Lobby Boy Archives

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: April 13 – April 19

Marilyn Drew Necci | April 13, 2022

Topics: 7 Seconds, Capital Ale House, Celler Dwellers, Chloe Lilac, Circle Jerks, Colin Phils, Delta Sleep, Digital Hell, DuctTape Jesus, gender roles, Guerilla Toss, Hunting Dog, It Looks Sad, Juan Wauters, Kuni, live music in Richmond, Lobby Boy, Man On Man, Negative Approach, Pom Pom Squad, Raneshounds, Richmond Music Hall, shows you must see, Ten Pound Snail, The Broadberry, The Camel, The Canal Club, The Pack AD, Toxic Moxie, Trapcry

FEATURED SHOW
Monday, April 18, 7 PM
Circle Jerks, 7 Seconds, Negative Approach @ The Broadberry – $35 in advance (order tickets HERE)
Richmond is in for a veritable bonanza of amazing live shows this week, and it all centers around this amazing triple bill of first-wave hardcore bands, all of whom are ready, willing, and able to run rings around millennials half their age and leave The Broadberry in a smoldering heap. It’ll be a blast. You need to be there. But on the off chance you didn’t get handed mixtapes with all three of these bands on them when you were in ninth grade (status quo for teenage punks when I was in high school — which was admittedly over a quarter-century ago) and actually need an explanation, let’s discuss the bands on this bill.

First and foremost, the legendary Circle Jerks. This pioneering California hardcore quartet was formed by Keith Morris (Black Flag/OFF!) and guitarist Greg Hetson (Redd Kross/Bad Religion), who are still at it over 40 years after their classic debut LP, Group Sex, redefined punk rock in terms of speed and energy, helping to define the then-nascent genre of hardcore. In 2022, they’re on tour to celebrate the 40th anniversary reissue of their second LP, 1982’s Wild In The Streets, which just came out on new label Trust Records in a dramatically expanded version. You should definitely order your own copy of that one, but also make sure you show up for this show, because unbelievably, even at the age of 66, Keith Morris is still the energetic maniac we all saw for the first time in 1980 LA punk documentary Decline Of Western Civilization — and you better believe the music still rules. Come ready to skank.

And show up on time, because speaking of amazingly well-preserved frontmen, Negative Approach leader John Brannon is still an absolute hardcore psycho beast, and he and the rest of his band will be bringing their pioneering Detroit hardcore rage to the Broadberry stage to blow all of us away at the start of this show. Not to be outdone, brothers Kevin Seconds and Steve Youth are back together yet again at the head of their legendary melodic hardcore group, 7 Seconds, whose sound an old friend of mine once described as “the aggression of Minor Threat with the hooks of the Misfits” — I can’t argue with that. The point is this: all three of these bands have been incredible and highly worth your time for every second of the past 40-plus years, and they still will be this Monday night. If you don’t already have your ticket, you know what to do.

Wednesday, April 13, 7 PM
Guerilla Toss, Toxic Moxie @ Richmond Music Hall at Capital Ale House – $14 in advance, $16 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Long running postpunk group Guerilla Toss has been through a whole bunch of changes recently, and they’ve put all of them on display on their brand new album, Famously Alive (their first for the legendary Sub Pop label), which was just released into the world at large a few weeks ago. If you dug the driving, off-kilter funk weirdness and hyperkinetic velocity of previous Guerilla Toss releases, rest assured, the band is still going to make you want to dance like a maniac when they take the Richmond Music Hall stage. There’s a decidedly brighter vibe to their new album, which is truly wild since the songs on it were put together in isolation during the pandemic. Hey, stressful situations inspire different things in everybody.

At this point, though, Guerilla Toss are itching to get back into the world and share the music they’ve created with all of us. And considering how much we all are still recovering from a year and a half without any live music of any kind, what they’re bringing to RVA is exactly what this city needs. Better yet, they’re joined on this bill by Toxic Moxie, who should by now need no introduction to the Richmond music faithful. On the off chance you’re new here, though, let me explain: Toxic Moxie bring a melodic, nigh-psychedelic vibe to songs that are fundamentally constructed at the point where disco groove and punk rock bash come together. Honestly, it’s not too different from what Guerilla Toss does, guaranteeing that these two great sounds will sound even greater together. Make it happen, cap’n.

Thursday, April 14, 7 PM
Pom Pom Squad, Chloe Lilac, Lobby Boy @ Richmond Music Hall at Capital Ale House – $15 in advance, $17 day of show (order tickets HERE)
There’s a real renaissance in melodic punk rock happening these days, and I for one am here for it. And honestly, the best examples of the genre’s recent peaks I can think of are all coming from women. Take Pom Pom Squad’s Mia Berrin, for example, who starts the debut full-length from her poppy, punky project with a song talking about wanting to marry “the scariest girl on the cheerleading team.” Who can’t relate to that one? More importantly, who isn’t totally rocked to death by the many excellent songs on Pom Pom Squad’s Death Of A Cheerleader? Look, if you aren’t, you should probably check your pulse. That’s all I’m saying.

Who am I kidding? I’m gonna say more, and we all know it. The first thing I’m gonna say is that Pom Pom Squad rule more than enough to be the sole reason you come out to Richmond Music Hall on a Thursday night. The second thing I’m gonna say is that the opening acts on this bill constitute one heck of a bonus, with New York’s Chloe Lilac bringing some excellent pop music of her own into the mix. She’s got the biting wit of prime-era Courtney Love mixed with the emotional electro-pop sound of Sky Ferreira at her best, and she’s gonna make you feel some feels when she hits the stage, that’s for sure. Harrisonburg’s Lobby Boy, who only a couple weeks ago released an excellent debut full-length, Pretty Songs/Pursuit Of Personhood, will bring their catchy, vaguely retro indie-electro sound to the river city once more. As openers go, they’re a real treat. So yeah: show up on time for this one. It’s in your best interest.

Friday, April 15, 7 PM
Man On Man, Trapcry, Kuni @ Richmond Music Hall at Capital Ale House – $14 in advance, $16 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Over two years after we all locked down for the first time, the ongoing effects of the pandemic on the music world keep showing up, and they’re less predictable all the time. For example, who would have guessed back in April 2020 when all the yuppies on social media were tweeting about their sourdough starter that the pandemic would eventually result in all of us getting to enjoy a new band from Faith No More keyboardist Roddy Bottum and his boyfriend Joey Holman? Probably nobody, but it happened, and it’s the best thing to happen to queer-themed alternative rock in a long damn time.

Man On Man, who make no apologies for the homoerotic content of their music, released their self-titled debut album last summer. Singles like “Daddy” and “It’s So Fun (To Be Gay)” first grab your attention with their titles and lyrics, which make this band the obvious 21st century heirs apparent to groundbreaking 90s punk rockers Pansy Division. However, it’s the sounds created by Man On Man are what will keep you coming back over and over to this truly excellent album of melodic indie tunes. Whether you’re someone looking for more LGBTQ representation in indie music or just a huge Faith No More fan excited for some new music by one of your faves, Man On Man’s performance at Richmond Music Hall this Friday night is sure to delight you. Be there.

Saturday, April 16, 8 PM
The Pack AD, Ten Pound Snail, Celler Dwellers @ The Camel – $12 in advance, $15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
There’s something about the genre of garage rock that makes it the perfect sound for a bassless rock duo to sink their teeth into. From The White Stripes to The Black Keys, there’s a noble tradition of guitar-drum duos rockin’ hard in the garage-rock domain. Canadians The Pack AD have been carving out their own lane within that tradition for over fifteen years now, and, as is traditional for bands in this genre, they manage to work up a particularly heavy groove without adding any bass guitar to the mix. It’s impressive, especially in light of the fact that they’ve kept it up for eight albums without breaking up (a la The White Stripes) or turning into a basic-ass radio rock band (The Black Keys).

The last time we heard new music from The Pack AD was just about two years ago, when they released their killer eighth album, It Was Fun While It Lasted, which showed off a perfect road-trip aesthetic (song titles include “Gas Station Food” and “Check Engine Light”) just in time for all of us to spend a year and a half in lockdown. Now they’re making up for lost time, bringing their heavy rockin’ sound south of the border to rock The Camel and get everybody moving their feet. So yeah, spend your Saturday night with The Pack AD. That Sunday morning bangover will be 100% worth it.

Sunday, April 17, 7 PM
Juan Wauters @ The Camel – $15 (order tickets HERE)
It’s been many years since I last wrote about Uruguay-born, NYC-based punk troubadour Juan Wauters, but he’s returning to RVA this Sunday with a whole new spin on his long-running solo project. For 2021’s Real Life Situations, Wauters fought back against the isolation of the pandemic times we were all living through back then, focusing on collaboration and pulling together a variety of talented folks to work with him on different songs from the album — Mac DeMarco, Air Waves, Cola Boyy, and a whole bunch more. This focus on integrating a variety of different voices worked well with his overall mission on Real Life Situations: at a time when circumstances beyond our control were making a whole lot of choices for all of us, Wauters decided to make an album about the way some of the best options and possibilities in life come about when we surrender control and take things as they come.

Musically speaking, the radio is the best metaphor for all of this, and Wauters’ latest album is a lot like listening to a radio on a crowded street corner, mixing tunes in a variety of genres — everything from catchy acoustic punk to traditional Latin American musical forms — with random voices, snatches from newscasts, street sounds, and all kinds of other stuff. The obvious question is: how will all of this translate to the live environment on Sunday night at The Camel? I admit I have no idea, but part of the thrill in catching Wauters on Sunday night will be in finding out. After all, it’s sure to be interesting, and it’s almost definitely going to be unpredictable. So get on Juan Wauters’ level, and take it as it comes. It’s sure to be the most unusual night you’ve had in a while, and who doesn’t need more of that?

