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Comical musical foursome

Four Bitchin’ Babes to play Birchmere next week

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Four Bitchin' Babes, gay news, Washington Blade

Bitchin’ Babes

The Birchmere

3701 Mount Vernon Ave.

Alexandria, VA 22305

birchmere.com

Four Bitchin' Babes, gay news, Washington Blade

The Four Bitchin’ Babes have been playing the Birchmere for nearly 25 years and return next weekend. (Photo by Terry Jordan; courtesy of FBB)

Describing a show by The Four Bitchin’ Babes comes down to a few words: witty, musical and bling. The jewelry they wear has become a staple for the women but the gal pals really shine with their wit and musical abilities.

When The Four Bitchin’ Babes play the Birchmere Dec. 14-15, it will be more than just another stop on their 50-city tour, it will mark a return to the place where the comical musical foursome became the force that they are today.

The story of the origins of the group begins in 1990, when singer Christine Lavin released a compilation album of winter folk songs and enlisted some musical friends to join her on a road show combining laughter and music.

The original foursome included Patty Larkin from Cambridge, Mass., Megon McDonough from Chicago and Sally Fingerett, from Columbus, Ohio, and the gals went to seven cities, ending at the Birchmere. It was there that they recorded their show and officially became The Bitchin’ Babes.

“We have been playing the Birchmere for 23 years and we always do two nights because it’s kind of our home away from home for us,” says Fingerett, the last remaining original member. “Our first and fourth records were recorded live there and the audiences have always been so welcoming to us there and we look forward to playing year after year.”

Over the years, The Bitchin’ Babes have grown and refined their show, developing the perfect combination of music, comedy and fun. The group’s lineup consists of Fingerett, long-time members Debi Smith and Deirdre Flint, and newcomer Marcy Marxer.

“We are four singer-songwriter-comedian-actress composers who stand in a row on stage together and take turns in the spotlight,” Fingerett says. “When one girl is at the microphone, she becomes the diamond broach and the other three play instruments, sing harmonies and support her as needed.”

Each of the women comes from a different city and all admit that they have different views, personalities and lifestyles, but when they meet up every year for their annual September to June tour, they’re like sorority girl BFFs who haven’t seen each other in ages.

“If we lived in the same city, we would be best friend whacky neighbors, but because we don’t, when we do see each other, it’s just about being best friends,” says Smith, who has been part of the Babes since 1994. “Some of us have other careers, children, spouses and other things going on in our lives, and we always have so much to share and look forward to this time together.”

Over the course of 22 years, some Babes have come and gone, and re-invention becomes the Babe mantra. When Nancy Moran said goodbye last year, it was time to find someone new.

“When we look to hire a new Babe, we know there’s a lot of beautiful, talented performers out there, but what’s important to us is that there’s a spiritual connection and a like-mindedness,” Fingerett says. “We need someone with no drama, someone who can wake up in the morning, shower, put clothes on and hit the road. Someone who can bring in different flavors and ideas.”

The group filled the spot with Grammy winner Marcy Marxer, a well-regarded folk singer from Maryland, who is out and recently married her partner of 31 years.

“I wanted to join them because of the bling factor,” Marxer jokes. “I really love them as people. They are wonderful friends and I think we ebb and flow around each member perfectly and they know how to run a band. They are very accommodating and flexible and that’s why they’ve been around so long.”

Marxer appreciates that the band is a hit with the LGBT community and thinks the girls’ humor and attitude is what attracts the crowd.

“We see people of all kinds and everyone is welcome,” Marxer says. “The thing we have in common is we all want to have a good time.”

Smith said that the fact that they are four women who love each other is a factor in their appeal.

“Love is so much bigger than gender and we present that.” Smith says. “Our show is beyond what goes on between men and women — we are very non-gender specific, loving, kind and supportive. We don’t have love songs about men, we sing about getting lost in the parking lot and things that don’t apply to gender at all.”

Fingerett also is well known for writing the hit song, “Home Is Where The Heart Is,” a tune about accepting people regardless of sexual orientation that Peter, Paul and Mary covered on their album “Lifelines.”

“It’s a song of tolerance and compassion,” Fingerett says. “It’s sung by LGBT groups all over the country. The songs is on our first CD and since then, we’ve had a wonderful and supportive gay and lesbian following.”

The Bitchin’ Babes have released nine successful albums, starting with “Buy Me, Bring Me, Take Me, Don’t Mess My Hair, Life According to Four Bitchin’ Babes Vol. I,” which captures the freshness and excitement of four women, four different songwriters, living four different lives, singing of their own individual experiences as female artists. Over the years, they have touched on topics from new shoes to bald headed men to hot flashes.

“Audiences have grown up with us and we see some of the same fans we saw in 1990,” Fingerett says. “We reinvent the wheel every record and they can still relate to what we are singing about.”

