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VA Shows You Must See This Week: October 24 – October 30

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Topics: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

FEATURED SHOW
Sunday, October 28, 7:30 PM
Titus Andronicus, Ted Leo @ Capital Ale House Music Hall – $20 (Order tickets HERE)
It’s Halloweek, and the main thing everyone knows to expect this week is tribute shows. All sorts of different musicians from all kinds of different local bands regroup in new and fun configurations (or maybe even in the same configuration as their usual band) to learn a bunch of covers by some particular band or other, and play a Halloween show with the logic that they’re “in costume” as this other band. There’s no denying that it’s fun, but it’s become such an expected part of Halloween that these days, it’s everywhere. The custom has even spread to other holidays, like Christmas and Valentine’s Day. And to be honest with you, this year I don’t feel like writing about any of it.

Now, you might think I’m just getting old (true), or that I’m just a grumpy bitch who hates fun (also true), but I prefer to frame the decision to skip the covers shows this year as a push to remind you all that there’s still plenty of other awesome music happening in Richmond this week, and while you could spend the entire week hopping from one tribute show to another, you’ll miss out on a lot of great bands who are doing their actual music in town this week. Call me a stick in the mud all you want, but I don’t feel like feeding into that.

Instead, I’m gonna tell you that you should go see Titus Andronicus this week. Titus Andronicus has been around for quite a while now, and honestly, you’ve had plenty of chances to catch them in town before. But if you’ve been following the career of Patrick Stickles and his ragtag band of punk rockers for a while, you know that it’s always worth catching them again. For one thing, the band is different pretty much every time you see them — not only in personnel but in sound. For another thing, they’ve got a powerful live attack that turns their overwhelming Springsteen-ish soul-revue take on punk rock into a powerful locomotive of urgency.

It may be a little less like that this time, though — brand new LP A Productive Cough is, in many ways, their mellowest effort yet. Featuring seven songs, they lean heavily on their tendency to write rambling epics full of rock n’ roll melodrama — the loudest and heaviest thing on it is a first-person rewrite of Dylan classic “Like A Rolling Stone,” and the most obviously punk-ish tune (“Crass Tattoo”) is a morosely beautiful piano ballad. Will they still bust out the historical-reference-laden ragers live? I’d certainly expect them to, but you’ll ultimately have to find out for yourself. One thing’s for sure, this show — which features an incredible bonus opening set by the legendary Ted Leo, performing solo this time out — will offer way more surprises than any night full of tribute bands.

Wednesday, October 24, 7 PM
Iron Chic, Somerset Thrower, Doll Baby, Talk Me Off @ The Camel – $12 in advance/$15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Iron Chic have dealt with their share of pain. Two years ago, the group lost guitarist Rob McAllister, who died unexpectedly at only 36. They’ve soldiered on since then, continuing to write the emotionally-driven melodic punk tunes that have always been their stock in trade, now with a new wistfulness and undercurrent of sorrow that runs through 2017 album You Can’t Stay Here, the first written after McAllister’s death. Songs like “Let’s. Get. Dangerous.” and “A Headache With Pictures” show that the band has retained its wry sense of humor and facility with anthemic hooks, as well as retaining a tough edge that explains why Iron Chic seem to be the favorite pop-punk band of hardcore kids.

Speaking of hardcore, Iron Chic’s Long Island tourmates in Somerset Thrower have a much more direct connection to that scene, dishing out melodic post-hardcore in a manner that harks back to the early 90s days of Quicksand and Texas Is the Reason with aplomb on their new LP, Godspeed. Fans of Iron Chic will dig the way Somerset Thrower mixes strong melodies into their Hum-ish guitar crunch, while the hardcore kids among the audience should get a kick of how surprisingly hard this band’s crescendos hit. With Doll Baby providing a bit of a high-lonesome emo sound to the proceedings and Talk Me Off kicking things off in snotty punk fashion, this show is sure to satisfy all comers — even if it does leave you in a bit of a pensive mood.

Thursday, October 25, 6 PM
Carach Angren, Mors Principium Est, Wolfheart, Awaken Cthulhu, Gutted Christ, Deathkids @ The Canal Club – $18 in advance/$22 day of show (order tickets HERE)
OK look — you want some Halloween entertainment? Look no further than the Canal Club this Thursday night. What Dutch black metallers Carach Angren lack in holiday spirit, they more than make up for by being scary as hell. You’ll find this band widely billed as “symphonic black metal,” but if that leads you to expect some Nightwish-style opera-goth bombast, you best think again. These guys know what black metal is about; that being blast beats, tremolo-picked guitar riffs, and hoarse guttural screams. They also know when to let their keyboards take the fore to create some serious atmosphere, but they don’t overdo it — where this kind of music is concerned, they are far more second-LP Emperor than fourth-LP Cradle Of Filth.