Monday, April 18, 7 PM
Digital Hell, Ducttape Jesus, Raneshounds, Hunting Dog @ The Camel – $10 in advance, $12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Mysterious, prolific, experimental, electronic — all of these adjectives and more can be applied to the youthful Richmond collective known as Digital Hell. The music they make is bizarre and somewhat unprecedented, simultaneously based in hip hop and extreme noise. They mix programmed beats and atonal screeching into off-kilter grooves over which they drop rhymes and talk shit with the best of them, along with frequent collaborators like Ducttape Jesus.

Recently, Digital Hell and Ducttape Jesus collaborated for an EP entitled KNC, and it’s that EP they’ll be coming together to celebrate at The Camel. The sounds they’ll be bringing to the stage on that evening are unusual and hard to predict or categorize, but if you like seeing musicians push the limits of multiple genres at once, this is a show you should make sure you get to. Beat-producing wunderkind Raneshounds and experimental electronic project Hunting Dog kick this one off. Come out and broaden your musical horizons.

Tuesday, April 19, 7 PM
Delta Sleep, It Looks Sad, Gender Roles, Colin Phils @ The Canal Club – $16 in advance, $18 day of show (order tickets HERE)
When you’re a fan of the wide world of post-hardcore music, it’s easy to ignore the rest of the world and just focus on America. After all, a ton of great bands on that genre spectrum come from right here in the United States. You don’t necessarily need to look outside our borders to find great examples of emo, math rock, screamo, post-rock, and other affiliated genres. That said, you’re really blowing it if you don’t — there are many great bands doing this sort of thing that come from far-flung corners of the world, and if you sleep on them, you might just miss out on some of the best music being played today.

If you’re wondering whether I’m telling you all this just to get you to pay attention to Kent, UK’s Delta Sleep, well, OK, I admit it, you’ve figured me out. Delta Sleep’s fourth album, Spring Island, came out last year, and it is full of amazing tunes that should absolutely appeal to anyone who appreciates the music of Tera Melos, The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, and pretty much anything inbetween. They’re coming to the Canal Club on Tuesday night, and I mostly have no idea who with; their fellow UK band Gender Roles apparently broke up acrimoniously just before the tour started, and North Carolinians It Looks Sad cancelled their participation in this tour due to lingering concerns over COVID. As far as I know, Richmond’s own Colin Phils will be on the bill, and they rule, so that’s good at least. But here’s what’s most important: Delta Sleep is gonna play, and they’re gonna be awesome. That’s reason enough to be there, even if all the openers bail out. Don’t blow this one.

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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]

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: February 23 – March 1

Marilyn Drew Necci | February 23, 2022

Topics: Dog Park Dissidents, Fallout, Fuzzy Cactus, Garden Grove Brewing, Gnawing, Hotspit, I Ya Toyah, Joy Cleaner, Komrads, Lake Anna, live music in Richmond, Lobby Boy, Moosetrap, Nancy Raygun, Obscure Son, Past Life, Pelican Johnny, Same Story, Sarah And The Safe Word, She, shows you must see, STCLVR, The Camel, Tyler Meacham, Victoria Victoria

FEATURED SHOW
Friday, February 25, 9 PM
She, Hotspit, Lobby Boy @ The Camel – $10 in advance, $12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
One of the nice things about doing this column for so long has been the way it allowed me to follow the growth and maturation of local bands. Crazily enough, I started writing this column over eight years ago, and I’ve seen a ton of bands come and go in that time. Somewhere back in that lengthy archive are the first few writeups I did about She (no, I don’t know where they are, imagine how hard that would be to google), at that point still a solo project for singer-songwriter Liza Grishaeva (in fact, weren’t they just called “LIZA” at first? Or am I remembering that wrong?).

Anyway, a lot’s happened since then, and if you haven’t kept up with it all, you can see the full flowering of She’s maturity on their 2020 EP, TRL 2004, which finds the quartet blasting through some fierce, brilliant tunes with tuneful intensity. Liza’s voice in particular is a marvel; she brings the phrase “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” to full technicolor life on “28” in particular, sounding like she’s ready to rip your throat out. I hear elements of Concrete Blonde at times, but at others I can’t help but think of the legendary Thalia Zedek if she were to front a relatively conventional alternative rock band. The point is that She has grown over the past several years into an amazing band, and now that we’re all able to crawl out of our holes and see live music again, you should definitely liven up your Friday night with their set at The Camel.

Of course, we’ve got a couple other excellent Virginia bands on the bill as well. Hotspit’s hazy epics shone in particularly bright fashion on last year’s CC EP, and with an Audiotree session under their belts and a steadily increasing profile online, they’re clearly trending upward. Catch them live now, and get in on the action before the bandwagon gets too crowded. And show up on time so you can catch the opening set from Harrisonburg’s Lobby Boy, who started out as a tuneful alt-pop band on their 2019 EP, Lore!, but have been moving in a decidedly electro-dance direction on their most recent singles. It’ll be great. It’s all gonna be great.

Wednesday, February 23, 7 PM
Sarah and the Safe Word, Dog Park Dissidents, Pelican Johnny @ The Camel – $10 (order tickets HERE)
It’s a tough old world out there, especially if your sexuality or your gender identity isn’t straight down the middle of what society expects. From the terrifying “Don’t Say Gay” bill working its way through the Florida statehouse to the fact that a strong effort is underway here in the Commonwealth to roll back laws intended to protect trans kids in schools, looking at headlines can be a bummer, to say the least. Let me assure you, Sarah And The Safe Word know all about that. And while this’ all-queer sextet’s name might make you think of BDSM-related concepts, what they’re really aiming for is to create a safe space for anyone within the LGBTQ spectrum to come have a good time listening to some good music that supports and affirms you.

Of course, you don’t have to be queer or marginalized to get something out of what Sarah And The Safe Word do, musically speaking. With their use of strings and keys, and their integration of European musical flourishes into a punk rock foundation, Sarah And The Safe Word create what they call “cabaret rock,” and you can bet that if you dig World/Inferno Friendship Society, Gogol Bordello, or the Dresden Dolls, you’ll find something to love in the music of Sarah And The Safe Word. With the straight-up punk rock of queer duo Dog Park Dissidents and the rollicking garage sounds of Pelican Johnny on tap for openers, this will be a night of musical variety and inspiring vitality. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

Thursday, February 24, 8 PM
Tyler Meacham, Victoria Victoria, Moosetrap @ The Camel – $8 in advance, $12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Well hey, speaking of local artists I’ve watched grow from raw beginnings to strong, assured talents over the course of my years doing this column, here’s another one who fits the bill. Tyler Meacham’s been quietly building her strengths and marshaling her forces here in Richmond for several years now, and all of her singles and EPs that have dropped over the past several years are now culminating with the release of her debut full-length, Into The Fray, coming Friday, February 25.

You don’t even have to wait that long, though — Meacham and a whole posse of her best friends and biggest supporters will be gathering at The Camel on Thursday night to celebrate Into The Fray‘s release with an evening full of excellent performances. Personally, I find that Tyler Meacham’s music shines particularly bright in the live environment, where the production is at a minimum and her strong voice and great songwriting skills can come to the fore. You’re sure to dig this album (I’m already predicting it’ll be one of the top RVA albums of 2022 — you heard it here first), but you’ll fall in love with it even harder after hearing Tyler and her band lay down the songs live. So hey, don’t miss this, OK? If you do, you’ll be kicking yourself later.

Friday, February 25, 7:30 PM
Past Life, Nancy Raygun, Lake Anna @ Garden Grove Brewing – Free!
There have definitely been a few venues whose names I got used to seeing in the rotation pre-pandemic and have missed in the post-pandemic era. Garden Grove Brewing was one of them, and it’s definitely lovely to see them getting back into the mix with the sort of thing that became their live-music stock in trade for a while — free shows featuring up-and-coming locals and the occasional under the radar out-of-town act with an outsized amount of talent to offer the rest of us. Best of all, these shows are usually either cheap or free, and this one featuring a great Philly band and a couple of fun locals is the latter — so you can save your cash for some of that brew they dish out (assuming that’s your thing).

This show bill is topped by Past Life, a Philadelphia quartet with some catchy tuneage in the indie rock vein to lay down for us. There’s a strong element of postpunk quirkiness mixed in here, and their LP from last fall, Window Shopping Economics, is a ton of fun throughout, somehow splitting the difference between Weezer, Gang Of Four, and… maybe They Might Be Giants? I don’t know for sure, I just know I dig it — and you will too. Of course, Nancy Raygun is an alt-psych trio from right here in Richmond, who are young enough not to remember when a club by the same name was a go-to spot for live music here in RVA. That’s OK, we all get old… and it’s the music of the youth that will keep us fresh and vital, so let’s celebrate it while it’s here. I don’t know much about Lake Anna, but the tunes on their bandcamp are catchy in a Surfer Blood-ish way, so I’m up for learning more! And hey — the price is right.

Saturday, February 26, 9 PM
Joy Cleaner, Gnawing, Obscure Son @ Fuzzy Cactus – $8
It didn’t start out this way back in the distant early days of the show column, but for several years now, I’ve used Facebook as my go-to spot on the internet for learning about upcoming shows. The new post-pandemic normal has taught me that this method doesn’t work that well anymore, now that no one but geriatrics (people even older than me!) is on Facebook anymore. Thankfully, cool kids out there shoot me emails about good shows that aren’t being discussed on Facebook — like this one. (You can too! My email’s at the bottom of the page. Hint hint.) And now I know that the undisputed champion of live shows happening in Richmond this Saturday night is happening right down the street from me, at Brookland Park’s own Fuzzy Cactus.

