FEATURE SHOW
Friday, November 6, 5 PM – 2 AM
The Extragavanza! – $30 (order tickets HERE)
5 PM @ The Broadberry: DIIV, Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires, No Joy, Sunflower Bean, Avers, Jeffrey Lewis & Los Bolts, The Trillions, Manzara – $20
10 PM @ Strange Matter: Wolf Eyes, Author & Punisher, Mutwawa, Daggering – $12
10 PM @ En Su Boca: The Snowy Owls, Soda Bomb, Manatree – Free to ticketholders
There’s a brand new all-day music throwdown coming to RVA this weekend, and do you know how many times I had to look at the name before I realized it wasn’t called “the extravaganza” (nope, it’s not–look at it again)?
FEATURE SHOW
Friday, November 6, 5 PM – 2 AM
The Extragavanza! – $30 (order tickets HERE)
5 PM @ The Broadberry: DIIV, Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires, No Joy, Sunflower Bean, Avers, Jeffrey Lewis & Los Bolts, The Trillions, Manzara – $20
10 PM @ Strange Matter: Wolf Eyes, Author & Punisher, Mutwawa, Daggering – $12
10 PM @ En Su Boca: The Snowy Owls, Soda Bomb, Manatree – Free to ticketholders
There’s a brand new all-day music throwdown coming to RVA this weekend, and do you know how many times I had to look at the name before I realized it wasn’t called “the extravaganza” (nope, it’s not–look at it again)? There’s been extensive discussion in the promo materials about how this event takes the place of the sadly-departed Fall Line Fest, and I’m sure that’s a sore subject for some people. As far as I’m concerned, though, anyone who is bringing awesome live music to Richmond is a friend of mine! So this 9-hour, 15-band, um, Extragavanza is all good by me.
Let’s get into the gory details, though, shall we? Your main attraction is the two-stage, eight-band shindig happening at the Broadberry starting at 5 PM. This event will be headlined by DIIV, whose oddly-spelled name should not fool you into thinking they aren’t huge Nirvana fans. Zachary Cole Smith and co. have had some personal drama since back when their early singles charmed the scene in 2012, but they’ve righted the ship recently and are soon releasing their second album, Is The Is Are. The tune we’ve heard from it is enough to win me over, and I imagine the Broadberry audience will get a sneak preview of quite a few more songs! Should be awesome. There are seven more bands playing the Broadberry, and a bunch of them (No Joy, Glory Fires, Jeffrey Lewis!) should definitely grab your attention, but before I end this writeup, which is way too short to contain the majesty available at the Extragavanza (so hard to type that over and over again without screwing it up), I should mention what’s happening after the Broadberry wraps things up for the night.
You’ll have two options for your further entertainment–either head over to Strange Matter to be blasted by one of the biggest noise bills to come through this town this year, or go to En Su Boca and party down with some tacos and catchy alt-rock tuneage. If you’re trying to see the more important of the two shows, it’s highly recommended that you get down with the harshness and go catch Wolf Eyes, who’ll shower you with metaphorical sparks of white-hot noise abrasiveness. Not to be outdone, Author & Punisher’s homemade orchestra of angry machines will also be on hand, as will two great local experimental acts, Mutwawa and Daggering. If the harshness isn’t your bag, En Su Boca’s the perfect wind-down for you–plus, like I mentioned, they have tacos. Either way, it’s a full afternoon, evening, and night of rad sounds from a new crew of people trying to help make our scene a better place. What’s to hate about that?
Wednesday, November 4, 10 PM
Akka, Kommunion, Ugly, Nosebleed @ Strange Matter – $8
You guys, the Vinyl Conflict punx are super-stoked for this one–and as well they should be! Akka, the all-female crust-core combo from Japan, is hitting the US for five measly live shows–less than a week of local touring before they head back to the other side of the world. And one of the five shows they’ll be playing in the US takes place right here in RVA tonight! Truly we are privileged to experience this. Akka’s harsh, noisy guitar sound, fast beats and guttural vocals are sure to get the circle-pits spinning on this night, so get out your spiky black denim vest, and get ready for it to get covered in other people’s sweat and beer!
There are some great Richmond punk bands on this bill as well. Kommunion have a lot of distorted hardcore rage for you, coming from less of a post-Discharge D-beat foundation than Akka will be but still totally suitable for starting a pit. Marina screams her head off, JP’s got riffs for days… it’s gonna be badass. They’ll be joined by a couple of brand new RVA punk bands: Ugly, featuring members of Bitchmouth and Olde Shame (plus some others I’m sure) dishing out some aptly-named ugly hardcore riffs; and Nosebleed, who are so new this bill constitutes the first I’ve heard of them. Whatever, if Bobby vouches for them I’m sure they’re cool. Let’s rage, y’all.
