FEATURE SHOW
Sunday, September 6, 8 PM
Psychic TV, Corpse Light, Mutwawa @ Strange Matter – $20 in advance/$22 day of show (order tickets here: https://psychictv.eventbrite.com/)
This Sunday, a legend walks among us.
FEATURE SHOW
Sunday, September 6, 8 PM
Psychic TV, Corpse Light, Mutwawa @ Strange Matter – $20 in advance/$22 day of show (order tickets here: https://psychictv.eventbrite.com/)
This Sunday, a legend walks among us. I am of course referring to Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, founder of Throbbing Gristle–the late 70s English group that basically created the industrial and noise genres all by themselves–and longtime explorer of the farthest-out avenues of art, music, and human thought. These days, Breyer P-Orridge is probably as well known for their explorations of radical pandrogyny, engaging in a series of surgeries and hormone therapies in order to merge entirely and become one with their lover, Lady Jaye Breyer. After Lady Jaye’s death in 2007, Breyer P-Orridge began to refer to themselves as “we” and now considers themselves to embody the merged identity of both persons. Which is certainly a fascinating story regardless of your feelings about it.
Breyer P-Orridge comes to us this Sunday, though, in their role as the leader of Psychic TV/PTV3, the group they’ve led in one form or another since shortly after Throbbing Gristle disbanded in 1981. Psychic TV has had a far more wide-ranging musical impact than Throbbing Gristle did, exploring not only the worlds of ambient noise and industrial avant-garde sounds but engaging in pioneering techno and acid-house works, as well as moving through the worlds of psychedelia and other experimental avenues. The most recent incarnation of Psychic TV is a dark, psychedelic space-rock combo with resemblances to both Killing Joke and Hawkwind, and demonstrates their prowess with this sound on 2014 LP Snakes.
This LP is the third release from the PTV3 incarnation of the group, which has been around for a bit over a decade now, and draws its power from Breyer P-Orridge’s trip to the African country of Benin, where they used extensive explorations of the origins of voodoo as a vehicle for self-exploration and discovery. The amazing music that has come from all this is a worthy addition to their extensive legacy, and Psychic TV should give all the lovers of avant-garde and extreme music here in RVA a hell of a show when they make their long-awaited arrival this Sunday night. You really should take this opportunity to see a living legend, still operating at top form after over four decades in the music and art world, because who knows when Breyer P-Orridge and Psychic TV will make their way back to Richmond again. With opening sets from Baltimore’s Corpse Light and local noise kingpins Mutwawa, this show is guaranteed to be one for the ages.
Wednesday, September 2, 9 PM
Sea Of Storms, Close Talker, Stay In, Keith Yetter @ The Camel – Free!
Radio Rubber Room, that long-running local radio show, is still hard at work on bringing the best of the RVA music scene to stages in the area. They’ve thrown their regular Wednesday night events at The Republic (RIP) and Emilio’s, but these days they’re over at The Camel, which is certainly the best environment yet for what they’re putting together. And while you might identify this show with the blues/funk/jam-band aspects of the local scene more than anything, they’ve actually got very wide-ranging tastes, as they indicate with tonight’s dip into the local pop-punk and emo scenes.
Headlining the whole evening will be Sea Of Storms, an outstanding trio of veteran rockers who graced the pages of our last print issue, and whose debut album, Dead Weight, just might be the best thing to come out of this city in 2015–in ANY genre. They’ll be joined by former tour partners Close Talker, who feature Sundials drummer Cory Chubb stepping out from behind the kit to take the frontman role for another downhearted, excellent emotional pop-punk group. Stay In brings together hardworking musicians from local hardcore groups Caust and Swan Of Tuonela with talented singer/guitarist/songwriter Julia Louise, who lays down her catchy vocal and guitar melodies over a driving sound with overtones reminiscent of Hum or Quicksand. The result is original and outstanding. With folk singer-songwriter Keith Yetter kicking off the entire bill, this is yet another hit evening of great music from the always-rad folks at Radio Rubber Room. And it’s free–what more could you want?
