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Nnamdi Ogbonnaya, McKinley Dixon, Alfred. & Young Pockets at Gallery 5

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RVA SHOWS and SLIMEHOLE Present:

NNAMDI OGBONNAYA (Chicago, Father/Daughter)
https://nnamdiogbonnaya.bandcamp.com/
MCKINLEY DIXON & FRIENDS (RVA)
https://mckinleydixon.bandcamp.com/
ALFRED. + YUNG POCKET$ (RVA)
https://citruscityrecords.bandcamp.com/album/so-sensitive

Sunday June 10th, 2018
@ Gallery 5 (200 W Marshall St)
7PM Doors // 8PM Sounds
$10 Advance // $12 Day of Show
All Ages
TICKETS: http://www.richmondshows.com/

One of our favorite underground emcee discoveries of last year was NNAMDI OGBONNAYA’s “Drool,” one hell of a well-rounded and diverse, yet-concise alternative hip-hop records. He crushed it last year at Strange Matter with Vagabon and will be bringing back the Nnamdi Ensemble Quartet, this time to the jewel of Jackson Ward, GALLERY 5! Nnamdi alone is worth getting excited about, but local support from two of RVA’s most shining up-and-comers seals the deal on this being unmissable with MCKINLEY DIXON & FRIENDS as well as ALFRED. & YUNG POCKET$! Stoked as always to keep working together with RVA SHOWS to bring you as much music as the city demands!

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NNAMDI OGBONNAYA is a multi-instrumentalist composer, producer, and performer. His musical identity was forged in the DIY community of Chicago. Relentless participation in numerous musical projects bridged genres and created inroads between scenes. Near constant activity quickly made him a locus of gravity in the community. Constant participation quickly opened channels to a broad cross-section of the arts world. Nnamdi has toured the USA, Mexico Europe and Canada with projects ranging from punk to jazz. A full accounting of his musical activity over the last eight years includes approximately 15 bands and dozens of tours. All the while, Nnamdi has not only released a stream of records and EPs under his name and the ironic moniker “Nnamdi’s Sooper Dooper Secret Side Project”, but also runs his own label called SOOPER Records.

His solo styling combines hip-hop, experimental rock, gospel, and jazz. His songs can often contain a sense of satire that is just as humorous as it is critical. Nnamdi’s lyrical insights draw on the diversity of his cultural experience as a Black, Jewish, first generation Nigerian-American. His work is characterized by the coupling of sophisticated compositional structures with pop-music motifs. Nnamdi’s latest record DROOL is his most mature and accessible work to date.

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: June 6 – June 12

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FEATURED SHOW
Thursday, June 7, 5:30 PM
Doll Baby, Gladie, Hurry, Clayton England @ The Lilly Pad Cafe – Free!
Let’s start from first principles: music is the literal best thing in the world, y’all. Nothing else can be relied upon the way music can be. And music is best when you’re seeing people make it right in front of you; that subjective statement is a fundamental building block of this entire column. But having said all that, it’s understandable if after a while the same clubs and sounds week after week leave a person wanting… something different. Something more.

Whenever I find something that fits that description, I immediately focus on it. Because let’s face it, I get restless too. If you, like me, are ready for a break in your normal routine, I’ve got a real treat for you this week. The Lilly Pad Cafe, which is located on the banks of the James River out by Osborne’s Landing, has been booking free shows on Thursday nights. And this week, they’re presenting a lineup that makes it the perfect night to take a short trip out of the city and watch the sun set while you watch bands play on a boat dock.

I’ve written a whole bunch and now we’ll have to rush through the actual bands, but the fact that the bill is topped by the jangle-punk pop angst of Doll Baby gives us all reason to be there right from the jump. They’re playing with a couple of Philly-based touring projects; Gladie is a duo featuring members of Cayetana and Three Man Cannon and making some excellent heartfelt melodic punk sounds on new EP Everyone Is Talking About You. Hurry is normally a band, but they’re touring as a solo act, and their pastoral indie-punk sounds should adapt well to the stripped-down format. These bands are both excellent pairings for local faves Doll Baby, and with Lilly Pad mainstay Clayton England kicking things off with some sad acoustic tunes, this will be an evening full of feels. Plus, for those of you who care about these kinds of things, you can apparently get buckets of Tecate for $10. Me, I’d rather just enjoy the view.

Wednesday, June 6, 7:30 PM
Japanese Breakfast, Eternal Summers @ The Broadberry – $15 (order tickets HERE)
The modern shoegaze revival continues on full-steam ahead and we all benefit from it once again, as a couple of the higher-quality bands to explore this sound in recent years now find themselves coming to the Broadberry on the same night, for the same show. Japanese Breakfast is the solo-ish project of Michelle Zauner, also of Little Big League and Post Post, and her 2017 sophomore LP, Soft Sounds From Another Planet, uses synth washes and programmed beats alongside retro-psych touches straight out of Swinging London — the harpsichord sounds on “Boyish” are a particularly charming surprise.

