Loud Night Archives

VA Shows You Must See This Week: December 26 – December 31

Marilyn Drew Necci | December 26, 2019

Topics: Alcindor, Altria Theater, Bloat, Cary Street Cafe, Copperhead, Cybernetic Warkrab, Deli Kings, Demons, Fuzzy Cactus, High Voltage, Invaluable, Jouwala Collective, Kurtis Blow, Lord Nelson, Loud Night, Nervous System, No Mas, Organ Trail, Plaque Marks, Prabir, Prayer Group, Riffhouse Pub, Seraph, shows you must see, Sleepwalkers, Song of Praise, Special Ed and the Shortbus, Spiral Fracture, Taphouse Grill, Tauk, The Broadberry, The Hip Hop Nutcracker, The Hot Seats, The Trongone Band, The Vegabonds, Tinnarose, Wonderland

FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, December 28, 10 PM
The Return of Sp***** Ed and the Sh****** @ Cary Street Cafe – $10
This week’s show column is entirely focused on that weird end-of-year week between Christmas and New Year’s Day — that week we all are so sure will be a total loss that plenty of businesses shut down entirely until the new year rolls around. We’re still here, though, and while this whole week might feel like a goofy, lackadaisical lead-up to the big New Year’s Eve throwdown, make no mistake, there are some interesting things afoot around town.

One of the most interesting is this reunion show taking place at Cary Street Cafe on Saturday night. And it’s a great example of the way that, every once in a while, something from the recent past will spring to mind in a manner that reminds you how long ago the past actually was. This reunion of a local bluegrass band that was a Richmond music staple less than a decade ago is just such a reminder, in that they were both a really fun band that drew a following with a very original approach to what can be an extremely conservative music form… and a band whose efforts to be goofy led them to an extremely insensitive and inappropriate name.

In fact, the band once known as Special Ed And The Shortbus not only changed their name in 2012 to The Hot Seats, they are using stars to disguise that name in all promotion for this show that will reunite one of the band’s earliest and goofiest lineups to recreate their early-00s days as Cary Street Cafe’s Wednesday night house band. Their name has certainly not aged well, but their music and antics are still as entertaining and fun as they always were, so if you miss the days of their onstage hijinks even as you recognize that their name is culturally unacceptable in these modern times, you should definitely head down to Cary Street Cafe this Saturday night and catch the one-time return of Sp***** Ed and the Sh******… minus 11 letters.

Thursday, December 26, 7:30 PM
The Hip Hop Nutcracker, feat. Kurtis Blow @ Altria Theater – $37 – 67 (order tickets HERE)
People sing that old song without understanding its meaning all the time, but Christmas is technically a 12 day celebration that doesn’t end until nearly a week into January. Therefore, the fact that the Hip Hop Nutcracker won’t reach the Altria Theatre until tonight isn’t inappropriate at all. Tonight, there’s no reason for you not to shake off the food coma from yesterday’s dinner and celebrate the second day of Christmas with two turtle doves and a whole lot of great hip hop dancing set to Tchaikovsky’s classic Nutcracker Suite.

For the real old-school heads, there’s a bigtime bonus to this show as well — Kurtis Blow will be in the house. Blow is so old school, he released one of the first rap records ever; what’s more, it was a Christmas single, so Blow’s connection to this holiday has lasted his entire career. Before the official Nutcracker kicks off, Blow will begin the evening with a short solo set, and if, like me, you’re old enough to remember the days when “Basketball” and “The Breaks” were jams that always got the party started right, you’ll definitely want to be here and see Kurtis Blow strut his stuff.

Friday, December 27, 8 PM
Seraph, Spiral Fracture, Alcindor @ Wonderland – $10
It’s been five years since Richmond deathcore warriors Seraph released their mini-album, Embrace Your Demise, and they’ve been through a hell of a lot since then. At one point, a member’s overseas military deployment led to a lengthy hiatus; at another point, a member passed away unexpectedly. Most recently, one of their founding members has battled cancer; this Wonderland performance marks the first time he’s been healthy enough to play a show in nearly a year.

However, you have to admire any band with the tenacity to endure through all the tough times that have come Seraph’s way and keep going strong. Not only are they returning to action in the live arena once again, they’ve been working on new music that will eventually take the form of a long-awaited followup to Embrace Your Demise. If you love punishing, brutal death/metal/core, it’s hard not to be stoked about that. Celebrate Seraph’s return to action this Friday night at Wonderland, and enjoy two other Virginia heavy hitters — Spiral Fracture and Alcindor — in the bargain. Nothing about this will not rule.

Saturday, December 28, 9 PM
The Trongone Band, The Vegabonds, Lord Nelson @ The Broadberry – $15 in advance/$18 day of show (order tickets HERE)
As we have previously discussed, the holidays are prime time for jam bands. Their music has a spiritual kinship with those laid-back evenings we all associate with holiday times, when there’s no specific agenday, punctuality isn’t a factor, and the main things people are interested in are relaxing, having fun, and seeing where the night takes them. What musical ensemble could be more apropos to take us on that sort of journey than a jam band?

Where the loose arrangement of prog, folk, and Southern rock that makes up the jam-band universe is concerned, Richmond’s own Trongone Band and their compatriots for this evening, Tennessee’s Vegabonds, are concerned, they’re significantly closer to the Southern-rock axis. And there’s nothing wrong with that — the Trongone Band’s soulful, Muscle Shoals-influenced take on prime Allman/My Morning Jacket sounds is a whole lot of fun, and the Vegabonds’ slightly tougher Drive-By Truckers-ish approach is certainly welcome anytime. If you need a fun way to spend your post-Christmas/pre-New Years weekend, these two bands have just what you’re looking for.

Sunday, December 29, 9 PM
Plaque Marks, Prayer Group, Copperhead @ Wonderland – $10
The holidays don’t usually see a lot of touring bands coming through, but that just makes the few who buck the trend and hit the road all the more welcome. Philadelphia’s Plaque Marks is battling the post-Christmas traffic full of tired families on the way back from Grandma’s house this weekend to bring Richmond a heaping helping of noise for dinner, and it’s sure to be a treat.

So far, this quartet featuring members of Fight Amp, Creepoid, and others has only brought us one EP, 2017’s Anxiety Driven Nervous Worship. That EP’s sludgy, abrasive mix of anti-social punk and Jesus Lizard-style noise-rock is, however, enough reason on its own to head to Wonderland and catch these freaks. And by now, there’s no way they don’t have a few new songs with which to spice things up as well. Local metallic faves Prayer Group and newcomers Faucet, who feature members of Fat Spirit, Gumming, Among The Rocks And Roots, and more, will give us a full evening worthy of the beautiful punishment Plaque Marks dishes out.

Monday, December 30, 7 PM
Tauk, Jouwala Collective @ The Broadberry – $15 in advance/$18 at the door (order tickets HERE)
New Year’s Eve is the very next night, but that’s no excuse to spend your Monday evening holed up at home, bored out of your skull. And that’s doubly true in light of the fact that Tauk is coming to town. This New York-based instrumental combo has some excellent sounds to deliver to this city, sounds that are sure to expand our minds and get us thinking way outside the box — regardless of whether that box has a bow on top.

On last year’s Shapeshifter II: Outbreak, Tauk mingled guitars with synths and danceable beats to create a genre hybrid with appeal for post-rock nerds, jazz cats, and funk heads alike. The album was spawned by the group’s thoughts on the rise of artificial intelligence, but rest assured, no computer could come up with the riffs Tauk lays down. Get a glimpse for yourself, up close and personal at the Broadberry, and prepare for your New Year’s Eve with a thought-provoking night spent somewhere other than your couch.

Tuesday, December 31, 7:30 PM
NYE 1979, feat. Tinnarose as Blondie, High Voltage as AC/DC, Sleepwalkers as The Rolling Stones, Loud Night as Motorhead, Deli Kings as The Ramones, Prabir as Elvis Costello @ Fuzzy Cactus – $30 in advance/$40 day of show (order tickets HERE)
As we’ve discussed many times, punk rockers and metalheads often see holidays as an excuse to bust out some tribute bands. This celebration at Fuzzy Cactus is the first time I’ve seen this Halloween tradition extended to New Year’s Eve, though, so congrats to Fuzzy Cactus for breaking new ground in the punk-holiday-tribute game.

What’s even better about this show is that it has a unifying concept for its evening of tributes, bringing us an evening full of the sounds of 1979. It’s not just first-wave punk bands, either; with indie-folk crew Tinnarose bringing the sounds of Blondie to life, rock n’ rollers Sleepwalkers invoking the Rolling Stones, indie mainstay Prabir bringing the sounds of Elvis Costello, and more, this is an evening that will cover a lot of musical ground, even as it reminds us all that things were actually pretty great 40 years ago.

Elsewhere Around The State:

Friday, December 27, 7 PM
Demons, Song of Praise, Invaluable, Nervous System @ Taphouse Grill (Norfolk) – Price TBA
Punks and jam bands don’t have a monopoly on the holidays. Noise-rock bands can certainly bring the heat at Christmastime just as easily, and that’s exactly what Norfolk’s Demons are choosing to do with their post-holiday throwdown at Norfolk’s own Taphouse Grill. If you haven’t caught on with what Demons, the post-Mae project of singer-guitarist Zach Gehring, are up to just yet, you really should fix that.

In recent years, this quartet has followed up their abrasive 2017 debut LP, Embrace Wolf, with a pair of hard-hitting EPs showing their political side. Made In The USA and the “Uglier Americans” single show that it’s not just musical influence that they take from intelligent post-hardcore bands like Fugazi and Quicksand. The resulting sound is raw and furious, with an undeniable undercurrent of melody that keeps things catchy and memorable. This is one party you’re going to want to show up for — especially since Demons have invited a few other equally talented Tidewater bands to join in.

Tuesday, December 31, 9 PM
Organ Trail, No/Mas, Cybernetic Warkrab, Bloat @ RiffHouse Pub (Chesapeake) – $5
OK, so picture this: It’s New Year’s Eve. There are more parties happening than you can shake a stick at (that’s a phrase my mother says, I have no idea what it means). All of them are full of champagne toasts, photobooths, and assorted other gimcracks and geegaws. You, on the other hand, don’t feel like dealing with a bunch of ballyhoo — you really just want to rock. Well, I know where you need to go.