Thursday, November 5, 9 PM
Fever The Ghost, Colin Thibodeauxx, Antiphons @ Strange Matter – $10 in advance/$12 day of show (order tickets here: https://fevertheghostrva.eventbrite.com/)
Weird yet awesome psychedelic pop comes to RVA tomorrow night, all the way from the hippest neighborhoods in LA straight to you! Is it any surprise that places like Silver Lake and Echo Park would bring forth the kind of alternate-universe catchiness that Fever The Ghost makes their stock in trade on recently released debut LP Zirconium Meconium? Well, not to me–I’ve noticed frequently how low-key bizarre that city is. But if you still think of it as the land where skyscraper-haired glam rockers crawl the Sunset Strip at night (does anyone still think of it that way? Am I dating myself with that reference?), come out to Strange Matter tomorrow night and get enlightened as Fever The Ghost dish out wackiness on par with the Flaming Lips or Black Moth Super Rainbow for your listening pleasure.
Some more conventional power-pop from a couple of RVA artists with major talent to spare will also be on view at this show. Colin Thibodeauxx played a show at my house a while back, and he got my whole living room dancing with his catchy tunes. For the record, despite the name that would indicate a solo act, Colin Thibodeauxx appears to be a band if the pattern that occurred at my house holds up. If that throws you, just remember–Colin is the guy singing. Antiphons will open up with some lovely alt-folk-pop sounds of the sort that many around Richmond have grown to know and love. It’ll be a lovely evening all around, folks.
Friday, November 6, 8 PM
Magnus Lush, Shmu, Meth Dad, Imaginary Sons @ Gallery 5 – Free!
If you’re feeling like the Extragavanza is just gonna be too much for you this weekend, and you’d like to spend some more low-key times without having to do it on your couch by yourself, I have the perfect compromise for you. As always, there’s some rad First Friday happenings going down at Gallery 5, and the whole thing is free to attend. Not only will you be able to take in some great art and, if you get there at 6 PM, catch a fashion show presented by the fine folks at POCollective–you’ll also be able to enjoy some sweet music! Yeah, you knew it was coming, you know what column you’re reading.
Anyway, let’s talk about these artists. Magnus Lush is a new band on the RVA scene but they’re at the top of this bill for a very good reason–it’s the return of Adrienne Shurte, who grabbed a lot of local attention with her previous band, Fire Bison. She’s once again backed by a very capable rhythm section (including my talented friend and former bandmate Kyle Pedersen), and if the demo they just released online a couple weeks ago is any indication, her songwriting prowess remains undiminished. Zorch side project Shmu is also on the bill, and that means little to me but sounds promising. Tyler Walker (late of Family Cat) will be coming through with his current project, Meth Dad, and that should certainly be great. And of course, we’ve got a great performance in store from those fun-loving pop-rockers in Imaginary Sons! There’s really nothing here that promises to be anything but awesome–so if you’re too overwhelmed (or too poor–trust me, I know that story) for the Extragavanza, check this out instead! You won’t regret it.
Saturday, November 7, 5 PM
The Winter Passing, Teen Death, Close Talker, Youth In Bloom @ Strange Matter – $5
Y’all, I’m not as up on the emo sounds coming from outside the United States as I should be. It’s a weakness of mine and since it just results in me depriving myself of great bands I’m sure to love, I definitely should work on it. The latest evidence that I am totally blowing it comes from Ireland, by way of local label 6131 Records–and thank god someone is doing the work that I’m neglecting, right? The Winter Passing, who hail from the lovely city of Dublin, Ireland, released an LP on 6131 a couple months ago entitled A Different Space Of Mind. Now they’re coming to town for a Saturday matinee show in which they’ll catch everybody else up on how great their music really is. Harmonizing male/female vocals, lovely guitar leads, driving rhythms… this band’s got everything you might want from them. If everyone else already knows what’s up, forgive my being late to the party. But whether you know or you’re just as confused as I was, you need to be at Strange Matter this Saturday afternoon. Trust.
I haven’t even mentioned all the awesomeness coming from local bands that will be playing the same show. Teen Death features dudes from Hold Tight busting out some catchy grunge/garage-influenced punk rock n’ roll sounds, and if you don’t know all about it by now, you should definitely get familiar. Close Talker sees Sundials drummer Cory Chubb take the mic for some Jawbreaker-style explorations of his inner emotional landscape; sure enough, it’s catchy as hell. Pennsylvania shoegazers Youth In Bloom, who know how to crank up the volume and rock the fuck out when it’s appropriate, will open things up with some dreamy yet heavy melodies. I’ll be looking forward to it.
