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Raising Hell

Benjamin West | May 8, 2019

Topics: Ann Beretta, avail, bike racing, BMX, dirt bikes, family sports, Richmond BMX

Local BMX isn’t a kiddie sport — in the hands of Richmond BMX, it’s an extreme, all-ages family bonding sesh.

At Gillies Creek Park, just up the road from Shockoe Bottom, the smell of cooking charcoal floats through the air. Neon figures in wraparound helmets and tiny bikes bob up and down on a twisting track. A booming voice, with ESPN-esque accentation comes on over the final licks of something to the tune of Green Day’s “Brain Stew.” In the “pit,” as the riders call it, immediately over the fence setting off the racetrack from the rest of the world, families in tents cross-pollinate, sharing stories and tailgate-style snacks as riders big and small make their way to the starting gate.

At Richmond BMX’s public racetrack, today is Sunday. And Sunday is race day.

“We always say it’s a youth sport, but it’s a family sport,” Richmond BMX track operator Gary Craig said, drawing out the word “family” with a pointed, smiling emphasis. He has bright eyes, a goatee, and seemingly endless energy.

BMX, which stands for Bicycle Motocross — is a racing sport that has seen sharp popularity hikes in the last five years, with 3.44 million participants according to Statistica. Beginning, according to some stories, in 1960s California as a way for kids to emulate their motorcycle motocross heroes, the theory is simple. Ride your bike down a long, winding snake-run of a track, sticking jumps and wallbank turns along the way. First one across the checkered finish line wins.

“Kids and adults can participate,” Craig said, “but those that aren’t on the track, they’re involved in some way.”

“There’s no passiveness to it.”

The track is a nonprofit, and Craig’s position is volunteer. During the BMX racing season, March through October, Craig is needed at the track for at least 100 of those days, which he needs to coordinate so they don’t butt up against his day job. But it’s no secret that he’s happy to do it; it shows in his voice, in his body language. His father ran the local track when he was a kid, had a shop and a BMX team.

“People did it for me when I was a kid,” he said. “I had the opportunity to race all over the country because there were adults who did the same thing that I’m doing now.”

(Photo by Benjamin West)

As practice runs peter out, the omniscient announcer, reminiscent of NASCAR or the Kentucky Derby, albeit a bit smaller, friendlier, floods the track again. It seems to know everybody’s name. It commentates the first heats as they begin and calls out the recent achievements of participating riders.

“And a slight advantage for the two-spot, Ryder [Brookshire] — he’s, like, a veteran of the five and under class. He’s out front, on the one-spot. Wassup Ryder? Don’t look at me, look forward, my man, I’m just cheering for you.”

It takes only a second to realize — the booming voice is Craig. He’s running around, in and out of the track, looking almost like a bobblehead in his oversized helmet, getting out of the way as the bikers fly by and moving to where he can get a better view.

“Ryder Brookshire onnnn the one. Love the little tykes, they’ve always got, like, blue candy stuff all over their face.”

“Charlie Holmes on the two — Colton Lyles on the three, he made his main event up there in NOVA BMX yesterday with a packed gate!”

With a mic stuffed up into his helmet, even when he’s riding, Craig is commentating over the loudspeaker. Sometimes he hangs back in the pack to give the play-by-play, as slick as anybody on the radio, and sometimes he bursts ahead, still talking and throwing out jokes. In his first heat of the day, he places second, and then jogs up to the gate before the next heat drops — a group of teenagers this time.

“Hold on, just learning how to breathe again,” he says. He’s heaving, and there’s humor in his voice.

He’s up by the bleachers when the gate drops for the women’s 46 – 50 cruiser class (the cruiser being a type of BMX bike with 24 inch wheels).

“Coming up on the second straightaway: my favorite BMXer,” he says as his wife, Andrea, speeds past.

Craig isn’t kidding when he says BMX is a family sport. Andrea and a few other moms, under a central, wooden platform, handle registration every Sunday, juggling hundreds of copies of forms. There are parents positioned around the track in case of falls, and many of them will be riders themselves as the day moves forward. Moms and dads help tweak bikes. They give all the little riders buzzing around pep talks and highfives, making sure everybody is hydrated, happy, and most of all, stoked.

“If you’re in soccer or baseball or football, the parent brings the kid to the practice for the day or the competition for the day and then sits in the stands,” Craig said.

“With BMX, the parent is — they’re the mechanic, they’re the medic, they’re the coach, they’re the motivator, they’re the consoler. They’re all those things.”

Exhibit one: The Hooligans.

The Hooligans: Raiden Liesfeld, Cash Huddleston, Sachiko Bowman, Robert Huddleston, Zoe Craig, Charlie Bowman, Isabella Craig, Masumi Hyodo, Canon Liesfeld, Chris Liesfeld (Photo by Benjamin West)

In the lulls between their heats, the adult members of Hooligan Racing are found lounging back in canvas camp-style lawn chairs and passing around snacks, pitched in a tent between two other teams. The kids draw pictures on a makeshift table and joke around, trying most of the time not to get too rowdy. Everybody, minus the helmets, is decked out in full racing gear — black and red, with their names on the back of their shirts and an American traditional-style panther emulating a tattoo on the bicep area of their sleeves.

Most of the Hooligan parents biked in some form another as teenagers, and played together in punk bands. Rob Huddleston, a founding member of Ann Beretta, rode BMX religiously into his mid 20s. Beau Butler (unable to make it out to the track Sunday) is a member of local punk legends Avail, who recently shook the city by announcing their first show in 12 years. Huddleston remembers Charlie Bowman, another Hooligan parent, back in the day riding bikes constantly, switching between his mountain bike to hit the local trails and his road bike for his work as a messenger. Today, Huddleston says it’s not uncommon for Bowman to do 30 miles before heading to the BMX track where he’ll ride all day. When the light starts to fall, he sometimes will even ride his bike home.

Today the Hooligans are decked out with a whole slew of sponsors, including Mongoose Bikes, Box BMX, Powers Bike Shop, Profile Racing, and FLY Racing USA. But at first — just two years ago — it was just some old friends meeting up at the track, rekindling their love for BMX alongside their kids — 7, 8, 9 years old — who were discovering it for the first time.

