Once more, bridge the gap, dear Richmonders, or close up the gap with our Monroe Park rats… But when the blasts of indie rock blow in our ears, then imitate the beaver and fill the river stage. – Griffin Shakespeare Smalley. Got a show coming up? New single? Simply want someone to talk music? I am your guy at griffin@rvamag.com.
Dominion Energy Center | Thursday October 3rd 2024 Miramar & The Richmond symphony
I was able to catch our own Nuevo Romantico group, Miramar, a few months back in one of the most interesting and enjoyable concerts I have seen this year. They are an intensely passionate group of artists stoking an intense bonfire of Latin American music in our own Richmond, and they are not doing it alone. They are being joined by the Richmond Symphony, a standard they captured in 2020.
Cobra Cabana | Wednesday, october 9th 2024 MDC, Inconsolable, Fit Check, Payphones
Show me a more punch-in-the-face name than Millions of Dead Cops. Contemporaries to the Dead Kennedys and The Vandals, these guys are pure west coast punk rocking. There is always a fear with bands that have been going for so long, maybe they will fake it. From all the videos I can find, MDC is still hitting it hard and fast with politically shot up lyrics on a pristinely crunchy fast guitar sound.
Inconsolable are being driven by an epitaph snare. They have the kind of vocals that you push to the front of the crowd to sing into the mic with the vocalist, along with a swarm of other enthused moshers. Fit Check is a disarming name for an arming band. These guys have a thick thick thick guitar chug and sneering vocals that are talking right at you. Payphones hit the gas. They are coming off of that early 2000’s hardcore/emo sound that does nothing but drive forward at mach speed.
The Camel | Thursday, October 3rd 2024 Wayne Graham, Chris Leggett
Wayne Graham is summing up the good of the south. One song will be the swing that rests on a breezy porch, while the next one will be what the farmer in southern gothic was blasting when his wife was out of the house. The weather with Wayne Graham has an innate breeze, one that you can get gently swept up in and drift off. Country is not the right word for them, it really is just southern music, with all its nuances, slides, and keys. They dip into the jazz that grew from the way deep and flirt with a slide guitar from the west, into a rich and fulfilling sound Chris Leggett reads like someone whose parents were showing them Dolly Parton and Glenn Campbell, but was still picking up Green Day CD’s at the mall. The sound is alive and breathing, with respect to its country predecessors, but still looking forward.
Starr Hill Beer Hall | Friday, October 4th 2024
Horsehead, The Atkinsons
Come celebrate 20 years of Horsehead, the local southern rockers who wrote Emptiest Arms in the World. I have been lucky enough to share a stage with guitarist Ricky Tubb, a man that knows his way around his instrument better than I know my way around my living room. Put these guys on the next time you are driving out of town, they are nothing but scenic.They are being joined by The Atkinsons, our own roots rock. These guys are both a stretch of highway and the neon lights of a southern town. I think fans of the Old 97’s would resonate with this sound.
New Tunes
El Perro Triste by Kendall Street Company
Charlottesville’s (basically local) are absolutely pumping out sonic scenes in their single swarm. Their newest track, El Perro Triste, is a latin number that is teeming with life and mystery. It feels like a late night club packed in the converted cargo hold of an intergalactic voyage.
Overcast by Beefcake
Release number two for these locals, who are bringing a really real feel to alt rock. The song has good layers and really guides you along a familiar journey that everyone is taking together. Let’s keep an eye on Beefcake.
Imports
TV for a Reason by Blood caught this Philly group (fronted by a virginian) on Sunday on a total whim. Dear God. It was one of the most compelling bands I have seen in a long time, I believe in Blood. Their song TV for a Reason off of their new album is screamed with all the emotion stuck to your lower ribs. These guys ignited the same pained flame that I realized existed in me when I first heard Joy Division.