Now, how all this will translate live is always a question, but the songs themselves glow with such a warm spirit that the results are sure to be excellent regardless. And even more assuredly excellent is the set we’ll get from VA faves Eternal Summers, who have returned to action after a few years off with their brand-new fifth LP, Every Day It Feels Like I’m Dying. There’s been no diminishment in the melodic prowess or the sharp guitar attack this band brings to the table, and fans who’ve been wondering how the group could possibly follow up 2015’s excellent Gold And Stone (and may have started to worry that they wouldn’t) will be overjoyed at the payoff the new album represents. All that’s left is to see them bring it to life onstage — you won’t want to miss that. You know what to do.

Thursday, June 7, 8 PM
A Place Both Wonderful And Strange, True Body, Little Black Rain Clouds, Gothic Lizard @ Strange Matter – $8 in advance/$10 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Things are getting pretty wild in the world of electronic music these days. And by “wild,” I mean, people are actually starting to bring visible influence from 80s 4AD Records releases into the modern world. For those of you too young to remember the glory days of Dead Can Dance and Clan Of Xymox — OK, yes, I know, that’s most of you — let me assure you that this is a very positive development. Hearing Brooklyn’s A Place Both Wonderful And Strange pull off spooky ambient textures and moody vocals alongside dance beats that get your feet moving and making all of it work together in the most excellent, unified way is the kind of blast from the past that I’d love to get more of.

They’ll be conjuring up the Batcave right inside Strange Matter this Friday night, and they’ll have some formidable local help in doing so as well. True Body may have evolved out of the weirder corners of the hardcore world, but their most recent single, “Over It,” finds them going full-on moody goth, evoking the glittering moroseness of early-80s Cure and Sisters Of Mercy material with the sort of postpunk backbeat that’ll keep the Interpol fans happy. Long-running local spooksters Little Black Rain Clouds and ambient goth newcomers Gothic Lizard will round out this lineup with all the black light and black clothing you could possibly ask for.

Friday, June 8, 8 PM
Peach Kelli Pop, Piranha Rama, Big Baby @ Strange Matter – $10 (order tickets HERE)
It’s hard not to love stripped-down rock n’ roll with a killer melodic sense and plenty of delightful energy, so of course recommending that you all go see Peach Kelli Pop this Saturday night is a true no-brainer. Allie Hanlon’s been doing this project for damn near a decade now, and has retained a top-quality sound throughout, as can easily be heard on Peach Kelli Pop’s brand new LP (the first not to be named with a Roman numeral), Gentle Leader. On it, the band bounces back and forth from uptempo tunes that straddle the line between garage-pop and old-school melodic punk, and prettier acoustic tunes that focus on Hanlon’s gorgeous voice and plentiful hooky choruses.

Peach Kelli Pop have a ton to offer the discriminating fan of outstanding music, but they’ve been lucky to come together with a couple of equally powerful RVA locals who offer much the same brand of can’t-miss rock n’ roll talent. Piranha Rama sees a bunch of local vets coming together to crank out some organ-fueled psychedelic garage raunch stomp, and their new single lives up to every bit of potential the early hype offered up. Meanwhile, Big Baby — who charmed the entire city and beyond with last year’s gorgeously downcast Sour Patch EP — know how to combine forlorn melody and jangly bounce for the best possible results. If you haven’t discovered the excellence of their indie-pop tuneage yet, this is the perfect time to find out what you’ve been missing.

Saturday, June 9, 8 PM
Celeste, Infernal Coil, Ostraca, Lunger @ Strange Matter – $10 in advance/$12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
There are a lot of right-wing idiots out there who’ll tell you that France is a country full of wimps, and I gotta tell ya, I wish I could drag every single one of those fools down to Strange Matter this Saturday night so they can find out how wrong they are when Celeste hit the stage. This powerful French band may not be as well known as Deathspell Omega, but their brick-solid mixture of roaring metallic hardcore, blasting black metal, and passionate emotional rage is if anything more likely to knock you on your ass than their more popular countrymen. 2017’s Infidèle​(​s) is a jet-black slab of pure fury, and when Celeste dish those songs out onstage, you’re going to feel it.

Celeste are joined on this trip through our local environs by chaos merchants Infernal Coil, whose unique and challenging sound may have some roots in the band’s origins in Idaho. What the heck is in Idaho? If Infernal Coil’s 2017 EP Bodies Set In Ashen Death is to give us any indication, it’s apparently a bleak, apocalyptic wasteland of noise and smoke… but I was in Twin Falls last year, and it was nothing like that, so who knows. Either way, Infernal Coil’s incredibly dark mix of death metal low-end, noisecore fury, and grindcore insanity is going to mess all of us up. In a good way, of course. Local metallic hardcore veterans Ostraca and dark grinding newcomers Lunger round out this bill with some unmissable sounds from right here in the river city, so don’t dawdle.

Sunday, June 10, 7 PM
Nnamdi Ogbonnaya, McKinley Dixon & Friends, Alfred & Yung Pockets @ Gallery 5 – $10 in advance/$12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
I’ve been enjoying the growth over the last few years of a more alternatively-minded hip hop scene here in RVA; it’s a gratifying thing to see the DIY principles that have fueled the punk rock underground for years being embodied by people from completely different scenes, especially hip hop (which, as much as I love it, can sometimes focus overmuch on mainstream goals of money and fame for my taste). Here in Richmond, the chief example we have of this newer approach to hip hop is of course McKinley Dixon, an MC with absolute top-quality lyrical skills who recruits top of the line musicians to back him up and goes on DIY tours in a van just like all the punk bands do. He and his Friends will be giving us a killer set on this bill, and of course everyone in RVA should already know to be there for it.