Your destination is deep in the land of Tidewater, in the municipality known as Chesapeake, where RiffHouse Pub is bringing us the sort of no-frills affair that is so refreshing on the most overhyped party night of the year. Pennsylvania’s Organ Trail and DC’s No/Mas will be on hand to blast you with some gore-soaked death metal (the former) and hyperspeed grind (the latter), along with some local ragers from Cybernetic Warkrab and Bloat. There will be a toast at midnight, but it’ll be with PBR, because you don’t need all that frou-frou bullshit and neither do any of these bands. Leave the novelty glasses at home; bring your steel-toed boots for 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]

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

VA Shows You Must See This Week: November 13 – November 19

Marilyn Drew Necci | November 13, 2019

Topics: Appalling, Beach Slang, Ben Butterworth, Ben Nelson, Bennie Blonkoe Perry, Blackwater Holylight, Candy, Capital Ale House Music Hall, Carpenter Theatre, Creeping Death, Cruzer, David Marie-Garland, Devil Master, Eradicant, Fuzzy Cactus, Ghostemane, Goo Goo Dolls, Halshug, Herschel Stratego, High on Fire, Horus The Astroneer, Idol Womb, Kate Carroll, LE Zarling, Loud Night, Mind Dweller, Miss JR Rose, Mister Earthbound, Monolord, Parv0, Power Trip, Riffhouse Pub, Robyn Hitchcock, Rotten, Sadistikum, Sarah White, Serpentshrine, shows you must see, SNAFU, The Broadberry, The Camel, The NorVa, The Wilful Boys, Timmy's Organism, Vital Remains, Wonderland

FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, November 16, 6 PM
High On Fire (Photo by CE Kelco), Power Trip, Devil Master, Creeping Death @ The Broadberry – $25 in advance/$30 day of show (order tickets HERE)
This week, Richmond is visited by the band that started it all: High On Fire, the kings of apocalyptic doom metal ever since guitarist/vocalist Matt Pike bailed on Sleep to start his own musical engine of brutality. That was over 20 years ago, and High On Fire are still going strong today, releasing their eighth album, Electric Messiah, last year and following it up this year with a killer EP called Bat Salad. That EP pays tribute to Black Sabbath, Celtic Frost, and Bad Brains — three seminal bands whose influence can clearly be felt in High On Fire’s roaring musical rampage.

For the uninitiated, High On Fire’s sound can be explained to some extent by the fact that 2018 LP Electric Messiah was inspired by comparisons Matt Pike always gets to Lemmy. His gravelly bark certainly isn’t too far from that of the late, great Motorhead majordomo, but musically, High On Fire explore a variety of directions, some of which are more comparable to the speed-loving London trio, while others move in more of a spaced-out astral epic direction. While the former material is always the real catnip for me (is this because I don’t smoke weed? Widespread polling makes it seem like this might just be the case), the longer, slower epics are always fan favorites, mixing the foreboding astral-plane wanderings of Neurosis with the more straightforward old-school doom vibes of my favorite Wino project, Spirit Caravan.

Basically, High On Fire offers the perfect opportunity for all you sleeveless-denim scuzzballs to achieve cannabis-infused headbang nirvana. And on this jaunt through our local atmosphere, they’re accompanied by legendary Texas thrashcore veterans Power Trip, who arose from the hardcore scene a decade ago to engage in a top-notch reincarnation of classic 80s thrash that was just a little too evil to find itself within the notoriously goofy world of “crossover.” So much the better — these guys are capable of all the string-bending leads, propulsive circle-pit tempos, and terrifying vocal exhortations of the best thrash, with a decidedly dark undercurrent that almost reaches the level of early Scandinavian black metal. These two masterful metallic combos will also be joined on this trip through RVA by Philadelphia blackened-punk mayhem creators Devil Master and early-Metallica-loving Texas death metallers Creeping Death. It’s a bonanza for your scorched ears, a circle-pit demon’s delight. Be sure to partake.

Wednesday, November 13, 8 PM
Halshug, Mind Dweller, Loud Night @ Fuzzy Cactus – $8
Southern Lord has been the prime stadium crust label for a while now, and Denmark’s Halshug are just the latest example of that trend. You may not know what I mean when I use the phrase “stadium crust” to describe a band, but you can probably guess based on context clues — filthy hardcore punk that just sounds like its creators are all wearing leather jackets, made by punks who’ve clearly got Disrupt and Tragedy in their DNA but are shooting the moon with a big, loud sound that seems engineered to headline California Jam alongside Sabotage-era Black Sabbath.

While we can’t say that 30,000 kids would pack out the Nissan Pavilion (or Jiffy Lube Live, or whatever that place is called now) to see Halshug, it seems a sure thing that their loud, proud rage will fill the confines of Fuzzy Cactus with arena-worthy riff pyrotechnics tonight. That’s something you won’t want to miss, especially with Raleigh rockin’-punk powerhouse Mind Dweller on the bill as well, doing that classic Black Flag-meets-Ted Nugent sound that Annihilation Time made its name on. The bill is rounded out with the inclusion of local rippers Loud Night, who’ve got their own spin on that exact point where Motorhead meets Discharge, complete with a rollicking thrash vibe that’s sure to make the old-school metalheads smile and raise their studded-bracelet-bedecked fists.

Thursday, November 14, 8 PM
Monolord, Blackwater Holylight, Mister Earthbound @ The Camel – $15 in advance/$18 day of show (order tickets HERE)
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the glut of doom metal that has overtaken the heaviest of genres in the past decade or so — sometimes it feels like it’s just slow grooves all the way down, and that can cause us to go from headbanging to nodding off. But it is still, in 2019, possible to do doom metal right, and Sweden’s Monolord are just the latest combo to prove exactly that with their new LP on Relapse Records, No Comfort. As with a lot of bands who achieve success in a world of a million soundalike Sabbath/Wino worshippers, Monolord do this by moving away from the 70s proto-metal influences to concentrate on late 60s psychedelia and classic Southern sludge.

No Comfort feels like the record Eyehategod would have made if they’d been contemporaries of Charles Manson rather than some of the foremost metalheads to develop an edgy fascination with that mass-murdering cult-leading scumbag at the dawn of the 90s. And while I love those first couple Eyehategod records, No Comfort‘s relatively unusual approach to moody sludge is like a breath of fresh air compared to the millionth band ripping off the genre’s godfathers. Monolord arrive in Richmond accompanied by Portland’s Blackwater Holylight, who show absolute mastery of witchy psychedelic foreboding on their 2018 self-titled debut LP. Light a candle for this set — it’ll be appropriate.

Friday, November 15, 9 PM
SNAFU, Eradicant, Idol Womb @ Wonderland – $5
This is probably only a warning I have to give to my fellow olds, but: don’t get it twisted, this is not an appearance by legendary Canadian skate-punk band SNFU. Hailing from just across the Canadian border in Detroit and featuring an extra letter in their acronym band-name, SNAFU are just as speedy and intense as their almost-homophone Canadian counterparts, but have a ton more metal in their sound, straddling the border between metal-thrashing crossover-core and outright skate-obsessed thrash-grind.

They haven’t released anything new since 2015’s heaping helping of speedy noise, Present Day Plague, but they are apparently in the process of preparing to record a new album, their first in four years. So you can expect them to have a ton of new tuneage for you when they show up at Wonderland this Friday night. This show, which serves as a birthday bash for Wonderland owner Chad Painter and a warmup for the Wonderland Quinceanera celebration that’s coming up just before New Years, will also feature two new Richmond ragers — Eradicant, who play death metal and feature members of 3:33; and Idol Womb, who are more of a black-death mix (metal, not plague), and feature members of Cruelsifix. Get ready to rock out!

Saturday, November 16, 7 PM
Robyn Hitchcock @ Capital Ale House Music Hall – $25 (order tickets HERE)
Robyn Hitchcock is an absolute legend. This British singer-songwriter has been at the forefront of psychedelic pop for over four decades now, starting out as the frontman for psychedelic postpunk band The Soft Boys in the late 70s, and beginning his solo career in 1981. Since then, he’s released 21 studio albums and a ton of live albums and outtake collections documenting his prolific muse. He veers back and forth between solo acoustic albums with a sort of witchy-English-backwoods psych-folk vibe and full-band outings with backing bands The Egyptians and The Venus 3 (which features members of REM), aiding his creation of impeccable alt-pop gems. In indie circles, he’s considered a godfather of the sound, and has worked with XTC, The Decemberists, and Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel.

With all that in mind, the fact that I can’t even tell you whether Hitchcock is bringing a full band with him for his appearance this Saturday night at Capital Ale House’s Richmond Music Hall shouldn’t even matter to you. His last full-length album, 2017’s Robyn Hitchcock, featured a full band and a bushel of delightful melancholy pop tunes with the subtlest of punk undercurrents — but that was two years ago, and the ever-creative Mr. Hitchcock may have moved on to something else by now. Considering how excellent he’s been at every phase of his career, from The Soft Boys’ immortal 1980 single “I Wanna Destroy You” to his outstanding 1990 solo outing, Eye, and from career-defining 1984 masterwork I Often Dream Of Trains to 2006 late-career highlight Ole! Tarantula, featuring the Venus 3… well, there’s no reason to think whatever he wishes to share with us will be anything other than great. Get over to Cap Ale and groove on this one.

Sunday, November 17, 9 PM
Timmy’s Organism, Cruzer, The Wilful Boys @ Fuzzy Cactus – $7 in advance/$9 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Garage rock can sometimes be the rawest, rootsiest expression of the original rock n’ roll spirit as possible, but Timmy’s Organism isn’t that kind of group. Instead, this project from longtime garage innovator Timmy Vulgar (formerly of the Epitonix, Clone Defects, and more) has a bit of an off-kilter, sidewise approach to the garage thing. On their 2018 LP, Survival Of The Fiendish, Timmy’s Organism veer from song to song between the Stones circa Exile On Main Street’s dankest basement sessions, the Replacements at their most plastered, and a loose, antisocial version of the MC5’s soul-inspired full-throttle rock n’ roll attack. It’s wild, it’s crazy, it’s a ton of fun, and it’s sure to get things all stirred up when Vulgar and co. arrive at Fuzzy Cactus this Sunday night.

They’ll be joined in their rock n’ roll assault on Richmond by The Wilful Boys, an NYC quartet fronted by Australian singing drummer Steven Fisher. Something about the way Aussie bands approach no-frills rock n’ roll is unbridled in a manner you’ll never see on this side of the international dateline, and with a half-Aussie lineup including Fisher, The Wilful Boys bring that Cosmic Psychos-esque approach to bear in an enjoyably brutal fashion. They’ll pair perfectly with the northern hemisphere wildmen of Timmy’s Organism, and local surf-punk fun-starters Cruzer will open this one up with the perfect mix of beach-blanket fun and out-of-control bonfire parties. Get stoked for this one.