Thursday, September 3, 9 PM
Battlemaster, BAT, Led To The Grave, Left Cross @ Strange Matter – $8
Thursday night, get primed for your fast-approaching weekend with some raging metal action over at Strange Matter. The combo of Battlemaster and BAT, two great bands with one great first syllable in common, will be rocking your face off in fine fashion. Battlemaster’s assured mix of black, death, and thrash metal sounds was well demonstrated on their latest album, Battlehungry and Swordsworn, released back in the spring, and the instrumental prowess of all involved will be more than enough to inspired some frenzied headbanging once they take the stage. Meanwhile, BAT is a supergroup of sorts, uniting Ryan Waste of the almighty Municipal Waste with current-Volture/ex-Cannabis Corpse guitar-slinger Nick Poulos and drummer Felix Griffin, best known for his time holding down the throne in thrash pioneers DRI. This trio has an extremely solid 80s-revival sound, mixing classic thrash stylings with a dark, doomy tone that gives the whole thing a spooky undercurrent.
There are a couple of bands on this bill who do not have the syllable “bat” anywhere in their names, though in true Sesame Street fashion, both are brought to you by the letter L. Led To The Grave comes to us from Boston with some solid heavy sounds that straddle the line between thrash metal and straight-up death. Dark riffing, raging vocals, both speedy and sludgy tempos–it all comes together for some serious fury, so get ready to bang your head. Meanwhile, openers Left Cross constitute yet another Unsacred side project, this one featuring a dark, metallic thrash sound demonstrated in all its fuzzy glory on debut EP Infernal Assault (which came out on cassette back in the spring). These guys will start this ripper off right, and let’s be real, you’ll probably be banging your head all night.
Friday, September 4, 5:30 PM
Conditions, Broadside, Underdog Champs, When Cities Sleep, A Collegiate Affair @ The Canal Club – $10 (order tickets HERE)
I’m not entirely sure how RVA is lucky enough to have a show like this happening this Friday. After all, Conditions certainly appeared to have disbanded a year or so ago. However, after a mysterious facebook post back in July reading only “stay tuned,” the word soon arrived that Conditions would be reforming to celebrate the five-year anniversary of their first LP, Fluorescent Youth, with a show at The Canal Club! Now, you might be thinking “a five-year anniversary of an album release seems a bit soon for a celebration,” and I will admit to having had the same thought in passing–but who cares? Fluorescent Youth was one of my favorite records of 2010, and seeing Conditions live at the Canal Club a few months after it was released pretty much made my life, so whatever excuse is necessary to bring these guys back for another night of outstanding music is fine by me!
What’s even cooler is that they’ll be joined by Broadside for this evening of live awesomeness. With a new album, Old Bones, out this year on Victory Records, this band constitutes the next generation of great RVA emotional pop-punk bands, and their energetic live performance and super-catchy tunes will be the perfect compliment to Conditions’ resurrection of their own outstanding emo/punk sound. What’s more, there are a bunch of great openers to enjoy as well–the charming Underdog Champs, Maryland boys When Cities Sleep, and the strangely named but always catchy A Collegiate Affair will all do their best to get a fire lit under your ass even before the amazing headliners take the stage to wipe the floor with us all. This is going to be a perfect way to end your week. Also, who knows whether Conditions will just disappear again after this is all over? You better not miss it!
Saturday, September 5, 9 PM
Dirt Merchant, The Medusa, The Tall Boys @ Wonderland – $5
We’ve got a whole lot of heavy metal happening this Saturday night at Wonderland–which seems like the perfect time and place for it, if you ask me. Dirt Merchant are your headliners, and while this RVA band has, I’ll admit, mostly escaped my notice before now, their EP from earlier this year is a serious rager. Devil’s Orders is seriously old-school, with a lot of roaring vocals and blazing guitar riffs that should appeal to fans of both high-octane stoner metal and modern American metal legends like Lamb Of God. If that sounds like a rad time to you, let’s all head down to Shockoe Bottom this weekend for a closer look!
But Dirt Merchant, cool as they are, are not the only reason to do just that. Another big reason comes in the form of The Medusa, the latest project from original Alabama Thunderpussy vocalist Johnny Throckmorton. He’s joined up with members of Immortal Avenger, Mensrea, and Rebellem to create a band that’s more than just an excellent vehicle for his vocal talents. Indeed, there are some bedrock-solid riffs going on here, and the fact that Johnny can still wail like crazy overtop only makes this even more of a treat. You’ll want to get on the Medusa bandwagon now, so make sure you don’t miss their set Saturday night. And for that matter, don’t miss out on openers The Tall Boys, either–with Inter Arma drummer TJ Childers on guitar, they’re sure to be a band you’ll want to check out as well. Get ready to rock!
Sunday, September 6, 8 PM
Those Manic Seas, Young Scum, The Killing Daylights @ Bandito’s – Free!
