Valerie Paschall

Recent Actions

• Posted Thao and the Get Down Stay Down @ Black Cat to DCist
  This isn’t the first time that Thao Nguyen has sold out the Black Cat. It’s actually become an expectation, like death and taxes, that the young guitarist from Falls Church, VA and her awkwardly named band will bring the crowds and start a party. Party seems an unlikely description of a show by a band who specializes in rather harsh tunes about heartbreak and loss. But Thao’s feisty presence and quickness to invite others onstage...
• Posted Weekly Music Agenda to DCist
  Photo by Kyle Gustafson / http://www.photokyle.com MONDAY >> The Boss is in town! The Boss is in town! Wait, wasn’t he just here? Perhaps that's why there are tickets available. Springsteen & The E Street Band will be rocking out the Verizon Center tonight. 7:30 p.m. $32.50, $68 and $98. >> Or if you'd rather see another big name at even higher prices (and with even bigger hair) Lyle Lovett and his Large Band...
• Posted Three Stars: Pilesar to DCist
  Photo by Ashleigh Mullinax During last month's Sonic Circuits Festival, an elbow-to-elbow Velvet Lounge got to see legendary recluse Jandek perform a very intense set with dissonant guitars, creepy vocals and a lot of keyboards. It was a beautiful thing, but the people who left immediately afterward missed one of DCist's most exciting finds of the festival. Drummer Jason Mullinax, who performs as Pilesar, put on a set that completely warmed up and engaged...
• Posted Three Stars: Gestures to DCist
  Many times when we see that a band has more than five members, we predict certain combinations of instruments. But Gestures isn't your ordinary band, so they haven't tripled up on guitar players. They don't even have one guitar player. With two drummers (including Mark Cisneros from Medications), one clarinet, one trombone, one saxophone, and one tuba, Gestures has all the elements of a jazz band or a classical ensemble. Yet the driving rhythms...
• Posted Click Click: Bentzen Ball Brings the Bellyaches to DCist
  In between her mix of song, snark and scatological jokes, Sarah Silverman did a bit at the 9:30 Club on Sunday night where she let audience members ask her for advice, entertaining questions on everything from getting out of credit card debt to making it as a stand-up comic. If we learned one thing from this weekend's impressive Bentzen Ball comedy festival, presented by Brightest Young Things and curated by fantastic stand-up Tig Notaro, it's...