So yes, if you want some serious Halloween headbangs, you need look no further. Carach Angren’s 2017 LP, Dance And Laugh Amongst The Rotten, is a slab of ferocity perfectly titled for the Trump era.  And they’re not the only metal ass-kickers coming to the Canal Club Thursday night, either. They’re joined by fellow Europeans Mors Principium Est (“Death is the beginning” in Latin), who bring us some Finnish melodic death metal in the vein of their countrymen Children Of Bodom, perhaps with a bit more of a thrashy edge. Wolfheart are also from Finland, making this show a veritable embarrassment of riches where European metal is concerned; these guys are closer to what Carach Angren do, and if anything go a bit heavier on the black metal end of things. Blast beats ahoy! Local support includes the Tidewater band Awaken Cthulhu, who are seeking to resurrect the Great Old Ones through ripping thrash terror. That’s a mission I can wholeheartedly support. Come, armageddon, come.

Friday, October 26, 9 PM
The Camel’s Friday Festival of Frights, feat. Toxic Moxie, Piranha Rama, Nightcreature, Pagan Reagan @ The Camel – $8 in advance/$10 day of show (order tickets HERE)
I said I was skipping the tribute shows this year, but I can cover Halloween shows full of original music, right? Why am I asking you? I make the damn rules around here! And I’m establishing this rule right now: you will go see Toxic Moxie whenever they play a show. This band does a better job finding the sweet spot between punk rock rampage and disco euphoria than pretty much any other band you’ll find anywhere. And while we still haven’t heard that wealth of new material they’ve been stockpiling in recorded form, it’s easy to catch ahold of their musical whirlwind anytime they take the stage.

They recently acquired a new drummer, and the switch-up didn’t slow them down for a second. Find out for yourself this Friday night at The Camel — it’s sure to be a night of nonstop fun, even when Toxic Moxie aren’t onstage. Nightcreature, a new band who’ve already made a big splash in the time they’ve been playing around Richmond, are bringing us a release party for their debut EP, which confirms what everyone who’s seen them live already knows — these maniacs have rock n’ roll oozing from their pores, and they’re gonna smear it all over you! Piranha Rama’s musical melange will bring the zombie beach party vibe to West Broad St, while DC’s Pagan Reagan drive down to deliver us a set chock-full of surf-garage awesomeness. Plus, there’ll be a costume contest, complete with prizes! Make sure you wear a costume that’s easy to dance in, because you’re gonna be dancing once Toxic Moxie comes on. We guarantee it.

Saturday, October 27, 8 PM
Mary Chapin Carpenter, Laura Cortese and the Dance Cards @ The National – $29.50 in advance (order tickets HERE)
A key sign of my encroaching middle age: I think country music’s pretty tight these days, y’all. I’m still picky about what I like, and all that modern stuff coming out of Nashville is the most fake plastic bro-truck bullshit I’ve ever heard, but some really great musicians have operated in that particular genre milieu over the past few decades, and when they come to town, I feel obligated to let y’all know that I’d probably rather be seeing them than whatever grimy metal show is happening in some dark rock club across town. OK, that isn’t always true, but when Mary Chapin Carpenter comes to town, it definitely is.

Mary Chapin Carpenter had quite the run back in the 90s. From Cajun party jams (“Down At The Twist And Shout”) and heartfelt slices of life (“He Thinks He’ll Keep Her”) to playful romps (“Shut Up And Kiss Me”) and yearning declarations of desire (“Passionate Kisses”), Carpenter gave us a succession of top-10 country hits that showed both a significant musical range and a strong songwriting ability that made her a reliable source of excellent tunes. She’s getting less attention these days, but she’s still at it, making the same excellent music as she ever has. Her thirteenth album, Sometimes Just The Sky, came out earlier this year, and acts as incontrovertible proof that, even three decades later, Mary Chapin Carpenter has the goods. Go to The National this Saturday night and experience the work of an incredibly talented singer-songwriter who’ll remind you that country music can be awesome.