After trying to get his son, Cash Huddleston, on a bike for years, Huddleston remembers pulling some of his old bikes out of his parents’ barn during a visit, just to noodle around and fix them up. When he had his back turned, Cash, then 8 years old, hopped on the bike and started blasting around the yard.

“That’s how he is,” Huddleston said about his son. “He just decided to ride. No training wheels, no ‘Dad, will you balance me and push me down the hill?’ He just jumped on and rode. And 30 minutes later he was asking for a shovel to build a dirt jump.”

This was the week before Christmas — so anybody can guess how it plays out. The day after the holiday, Cash, who now sports a shock of electric blue-dyed hair, was down at Gillies Park with his own bike flying down the course.

“A pretty common story here — that got me back into it,” Huddleston said.

Mongoose Bicycles Team Manager Leigh Ramsdell jumps over Cash Huddleston (Photo by Rob Huddleston)

First it was Huddleston and Butler hanging out at the track, but as they invited more and more friends, it became a Sunday family tradition.

Still, it took some time for the adults to move from the bleachers to the bikes. Richmond BMX is equipped with a shed full of loaner bikes and safety gear — available for use free of charge. But with full-time jobs to go to the next morning, it can be daunting. Huddleston says a broken collarbone is the most common “BMX dad injury” and if asked, Craig will pull back his shirt to show you his scar.

“I was kind of egging everyone on, but at the same time not wanting to do it — not yet,” Huddleston said.

Ultimately, it was Masumi Hyodo (the Hooligans call her Sumi) who first made the leap. Hyodo and Bowman, who are married, first got their daughter, Sachiko, on one of their old, beat-up bikes during a birthday party for Cash at the track. The next week, she leveled up to one of the loaners, and soon she had on of her own. Sundays came and went, and Hyodo thought she was content hanging out in the tent with the other adults. But then…

“There’s a lot of women who actually race, and they all came over while I was sitting, like — ‘c’mon!’” she said, miming their gestures.

“There were only three of us, and I got third place,” she said, laughing.

On slow days, if the track can’t fill one of the older age brackets, riders in, say, the 46 -50-year-old heats have to race younger teenagers, say, 16 or 17-year-olds. Hyodo said it can be difficult to keep up with the young guns, but she loves it and the challenge has recently made her much faster.

“I didn’t realize I was competitive,” she said, laughing again.

Though their past experience with the sport varied, one by one, the adults started racing themselves. They bought gear, built bikes, and began to cherish their Sunday tradition — their time with their kids, their time with their friends — even more than before.

Soon Cash and Sachiko and all the other young Hooligans started noticing the colorful jerseys around them — signifying the different BMX teams.

A quick note about BMX teams at the local level: most kids, according to Huddleston and Craig, race their first season solo. They have their parents and friends, of course, but they aren’t truly locked in with a particular club. BMX is a highly individual sport, and there are rarely team events. But teams do act as a further support group, people to look up to, people to root for.

Masumi Hyodo, Andrea Craig, Isabella Craig and other riders line up at the starting gate (Photo by Benjamin West)

“They all wanted to be on different teams, for different reasons,” Huddleston said.

The kids were between the ages of 7 and 10, he clarified, and the reasons were pretty arbitrary. Mostly it boiled down to what jersey they liked the best.

“It’s all about the jersey, man,” Craig said upon hearing this with a huge grin.

The math was a bit brutal — picturing the kids all over, under different tents. What if one was invited to a team and the other wasn’t? What if this split up the group?

“So we just went back to that DIY thing and were like: screw it, let’s make our own team,” Huddleston said.

It makes sense, really. The DIY work ethic runs like a main artery through the Richmond punk and extreme sports subcultures, exactly the places where the adult Hooligans came of age. Where they met. Where they bonded. And it’s where the younger Hooligans are growing up now.

Build something. Learn something. Do it yourself. Have fun.

Huddleston, a graphic designer by trade, cooked up a logo and pieced together the team’s jerseys. Logo: check. Graphics: check. Now, the final piece of the puzzle: what’s a sports jersey without sponsors pasted all over the back?

First they approached local businesses throughout the area, friends of the team, tattoo shops and the like — your logo on our jersey in exchange for some support. When it comes to BMX companies, this usually amounts to a discount on gear. Huddleston also contacted old friends from his Ann Beretta days. At the same time, he said he noticed that Hooligan Racing was quickly gaining recognition, and to this day, he’s not exactly sure why.

“By the end of last year, anytime we would go out of town people were like: ‘Oh, I’ve heard of you guys.’ Even if we were out of state,” Huddleston said.

The highlight of this buildup might have been when Huddleston and Cash were riding a skatepark in North Carolina with Mongoose Freestyle Team Manager Leigh Ramsdell, a friend of Huddleston’s going way back. Ramsdell told the duo over lunch that the higher ups at Mongoose had approved a sponsorship of Hooligan Racing.

“It’s all for fun,” Huddleston said. “It’s still just us as friends and our kids and our families. But we’ve definitely started to get a little more competitive.”

It’s easy to see the Gillies Creek BMX track as the local watering hole — or the pool in vintage 1950s suburbia pictures. People gather and they connect. That’s what they’re really there for. The pool is just an excuse to leave the house. But to the Hooligans and all the other families, it’s much more than that. They’ve invested something that those postcard-sized pool people haven’t. They are passionate about this sport, and they are sharing the passion directly and laterally with their kids. It’s something they equally take seriously and have tons of fun with. And there’s no patronizing for the kids who enjoy sport either. How could there be, when the youngest of them are 3 or 4, and the oldest, former Richmond BMX Track Operator Arthur Luck, is 71?

Round one is over and there’s a 10-minute break. At this point, every registered rider has completed their first race, but the energy stays high. It’s not over until round 3, when the sum of each rider’s wins are tallied and the plastic trophies swarming a wooden, makeshift table are passed out.

A 16-year-old boy named Xavier Edmonds approaches the Hooligans’ tent with an innertube slung over his arm, his jersey sky-blue against their red and black ones. It’s not uncommon to see riders from different teams hanging out with each other — in fact, look around during the break period and the colors collide like spilt motor oil.