On this show, Dixon is playing with Nnamdi Ogbonnaya, a DIY musician from Chicago who integrates his wide-ranging musical background into an excellent hip hop sound on his breakout 2017 LP, Drool. Like McKinley Dixon, Ogbonnaya knows all about getting in the van and going on tour, and he’ll hit Gallery 5 in the company of his Nnamdi Ensemble Quartet, which will provide dynamic backing for his playful, complicated lyrical flow. And of course, Alfred. & Yung Pockets, an MC-producer duo who’ve drawn a lot of attention since last year’s excellent So Sensitive release, will open things up with a set of slightly off-kilter beats and rhymes that show a ton of soul. This one’s gonna be outstanding throughout.

Monday, June 11, 8 PM
Immortal Bird, Glacial Tomb, Occultist, Hoboknife @ Strange Matter – $10 (order tickets HERE)
There can be little that is a better bet for the end of a long Monday back at stupid ol’ work than heading down to Strange Matter and getting your soul cleansed by some high-volume, high-quality metal. Immortal Bird is coming to us this Monday to deliver exactly what the doctor ordered where that’s concerned, and while the group’s been quiet on the recording front since 2015’s Empress/Abscess, that’s no reason to expect anything other than a thorough head-crushing in the live environment.

Since their last album, Immortal Bird’s core lineup has expanded to a four-piece, giving frontwoman Rae Amitay more room to rage instead of being trapped behind a drum kit, and that can only bode well for the ass-kicking we’ll all get from this brutal, chaotic Chicago quartet. Immortal Bird is joined on this tour by Denver low-end marauders Glacial Tomb, whose deft merging of thrashy crust, sludgy metal, and hardcore punk is tough as nails and ready to knock you out. Local support from thrash-metal vets Occultist and death n’ roll maniacs Hoboknife renders this an evening of absolutely unfuckwithable metal power. Start practicing your headbangs now.

Tuesday, June 12, 6 PM
The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, Pianos Become The Teeth, Teenage Wrist, Captive @ The Broadberry – $17 in advance/$20 day of show (order tickets HERE)
About half a decade ago, when I was going through a pretty rough emotional spot, I discovered TWIABP and immediately fell in love with their complicated, heartfelt, and beautiful sound, which combined emo, post-rock, metal, and pop into a style entirely their own. The music they were making back then was incredibly important to me, but their rapid musical evolution and personal upheavals over the next couple of years almost left me behind. However, with the release of their third LP, Always Foreign, I discovered that despite all the lineup changes and instrumental reconfigurations, there was still a truly talented band lurking underneath it all. It’s going to be partiuclarly nice to welcome a reconstituted TWIABP to RVA once again, where they can remind us all just how great they continue to be.

Pianos Become The Teeth have been through a similar trajectory, although it was a musical change that caused my personal concerns about losing track of them. When singer Kyle Durfey switched to an entirely-melodic vocal approach for their 2014 third LP, Keep You, I was afraid that the urgency and emotional intensity of Pianos’ passionate post-hardcore sound would depart along with it. However, Keep You surprised me by being one of that year’s favorites, and with the release earlier this year of incredibly powerful follow-up Wait For Love, it can no longer be denied that Pianos Become The Teeth is every bit as strong and memorable a band even without the screams. And thank god for that. This show will give longtime fans a perfect opportunity to commune once again with these two excellent bands at the top of their respective games, and skipping out would be an awful idea. Alt-rockers Teenage Wrist and local up-and-comers Captive are on the bill too, but for this one at least, it’s really all about the headliners.

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Email me if you’ve got any tips for me about upcoming shows (that take place after the week this column covers–this week’s column has obviously already been written): [email protected] [and yeah, in case you’re wondering, more awesomeness from my cracked and bleeding fingertips is available at GayRVA — come say hey.]

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 4/11-4/17

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FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, April 14, 7 PM
SCAN Benefit, feat. Gull, Alfred., Womajich Dialysiez, DJ Jafar Flowers, DJ Synthia Slimez @ Champion RVA – $6-10 donation
Music is at its best when it is used to help make the world a better place. And musicians tend to understand that, which is why you see so many benefit shows taking place over the course of any given month. This particular month, April, is Child Abuse Awareness Month, and in the spirit of that cause, a few Richmond artists in the broader field of experimental electronic music have come together to throw a benefit for Greater Richmond SCAN (Stop Child Abuse Now). This group runs programs doing everything from providing preschool for children who’ve experienced trauma to ensuring children have advocates for their interests in abuse/neglect cases. They’re doing important work, and community support is essential.