Monday, November 18, 8 PM
Comedy & Western Showcase, feat. Sarah White & The New Band, Miss JR Rose, Ben Butterworth, Ben Nelson, David Marie-Garland, LE Zarling, Kate Carroll, Bennie Blonkoe Perry, hosted by Herschel Stratego @ The Camel – $7 in advance/$10 day of show (order tickets HERE)
I don’t know what possessed someone to create a showcase like this, but I’ve gotta admire their creativity. It certainly would never occur to me to combine standup comedy performances with country music, but considering the mutual variety-show roots of both disciplines, it actually makes a ton of sense. And it gives those of us who are more musically inclined an opportunity to feast our ears on some of the modern country sounds being created right here in VA, which doesn’t ever seem to happen often enough. So liven up your Monday night with this one.

Specifically, enjoy a performance from Virginia singer-songwriter Sarah White, whose 2018 LP High Flyer mixes heartland rock sounds with some classic country approaches and instrumentations to create a result that fans of No Depression-style alt-country are sure to enjoy. Miss J.R. Rose is someone I don’t know a lot about, but her classic country ballads seem like a perfect old-school note to add to this many-flavored stew. And of course Ben Butterworth is a local musical mainstay, though I don’t know as much about his fellow Ben, Nelson. The comedy half of this evening’s entertainment is on lock with some of the best local comedians to ply their trade in this city over the past decade on the bill. And of course, Herschel Stratego will deliver his own unique and inimitable skills as the host. This one’s sure to be a blast. Don’t miss out.

Tuesday, November 19, 7:30 PM
The Goo Goo Dolls, Beach Slang @ Carpenter Theatre – $38 – $73 (order tickets HERE)
I know what some of my longtime readers are probably thinking right now: “The Goo Goo Dolls? This is Drew’s ultimate troll move on all of us.” And I’ll grant that sometimes I have way too much fun in this column engaging in — how should I put this? — “subversion of your expectations.” But y’all, I am not fucking with you in the slightest bit on this recommendation. The Goo Goo Dolls are awesome. I will admit that their last few albums have seen time catching up on these guys, turning them from the best matured-ex-punks-turned-heartland-rockers since The Replacements to a group that’s a bit too Matchbox 20-ish in their balladry these days. But that’s OK, because you don’t have to buy their brand new album (which is called Miracle Pill and is their 12th overall) to enjoy the hell out of their live performances.

And for real, I’ve seen video of them performing in the past year, and they’re still rad! Bassist Robby Takac still bounds all around the stage doing jump-kicks, Johnny Rzeznik still plays electric guitar for most of the set, and they’re still playing legit great tunes from decades past, like “Big Machine,” “January Friend,” and “Broadway.” Granted, there’ll be a few lite-rock radio chestnuts to sit through (I never did fuck with “Iris”), but to make up for those, you get an opening set from legit punk band Beach Slang, who are about to release their fourth album, The Deadbeat Bang of Heartbreak City, and still have the high-energy drive that made classic early-90s Goo Goo Dolls albums like Superstar Carwash and A Boy Named Goo so great. As for the headliners, chances are the Goos are gonna show their age at a couple points during their set, but where their best moments are concerned, you’re still not gonna find anything better.

Elsewhere Around The State:

Thursday, November 14, 6 PM
Vital Remains, Serpentshrine, Sadistikum, Appalling, Rotten @ RiffHouse Pub (Chesapeake) – $12 in advance/$15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Death metal mainstays Vital Remains have been bringing us some of the most punishing riffs in the game for 30 full years now, and they’re on tour right now to celebrate. Having formed in the late 80s, established themselves as one of the foremost groups in the genre with 1998’s Forever Underground, and gone on to collaborate with the almighty Glen Benton of Deicide on Dechristianize and Icons Of Evil — two of the best death metal albums the 21st century has seen thus far — Vital Remains definitely have a lot to celebrate on this tour.

Now, I will grant you that they haven’t released an album since Icons Of Evil in 2007, and that at this point both Benton and longtime drummer/lead guitarist Dave Suzuki have left the band. However, Tony Lazaro is still fielding a lineup of powerful metal players — including latest vocalist Scott Eames of Thy Antichrist. In addition to the full catalog of raging hits that the band has to draw from, he’s supposedly got multiple albums worth of new material in the can and waiting to be recorded. Maybe if this anniversary tour is successful enough, Vital Remains will finally break their 12-year drought and grace us with a new album. But even if they don’t, you’ll get to see them decimate RiffHouse Pub with an unrelenting metal onslaught. And that’s certainly good enough reason to go to this one.

Friday, November 15, 7 PM
Ghostemane, Candy, Horus The Astroneer, Parv0 @ The NorVA (Norfolk) – $23 (order tickets HERE)
I gotta tell ya, I find Ghostemane pretty fascinating. Purely on a visual level, he looks like a goth kid who likes metal a whole lot. But he’s at least ostensibly a rapper — though hardly a straight-up old-school rapper, in light of his connections to $uicideboy$ and Lil Peep. He also used to play in hardcore and metal bands, and has been known to take current hardcore bands out with him on tour (note that Richmond hardcore up-and-comers Candy are playing with him on this NorVA bill). All of this speaks to a pretty wide-ranging set of influences that drive Ghostemane, and you can hear all of those influences on the highly prolific (20 releases in the past five years) rapper’s discography.

Sometimes he croons like Trent Reznor at his most emotionally fraught moments. At other times, his stuff sounds almost like Slipknot and Ministry jamming on solely electronic instruments. Sometimes it sounds like the sort of hazy, downbeat hip hop you’d expect from a $uicideboy$ affiliate. And his latest EP, Hiadica, isn’t even hip hop at all — it’s a straight up metallic hardcore record, full of throaty screams, blastbeats, and breakdowns. Whether you’re into the weirder end of the modern hip hop scene, brutal hardcore, or some combination of the two, Ghostemane’s NorVA performance is sure to have something to delight you.

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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: October 30 – November 5

Marilyn Drew Necci | October 30, 2019

Topics: 3:33, Addy, Alexa Rose, All Your Sisters, Benderheads, Buzzherd, Caroline Says, Cary Street Cafe, Ceremony (VA), Chicho's Backstage, Comrades, Crippled Fox, Deau Eyes, Eaves, Echo Beds, Empty, Flamin' Groovies, Fujiwara, Fuzzy Cactus, gallery 5, Greet Death, Haybaby, Hovvdy, Kevin Krauter, Loud Night, My Epic, New Boss, Nosebleeds, Rad Taco, Russian Circles, shows you must see, Smallhands, The Broadberry, The Camel, The Canal Club, The Girls, The Gladstones, The Needles, The Nerve Scheme, The Southern Cafe, Trey Burnart Hall, True Body, Unmaker, Windhand, Wolves At The Gate, Wonderland

FEATURED SHOW
Thursday, October 31, 7 PM
Halloween at G5, feat. Nosebleed, Benderheads, Unmaker, Haybaby, Chicki Parm, Niche Brand, hosted by Michael Smith @ Gallery 5 – $8 in advance/$10 at the door (order tickets HERE)
Bonfires burning bright, pumpkin faces in the night… it’s Halloween once again, and in classic Richmond fashion, we’ll be doing it up right, regardless of what day of the week October 31 arrives on. The classic Richmond tradition of Halloween covers show got thrown off this year when the venue Return Of The Living Dead Bands was booked into closed down, but never fear — there’s still plenty of fun, costumery, and punk rock madness to go around on this All Hallow’s Eve!

The cynosure of the music-related celebration in RVA this Halloween night is at Gallery 5, where my old pal Rivanna and Raw Mom Presents are doing it up in proper fashion, with more than just music for your entertainment. There’ll also be drag performances featuring Chicki Parm and Niche Brand, a costume contest with prizes, and host Michael Smith keeping the action going throughout the night. So come dressed up, and have some fun!

But make sure you catch the music, because this night is full of local groups with a lot to offer! At the top of the bill is furious Richmond hardcore group Nosebleed, who are going to be releasing a new EP on venerable HC label Triple B Records later this year. They’re sure to blow you away, and metallic postpunk rockers Unmaker, punk rippers Benderheads, and indie rock balladeers Haybaby will do much the same. Liven up your Halloween this year at Gallery 5, and get a full helping of devilish fun before the sun rises and the saints come out.

Wednesday, October 30, 7 PM
Russian Circles, Windhand @ The Broadberry – $18 in advance/$20 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Sometimes genres tagged with a “post-” prefix can get a little limiting. For Russian Circles, who’ve debatably been standard-bearers for the “post-metal” subgenre for over a decade now, their brand of complex, slowly evolving riff epics could certainly have resulted in them painting themselves into a corner, especially on their seventh album. Thankfully, new LP Blood Year shows that this Chicago trio is far from running out of ideas.

They’re also smart enough not to let the ideas they do have run away with them, avoiding long metallic symphonies in favor of concisely expressed musical ideas that generally conclude well short of the ten-minute mark. If anything, there’s more Breadwinner and early Don Caballero in the mix on Blood Year than reliable post-metal touchstones like Isis and Pelican. Which is a wonderful thing. Tonight at the Broadberry, Russian Circles will be joined by Windhand, a band that has learned to make epic lengths work for them in the related but decidedly separate field of apocalyptic doom metal. It all adds up to filling three hours of your Wednesday night with several days’ worth of riffs, and what could be a better bargain than that?

Thursday, October 31, 7 PM
Citrus City Halloween Bash, feat. Hovvdy, Kevin Krauter, Caroline Says, Addy @ The Camel – $10 in advance/$12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
In the world of music, Halloween is often closely identified with punk rockers and spooky metal bands, but who says the indie kids don’t like to have fun too? Citrus City Records is proving that Richmond’s indie scene can embrace the Allhallows fun times as well as anyone with this shindig over at The Camel. Granted, things will be a bit more low-key over by the post office — as far as we know, no costume contests are planned (though we’re sure no one will mind if you show up in your trick-or-treating outfit). However, you will get an evening full of great indie sounds from local and touring artists, and there ain’t a damn thing wrong with that.

Hovvdy are at the top of this bill, and while I know this Austin, Texas duo wants me to look at that name and think “howdy,” I’m no good with these double-V-instead-of-single-W names, so I just think of them as “hov-dee.” However you feel like pronouncing their name, these guys exemplify their self-identified genre tag of “pillowcore” on just-released third LP Heavy Lifter, a collection that pairs bedroom indie sounds with hints of Americana and is the perfect soundtrack for a relaxing, low-key Halloween. Some other out-of-town indie pals are also on the bill — mellow indie-folk project Caroline Says also hails from Austin, while lo-fi singer-songwriter Kevin Krauter comes from Indiana. Local indie crew Addy will kick the evening off, and bring you a fine way to spend Halloween if you’re not feeling the whole stress of getting a costume together. (Believe me, I’ve been there.)