Sunday, October 28, 8 PM
She Wants Revenge, Shadow Age @ The Broadberry – $30 (order tickets HERE)
Halloween may be the scary holiday, it may be the costume holiday, but it’s also definitely the goth holiday, and this is one that’s sure to bring all the goths out of the woodwork, the black hair dye dripping from the tips of their hairsprayed mops… or something like that. She Wants Revenge has been out of the limelight for years, having taken a hiatus after their 2011 third LP, Valleyheart. However, they’ve been slowly ramping back up into full-time action for the past couple of years, and their current tour sees them jumping fully back into the fray with their moody, foreboding take on post-Joy Division gothic postpunk sounds.

The fact that they’re hitting Richmond just in time for Halloween is eminently appropriate, and their pairing with local postpunk trio Shadow Age is equally apropos. Shadow Age just released an excellent self-titled full-length that ramps things up to the next level for the group, injecting their bleak, cold sound with a welcome dose of frenetic energy. Tunes like “Montrose” and “Reign” fulfill the promise of their earlier EPs, and bring us a band at the top of its game. Sadly, they recently posted on facebook that they’d be taking an indefinite hiatus of their own after this show, so this may be the last chance you get to see them perform this material live. If you miss it, you’re sure to regret it. Don’t do that to yourself.

Monday, October 29, 7 PM
Nosferatu feat. live score @ Strange Matter – Free!
I don’t want to give anyone the wrong impression. The fact is, I love horror. I love horror stories, I love horror novels, and I love horror movies. That’s why I can’t possibly prevent myself from recommending this film event taking place at Strange Matter on Monday night. They’ll be showing the classic 1922 silent film Nosferatu, complete with a live score. This film, directed by legendary German filmmaker FW Murnau, is one of the crucial establishing works of horror film, following up on the example of 1920 German expressionist film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, and setting the tone for all vampire films to come after.

Murnau’s haunting direction and German stage actor Max Schreck’s unforgettable portrayal of Count Orlok make this suspenseful classic essential viewing, and its status as a silent film opens up a perfect opportunity for some local musicians to enhance the film’s atmosphere with a soundtrack of their own. Members of R-Complex, Prisoner, Asylum, Sinister Haze, Cough, and others will all join together to create a soundscape likely to pull a great deal from these musicians’ backgrounds in metal, noise, punk, and experimental music. It will definitely not be the sort of thing you’ve come to expect from an organ-soundtracked showing of Phantom Of The Opera, but if anything, that makes it better. Head to Strange Matter Monday night and see Nosferatu like you’ve never seen it before.

Tuesday, October 30, 9 PM
Dead Bars, Love Roses, Yeehaw Junction @ Wonderland – $5
Seattle’s Dead Bars are coming to town to liven up the bars in Shockoe Bottom. Well, one bar in particular — Wonderland, the punkest dive bar in the Bottom, which is sure to rise to the Devil’s Night occasion with this show, which constitutes what they’re doing for a Halloween party down there. They may very well go all-out with the decor — we all know Wonderland owner Chad Painter is a big White Zombie fan, after all, and therefore you can assume he takes Halloween seriously. But don’t feel any big sense of obligation — as long as you come to party, you’re sure to have found the right place.

Dead Bars are pretty excellent musically, and though they don’t have any real Halloween-like attributes — most of their stuff is solidly in line with the musical tradition of their label, No Idea; which is to say, anthemic pop-punk with witty lyrics about struggling through life with one foot in the gutter — they’re sure to rock the place like no other. And that’s what we all really want. Locals Love Roses will do a very similar sort of thing, but at twice the speed and with twice the velocity. Meanwhile, relative newcomers Yeehaw Junction are bringing some programmed beats and synth whooshes to a place that’s probably not used to this sort of thing. It’ll be interesting to see how that goes over. Regardless, though, this is going to be an excellent night of punk rock jams, whether you care about the holiday or are just looking for something to do on a Tuesday night. Get into it.

Bonus Hampton Roads Picks:

Wednesday, October 24, 5 PM
Bloodletting, feat. Arsis, Internal Bleeding, Pyrexia, AngelMaker, Within Destruction, Crucial Rip @ Shaka’s – $20 in advance/$22 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Now hear this! This show is happening today, it’s happening over an hour from here, and it starts early. You know what that means — if you don’t have your tickets now, you better order ’em immediately and go running out of work full-tilt at 5 PM if you wanna catch the maximum amount of headbanging carnage at Shaka’s tonight. Of course, the main thing you’re gonna want to see is the performance by headliners and hometown favorite sons Arsis, who hail from the Hampton Roads area and are just about to release their sixth LP, Visitant, next week. You’ll get a killer live preview of the record at Shaka’s, complete with sick death-metal riffs, hyperspeed thrash beats, and James Malone’s unmistakable throat-shredding vocals. And who knows? They may even have copies for sale. Regardless, this is sure to be a rager of a set.

