After a few hours rest, I’m back up in it, ready to write the next chapter in my Free Food-A-Thon diary.

Before I dove in to dinner, though, there was something missing. Just like a steak deserves a hearty red by its side, a day of free food calls for an evening of free music.

So I put off my scheduled intern happy hour to head to the National Zoo, which hosts free concerts every Thursday at 6:30 pm. I arrived just in time to jam to the classic rock cuts of Relic Effect, a local band which played a mix of songs I had heard before and songs I hadn’t.

They were no Monkees, but there were plenty of monkeys around. (The Zoo has let about fifty golden-lion tamarind monkeys roam around the premises as they prepare to be reintroduced to the Brazilian rainforest.)

One particularly pensive tamarind who wouldn’t smile for the camera.

Sadly, there were no aromas to complement the audio that was “hitting [my] eardrum like a slug to [my] chest.” (There’s no excuse for bringing Dre into this. I just had “California Love” in my head.) Concertgoers brought picnic nibbles – mostly crackers and cheese – but I didn’t feel comfortable cozying up to a couple and begging for a bite of Brie.

While the Zoo didn’t deliver the dinner I was looking for, it provided the perfect amuse-bouche for a night of free food.