FEATURE SHOW
Saturday, February 13, 9 PM
Singles Nite #3, feat. Hot Freaks, The Gin Blossoms (portrayed by Two Inch Astronaut), The Stooges (tribute), ZJ DeLorean @ Strange Matter – $5 for singles/$12 for couples
We’ve arrived at another Valentine’s Day, and while all the couples of the world are blissfully enjoying each other’s company over candlelit dinners, the rest of us have to find some way to get through the biggest “everyone’s having fun without you” holiday of the year.
FEATURE SHOW
Saturday, February 13, 9 PM
Singles Nite #3, feat. Hot Freaks, The Gin Blossoms (portrayed by Two Inch Astronaut), The Stooges (tribute), ZJ DeLorean @ Strange Matter – $5 for singles/$12 for couples
We’ve arrived at another Valentine’s Day, and while all the couples of the world are blissfully enjoying each other’s company over candlelit dinners, the rest of us have to find some way to get through the biggest “everyone’s having fun without you” holiday of the year. With Valentine’s Day falling on a Sunday this year, that means the holiday is taking over the whole weekend, which could mean that it’s even more depressing than usual. On the other hand, it also means that a variety of musical Valentine’s Day celebrations are filling the entire weekend with wonderful distracting entertainment. So there’s that, at least.
If you ask me, the best of these is the one taking place on Saturday night at Strange Matter. Several years ago, Mark Osborne in his infinite wisdom decided there was no reason to restrict holiday cover-band shows to Halloween, and started a new yearly tradition of a Singles Nite to counteract all the couplehood hype around Valentine’s Day. This is the third of those, and as usual, it actually costs more to get in if you show up as part of a couple than if you show up alone. With happiness being such a rare commodity in the world, a happiness tax isn’t exactly a road to massive profits, but if it makes perpetually single grumps (like me) feel better about our lives for one evening, I don’t think there’s much harm in it.
What about the music, Drew? Oh OK, yeah, let’s talk about that before I’m out of space. Hot Freaks are your headliners, and if you don’t think the sight of long-haired metal dudes (from the bands Battlemaster and Dragonship, among others) cranking out high-energy versions of classic rock tunes is worth the price of admission all on its own, you should at least show up to find out how wrong you are! These guys are so much fun–you will not regret your attendance, I assure you. Maryland alt-rockers Two Inch Astronaut will be playing the role of the Gin Blossoms for the evening (I’ll be the dork in the front row yelling for “Lost Horizons”), and a bunch of crazy punks from around town (members of Southside Stranglers, Government Warning, Devil’s Hand… you know these guys) will be laying down a wild n’ wooly Stooges covers set. It’ll be so much fun you won’t even mind staggering home alone at the end of the night. At least you won’t have to hold your date’s hair back, right?
Wednesday, February 10, 6 PM
Hiroshi Hasegawa, Desiccant, Dromez, Broadcastatic @ Gallery 5 – $7
I hope all you noise freaks in town are ready to blow your week totally apart on a Wednesday night, because Hiroshi Hasegawa comes to Gallery 5 tonight, and this show is “appointment viewing,” as the television critics say. Hasegawa got his start nearly three decades ago with the influential Japanese noise group C.C.C.C., who were coming more from the heart with their psychedelic approach to sonic experimentation, as opposed to the cold, intellectual attitudes of the European power electronics scene. Hasegawa explored this approach further in his later group Astro, which started out as a solo project but exists as a duo these days. Now he’s on tour as a solo artist, ready to hit you all with mind-warping waves of analog synth freakout. There will be no limits to the sort of sonic exploration that takes place on Gallery 5’s stage tonight.
There’ll be some amazing warm-up acts involved in this evening as well. Desiccant is the latest project of Andy Borsz, an experimental musician who has been known to veer back and forth between ambient psychedelic sounds and total harsh noise chaos. What will we get from his latest project? You’ll just have to show up and find out! Peripatetic noise rangers Dromez will also be on the bill, and the whole evening will start off with a performance from locals Broadcastatic to get you in the mood. If you’re down with noise experimentation, this is guaranteed to be one of the biggest local shows of the year for you, so make sure you head out to Gallery 5 tonight! You won’t wanna miss it.
