat. COBBLER had people downstairs asking why they didn''t hear that Kings of Leon was playing THE VELVET LOUNGE, and GRASSHOPPER mixed a congo and acoustic guitar in a way that nobody in the audience had ever seen. ORIN came all the way up from VA Beach, and put their turntable-infused spin on a few of today''s radio hits. The female fronted ALLIE AND THE KRUNCH came strong with some rock, and EMERGENZA vets ODD MAN SPOKE was as solid as they''ve ever been. MAMA CESTA closed out the night with a lively latin rock performance. ONE THIRD DORK hit the stage on Saturday night with Sublimey punk sound. oVERHEAD sWITCH''s newly appendix-less lead singer Chris Loope wins the iron man award for playing guitar, and keys, and singing, all with 2 week after surgery. CHOPTANK MURPHY showed the kids that funk has no age limits, and THE CRAWFORD PLAYERS jammed through a super-kind set of tunes. MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (I should throw a He-Man joke in here, but this guy''s voice is too good not to comment on), proved that you don''t need to smoke a pack a day, and drink a fifth of scotch to sound really really awesome on a microphone, some people are just born with it (congrats on the engagement). THE CAUSE rocked out for the VELVET crowed, and EARTHQUEEN gave that detroit 2 piece a run for their money, calling themselves The Black Stripes. ADVANTAGE HIBRIGHT had one of their first public appearances on Sunday night. Amidst banter about Hoover vacuums, and how much the suck, they actually sounded pretty good. NO HARM DONE brought down with the house with their rowdy fans, and even rowdier set. THE DAVID WAYNE BAND''s crowd had a little trouble making it out to U Street NW, but HO HARM DONE''s crowd had no problem showing their appreciate for a a county guitarist who played with his teeth. EAT YOUR NEIGHBORS punished the crowd with their high energy rocking, and although playing it for the first time on acoustic after breaking a string, JEBUS went OFF, on the most creative medley ever created. They started off with Prince''s "When Doves Cry," and then went into "Stairway," followed by "All Along the Watchtower," to Nelly''s "Ride Wit Me," and back into "When Doves Cry," all blending seamlessly, and without missing a beat. Although that was the highlight, this 3 piece has alot more to offer than a catchy blend of cover tunes throw into a blender, their original stuff is also not to be missed. ZULU wrapped up the last weekend in February by bringing Hendrix back from the dead, and had it down to a science (everything but the lighter fluid outro). All in all, an amazing weekend of music in DC. We''ve got another article coming your way soon, so keep checking back with us.