Jiffy Lube Live

This summer, you won't hear sizzling grills and sloshing coolers in the sprawling gravel parking lots that surround Jiffy Lube Live. Tailgating has been banned at the 25,000-capacity venue in Bristow that's owned and operated by concert-promotion behemoth Live Nation. That means no tents, no picnics and no alcohol will be allowed in the lots before hotly anticipated concerts from Toby Keith, Lil Wayne, Jimmy Buffett and others. The venue's general manager, Matt Rogers, said the new policy is an effort to stem drunken driving, which, in the past...

T hey came here to dance to big sounds, deep into the tiny hours. So they peel off their bulky winter jackets at the coat check like 2,000 Clark Kents and stride onto the dance floor, faces fixed with sequins, ears pierced with golf tees, garments aglow with chemiluminescent piping. It's the second-to-last Saturday night of 2012 at Echostage , a massive new club on Queens Chapel Road NE, just north of New York Ave. In three short months, the venue has already hosted some of the biggest names in...

There's no overstating the extent to which country superstar Tim McGraw is able to get by on muscles and charm. If you'd closed your eyes Saturday night at Jiffy Lube Live, you'd have sworn that McGraw had handed his microphone to a fan in the front row, so woefully off-pitch were his vocals. And when you opened them, chances were you'd find McGraw had stopped singing and assumed an acre-wide, come-worship-me pose. A surprisingly decent movie actor (" The Blind Side ," " Country Strong ")

THU 11 "Tierra y Memoria" The paintings and linocuts by Juan E. Hernandez were inspired by everyday life in the artist's native Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Reception Thursday 6:30-8 p.m. Exhibit through Nov. 5. Torpedo Factory Art Center, Art League Gallery, Room 21, 105 N. Union St., Alexandria. 703-683-1780. www.theartleague.org . Free. After-Work Jazz+Mixer Washington native Yvonne Johnson has been performing keyboard for more than 20 years. Music 5:30-8 p.m., concessions available 4-7:30 p.m. Artisphere, Lower Town Hall, 1101 Wilson Blvd.,...

He's Toby Keith, and he's reporting for duty. Appearing at Jiffy Lube Live on Saturday night, the onetime controversy-stoking country star marked the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks with a confident shrug. "We always gotta be vigilant," Keith said. But come what may, "the military is always gonna take care of us. " Say what you will about the 50-year-old Keith — he's either an unabashed American patriot or the cartoonish embodiment of reckless jingoism — the...

For a moment, forget that it's been packing arenas for more than a decade, and consider the improbability of the Dave Matthews Band. Formed in grunge's early-'90s heyday, a time when nary a man could step on stage without an ax to grind and a guitar to smash, the Charlottesville-bred group propelled itself into the popular consciousness not with a blast of feedback but the gentle hum of an alto saxophone. The drummer mostly plays fills, rather than steady rhythms. The solos come courtesy of an...

As the stock market plunged and dark skies threatened hail and rain, four girls in day-glo tutus shared a cup of french fries. A guy in a Cookie Monster shirt shook his Cookie Monster backpack. A duo dressed as Mario and Luigi threw their white-gloved hands in the air. Ten hours of ear-bruising dance music at Thursday's Identity Festival in Bristow must have formed a protective bubble over Jiffy Lube Live, shielding 12,000 colorfully dressed, predominantly teenage fans from...

Concert promoter Live Nation has apparently re-branded Nissan Pavilion, its 25,000-seat mega-venue in Bristow with a new name: Jiffy Lube Live. Yes, really. A spokesperson for Live Nation would not confirm the name change, but Live Nation's Web site now refers to the Washington area's largest concert venue as Jiffy Lube Live. Jiffy Lube Live. Jiffy Lube Live! What if other music venues in the Washington area had such ridiculous monikers forced upon them? Here are just a few of the possibilities: The...

Once you have your ticket, set your watch. Some of the best acts coming to area stages this fall are on the bottom of the bill, making punctuality a must. You'll want to arrive early Sept. 24 at Jiffy Lube Live when Sunny Sweeney opens for Brad Paisley, singing her taut, tear-jerking country tunes. But save a few tissues for Sept. 27 when Prince Royce warms up for Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull at the Patriot Center. The 22-year-old Bronx native blends weepy bachata with elegant R&B. And no hankie required when Eleanor Friedberger...

Birchmere 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria. 703-549-7500. www.birchmere.com . Blues Alley 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW (rear). 202-337-4141. www.bluesalley.com . DAR Constitution Hall 18th and C streets NW. 202-628-4780. www.dar.org/conthall . Patriot Center 4500 Patriot Cir., Fairfax. 202-397-7328. www.patriotcenter.com . Jiffy Lube Live 7800 Cellar Door Dr., Bristow.