Joy Cleaner come to us from New Jersey, where they’ve been dishing out great punk-infused jangle pop tunes for several years now. They just augmented their two full-length albums, both of which are legit glorious, with a new compilation called Spent Flowers, which was released last month and mixes previously released EP tracks with digital loosies and a few unreleased jams for your listening pleasure. They’re coming through to give that album its proper due with a killer live performance, and you should definitely be there to take it all in. They’ll be ably supported in this endeavor by Richmond’s own Gnawing, who swear they want to be a country band but are way too good at the whole post-Dino Jr/Lemonheads loud-guitar Massachusetts drawl alt-rock for any yeehaw dabblings to make sense. You’re Jovian side project Obscure Son, who are pretty obscure in their own right, will get this one started. Come through.

Sunday, February 27, 7 PM
Komrads, I Ya Toyah, STCLVR, Same Story @ Fallout – $8 in advance, $12 at the door (order tickets HERE)
When it comes to Fallout, you know it’s gonna be some prime pounding industrial goth intensity that awaits you. And Komrads is in no way breaking that pattern, which is great news. But they aren’t just for rivetheads, by any means — on latest LP The Wolf, this Rochester, NY-based solo act lays down some pounding programmed beats overtop of riffs that have a decided metallic punk edge. It’s a little bit Front 242, but honestly, it’s a good deal more like Ministry meets Atari Teenage Riot, or Ghostemane at their most hardcore. Circle pits would not be out of order at this one, by any means.

Three other acts of equally dark vintage will also be on hand to provide entertainment of the spookiest and most intense variety. I Ya Toyah hails from Poland via Chicago, and brings us a moody, atmospheric take on gothic beauty and otherworldly terror. Dancing through the anxiety is definitely on the menu for this set. Then there’s New York’s STCLVR (Saint Clover? Static Lover?), who use harsh electronic noises and equally harsh atonal vocals to create gothic industrial music that, if you squint, could just as easily be noise-punk. Locals Same Story will get this one started off with some relatively accessible industrial sounds, so you can dip your toes in a little before Komrads rips your entire Doc Marten boot off and beats you with it. In a fun way, of course.

Monday, February 28, 7 PM
Destructo Disk, Asylum 213, Mere Exposure Effect, Terminal User Guide @ The Camel – $8 in advance, $10 day of show (order tickets HERE)
That’s right, ladies and gentlemen (and everyone else who doesn’t fit into either of those categories), Winchester, VA’s own Destructo Disk will return to our fair city in a few short days, giving all of us the chance to rock out again to their melodic, frenetic brand of punk rock, which from everything I’m seeing seems to be a big hit with the kids around the ol’ river city. And who can blame them, really? Singles like “Pepperoni Lopez” and “Punk Rock Die” are an absolute blast of catchy fun that makes you want to run around a room waving your arms in the air like a hyperactive eight-year-old. And isn’t that what all the best punk rock does?

Plus, the aforementioned “Pepperoni Lopez” single mentions Amazon Prime in its lyrics, and brand new Amazon Prime Video show Reacher (which ruled, watch it if you haven’t) features a character named after Destructo Disk bassist Molly Gordon. Coincidence? Or an indicator of behind-the-scenes moves toward world domination? Come to this show and find out! You’ll have some more fun with the three Richmond-based bands rounding out this bill, starting with Asylum 213’s melodic shoegaze pop, followed by Mere Exposure Effect’s ambient experimental math-core, and rounded out by Terminal User Guide’s chunky screamo punk. It’s gonna be great all the way through, and you’re sure to sleep soundly after working out all that energy in the Destructo Disk pit. So hey… shake off the Monday blues. Come to this show.

[The Sleigh Bells show I’d planned for Tuesday’s blurb has been moved to mid-August. Go figure. We’ll revisit then. –Drew]

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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]

VA Shows You Must See This Week: February 5 – February 11

Marilyn Drew Necci | February 5, 2020

Topics: Andy Jenkins, Bandito's, Billy Varela, Black Dirty, Black Mass Gathering, Capital Ale House Music Hall, Cary Street Cafe, Children Of The Reptile, Colpa Mia, Community Witch, Craigslist Jerry, Daughter Of Swords, Emily Wolfe, events in richmond va, events near me this weekend, events richmond va, Faucet, Fredo Disco, Have Mercy, Horse Jumper Of Love, Hotspit, Humungus, Keep, Leach, Lobby Boy, Manatree, Mega Colossus, Mortal Man, music, must see shows, Night Idea, Pain In The Yeahs, Poor Boys, richmond events, richmond va, richmond va bands, Righter, RVA, Selfish Things, shows this week richmond, shows you must see, Taphouse Grill, The Camel, The Canal Club, The Dead Tongues, The Reign Of Kindo, things to do in richmond va, things to do richmond va, Tom West, Whistler's Mother, Wonderland, Young Culture, Zara, Zima

FEATURED SHOW
Thursday, February 6, 8 PM
Cary Street Cafe’s 25th Anniversary & Big Ol’ Whoopty Doo feat. Whistler’s Mother, Craigslist Jerry @ Cary Street Cafe – Free!
This column is ostensibly about music, but if you want to get technical about it, it’s really about shows. And sometimes the best, most important show of the week is about way more than just the music. Such is the case with the 25th anniversary “Big Ol’ Whoopty Doo” being thrown by Cary Street Cafe this Friday. Oh, there’ll be music — more on that in a minute — but the most important aspect of this event is just the occasion of celebrating a constant source for live music in Richmond over the past quarter century, and the work of founder Robyn McManis to bring it to us, especially in light of the fact that McManis is in the process of selling the place.

If you’ve been a longtime Cary Street Cafe regular, the music on offer this Thursday night should please you; the two groups that will be performing two sets each represent both the early and recent eras of this venue’s standard fare. Whistler’s Mother were one of the first bands to play the place, and had a Friday night residency in the cafe’s early days that lasted years. Having since evolved into projects like the Harrison Deane Band and the Tin Can Fish Band, they’ll be coming back together to rock Cary Street Cafe once again. Craigslist Jerry, who currently perform during happy hour every Friday at Cary Street Cafe, will offer two sets focusing on the Grateful Dead and Dead-inspired material that has been the place’s stock in trade since day one.

Make no mistake, the music on offer on this night should be a real treat, especially if you’re tastes are inclined to bring you to Cary Street Cafe on a regular basis anyway. But what this evening is really about is giving thanks for a venue that, in a constantly-changing landscape of short-lived venues for live music, has remained a consistent source of live performances since the early 90s — a time before a good many of our readers were even alive! Spend your Thursday night showing your appreciation with a night of celebratory jams.

Wednesday, February 5, 7 PM
Emily Wolfe, Tom West, Righter @ The Camel – $10 in advance/$12 at the door (order tickets HERE)
Let’s rock! Austin-based singer-songwriter Emily Wolfe is coming to town, and while you may be used to hearing that term as a coded signifier for “dignified Americana-folk sounds played on acoustic instruments,” Wolfe is quite a different prospect, using her loud n’ proud electric guitar and her wailing voice to create quite the storm of distorted blues-rock riffology. Her self-titled debut LP, released about a year ago, finds her at the head of a storming power trio that has much more in common with Jack White’s solo work than that of Carole King. Follow-up single “Ghost Limb Gambler,” released last week, has much the same fighting spirit, and thank god for that.

But Wolfe sometimes performs solo as well, letting her guitar, some effects, and her magnificent voice dominate the stage. Which version of her live performances we’ll get when she hits the Camel tonight isn’t something I can predict, but the fact that it’ll be great fun to watch is a sure thing. Wolfe will be joined on this gig by Australian singer-songwriter Tom West, who does hew a bit more closely to that whole folk thing, though “Americana” would surely be a misnomer for a troubadour from the land down under. Local indie-folk project Righter will get this whole evening kicked off, and it certainly should be a blast.

Thursday, February 6, 8 PM
Humungus, Mega Colossus, Children Of The Reptile, Mortal Man @ Wonderland – $10
While they’ve been around for pretty much a decade now, Richmond thrash-metal throwbacks Humungus have never been all that prolific a band — which just makes it that much more exciting when they do release new material. They did so back around Christmastime, bringing their second full-length, Balls, into the world via Killer Metal Records. The fact that most people have already picked their faves of the year by the time December rolls around might have led to this album flying under some people’s radar, but as always with Humungus, missing out on it would be a very big mistake.

This quintet does thrash in a manner not often heard in the modern era, keeping alive not only the incredible leads and galloping riffs of the genre’s prime 80s era, but also the high-pitched vocals and occasional goofy subject matter in a manner that shows how good these metalheads are at deadpan humor. No matter how tongue-in-cheek Humungus are being at any moment, though, their thrashing ability is always serious as a heart attack, and their live performance at Wonderland this Thursday night is sure to get you headbanging with abandon — even if the fans they’re known to bring with them onstage (to get the hair blowing around just so) are still pretty silly. A trio of Raleigh shredders — Mega Colossus, Children Of the Reptile, and Mortal Man — will pack this bill with a ton more metal mastery, but any true Richmond metalhead knows that Humungus is what it’s all about.

Friday, February 7, 8 PM
Leach, Black Dirty, Night Idea @ Poor Boys – $5
It’s always fun to head over to Poor Boys and spend an evening in the Voodoo Room, rocking out in a site that established a noble tradition of great music during previous days under the auspices of Bogart’s, Balliceaux, and Flora. Prsmcat Presents has been bringing some great locally-focused sounds into the place since Poor Boys took it over, and this Friday night is no exception. This evening will be headlined by Leach, who are celebrating the release of their latest EP, A Machine, It Seems, at this event.