That’s what you’ll be providing by paying admission to this show at Champion Brewing Company, but don’t worry, you’ll be getting something out of the deal as well. For starters, Gull is performing at the top of the bill, and this one-man musical dynamo has been continually impressive for its near-decade of existence. Beginning as a fast, slightly quirky hardcore band, Gull has evolved into a hard-to-define project that takes its main elements — percussion and vocals, both fed through a variety of effects — and does all sorts of things with them. 2017 album Lurcher demonstrates the latest form the Gull identity has taken, bringing together ambient electronic swells with hypnotic repeating percussion patterns and Gull’s distinctive vocals — always sung through a microphone-equipped mask.

Gull won’t be the only artist immersing you in an all-encompassing world of sound at this show. Local rapper Alfred. has undermined a lot of expectations that come along with the hip hop genre by approaching it from an introspective, emotionally open, and musically adventurous mindset. His 2017 mixtape, So Sensitive, makes clear how gloriously unusual this “queer rap scallion” really is, and his unique approach will bloom into full life in the live performance environment. Meanwhile, Womajich Dialysiez is an experimental musical collective that focuses on improvisation from a femme perspective. Its shifting lineup brings a variety of local femme and gender non-conforming musicians together to create spontaneously generated music full of life and energy. Expect a whirlwind of percussion, electronics, and all sorts of other elements; there’s no telling where the music will go, but it’ll definitely take you on a journey. DJ sets from Jafar Flowers of Ice Cream Support Group and Synthia Slimez of Aesthetic Barrier will get this party rolling. Be there, and expand your mind for a good cause.

Wednesday, April 11, 8 PM
Infinite Third, Lobo Marino, Owlrare @ Pik Nik – Free!
I’ve been hearing a lot of people talk about this Pik Nik place lately, though thus far no one has elaborated on the role of baskets in this restaurant’s operation. Like, seriously, if they don’t bring your food to the table in a basket I don’t know what this restaurant is up to. However, we’re not here to talk about the food. We’re here to celebrate the fact that yet another local venue is dipping their toe into the world of live music. And since everyone likes seeing new places get into the show-booking game, it’s pretty essential to support those places when they start getting into the game, so they’ll want to continue.

Not that that’s a difficult thing to do when a venue offers an excellent midweek lineup like this one. Florida artist Infinite Third is at the top of the bill, returning to Richmond quite soon after his last performance as part of Silent Music Revival a few months ago. This artist brings us ambient guitar melodies that build into palaces of sound held up by the bones of programmed beats and sampled field recordings; his most recent LP, 2017’s Channel(s), is the sort of sound world one can get lost in for an extended period of time. The thought of this world taking over a restaurant on a Wednesday evening is fascinating, and certainly not an experience to be missed. Infinite Third will be joined on this outing by peripatetic experimentalists Lobo Marino, who bring together a variety of sounds from around the world in their unique, atmospheric style. The whole evening starts off with a set from intriguing local singer-songwriter OwlRare, and will be delightful from beginning to end — even if it doesn’t come in a basket.

Thursday, April 12, 8 PM
Rosetta, Ostraca, Truman, Twin Drugs @ Strange Matter – $10 (order tickets HERE)
This show is exciting for a variety of reasons. First and foremost is the obvious — Rosetta has returned to RVA once again. This Philadelphia band, who started out working with labels but eventually decided to go it alone and has been self-releasing their material ever since, has been producing high quality material for quite a long time, and they’re showing no signs of stopping. 2017’s Utopioid was their sixth album, and it’s every bit as brilliant as previous career highs such as the excellent 2013 album The Anaesthete. With Utopioid, Rosetta continue evolving, expanding, and exploring their sound, now mixing the sludge, noise, and metallic hardcore elements that have been there from the start with increasing doses of shoegaze melody and post-rock atmosphere. They send all of this through a filter of passionate emotion that gives everything they do a heightened level of power and intensity.

Therefore, one can imagine that their performance at Strange Matter Thursday night will be one for the books, with an impact you won’t soon forget. And of course, the same can be said of any performance from local heavy hitters Ostraca, who’ve been unleashing their own intense, passionate take on metallic hardcore for over a decade now. 2017 brought us three new releases from Ostraca, all of which dramatically demonstrate how much better this band continues to get. There’s no better place to experience Ostraca than in live performance, and if you don’t know that firsthand, it’s time for you to find out. The bill offers an added bonus in the form of a performance by Truman, who’ve been playing less often in recent months but are no less awesome. Their epic take on emotionally-driven hardcore will have you riveted, so don’t miss it. Twin Drugs will kick the night off with what promises to be an excellent set of heavy shoegaze sounds, so show up on time and be prepared to immerse yourself in a night of outstanding sound.

Friday, April 13, 6 PM
Movement Presents PLRLS, Danger Boy, Serqet, Nocere, DJ Cortes @ Hardywood – Free!
Movement is an intriguing new group on the Richmond music scene. This vinyl-only DJ collective has two main goals: promoting the post-punk sound, and offering safer spaces for music fans of all types to dance together in harmony (a refreshing and positive goal). They don’t just do these two things in the context of dance nights either; they’re working to bring in killer postpunk bands from around the country and beyond to perform for us right here in RVA — which is how they came to produce Friday night’s show at Hardywood.