And that’s far from the only dose of awesomeness you can expect from this stop of the Bloodletting North American tour. Internal Bleeding, who hail from Long Island, were one of the pivotal groups in establishing the slower, heavier, more breakdown-focused version of death metal that became a New York trademark and helped create the death metal subgenre known as slam. They’re still at it today, having released their sixth album, Corrupting Influence, earlier this month. And they’re still crushing heads with maximum power, which should be brutal music to the ears of anyone who loves death fucking metal. Fellow NY death-metal headcrushers Pyrexia are also on this tour, and while they’re not quite as legendary as Internal Bleeding, they’re maybe a half-step down. This is going to be a hell of a show, y’all, and the fact that AngelMaker, Within Destruction, and VA locals Crucial Rip are also on the bill only sweetens the pot. You know what to do.

Friday, October 26, 6 PM
Piece Of Mind, Typecaste, Atonement, Knife Spitter, Compulse, Patheos @ 37th And Zen – $10 (order tickets HERE)
If you’re looking for some super-tough hardcore, Norfolk is often the place to be. This weekend is no exception — Oklahoma’s Piece Of Mind, who’ve been making their mark in a big way over the past year or so, are rolling through with some harsh, metallic hardcore full of powerful breakdowns and aggressive rage. They recently joined up with Safe Inside Records to release Trilogy, a compilation that pulls together three EPs (hence the name) and sets the stage for a new record soon to come from the band. The new material they’ve previewed thus far shows the same sort of heavy-as-fuck hardcore power that they’ve been dishing out all along; fans of Hatebreed and Buried Alive are sure to appreciate this one.

Piece Of Mind are joined on this bill by equally powerful hardcore crew Typecaste, who hail from Boston and feature a harsher vocal attack and some harder-hitting breakdowns but are very much on the same page overall as Piece Of Mind. If you’re expecting to get anywhere near the stage during their set without being in the middle of a massive mosh pit, I have some news for you: it ain’t gonna happen. This triple threat of touring hardcore heaviness is rounded out by Connecticut rippers Atonement, who are all about the Slayer-style riffs in pursuit of the ultimate powerful breakdown. It works, too — these guys will make your head explode. This show, which also features three killer bands from around the region, including the outstandingly named Knife Spitter, is acting as a benefit for Braeden Branch of VA Beach deathcore band Deathsinger, who recently suffered a collapsed lung and had to be hospitalized. Help a fellow rager cover some medical expenses; kick in the cash at the door, and come to 37th and Zen ready to mosh hard.

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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: August 8 – August 14

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Topics: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, August 11, 6 PM
Piss Off 2018, feat. The Donalds, Vulcanite, Love Roses, No/Mas, Organ Trail, Genosha (pictured above), High Priest, Ruin By Design, Peacemaker @ Strange Matter – $7
Richmond’s incredibly eclectic music scene is a joy to experience. Everyone has their own idea of what this town excels at creating; some see it as a doom-thrash mecca, others think of it as a hip hop hotspot, a soul-jazz heaven, or even a screamo paradise. But no matter what impression you have of this city’s music scene, there are always untold new pockets of local music to fall into — and all of them are great. Which brings us to Tired & Pissed Records, a local label that’s been specializing for the past few years in fast, angry, metallic punk from Virginia and beyond.

This Saturday brings a Tired & Pissed showcase to Strange Matter, and offers locals who haven’t gotten on board with this hard-working label’s offerings a chance to catch up with pretty much all of it at once. This show celebrates the release of the label’s third compilation of bands from around the mid-Atlantic area who share their raison d’etre, and an unbelievable nine of those bands will take the Strange Matter stage between 6 PM and midnight on Saturday night.

Label standard-bearers The Donalds and Love Roses will bookend the show, presenting their complementing takes on raging old-school punk featuring varying levels of melody (Love Roses has more, The Donalds has less). These bands will provide a powerful inducement to both show up on time and stick around til the very end of the night. Inbetween, we’ll get sets from a whole bunch of great bands whose sounds run the gamut from gore-soaked death metal (PA’s Organ Trail) to frantic downtuned hardcore (VA’s Genosha), and from grimy, hyperspeed grindcore (DC’s No Mas) to an ambient noise project helmed by former Brutal Truth drummer Rich Hoak (PA’s Peacemaker). That’s not even all that’s on tap for this night, but I’m running out of space, so stop worrying about the details and start planning to show up at Strange Matter this Saturday and catch nine killer bands for only seven measly bucks. It’s a good deal no matter how you slice it.