THU 23 "Barns, Birds and Blooms" Jewell Pratt Burns, a member of the Loft Gallery, the Art League at the Torpedo Factory and the Prince William Art Society, shares her love of bird watching and nature in her paintings and monotypes. Through Sept. 2. Loft Gallery, 313 Mill St., Occoquan. 703-490-1117. www.loftgallery.org . Free. Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons The 2005 biographical musical "Jersey Boys" sparked renewed interest in these Rock and Roll Hall of Famers.

If you've chatted with a dance music fan lately, chances are you've played the subgenre game. Progressive house or crunkstep? Trance or tribal? Breakbeat or moombahton? Like the world of coffee connoisseurs, it's never as simple as just ordering a cup of joe. It's the same with beats per minute, or BPMs. As electronic dance music and its subgenres have grown in popularity, fans have become more particular. Because they can be. They have options. On Friday, the Identity Festival, a traveling...

For a moment, forget that it's been packing arenas for more than a decade, and consider the improbability of the Dave Matthews Band. Formed in grunge's early-'90s heyday, a time when nary a man could step on stage without an ax to grind and a guitar to smash, the Charlottesville-bred group propelled itself into the popular consciousness not with a blast of feedback but the gentle hum of an alto saxophone. The drummer mostly plays fills, rather than steady rhythms. The solos come courtesy of an...

Best 2-for-1 Miranda Lambert + Pistol Annies June 3 Jiffy Lube Live; $25-$49 As she has ascended the country-music hierarchy, Miranda Lambert hasn't completely lost the firecracker qualities that defined her early career, but it's safe to say she has mellowed a bit. The explosiveness of her first two albums ("I'm going to show him what little girls are made of / Gunpowder and lead," she sneered) has given way to a slightly lighter side. Some of that fiery attitude has returned with Pistol Annies, the group Lambert formed...

9:30 Club 815 V St. NW. 202-265-0930. www.930.com . The Birchmere 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria. 703-549-7500. www.birchmere.com. Black Cat 1811 14th St. NW. 202-667-7960. www.blackcatdc.com . DAR Constitution Hall 18th and C streets NW. 202-628-4780. www.dar.org/conthall. Fairgrounds 1299 Half St. SE. 202-646-0045. www.fairgroundsdc.com. Fillmore Silver Spring 8656 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring.

Holy Ghost! released its debut album in April, a shiny and bouncy collection of indie-electro-pop confections. But the New York duo isn't exactly brand new; Alex Frankel and Nick Millhiser have been making music together as Holy Ghost! since 2007. Before that, the pair played together in the short-lived hip-hop group Automato. And before that, they played together in Miss Preston's music class. Holy Ghost! may be a band, but it's also the result of a lifelong friendship between its two principal members.

Heavy traffic expected for Civil War events Prince William County police say that drivers should expect heavy traffic beginning Thursday in Manassas and along routes 29 and 234, in the area of the Manassas National Battlefield Park, for the Battle of First Manassas Sesquicentennial Commemoration events. For the Civil War reenactment on Saturday and Sunday at Brawner Farm, attendees should park at Jiffy Lube Live, 7800 Cellar Door Dr. in Bristow. Charter buses will take attendees to the reenactment site.

JULY 28 Keith Urban Verizon Center, $25-$65 Whether he's crooning about a breakup on " You'll Think of Me " or rocking out about his significant other on " You're My Better Half ," Keith Urban is not afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve. The sensitive Aussie and husband of actress Nicole Kidman plays G-rated pop gems begging for crowd participation. He may have battled demons — he has been in rehab a few times — but you won't find any in his music. His tunes, such as " Days Go...

He's Toby Keith, and he's reporting for duty. Appearing at Jiffy Lube Live on Saturday night, the onetime controversy-stoking country star marked the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks with a confident shrug. "We always gotta be vigilant," Keith said. But come what may, "the military is always gonna take care of us. " Say what you will about the 50-year-old Keith — he's either an unabashed American patriot or the cartoonish embodiment of reckless jingoism — the...

Once you have your ticket, set your watch. Some of the best acts coming to area stages this fall are on the bottom of the bill, making punctuality a must. You'll want to arrive early Sept. 24 at Jiffy Lube Live when Sunny Sweeney opens for Brad Paisley, singing her taut, tear-jerking country tunes. But save a few tissues for Sept. 27 when Prince Royce warms up for Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull at the Patriot Center. The 22-year-old Bronx native blends weepy bachata with elegant R&B. And no hankie required when Eleanor Friedberger...