It’s party time for all the rockabilly cats this Saturday night down at the Broadberry bar n’ grill, and if there aren’t at least a few enormous, elaborately-restored American cars from the 50s, complete with tail fins, parked somewhere in the Broadberry’s vicinity on this night, I will truly be disappointed. Reverend Horton Heat is coming to town, bringing his nearly three decades of psychobilly freakoutery to RVA once again for a gigantic package tour known as the Holiday Hayride. The Rev has been woodshedding with his band for a while, having just picked up a new drummer and started work on his 12th album over the summer. Expect some new tunes as well as all the classics you know and love, complete with the country-punk twang and rebel-stomping badass panache.
The Rev’s not the only act on this hayride, though, and if anything, the powerful openers are just as much of a draw for this one as the headliner. Country-singing guitar-slinger Junior Brown will bring his unique “guit-steel” double-neck axe to the stage and grace us all with a deep songbook he’s been putting together ever since the 80s. And then there are the Blasters, who’ve been cranking out rootsy, punky rock n’ roll for longer than Brown or the Rev, originally forming in the wake of the LA punk explosion in the late 70s. While singer/guitarist Phil Alvin’s brother Dave isn’t playing lead guitar anymore, the original lineup remains otherwise intact, so if you loved them in the mid-80s you’ll still get a kick out of signature tune “I’m Shakin’” and their many other excellent songs, still delivered with fire and passion. Big Sandy & His Fly-rite Boys kick things off, and even this relatively new group (only 25 years together) is 100 percent worth your time and attention, so make your dollar count and show up on time.