Edmonds is asking for his picture taken. He’s anticipating a wild jump on the second straightaway, and he thinks it’ll make a great photo.

Before long, Edmonds is gone again to work on a spare bike in the lull between rounds. It seems as if he never stops working on it. The day before he had approached Craig with the skeleton frame of a bike painted jet black, showing it off.

“How many coats is it?” Craig asked.

“Three.”

“Make sure you let it really cure, because otherwise it will chip really easily,” Craig told him. “You’ve got some runs over here.”

“I’m going to make it all black,” Edmonds said with a huge smile.

“Black on black,” Craig said. They were both chuckling now. “Murdered out!”

Edmonds doesn’t come from a BMX family. He’s just a neighborhood kid from the apartments down the street who stumbled onto the track a few years ago. One of four local kids the track is able to sponsor, Richmond BMX pays his and the other sponsored kids’ entry and membership fees, and helps them find secondhand gear.

“All that we ever ask is that they help us out,” Craig said.

It’s not a huge workload — tearing down and setting up on race days, or joining the volunteers when track upgrades are made.

“We don’t track specifically how much they do,” Craig said, “but we want to get them involved in the program and understand that there’s value in volunteering — in contributing your time and donating your time for something that’s bigger than just what you want to be doing.”

Opening parade lap (Photo by Benjamin West)

During his first season, Edmonds’ grades started slipping and his family said he couldn’t race until he picked himself back up. He spun his entire school life around, graduating high school early. Soon he’ll be heading off to trade school to become a welder. When the starting gate at the front of the track needed fixing, Edmonds was on the scene helping to weld the thing back together.

“We don’t get to have a lot of those opportunities, it’s just not where our capacity is right now,” Craig said, clarifying that, if Richmond BMX can even help out one or two kids in some small way, it’s all worth it.

“He’s going to come back to BMX at some point in his life,” Craig said. “He’ll find his way away from it at some point, but later on in life he’ll find his way back to the BMX track. I’m sure of it.”

During the break, Craig starts calling through the PA for a special event, a moneymatch race.

“For a track operator’s 20 bucks,” he says.

The required eight riders pedal up to the gate, a spectrum of ages and skill levels. They stand waiting, a jumble of metal and spokes between their legs. Edmonds is there. In the world of BMX, being as close to the inside of the track — the number one slot — is a known advantage. Edmonds is in the fourth slot; not too bad.

“Riders ready,” says a distorted, monotone voice — not Craig’s.

“Watch the gate.”

BEEP BEEP BEEP

The gate slams down with a hydraulic-like hiss, and the riders, aiming down the barrel of their front tire, take off with an audible rush. Edmonds has his work cut out for him. Among the other competitors is Payton Ridenour. She’s at Gillies Creek with her trainer. It’s a known fact that she’ll likely go pro someday.

“Ridenour with the first straight pull trying to get there, Ridenour gonna dive in the inside, nothin’ doing! Edmonds out front, Ridenour charging down the second straightaway! It’s Edmonds, Ridenour, one and two!”

Their legs are pumping like pistons and sometimes it looks like they’re leaning so far forward they’ll fall over their handlebars. When they launch off a jump and their wheels leave for the air, it feels like they could almost hang there forever. Graceful.

“Last turn, last straightaway!”

“Edmonds!”

“Ridenour!”

“Xavier Edmonds! WOAHHHHH YEAHHHHH!”

Edmonds does it; he’s like a bullet across the finish line. Immediately, he’s swarmed by the other riders. Even the other competitors are grabbing his shoulders and high-fiving him. Craig jogs over and holds up the crisp $20 bill. Edmonds takes it. He looks around. Throws out a few more high-fives. He’s beaming.

Top photo by Benjamin West

VA Shows You Must See This Week: November 7 – November 13

Marilyn Drew Necci | November 7, 2018

Topics: Ann Beretta, Bennett Wales & The Relief, Bigwig, Butt, classical revolution RVA, CounterPunch, Dad, Doll Baby, Fat Spirit, Fishbone, Flora, Good Riddance, gwar, HAUNT, Jackmove, Jafar Flowers, Madison Turner, Mannequin Pussy, Matthew E. White, Miss May I, Miya Folick, Municipal Waste, NØ Man, Pale Waves, Peabody's, planned parenthood, Roosevelt Collier, Sensual World, Shaka's, shows you must see, Slothrust, strange matter, Super Unison, The Broadberry, The Bush League, The Camel, The Candescents, The HofGarden, The National, Toxic Holocaust, Toxic Moxie, Trey Pollard, Ugly Muscle, Video Shoppe, Wargo

FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, November 10, 8 PM
GWAR, Municipal Waste, Miss May I, Toxic Holocaust, HAUNT @ The National – $22 in advance/$25 at the door (order tickets HERE)
Folks, it’s time once again that we check in on Richmond’s reigning masters of bloodthirsty metal from outer space. Everyone’s favorite homicidal aliens, GWAR, will return to the National’s stage once again this Saturday night, and it’s sure to be an absolute gorefest, so you know what that means — wear your white t-shirts and get ready to be hit by the cannons of goo that are certain to be unleashed. You know the ones; the ones that throw so much blood and guts all over the place that the National has to drape their balconies in bedsheets just to protect the fancy woodwork. If you think you can be anywhere in the same room as GWAR and stay safe from the splatter, you’re sadly mistaken, but that’s OK — getting covered in slimy stuff of uncertain origin is part of what makes GWAR shows so much fun!

Last year, GWAR released their first new album since the death of founder Dave Brockie. The Blood Of Gods sees the crossover sound GWAR have cultivated over the past several albums giving way to a more over-the-top rock n’ roll sound that sees new vocalist (and originator of the Beefcake the Mighty character) Michael Bishop howling and yowling, Ted Nugent-style. There’s still plenty of thrashing going on with GWAR these days, don’t get me wrong; but the fact that the album ends with a cover of AC/DC’s “If You Want Blood (You Got It)” should tell you something about what you can expect, musically speaking, from GWAR these days.