Their newest recording, “Mid Life Vices” explores women’s neurosis, passions and misdeeds, with songs about Facebook, relationships and cheese.

On the recording, the girls play everything from acoustic and electric guitars to mandolins to the piano to Irish Bodhran drums.

“We are celebrating the release of the CD at the Birchmere show and will put a holiday spin on it,” Smith says. “There will be some poignant songs for drama, comedy, but no politics and nothing blue. Audiences return year after year because there are always new songs and now we even have a new member.”

As part of the show, Fingerett delivers a comedic routine about how she is a Jewish girl born on Christmas Day (a true story), and there’s this great song about a Christmas sweater showdown.

“There is a pink cloud of generosity and spirit in all four of us,” Flint says. “This night will be an evening of entertainment and laughs where everything is left at the door.”

With so much to love, Fingerett says the thing she loves most about being in the Bitchin’ Babes is the camaraderie and fun they all have on stage. For Flint, her favorite thing about the estrogen-filled group is that every week she gets to go on a girlfriend’s getaway weekend.

“For me, it’s all about the great friendship and knowing the audiences leave feeling good,” Smith says. “Someone recently came up to me after a show and said it felt like a great therapy session. Knowing that we can help people as well as entertain is a great feeling.”

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Music & Concerts

Musical icons and newer stars to rock D.C. this spring

Brandi Carlile, Bad Bunny, Nicki Minaj, and more headed our way

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Brandi Carlile plays the Anthem this month.

Bands and solo artists of all different genres are visiting D.C. this spring. Patti LaBelle and Gladys Knight will team up to perform at the Wolf Trap in June, and girl in red will play at the Anthem in April. Some artists and bands aren’t paying a visit until the summer, like Janet Jackson and Usher, but there are still plenty of acts to see as the weather warms up. 

MARCH 

Brandi Carlile plays at the Anthem on March 21; Arlo Parks will perform at 9:30 Club on March 23; Girlschool will take the stage at Blackcat on March 28.

APRIL 

Nicki Minaj stops in D.C. at Capital One Arena as part of her North American tour on April 1; Bad Bunny plays at Capital One Arena on April 9 as part of his Most Wanted tour; girl in red performs at the Anthem on April 20 and 21; Brandy Clark plays at the Birchmere on April 25; Laufey comes to town to play at the Anthem on April 25 and 26. 

MAY 

Belle and Sebastian play at the Anthem on May 2; Chastity Belt performs at Blackcat on May 4; Madeleine Peyroux stops at the Birchmere on May 5; The Decemberists play at the Anthem on May 10; the rock band Mannequin Pussy performs at the Atlantis on May 17 and 18; Hozier plays at Merriweather Post Pavilion on May 17 as part of the Unreal Unearth tour. 

JUNE 

Patti LaBelle and Gladys Knight will sing soulful melodies at Wolf Trap on June 8; Joe Jackson performs at the Lincoln Theatre on June 10; the Pixies and Modest Mouse are teaming up to play at Merriweather Post Pavilion on June 14; Maggie Rogers plays at Merriweather Post Pavilion on June 16 as part of The Don’t Forget Me tour; Brittany Howard headlines the Out & About Festival at Wolf Trap on June 22; Sarah McLachlan plays at Merriweather Post Pavilion on June 27; Alanis Morissette performs at Merriweather Post Pavilion on June 29 and 30

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Music & Concerts

Grammys: Queer women and their sisters took down the house

Taylor Swift won Album of the Year

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When the late, great Ruth Bader Ginsburg was asked when there will be enough women on the Supreme Court, her answer was simple: Nine. She stated: “I say when there are nine, people are shocked. But there’d been nine men, and nobody’s ever raised a question about that.” RBG did not attend the Grammy’s last night, but her spirit sure did. Women, at long last, dominated, ruled and killed the night.

Cher, in song a decade ago, declared that “this is a woman’s world,” but there was little evidence that was true, Grammy, and entertainment awards, speaking. In 2018, the Grammys were heavily criticized for lack of female representation across all categories and organizers’ response was for women to “step up.”

Be careful what you wish for boys.

The biggest star of the 2024 Grammys was the collective power of women. They made history, they claimed legacy and they danced and lip sang to each other’s work. Standing victorious was Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, SZA (the most nominated person of the year), Lainey Wilson, Karol G, boygenius, Kylie Minogue and Victoria Monét. Oh, yes, and powerhouse Taylor Swift, the superstar from whom Fox News cowers in fear, made history to become the first performer of any gender to win four Best Album of the Year trophies.

In the throng of these powerful women stand a number of both LGBTQ advocates and queer identifying artists. Cyrus has identified as pansexual, SZA has said lesbian rumors “ain’t wrong,” Phoebe Bridgers (winner of four trophies during the night, most of any artist) is lesbian, Monét is bi and Eilish likes women but doesn’t want to talk about it. Plus, ask any queer person about Swift or Minogue and you are likely to get a love-gush.

Women power was not just owned by the lady award winners. There were the ladies and then there were the Legends. The first Legend to appear was a surprise. Country singer Luke Combs has a cross-generational hit this year with a cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.” When originally released, the song was embraced as a lesbian anthem. When performing “Fast Car,” surprise, there was Chapman herself, singing the duet with Combs. The rendition was stunning, sentimental and historic.

Chapman, like many of the night’s female dignitaries, has not been public with her sexuality. Author Alice Walker has spoken of the two of them being lovers, however.

The legend among legends of the night, however, was the one and only Joni Mitchell. Not gay herself, she embodies the concept of an LGBTQ icon, and was accompanied by the very out Brandi Carlile on stage. On her website, Mitchell’s statement to the LGBTQ community reads, “The trick is if you listen to that music and you see me, you’re not getting anything out of it. If you listen to that music and you see yourself, it will probably make you cry and you’ll learn something about yourself and now you’re getting something out of it.”

Mitchell performed her longtime classic “Both Sides Now.” The emotion, insight and delivery from the now 80-year old artist, survivor of an aneurism, was nothing short of profound. (To fully appreciate the nuance time can bring, check out the YouTube video of a Swift lookalike Mitchell singing the same song to Mama Cass and Mary Travers in 1969.) In this latest rendition, Mitchell clearly had an impact on Meryl Streep who was sitting in the audience. Talk about the arc of female talent and power.

That arc extended from a today’s lady, Cyrus, to legend Celine Dion as well. Cyrus declared Dion as one of her icons and inspirations early in the evening. Dion appeared, graceful and looking healthy, to present the final, and historic, award of the night at the end of the show.

Legends did not even need to be living to have had an effect on the night. Tributes to Tina Turner and Sinead O’Conner by Oprah, Fantasia Barrino-Taylor and Annie Lennox respectively, proved that not even death could stop these women. As Lennox has musically and famously put it, “Sisters are doing it for themselves.”

Even the content of performances by today’s legends-in-the-making spoke to feminine power. Eilish was honored for, and performed “What Was I Made For?,” a haunting and searching song that speaks to the soul of womanhood and redefinition in today’s fight for gender rights and expression, while Dua Lipa laid down the gauntlet for mind blowing performance with her rendition of “Houdini” at the top of the show, Cyrus asserted the power of her anthem “Flowers” and pretty much stole the show.

Cyrus had not performed the song on television before, and only three times publicly. She declared in her intro that she was thrilled over the business numbers the song garnered, but she refused to let them define her. As she sang the hit, she scolded the audience, “you guys act like you don’t know the words to this song.” Soon the woman power of the room was singing along with her, from Swift to Oprah.

They can buy themselves flowers from now on. They don’t need anyone else. Cyrus made that point with the mic drop to cap all mic drops, “And I just won my first Grammy!” she declared as she danced off stage.

Even the squirmiest moment of the night still did not diminish the light of women power, and in fact, underscored it. During his acceptance of the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award, Jay-Z had a bone to pick with the Grammy voters. He called out the irony that his wife Beyoncé had won more Grammys than any other human, but had never won the Best Album of the Year. Yeah, what’s with that?

But then, it brought additional context ultimately to the fact that the winner of the most Grammys individually … is a woman. And to the fact that the winner of the most Best Album of the Year awards … is a woman.

Hopefully this was the night that the Grammys “got it.” Women are the epicenter of The Creative Force.

Will the other entertainment awards get it soon as well? We can hope.

Most importantly, in a political world where women’s healthcare is under siege. Will the American voters get it?

A little known band named Little Mix put it this way in their 2019 song “A Woman’s World.”

“If you can’t see that it’s gotta change
Only want the body but not the brains
If you really think that’s the way it works
You ain’t lived in a woman’s world

Just look at how far that we’ve got
And don’t think that we’ll ever stop…”

From Grammy’s mouth to the world’s ear.

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Music & Concerts

Janet Jackson returning to D.C, Baltimore

‘Together Again Tour’ comes to Capital One Arena, CFG Bank Arena

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Janet Jackson is coming back to D.C. this summer.

Pop icon Janet Jackson announced this week an extension of her 2023 “Together Again Tour.” A new leg of the tour will bring Jackson back to the area for two shows, one at D.C.’s Capital One Arena on Friday, July 12 and another at Baltimore’s CFG Bank Arena on Saturday, July 13.  

Tickets are on sale now via TicketMaster. LiveNation announced the 2023 leg of the tour consisted of 36 shows, each of which was sold out. The 2024 leg has 35 stops planned so far; R&B star Nelly will open for Jackson on the new leg. 

Jackson made the tour announcement Tuesday on social media: “Hey u guys! By popular demand, we’re bringing the Together Again Tour back to North America this summer with special guest Nelly! It’ll be so much fun!”

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