Uncle Q's Living Room Moves Back Into Bourbon

Great beats and a house-party atmosphere made Uncle Q's Living Room one of the hottest hip-hop parties in D.C. in the mid-2000s. (Michael Temchine for The Washington Post)

Uncle Q's Living Room, one of the city's most celebrated weekly hip-hop parties of this decade, is set to return to Bourbon next month. We've loved the few reunion events they'd held here and there, and we're thrilled that the party will is coming back on a weekly basis.

DJ Dredd, known for his classics-filled Close to the Edge and Prince-themed parties at the Black Cat, will be spinning everything from Michael Jackson and the Time to a Tribe Called Quest and Jay-Z. Other hands on the decks will be DJ Harry Hotter and DJ/host Daryl "Uncle Q" Francis, who also serves as the greeter, hypeman and social facilitator.

"I think musically right now, people are getting back into funk and soul type of parties, and that's provided an energy to the scene," Francis says. "And besides," he says, laughing, "once a week, someone is in my ear about bringing the party back. If you can get the team back together, and the people want it, why not?"

But more than the music and dancing, though, Uncle Q's Living Room was about the laid-back vibe. With Francis wandering the floor and introducing himself to strangers, the place had a house-party-with-a-bar vibe that proved difficult to replicate. (Even Francis' other project, which finds him spinning hip-hop at Bourbon on Fridays, is more of a laid-back club night than anything else.) With the original team together, though, I suspect they'll pick up where they left off with no problems.

The first one kicks off Sept. 17 with happy hour drink specials from 8 to 10, followed by dancing until 2 a.m. The cover charge/admission is still up in the air, but expect it to be along the lines of the old Living Room -- $5 for men and free for ladies.

-- Fritz