Iota seems to have transitioned from ?competitive top music venue in DC area? to ?Arlington bar that?s actually tolerable and has the occasional good show.? Definitely does not attract the same caliber of performers as when it first opened (when it got basically all the ?good? alt-country acts when that genre was experiencing its heyday) or in the mid-2000s when they?d get Joanna Newsom, Destroyer, Smog, Akron/Family, other indie-ish bands that had some level of current ?buzz.? Saw that Juana Molina show someone mentioned, was really great. Seems like they realized they couldn?t/didn?t want to compete with all the newer venues and went low-risk, started selling food, etc. Too bad because it was a pretty chill place to see a show, even if the ?random people talking through the entire set? factor was always a little too high.