Friday, November 1, 6 PM
Wolves At The Gate, My Epic, Comrades, Empty, Eaves @ The Canal Club – $14 in advance/$16 day of show (order tickets HERE)
I have no idea what was in the water 20 or so years ago around certain religious institutions in the American midwest, but somehow or another, a certain subgenre evolved that seemed inextricable from Christianity. It was a mixture of hardcore, metal, and emo, and while it could go in more chaotic (The Chariot) or more melodramatic (mewithoutYou) directions, the general result was both heavy and driving while also being dramatic and emotional. And even for nonbelievers like myself, it was all but impossible to deny that a lot of it was really, really good.

Ohio’s Wolves At The Gate are solidly in that tradition, having evolved over their past decade of existence from the melodic metalcore of their early EPs to the epic, emotional metallic post-hardcore of their recently released fourth LP, Eclipse. Bringing in a decidedly epic atmosphere over the course of more recent work, they’ve attained a bit of a prog edge without losing their heaviness or the power of their dramatic musical crescendos. They’re sure to pair well with nomadic former Richmonders Comrades, who will join them on this Canal Club bill. Fredericksburg-based My Epic, who add a bit of grunge to their melodic alt-rock — entirely for the better — will also be part of this one, as well South Carolina’s Empty and Richmond’s own Eaves. Regardless of which faith you do or do not claim, rocking out at this one is a great way to spend your Friday night.

Saturday, November 2, 9 PM
All Your Sisters, Echo Beds, True Body @ Wonderland – $10
If you’re a longtime music nerd like I am, there’s a pretty clear picture that forms in your mind when someone starts talking about gothic industrial — and let’s be real, it’s a picture of Andrew Eldritch from Sisters Of Mercy on the cover of Floodland. That late-80s Sisters Of Mercy sound has made a fundamental imprint of 30 years of goth-industrial groups since that LP’s release in 1987 — that’s a fact. But it is still possible for bands to bring a new and more interesting approach to the genre without just walking in the Sisters’ footsteps, and Los Angeles project All Your Sisters is proving it.

Their latest LP, Trust Ruins, provides a blueprint for a way forward that should be just as interesting to dirty punks and angry metalheads as it is for traditional rivethead types. On it, All Your Sisters pair pounding drum machine beats that are straight off a late-80s Nitzer Ebb single with noisy, blown-out guitars that call to mind first-LP Jesus And Mary Chain. Plus, of course, that gloomy goth croon that we all know and love, which is a bit more Trent Reznor than Andrew Eldritch in the way this crew wields it. The result is equally enjoyable, though, and will certainly make for a great soundtrack to the stomping of polished black 20-hole Docs, even as it gives the less goth among us a sound we haven’t heard a million times before. Also on the bill, Denver’s Echo Beds will take things in an even harsher direction, while Virginia’s own True Body will cast a spell of delicious postpunk gloom over the entire affair. Hit the black eyeliner aisle and head to Shockoe Bottom for this one.

Sunday, November 3, 8 PM
Alexa Rose, Trey Burnart Hall, Deau Eyes @ Fuzzy Cactus – $8
The Sunday night at the end of the weekend after Halloween is a definite mood, y’all. Between a jam-packed Halloweek and a post-Hallows weekend that some people will just roll into a second straight weekend of celebrations, it can be hard to find your peace at the end of it all and get emotionally (and physically) prepared to get back to work on Monday. If that’s an issue you can relate to, I urge you to finish your weekend with this chill-as-hell Sunday night show at Fuzzy Cactus.

Alexa Rose is coming to town, and while this folk/Americana troubadour is currently based in Asheville, she originally hails from Clifton Forge, right here in Virginia. If you arrived in Richmond after a childhood spent in the vast rural west of Virginia (and a lot of us did), you’ll probably relate to Rose’s songs. With their tales of down-to-earth living and the day-to-day struggles we’re all contending with, they’ll sneak up on your with their resonant beauty. So why not meet ’em head on and let them bring you an easy smile of recognition? The warm glow Alexa Rose will offer you at Fuzzy Cactus this Sunday night is exactly the thing you’ll need to get you through the beginning of another ordinary work week. Let it shine on you.

Monday, November 4, 9 PM
Crippled Fox, Buzzherd, Loud Night, 3:33 @ Cary Street Cafe – $10
This rager will start your week off right with some awesome thrash punk sounds coming all the way from Hungary. Crippled Fox have been tearing it up in Central Europe for a solid decade now, and their hyperspeed rage evokes both the classic mid-80s era of crossover thrash — DRI, Heresy, Larm, all that stuff — but also the turn-of-the-millennium bandana thrash revival of legends like What Happens Next?, Life’s Halt, and Crucial Unit.

Basically, if your favorite Municipal Waste era is the early DIY EPs before they got a good recording budget, Crippled Fox is the band for you. Recent EP 10 Years Of Thrashing jams 5 songs onto one side of a 7 inch EP, and other than one midtempo singalong banger, they all flash by in 30 to 60 seconds. What’s not to love? These guys are sure to get a circle pit full of bandanas and backwards baseball caps going as soon as they hit the Cary Street Cafe stage, and it’d be a shame if you weren’t part of it. Pennsylvania death-grinders Buzzherd are also going to be part of this ripping thrash evening, and Richmond metallic punkers Loud Night and 3:33 will kick this one off right. Don’t get caught napping.

Tuesday, November 5, 9 PM
Greet Death, Ceremony (East Coast), Smallhands @ Wonderland – $10
This is a treat — with their new album, New Hell, on the horizon (it’ll be out within days of this show), Michigan’s Greet Death are coming to Richmond to grace us all with a set of gorgeous grunge-damaged indie rock. Their name may come from an old Explosions In The Sky song, but this trio are much closer soundwise to sadly-departed Philadelphians Creepoid, or maybe even 80s heartland noise-rockers like Antietam or Eleventh Dream Day. Greet Death definitely mix pastoral psychedelia, hazy slowcore, and sunbaked desert doom into their sound as well, creating a complicated, original music that has a ton of reference points but is mainly just its own thing.

And listen — it’s a pretty great thing. Expect Greet Death to prove this to you in loud and proud fashion on Tuesday night down at Wonderland, and you can also expect yourself to have a thoroughly great time while they do so. They’ll be joined by Fredericksburg’s Ceremony, aka Ceremony East Coast, aka not the formerly-hardcore band from California but a noisy, drum-machine-backed duo who’ve been around for about 15 years and are currently enjoying somewhat of a career renaissance. They’ve just released their sixth album, Candy, and it continues their legacy of ear-damaging noise-guitar roar that’s sure to please fans of first LP Jesus and Mary Chain or My Bloody Valentine circa “You Made Me Realise.” If you haven’t picked up on this group yet, this is the perfect time to get on board. Fellow Fredericksburgians Smallhands are coming down as well, to lay out some guitar noise of their own. It’s gonna be grand.

Elsewhere Around The State:

Thursday, October 31, 6 PM
Flamin’ Groovies, New Boss, The Gladstones @ The Southern Cafe (Charlottesville) – $18 (order tickets HERE)
I know the name Flamin’ Groovies doesn’t quite ring out today the same way it did two or three decades ago, but if you young whippersnappers don’t yet know about this pioneering garage rock/power-pop combo from California, you need a crash course in their truly unequalled excellence — and you’ll get it at Charlottesville’s Southern Cafe on Halloween night. Cyril Jordan has been leading the band since 1965, and in that time, they’ve innovated in the fields of psychedelic garage, proto-punk, and power-pop. They’ve got an overstuffed catalog full of timeless classics, and they’ll be bringing them all to the Southern, so you’ll want to be there to rapturously receive them!

These days, Cyril Jordan is the only original member left in the group, but though longtime co-leader Chris Wilson retired last year, Jordan has a rock-solid backing group to this day, and the four-piece will bring us highlights of their classic garage rock and power-pop eras, emphasizing both the classic 1971 rock n’ roll LP Teenage Head and the more Beatles/Byrds-influenced sound of 1976’s immortal Shake Some Action. It’s gonna be a killer show full of amazing tunes, and if you don’t already have Halloween plans, skip the costume in favor of some Beatle boots and a Nehru jacket, and head over to The Southern for some truly classic rock n’ roll sounds from the Flamin’ Groovies. You won’t regret it.

Saturday, November 2, 9 PM
The Needles, The Girls, The Nerve Scheme, Fujiwara, Rad Taco @ Chicho’s Backstage (Norfolk) – Free!
This free Saturday night show down in Norfolk is gonna keep the rock n’ roll sounds flowing and get everyone dancing and having a great time. This bill is topped by a double-shot of raw and wild garage punk straight out of Wilmington NC. The Needles have been around for damn near 20 years now, and there sound is a throwback to a trashy era of punk rock that was really just rock n’ roll played with a rude, snotty, don’t-give-a-fuck appeal that just can’t be denied. If you loved The Candy Snatchers and The Dead Boys, these guys will bring them back to life in your heart and put a big smile on your face with their rollicking tunes.

Fellow Wilmingtonians The Girls might take the prize for most un-Google-able band name of all time, but once some helpful person directed me to their Bandcamp, I found that their high-energy jams were worth the search. As you might have guessed given band-naming trends over the past 15 years or so, they’re not actually girls at all, but these three rock n’ roll boys all have a somewhat androgynous appeal, and wore dresses on the cover of their latest single, “Our Generation,” so if they’re willing to be that committed to the bit, I ain’t mad at them. Dishing out punky rockin’ tunes that land somewhere between The Donnas and The Ramones, they bring some pretty great sounds to the table as well. Outer Banks punk rockers Fujiwara bring a third NC punk rock combo with a slightly more melodic approach to this bill, and Tidewater hometowners Nerve Scheme and Rad Taco make for a deliciously overstuffed bill of all the rockin’ punk awesomeness you can eat. Belly up to the bar.

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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: August 21 – August 27

Marilyn Drew Necci | August 21, 2019

Topics: A Deer A Horse, Absynthe Of Faith, Ancient Torture Techniques, Bask, Bermuda Triangles, Big Business, Blackillac, BRAINxTOILET, Capital Ale House Music Hall, Cary Street Cafe, Corrosion Of Conformity, Craig Brown Band, Crimson Heat, Crowbar, Cybernetic Warkrab, Dead & Dreaming, Death Valley Girls, Elevation27, Enforced, Fallout, Finite Automata, gallery 5, Gary Clark Jr, Gnawing, God Module, Hex Machine, Ixias, Kept In Line, Lo-Pan, Loud Night, Manatree, Manzara, Mutually Assured Destruction, Neck Breather, Needle, Peterson Brothers, Piranha Rama, Psychic Graveyard, Quaker City Night Hawks, Red Death, Redundant Protoplasm, Riffhouse Pub, shows you must see, Super Low, Tel, The Camel, The National

FEATURED SHOW
Sunday, August 25, 7 PM
Red Death, Enforced, Dead & Dreaming, Loud Night, Mutually Assured Destruction @ The Camel – $10
We here at RVA Mag have had quite a bit of discussion, both in this very column and in other places, about Enforced’s brand new LP, At The Walls, so to call it a hotly anticipated local release would certainly be more than fair. Now the official release celebration for the album has finally arrived, and rocking out at this jam-packed hardcore/punk/metal show is sure to be the perfect capper to your weekend.

