Go-go singer Ms. Kim, the “Queen of Go-Go,” knows how to control an audience’s attention. This Prince George’s County native started with Rare Essence in 1995, and as the band’s singer she once turned Ashlee Simpson’s 2004 pop hit “Pieces of Me” into a D.C.-area go-go anthem. Ms. Kim starts her rendition out sweet and smooth, but then her delivery becomes powerful and strong. Two decades later, she and other go-go vocalists are all performing this now-standard rendition. Large sections of the crowd typically join in. While working with go-go groups including Team Familiar and Sirius Company, Ms. Kim turned R&B songs such as Sade’s “No Ordinary Love” and Solange’s “Cranes in the Sky” into soulful “grown and sexy” go-go. But Ms. Kim also has a don’t-mess-with-me rap voice that she occasionally deploys. On Sirius Company’s 2021 tough-edged, fast-tempoed song “She Ready,” Ms. Kim raps, “I hope you don’t mind if I get ratchet.” In her 2023 appearance on Noochie’s Live from the Porch concert series, she forcefully snarled, “Who Am I/ I am the K-I-M.” Fond of dramatic entrances, for the show at the Howard Theatre celebrating her 20th anniversary of making go-go music, Ms. Kim performed a dramatic rendition of Sade’s “Cherish the Day,” initially sitting onstage on a palatial, red fabric-covered throne. She slowly stood up and continued to sing as her fairy tale meets ballet-style skirt billowed out before she eventually kneeled and then stylishly spread her dress-covered legs out on the stage. Promising special guests and performing with her own backing band, who knows what surprises she will have for the audience on her 50th birthday gig. Ms. Kim performs at 9 p.m. on June 1 at the Bethesda Theater. bethesdatheater.com. $40. —Steve Kiviat
The Queen of Go-Go’s 50th Birthday Celebration, June 1
