Byline: Fritz Hahn and Rhome Anderson

Thursday, June 2Will wonders never cease. Underground hip-hop, club music and drum 'n' bass have somehow snuck through the back door of Fur and nabbed a whole night to strut their stuff instead of the usual radio-friendly hits. The junglists of Ziion DC and the hedonistic party starters of Krunk will be taking over the Main and Mafia rooms, respectively. When is the next time you'll get to hear Photek, Fela Kuti and Biz Markie at a bastion of ballin'? We don't know, so you might not want to sleep on this one. Even better: Everyone 18-and-over is invited.

If you want to get (and stay) ahead in the nightlife game, change is good -- but so is finding a consistent groove. Home is one promising club that can't seem to settle into a comfortable niche -- the four-level building is attractive, but an endlessly rotating cast of promoters, event planners and DJs has left us wondering exactly what's going on over at the former bank on F Street. After a recent makeover, Home is trying to rebrand itself yet again: Red Light Thursdays opens tonight. The 18-and-over party features hip-hop in the narrow, high-ceilinged main room, Latin music upstairs and house in the "Penthouse." Free admission is available with a printed pass from www.dcnites.com.

Friday, June 3So one night last week Rhome was leaving Avenue and happened to notice a mysterious, nicely appointed but empty establishment on New York Avenue that seemed to be in the same spot where the proletarian gentleman's club the Skylark Lounge once stood. A couple of promoters' e-mails and a bit of sleuthing on Fritz's part led us to the answer. Evidently the owners of the Skylark are aligning themselves with the neighborhood's looming economic upswing. Goodbye, Skylark; hello, Mirrors. The massive First Fridays operation will be putting the new nightspot through its paces tonight with an extended happy hour from 5 to midnight; and if previous parties are any indication, it's going to be one of the largest gatherings of African American professionals anywhere in the city. Buffet action is slated for the second floor along with the jazz tunes of the W.E.S. Group. The first floor will feature an open mike followed by the sounds of veteran body mover DJ Trini.

As we write this on Wednesday, we're hoping that the dreary weather forecasts for the next couple of days don't pan out. Friday is the kickoff of the National Gallery of Art's annual Jazz in the Garden concert series, and we'd hate for it to be rained out. Every Friday through Sept. 16, the gallery's Sculpture Garden comes alive with traditional ensembles, Latin jazz and swing from 5 to 8. Admission is free, and food and drinks are available from the Pavilion Cafe. Take a moment to relax on the Mall, enjoy some excellent music and celebrate the end of the working week. Tonight features bass clarinetist Todd Marcus and his Jazz Orchestra.

Saturday, June 4For aficionados of progressive house and trance, "Sasha and Digweed" is a magical combination like "Lennon and McCartney" or "vodka and Red Bull." DJs Sasha and John Digweed started working together in the early '90s, and a gift for driving hooks and relentless beats won the duo fans around the world. (Crafting "Renaissance," considered the first true DJ mix CD, probably didn't hurt.) They went their separate ways a couple of years ago, but will be playing at Glow over the next couple of weeks -- separately, of course -- for dates that fans have marked on their calendars with indelible pens. Sasha is up first, promoting a new album called "Fundacion" that dropped earlier this week; Digweed arrives on the 18th. Tickets for each show are $20 and available in advance from clubglow.com.

Freddie's Beach Bar offers karaoke four nights a week, and regulars get their fill of singing everything from '80s pop hits to Beyonce to Kylie Minogue while dancing and preening on a large, raised stage. And with $1,500 in cash and prizes up for grabs at tonight's special Karaoke Largo contest, let's hope practice makes perfect. Anyone can join in the fun, but there are some catches: Would-be contestants have to e-mail host Edward Daniels at edward@edwarddaniels.com in advance to tell him what song they'd like to sing, and then arrive at the tiki-tacky Crystal City bar by 9 to guarantee their space. Even if you're more of the sing-in-the-shower type, Karaoke Largo promises a friendly atmosphere and (hopefully) some stellar performances. Admission is $5 at the door or $3 if you call the bar ahead of time to get on the "VIP List."

We've mentioned benefit flip-cup tournaments in this space before, and let's face it -- raising money for charity by pretending you're back in the frat house never goes out of style. For those who need a refresher course, the drinking game works like this: Drain a partially full plastic cup of beer, sit the cup right-side-up on the edge of the table and flick it (usually from underneath) so that it lands upside down on the table. (You can also reverse cup positions so that it lands right-side up.) Tournaments are usually run as relay races, with five players along one side of a table racing to drink and flick in turn while a team across from them does the same. The latest chance to prove that you're King of Cups takes place today at Dr. Dremo's Taphouse, where the Flippin' For a Cure Flip Cup Party benefits the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. Registration is $100 for a five-person team, though individual players can also e-mail the hosts and request to be placed on a team with strangers. See flippin4acure.freehosting.net for more info or to register a team, and get to Dr. Dremo's by 3:45 to watch the action unfold.

Just in time for warm weather, Vida is kicking off a new outdoor happy hour and DJ party on its large, covered patio. Calling it "Reggae and 'Ritas" tells you just about everything you need to know: piped in reggae music, $20 pitchers of frozen or regular margaritas, plus buckets of five domestic beers for $10 or a bucket of imports for an extra $5. To make it worth your while, arrive early: Admission is free before 10, when a DJ starts spinning hip-hop and house. After that, it's a little trickier -- e-mailing Mink@minkevents.com gets you in free between 10 and 11, $5 between 11 and midnight or $10 afterward.

Sunday, June 5If you're a jazz, rock and folk musician and you write a new song, there are umpteen open mikes around town where you can try out new material and get feedback. But if you compose electronica or computer-driven tunes, the options are more limited. That's why we support the on-again, off-again Open Minijax Series, which resurfaces tonight on the Black Cat's back stage. The premise is simple: You make the beats and blips on your laptop, hacked Gameboy or other modified electronic gizmo, and they'll let you play it. The event is sponsored by the Techclub, a group of mad scientists whose name harks back to high school but whose output is decidedly futuristic. There's a $5 cover and an evening-closing performance by Scarcelight recording artist Accelera Deck.

Mention Irish dancing to most people and they'll start raving about "Riverdance" or elaborate performance-based step dancing. Outside of the Irish and folk dance communities, the more social ceili dancing doesn't get the attention it deserves. Done as partner, circle or line dances, ceili's basic steps are pretty simple for a beginner to figure out, though some of the more intricate figures take time to master. But what really draws people into ceili is the catchy, driving music. (While we hate to bring it up, think of the dance scene in "Titanic" and you may get an idea.) Today from 2 to 6 at O'Faolain's Irish Pub in Sterling, there's a benefit ceili dance to help raise money for the Northern Virginia Therapeutic Riding Program. The NVTRP is a charity that offers horseback riding lessons to disabled children and adults, and the organization is currently trying to buy a truck and horse trailer so that it can help even more people. Admission is $15 and includes a dance lesson, demonstrations, door prizes and live music by the Bog Wanderers Ceili Band.

Tuesday, June 7True partying professionals know to hit hot spots on weeknights. The liveliness of Eyebar on Tuesday nights is a consistent source of amazement; folks are up in there like it's Friday night at H2O. Soho is the name of the party, and it's a great spot for people watching while grooving to a soundtrack of mainstream urban hits. Get there early (doors are at 10) and dress fashionably.