DC residents and recent Century Media signees Red Death, who share members with Enforced and are preparing to release a new LP of their own, are at the top of the heap here, and while it’s Enforced’s party, these guys stand out as guests of honor on their own behalf. 2017’s Formidable Darkness LP was the first with their current four-piece lineup and finds them leaning hard into the thrashier aspects of their crossover metallic hardcore sound, bringing to mind both 80s legends like Exodus and Dark Angel as well as current rulers like Power Trip and Richmond’s own Iron Reagan. These guys are going to lay waste to the Camel, so get ready.

And you also need to be ready for Enforced, whose dark thrash-core sound is both terrifying and galvanizing, and is sure to get you hella excited for thousands of At The Walls needle-drops to come. But we hope you’re parked close by, because you’re gonna want to get that LP to the safety of your car before the set starts and the pit starts moving. With three other incredible bands on the bill, including the first local show for RVA HC all-stars Mutually Assured Destruction (it’s Ace’s new new band, and his vocals are at a whole new level), you’ll really just want to get there the second they open the doors.

Wednesday, August 21, 8 PM
God Module, Finite Automata, Absynthe Of Faith @ Fallout – $8 in advance/$12 at the door (order tickets HERE)
If you’ve paid attention in the goth-industrial music world of the past 20 or so years, you’re sure to recognize that Metropolis Records has brought us a lot of the best work that’s come out of that genre — from Front Line Assembly to VNV Nation, and beyond. God Module may not be one of the first names that comes to mind when you think of that label’s rich history, but they have been one of the more consistent groups on Metropolis over the past 15 years or so, moving from early dancefloor classics like “Spooky” to their recently-released 11th LP, The Unsound.

On The Unsound, Jasyn Bangert and co. continue to work magic with the combination of dark synth moods, pounding electronic beats, and sinister yet somehow inviting vocals, which has situated them right on the borderline between industrial pound and gothic atmosphere throughout their lengthy career. At Fallout tonight, they’ll be bringing the pounding beats to get your shiny black Docs stomping on the floor, even as their downbeat melodies fill your heart with passion. It may be the heart of August, but black attire is definitely recommended for this one no matter how hot and humid it is outside.

Thursday, August 22, 7 PM
Death Valley Girls, Craig Brown Band, Piranha Rama @ Gallery 5 – $12 (order tickets HERE)
I’m not sure the cliched stereotype of the “valley girl” has any cultural currency in the year 2019, but back in the early 80s when Frank Zappa (and his daughter Moon Unit) had a novelty hit called “Valley Girl” while Nic Cage starred in a movie of the same name, it definitely meant something. That stereotype of a rambunctious teenage girl who hangs out at the mall (do people even go to malls anymore?) and is always on the phone (OK, this part still rings true) is what Death Valley Girls are subverting, both in their name and in their dark yet catchy psychedelic sound.

Considering they come from LA, they’re sure to have plenty of inspiration for such a subversion. They let it loose on albums like 2018’s Darkness Rains, which channels everything from The Stooges and Jane’s Addiction to Romeo Void in its foreboding tales of West Coast excess. When Death Valley Girls hit the stage at Gallery 5, they’ll bring plenty of lysergic noise, but you’ll still have a ton of catchy pop hooks to dance to underneath it all. With accompaniment from Third Man recording artist Craig Brown, formerly of the Terrible Twos, and his band, plus Piranha Rama acting as an excellent local opener, this one’s sure to knock your socks off. That’s OK — dance barefoot.

Friday, August 23, 8 PM
Gary Clark Jr, Blackillac, Peterson Brothers @ The National – $44 in advance/$47.50 day of show (order tickets HERE)
We’ve known for a while that Gary Clark Jr. is an incredibly talented guitarist who brings a 21st century feel to the classic-rock-radio staple genre of electric blues. However, if you thought (as I did for a while) that genre was too played out for even a talented player to truly breathe new life into it, you really need to give Clark a second look this year. His third album, This Land, is fueled by the juxtaposition of his fiery chops and some real anger about the state of the world today, specifically in Trump’s racist America.

The album’s opening title track is startling in its harsh, confrontational lyrics, and hits all the harder for it. On that track and others, like “When I’m Gone” and “Don’t Wait Til Tomorrow,” Clark fuses modern R&B and hip hop sounds with his always-killer riffing and powerful, soulful vocals. It’s a sound sure to delight a wide spectrum of music lovers, and while there’s no shame in having overlooked him up to now (I did too), the time has come to give Gary Clark Jr. your attention. Do so at the National this Friday night — you won’t regret it.

Saturday, August 24, 7 PM
Psychic Graveyard, Hex Machine, Bermuda Triangles @ Capital Ale House Music Hall – $12 in advance/$15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Things are gonna get downright weird over at Capital Ale House’s Richmond Music Hall on Saturday when Psychic Graveyard arrive, and if I tell you that this band features former members of Arab On Radar and Chinese Stars, that might just clue you in on how weird it’s gonna get. Psychic Graveyard maintain the same sort of tenuous connection to postpunk’s experimental fringe that was present in their previous bands, but interjects a greater emphasis on programmed beats and synth-driven sounds — though it’d feel more than a little disingenuous to call their music “danceable” in any conventional sense.

What it is is noisy and bizarre, the same sort of unconventional strangeness that fans of the members’ previous bands loved so much. Therefore it’s no surprise to find them sharing this bill with fellow noise veterans Hex Machine and Bermuda Triangles, both of whom have unique sounds of their own to offer. Hex Machine’s heavy, metallic postpunk sound shines on recently-released LP Cave Painting, their first in nearly six years and a much-desired return to action from this stomping RVA trio. Meanwhile, Bermuda Triangles are carrying on with the same percussion-driven mutant space funk they’ve been dishing out for years now; their presence on this bill certainly warrants bringing your dancing shoes, even if Psychic Graveyard kinda doesn’t.

Sunday, August 25, 7 PM
Big Business, A Deer A Horse, Tel @ Capital Ale House Music Hall – $12 in advance/$15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Big Business is back once again, and this power duo is now going on 15 years of proving that you don’t need a guitar to be heavy as hell. Bassist Jared Warren and drummer Coady Willis spent several years making up one-half of the Melvins, so their pedigree is certainly not in question, but their sixth LP, The Beast You Are, released earlier this year, shows that they can bowl you over just fine on their own. They’ll do so with aplomb when they hit Capital Ale House this Sunday for their first appearance in Richmond in over a decade (raise your hand if you also saw them last time they were here, when they opened for the Blood Brothers).

Big Business excels at ferocious riffs that continually batter your brain and compel you to furious headbangs, so it’s only appropriate that they share this bill with Brooklyn’s A Deer A Horse, who do much the same on recently-released EP Everything Rots That Is Rotten. From bombastic sludge to foreboding doom, the many moods of A Deer A Horse are all powerful, and all dark. Local sludge-doom powerhouse Tel will kick this one off with a slow-motion rumble that’ll set the whole night off onto a powerful course. Make sure you’re on board this train.

Monday, August 26, 9 PM
Bask, Manzara, Crimson Heat @ Cary Street Cafe – $10
Let’s keep the heaviness rolling straight on into the working week, shall we? With Bask coming to town from their NC mountain home, we certainly will! This metal powerhouse brings epic song structures, killer riffs, and soaring vocal prowess together to create masterful metallic beauty on their 2017 LP, Ramble Beyond, and whether you dig Led Zeppelin, Spirit Caravan, Neurosis, or Queens Of The Stone Age, you’re sure to find something to love from these talented North Carolinians when they take the Cary Street Cafe stage.

They’ll be joined there by a couple of shining examples of Richmond musical excellence. The first is Manzara, whose energetic yet spaced-out postpunk has been making a mark on the local scene for a while. If you’re not up on it, this is your perfect opportunity to get familiar. Plus, you’ll get a performance from a brand new Richmond supergroup, Crimson Heat, which features veterans from past RVA stoner warriors like Sinister Haze, Stone Woman, and Heathens. Get into this one — it’s gonna start your week off right!

Tuesday, August 27, 8 PM
Super Low, Manatree, Gnawing @ The Camel – $7 in advance/$10 day of show (order tickets HERE)
It’s a heavy week here in RVA, but not every show has to crush your head, right? If you’re ready to trade in the headbangs for some charming pop melodies that’ll make you smile, The Camel’s got you covered this Tuesday night, as Memphis pop artisans Super Low roll into town with some downright delightful indie pop sounds. They showed off their talents earlier this summer with the release of their self-titled debut LP, and you’ll definitely want to hear all of those excellent tunes in person when they roll through town this Tuesday night.

This show will also feature the latest incarnation of Manatree, now a trio with a stronger focus than ever on electronic textures in addition to their complex, talented indie song structures. They showed off this Radiohead-meets-Four Tet approach on the Rough Designs EP, released last spring, and it will certainly be fascinating to see them recreate these multi-layered, synth-rich tunes in a live environment. We’ll also get a performance from Gnawing, a killer local grunge-rock combo who certainly know how to bring the Dinosaur Jr and Superchunk vibes, if last year’s self-titled debut EP is any indication. And I’d say it probably is.

Elsewhere Around The State:

Friday, August 23, 8 PM
Corrosion Of Conformity, Crowbar, Quaker City Night Hawks, Lo-Pan @ Elevation27 – $25 (order tickets HERE)
I’m sure there are a lot of old heads out there like me, for whom the name Corrosion Of Conformity summons up memories of the North Carolina band’s early days as progenitors of the crossover hardcore sound of the mid-80s. However, we’d by lying if we pretended that this band weren’t better known in 2019 for the sludgy Southern-fried metal boogie sounds they cranked out throughout the 90s and early 00s. Fans of that COC sound may have been a little bummed when the band spent several years at the beginning of this decade in their original trio lineup, focusing on their early crossover work.

However, they’re bound to be stoked that COC has reunited with vocalist Pepper Keenan to crank out another heaping helping of that powerful metal roar on 2018’s No Cross No Crown. COC will be firing on all cylinders when they bring the classic Deliverance/America’s Volume Dealer lineup to Norfolk this Friday night. They’ll be accompanied by their longtime compatriots in New Orleans’ own swamp-sludge metal heroes Crowbar, who remain at peak form after nearly 30 years as a band, as shown on 2016 LP The Serpent Only Lies. This hellacious bill is rounded out by Texas rock n’ roll groovers Quaker City Night Hawks and Norfolk’s own Lo-Pan, this is gonna be a night to remember — one full of headbangs.