Wednesday, August 8, 8 PM
Deakin, Highlife, Basmati, Grandma, DJ Elko Tract @ Strange Matter – $10 (order tickets HERE)
This one’s been a long time coming. Oh, you may not think so, since it’s just a local performance by a member of electro-psychedelic indie-pop group Animal Collective, currently touring as a solo act. But Deakin’s been building the hype for his solo material for nearly a decade now, starting with a fully-funded Kickstarter campaign launched back in 2009. That campaign took Deakin to the African country of Mali, to play a music festival in the desert outside Timbuktu and to create an album influenced by the music of that area of West Africa.

It took an interminable seven years to bear fruit, but Deakin finally released his solo album, Sleep Cycle, in 2016, and now he has reached Richmond to give us a live performance of this and other material, which indeed lives up to the promise of West African-infused Animal Collective-ish music that everyone waited so long for. Along on tour to offer his own spin on African pop music is Doug Shaw of New York’s White Magic, leading his side project Highlife and bringing us their American spin on the Ghana-originating sound of the highlife genre. RVA melodic-math weirdos Basmati will offer local support, along with Grandma, the solo project of Haybaby’s Leslie Hong. Plus, you’ll get an opening set from DJ Elko Tract, the alter ego of Blues Control’s Russ Waterhouse. At long last, there’s nothing more to ask for.

Thursday, August 9, 9 PM
Pass Away, Park Sparrows, Living Room, Thomas McDonald @ Bandito’s – Free!
Some pop-punk evokes the coming-of-age feels that assail teenagers as they leave high school and grapple with adulthood, but the kind of pop-punk played by Brooklyn’s Pass Away is of a different sort. Like Jawbreaker and The Replacements before them, Pass Away use their melodic take on fast, chunky punk tunes to lament the struggles that come to grown-ass people who still haven’t achieved all of their dreams. This band plays pop-punk for adults, and their fueled-by-cheap-beer sound, reminiscent of Dillinger Four and Latterman among many others, is the perfect singalong material for adults who have problems they’d like to forget, at least for tonight, by getting lost in tacos, beverages, and great songs.

Pass Away comes to us from members of I Am The Avalanche and Crime In Stereo, and therefore it’s fitting that they play with RVA’s own Park Sparrows this Thursday night at Bandito’s. Bringing together members of Strike Anywhere, Landmines, and Freeman (among many others), this group also makes melodic punk tunes for adults to sing along with and feel a little less alone. It’s OK, we’re all struggling — but Thursday nights with great music and great friends just makes the weekend come a little quicker, right? Pass Away will bring fellow Brooklynites Living Room along with them; this group offers a thicker, post-hardcore take on melodic emotional punk, but it’s sure to still appeal to anyone who knows what it’s like to seek answers to the big questions that remain on a person’s mind long after their 21st birthday. Virginia Beach resident Thomas McDonald, who normally leads The Record Collection, will kick off the night with a solo set. Get a plate of tacos and a pitcher, grab a table, and get stoked for this one.

Friday, August 10, 6 PM
Floral Print, Fat Spirit, Truth Club, Fullscreen @ Hardywood – Free!
I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone who’s been reading this column for a while that I’m not one to fool with alcoholic beverages of any sort. That said, I still get stoked about Hardywood’s “Fresh Can Fridays” events when they bring killer music along with them, and this Friday is one such event. Therefore, despite my total apathy towards brews of any sort, I’m still enthusiastically recommend that you hit Hardywood this Friday night and catch Floral Print. This Atlanta band is a real treat for your ears; their string-bending propensities resemble those of long-gone NC angular-guitar heroes Polvo, but the melody and emotion Floral Print introduces to their music is an entirely new — and a welcome — texture.

2017 LP Mirror Stages is full of complexly structured songs with off-kilter melodies galore, all of which are sure to hook you in and not let you go. It’s no surprise that Citrus City Records, purveyor of top-quality local sounds in a similar vein, is bringing us a performance by this band, and while it may be an obvious choice, it’s a welcome one, especially since it also results in killer local support from indie-grunge rockers Fat Spirit. North Carolina’s Truth Club is also along for the ride, and they add a touch of 90s slacker style, a la Pavement, to the string-bending melodies and guitar crunch the rest of this bill has to offer. Brand new locals Fullscreen kick things off, and while I can’t tell you anything in particular about them, I can tell you that this show is free, which makes it worth your while no matter what you think about beer.