If you haven’t checked out what this band, featuring former members of Imaginary Sons, are bringing to the table, the fact that their bandcamp URL labels them “Leach rock band” should be some guide. These guys have a decidedly 90s-style take on rocking, one that reminds me of driving around in my Chevette during my college days blasting Urge Overkill and Dig tapes. They’ll be joined on this bill by Philadelphia’s Black Dirty, who despite the name actually have a pretty clean and delightful math-damaged alt-pop sound. They’re certainly musically simpatico with Night Idea, the Richmond mainstay who rounds out this bill. With the aid of these three excellent bands, you’re sure to have a delightful Friday night.

Saturday, February 8, 7 PM
The Reign Of Kindo, Manatree, Colpa Mia @ Capital Ale House Music Hall – $15 (order tickets HERE)
This one kinda came out of nowhere for me, y’all. A band of at least half a dozen musicians who are big enough to tour on the performance of an early release in its entirety, whom I have also somehow never heard of? Well, in truth, that seems to be The Reign Of Kindo’s whole thing. While they’ve been around for nearly 15 years, this New York band has never had a high profile in the mainstream, instead releasing all of their albums independently and focusing on the internet and social media as their path to success. What’s really wild is that it has worked out so well — for the past few years, they’ve been releasing new songs monthly on Patreon, and have racked up nearly 1000 supporters who contribute over $3000 to them each time they release a new song. Not bad, right?

And so, therefore, The Reign Of Kindo (or just Kindo, depending on where you see their name) are definitely worth looking into if, like me, you’ve never encountered them before. Their music could certainly be described as alternative rock, but between the incredible talent of their entire ensemble and the fact that they bring such a wide variety of influences to bear on their creative process, it seems a woefully inadequate description. Genres like jazz, soul, and prog also have to be part of the conversation, and of course you can’t ignore the way frontman Joseph Secchiaroli’s voice takes the whole thing to another level entirely. Even if you’ve never heard of them — heck, especially if you’ve never heard of them — The Reign Of Kindo is a group you should really dig into. You can start this Saturday night at Capital Ale House.

Saturday, February 8, 8 PM
Daughter Of Swords, The Dead Tongues, Andy Jenkins @ The Camel – $15 (order tickets HERE)
Where live music in Virginia is concerned, y’all, it’s all about Richmond. That fact is driven home to me at times like this week, when I hunt high and low for non-Richmond VA shows to tell you about and can’t even come up with two — and meanwhile, I’m having a hell of a time narrowing the Richmond picks down to eight. This week I threw up my hands and decided to work with what I’ve got, which is why you’re getting this ninth Richmond show instead of a second elsewhere-VA show. I work with what I’ve got, folks, and in the end, you the live music fan are the one who benefits.

For example, there is this Saturday night show at the Camel featuring Daughter of Swords. I almost didn’t manage to get this one in here, which is remarkable in light of how good the latest project from North Carolina folk singer Alexandra Sauser-Moning really is. Last year’s Dawnbreaker demonstrated Sauser-Moning’s flawless ability to come up with a series of heartfelt, memorable tunes and deliver them in the most minimal of settings. But this tour, on which she’s backed by members of Megafaun, Dirty Projectors, and Hiss Golden Messenger, will present her with a more fleshed-out but just as brilliant musical canvas. They’ll come to town in the company of the Dead Tongues, a folk project from the mind of sometime Hiss Golden Messenger sideman Ryan Gustafson. The fact that the two picked Richmond as the place to start their current American tour just proves the point I was making a paragraph ago — where live music in VA is concerned, Richmond is what it’s all about.

Sunday, February 9, 9 PM
Faucet, Zima, Zara @ Bandito’s – Free!
Round out your weekend with this triple bill of noise-punk awesomeness at Bandito’s, featuring a couple of new groups consisting of members whose talents have already been well established. To begin with, there’s Faucet, who land firmly on the noise end of the spectrum, with an out-of-control raging approach that evokes classic 80s reprobates like Flipper and No Trend. Featuring members of Ceremonial Scissors, Gumming, Fat Spirit, and Among The Rocks And Roots, this band’s pedigree alone makes them worth looking into — but rest assured, their sounds are intense enough in their own right to warrant your continued attention.

Then there’s Zima, a band whom I’m guessing are named after a clear malt beverage that was quite the trend when I was coming of age in the 90s and is probably totally forgotten by the younger readers among you. What actually inspired their name isn’t something I can tell you, but I can tell you that this project, which features 4/5 of Richmond punk ragers Haircut on different instruments but going off just as hard, is absolutely worth your time. If you enjoy being devastated by raw, aggressive punk fucking rock, that is — and who doesn’t? The bill is rounded out by Zara, an ambient electronic project with the most history of any of these three — certainly a great way to start a musically delicious evening.

Monday, February 10, 7 PM
Horse Jumper Of Love, Keep, Lobby Boy, HotSpit @ The Camel – $8 in advance/$10 Day of show (order tickets HERE)
Is it me, or are there a lot of horse-themed bands running around these days? Just last week I wrote about Brooklyn’s A Deer A Horse and locals Horse Culture. And now, this week, I find myself discussing Bostonians Horse Jumper Of Love. As any journalist will tell you, three of anything is a trend. But it’s not a strictly musical one, by any means — all three of the mentioned bands have very different sounds.

The one we’re discussing at the moment, Horse Jumper Of Love, have revived the slowcore genre that was all the rage in the 90s, when bands like Red House Painters, Low, and Duster were big on the scene. On Horse Jumper Of Love’s 2019 sophomore album, So Divine, they show themselves as capable inheritors of the tradition, knowing when to keep it quiet and when to flip the dynamic switch to loud and crushing… but throughout, always keeping things slow and moody in a manner making their music a perfect soundtrack for listening late at night with the lights off. You can do exactly that at The Camel this Monday night, and we humbly suggest you do so… no matter how you feel about horses.

Tuesday, February 11, 6:30 PM
Have Mercy, Fredo Disco, Selfish Things, Young Culture @ The Canal Club – $17 (Order tickets HERE)
I must say, I really dug the third Have Mercy album, Make The Best Of It, back when it was released in 2017. That album came just after singer-guitarist Brian Swindle had replaced his entire backing band with a new lineup, and I remember thinking at the time “I wonder if that guy’s hard to work with.” Now, after one more equally excellent album, 2019’s The Love Life, Swindle and co. are calling it quits entirely, which only reinforces my previous wonderings. The music was totally great, though, so regardless of what sort of lingering tension may be present onstage for this Have Mercy farewell tour, it’s still well worth showing up at The Canal Club and seeing them one last time.

Baltimore-based Have Mercy existed in an adjacent space to the emo revival, but their sound was always entirely their own, drawing equally from 90s alt-rock and pastoral indie sounds and creating wonderful, enduring tunes with strong, heartfelt lyrics about real, important aspects of interpersonal relationships. They’re the kind of band that it’s easy to let into your heart, and therefore, it’ll be tough to let them go. Hopefully Brian Swindle keeps making music in some capacity after this, but even if he does, this will be our last opportunity to see Have Mercy play their many classic tunes. I suggest you make the best of it.

Elsewhere Around The State:

Friday, February 7, 9 PM
Pain In The Yeahs, Community Witch, Billy Varela, Black Mass Gathering @ Taphouse Grill (Norfolk) – $?
The Tidewater area of Virginia has always been a good source for dark gothic industrial dance sounds, and with Pain In The Yeahs operating in that area, this will certainly remain true for the foreseeable future. Brand new single “Animal Within An Animal” shows that bandleader James K. Ultra still has a deft touch with the postpunk spookiness he’s established through his and the group’s last several years’ worth of work.

There is a strong undercurrent of the goth sound of the mid-80s UK, with Cure and Sisters Of Mercy vibes undeniable in their music, but the new single shows that Ultra and co. bring a pop sensibility to what they’re doing as well; surprisingly catchy choruses and occasional synth-pop hooks add a darkly gleaming shine to the mood Pain In The Yeahs creates. Fear not, it’ll still lend itself perfectly to storming the dance floor in a velvet cape, black lipstick, and shiny polished Doc Martens, in classic Norfolk tradition. Get gloomy, y’all.

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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]

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

VA Shows You Must See This Week: November 27 – December 3

Marilyn Drew Necci | November 26, 2019

Topics: 500$Fine, Agnostic Front, Arms Bizarre, Bandito's, Broken Chains Of Segregation, Bureau, Capital Ale House Music Hall, Cary Street Cafe, Foxing, Fun Size, Funky Monks, J. Roddy Walston & The Business, Keller Williams, Knuckle Hed, Lindsay Lou, Lobby Boy, Manchester Orchestra, Mutually Assured Destruction, NFK Nightmares, Oso Oso, Pat Keefe, Phelics, Raise Hell Over The Summer, shows you must see, Slapshot, smartmouth brewing, The Camel, The Canal Club, The Keels, The National, The NorVa, The Shack Band, Thin Pigeon, Tobacco Company Club, Uphill Down

FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, November 30, 7 PM
St. Edwards Reunion Show, feat. Fun Size (Photo by Joey Wharton), Broken Chains Of Segregation, Uphill Down, Knuckle Hed, 500$Fine, Phelics @ Capital Ale House Music Hall – $10 (order tickets HERE)
We’re used to believing that in the age of the internet, everything lives forever. Of course, if you had a Geocities site 20 years ago or a MySpace account 10 years ago, you know that isn’t true, but still. What about stuff from before the internet, though? How much history that still exists within living memory is totally unknown to everyone that wasn’t there at the time? To be more specific: how many of my readers under the age of 35 have any idea that the basement cafeteria of a Catholic school in Chesterfield County was once one of the more consistent music venues in the Richmond area?