Saturday, August 24, 8 PM
BRAINxTOILET, Needle, Neck Breather, Ixias, Ancient Torture Techniques, Redundant Protoplasm, Kept In Line, Cybernetic Warkrab @ RiffHouse Pub – $8
Hey speed demon — are you feeling unfulfilled by the excess of sludgy heaviness on this week’s docket? Well then you better break all speed records heading down 64 East this Saturday night, because you’ve got a show full of absolute grindcore madness waiting for you at RiffHouse Pub. I’m talking about this show, which features several different maniacal grind ensembles from around the Mid-Atlantic region, as well as quite a few homegrown VA talents to keep your head spinning with hyperspeed blastbeat mayhem.

North Carolina’s BRAINxTOILET are at the top of the bill, and their ferocious power has the same sort of grotty rage built into it that we saw from past NC grind maniacs Dead In The Dirt. DC’s Needle have a cleaner b but no less maniacal approach to their grind blitzkrieg, recalling DC-area grind legends of the past like Daybreak and early Pig Destroyer. Where locals are concerned, Tidewater grind legends Ancient Torture Techniques appear to have gone from broken up to doing occasional reunions back to full-time action, so that’s always a cause for celebration. Meanwhile, Chesapeake’s Kept In Line has brought us my favorite demo of 2019 so far, in any genre, so you definitely don’t want to miss them. Pissed-off straight edge grindcore, I love it! There are four more bands I haven’t even talked about on this bill, but I’m sure I’m pushing the limits of the attention span for all you grind freaks, so I’ll just wrap it up by saying: get thee to RiffHouse Saturday night, where all your blastbeat cravings will be satisfied.

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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 28 – December 4

Marilyn Drew Necci | November 28, 2018

Topics: Accident Prone, Alex Jonestown Massacre, American Television, Battlemaster, Black Tusk, Bottled Up, Broadside, Buzzard Dust, Charlie's American Cafe, Cryptodira, Doll Baby, Dominion Energy Center, Doomsday Lullaby, Drug Church, Earthling, Ghost, Gouge Away, Gumming, Hardywood, Hoboknife, Humungus, Inter Arma, Kaonashi, Lala Lala, Loud Night, Manatree, missangelbird, Negative Approach, Nhibitions, Prayer Group, Raven, Riffhouse Pub, Seattle's New Gods, Serqet, Shadow Age, shows you must see, Sleep On It, Slump, Small Talks, Songe, Split Wrist, strange matter, stray fossa, The Astral Void, The Broadberry, The Camel, The Canal Club, True Body, Twin Drugs, Unmaker, Vatican, WHY?, With Confidence

FEATURED SHOW
Tuesday, December 4, 6 PM
Negative Approach, Battlemaster, Shadow Age, True Body, Slump, Unmaker, Serqet, Gumming, Loud Night @ Strange Matter – $15 (order tickets HERE)
The holiday season is here, but for the Richmond music scene, it’s a sad time, as perhaps our most reliable mainstay for live music over the past decade is going away. However, while it’s hard to think of how we’ll get by without Strange Matter in 2019, the venue’s imminent closing seems to have created an absolute bonanza for people who love seeing awesome bands. Between now and their final closing on December 15, they’ve booked a whole passel of action-packed, star-studded farewell shows to close out their time on a high note.

Indeed, there are so many that I couldn’t possibly fit all of the worthy bills happening at Strange Matter this week into this show column without ignoring some really great shows happening around town elsewhere. But rest assured, if any of the following picks isn’t in your lane, there’s probably something amazing happening at Strange Matter that night — check out the full schedule from now til their last night over here.

All that being said, I couldn’t possibly avoid mentioning this show. It was already stacking up to feature an abundance of excellent local bands from a variety of genres… and then Negative Approach came calling. This legendary first-wave US hardcore band came roaring out of Detroit in the early 80s with an amazing treasure trove of hardcore bangers that made their debut EP and Tied Down LP classics of the era. These days, vocalist and human whirlwind of rage John Brannon keeps the band alive in the company of the band’s original drummer, plus former members of fellow hardcore legends The Necros and Easy Action on bass and guitar.

And believe me, when they hit the Strange Matter stage, they’re going to rip your fucking head off. And yes, I intend that as a very high compliment. If you haven’t seen the reunited Negative Approach on any of their previous trips through Richmond, this is the time to make it happen. After all, you’ll not only be getting to see John Brannon go wild up close and in person, you’ll be celebrating the past decade of greatness Strange Matter brought to us, and in the company of some of this town’s best local bands. Its brought Shadow Age back from their recent retirement to play their first-ever set as a quintet, the dynamic psychedelic-postpunk duo of True Body and Slump are both on the bill, Unmaker’s fresh off the release of their new album and ready to lay you flat with Killing Joke-style heaviness… and there’s a whole lot more. I’ve already taken up too much space saying even this much. Just go.

Wednesday, November 28, 6 PM
Broadside, With Confidence, Sleep On It, Small Talks @ The Canal Club – $15 in advance/$18 at the door (order tickets HERE)
Broadside have been at it for a long time here in Richmond, and they’ve been through a lot during their decade or so of existence as a band. In fact, no one we talked to for our first interview with Broadside back in 2011 is even still in the band — so that should give you an idea. However, since singer Ollie Baxxter joined the band in 2013, they’ve had a standout sound that sets them apart from the pop-punk pack and helped get them signed to Victory. Second LP Paradise showed them branching out in their sound, increasing the emphasis on melody as Ollie grew as a vocalist and showed off some teen-idol vocal chops.

But rest assured, this band still packs the sort of punch you’ll need to get you jumping and dancing even as you sing along to all those heartbreaking lyrics we’ve all memorized alone in our rooms late at night. And they’re coming to town with Australians With Confidence, who have a similarly sure-footed approach to melodic, emotional punk sounds, though these guys are more on the emo tip than Broadside’s whole post-easycore approach. New album Love And Loathing is an excellent listen, and the band will bring all those tunes to life in glorious Technicolor when they hit the Canal Club stage. Wear your basketball shoes for this one, because the club is gonna be jumping.

Thursday, November 29, 8 PM
Manatree, Stray Fossa, Bottled Up, missangelbird @ The Camel – $5 in advance/$7 at the door (order tickets HERE)
If you’d like a one-night crash course in what’s going on in the indie scene around VA, you can’t do much better than this show at the Camel. Your star attraction, as it’s been so many times, is Manatree, a group that started out as bouncy teenagers but have grown up, matured, and been through some lineup shifts in order to evolve into their current form. They’ve developed a new approach that moves away from the alt-rock and emo tinges they had on earlier material in favor of delicate, mathematically complex precision, which they showed off on Engines, the full-length they released this past summer. If you haven’t caught them live since 2016 or so, rest assured, a lot has changed — and in good ways.

To our west up 64, Stray Fossa has been putting together some excellence of their own of late, releasing debut EP Sleeper Strip earlier this fall to give us all a taste of their pensive UK-style tuneage. It borders on shoegaze, but the way frontman Nick Evans’ voice sits above the multi-layered guitars is so strong and assured that the end result is closer to pre-shoegaze UK guitar slingers like House Of Love and The Chameleons. DC’s Bottled Up let loose with a bit more distortion than the two previous bands we’ve discussed, but there’s a great deal of space in their sound nonetheless, and delicate, bouncy pop is ultimately the best way to describe their music. Recent EP BU2 is a lot of fun, and their performance at this show seems certain to be as well. Finally, Harrisonburg’s missangelbird, which grew from a series of quiet solo demos into a softly powerful indie-folk trio over the past few months, opens up, easing you into a night of lovely sounds from around the state. Don’t miss a moment.

Friday, November 30, 7 PM
Drug Church, Gouge Away, Seattle’s New Gods, Twin Drugs @ Strange Matter – $12 (order tickets HERE)
Just to show you a little bit about how the sausage is made: this double-headline bill was a major candidate for Featured Show this week. I couldn’t deny the outstanding nature of the Negative Approach show, but it in no way reduces the greatness this truly stacked lineup has to offer. Drug Church and Gouge Away have both released new albums this year, and both of them show some major growth. Drug Church’s third LP, Cheer, just came out and finds this crunching (post?) hardcore band dishing out their usual top-quality distorted midtempo riffs, only now with a slight undertone of minor-key melody that increases the emotional quotient even as lead vocalist Patrick Kindlon (also of Self Defense Family and the Axe To Grind podcast — yeah, you know this dude) is still blasting you with his usual acerbic wit and cutting insights into the darker sides of human character.

Drug Church have always had a lot to offer, and seeing them on this tour is sure to make that clear. But don’t get too excited about them and miss out on their touring partner — Gouge Away’s new LP, Burnt Sugar, is clearly the best thing this already shit-hot band has done. It finds them cleaning up their sound but continuing to lean into their driving, furious punk rock sound, with the end result landing somewhere between the excellent emotional hardcore of Xerxes circa Collision Blonde and White Lung at their career peak (that being the “Blow It South” single). Both of these bands are guaranteed to offer powerful live performances that you won’t soon forget, and openers Seattle’s New Gods and Twin Drugs only make this show even cooler and more interesting. Get there.

Saturday, December 1, 6 PM
Inter Arma, Black Tusk, Earthling, Humungus, Hoboknife, Buzzard Dust, Prayer Group, The Astral Void @ Strange Matter – $15
OK I can’t talk about ALL of the Strange Matter farewell shows, but some of them definitely need specific mention, and this is one of them. This one is for all the kids who wear old faded metal t-shirts with the sleeves cut off all summer, and denim vests covered in patches all winter. It’s the perfect evening for people who like the idea of doom metal, but prefer bands to be too creative to fall squarely within that genre’s rather narrow borders. That description perfectly fits headliners and local metal legends Inter Arma, who have shown us over their decade-plus career that they are equally skilled at all genres of metal, and are willing to fit pieces from the majority of them, as well as some completely uncategorizable elements, into any given song of theirs. And it always rules.

But there are a ton of other bands on this bill, and all of them deserve your attention, especially Black Tusk. This Savannah, GA band has persevered despite tragedy, returning this year with TCBT, their first album since the death of founding bassist Jonathan Athon. The album’s unrelenting heavyosity makes clear that these guys still have an immense amount of metal power running through their veins, and their set at Strange Matter should make it even clearer. Of course we’ll get a ton of other great metal from around the state on this bill, from Earthling’s blackened crust rage to Humungus’s power-metal triumph and the psychedelic noise of The Prayer Group. Plus more! Get that vest out and let’s rage.