The event, which will feature Movement’s DJ Cortes spinning vinyl before and between bands throughout the night, is focused around the arrival of PLRLS, who hail from Baltimore and have a quirky take on postpunk that sees them integrating the goofy catchiness of Devo with the rumbling menace of Gang Of Four and the post-garage drive of The Rezillos. They’ll be joined by South Carolina’s Danger Boy, who bring us a fuzzy, punked-out take on the foreboding melodic sounds of early 80s UK stars like The Chameleons and The Cure. Two local groups will open up for these touring ensembles. Serqet is a local crew featuring former members of Hot Dolphin and Lost Tribe and bringing us a moody mix of early goth-punk Siouxsie and the Banshees, and rumbling peace-punk vibes a la Zounds. Finally, we’ll have the return of Nocere, which brings Shadow Age’s Aaron Tyree together with vocalist Emily Symington to create some prime drum machine-fueled coldwave sounds. This one really is essential.

Saturday, April 14, 8 PM
The Human Race Is Filth, Drugs Of Faith, Coroner’s Report, Amara, Hepatagua @ McCormack’s – $10
It’s a loud, heavy week here in RVA, y’all. We’ve already covered some loud sounds and it’s just gonna get louder from here, so if you can’t handle it, batten the hatches. The rest of us will be out here joyously banging our heads, beginning with Saturday night’s show at McCormack’s in Shockoe Bottom. This show is a Between 2 Beers production, and as usual, they’re out here making sure that we all get the proper amount of metal in our diets. This week’s installment sees excellence arriving in Richmond from several different fronts. Most importantly, this show will bring us the excellently named The Human Race Is Filth, a grinding crust band that can also slow down enough to drop incredible downtuned grooves on us all… at least, once in a while. Mostly though, this is shred-heavy speed freak music about how the world is doomed. I can’t argue with any of that.

Drugs Of Faith are also on this bill, and while they aren’t at the top, they’re at least as big an attraction as our headliners. This is the current project of Richard Johnson, the man known as the “grindfather,” who spent the 90s running pioneering American grindcore group Enemy Soil before forming Drugs Of Faith back in the early 2000s. Drugs Of Faith expand on the Enemy Soil legacy of blistering grindcore by integrating riffy midtempo grooves and more complex songwriting into their sound. And while they don’t release records as often as Enemy Soil did, by any means (their last release, a split EP with Cloud Rat, was three years ago), they keep the quality high and the rage unrelenting. This show will also feature a special appearance by Bostonian duo Hepatagua, who have some driving midtempo sludge-core to lay on us all, and will feature local blackened shredders Amara and brand-new local death metal duo Coroner’s Report laying some ugly sounds on us all. It’s a jam-packed night of unparalleled heavyosity. Just what we all need.

Sunday, April 15, 8 PM
Impiety, Divine Eve, Gravehill, Voarm @ Strange Matter – $15 (order tickets HERE)
Continuing with our theme, Strange Matter will bring us metal sounds spanning all corners of the globe this Sunday night, most notably Singapore death-rippers Impiety. And what better band could there be to grace the lord’s day than this blatantly sacreligious group of metal veterans, responsible for such classics as 1992’s Ceremonial Neochrist Redesecration EP, and 2009’s Terroreign (Apocalyptic Armageddon Command)? These metal vets have been coming out of the Far East to assault our ears with apocalyptic riffs, insanely precise lightspeed drums, and brutal death metal growls since back when I was in high school (and believe me when I tell you, that was a LONG time ago).

If you haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing Impiety’s pulverizing metallic destruction in person, you better make sure you’re at Strange Matter this Sunday night, because it’s a long way back to Singapore, and chances are they won’t make the trip again soon. Sweetening the pot will be another veteran band, this one from right here in the USA, Texas’s Divine Eve, who grabbed some underground recognition in the early 90s with their crushing death-doom sound, but spent many of the intervening years out of action and are only now returning to the world with a full tour. This band constitutes another rare opportunity, so you’ve got twice as many reason to make sure you don’t miss this show! And of course, we can’t forget California maniacs Gravehill, who’ve made quite a name for themselves with their dark, filthy take on thrash metal. Once you add local black metallers Voarm at the start of the evening, you’ve got a completely unmissable bill full of legends. You know what to do.

Monday, April 16, 9 PM
Seraph, Dr. No, Black Mountain Massacre @ The Camel – $5 (order tickets HERE)
Here’s a name I haven’t heard in a while! Seraph were a pretty strong presence in the local metal scene back in the first part of the decade, bringing us a powerful deathcore sound full of skull-fracturing low end intensity. Since not long after the release of 2014 EP Embrace Your Demise, though, Seraph have been on hiatus, biding their time until all members of the band could live in the same place again. Fortunately, that came to pass last fall, and they’ve been woodshedding and playing the occasional live gig around town since then.

This show is the latest step in their return to action, and promises to bring local fans some long-awaited new material as well as the highlights from their previous releases. If crushing ultra-slow breakdowns are your idea of fun, you’ll definitely want to catch this one. Seraph are joined on this bill by Dr. No, a new local group with some heavy metal tendencies, as well as a bit of good ol’ rock n’ roll thrown into the mix. The bill is rounded out by the memorably named Black Mountain Massacre, who get down with the Fu Manchu-style midtempo rockin’ metal grooves to get you raising your fist in the air. It’s gonna get heavy, folks.