I know, it sounds crazy! And yet, for a time in the late 90s, St. Edwards Epiphany School on Huguenot Road acted as a gateway for an entire generation of suburban high schoolers to get into the music scene. It seemed like a safe place to drop your curious 12 year old — because it very much was — and everyone from teenage pop-punk bands to downtown stalwarts played there on at least a semi-regular basis.

Of course, for the most part, you can’t hear any of the bands that were St. Edwards regulars anymore — at least, not the way they were heard at the time. Their primitive 4-track demo cassettes may have been digitized at some point, but the recording technology 18 year olds had access to at the time wasn’t the greatest, and almost none of these bands left behind recordings that captured the immediacy and joy of seeing them live. Therefore, we can all be grateful that, this Saturday night, half a dozen of the most memorable veterans of St. Edwards’ basement stage will be back together once again, doing a set for old times’ sake down at Capital Ale House.

Fun Size is still around today, so you may have caught their catchy, emotional pop-punk sound at one point or another. But 500$Fine’s bassist, Patrick Daly, tragically died at the age of 16, so this performance, with Bradley Lile of fellow St. Edwards stalwarts Cloud 13 filling Patrick’s spot on bass, will be their first in over two decades. Their fiery, political take on reggae-influenced melodic punk made them Chesterfield’s own high-school Clash for a couple of years. If you’ve never seen them before, you need to fix that. Descendents-style melodic punks Uphill Down will also be returning to action for the first time in a very long time, and a lot of us are itching for our chance to sing along with “Time Bomb” once again.

I’m way over on word count for this section, but I just can’t stop until I mention the Rage Against The Machine-meets-Quicksand midtempo political hardcore stylings of Broken Chains Of Segregation — the only band on this bill I never got to see the first time around (though I did see post-BCS act Conscience, so I’m not a total poser). We also can’t forget Knuckle Hed’s classic snotty pop-punk sound — show up to find out if frontman Brooks Cullum is still as wild onstage as he used to be — and Amelia County’s own Phelics, the emo boys from the country with the catchy tunes about life in the sticks. I know most of you weren’t there the first time, and have no reason to care about all these bands you’ve never heard of, but nonetheless, this is a one-time look back at an important chapter in Richmond music history, and you’d be a fool to pass up an opportunity to see so many of the bands that did the work to get us here today.

Wednesday, November 27, 10 PM
The Shack Band‘s Ninth Annual Gravy Ball @ Tobacco Company Club – $10
Thanksgiving is a great time of year to be a fan of jam bands. I don’t know what it is about this holiday — maybe it’s association with good times, good food, and good friends — but it brings out the best in all our local jam-rockers, and The Shack Band is no exception. For almost a decade now, they’ve been bringing out their sax-driven melodic jams for a super-fun pre-Thanksgiving throwdown known as the Gravy Ball. For year nine of the Gravy Ball, they’ve taken over the basement of the Tobacco Company to bring you two full sets of catchy tunes with plenty of sauce. So spice things up on the last night before the big family meal — you’ll be glad you did.

Thursday, November 28, 10 PM
Funky Monks @ Cary Street Cafe – Free!
Thanksgiving Day is like Christmas Day, in that it’s hard to find live music in which to partake. Most people are visiting family or gathering with a big crew of friends. But if all your peeps are out of town and you’ve got nowhere to go and no one to chill with, Cary Street Cafe has got you covered this year, because the Funky Monks will be doing one of their classic tributes to the Red Hot Chili Peppers — the pre-2006 stuff, when they were still good. This group takes things back to the good ol’ days by reuniting two of the three Santamaria Brothers, Andres and Gabe, who will delight you with live performances of all those Blood Sugar Sex Magik classics. Don’t spend Thanksgiving alone — bring your tube sock down to Cary Street Cafe and get funky with the monks.

Friday, November 29, 8 PM
Keller Williams’ Thanksforgrassgiving, feat. Keller Williams & The Keels, Lindsay Lou @ The National – $23 (order tickets HERE)
So bluegrass isn’t jam-band music, but in this day and age it’s about the closest you can get, at least culturally, so it’s no surprise that another big Thanksgiving throwdown taking place in Richmond this week is bluegrass-centered. Keller Williams has been making music with bluegrass as a foundation for over 25 years now, and he’ll be celebrating his mix of that classic Kentucky folk music and farther-reaching influences like reggae, jazz, and psychedelia with his Thanksforgrassgiving show on Friday night at The National.

For this show, Williams will be playing with Keller & The Keels, his trio with Larry and Jenny Keel, spotlighting their brand-new third album, Speed. This one’s a fun one, as it features bluegrass-style interpretations of popular tunes by such diverse artists as Weezer, Fiona Apple, and The Presidents Of The United States Of America. It should be a blast to see Williams and the Keels up there doing pedal-to-the-metal bluegrass versions of “Hash Pipe” and “Livin’ La Vida Loca,” and if your family Thanksgiving is as tough on your nerves as mine often can be, a little unmitigated fun will be a huge relief.

Saturday, November 30, 8 PM
J. Roddy Walston & The Business @ The National – $20.50 in advance/$23 at the door (order tickets HERE)
This was a tough choice, y’all. For a holiday week, there’s a ton going on this Saturday — Sammi Lanzetta and Tyler Meacham both have record release parties, Cattle Decapitation and Atheist are at the Canal Club, and there’s a big emo-friendsgiving thing happening at the Broadberry. But I felt like I would be doing you a disservice if I sent you anywhere but back to the National this Saturday night to see J. Roddy Walston & the Business one last time.

Yeah, that’s right — I said “one last time.” The group has been open on social media about the fact that this performance will be their last for the foreseeable future. They might play together again at some point in the future, but right now there are no plans for such a thing. So if you loved the piano-driven heartland rock of 2013’s Essential Tremors, featuring classic banger “Heavy Bells,” or their excellent 2017 follow-up, Destroyers Of The Soft Life — or if you’re just one of the fortunate ones who knows that this group puts on an absolutely hellacious live show — you’re going to want to make it out to The National on Saturday. Because if you don’t catch them now, odds are that you’ll never have another chance.

Sunday, December 1, 9 PM
Lobby Boy, Bureau, Thin Pigeon @ Bandito’s – Free!
No matter what time of year it is, the free Sunday night shows at Bandito’s are always a treat. This weekend in particular, we’ll all probably be sick of turkey by Sunday night, so a plate of delicious nachos or tacos will be just what the doctor ordered. And of course, you’ll get some great sounds from up-and-coming Virginia bands in the side room that secretly has the best live sound of any small venue in this city. I’m serious.

What will you be listening to this fine Sunday night? Well, for starters, you get a set from Harrisonburg indie group Lobby Boy, who just released a lovely new EP called Lore! (yes, with the exclamation point) earlier this month. It mixes upbeat guitar melodies and postpunk-style synth textures with some excellent melodic vocals and catchy choruses that’ll get your feet moving. Locals Bureau have a bit of a twee pop vibe about them, which should have the Citrus City-loving indie kids in this town smiling. RVA’s own Thin Pigeon will add a dose of driving postpunk goth energy to the bill, just to bring the lights down a bit. This one will be a fine end to a fine holiday weekend.

Monday, December 2, 8 PM
Pat Keefe & Friends @ The Camel – Free!
It always takes a while to get back into the swing of things after a long holiday weekend, which is probably why your best bet on this Cyber Monday is a relatively low-key affair. Head on down to The Camel after your dreary first day back at work to chill with Dalton Dash leader Pat Keefe, who’ll join together with some friends — including members of Dalton Dash and other rad local combos — to bust out some Dash-style upbeat acoustic tunes and get a smile spreading across your face. It’s not gonna be a super-big deal, but it’ll be a lovely way to spend an evening — and it’s hard to have a problem with that, right?

Tuesday, December 3, 7 PM
Agnostic Front, Slapshot, Mutually Assured Destruction @ The Canal Club – $18 (order tickets HERE)
You hardcore heads are going to need to be back in the swing of things by Tuesday, for sure, because an absolute stunner of a bill is heading your way and you’re going to want to be at peak energy for this one. The one and only Agnostic Front are coming to town, and they’re going to play their groundbreaking first album, Victim In Pain, from front to back. Agnostic Front are given credit for pioneering the crossover thrash sound later in the 80s, but Victim In Pain was their original statement of purpose. When it was released in 1984, it defined the classic NYHC sound, and remains a fundamental building block of hardcore to this very day. Tracks like “Blind Justice,” “Your Mistake,” “Last Warning,” and the immortal title track are unparalleled classics, and I guarantee that the entire Canal Club will be on their feet and moshing for all of them.

Amazingly enough considering the history of inter-city beef, Agnostic Front will be accompanied on this tour by near-equally groundbreaking Boston hardcore stalwarts Slapshot, whose 1986 debut Back On The Map defined the sound of that city’s hardcore scene as surely as Agnostic Front had done in New York two years earlier. Expect legendary tracks like “Chip On My Shoulder,” “Hang Up Your Boots,” and “No Friend Of Mine” to get the place going almost as crazy as Agnostic Front will an hour later. And considering that brand new Richmond band Mutually Assured Destruction, featuring former members of Breakaway, Down To Nothing, and Holy Land, is opening this one up, it’s gonna be a night of urgent sounds from beginning to end. Be prepared, y’all — this one’s gonna be off the chain.