For your sake, I sure hope you don’t have to work on Labor Day. Not only because it sucks a whole lot to go to work on a day set aside for the honoring of workers, but also because you’re gonna want to sleep in after a high-living Sunday night over at Bandito’s. Those Manic Seas, who’ve been demonstrating their unique talents all over Richmond for years now, are finally set to release their debut full-length album, Outlier, later this month, and they’re heading out on a two-month tour to celebrate. Before they do, though, they’ll be bringing their television-headed mannequin singer and their catchy, danceable alt-rock riffs to Bandito’s this Sunday night for a free show. If you want a sneak preview of what the whole country’s gonna be hearing over the course of this fall, you would do well to show up.
What’s more, the band is joined on this date by Young Scum, who’ve finally found a way to capture their excellent live sound on recent split EPs with Shrunk and The Reporters. Their jangle-pop brings to life the sounds of the early 90s International Pop Underground–all those bands on K Records back in the day, like Heavenly and The Vaselines, only with an unmistakably modern twist to give it all depth. If you haven’t caught on to what these dudes are doing, now is the perfect time. The Killing Daylights will start off the evening with some catchy alt-rock riffing of their own, featuring a brand new drummer and a new lease on life! So enjoy the always-free admission and the always-excellent nachos at Bandito’s, and catch some excellent music while you’re at it. Then sleep in on Labor Day–you’ve earned it.
Monday, September 7, 8 PM
Christian Mistress, High Spirits, Night Magic, Savage Master @ Strange Matter – $10 in advance/$12 day of show (order tickets here: https://heavylabor.eventbrite.com/)
More metal? Oh, you better believe it! Christian Mistress are coming through town, and I’d be downright irresponsible not to advise you to get your ass down to Strange Matter with the quickness! These guys grabbed a bunch of attention pretty much immediately after forming, gaining a cosign from Fenriz of Darkthrone and soon signing to 20 Buck Spin for their full-length debut, Agony And Opium (the artwork of which they’ve recently intimated was stolen by Kanye West for his upcoming album–see what you think here). These days, they’re on Relapse–a label that’s been nice to a lot of RVA bands over the past several years–and are about to release their third album, To Your Death. Based on the two tunes that have hit the internet thus far, it sure seems like this band is carrying on with their fusion of 70s hard rock and 80s power metal in fine fashion. This show should certainly rule.
Christian Mistress are joined on this tour by High Spirits, a project of Chris Black, who also plays in Dawnbringer and Superchrist. This band’s facebook URL is “highenergyrock,” and they certainly play that style of music, bringing to mind a lot of early 80s hard rock sounds that my dad used to blast while we were speeding down rural highways in his Camaro when I was a little kid (no regrets). If you’re a fan of Deep Purple’s “Highway Star” or Blue Oyster Cult’s “Stairway To The Stars,” you’ll need to catch a set by these guys. With Louisvillains Savage Master and buzzworthy new RVA/NC group Night Magic opening up, this show promises to be a total blast.
Tuesday, September 9, 9 PM
AJ Davila Y Terror Amor, Imaginary Sons, California Death, The You Go Girls @ Strange Matter – $8 (order tickets here: https://aj666.eventbrite.com/)
Puerto Rican garage rock? OK, you’ve got my attention right there. AJ Davila Y Terror Amor reward that attention with some great songs on their debut album, Beibi, released late last year by garage stalwarts Burger Records. Davila was the former leader of Davila 666, whom I never picked up on but apparently got some attention during the garage-rock revival of last decade. Some of that band’s members are still part of his backing band today, and they’ve all got some great sounds to bring to you next Tuesday night at Strange Matter. Expect some super-fun booty-shaking choruses as well as an energizing undercurrent of bad-boy awesomeness from this crew of rock n’ rollers.
Imaginary Sons will join Davila y co. and lay down some upbeat rock n’ roll of their own. These guys have a fun-loving spirit that shows through not only in the title of their debut album, Let It Beer, but also in the way they’ve constructed a complex backstory through a series of comedic short films released over the summer. If you missed those, worry not–you don’t need quite all of the details to understand how much rock n’ roll partytime fun this band of high-spirited reprobates has in store for you. Opening sets courtesy of surf-psych newcomers California Death and the ridiculously goofy You Go Girls will get this party started properly, so get stoked!
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Should I be posting about your show? Make sure I know it’s happening–email me: andrew@rvamag.com.