Thursday, February 11, 8 PM
Poison Idea, Iron Reagan, Naysayer, Occultist @ Strange Matter – $10 (order tickets here: http://poisonidea.eventbrite.com/)
Yet another hardcore punk legend arrives on the Strange Matter stage. These people do such a great job, we should really all be grateful. Best of all, this is actually Poison Idea’s first time playing Richmond in their entire 35-year career, so for some people out there, I’m sure this has been a very long time coming! I expect all of you to be in attendance and stoked as fuck this Thursday night, as the most proudly antisocial band to make a permanent mark on the American hardcore sound shows up in Richmond to kick some ass, break some bottles, and generally make a mess of the place. The way Poison Idea’s alcohol-fueled sound mixes swaggering biker-style raw rock n’ roll riffing with hardcore speed and punk attitude probably has a lot to do with how your favorite current hardcore bands sound, so you really owe it to yourselves to come see the originators do their thing. Plus you can expect to hear classic tunes like “Death Wish Kids” and “The Badge” in their full glory live, and who wouldn’t want to experience that?
What’s really incredible about this show is what a top-quality array of opening acts you’ll get as part of it. Generally when a band like Poison Idea comes to town the openers are all but irrelevant–you might have an opinion about them, but you’re gonna go to the show regardless. In this situation, you very well might be stoked to catch this show even if there weren’t a living legend at the top of it. Iron Reagan will be making a rare local appearance, for one thing. This thrash-tastic band of hilarious dudes with amazing riffs features members of Municipal Waste, Darkest Hour, Cannabis Corpse, and more, but by now you shouldn’t even need to hear this list–one viewing of their outstanding video for “Miserable Failure” is enough to demonstrate this band’s genius. On top of all that, you’ll get a rough and tough set from local hardcore stalwarts Naysayer, and some raging thrash awesomeness from the mighty Occultist. Yeah, this show is gonna be sick–don’t blow it.
Friday, February 12, 9 PM
Cliff Burton’s Birthday Bash, feat. Battlemaster, Earthling, The Tall Boys, Dorthia Cottrell @ Strange Matter – $5
Looks like this is just one of those weeks in which I’m gonna send you to Strange Matter pretty much every night. It’s been cool lately to see a whole lot of other live venues around town stepping up and providing excellent content, but every once in a while the best venue in town has to step up themselves and reclaim their throne, and it looks like one of those weeks. After all, where else in town are you going to find people throwing a party in celebration of one of the best metal musicians of all time, who sadly passed on way too soon? Apparently TJ from Inter Arma/The Tall Boys shares a birthday with the late, great Cliff Burton, and rather than just throw a party for himself, he’d prefer to celebrate the life of the man who gave us that awesome intro riff to “For Whom The Bell Tolls.” I can dig it!
At the top of the bill is a double dose of Virginia metal badassery! Battlemaster, whose 2015 album Battlehungry And Swordsworn still totally rules, will headline with a set of wall to wall raging thrash power. Harrisonburg’s Earthling will engage in some contrast by hitting you with a blast of dirty blackened crust-metal rage. Both of these bands are gonna rip your head off in classic style, so I hope you’re planning on bringing a couple of spares. TJ’s own riff-rockin’ project, The Tall Boys, will also be playing this evening–after all, it’s his birthday, the man’s entitled. Expect some 70s style musclecar jams to get your head bangin’ from these guys. Dorthia Cottrell will start the evening off on a more contemplative note with her dark yet lovely acoustic sounds, and TJ will be spinning classic Metallica tunes between bands all night! Join the party, y’all.
Saturday, February 13, 5 PM
Big Eyes, Cross Eyed, Atta Girl, Calendar Blue @ Strange Matter – $8 (order tickets here: https://bigeyes.eventbrite.com/)
There are not one but TWO fine shows happening at Strange Matter on Saturday night, and if you’re a true rock n’ roll champion, you’ll find a way to hit up both of them. Before the big cover-band party, start your evening off right by enjoying some fun, catchy jams from Brooklyn’s Big Eyes. Led by singer/guitarist Kate Eldridge, this band brings back memories of great punky power-pop projects of decades past, most notably the Fastbacks and the Muffs. But this isn’t just some nostalgia-fest–this band has the tunes to make an impression in any decade, and we’re fortunate that the era they exist in is our own. Expect to hear their great new single on Don Giovanni, “Local Celebrity,” as well as highlights from their 2013 banger Almost Famous, which came out on local favorite Grave Mistake Records. This is gonna rule.
Some great local bands are on this bill as well. Cross Eyed are making a rare local appearance, which I suppose means Jake is off Spraynard tour and back in town, so come say hey to that dude and have some fun rockin’ out to the latest tunes from these RVA pop-punk all-stars. Atta Girl, who just released their debut EP, the excellently titled Fuck The Sun, are also on the bill, giving you an original and highly enjoyable mix of indie pop and punk rock. Starting the whole thing off will be the latest project from Stay In frontwoman Julia Louise, Calendar Blue. I’m sure we can expect great things from this group, and this entire stacked bill of greatness.