Elsewhere Around The State:

Friday, November 29, 2 PM
Dark Arts Fest 2019, feat. Arms Bizarre, NFK Nightmares, Raise Hell Over The Summer @ Smartmouth Brewing (Norfolk) – Free!
We all expect that Black Friday will be a nightmare, right? There’s no way anyone hasn’t gotten to that point yet. But what if I told you that there is a place you can go this Friday where you can have a good time, get some shopping done away from the feeding frenzy of sale-hunting Walmart haunters, and hear some great music in the bargain? Is that something you might be interested in? Yeah, I thought it might be. Smartmouth Brewing is just a short drive down I-64 for all the Richmond denizens, and is right in the heart of Norfolk. It’ll be a great destination for all your Christmas shopping needs this Friday, as their 2019 Dark Arts Festival brings us the opportunity to patronize unique artisans and partake of some lovely art throughout the afternoon.

Then starting at 6 PM, it gives us some excellent musical delights as well! Three Norfolk combos will dispense aural treats for your ears from the stage, beginning with Arms Bizarre, whose heavy yet inviting sounds split the difference between psychedelic doom and fuzzy shoegaze. NFK Nightmares bring more of a catchy punk style to your Friday evening, to get you dancing and burning off those Thanksgiving calories. And Raise Hell Over The Summer will raise hell on Black Friday with some rockin’ tunes to kick off the evening. It’s gonna be a great time — and you can’t say that about anything else you might do on Black Friday, so plan your trip to Smartmouth Brewing now.

Saturday, November 30, 8 PM
Manchester Orchestra, Foxing, oso oso @ The NorVA (Norfolk) – $25 in advance/$29 at the door (order tickets HERE)
As melodramatic, emotional indie rock goes, Manchester Orchestra have certainly established themselves as leading lights of the genre. However, ten years ago, they were still hungry young kids looking to make their mark on the world. The mark they made came in the form of a classic album called Mean Everything To Nothing, which took their sound from their promising earlier records to another level entirely, and gave a generation of emo kids the kind of melodramatic rallying cry that every coming-of-age cohort of kids needs.

Now, ten years later, Manchester Orchestra are going on tour to celebrate a decade since that album’s release. Some things have changed in the interim, from details of sound to intricacies of lineup, but Andy Hull and co. still have that fire in their guts that made them so powerful at the time of Mean Everything To Nothing’s release — something they demonstrated most recently on 2017’s A Black Mile To The Surface — and you can expect both old and new tunes to be delivered with mind-blowing power and urgency on this night.

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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]

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

VA Shows You Must See This Week: May 29 – June 4

Marilyn Drew Necci | May 29, 2019

Topics: American Television, Amy Klein, angelica garcia, Bacchae, Ben Katzman's DeGreaser, Big Baby, Black Plastic, Blue Streak, Camp Howard, Dead Format, Decide By Friday, Deer Eats Birds, Diseased Earth, Doll Baby, Fat Spirit, gallery 5, Garden Grove Brewing, Justus Proffit, Kristeva, Lobby Boy, Matron, McCormack's, Mojo's, New Lions, Newscaster, Organ Trail, Phobia, SameStory, shows you must see, Sleepwalkers, SLOGAME, Strawberry Moon, The Broadberry, The Camel, The Cryptkeeper Five, The Firnats, The Golden Pony, The Great Noise, The Vansaders, Tired All The Time, W I S H, West Beach Tavern, Wolcott's Invisible Hand, Wonderland, Wring Out

FEATURED SHOW
Friday, May 31, 8 PM
New Lions, Doll Baby, Fat Spirit @ The Camel – $6 in advance/$8 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Remember when Trump won and, alongside everyone who fucking hated it, there were a few people babbling about how “at least there’ll be some good angry music again”? Let me just say right now: it wasn’t worth it, especially for all the women, people of color, and LGBTQ people who’ve found themselves in the crosshairs. But if the return of New Lions is any indication, I’ll go ahead and grant it to those people — y’all were right.

New Lions, which is what Clair Morgan and his band are calling themselves now that they’ve accepted their past several years of existence as a full band, are celebrating the release of their latest EP and first new record in three years, End Story, at The Camel Friday night. With a band name drawn from the final Clair Morgan album, New Lions and the Not-Good Night, they’re clearly building on what has come before. But where previous Clair Morgan LPs mixed Clair’s mathy post-hardcore guitar style with melodic indie riffing, End Story finds this band writing in a decidedly more aggressive vein, with political lyrics and a harsher vocal sound that pushes them almost all the way to the border between post-hardcore and outright screamo.

If the Trump era can get an indie band this upset, imagine what it can do to all the marginalized communities the administration is taking aim for (though actually, you don’t have to imagine — it’s reality). At least we’ll have a killer soundtrack for the battle lines. Or for a Friday night at the Camel, trying to forget it all and enjoy a truly positive thing for this city — the return of one of the city’s leading musical lights to full-throated action. Doll Baby and Fat Spirit will open this one up, and you should definitely bring some extra cash to grab yourself a copy of End Story. You’re gonna need this one by your side this summer.

Wednesday, May 29, 8 PM
Tired All The Time, SameStory @ McCormack’s – $?
Tired All The Time have given themselves the perfect name for this era of millennial burnout and rapidly increasing income inequality. If you’re not one of the rare elites driving a $100,000 European sports car to your fantastically outfitted corporate office, you’re part of the vast assemblage of the rest of us, driving a used 10-year-old European sedan for Uber and panicking at the thought of an unexpected car repair. Is it any surprise that so many of us are, yes, Tired All The Time?

This DC band who wryly uses corporate-style text and iconography to send up the aforementioned elites, may not be able to keep you from having to replace your water pump in six months, but they sure can rock away your cares for one night. Tonight at McCormack’s, down in lovely Shockoe Bottom, they’ll bring their keyboard-laced postpunk sounds, displayed adroitly on last year’s Be Well EP, to the upstairs stage. And it won’t be long before you’re moving your feet with a big smile on your face. Don’t worry about tomorrow morning — just this once, you can wait til 9:30 to sign into the app. We promise.

Thursday, May 30, 9 PM
Ben Katzman’s DeGreaser, Newscaster, The Firnats @ Wonderland – $6
Rock n’ roll never goes out of style, and that’s why the arrival of Ben Katzman’s DeGreaser at another Shockoe Bottom mainstay, Wonderland, is a very welcome fact. Katzman has a Florida metal background and it comes through in spades on 2018’s Quarter Life Crisis, a true wailer of an album whose best tracks would have fit right in next to Van Halen and Judas Priest on early 80s hard rock radio.

But hot licks and killer riffs aren’t the only things Katzman’s DeGreaser have to offer the discerning patron of rock power. Their songs are incredibly well-constructed and have a subtle intelligence at work underneath all those Trans Am-rattling anthems. You can really tell when you check out the lyrics to songs like “Too Old For Retail,” “Goodbye Wi-Fi,” and “Cool Points Don’t Pay The Rent” — these guys know the struggle. And they’re coming to town Thursday night so we can all put it aside for just one night, and rock! You know you need it; let your hair down for this one.

Friday, May 31, 8 PM
Sleepwalkers, Wolcott’s Invisible Hand, Angelica Garcia @ The Broadberry – $12 in advance/$15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Sleepwalkers have been an active force on the Richmond music scene for years now, but recently, with their debut full-length, Greenwood Shade, five years in the rearview, it has started to feel like they were fading a bit. Thankfully, that has all turned around in the last few months, with the group signing to Spacebomb and preparing to end the five-year drought of new Sleepwalkers tuneage with a new LP, coming later this year.

It’s not out yet, but the group is celebrating this weekend nonetheless. The first single from the new LP, “Fault Is Me,” came out a couple months ago. Now, Spacebomb is releasing a limited-edition cassette containing remixes of the single by noteworthy local producers including DJ Harrison and Giavos, and Friday night’s show at the Broadberry is your first chance to grab it for yourself! It’s also sure to give you an opportunity to familiarize yourself with some of the other material Sleepwalkers have in store for their full-length Spacebomb debut later this year. Be there and get in on the ground floor.

Saturday, June 1, 9 PM
The Cryptkeeper Five, The Vansaders, Decide By Friday, Dead Format, American Television @ Mojo’s – $5 suggested donation
You might think this is the band Bobby “Boris” Pickett was singing about back in 1962, but no — that was actually the Crypt-Kicker Five. The Cryptkeeper Five are actually a quartet, and they play rollicking punk n’ roll tunes that are sometimes augmented by a Springsteen-style expanded band, complete with horn section. The stage at Mojo’s can’t accomodate all that, but the original four-piece will rock you all the same this Saturday night.

On their latest LP, The Stronghold — which was released on local powerhouse Say-10 Records, not coincidentally the label putting on this entire show — The Cryptkeeper Five come across like a strange combination of the Smoking Popes, Alkaline Trio, and Titus Andronicus, and if you dig any of that (or, for that matter, the subtle Springsteen mention above), you’re sure to have a blast when they hit the stage. Tourmates the Vansaders are actually from Asbury Park, but their acoustic folk-punk sound is a bit less Boss-ish and more reminiscent of The Waterboys or The Pogues. Both of these bands and some killer local groups as well will be combining powers to make this Saturday night musical extravaganza one to remember. Bring cash for the donation pot, and bring your card to buy a cheesesteak — they’re delicious.

Sunday, June 2, 6 PM
Matron, Kristeva, Deer Eats Birds @ Garden Grove Brewing – Free!
Free shows to end your weekend are always fun, and there are multiple places around town willing to hook us up with such things on a near-weekly basis. It’s just another wonderful thing about living in RVA. Matron are not from RVA — they come to us from New Orleans — but they’re bringing some wonderful sounds to our town that are sure to wrap up your weekend right. Their latest EP, Standing Water, shows off their unusual hybrid between energetic, mathy post-hardcore and synth-driven alt-rock weirdness, and the group is sure to blow us all away with it once they hit the stage.