That said, we all know that the gore-saturated show is the main attraction when seeing GWAR live. But there’s plenty of ass-kicking no-show all-go metal on this bill as well. The main attraction for all of you hoping to spend a few hours focusing on banging your head is the one and only Municipal Waste, who’d been largely dormant for most of this decade but returned to action last year with a beefed-up lineup featuring former Cannabis Corpse axe-slinger Nikropolis on rhythm guitars and their first LP in five years, Slime And Punishment. If you haven’t caught up with the Waste since all that went down, rest assured that they’re gonna fuck you up just like they always have. They’ll do it with the able assistance of their best thrashcore pals, Toxic Holocaust, as well as metalcore mainstays Miss May I and up-and-coming Maiden-esque power-metallers HAUNT. It’s a headbanging bonanza, and it’ll be topped off with a serious bloodbath. Should make for a wonderful weekend.

Wednesday, November 7, 7 PM
Slothrust, Mannequin Pussy, Doll Baby @ The Camel – $12 in advance/$14 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Look out, all you rock n’ rollers — the 90s are still back, perhaps more back than ever, and one great aspect of that is the continued ascendance of powerful songwriters with rough, distorted guitars that hit you hard even as their lyrics and vocal melodies make you feel some strong emotions. Slothrust is one of those groups, and singer-guitarist Leah Wellman is showing the world exactly what she has to offer on their brand new LP, The Pact, released a couple months ago on Dangerbird Records. There’s a darkness to songs like “Planetarium” and “Fever Doggs” that if anything harks back to a pre-90s, pre-Nirvana sensibility. These songs should strike familiar chords for fans of the Meat Puppets, or Green River, and do a great job of demonstrating that Slothrust has more to offer than an unabashed reiteration of what bands like Babes In Toyland and L7 did before (though don’t get me wrong, there’s a good bit of that in there too).

Slothrust are joined on this bill by Mannequin Pussy, a Philadelphia punk band who’ve been making a strong impact in Richmond for years now, and have also been growing beyond their noisy punk roots, into a sound that encompasses a variety of genres and combines rage, passion, and melody in an inspiring manner. Their 2016 album, Romantic, moves from roaring blasts of punk fury into moments of breathtaking melody, complete with shoegaze-style guitar swells. One thing that’s present on all of their songs is a strong emotional foundation that singer-guitarist Marisa Dabice communicates with everything from a breathy croon to a frustrated scream. No matter where each moment lands on the spectrum of her vocal range, though, all of them are honest, real, and gripping in their intensity. This isn’t one you’re going to want to miss. Local support by Doll Baby, who have a great deal in common with both touring bands, completes a powerful trifecta. You know what to do.

Thursday, November 8, 9 PM
Roosevelt Collier, Bennett Wales & The Relief, The Bush League @ The Camel – $12 in advance/$15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
If you love to hear people wail on the electric guitar, this is the show for you. Roosevelt Collier is a pedal steel guitarist with roots in the same “sacred steel” tradition that brought Robert Randolph and his family band into the world, but Collier combines that gospel-soul sound with a Hendrix-ian approach that finds him in high demand with heavyweights like the Tedeschi-Trucks Band and the Allman Brothers. He’s a core member of Snarky Puppy bassist Michael League’s “World Music All-Star Band,” Bokanté, and he’s finally stepped out on his own this year as the frontman for his own group, which he’ll be bringing to the Camel.

Collier and his backing band are on tour in support of his debut solo album, Exit 16, on which he worked again with Snarky Puppy bassist Michael League. The album displays a hell of a range, moving from uptempo workouts to slow, seductive grooves, all with a very heavy bottom end. Collier’s playing is always the star of the show, and the man gets some outstanding noise out of his pedal-steel axe. While instrumental music can sometimes feel a bit bare-bones, you’ll never miss the vocals when Roosevelt Collier is laying waste to his slide guitar. He joins with VA Beach funk-rockers Bennett Wales and the Relief and RVA’s own blues-wailing machine, The Bush League, to tear the roof off the Camel this Thursday, and you should really be there to see — and hear — it all go down.

Friday, November 9, 7 PM
Pale Waves, Miya Folick, The Candescents @ The Broadberry – $15 in advance/$18 day of show (order tickets HERE)
These days when you hear the sort of reverbed guitars and ambient synth sounds that have been a marker of the goth-postpunk sound in vogue at the moment for several years now, you expect to know what you’re getting. Dark moods, downcast eyes, sad lyrics full of desolate imagery that connect strongly with your personal alienation as you sit alone in your room in the dark. But haven’t we all had our fill of that sort of approach to the mid-80s postpunk sound? After a few years, all those 80s goth kids turned into bouncy New Wavers that would rather dance to New Order than cry to the Cure anyway — isn’t it time we found an antidote for our own post-millennial kohl-eyeliner blues?

That’s what Pale Waves is here to offer. The Manchester band may trace their aesthetic back to Siouxsie and the Banshees, but their sound is building on the uplifting synth melodies of recent UK postpunk successes CHVRCHES and adding some of the same glittering guitars and melodic bass lines that the original goth bands excelled at. Recently released LP My Mind Makes Noises hits all the right notes for the kids who still want to wear all black but are discovering the thrill of new love and the promise of sunny days. God knows everything is depressing enough these days… don’t we need our music to lift the veil at least a little bit? If you’re ready to dance with a smile on your face rather than tears in your eyes, come to The Broadberry this Friday night and bounce to the music of Pale Waves. It can’t rain all the time.

Saturday, November 10, 7 PM
Eat Your HRT Out: A Trans Health Clinic Benefit, feat. Toxic Moxie, Madison Turner, Wargo, Dad, Jafar Flowers @ Strange Matter – $15-20 suggested donation
I know, I know, I just wrote about Toxic Moxie like two weeks ago. But what was the rule we established the last time I wrote about them? I do believe it was “you will go see Toxic Moxie whenever they play a show.” We just had an election, but this one wasn’t on the ballot, so it is still very much in force. You want punk rage and disco euphoria? You want serious political views leavened with some good-time party energy? Toxic Moxie have got it all.

