Schedule of Performers
2008 Capital Pride
As of press time. Please note: Times are approximate. Performers and schedule subject to change without notice.
DJ Steve Henderson returns to spin between acts on the Mainstage this year. The former Baltimore resident and one-time manager of the city’s Grand Central, Henderson now resides in Chicago but spins for special events everywhere, including DC’s Cherry. (All Day)
Bruce Vilanch, a regular at Capital Pride, is one of the nation’s most famous gay comedians, having come to fame as a wacky T-shirt-wearing, wisecracking regular on Hollywood Squares. (Emcee 11 a.m.-1 p.m.)
Charm City Boys is Baltimore’s premier drag king troupe, now six years together. Performers merge the suave with the redneck, the gigolo with the farmhand, the gangster with the leather daddy — just don’t call them hon, hon… (11:05-11:10 a.m.)
Odd Girl Out: The Maryland-based all-lesbian band Odd Girl Out makes eminently tuneful music, the likes of which you don’t hear everyday from an all-lesbian band with a serious passion for rock in the mold of Green Day or Heart. (11:15-11:35 a.m.)
Tom Goss‘s music is a percussive blend of rock, pop and folk, and through multi-artist concerts, he’s been doing his fair share around town the past year to make gay guitar slingers a common sight. (11:40-11:55 a.m.)
Mara Levi doesn’t perform from an out-of-the-box ”lesbian folk” template; she’s a funny, talented musician whose influences run the gamut from Aimee Mann to Johannes Brahms, and maker of catchy, complex compositions to savor. (12:05-12:20 p.m.)
E-Cleff formerly performed with the DC Drag Kings and ROCKETT, but now this male impersonator has his own group The Bad Boys. The popular performer energizes everyone in the crowd, but ”it’s always for the ladies!” (12:20-12:30 p.m.)
Parade Winners Announced (12:30-12:35)
Destiny B. Childs holds lots of titles, from Miss International Gay Rodeo Association to Miss Zodiac to Miss Gay Dreamgirls, and sprung whole-cloth — or whole-garter, if you will — from the body of a handsome former Mr. Remington’s. It’s all in service to the community. (Emcee from 12:40-2:45 p.m.; performing at 1:30 p.m.)
Capital Pride Royalty — Mr. and Miss Capital Pride 2008 will take to the stage after having been crowned earlier in Pride Week, along with Mr. and Ms. Leather Capital Pride 2008. They will have won in part based on their talent and their ”full scale of the rainbow” pridewear. Or in Mr. Leather’s case, ”a jockstrap of their choice.” (12:40-12:50 p.m.)
Freddie’s Follies is a team from Freddie’s Beach Bar that consists of drag queens and drag kings, as well as everyday ”bio boys and girls.” (12:50-1 p.m.)
Nuwear Fashion Show (1-1:10 p.m.)
Julie Clark has racked up a number of awards and accolades over the years — including as the Folk/Acoustic Artist of the Year at the Virginia Music Awards — for her brand of folk-pop, which ”kisses but doesn’t tell.” (1:10-1:30 p.m.)
Brendan Velasquez is an up-and-coming dance-pop crooner who sounds a lot like Justin Timberlake and will release his debut album Living Out Loud this summer. (1:40-2 p.m.)
X-Faction Dance Company is an energetic Washington-based dance troupe that in the past year has been busier than ever, performing twice a week at Town. (2:05-2:14 p.m.)
Shi-queeta Lee was a Cherry Main Event performer, and she’s one of Town’s leading ladies and the host of Nellie’s drag bingo: All of a sudden she’s one of the city’s most ubiquitous drag queens. There’s just no stopping her now. (2:15-2:20 p.m.)
Akil is a London-based blues singer who’s recorded some underground house hits over the years, for the likes of David Guetta and other European dance mavens. (2:25-2:45 p.m.)
Ella Fitzgerald is always crass, always funny and always soul-stirring, and the peacock-inspired drag queen proves that sometimes the smallest big mouth in town can indeed impart the biggest treasure. (2:45-2:55 p.m.)
Derek & Romaine gab together for four hours every weekday on Sirius Radio’s OutQ Channel in a talk show described as ”goofy and titillating.” They return as emcees this year to do it all in person, right before your eyes. (Emcees from 2:55-6 p.m.)
Melange Lavonne has already had frequent rotation on Logo with her dramatic video for ”Gay Bash,” but the lesbian rapper and actor is just getting started, with a new video, a new album, and two new TV shows in the works. (3-3:15 p.m.)
DC Cowboys is a cowboy boot-wearing dance troupe that kicks up a choreographed Broadway-tinged, country-western storm. But it’s their often-shirtless performances and suggestive moves that really get the crowd swooning. (3:20-3:30 p.m.)
Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C. is regarded as one of the finest gay men’s chorus in the country as well as one of Washington’s best choral groups. The Chorus is a local social institution that often takes a cheeky approach to its choral repertoire, and extravagantly dresses the part. (3:40-3:50 p.m.)
Lori Michaels will bring her New York-based Me & The Girls song and dance troupe to perform her heavily syncopated dance-pop with equal appeal to gay men and lesbians. She hasn’t been dubbed ”the Dyke Diva” for nothing. (3:50-4:15 p.m.)
BETTY is an idiosyncratic band back to rock proud once more for its hometown. Expect Alyson Palmer and sisters Amy and Elizabeth Ziff to share some of the hilarious comic vignettes and songs from their Off-Broadway musical hit Betty Rules, blending rock-n-roll with gorgeous three-part harmonies. (4:25-4:55 p.m.)
Dario has appeared on various TV shows, including the WB’s Popstars and American Idol, but he’s slowly making a name for himself by singing sweet R&B/pop with appeal to fans of Ashanti, KC & JoJo, even Britney Spears. (5-5:25 p.m.)
Jason & deMarco, partners in music and life, appeal to both spiritual and secular gays and are familiar to viewers of Logo and now Showtime, which is currently airing a documentary about the duo. (5:25-5:50 p.m.)
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