We’re lucky enough to get some wonderful local sounds on this bill too — in fact, one or more of these local bands may play after Matron (I’d put one before and one after, but I stopped booking shows a while back due to a permanent case of exhaustion so I may not be the one to ask). No matter when these bands perform, we can be sure that the brilliant, epic post-rock of Kristeva and the complex, melodic alt-rock of Deer Eats Birds will add additional spice and flair to our weekend’s all-too-imminent end. And that’s wonderful.

Monday, June 3, 7 PM
Amy Klein (Photo by Orlando S. Gondar), Black Plastic, SLOGAME, Strawberry Moon @ The Camel – $5 in advance/$7 day of show (order tickets HERE)
You might know Amy Klein from her days in Titus Andronicus — she played guitar on the band’s early high-water mark, The Monitor — from her politically-informed online writings, or from her 2016 solo debut, Fire. But Klein is taking things to a whole new level with her upcoming sophomore LP, Winter/Time. Not only does the LP’s lead single, “Nothing,” show both a driving punk energy and some serious postpunk/new wave melodic chops, the album as a whole will apparently tackle complicated narratives constructed from an imaginary world that Klein nurtured in her mind as a child, known as a paracosm.

That might sound like pretty insane stuff at first blush, but album-as-high-concept-fantasy-novel is a familiar trope across the history of intelligent, unorthodox rock n’ roll, from Rush’s 2112 to The Who’s legendarily unrealized Lifehouse. With the album on the eve of release, it seems likely that Klein will go the way of the Rush classic rather than the Who’s nervous-breakdown-fueling collapse, and that’s certainly a great thing. If nothing else, it offers us the tantalizing possibility of a whole album full of songs as good as “Nothing” — which will certainly be a lovely treat for us all this summer. Get ready by heading down to the Camel and rocking with Amy Klein this Monday night. It’s a great way to start your week.

Tuesday, June 4, 7 PM
Justus Proffit, Camp Howard, Big Baby, Lobby Boy @ Gallery 5 – $10 in advance/$12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
You know, I can’t say I’m familiar with memorably-named LA singer-songwriter Justus Proffit, but he’s apparently somewhat of a prodigy, having played in touring bands since he was 16 or so. Now he’s 25, and if you’re thinking, “Oh, is this kid the next Jay Reatard then?” you’re not entirely on the wrong track. His new album, LA’s Got Me Down, is full of psychedelic garage tunes, doused in noisy guitar distortion that can’t quite hide the brilliant melodies at its heart.

Proffit’s tunes of LA struggle reference drugs, death, and a culture of false allegiances, but they’re kept aloft by his flawless ear for pop melodies. There’s an ever-present psychedelic weirdness as well, just to keep the whole thing glowing with the sunlight of a slightly overexposed photograph. The combination is unique, arresting, and memorable, and if Proffit carries on in this fashion, he’ll be hugely famous before you know it. Get in on this movement before the rest of the world catches on, and spend your Tuesday night at Gallery 5. You won’t regret it.

Elsewhere Around The State:

Thursday, May 30, 8 PM
Phobia, Diseased Earth, Organ Trail @ The Golden Pony – $12 (order tickets HERE)
Legendary California grindcore ragers Phobia have been around for damn near 30 years now, and despite many different trials and tribulations over that time, they continue rolling along at full speed — their forthcoming LP, Generation Coward, is something like their 16th release, and that’s not even counting the million split EPs they’ve done over the years. They’ve still got the fire in their bellies, though, as is clear from the new LP’s advance single, “Internet Tough Guy.” We’ve all known a few of those, am I right?

Anyway, Phobia are coming to Harrisonburg’s Golden Pony tomorrow night, and they’re going to rock the place like crazy. Roaring, growling vocals, grinding thrash guitar riffs, and super-fast blast beats aplenty await the fortunate souls who stumble into the Golden Pony. It’s going to be awesome, especially with regional powerhouses Diseased Earth and Organ Trail (not the computer game you played in middle school — oh my, no) dropping a bomb loaded full of death-metallic grind power on you to kick this night off. Be ready to bang your head, because you’re going to be doing a lot of that.

Saturday, June 1, 8 PM
Blue Streak, The Great Noise, Bacchae, W I S H, Wring Out @ West Beach Tavern – $10 (order tickets HERE)
Hardcore isn’t just a sound, it’s a culture. Want proof? Check out hardcore bands like Angel Du$t, or Culture Abuse — bands that are both beloved in the scene and bear no resemblance to Minor Threat, Black Flag, Bad Brains, or any of the other agreed-upon touchstones of the sound. But their members have played hardcore music before, so hardcore kids are willing to check them out. Blue Streak might be another one of those bands; featuring members of Give, Red Death, and — sure enough — Angel Du$t, this group nonetheless brings a sound that comes much closer to indie pop and alternative rock than anything approaching hardcore.

Will the kids love it nonetheless? It’s an open question with this relatively new band, who’ve only released two singles thus far. However, considering the quality of the songs on offer, they certainly should. And those of you who couldn’t care less about hardcore might want to consider doing so as well. Fans of everything from Sloan to Braid to The Breeders are going to hear things they really like in this band’s sound — regardless of cultural affiliation. They’ll be playing with a bunch of other melodic indie, alt-rock, and shoegaze groups as well, so you’re sure to have a full night of joy with fellow DC power-poppers Bacchae, Hampton Roads killers The Great Noise, and even Richmond’s own hazy-guitar maestros, W I S H. What are you waiting for? Get down with it.

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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]

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

VA Shows You Must See This Week: February 20 – February 26

Marilyn Drew Necci | February 20, 2019

Topics: 156/Silence, 7th Grade Girl Fight, Bandito's, basmati, Beyond The Grave, Bill Nace, Brothertiger, Buzzherd, Cary Street Cafe, Champion RVA, Charlie's American Cafe, Chris Corsano, Collider, crazy doberman, Cruelsifix, Doc Rotten, Dropping Ugly, Grandma, Hardywood, Karacell, Large Margin, Late Bloomer, Lil Broken Heart, Lobby Boy, Love Roses, McCormack's, MRC, MSD, Musket Hawk, New Lions, No Good Deed, Red Sea, Riffhouse Pub, Shockoe Denim, Shormey, shows you must see, SMUG, Summer Heart, The Camel, The Chuggernauts, THRE3, Typesetter, W I S H, Washers, Yung Mutt

FEATURED SHOW
Friday, February 22, 6 PM
New Lions, Large Margin, Basmati, Grandma @ Hardywood – Free!
It snowed this morning. It’s supposed to be 60 degrees tomorrow. Who knows what the weather will be like this weekend. But while Richmond’s topsy-turvy weather spends the rest of winter (and probably longer than that) pulling itself together, we can at least be assured that, in this town full of outstanding music, it’ll always be pleasant inside.

That will definitely be true at Hardywood this Friday night, when this jam-packed lineup of top-tier local musicians hits the stage. Topping the bill is New Lions, and this sextet is what we get when Clair Morgan stops pussyfooting around about whether or not he’s a solo artist and just forms a band already. Not that that’s any big new thing — New Lions is basically the same ensemble Morgan was leading when he made his last record, 2016’s New Lions And The Not-Good Night (ah, see, you’re starting to get what’s happening here), and the group’s pleasing mix of indie melodies and intense, math-y emo remains intact. Plus, they’re almost done with their new EP, so you’ll probably hear at least a song or two from it aired out live.

Large Margin are the other big story of the night, and while this band may have been ultra low-key with their rollout, one listen to last year’s self-titled full-length was enough to blow your hair back for sure. This quartet of local post-hardcore luminaries is kicking up some serious dust with their Fugazi-inspired take on angry, energetic noise-core, and on a personal note, it’s pure catnip for me — I love it. This show marks the physical release of the aforementioned self-titled full-length, and you’d all be fools not to grab it on cassette while the getting’s good. You’d also be fools not to arrive on time and catch powerful sets from long-running indie-math vets Basmati and the looping pop genius of Grandma. This show doesn’t even cost anything to get in, so you officially have no excuse.

Wednesday, February 20, 7 PM
Doc Rotten, Love Roses, The Chuggernauts @ McCormack’s – $7
Punk never sleeps, at least not before the sun’s coming up. And punk doesn’t care what day of the week it is, or what sort of job you have to get to at some point tomorrow. Punk thinks you should probably just quit your job. What has it ever done for you? It’s an especially incisive critique when you consider all the great things punk bands like Doc Rotten have given you over the years: snotty singalong choruses, catchy melodic leads, angry yet upbeat riffs you can raise your fist and yell along to.

These are the really important things in life, right? And you might worry about how you’re going to pay rent if you don’t once again forgo sleep and stagger in to work at 8 AM tomorrow regardless of how late you were out tonight. But none of that matters tonight, when Jersey punk crew Doc Rotten will have you singing along with an upraised fist (possibly clutching a beer). Last summer’s Illusion To Choose LP is full of bouncy bass lines, crunchy guitars, and deathless anthems that speak to the struggles we all go through, and when they crank out those tunes in Shockoe Bottom, you’ll be feeling good for sure. Local ragers Love Roses and The Chuggernauts are along to keep you smiling all night. Don’t miss it — no matter what time your alarm is set for.

Thursday, February 21, 10 PM
Typesetter, Late Bloomer, Washers @ Bandito’s – Free!
The classic midwestern emo sound may have quite a bit of history behind it these days, but it is by no means dead. Two great bands are coming through town this Thursday night to prove it to you, and while both of them are from out of town, they do have Richmond connections in that both of them have released albums on our city’s own 6131 Records. The first is Typesetter, who keep the midwestern tradition alive from their hometown of Chicago. Their latest album, Nothing Blues, finds the group mixing gorgeously wistful vocal harmonies with driving riffage and a solid grasp of the dynamics that make for a perfect full-length listen. Their set at Bandito’s is sure to deliver on the album’s promise.