Tuesday, April 17, 6 PM
Morbid Angel, Misery Index, Dreaming Dead, Hate Storm Annihilation @ The Broadberry – $25 in advance/$30 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Let’s wrap up the week with the most classic and essential metal firestorm of the many hitting RVA this week. At the top of this bill sits Morbid Angel, one of the most important death metal bands to come out of the genre. From groundbreaking 1989 classic debut Altars Of Madness to last winter’s Kingdom Disdained (yes, all their album titles are in alphabetical order), this band has never lost its ability to dish out fast and heavy riffage that is both incredibly brutal and surprisingly catchy. A lot of metal might fade into a rumbling blur, but Morbid Angel’s riffs are always memorable, most likely due to the guitar mastery of sole original member Trey Azagthoth, who has pulled together a variety of killer lineups over the years to keep Morbid Angel shredding at the highest levels.

These days, the band is rounded out by bassist/vocalist Steve Tucker, returning to the position he capably held down in the late 90s and early 00s after yet another departure by founding bassist/vocalist Dave Vincent. With Annihilated’s Scott Fuller skillfully laying down the killer beats, this lineup promises to tear all our heads off with aplomb, just as we always expect from these metal legends. Of course, Morbid Angel are reason enough to go to this show all by themselves; however, it certainly doesn’t hurt that they’ve brought along such a powerful supporting lineup to devastate you throughout the night. The grinding death metal attack of Maryland’s Misery Index is the most notable addition, and while it’s been four years since their last album, brand new single “I Disavow” shows that they’re still as intense as ever, so be prepared. This killer lineup is rounded out by melodic death metallers Dreaming Dead and the excellently monikered tech-death of Hate Storm Annihilation. Get ready to thrash.

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Email me if you’ve got any tips for me about upcoming shows (that take place after the week this column covers–this week’s column has obviously already been written): [email protected] [and yeah, in case you’re wondering, more awesomeness from my cracked and bleeding fingertips is available at GayRVA — come say hey.]

Top Image by Vivienne Lee, based on a photo by Joey Wharton

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 1/17-1/23

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FEATURED SHOW
Friday, January 19 & Saturday January 20, 7 PM both days
Be Bad Weekend @ Strange Matter
Day 1: Doll Baby, Kenneka Cook, VV, Listless, Wabeya, Magnus Lush, Madison Turner, Talk Me Off, Ice Cream Support Group DJs – $10
Day 2: Haircut, Serqet, Gumming, Dazeases, Locker Room, Liu Light, Itsy Bitsy, Butt, DJ Dogpants – $10
It’s January once again, and as I have been doing for several years now, I am pleased to give the Be Bad Weekend the top spot in this column. Once just a one-night showcase of bands featuring female members entitled Bad Girls Revue, expanded last year to multiple nights, and got better than ever in the process! This year, it seems the event will miss the annual explosion of bad weather that has caused last-minute reschedules in the past, thank goodness. So not only will attendees get the benefit of every band initially scheduled actually being able to play, but Girls Rock RVA will get the benefit of everyone being able to make it out to Strange Matter for both nights of this amazing shindig.

And if you’re not there this weekend, you really are gonna need a good excuse. The lineup this year is more musically diverse than ever, as the headlining slots on night one pair punky indie rock n’ rollers Doll Baby with soulful, jazzy vocalist extraordinaire Kenneka Cook. Meanwhile, night two finds ferocious C-ville/RVA hardcore punkers Haircut and moody, atmospheric punks Serqet heading things up. But that’s just the beginning; with 16 total bands performing over the course of two nights, a wide variety of music will be on display.

In fact, you’re going to want to make sure you’re on time, because some of the best performers are hitting the stage soon after doors open. Excellent post-hardcore rockers Magnus Lush are playing surprisingly early on night one, while night two begins with a set from the much buzzed-about local punk upstarts Butt (who, I assure you, have more to offer than a memorably amusing name). No matter what sort of sounds appeal to you, chances are you’ll find multiple things to enjoy on both nights. Hell, you might even see me onstage at some point, if you know where to look. Even if that weren’t true, though, I’d still be telling you to go to this. An outstanding Richmond tradition that’s for a good cause, Be Bad Weekend is one of the most essential live music events of the year. Don’t sleep on it.

Wednesday, January 17, 9 PM
Wyldlife, Sick Bags, Cruzer @ Flora – $7
This is going to be a ton of fun. Wyldlife, who come to RVA on tour from NYC, are the sort of band that take genres that have seemed played-out for years and inject fun, energy, and life back into them, reminding you why you loved them in the first place. In this case, we’re talking about straight-up old-school punk rock; Wyldlife come at the sound with an energy and power that bring to mind powerful pioneers like The Damned and The Dead Boys, but with a stronger melodic sense that’s reminiscent of the best power-pop–think first-LP Cheap Trick. There’s even some garage-rock swagger in there for all you Murder City Devils fans waiting to be rocked once again.

