Free Metal Fridays at Another Round Bar and Grill, aka The Burnout Pit, are creating a whole new Richmond metal scene outside the city limits.
Friday nights at a suburban bar are quickly becoming a hotspot for metal heads in Richmond. On the first Friday of each month, starting at eight P.M., the back room at Another Round Bar and Grill in Lakeside vibrates with noise from guitar amps. Some attendees smoke cigarettes inside while others have a drink at the bar or jump and headbang along with the band.
The space is technically called The Burnout Pit, which is described on its facebook page as a “live music venue located inside Another Round Bar And Grill.” The Free Metal Fridays concert series started when Brian Fisher, a veteran in the metal scene who currently plays drums in Spiral Fracture, approached bar manager Bob Iannacone about hosting free metal shows.
“I wanted to revive the metal scene in Richmond,” said Fisher. “It’s starting to become of what I remember in the nineties: People coming together for the love of music.”
Iannacone allowed him four weeks of shows to see how the turn out would be.
“So far people have loved it,” said Iannacone. “I think we’ll keep the shows going.”
Fisher has recruited local bands along with out of state groups from North Carolina, Illinois, and New York to play the monthly shows. The show on Friday, August 2 featured Skyless from Hampton Roads and Wolf Legion from Fredericksburg, along with Richmond bands Alcindor and Dr. NO.
Jennifer Ammons and Anthony Holt, a couple from Hanover, came to check out some metal bands.
“There’s lots of genres played out in the suburbs, not just metal,” said Holt.
“It’s a very welcoming atmosphere out here,” added Ammons.
Top Photo by Hadley Chittum
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