Sunday, December 2, 3 PM
Doll Baby, American Television, Alex Jonestown Massacre @ Hardywood – Free!
It’s always fun to visit Hardywood on a Sunday afternoon when Handmade Holiday is in full swing. Tons of crafters, artists, and other local vendors will be on hand to offer you an artisanal alternative to the Christmas gifts the big-box stores are all pushing this year. And what makes this Sunday afternoon’s Handmade Holiday presentation even cooler is the presence of three excellent bands to liven up your afternoon and give you sounds to tap your foot to as you browse through the tents and get some holiday shopping done.

American Television are the out-of-towners, but they’re from just up the road in DC, and they’ve got a great sound that will find a home in RVA’s heart for sure. The “Death Defier” single they released this summer, which was sold in conjunction with a signature dark roast coffee if you can believe that, has the kind of caffeinated rush you’d expect from a melodic punk band with an addiction to the dark nectar of the bean. The signature roast is sold out, but they’ve still got plenty of killer tunes to deliver to you this Sunday afternoon, as do local favorites Doll Baby and up-and-coming young band Alex Jonestown Massacre. It’s free, it starts at 3 PM, there are food trucks where you can score a late brunch, and you can get all your gift-shopping done in one place. What more could you ask for?

Monday, December 3, 7 PM
WHY?, Lala Lala @ The Broadberry – $15 in advance/$20 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Remember when people used to talk about “backpacker hip hop”? It doesn’t get brought up as much now, but all that stuff released during the 00s on Anticon, Definitive Jux, and similar labels had a real effect on the culture and stretched the sounds and ideas of hip hop into new realms. Why?, a group formed by former cLOUDDEAD rapper and Anticon all-star Yoni Wolf in the mid-2000s, was a big part of that expansion. The project started as a de facto solo thing for Wolf, but soon evolved into a four-piece band that incorporated guitars, keyboards, and drums into a sound that was almost closer to indie than anything anyone would expect from a project associated with the hip hop genre.

But Wolf was still rapping over it all, and it created an intriguing fusion, one that Why? were largely responsible for creating, most prominently on their landmark 2008 album, Alopecia. You might hear about the fusion of rap and rock and think cringingly of Limp Bizkit, but Why?’s sound was about as far as you could get from that, accentuating Wolf’s thoughtful lyrical pensiveness with a quiet, contemplative indie sound that fit in well with groups like the Silver Jews — who Why? actually toured with back then. And they made their mark on a whole generation of music lovers, from hip hop heads to indie kids and everything in between. On this 10th anniversary tour for Alopecia, they’ll be bringing all those fans into the same room once again, and it’s sure to blow your mind whether you were there for the first go-round or you’re just discovering Yoni Wolf and his excellent band today. It’s something you need to see.

Tuesday, December 4, 8 PM
Ghost @ Dominion Energy Center – $39.50 – $79.50 in advance (order tickets HERE)
Nearly a decade after their formation, Sweden’s Ghost remain a very interesting band. Their theatrical Satanism, always exemplified by elaborate characters and onstage costumery, took a bit of a hit after legal action by former members of the group revealed the identity of mastermind Tobias Forge. Forge has actually been the band’s frontman throughout the many transferrences of the vocal position between different characters over the years, and he’s portraying yet another new character on the current Ghost tour — Cardinal Copia, a break from the Papa Emeritus lineage.

However, neither official character changes nor demystification has slowed Ghost down one bit. While their image might lead you to expect King Diamond/Cradle Of Filth-style theatrical thrash, their music has always hewed to a more classic proto-metal sound in line with late 60s-early 70s pioneers like Covenant, Bloodrock, or Blue Oyster Cult. That remains true on Prequelle, their latest offering, which carries their spooky, organ-fueled sound forward into a haunting, multi-layered extravaganza. It’s a bit late in the holiday season for Ghost’s current tour to arrive in Richmond — Halloween would have been much more appropriate — but with two full sets of excellent music and an incredible stage show, we’d be total grinches to complain.

Bonus Hampton Roads Picks:

Wednesday, November 28, 7 PM
Kaonashi, Cryptodira, Vatican, Accident Prone, Nhibitions, Split Wrist @ Charlie’s American Cafe – $10 in advance/$13 day of show (order tickets HERE)
It’s been nice to see a new generation of metallic hardcore kids who aren’t afraid to embrace the influence of nu-metal on their music. Because the fact is, the best of those bands had a lot to offer. When PA metalcore maniacs Kaonashi hit us with unabashed Slipknot and Mudvayne influences on their latest EP, Why Did You Do It?, it demonstrates clearly what sort of value can still be gained from those angst-ridden late-90s thrashers who loved tuning down and sporting eyeliner. Kaonashi songs like “My 5 Year Plan” and “You’ll Understand When You’re Older” mix the out-of-control moments of emotional meltdown that marked the best nu-metal into a recipe cobbled together from the best elements of deathcore’s downtuned thud and the gothic emo-prog of groups like Chiodos and Coheed And Cambria.

Kaonashi aren’t alone in following this thread to wherever it leads them — Sworn In has done quite a bit with it over the past few years, and Vein are certainly dipping a bit more than just a toe into the nu-metal pool on their new album. But Kaonashi’s new EP shows that they’re on the forefront of this musical territory, and they are sure to take it to another level entirely in the live arena — making attendance at this Charlie’s American Cafe show tonight all but mandatory (assuming you can make the drive). New Jersey’s Cryptodira are also on this bill, bringing an erudite take on progressive death-metalcore to the table, as showcased on 2017’s excellent The Devil’s Despair. Straight edge metalcore thrashers Vatican, who hail from Georgia, will also hit the stage with metalcore fury that harkens back to the genre’s 90s roots (so you know I’m stoked). All that plus three heavy-as-fuck local openers… gas up the Mustang, y’all. We’re going.

Thursday, November 29, 8 PM
Raven, Songe, Doomsday Lullaby @ Riffhouse Pub – $10
In a world where it seems musicians spend just as much time reinventing the wheel as they do building on the traditions of those that came before, it’s no surprise that some younger metal fans today don’t even remember the legends of the early 80s “New Wave of British Heavy Metal” scene. But that doesn’t make it any less vital, essential, and important to everything that followed. You might not know the name Raven as well as you do other legendary NWOBHM acts like Iron Maiden and Motorhead, but they’re every bit as good, and if you value the history of the music you love, you need to be paying attention.

Raven’s probably best known today for their mid-80s albums — 1983’s All For One featured a song called “Athletic Rock,” in which Raven named their own musical genre years before the “active rock” format was even a twinkle in a Clear Channel exec’s eye, while 1985’s Stay Hard produced their biggest hit, “On And On.” Three decades later, though, Raven’s founding Gallagher brothers, bassist John and guitarist Mark, are still going strong, and 2015’s ExtermiNation showed that they’ve still got the furious metal power they wielded at the height of their fame. So get a history lesson at Riffhouse Pub tomorrow night, and let Raven show you that metal was heavy as hell even before you were born.

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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

VA Shows You Must See This Week: November 14 – November 20

Marilyn Drew Necci | November 14, 2018

Topics: Airpark, Amigo The Devil, Babe Club, Bask, Birds And Arrows, Blush Face, Capital Ale House Music Hall, cement shoes, Citizen, Court Street Company, Druglord, Fire In The Radio, Flora, Forward, Frances Cone, Glass Twin, Harley Poe, Headsplitters, Lair, Loud Night, Mister Earthbound, Mock Orange, Movements, Old Sea Brigade, shows you must see, Slump, Sound Of Music Studios, strange matter, Tall Heights, Tel, The Camel, The National, The Story So Far, The Wet Boys, Toast, Turnover

FEATURED SHOW
Thursday, November 15, 9 PM
Forward, Headsplitters, Loud Night, Cement Shoes @ Flora – $10
Burning Spirits. To most, perhaps, it’s a vaguely paranormal-sounding phrase with no real significance beyond that. But for the diehard punks and hardcore kids in the know, it is a password to some of the wildest, craziest, and greatest hardcore the genre has ever produced. Apparently the name Burning Spirits comes from a series of venues that graced Japan in the 80s, but these days it’s a signifier of the bands that came from those venues: Death Side, Bastard, Tetsu Arei, Judgment, etc. These bands had a huge influence on the punk, hardcore, and grind scenes around the world as the 80s turned into the 90s, and while many of them were done by the end of that decade, a new generation of bands formed in their wake.

Forward is one of those bands, and perhaps the most legendary. Formed in the mid-90s by members of Death Side and Insane Youth, they became the foremost torchbearers of burning spirits hardcore over the past two decades. Forward has the traditional Burning Spirits sound, which fused post-Discharge UK hardcore with the speed of Scandinavian crust and the ripping biker-style thrash of early speed metal bands. Motorhead was a key influence as well — in fact, on Forward’s latest EP, Another Dimension, they cover Motorhead’s “Death Or Glory” in tribute to Lemmy Kilmister (RIP) — but they inject surprising melodic touches at the oddest of times, which might be the biggest part of their charm.

Forward making it to Richmond from their native Japan isn’t something that happens every day — in fact, it’s been four years since the last time they came through. It might be at least that long before they make it again. So if you want to come sing along with classics like “Just Go Forward To Death” or “Over The Matter Of Course,” this is your chance. Don’t waste it. New Yorkers Headsplitters are also in on the fun with some raging biker-crust of their own, and Richmond up-and-comers Loud Night and Cement Shoes get this one moving. So spike up your hair, dig out your leather vest, and get ready for some serious circle-pit action.

Wednesday, November 14, 7 PM
Amigo The Devil, Harley Poe, The Wet Boys @ Strange Matter – $15 in advance/$17 day of show (order tickets HERE)
There’s a really interesting stereotype about old-time folk music from the hills of Appalachia. All of it, they’ll tell you, is about degenerate behavior — drugs, gambling, murder, and assorted antisocial behavior. It’s enticing to hear, but other than occasional high-profile exceptions like “Knoxville Girl,” you’re not gonna run across too much from the prewar 78-RPM era that lives up to that billing. But here in 2018, Texas musician Amigo The Devil is doing his best to make that hyped-up legend of folk music’s dark, twisted murder balladry a 21st century reality.

Amigo The Devil plays a banjo, sings in a hypnotic baritone, and has written multiple songs about serial killers, from Ed Gein to Jeffrey Dahmer. He’s even been known to tag his sound as “Murderfolk.” That’s the sort of sound he’s explored on his early EPs; now on debut full-length Everything Is Fine, he’s moving towards a fuller sound with more backing instrumentation. Up front, though, he’s still the same banjo-playing songwriter with an angelic voice and a demonic imagination. He’s joined on this tour by a group with a similar sort of approach to demonic folk music, Harley Poe. These Indiana boys like to sing from the point of view of horrible people, giving them jaunty folk tunes over which to vent their spleens and say horrible things. It’s a forbidden thrill, but it makes for a heck of a fun listen. Give these two artists, as well as VA-based openers The Wet Boys, a night to worm inside your skull, and you might just find yourself walking to work tomorrow humming a song about murder with a big smile on your face. And what could be wrong with that?