Sunday, November 8, 9 PM
Young Scum, Bare Thoughts, Atta Girl @ Bandito’s – Free!
I cannot tell a lie–I love going to shows at Bandito’s. I love the way they are somehow always free. I love that they often present me with a great cross-section of one aspect or another of the local scene. I love that I can order a giant plate of nachos beforehand. I love that they’ll have Sunday night football on in the other room so I can check scores between bands. And I love that their back room secretly has just about the best live sound of any room in Richmond. When three bands this great are playing at Bandito’s, it’s just that much better.
Young Scum are a bunch of sweet sweater-wearing boys with some ultra-catchy tunes. They released a split with Reporters this summer that finally captured their excellent sound, but before that was out, it was hard to experience the peak of what Young Scum had to offer without going to see them live. Let me tell you, that’s still the best way to hear what they’ve got going on, and when they’re playing a free show, you totally have no excuse. Bare Thoughts are a rad local quartet featuring a bunch of punks playing jangly, fuzzy alt-rock sounds to excellent effect. There’s a definite buzz around this band here in RVA–come see this show and find out why. Atta Girl open up with their catchy indie-twee/pop-punk hybrid. They’ve got a demo up online now too, so you can learn the words and sing along! Do it! Then show up early to Bandito’s so we can split a plate of nachos and watch the first quarter before the show starts.
Monday, November 9, 8 PM
Yob (Photo by Dirk Frewing), Black Cobra, Bastard Sapling @ Strange Matter – $15 (order tickets here: https://yobrva.eventbrite.com/)
Oh shit, you guys. Batten the hatches and shore up the foundations, because one of the heaviest bands in the world will be taking the stage at Strange Matter next Monday night, and we want Grace St to still be standing when it’s all over. You might know YOB leader Mike Scheidt for his apocalyptic folk solo work, or his membership in gritty black metal supergroup VHOL, but it’s YOB that will always be the reason that Scheidt is such a celebrated name in the world of metal. YOB proved just how merited the continual praise they’ve received in doom metal circles is with the 2014 release of their seventh album, Clearing The Path To Ascend. This four-song LP lasts for over an hour, fills four sides of vinyl, and features zero songs under 10 minutes long. It’s dark, tortured grooves are tinged with a mournful melancholy by Scheidt’s darkly melodic vocals, but this band is still more about crushing your head than anything–which you will soon learn, if you show up to Strange Matter Monday night.
Black Cobra are also on tour with YOB, and they’re another band with some serious underground metal cred–guitarist/vocalist Jason Landrian is a former member of Florida sludge legends Cavity, while drummer Rafael Martinez was once in the stoner-metal combo Acid King. These guys are less about crawling tempos than YOB, but they’ve still got heavy, downtuned riffs for days, and even with no bass player in the band, they’ll still crush you into a fine powder if you aren’t careful. Local black metallers Bastard Sapling–featuring members of Inter Arma and C.R.–will rip your head off to start the evening. I recommend you bring earplugs. And wear steel-toed boots. You know, just in case.
Tuesday, November 10, 6 PM
The Richmond Jazz Society presents the Charles Owens Trio CD Release Party @ Capital Ale House – $15 in advance/$20 at the door (order tickets HERE)
Let’s end this week of shows with something completely different. Everyone in this town by now knows all about what Jellowstone Records is putting together, but what’s really impressive about Jellowstone is the way they keep throwing the spotlight onto local artists that are being ignored by the scene at large. And every time they do it, that artist is, without fail, a world-class talent. Thank goodness Reggie and Devonne are there to point them out to us, right?
The latest artist to step into the Jellowstone spotlight is Charlottesville tenor saxophonist Charles Owens, who you may have heard performing with Kings or Butcher Brown recently, but who also leads his own group, featuring Butcher Brown’s Andrew Randazzo on bass, as well as the one and only Devonne Harris on drums. Back in the summertime, this trio got together at Jellowstone studios to cut an album called A Day With Us, and with that album out now on CD from Jellowstone, the crew is getting together this Tuesday night at Capital Ale House to celebrate its release. The two preview tracks they’ve released online reveal a smooth yet complex sound with a significant cool jazz component (they do an amazing Dave Brubeck cover), and no doubt this group will charm the heck out of you in a live environment. Plus you’ll get a great opportunity to pick up the new album! What could be nicer than that?
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Should I be posting about your show? Make sure I know it’s happening–email me: andrew@rvamag.com
