This is indeed a good day for RVA. We’ve been waiting eagerly for some new activity from the local music/film documentary crew known as Good Day RVA, who haven’t been heard from publicly since their “A Good Day In RVA” all-day music festival at Hardywood back in May. Well, they’re making up for lost time with this latest video, a full-speed-ahead rock n’ roll barnburner from The Trillions, performing live at the top of City Hall.
This is indeed a good day for RVA. We’ve been waiting eagerly for some new activity from the local music/film documentary crew known as Good Day RVA, who haven’t been heard from publicly since their “A Good Day In RVA” all-day music festival at Hardywood back in May. Well, they’re making up for lost time with this latest video, a full-speed-ahead rock n’ roll barnburner from The Trillions, performing live at the top of City Hall. “[Trillions manager] Brandon [Crowe] had said for a while that he wanted something very Richmond,” Good Day RVA’s Chris Damon tells us. “How much more Richmond can you get than the actual skyline?”
The city is a presence throughout the video, stretching out behind the Trillions as the band plays. Scenes of the city as the sun sets and lights come on inside City Hall and the various skyscrapers downtown appear inbetween shots of the band performing. These images are designed to create a specific effect; the filmmakers reference the 1982 Godfrey Reggio film Koyaanisqatsi, as well as 1992’s Baraka, directed by Koyaanisqatsi cinematographer Ron Fricke, as influences on the video. Koyaanisqatsi’s use of time lapse and slow motion, as well as its use of cityscapes and “strong geometric shapes” (in the words of Good Day RVA’s Matt Cowan) are reflected in the images of clouds moving across the Richmond skyline that appear throughout this video.
But enough of all this high-flown artistic exposition–let’s talk rock n’ roll. The Trillions have plenty of it for you here, bashing out an energetic take on “Right Til Proven Wrong,” a song from their upcoming second album. Indeed, the release of this video coincides with the announcement of that album, entitled Superposition. A record release show is scheduled for January 31, 2015 at Strange Matter, with more details to come. This one-song preview should be plenty to get fans excited, though, displaying more of the power-pop finesse and complex guitar interplay between Charlie Glenn and Chris Smith RVA music lovers have come to expect. The song is also highlighted by a particularly driving performance by the band’s rhythm section, bassist Robbie King and drummer Joe Ferguson. The extensive use of shots from a camera mounted within Joe’s drum kit is a particularly inspired touch on the part of the Good Day RVA crew.
Trillions manager Brandon Crowe has long wished to work with Good Day RVA, and was delighted to get the opportunity to do so at a time so close to the release of the band’s next album. “We were all stoked to get the green light to do make video on top of City Hall,” he says. “We all had a blast making the video and are thrilled with the results.” In turn, Good Day RVA had some kind words of their own for the Trillions. “Producing a video for The Trillions was one of the first goals of Good Day RVA,” the crew informed us. “The band’s energy is of the most electric breed, so we paralleled their intensity with time-lapse video of flashing lights, late-night traffic, and reflections of downtown monoliths.”