Thursday, November 15, 8 PM
Birds And Arrows, Glass Twin, Blush Face @ The Camel – $7
Birds And Arrows have had quite the journey over the past dozen years or so. Starting as a folk duo in North Carolina, the group (which is also a married couple, Andrea and Pete Connolly) pulled up stakes last year and headed across the country to Tucson, AZ. Since resettling there, they’ve been rediscovering rock n’ roll volume, turning up louder and louder. You can hear their newfound embrace of raging noise on single “Stay Down,” which has obvious folk roots in its strummy guitars but nonetheless hits with heavy rockin’ power, like a classic psychedelic stoner tune from the mid-70s.

So what can you expect from Birds And Arrows when they hit The Camel stage tomorrow night? Well, as we’ve always heard, the truth is somewhere in-between, and this duo is sure to bring both the hard-rockin’ power of recent tunes and the more stripped-down feel of their folk roots to life when they play live. They’ll be celebrating the release of their new LP, Arbitrary Magic, which expands on the sound of “Stay Down” and features some overtly political commentary about just how frustrating the current state of our country is. If you’re feeling the frustration, and just need to let out some energy to a high-volume example of rock n’ roll chaos, Birds And Arrows are the band for you. Don’t miss ’em.

Friday, November 16, 7 PM
Druglord, Slump, Lair @ Sound Of Music Studios – $7
You can expect some serious sludge from this loud, noisy affair at Sound Of Music Studios Friday night. Druglord have been dealing out their loud, heavy doom around Richmond for many years now, but returned to the recording arena only recently; new LP New Day Dying is their first release since 2015 EP Deepest Regrets. This is their first release with new bassist Julian Cook, and it shows that despite the departure of local legend Greta Brinkman, these guys can still pound and shred with the best of them.

The new album was released on Sludgelord Records, and it’s an appropriate label for a band with some strong musical resemblances to bands like Grief and Eyehategod. If you’re a fan of slow-motion headbangs and pulverizing low-end distortion, you need to see what this trio has been up to lately. You won’t be disappointed. Heavy-psych weirdos Slump make an intriguing pairing with Druglord for this bill; they trade the sheer slow-motion trudge of Druglord’s sound for some extremely spaced-out ambience of the sort that’ll appeal to Hawkwind fans. Underneath all the trippy noise, though, these guys have some driving riffage that splits the difference between Motorhead and Blue Oyster Cult. Opening up will be Lair, an intriguing newcomer on the Richmond doom metal scene who told you most of what you needed to know about their sound when they released a two-song, 21-minute EP earlier this year. Serious doom, y’all. Get ready.

Saturday, November 17, 7 PM
Mock Orange, Fire In The Radio @ Capital Ale House Music Hall – $15 (order tickets HERE)
It’s been interesting to watch the evolution of our cultural nostalgia over the past several decades of my life. One thing that’s become eminently clear is that nostalgia operates on a 20-year cycle — and the underground is not immune, from the early-00s infatuation with Joy Division-era postpunk to the “emo revival” that was all abuzz circa 2013. While it’s a good idea to be a bit wary of nostalgia, one great thing about the nostalgia cycle as it’s applied to underground music is that sometimes, it causes things that never got enough shine the first time around to receive a long-overdue embrace.

This year, it seems to be Mock Orange’s time to shine; they’re currently on tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of landmark debut LP Nines And Sixes. That album staked a strong claim on a sound that was somewhere between indie-rock melody and the noisier post-hardcore tendencies of bands like Quicksand and Jawbox. Since then, Mock Orange have evolved quite a bit — they never really stopped making records, and released their sixth album, Put The Kid On The Sleepy Horse, in 2016. Though they still rock hard, their more recent releases show an increased presence of quirky postpunk synths and effects. It’ll be interesting to see how the group applies the results of these evolutions to the material with which they initially made their name. But regardless of the result, the mere fact that Mock Orange are finally getting their due is a positive thing. Whether you’re a curious potential convert or a longtime diehard fan, this show is sure to get your juices flowing.

Sunday, November 18, 7 PM
Tall Heights, Old Sea Brigade, Frances Cone @ Capital Ale House Music Hall – $15 (order tickets HERE)
This one is going to be glorious. Tall Heights have been around for a while now, starting out with a joyfully ethereal indie-folk sound that highlighted the duo’s incredible vocal harmonies. They’ve come a long way since then, though, expanding the group’s instrumentation and lineup well beyond the airy, minimalist melodies on which they made their name. 2016 LP Neptune saw them augmenting their basic guitar-cello configuration with atmospheric percussion and multi-layered synth washes.

Now, with recently-released follow-up Pretty Colors For Your Actions, they’ve taken things to another level entirely, moving away from acoustic folk sounds toward the sort of layered indie-pop productions that have marked the work of Brian Wilson-influenced 21st century experimenters like Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear. Tall Heights have plenty of tunes just as indelible as those of their predecessors, too, and at Capital Ale House this weekend, they’ll dish ’em all out for you. Get ready to bliss out.

Monday, November 19, 8 PM
Bask, Mister Earthbound, Tel @ Strange Matter – $10 (order tickets HERE)
I think we all know there got to be a glut of doom metal bands for a while there, right? Sure, there were a whole bunch who really ruled, and stood head and shoulders above the pack (many of them from right here in Richmond, of course). But new doom bands popping up on a seemingly weekly basis just wore us all down after a while. That’s why it’s been good, in recent years, to see the emergence of groups like Bask — groups that find a way to use the best parts about doom metal (spooky atmosphere, crawling heaviness) in ways we haven’t heard other groups use them a million times before.

Bask’s 2017 LP, Ramble Beyond, does this in brilliant fashion. On this album, Bask uses doom metal’s slowed down tempos and groovy riffs as a part of an expanded sonic palette that incorporates psychedelic astral explorations as well as the evocative melodies of old-time Americana. The result sounds like what you’d get if some talented stoners with a penchant for serious heaviness broke into some old-time Western ballads beneath huge desert skies at twilight. From folk-metal to desert-psych, this band touches on a variety of genres and moods, and as a result has a much broader appeal. Take heart, headbangers — as long as bands are getting this creative with the standard template, doom metal will never die.

Tuesday, November 20, 7 PM
The Story So Far, Turnover, Citizen, Movements @ The National – $23 in advance/$26 at the door (order tickets HERE)
Damn, this one hits close to home. The Story So Far were one of those bands like Knuckle Puck and State Champs and The Wonder Years, the melodic hardcore groups who had enough energy and distortion to appeal to my hardcore punk heart even as their downcast melodies struck me right at the core of my being. This happened a whole lot throughout my 20s and 30s, when I spent most of my time being emotionally vulnerable, alienated, and alone. Life’s gotten a whole lot better for me over the past few years, and I don’t feel that way much anymore (thank god), but I will admit that I’ll always have a soft spot for bands like The Story So Far.

But I’m not just reliving memories of great records they put out years ago — The Story So Far released their fourth album, Proper Dose, only weeks ago, and somehow managed to outdo themselves yet again, bettering their classic self-titled album from a few years ago as well as 2013’s milestone in depressed melodicore awesomeness, What You Don’t See. On Proper Dose, The Story So Far brandch out a bit sound-wise. But they still sound sad, like the post-teenage self-doubt, alienation, and ennui is weighing on them just as hard as ever, despite the fact that they play much bigger venues when they go on tour now. Honestly, I get it — bigger crowds never seemed to make Kurt Cobain feel any better either. But at least when they look out from the stage of the National Tuesday night, they’ll feel a little less alone. You will too if you make the trip down, and between continued amazingness from our consistently brilliant headliners and a slate of outstanding support acts topped by VA’s own Turnover, there’s a lot to enjoy… or at least connect with. And sometimes that’s what we really need.

Bonus Hampton Roads Picks:

Friday, November 16, 8 PM
Part Time, Fenster, Blood Sound, Zabeth @ Charlie’s American Cafe – $12 in advance/$15 at the door (order tickets HERE)
Those of you who sit up late at night watching dumpstered VHS tapes of 80s movies on your crappy thrifted VCR are sure to get something out of what Part Time is doing. This group, the creation of California-based songwriter David Loca, taps into the warped sounds of decaying videotapes and obsolete synthesizers to create the Part Time sound. The group has been around for a decade, releasing cassettes through Burger Records and building a following with their indie-influenced take on 80s new wave electronica, but with new LP Spell #6, freshly released via Tough Love Records, they’re going mega. The album features a guest appearance by obvious influence Ariel Pink, and lush ballads like “So Far Away” and “Hide” capture the lovelorn feel of the best bedroom-pop creations.

Part Time are joined on this bill by Berlin, Germany’s Fenster, who play some strange indie pop sounds of their own. They’ve done some intriguing and memorable things, including a feature-length film entitled Emocean (2015), which documented the band’s attempt to complete their third album while trapped in an alternate dimension. Or so they tell us. New album The Room finds the group continuing to explore sonic possibilities, from space-age lounge music to alternate-universe postpunk. Fenster might throw you for a loop at points, but they keep your feet moving and your ears enchanted by melody. And isn’t that what’s important? Don’t let the static hypnotize you — this dual-headliner bill is more than worth switching off the TV and leaving the bedroom for.

Saturday, November 17, 7 PM
Airpark, Babe Club, Court Street Company @ Toast – $7 in advance/$10 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Nashville’s Airpark is ready for their close-up. This duo of Ford brothers, Ben and Michael Jr., have a lush sound that, on recent single “Devotion,” harks back past modern folk-pop into the early 70s heyday of singer-songwriter soft rock. Chiming acoustic guitars and gorgeous vocal harmonies set the tone, grounded by a rock-solid rhythm section and some creative songwriting choices. The group has released two EPs so far, Early Works volumes 1 and 2, but their forthcoming follow-up promises to take us beyond the early stuff as Airpark comes into their own.

When they make their way to the stage of Norfolk’s Toast, they’ll be well prepared to show the audience what they’ve got to offer. And so will South Carolina’s Babe Club, a newly-formed duo whose members both split from SC indie band Susto earlier this year. For the group’s frontwoman, Jenna Desmond, this group offers her a chance to step out from her previous role in Susto as the female bass player in a band full of men, and express her feelings about being a woman in Trump’s America. She does this over intricate guitar melodies from bandmate Corey Campbell, as well as her own driving bassline, on debut single “Hate Myself,” which gives an intriguing preview of what this group will have in store for us when they hit the stage. If it’s all this stunning and memorable, Babe Club will give Airpark a run for their money. No matter how it turns out, though, you’re going to want to be there and hear it all go down.

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Top Image by Lindsay Eastham

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond