Festival season is almost upon us, and you know what that means. Many Richmond bands will be taking their sound on the road and spreading the good word.
Festival season is almost upon us, and you know what that means. Many Richmond bands will be taking their sound on the road and spreading the good word. In addition to Black Girls’ recent announcement that they’ll be opening for The Head and The Heart on their March tour, there is a lot more news to report.
Goldrush
Also in March, South By Southwest will be taking over Austin, Texas and you better believe Richmond will be there to celebrate. Goldrush will be performing at a few showcases during the festival, as well as spending ample time promoting their unique sound to new converts on the way there. While they deserve all of the accolades and congratulations in the world, they will not be the only ones partaking in Austin fun. Sweet Tea Pumpkin Pie is putting together a number of showcases that will highlight various cities, one of which is Richmond. The bands announced to perform at this event are The Diamond Center, White Laces, The Absent Center, Young Adult Fiction, The Milkstains, Dead Fame, Marionette, Those Manic Seas, and The Simma Downs. Sweet Tea Pumpkin Pie has been doing wonderful work covering several regional bands while successfully putting together showcases much like this. Along with Fuzzy Logic, Washington DC is very fortunate to have these minds at work celebrating the Mid-Atlantic’s music scene while also spreading the fortune to Austin during this year’s SXSW.
The Diamond Center
Besides appearing in Austin during March, The Diamond Center has a lot of new plans for the future. Their next seven-inch will be released by Funny/Not Funny Records, and they have just been announced on the roster for April’s Macrock. Although it has yet to be confirmed, this Harrisonburg festival has been known to invite several Richmond acts to perform over the first weekend of April. I can imagine that The Diamond Center will find familiar faces that weekend when they completely annihilate it at this year’s festivities.
Algernon Cadwallader at Stay Sweet Fest 2011; photo by Jake Cunningham
And if none of these bands strike your fancy, don’t fret. Stay Sweet Fest will also be taking place over the weekend of April 13th through 15th at the Camel. Already announced bands include Algernon Cadwallader, Bridge and Tunnel, Daytrader, Monument, One Win Choice, Signals Midwest, The Wild, and many more. This was a tremendous success for the punk community last year and I expect even better things this year.
For now, that’s all there is to report, but expect updates soon as further revelations are made regarding the lineups at Macrock and Stay Sweet Fest.