And what’s more, they’re bringing it to you this time in support of a very good cause. Planned Parenthood’s Trans Health Clinic is one of the only steady providers of transgender-specific health services in Richmond, and considering that trans people are much more likely to be unemployed or underemployed than the general population, their patients are more likely to face economic strain in finding ways to pay for their medical care. What your donation at the door of this show — which, in addition to the disco party punk of Toxic Moxie, will also feature an always-rockin’ full band set from Madison Turner, some electronic dance sounds from Jafar Flowers, and a good bit more — will go toward is helping ensure that prices for Planned Parenthood’s much-needed medical support for the trans community remain as affordable as possible. Plus you’ll have a great time in the bargain, and who doesn’t need more of those?

Sunday, November 11, 8 PM
Video Shoppe, BUTT, Fat Spirit @ Flora – $?
It’s always fascinating to see how people find ways to do a band despite lacking some seemingly crucial core members. Providence duo Video Shoppe easily found a way around this particular dilemma. No drummer? No problem — just bring in a primitive electronic beat machine, trigger it with foot pedals, and stack TVs and VCRs around you to when you play to make up for the fact that there’s nobody flailing away behind a kit and giving the audience some sudden moves to latch onto.

But that sort of creative problem-solving only goes so far if you don’t have some really cool songs to bring to the world when you play, and Video Shoppe’s latest EP, Nostalgia Trap(s), finds them filling that need in excellent fashion as well. Their pounding drum machine makes for an interesting contrast with their delicate postpunk guitar sound, just as their singer’s moody baritone offers an emotional feel completely different from that presented by their chiming melodies. The result has both power and ethereality, and will glow brightly in the dark room at the back of Flora this Sunday night. Their pairing with local ramshackle garage-rockers BUTT and the glorious grunge fury of Fat Spirit will round out the evening into a blast of rock n’ roll fun you’ll be willing to pay whatever the heck they’re actually charging at the door to get into.

Monday, November 12, 8 PM
Super Unison, NØ Man, Sensual World, Ugly Muscle @ Strange Matter – $10 (order tickets HERE)
This is one I’ve been looking forward to. Super Unison recently released their second LP, Stella, and it took their already powerful post-hardcore sound to a whole new level. You may know this group from the fact that singer-bassist Meghan O’Neil previously fronted ripping fastcore band Punch, but from their inception, Super Unison have had a great deal more to offer than O’Neil’s previous group, as they both retain the hardcore velocity of Punch and integrate the sort of driving, noisy energy of bands like Drive Like Jehu (who inspired the group’s name) and Rodan.

Stella finds Super Unison expanding beyond the sound of their 2016 debut LP by incorporating more dynamic shifts within single songs; they’ve also increased the melodic quotient of their guitar riffs, even as O’Neil’s vocals have become harsher and more emotionally-driven. Some might say these guys have been listening to some of the screamo stuff coming out of their home state of California — Vril, say, or Loma Prieta — and I think there’s definitely evidence to support that conclusion. Whether you’re a fan of passionate screamo, hardcore fury, or noisy rock chaos, though, you’re sure to get a lot out of Super Unison’s unrelenting attack. Put yourself in the way of it — you’ll never regret it.

Tuesday, November 13, 6:30 PM
Classical Revolution RVA presents Trey Pollard, Matthew E. White @ The HofGarden – $7 in advance/$10 at the door (order tickets HERE)
This is about as far as you can get from post-hardcore rage, but like they say, variety is the spice of life. It’s also how we keep things interesting here in Richmond, which a lot of people (including me) will tell you is one of the best music cities in the entire country. This Tuesday night sees some tremendously interesting things happening at The HofGarden, as Spacebomb Records head honchos Trey Pollard and Matthew E. White join together with local chamber music collective Classical Revolution RVA in order to present the live premiere of compositions from Pollard’s new album, Antiphone, coming later this month from Spacebomb.

Trey Pollard isn’t the sort of musician we’re used to interacting with here in the indie rock world. He’s a true composer, one who has done orchestral compositions and arrangements for everyone from Spacebomb compatriots Matthew E. White and Natalie Prass to Scottish indie-folk group The Waterboys and This American Life-affiliated podcast S-Town. Now he’s releasing the first album of his own compositions, which was recorded by a 16 piece ensemble earlier this year with Pollard conducting. For the performance at The Hof, a string quintet featuring members of Classical Revolution RVA will play compositions from Antiphone live for the first time. They’ll also accompany Matthew E. White for portions of a solo piano-and-vocal set that he’ll treat us all to, before we dive fully into the bold new works Pollard is bringing into the world. This is an evening for people who love all forms of music, and are most excited to see something unlike anything else out there. If you’re a true music fan, you’re not going to want to miss it.

Bonus Hampton Roads Picks:

Thursday, November 8, 7 PM
Fishbone, Jackmove @ Shaka’s – $27 in advance/$32 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Remember how we were talking earlier about the 90s being back? It doesn’t just show through in the return of sounds and styles that were popular back then; it also shows up in all the bands that are getting back together and returning to the road after decades away. Strictly speaking, this doesn’t describe Fishbone — they’ve been together the whole time, with founding vocalist Angelo Moore and bassist John Norwood Fisher sticking around through thick and thin. However, this year has seen the group return to their classic lineup for the first time since the late 90s. Or, well, that’s not entirely true — no one familiar with the whole saga will be surprised to hear that Kendall Jones isn’t back. But other than Jones, the lineup responsible for classic late-80s/early-90s LPs Truth And Soul, The Reality Of My Surroundings, and the unforgettably titled Give A Monkey A Brain and He’ll Swear He’s The Center Of The Universe is back once again and hitting the road to remind us why we loved Fishbone back in the day.

Of course, some of you are going to wonder what the heck I’m talking about. I hear you muttering: “Who is Fishbone, and why does it even matter?” Here’s the deal: back when “funk-punk” was a real, up-and-coming hybrid genre with underground energy and vitality, Fishbone were at the center of it. Never mind Red Hot Chili Peppers (who knew enough to shout Fishbone out constantly on their early albums); tracks like “Party At Ground Zero,” “Bonin’ In The Boneyard,” “Swim,” and “Everyday Sunshine” showed a talented group absorbing everything from ska and soul to hardcore and metal, then spitting it all back out in a wave of talented originality like nothing else out there, then or now. The members of Fishbone are quite a bit older now, but the songs they created in their heyday are still great, and their talent (and singer Angelo Moore’s boundless energy) are undiminished. This show will be both the perfect introduction for the young ‘uns among you and an outstanding opportunity for those of us who know exactly what Fishbone is all about to see the classic lineup in full nutt-megalomaniac form. Hell yeah.