And then there’s Late Bloomer, who hail from one state south of here and, like Typesetter, released a full-length on 6131 last year. Waiting finds this band rocking a little bit harder than their labelmates, catching a bit of that post-Nirvana 90s alt-rock feel in their net along with a generous helping of pastoral emo resonances. If you dig one of these bands, you’re sure to dig ’em both. Local openers Washers should appeal to you as well. This driving melodic punk band lands somewhere between local luminaries Teen Death and Sports Bar, and considering they share members (and a label) with the latter group, there are a lot of local heads who should already be in their corner. If not, show up at Bandito’s and get familiar already, y’all.

Friday, February 22, 7:30 PM
Chris Corsano/Bill Nace, Crazy Doberman @ Shockoe Denim – $10
Let’s get experimental this Friday night, shall we? This bill of experimental music with equal footing in jazz, punk, and improvisation is the sort of thing we might have expected to show up at Black Iris a year or so ago, but this time it’s happening in a completely random spot — Shockoe Denim, where you’d normally expect to hear nothing stranger than the phrase “selvedge denim.” This Friday night, though, it’s getting downright unusual in the fancy jeans store, as New England noisemakers Chris Corsano and Bill Nace perform a collaborative set.

You may recognize guitarist Bill Nace’s name, at least if you’ve followed what the members of Sonic Youth have been up to since their band dissolved. Nace is part of a duo called Body/Head, in which he collaborates with Kim Gordon. He’s done a ton of other stuff in the experimental music world too, as has Chris Corsano, a drummer of no small repute who has worked with everyone from Jim O’Rourke to Jandek at one time or another. These two have joined together previously under the name Vampire Belt to create glorious volcanoes of wild free-jazz cacophony. How will this performance differ? All we can do is show up and see. One thing’s for sure — it’ll be a wild ride. Especially with Richmond’s own pack of wild improv-experimental noise dogs, Crazy Doberman, opening up. The jeans store just might get a little unruly.

Saturday, February 23, 8 PM
Buzzherd, Musket Hawk, MSD, Cruelsifix @ Champion RVA – Free!
Local punk luminaries Tired and Pissed Records are bringing another devastating showcase to their hometown, this time over at Champion Brewing’s RVA location. And while those who pay attention to this sort of thing might have come to expect straight-up punk with a bit of a metal edge from the T&P crew, this time around finds them veering into the land of outright metal — which fits the environment, a brewer that those of us who don’t partake in the intoxicating stuff have come to associate with music that induces major headbangs.

This event finds two touring bands from north of our city heading into town; Buzzherd hail from Bethlehem, PA, a rust belt city mostly known for completely overdoing the whole Christmas thing. You can imagine what sort of angst this could induce in young metalheads, and you’ll hear all that angst and more when Buzzherd take the stage and wallop you with their chunky, violent take on metallic hardcore… or hardcore-damaged metal, as the case may be. Baltimore’s Musket Hawk take things in a more low-end direction, as they rumble and grind their way toward the perfect fusion of death metal and punk. Again, perfect music for their rather unstable home environs — and perfect music for you to spend your Saturday night headbanging to. Local powerhouses MSD and Cruelsifix only add to the reasons to wear your denim vest and get crazy at this one.

Sunday, February 24, 9:30 PM
Dropping Ugly, W I S H, Collider @ Bandito’s – Free!
We’re back at Bandito’s for the second time this week, for the fourth free show of the column this week, and if you don’t think this is a great time to be alive regardless of the weather, well, I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe to spend the money you’re saving on a huge plate of nachos at one or both of these Bandito’s shows and find out how great life truly can be. Then, feeling stuffed and happy, you can wander into the music room, check out a few great bands for zero dollars, and have a further realization of how truly #blessed you are.

This show features a performance by Dropping Ugly, which is the sort of band name one might understandably associate with thuggish hardcore stomping. One would therefore be surprised to discover that this Richmond duo is much closer to shoegaze/dreampop-influenced indie sounds, with a strong emphasis on beauty and melody. They’re dropping ugly, all right — there’s nothing not-gorgeous about this group’s sound. Sunday night provides you with the perfect opportunity to discover that, and while you’re at it, to take in the heavier shoegaze-oriented approach of W I S H, who will give you serious gaze-heads flashbacks to the days of the Swirlies and the Lilys. It’s glorious. DC’s Collider round out the evening with some killer sounds that make me want to reference bands no one reading this has ever heard, like Monsterland and Drop Nineteens. That’s an endorsement, in case it’s not clear. Want to know more? Go to this show. Like many of the shows in this week’s column, it’s free — so don’t say I never gave you anything.

Monday, February 25, 10 PM
SMUG, THRE3, 7th Grade Girl Fight @ Cary Street Cafe – Free!
I’ve recently heard the word “smug” used to describe that wave of annoying, pretentious right-wing YouTube jerks we all hear way too much about these days. It’s fitting; it’s a word that makes you think of a smarmy jerk with a superior smile on his face after having said something he thinks is brilliant and you know is ridiculous. Thankfully, the band SMUG doesn’t seem to consist of guys like that. Instead, they’re a trio hailing from Buffalo, NY (home of the Goo Goo Dolls, who rule. Yeah, I said it) and dishing out some powerful melodic punk on their brand-new album, Gorgeous.

So yeah, it’ll be fun to see these guys rock out at Cary Street Cafe, as long as you don’t think too hard about the meaning of their name. They’ll be joined by a duo of Virginia-based melodic rock bands with numbers in their names. THRE3 is a band who must have been frustrated when they realized that both 3 and Three had been taken. They used that frustration to fuel their creativity, and produced some pretty killer punk-adjacent sounds with strong Ted Leo resonances on their 2018 album, Do Or Die. Meanwhile, 7th Grade Girl Fight bring us some fun indie sounds with obvious debts to the world of power-pop and garage rock. The whole evening’s gonna be pretty swell.

Tuesday, February 26, 9 PM
Red Sea, MRC, Shormey, Lobby Boy @ The Camel – $8 (order tickets HERE)
Here’s a show brought to you by Underground Orchard, a recent booking and promotion endeavor spinning off from the Citrus City Records empire here in Richmond. And considering how reliable the Citrus City name has become in terms of delivering quality 21st-century indie music, especially with an electro-pop flair, it’s no surprise to find Underground Orchard carrying on that legacy by bringing us a performance from Atlanta’s Red Sea.

If you tuned in to this band three years ago, you surely heard a different sort of sound — one more guitar-based and indie-math driven. These days, though, they’ve moved into the realm of electronic synth-pop, and recent singles are simultaneously reminiscent of Duran Duran, Vampire Weekend, and early-90s techno-house. It’s not easy to pin down, and it’s certainly not predictable, but it’s a whole lot of fun, as you’ll find out when you’re shaking your booty on the dance floor at The Camel Tuesday night. Be sure to check out the Tidewater-based dance entertainments of True Body side project MRC and Citrus City’s own Shormey, as well as similarly-driven Harrisonbury project Lobby Boy. This one will keep your feet moving.

Bonus Hampton Roads Picks:

Saturday, February 23, 8 PM
Summer Heart, Brothertiger, Karacell @ Charlie’s American Cafe – $10 in advance/$13 day of show (order tickets HERE)
There’s a lot of great electronic pop music that comes out of Sweden — and no, I’m not (just) talking about Swedish House Mafia. All sorts of people with strong electro-pop bona fides hail from this Scandinavian country, from Robyn to Avicii to Max Martin. Therefore, can it be any surprise that there’s also a fertile electro-pop underground in the country? It’s that underground that has produced Summer Heart, the solo project of Swedish production genius David Alexander. And it’s Summer Heart who will be bringing the gorgeous sound of sunshine to Norfolk in the wintertime. Bless.

Summer Heart spent 2018 releasing a project called 12 Songs Of Summer, one song at a time. The songs, doled out once a month throughout the past year, are being released as a compilation for this tour, and you’d be wise to pick it up and finally be in a position to let the jams play for a while. They’ll bring a big smile to your face, whether you’re playing them at home or dancing to the tunes in person at Charlie’s American Cafe Saturday night. But to be clear, we definitely recommend the latter course of action. This has been a cold, gross winter, and it’s not over yet. We all need a little bit of summer in our hearts.

Monday, February 25, 8 PM
156/Silence (Photo by Ale Gibson-Photography), No Good Deed, Beyond The Grave, Yung Mutt, Lil Broken Heart @ Riffhouse Pub – $5
Y’all had to know this moment was coming — the moment in every column where I do my level best to convince every single one of you to get stoked about a metalcore band that’s coming to our area. You made it through the whole column, you thought you might get away without it this time — but it was not to be, as I will now fervently implore you to gas up your auto and head to Norfolk’s RiffHouse Pub this Monday night to see Pittsburgh, PA’s 156/Silence.

If I am to be totally forthright with you in my advocacy, I must admit that I have no idea what their seemingly random name means. However, it matters little; their 2018 LP on Innerstrength Records, Undercover Scumbag, contains all I need to understand about this band — a powerful collection of driving metallic sludge. filled with angst and fury, plus plenty of noisy guitar chaos, thundering drums, and intense throat-shredding screams. This band is sure to delight fans of everything from Sworn In to The Chariot to All Else Failed, and as I am all three of those fans, I am fair and squarely stoked. You will be too if you make it to RiffHouse Monday night; when have I ever steered you wrong?

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