Part of “Grill Fest” will take place at the Wonderland Ballroom. Photo by Marcellina.Earlier this summer Pat Walsh—D.C. resident and renowned “General Enthusiast” of the local music scene—was badly injured in an assault just outside of his Mount Pleasant home. “I was walking home to my place,” Pat tells DCist in an email, “And about 10 feet before I got home, two guys ran up behind me, punched me from behind, knocked me over, and kicked me some.” Fortunately, one of his neighbors came out and scared the guys away, but not before Walsh’s assailants left him with a gash on his chin, some “nasty scrapes and bruises,” and—worst of all—some broken teeth.
Pat, whose dedicated championing of the local music scene and warm-hearted kindness has made him into something of a local legend, wasn’t too keen to talk about his unfortunate attack when it happened. “I only told a few friends about this because I generally don’t talk about stuff like this,” he says, “and didn’t really want to have the same conversation about it with everyone I saw.” But when one of his pals, You, Me, Them, Everybody host and Brightest Young Things managing editor Brandon Wetherbee, heard of Pat’s unfortunate incident and his mounting medical bills to fix his two busted front teeth, he sprang into action and organized a weekend of events to raise money for Pat because new teeth don’t come cheap.
This weekends events—dubbed GrillFest—include a Walsh-dedicated taping of YMTE at the Wonderland Ballroom on Friday (with guests Jenn Tisdale, Adam Friedland, Benjamin Freed, Tim Kish, Andrew Bucket, and rootsy rock trio Southern Problems), a potluck brunch at The Dunes on Sunday (Pat is known for hosting delicious, home-cooked brunch parties), and a concert on Sunday night at U Street Music Hall with some of his favorite bands. Entry to all of these events are donation-based, with 100 percent of the donations going towards Pat paying for his new grill.
Despite not playing much since they were robbed in Paris last year, electronic duo Protect-U will be headlining Sunday’s benefit concert. In an email to DCist, Protect-U’s Aaron Leitko says, “Pat has always been a big supporter or Protect-U and Future Times, so we were happy to step up and help out when we were told about the benefit.” Although they’ll only be doing a DJ set, they’ll “probably play some of the newer stuff we’re hoping to use on our record.” Leitko says, “We don’t really have our live set together again, yet (soon, though, hopefully).”
As for how Pat feels about all this? “It all seems strange to be the beneficiary of a benefit, but the outpouring of support really means a lot and I’m so thankful I have amazing friends,” he tells us. “Most of all, I’m looking forward to a fun weekend and to get some help with some pretty serious medical bills.”