Saturday, November 10, 7 PM
Good Riddance, Bigwig, Ann Beretta, Counterpunch @ Peabody’s – $20 in advance/$22 day of show (order tickets HERE)
And speaking of excellent bands from prior eras returning to demonstrate that they’ve still got it going on… here’s an excellent example of not one but THREE melodic punk bands of the 90s doing exactly that. California’s Good Riddance are at the top of this bill, nicknamed the “Fall Brawl 2018,” and they’ve got the kind of gritty hardcore feel underlying their more melodic moments to back that name up. Of the 90s Fat Wreck bands that cemented the skatepunk genre as the go-to sound for a generation of rebellious high school freshmen, Good Riddance were always the toughest, the dirtiest, the most hardcore. Returning to action a few years ago after almost a decade away, 2015’s Peace In Our Time showed that Good Riddance still had the goods.

New Jersey’s Bigwig haven’t made a new album in over a decade, but they’ve stayed on the road, cranking out their brand of metallically-melodic skatepunk for years now, and they’re still bringing the fire as well. More momentous news for longtime fans of RVA punk has been the return over the past couple of years of Ann Beretta, who were mainstays here in Richmond back in the late 90s but have been out of action since shortly after the dawning of the new millennium. They came back to us this year with Old Scars, New Blood, a new album of old hits rerecorded for the modern era, and the word is that they’re working on another entirely new collection that’ll hit town in the near future. This weekend, though, old-school RVA heads and melodic punk skate rats alike are gonna want to gas up the coupe and head down to Peabody’s, because this show is going to be full of excellent sounds from the past three decades of punk rock awesomeness.

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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, there’s plenty more of my writing to read over at GayRVA — come say hey.]

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 10/18-10/24

Marilyn Drew Necci | October 18, 2017

Topics: Ann Beretta, Aura Noir, Battlemaster, Beach Slang, Bewitcher, Brothertiger, Cannabis Corpse, Desert Altar, DJ Adam Against, Grails, Grim Sleeper, Ian Sweet, Keep, Lody Kong, Lydia Lunch, Mutilation Rites, Nailbomb, Natural Velvet, Noisem, Orange Drink, Pet Symmetry, Positive No, shows you must see, Soulfly, strange matter, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, The Broadberry, Tower, Toxic Moxie, TV Girl, Weasel Walter, Wonderland

FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, October 21, 7 PM
Beach Slang, Ann Beretta, Pet Symmetry, Positive No @ The Broadberry – $17 in advance/$20 at the door (order tickets HERE)
Beach Slang is back, and it’s hard to feel anything but awesome about that. This band burst onto the scene several years ago by electrifying younger and older punks alike with their heart-on-sleeve sincerity and killer tunes. Leader James Alex Snyder started out playing punk rock guitar in Weston back in the 90s when he was still a very young man. Later in his career, he sought to recapture the yearning, do-or-die energy that had made his younger days feel so vital, to reignite his life instead of giving up and fading quietly into middle age. He formed Beach Slang to accomplish this goal, and what do you know, he pulled it off with flying colors! They’ve released several EPs and two full-length albums, simultaneously capturing the hearts of today’s punk kids and galvanizing an older generation who suddenly realized they were fading quietly into middle age themselves, and didn’t like the realization.

Perhaps it’s only a coincidence that Beach Slang’s co-headliner on this gig is Ann Beretta, a Richmond melodic punk band that was most active in the late 90s and early 00s, returning to action a few years ago after a decade off. They’ve got a couple of new albums coming out in the next year or so, one of which is rerecorded old songs (the old “we don’t have the rights to the original albums anymore” move), and one of which is entirely new material! A 7 inch single on Say-10 Records earlier this year gave a preview of both, with a rerecording of their beloved classic “Forever Family,” and a brand new tune called “Kill The Lights,” which has as much punk fire and melodic sweetness as ever. This show will see the release of the album of rerecorded old songs, so whether you missed them the first time around or you just wanna hear a new twist on some beloved tunes of your youth, you’ll definitely wanna grab a copy–and of course, catch the set from Ann Beretta, who still have a lot to offer even lo these many years later.

Opening up the evening will be a double whammy of awesome bands that are just as worth your attention as the headliners. Chicago’s Pet Symmetry brings us Into It. Over It. mastermind Evan Thomas Weiss in the role of pop-punk bandleader, dishing out some killer bouncy melodic choruses that still manage to bring that same emotional flavor that we’ve all come to love from his main project. Meanwhile, RVA’s own Positive No will join Ann Beretta in celebrating a brand new album at this show, as they’ll release their second LP, Partners In The Wild, the day before. Pre-release singles have seen the group continuing to emphasize their indie-shoegaze melodic chops while simultaneously cranking up the energy and taking more overt political stances, which is always refreshing. So basically in other words this is a stacked lineup from top to bottom and you’d be a fool to miss it.

Wednesday, October 18, 7 PM
Aura Noir, Mutilation Rites, Battlemaster, Bewitcher @ Strange Matter – $20 (order tickets HERE)
Aura Noir are a Norwegian trio whose members go by the notable sobriquets of Apollyon, Aggressor, and Blasphemer. At this point I feel like I’m sorta being redundant to tell you that they’re a thrashy old-school black metal band, but it’s never a bad idea to emphasize this sort of information when you’re dealing with a band like this one. Because Aura Noir are one of the thrashiest black metal bands ever. You might expect some modulation in the fury, some sort of atmospheric invocation or melodic break or something, but if so, you’d be disappointed. However, if it’s one-thousand percent nonstop metal fury you’re looking for, you’re in luck, because this band just does not stop. It’s been a few years since their fifth album, Out To Die, was released, but these guys haven’t slowed down one iota.

They’re joined on this gig by Brooklyn’s Mutilation Rites, who may not have the same level of black metal cred–New York isn’t as grim and frostbitten as Norway–but make up for it with a filthier, sharper attack that proves new school bands can be just as furious and unstoppable as the old-school originators. These guys also haven’t had a new LP out in a few years, but chances are they’ve got a whole new batch of ripping metal noise with which to slice your head off. In the best possible way, of course. Veteran RVA rippers Battlemaster will hold down one of the opening slots, so you know you’ll get some top-quality riffage early on. And the evening will kick off with a set from Bewitcher, a Portland band with a thrashy sound perfectly in line with the other bands on this bill. Nonstop headbangs–that’s what you can expect from Strange Matter tonight. Start lining up now.

Thursday, October 19, 8 PM
Natural Velvet, Toxic Moxie, Orange Drink @ Strange Matter – $10 (order tickets HERE)
Looking at the picture of Natural Velvet above, you might think that they’re gonna be one of those 90s-style lounge revival groups, like The Coctails or something (no one under 35 has any idea what I’m talking about right now). However, the truth is far different–and far more appealing, if you ask me, because I could never get into all that silly retro crap (one of my long-ago exes is scandalized). In fact, Natural Velvet being paired with Toxic Moxie makes a ton more sense once you check out their great new album, Mirror To Make You, which came out last June.

There’s less of a dance-funk edge to what Natural Velvet do than there is to Toxic Moxie’s sound, but that spooky, energetic vibe, which draws equally from the Fugazi-influenced post-hardcore of the mid-90s and the UK postpunk scene that birthed Siouxsie And The Banshees and Bauhaus, is all over the place. And it really makes this band cook–their new LP has an intensity to it that is sure to come across in spades live. You don’t want to miss this band any more than you want to miss one of Toxic Moxie’s rare but always-unforgettable performances. And what do you know, you’ll get both on this night, so you’re twice as blessed! Milwaukee-based, RVA-bred solo act Orange Drink will kick the evening off with some unpredictable yet always danceable tuneage. Get stoked!

Friday, October 20, 8 PM
Tower, Desert Altar, Grim Sleeper @ Wonderland – $7
When I see names like these on a bill, I always figure I’m in for some 70s-retro doom metal. Often, that’s exactly the case, and I find myself less than enthused. However, this gig at the always-excellent Shockoe Bottom dive bar Wonderland has plenty to offer to get me excited. First and foremost, there’s headliners Tower, who hail from New York and know how to keep the tempo high and the vocal crescendos higher–though it doesn’t hurt that they have a female vocalist shooting for those Dickinsonian wails. This band is clearly deriving quite a bit of influence from metal hall of famers like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, and have absorbed from their idols the ability to dish out pedal-to-the-metal riffs perfect for triumphant high-speed burnouts on back country roads and late night highways.

They’re joined on this bill by locals Desert Altar and Grim Sleeper, and while my previous disinterest in retro doom (sorry, y’all, but it’s getting played out) might make you think I’m not down with these bands. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is true to say that Desert Altar are bringing those sorts of 70s proto-metal thud influences to bear, but they have a plentiful dosage of desert legends Kyuss in the mix, and that makes up for a lot. Meanwhile, Grim Sleeper bypass that whole doom thing and head straight for the filthy depths of sludge, drawing far more from that whole post-My War Eyehategod/Noothgrush/Cavity axis than anything that happened in the 70s. If you ask me, this is always the right move. So yes, come out to Wonderland for this show, and stick around for the whole thing. True classic metal is in the house this night.

Saturday, October 21, 8 PM
Grails, Brutal Measures @ Strange Matter – $13 in advance/$15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
You can expect a psychedelic journey through inner space from this night. Grails have been known for quite a while as leading purveyors of instrumental experimentation, tapping into everything from German cosmische sounds to Middle Eastern folk music, recontextualizing and redelivering it all through a unique worldview and a lineup full of incredible musicians with an extensive pedigree (OM, Steve Von Till, M. Ward, etc). The group’s latest album is called Chalice Hymnal and was released by Temporary Residence earlier this year. It synthesizes a variety of sounds Grails have explored in the past and proceeds to move through them all with an energy that is both intense and hypnotic. Like I said, a psychedelic journey.

Things will be much freakier during the performance from Brutal Measures, the name given to a duo combining the talents of Lydia Lunch and Weasel Walter. Lunch has been a caustic singer and poet fronting harsh postpunk bands since her youthful debut in the atonal, terrifying Teenage Jesus And The Jerks. Weasel Walter has done a million things, mostly in the milieu of experimental punk-damaged jazz–see his best-known and longest-running project, the Flying Luttenbachers. Of course, the fact that he’s also been in bands like Lair Of The Minotaur and Behold The Arctopus should tell you that he’s got some strong metal tendencies as well. So what happens when these two come together to take the stage? Simply put, Lunch reads harsh poetry while Walter bashes on a variety of instruments and creates a disturbing sound bed for Lunch’s equally disturbing words. The noise freaks will eat this up like candy–as will anyone who likes it when performers challenge their expectations and deliver something wholly unique.

Sunday, October 22, 8 PM
TV Girl, Brothertiger, Keep @ Strange Matter – $10 (order tickets HERE)
Here’s something you don’t encounter every week. TV Girl is an LA band with some serious LA vibes–their lush retro melodies combine with hip hop-style samples and programmed beats to create an impossibly hip blend of French pop, Spector-esque girl-group sounds, and the drugged-out post-party introspection of The Weeknd. Recent LP Who Really Cares features a caption on Bandcamp reading, “An album about Sex, or lack thereof, and its consequences, or lack thereof.” Songs like “Cigarettes Out The Window” and “(Do The) Act Like You Never Met Me” perfectly capture the sort of ennui-laced mid-20s melodrama that makes growing up so hard to do–especially when you still kinda wanna party all the time.

One good hip-town project deserves another, and therefore it’s apt that Brooklyn’s Brothertiger will also appear on this bill. A hazy synth-pop project with some 80s UK vibes (think Pet Shop Boys or New Order), Brothertiger also manage to do a little bit of chillwave evocation in their music, and channel some straight-up 1986 Top 40 sounds for their unforgettable choruses. They’ll get you swaying and smiling in the club, especially if you’re the sort of person who is still wearing sunglasses on the dance floor at 11 PM. Local up-and-comers Keep split the difference between the more synth-driven melodic sounds of the bands they’re sharing this bill with and the more 80s UK guitar-driven postpunk sound of bands like The Sound and The Chameleons. Either way, they’re awesome, and they fit right in on this bill, putting this evening’s hipness quotient right off the charts. Wear something pastel to blend in.

Monday, October 23, 7 PM
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, Ian Sweet, DJ Adam Against @ Strange Matter – $15 (order tickets HERE)
Big news, y’all! Ted Leo is back. One of the great punk rock troubadours of the Dubya era, who kept the faith with killer albums like Hearts Of Oak and Shake The Sheets, took a long break after 2010’s The Brutalist Bricks, needing some time to regroup after professional difficulties and personal tragedies assailed him in rapid succession. Since that album, he’s made one album in collaboration with veteran singer-songwriter Aimee Mann under the name The Both, but this summer’s The Hanged Man is the first new music we’ve heard from Ted in seven years. It’s a darker, more introspective album than any of his previous work, and while first single “Can’t Go Back” sees him returning to the sort of uptempo power-pop sounds that he made his name on, a lot of this record is slower, quieter, and moodier than anything we’ve previously heard from Leo.

Does that mean he’ll have a different live show than when you saw him back in 2008 or so? There’s only one way to find out for sure. However, considering he’s back with his longtime backing band, The Pharmacists (who were for the most part not involved with the new album), it’d make sense to have some expectation for revival of our favorite uptempo moments from Leo eras past–though ultimately, who knows? Dude’s been through a lot. He will help lift our spirits regardless of what songs he chooses for his set list, though, just because it’s always nice to see Mr. Leo onstage in Richmond again. Tourmates Ian Sweet are pretty much the leading lights of the modern Brooklyn shoegaze-pop sound, so they’ll certainly satisfy you with their killer set, while legendary Young Pioneers frontman Adam Nathanson will put everyone in the mood with some time behind the turntables as DJ Adam Against. You won’t want to miss a moment.

Tuesday, October 24, 6 PM
Soulfly Does Nailbomb, Cannabis Corpse, Noisem, Lody Kong @ The Broadberry – $25 (order tickets HERE)
Nailbomb, a band who once proclaimed themselves “Proud To Commit Commercial Suicide,” existed for about a year in the mid-90s, during which they recorded one studio album, Point Blank, and played one live show before breaking up. The group’s main creative forces were Sepultura/Soulfly frontman Max Cavalera and Fudge Tunnel guitarist Alex Newport, both of whom played guitar and traded off on lead vocals. Their sound was an exploration into both Newport’s industrial-tinged leanings and Cavalera’s interest in hardcore punk. The band ceased to be a going concern after that one show, and has never come remotely close to reuniting.

However, in this era of 90s nostalgia, one can’t be but so surprised to see Cavalera’s current project dusting off those old Nailbomb songs and taking them out for a spin once again. Sadly, Alex Newport is not involved in this current project, meaning that it won’t quite be the same. Nonetheless, Soulfly is a pretty killer metal band in their own right, and Nailbomb fans who weren’t lucky enough to make it to Dynamo Open Air in 1995 can’t be blamed if they wanna finally get a chance to mosh it up to these (admittedly incredible) metal tunes. The tour features a variety of killer modern openers to sweeten the pot, too, and while Harm’s Way won’t make it to RVA, Soulfly/Nailbomb will be joined here by our own Cannabis Corpse, as well as Baltimoreans Noisem and Arizona sludgers Lody Kong. This last group shares a member with Soulfly in that Max Cavalera’s son Zyon plays drums in both; his other son Igor sings and plays guitar in Lody Kong as well. This is turning out to be quite the family affair. All the more reason to mosh it up.

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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] [the rvamag address isn’t working for some reason, I haven’t had time to look into it! Bear with me]

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 3/11-3/17

Marilyn Drew Necci | March 11, 2015

Topics: Ann Beretta, BRNDA, Candy Spots, Caroline Spence, Celestial Shore, Christi, Colin & Caroline, Creative Adult, Dead Tenants, Deaf Scene, Doubtfire, Fight Cloud, gallery 5, Lady God, Latter Day Saints, Mensroom, Nervous Ticks, No Love, Nocere, paul willson, Perfect Pussy, Sacred Teachers, Self Defense Family, Sheer Mag, shows you must see, Slowers, Springtime, strange matter, The Bouncing Souls, The Broadberry, The Camel, The Mystery Lights, The Ship Thieves, Toxic Moxie

FEATURE SHOW
Thursday, March 12, 8 PM
The Bouncing Souls, Ann Beretta, The Ship Thieves @ The Broadberry – $15 in advance, $18 day of show (order tickets HERE)

This is a heartening sight to see–The Bouncing Souls, a great New Jersey punk rock band who’ve been together for over 25 years, still going strong, bringing their punk sound out on tour year after year to entertain multiple generations of fans.
[Read more…] about RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 3/11-3/17

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 9/17-9/23

Marilyn Drew Necci | September 17, 2014

Topics: Animal Mother, Ann Beretta, Arizal, Astronautalis, Asylum, Balliceaux, Bandito's, Cloak/Dagger, Eurotics, Fun Size, gallery 5, Golden Pelicans, Hard Skin, Hard Stripes, hot dolphin, Jellowstone, Kicker, Lightfields, Never Wrong, Nightfall, Ohbliv, Prisoner, Sarah Jaffe, shows you must see, Slaughter And The Dogs, Southside Stranglers, Stage, sundials, The Broadberry, The Nervous Ticks, Those Manic Seas, Transit (Canada), Vinyl Conflict, Who Killed Spikey Jacket

FEATURE SHOW
Saturday, September 20, 8 PM
Ann Beretta, Fun Size, Sundials @ The Broadberry – $10 in advance/$12 at the door (order tickets HERE)

Lately I’ve been thinking that Candide might have been right, y’all. It does seem like we’re living in the best of all possible worlds.
[Read more…] about RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 9/17-9/23

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