Sunday, February 14, 7 PM
Voivod, Vektor, Eight Bells, Vorator @ Strange Matter – $20 in advance/$25 day of show (order tickets here: https://voivod.eventbrite.com/)
I know the Valentine’s Day covers show I told you about above doesn’t actually leave you with anything to do on the actual holiday, but fear not, because Strange Matter has you covered once again. Sunday night, you’ve got a date with Voivod! That’s right, these Canadian weirdo thrashers will be coming to town to hit you with some complex, powerful jams that are totally awesome to bang your head to–assuming you can keep track of the time signature, that is. The band’s been through some ups and downs over the course of their career, and original bassist Blacky recently departed once again, but with Snake and Away still leading the band, these guys are just as awesome and powerful as ever.
I honestly have no idea what Voivod will have in store for us during their set. Having never seen them live (I know, I know), I’m not sure if they still play their early thrash classics like “Blower” or “Fuck Off And Die” (the latter would certainly be appropriate for this holiday… just sayin’) or if they will stick to the robotic prog-thrash that has been their more recent stock in trade. Either way, I’m sure you’ll be satisfied–Voivod’s been around for over 30 years at this point, and if you ask me, they’ve still not made a bad album. Who knows when these Quebecois madmen will make it back to town, y’all? Wrap up your weekend in style with Voivod at Strange Matter. Yes, other bands are playing too–Philadelphia’s Vektor, Portland’s Eight Bells, local heroes Vorator–but on this one night, I at least will only have eyes for Voivod. Fuck yeah, dudes.
Monday, February 15, 7 PM
Loone, Paper Bee, Yankee Roses, Yaya @ Gallery 5 – $5 (order tickets HERE)
This is a really interesting bill, and I had a bit of a time getting to the bottom of it. Loone and Paper Bee, two bands from Massachusetts, released a split LP last year, entitled Now I Know You And See How Wide You Are To The World. Both groups had previously existed as folk-punk solo projects, but starting with this LP and continuing in their current live incarnations, they have expanded into full bands with intriguing and not-easily-pinned-down sounds. If you dig the expansive, emotional sounds of bands like TWIABP or Empire! Empire!, you will probably find something to enjoy in the musical presence of both of these bands. Fans of everything from Defiance Ohio to A Silver Mt. Zion will probably dig them as well.
There’s more to tell than just that, though. One interesting factor I dug up is the fact that these two bands are essentially the same few people on different instruments. In Loone, the lead role is taken by Noel’le Longhaul, a non-binary trans woman who previously played in the folk-punk band Mallory and has worked with a bunch of other projects over the course of her career. Paper Bee sees Alyssa Kai, formerly of Ramshackle Glory and also of Mallory, taking the lead vocal role. Both of these groups are shaped by their queer femme perspectives, and that’s definitely a big part of why I’m excited to see them. With opening sets from locals Yankee Roses and Yaya, this should be a great show throughout, and one that gives you a bit of a different flavor than a lot of the tough masculine metal/punk I’m throwing at you this week. We all need a change-up from time to time, right?
Tuesday, February 16, 9 PM
Dressy Bessy, Christi, Old Monk @ Strange Matter – $10 (order tickets here: https://dressybessy.eventbrite.com/)
I love that my indie-pop adolescence has seemingly returned to life in full flower over the past couple years. I’m still holding out for a Heavenly reunion, but a return to action from Dressy Bessy is pretty excellent in its own right, and it’s even cooler that they’ll be hitting Richmond on Tuesday to get all of us dancing again. Guitarist John Hill also played in The Apples In Stereo, so you know these guys have psych pop cred for miles. But the real star here is singer/guitarist Tammy Ealom, whose sweet vocals and crunchy guitar riffs are the factors that make this band so great.
Dressy Bessy are currently on tour in support of brand new album Kingsized, which is every bit as great as the records they released in their late-90s/early-00s prime, so you should definitely get stoked for this one–even if you aren’t a 40-something twee girl with a bunch of Tsunami and Velocity Girl cassettes in a milk crate somewhere. RVA’s finest “girls in the garage” retro-pop group, Christi, will also be playing a super-fun set, and the evening will be kicked off by Brooklynites Old Monk. This is gonna be a lot of fun–come dance with me!
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Should I be posting about your show? Make sure I know it’s happening–email me: andrew@rvamag.com.
