By DCist Contributor Valerie Paschall By the time Northern State came into existence in 2000, the term “girl power” had become a sort of joke, referring to acts that spent as much time undercutting this “power” of theirs with shameless self-promotion and dubious costume choices as they did with cultivating any actual vocal or lyrical talent. As such, using this term (or any ambiguous feminist term) to describe these three ladies from Brooklyn seems......

Londonist are starting to think their city is getting just a little bit too expensive, when even Christian Slater can't afford to go out there. And there's no escaping, as local singer Lily Allen discovered when she was barred entry to the US. The British mapping agency caused further bad karma, by blocking a 3-D representation of London in Google Earth. But the smiles returned to Londonist's faces as they interviewed Baroness von Reichardt,......

When joining the fray for a big music festival, it's always important to have a game plan -- even if large chunks of it usually get lost in the wash somewhere along the way thanks to a really long ATM line or running into some dude you haven't seen since you were 14. This weekend several DCists and at least two of our readers will be heading up to Baltimore's Pimilco race track for......

Just two days left in our V Fest ticket giveaway video contest. Make your best entry that includes some form of a song by a V Fest artist, load it to YouTube, tag it with "DCist," and send an email to amanda (at) dcist (dot) com with the link and your contact information to put your hat in the ring. All entries must come in by 5 p.m. this Sunday night. Don't miss your......

Ahhh, summer music festivals. As any music blog reader could tell you, as soon as the ground starts to thaw, they're all the indie kids can talk about. Last year we were all lathered up about getting a mega-fest of our very own (or at least, within reasonable stomping-ground distance). Several DCists embarked upon Pimlico and were pleased to report that the festival was wonderfully organized, accomodating, really well done and... that it just......

The last 24 hours have proved quite busy for regional concert announcements, and we're happy to say the news isn't about bands skipping DC as they galavant around the country. Earlier this morning the 9:30 Club's Seth Hurwitz announced the newly reformed Police and Smashing Pumpkins, along with the Beastie Boys, as the headliners for this year's Virgin Fest, now to be a two-day event held on August 4th and 5th at Pimlico Race Course......

DCist got a report that the Beastie Boys are right now (2:45 p.m.) at the Asylum Wake Skate Snow store on Seventh Street downtown. While it is unclear if they are giving an impromptu performance, apparently there is a lot of "wooo hoo"ing. The Beastie Boys are set to perform at the Patriot Center at George Mason University this evening. Can anyone else fill us in with details?......

Though the weekend is going to be absolutely-freaking-gorgeous, DCist can't help but feel a twinge of bitterness. First, we've got to run 22 miles tomorrow for our seemingly never-ending Marine Corps Marathon training. And then we don't even get Monday off! The gods are against us. Anyway, no reason everyone else shouldn't have some fun! Grumble ... FRIDAY: Beastie Boys bring their show to the Patriot Center. Need a ticket? Check craigslist. Lots of last-minute......

Because we like to keep you in the know, here's an updated list of upcoming shows, through middle of October or so (if we've missed anything, please let us know!). A couple of DCist-ers will be in attendance at the Thrills show tomorrow night at the Black Cat, so come on out! 9/17: Lungfish, Black Cat 9/18: The Thrills, Black Cat 9/23: The Walkmen, 9:30 Club 9/24: Fiery Furnaces, Black Cat 9/25: Travis Morrison, Galaxy......

DCist usually laments the state of shows here in the nation�s capital. Often passed over for the bigger markets of Philadelphia or New York, the D.C. never seems to get a fair shake when it comes to the concerts that all the cool kids wanna go to. It�s so unfair! We have some great musical venues; when are we going to get a steady influx of good live bands? Well, it seems the times, they......