Wyldlife’s most recent release, Out On The Block, has been out for just under a year, but if you haven’t caught onto it yet, you’re certainly not too late. Meanwhile, you’re just in time to catch the debut vinyl from local trash(ed)-punk crew Sick Bags, whose “Cigarette Spit” single is officially out on Friday but will certainly be available from the band tonight, at least if this show’s flyer is any indication. The bill is rounded out by a brand new Richmond band called Cruzer, who appear to have a jangly garage sort of sound, based on the incredibly lo-fi one-song demo that’s been posted on their bandcamp. If that guess is in any way accurate, this show will be a total banger from beginning to end, so sweep off the car and head out to Strange Matter tonight!

Thursday, January 18, 7:30 PM
Secret Bonus Level presents Alfred, PT Burnem, Zhé Aqueen, Vos, Sanji the Hedgehog, Secret Bonus Band @ Strange Matter – $8
I love it when a random show on a weeknight reveals an entire local subculture that I’ve previously failed to pick up on. There’s nothing better than finding a ton of new shit to check out. In this case, it’s the Secret Bonus Level radio show, which airs on WRIR in the middle of the night on Wednesdays (or early Thursday mornings, depending on how you look at it). This show takes an exploratory approach to hip hop, seeking out what they call “strange and unusual gems,” and putting it before whoever is up that late in the middle of the week. And now they’re taking that same approach to filling a stage for a weeknight gig over at Strange Matter.

This show is headed up by Alfred, an openly queer local rapper with a unique approach to his atmospheric music and spacey lyrical flows. His songs are hypnotic and catchy, but in an unusual way–they kind of sneak up on you. Meanwhile, PT Burnem is often as subtle as an atom bomb, hitting hard with his pounding beats and confrontational, politically informed flows. Zhé Aqueen goes in a totally different direction with jazzy, soulful singing, just to keep anyone from thinking things will get predictable. And all sorts of other amazing things are scheduled for this bill as well, from appearances by current and former Secret Bonus Level hosts to an open-invite cypher over backing music provided by a trio of live musicians. All of this is the result of Secret Bonus Level’s commitment to honoring hip hop’s creative spirit with an approach that’s entirely their own. How can you resist that?

Friday, January 19, 8 PM
Ruth Good, Recluse Raccoon, Slow Clover, CGI Jesus @ Gallery 5 – $6
The city never sleeps–Citrus City, that is. 2017 saw the label cranking out releases with the kind of dedication that one would normally expect from a much bigger operation, working with everyone from local faves like Antiphons and Keep to out-of-town cult faves like Vundabar and Crumb. One of the many releases that saw the light of day over the course of the past 12 months was Ruth Good’s debut EP, Spliff. That EP had exactly the sort of stoned-immaculate sound you might expect from something with that name, though its funky indie sound still had a great deal in common with the usual slack, jangly guitar-rock that comes out of Citrus City headquarters. Considering that one of the two main members of Ruth Good, Wes Parker, also plays in Citrus City leading lights Camp Howard, that can’t be much of a surprise.

Ruth Good hitting Gallery 5 at the top of this CC-curated bill is nothing but good news for fans of the band and the label. And of course, it’s also lovely to see Recluse Raccoon bringing their mellow, melodic sound to the stage as well. These guys tend to take it pretty easy; after all, their last EP came out back in 2015. But they’ve always got some sounds with which to delight our ears, and this night at Gallery 5 promises to be no exception. Harrisonburg’s Slow Clover will bring us some jazzy, progressive rock sounds that are sure to please the plentiful Night Idea fans in the audience, while CGI Jesus will kick things off with some jazzy, mathy metal to delight all the fans of Dumb Waiter, or even the Alter Natives, who make it out. This one’s gonna be lovely.

Saturday, January 20, 6 PM
Deau Eyes Kickstarter Launch Party, feat. Deau Eyes, McKinley Dixon & Friends, Whatever Honey, Trunk Show Band, Lucky Duckiss @ TheatreLAB/The Basement – Donations accepted
To be completely real with y’all, I stopped thinking that Kickstarters were worth writing about something like five years ago. The fact that this crowdfunding model quickly became the way people did everything from putting out albums to paying medical bills certainly doesn’t say anything nice about the current state of our culture. But crowdfunding efforts have led to some very nice things (including my wedding–I promise I’ll mail out the zines and CDs to everyone who contributed soon!). And the fact that Ali Thibodeau’s Deau Eyes is not only doing a Kickstarter to release their first album but kicking off the campaign with an actual launch party is enough to make me think that the album they’re working on will be another very nice crowdfunded thing.

Now, you’d be forgiven for not knowing Deau Eyes’ music. While Ali and co. have been playing a decent amount of local shows lately, there aren’t any recordings out there online–at this point, the best way to get an idea of their music is by listening to the soundtrack on their Kickstarter video pitch. It sounds pretty great, with a spunky, upbeat approach to melodic rock n’ roll that should appeal to those out there who enjoy Speedy Ortiz and other 90s-style alt-rock types. She’s got some pretty cool friends, too, including McKinley Dixon, who’s playing the Kickstarter launch party (at TheatreLAB’s The Basement of all places–I don’t remember there being live music there ever before…). Whatever Honey and the Trunk Show Band are also on the bill, as well as someone named “Lucky Duckiss.” Hmm. Those of us who didn’t fall off the turnip truck yesterday can probably interpret that one accurately. The best part about this whole show is that your admission price constitutes a donation to the Kickstarter campaign; therefore, one would think that by paying 10 bucks to get in, you’d not only get to see this rad show but also get a digital download of the Deau Eyes album when it’s done. That’s what I call a deal.

