Music & Concerts
Concerts: Strike up the band!
From gay-helmed S.F. orchestra to trans rockers and hip-hoppers, region ripe with queer music energy


Lesbian singer/songwriters Chely Wright and Catie Curtis (left) are both expected to return to the region this spring. Curtis is at Wolf Trap. Wright plays a special show in Rehoboth Beach. (Photo courtesy Wolf Trap and Vanguard Records)
From hip-hop to Broadway, this season of performers brings such a diverse set of music that there’s room for all kinds of audience members.
The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington puts on a all-male version of “Xanadu” at Lisner Auditorium (730 21st St., NW) on March 15-16 at 8 p.m. with a matinee performance March 17 at 3 p.m. The show is based on the 1980 romantic film starring Olivia Newton-John. The main character Kira, a Greek muse, is sent to California with a mission: to inspire men. She inspires the creative genius of the film to create the world’s first roller disco! Tickets are $20-$55. For more information, visit gmcw.org.
The Washington Women in Jazz Festival kicks off on March 20 with Kimberly Thompson performing at 8 p.m. at the Atlas Performing Arts Center (1333 H St., NE). Tickets for this specific event are $25. The following evening on March 21 at 5:30 p.m. is the vocal showcase with Christie Dashiell and Jessica Boykin-Settles at Artisphere (1101 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). This event is free. The festival continues until March 27, including events such as the Young Arts Contest and Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra. The festival concludes with jazz legend Geri Allen on the piano at 8 p.m. at the Atlas Performing Arts Center (1333 H St., NE). Tickets are $35 for the finale. For a full a schedule and ticket prices for specific events, visit washingtonwomeninjazz.com.
Transgender performer Mykki Blanco comes to Comet Ping Pong (5037 Connecticut Ave., NW) along with Dope Body on March 27 at 9 p.m. This outgoing alter-ego to Michael David Quattlebaum Jr., is a New York-based poet and hip-hop musician. Dope Body is a noise rock band from Baltimore that formed in 2008. Their most recent album “Natural History” saw a change in sound with more big melodic hooks. Tickets are $12. For more information, visit cometpingpong.com.
Singer and lesbian activist Catie Curtis comes to The Barns at Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Rd., Vienna) on March 28 at 8 p.m. Curtis brings her stories about tackling personal and social justice themes that any audience member can relate to. Tickets are $22. For more information, visit wolftrap.org.
Country singer Chely Wright is the headliner for Rehoboth’s “Women’s Fest 2013” on April 12 at 8:45 p.m. at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center (229 Rehoboth Ave., Rehoboth Beach, Del.). Wright became the first major country singer to come out as gay in May 2010, citing her concerns about bullying of gays as well as being true to herself. Tickets are $25. There are a limited amount of front table seats that are $100. For more information, visit camprehoboth.com.
Several big-name pop and rock acts are slated to play the region. Look for Pink at the Verizon Center on March 14, “Wonder Woman” Lynda Carter at the Kennedy Center on March 23, Fleetwood Mac (which has a large gay following thanks to singer Stevie Nicks) at the Verizon Center on April 9, gay popster Mika at the Sixth and I Synagogue April 10, Motown/soul diva Gladys Knight at the Strathmore April 25-26, comedian/filmmaker and John Waters at the Howard on May 15.
In classical music, look for bi organist Cameron Carpenter at the Strathmore on April 12. He’s expected to bring a predictably unpredictable set and has been playing self-composed programmatic suites in recent shows. And under the gay leadership of Michael Tilson Thomas, the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra plays Mahler’s 9th Symphony at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall on March 23.
The Rock Creek Singers and Potomac Fever, the Gay Men’s Chorus’ two vocal ensembles, perform together on April 20 at 5 and 8 p.m. at Church of the Epiphany (1317 G St., NW). The evening includes a dazzling performance from these two groups sharing the stage singing in a cappella and tight harmonies, spanning music styles from Broadway, pop and classical. Tickets are $35. For more information, visit gmcw.org.
The same evening, gay singer, pianist and music revivalist Michael Feinstein performs at the Music Center at the Strathmore (5301 Tuckerman Lane, Bethesda). Tickets are $40 -$105. For more information, visit Strathmore.org.
The Cliks, with transgender lead singer Lucas Silveira, come to DC9 (1940 9th St., NW) on May 5, after their new album “Black Tie Elevator” is released. According to their website, the time of the event will be announced and it is a 21 or older event. For more information, visi thecliks.com.
Special Agent Galatica has monthly and twice-monthly engagements at a host of local venues — Black Fox Lounge, Nellie’s and Freddie’s. All details are at pinkhairedone.com.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnm0F3tldkU
Music & Concerts
Underdog glorious: a personal remembrance of Jill Sobule
Talented singer, songwriter died in house fire on May 1

I’ve always prided myself on being the kind of music consumer who purchased music on impulse. When I stumbled across “Things Here Are Different,” Jill Sobule’s 1990 MCA Records debut album on vinyl in a favorite Chicago record store, I bought it without knowing anything about her. This was at a time when we didn’t have our phones in our pockets to search for information about the artist on the internet. The LP stayed in my collection until, as vinyl was falling out of fashion, I replaced it with a CD a few years later.
Early in my career as an entertainment journalist, I received a promo copy of Jill’s eponymous 1995 Atlantic Records album. That year, Atlantic Records was one of the labels at the forefront of signing and heavily promoting queer artists, including Melissa Ferrick and Extra Fancy, and its roster included the self-titled album by Jill. It was a smart move, as the single “I Kissed A Girl” became a hit on radio and its accompanying video (featuring Fabio!) was in heavy rotation on MTV (when they still played videos).
Unfortunately for Jill, she was a victim of record label missteps. When 1997’s wonderful “Happy Town” failed to repeat the success, Atlantic dumped her. That was Atlantic’s loss, because her next album, the superb “Pink Pearl” contained “Heroes” and “Mexican Wrestler,” two of her most beloved songs. Sadly, Beyond Music, the label that released that album ceased to exist after just a few years. To her credit, the savvy Jill had also started independently releasing music (2004’s “The Folk Years”). That was a smart move because her next major-label release, the brilliant “Underdog Victorious” on Artemis Records, met a similar fate when that label folded.
With her 2009 album “California Years,” Jill launched her own indie label, Pinko Records, on which she would release two more outstanding full-length discs, 2014’s “Dottie’s Charms” (on which she collaborated with some of her favorite writers, including David Hadju, Rick Moody, Mary Jo Salter, and Jonathan Lethem), and 2018’s stunning “Nostalgia Kills.” Jill’s cover of the late Warren Zevon’s “Don’t Let Us Get Sick” on “Nostalgia Kills” was particularly poignant as she had toured with him as an opening act.
Jill was a road warrior, constantly on tour, and her live shows were something to behold. My first interview with Jill took place at the Double Door in Chicago in early August of 1995, when she was the opening act for legendary punk band X. She had thrown her back out the previous day and was diagnosed with a herniated disc. To be comfortable, she was lying down on a fabulous-‘50s sofa. “I feel like I’m at my shrink’s,” she said to me, “Do you want me to talk about my mother?”
That sense of humor, which permeated and enriched her music, was one of many reasons to love Jill. I was privileged to interview her for seven of her albums. Everything you would want to know about her was right there in her honest lyrics, in which she balanced her distinctive brand of humor with serious subject matter. Drawing on her life experiences in songs such as “Bitter,” “Underachiever,” “One of These Days,” “Freshman,” “Jetpack,” “Nothing To Prove,” “Forbidden Thoughts of Youth,” “Island of Lost Things,” “Where Do I Begin,” “Almost Great,” and “Big Shoes,” made her songs as personal as they were universal, elicited genuine affection and concern from her devoted fans.
While she was a consummate songwriter, Jill also felt equally comfortable covering songs made famous by others, including “Just A Little Lovin’” (on the 2000 Dusty Springfield tribute album “Forever Dusty”) and “Stoned Soul Picnic” (from the 1997 Laura Nyro tribute album “Time and Love”). Jill also didn’t shy away from political subject matter in her music with “Resistance Song,” “Soldiers of Christ,” “Attic,” “Heroes,” “Under the Disco Ball,” and the incredible “America Back” as prime examples.
Here’s something else worth mentioning about Jill. She was known for collaboration skills. As a songwriter, she maintained a multi-year creative partnership with Robin Eaton (“I Kissed A Girl” and many others), as well as Richard Barone, the gay frontman of the renowned band The Bongos. Jill’s history with Barone includes performing together at a queer Octoberfest event in Chicago in 1996. Writer and comedian Julie Sweeney, of “SNL” and “Work in Progress” fame was another Chicago collaborator with Sobule (Sweeney lives in a Chicago suburb), where they frequently performed their delightful “The Jill and Julia Show.” John Doe, of the aforementioned band X, also collaborated with Jill in the studio (“Tomorrow Is Breaking” from “Nostalgia Kills”), as well as in live performances.
On a very personal note, in 2019, when I was in the process of arranging a reading at the fabulous NYC gay bookstore Bureau of General Services – Queer Division, I reached out to Jill and asked her if she would like to be on the bill with me. We alternated performing; I would read a couple of poems, and Jill would sing a couple of songs. She even set one of my poems to music, on the spot.
Jill had an abundance of talent, and when she turned her attention to musical theater, it paid off in a big way. Her stage musical “F*ck 7th Grade,” a theatrical piece that seemed like the next logical step in her career, had its premiere at Pittsburgh’s City Theatre in the fall of 2020, during the height of the pandemic. The unique staging (an outdoor drive-in stage at which audience members watched from their cars) was truly inspired. “F*ck 7th Grade” went on to become a New York Times Critic’s pick, as well as earning a Drama Desk nomination.
In honor of the 30th anniversary of Jill’s eponymous 1995 album, reissue label Rhino Records is re-releasing it on red vinyl. Jill and I had been emailing each other to arrange a time for an interview. We even had a date on the books for the third week of May.
When she died in a house fire in Minnesota on May 1 at age 66, Jill received mentions on network and cable news shows. She was showered with attention from major news outlets, including obits in the New York Times and Rolling Stone (but not Pitchfork, who couldn’t be bothered to review her music when she was alive). Is it wrong to think that if she’d gotten this much attention when she was alive she could have been as big as Taylor Swift? I don’t think so.
Music & Concerts
Tom Goss returns with ‘Bear Friends Furever Tour’
Out singer/songwriter to perform at Red Bear Brewing Co.

Singer Tom Goss will bring his “Bear Friends Furever Tour” to D.C. on Sunday, June 8 at 8 p.m. at Red Bear Brewing Co.
Among the songs he will perform will be “Bear Soup,” the fourth installment in his beloved bear song anthology series. Following fan favorites like “Bears,” “Round in All the Right Places,” and “Nerdy Bear,” this high-energy, bass-thumping banger celebrates body positivity, joyful indulgence, and the vibrant spirit of the bear subculture.
For more details, visit Tom Goss’s website.

Aussie pop icon Kylie Minogue brings her acclaimed “Tension” world tour to D.C. next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Capital One Arena. Tickets are still available at Ticketmaster.
The show features songs spanning her long career, from 1987 debut single, “The Loco-Motion,” to “Padam, Padam” from her album, “Tension.”