Sunday, January 21, 9 PM
Rex Richardson Quintet feat. JC Kuhl, Trey Pollard, Randall Pharr, Brian Jones @ The Camel – $10 in advance/$12 at the door (order tickets HERE)
There’s a lot going on in the jazz genre, and as someone who spends a lot of her time focusing on things like punk, metal, and emo, I don’t always have the ability to keep up with jazz as much as I want. Therefore, I imagine the jazz heads around here are shaking their heads in dismay that I’m this late at getting on the Rex Richardson train. I feel you, jazz heads, I feel you. This guy is obviously a big deal. A trumpeter who is sponsored by Yamaha and has been a prominent representative for VCU’s music department for nearly two decades, Richardson has done quite a lot in his career thus far. His achievements both as a classical soloist and a jazz bandleader are lengthier and more impressive than I could even attempt to cram into this space.

But what we should discuss is the fact that he released a collaborative album entitled Blue Shift in 2014 with saxophonist Steve Wilson. That album has a strong, swinging sound that hits hard and makes me think of prime Miles Davis and John Coltrane albums. The rhythm section that backed Richardson and Wilson on that album is the same one that fills out Richardson’s quintet for this performance, including Spacebomb arrangement guru Trey Pollard on piano. Filling in for the absent Wilson is JC Kuhl, formerly of local funk band Agents Of Good Roots, who along with drummer Brian Jones has also played with legendary avant-garde outsider musician Jandek. These are some seasoned pros at the top of their game, and with a master like Richardson at the helm, this night is sure to bring you some top-quality jazz sounds.

Monday, January 22, 8 PM
Deerhoof, Bermuda Triangles, Tavishi, COQ @ Strange Matter – $15 (order tickets HERE)
Let’s get weird. Deerhoof, noted veteran rangers of the bizarre fringes of the indie world, return to Richmond once again with the latest dose of their alternate-universe rock n’ roll. Latest album Mountain Moves, released last fall, has a strange sort of 70s soft rock vibe lurking beneath all the weird song structures and noisy guitars. It sort of reminds me of where Blonde Redhead went later in their career, when the melodies suddenly rose to the surface and changed the way one heard their music. Covers of The Staple Singers and Bob Marley show that the group’s response to the rise of Trumpism has not been one of avoidance, while the album’s extensive list of guest stars shows that they believe in working together to make things better.

Now Deerhoof is coming to RVA with a big dose of inspiration for us all. They’ll find RVA 100% prepared to meet that challenge, as they’re joined on this bill by Bermuda Triangles. Once a more conventional noise-rock sort of band, last year’s Haunted Island EP shows them slimming down to a trio and taking their percussion focus into outer space, while still remaining an incredibly funky, fun, danceable band. Tavishi’s experimental noise, meanwhile, is an intense, overwhelming experience, with a strong political viewpoint and an uncompromising approach. COQ will open the show with some strange sounds that are sure to touch a nerve for fans of the No Wave scene of the early 80s. Think of the Bush Tetras or DNA and you’re halfway there. Now go the rest of the way down to Strange Matter and see this show.

Tuesday, January 23, 7 PM
.gif From God, Cursing Method, Van Hagar, Listless, Jafar Flowers, Cell Saga @ Soft Web – $5
I’ve been seeing .gif From God play since their earliest basement blasts of metal noise hysteria and while they’ve been amazing from the jump, they only seem to get better as time goes on. Last year’s split EP with Vein saw them taking things to a higher level with longer, more complex songs, but they retained their edge. They’ve continued to incorporate the best elements of metalcore, screamo, spastic grind a la the Locust, and outright horrible noise into a potpourri of entertaining, energetic sounds that are always delivered with maximum hyperactive intensity.

Basically what I’m saying here is that it’s never a good idea to miss a .gif From God set. And there are plenty of other good reasons to catch this mid-week throwdown at Soft Web, the foremost among them being an appearance by South Carolinian grind maniacs Cursing Method, who take a feedback-destruction approach to their crunchy riffs and blasting drum attack. And then, of course, there are the many powerful locals, from rage-filled power-violence heroes Van Hagar to dark, moody hardcore ragers Listless. The evening’s dead spaces will be filled in with DJ sets from Ice Cream Socialites Jafar Flowers and Cell Saga, so you won’t ever have to wait for the killer sounds to start back up. What could be better?

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Email me if you’ve got any tips for me about upcoming shows (that take place after the week this column covers–this week’s column has obviously already been written): [email protected] [yes, my email is through GayRVA, don’t get weird about it]

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 12/2-12/8

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FEATURE SHOW
Saturday, December 5, 8 PM
The Dream Syndicate, Stephen McCarthy & Friends, The Green Hearts @ Strange Matter – $15 (order tickets HERE)
The Dream Syndicate’s show at Strange Matter this Saturday is an important event not just in the RVA music scene but in the music world in general.
[Read more…] about RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 12/2-12/8