Saturday, August 11, 9 PM
Songs From The Road Band @ The Camel – $10 in advance/$12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
I’ve long maintained that I can find something to enjoy in any genre. However, there are a bunch of genres that have remained in the hypothetical whenever I’ve made such a bold statement, and in there alongside jam-band music is bluegrass, a sound I’ve never particularly minded when I heard it being played at county fairs as a kid, but has never excited me in the least either. However, I may finally have found some modern bluegrass I like; not only did a Trampled By Turtles single completely win me over a couple of weeks ago (that’s another story), I am really digging Songs From The Road Band, a bluegrass ensemble who’ll make the Camel their home for a night this Saturday.

The five members of Songs From The Road Band boast a number of formidable credits between them; members have played in Steep Canyon Rangers, Bill Evans’ Soulgrass project, and Larry Keel and Natural Bridge. They may have a somewhat unwieldy name, but that’s hard to hold against them when you hear excellent tunes like the title track to their 2015 album, Traveling Show, or any of the tunes on their brand-new fourth album, Road To Nowhere. And while these songs sound good in the studio, the real place to hear this five-piece is live — there’s a chemistry and an organic feel in the old-time sound this band creates that just isn’t the same without being in the same room to hear it. Whether you’re a bluegrass diehard or someone like me, with no real experience of enjoying the genre, you’d be well-advised to head to the Camel this Saturday night and give Songs From The Road Band a chance to win you over.

Sunday, August 12, 7 PM
(Sandy) Alex G, Daddy Issues, Lance Bangs @ The Broadberry – $16 in advance/$18 day of show (order tickets HERE)
It’s hard to know how to describe Alex G; perhaps the best way would be to call him unusual. There are moments on his latest album, Rocket, which sound kind of Mac DeMarco-ish. At other times, though, he experiments with vocoder and spacey electronic sounds. Conversely, there are even moments that come across as downright country-ish. All of these tunes share one thing, though — a strong viewpoint, conveyed through lyrics and music in a manner that makes it clear just who Alex G is as a musician… even if his genre affiliation is impossible to pin down.

It’s appropriate for an artist like this to come to RVA in the company of Daddy Issues, the Nashville garage-grunge group on JEFF The Brotherhood’s Infinity Cat Records. Alex G may sound like a lot of things, but he’ll never sound like Daddy Issues, so this show is just that much more eclectic with their snarky take on being a twenty-something woman in the 21st century added to the mix. Plus, their 2017 album, Deep Dream, is a heavy rocker full of extremely memorable melodies. They’ll be joined by Lance Bangs, a trio with a slacker-grunge vibe that somehow lands directly between the other two artists on this bill. If you like guitar-slingers with unique viewpoints and melodies to burn, this is the show for you.

Monday, August 13, 7 PM
Jonah Matranga & Friends, The Pauses, New Lions @ Capital Ale House Music Hall – $12 in advance/$15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
There’s nothing as guaranteed to make you feel old as a 20th anniversary tour for an album that came out when you were already out of college and living in the real world. Y’all will find out about this when you hit your 40s, but right now you are best advised to ignore my grousing and make plans to hit Capital Ale House this Monday night and see Jonah Matranga and Friends rock the hell out of Far’s incredible 1998 LP Water And Solutions. Matranga was Far’s frontman back then, and while the band reunited long enough to release a fifth album in 2010, this 20th anniversary tour does not see a return to an old lineup. Instead, Matranga, who mostly tours solo these days, is backed by Florida’s The Pauses in order to return Water And Solutions to its full rock n’ roll glory.

This album may date from the waning days of the post-Nirvana alt-rock craze, but it is by no means insignificant; instead, its thick, heavy, yet incredibly melodic post-hardcore sound seems to bridge the gap between Quicksand’s seminal post-hardcore classic Slip and The Deftones’ dark, moody masterpiece, White Pony. The brand new Pauses album, Unbuilding, shows a post-hardcore band with a strong melodic grasp working at the height of their powers; therefore, it’s easy to understand why Matranga picked them as his backing band for this tour. They’ll deliver an opening set of their own that’s sure to keep you smiling, and New Lions — the group formerly known by the name of their frontman, Clair Morgan — will kick off the show in fine fashion and ensure that you have a great time from start to finish.

Tuesday, August 14, 7 PM
Echo Courts, The Wimps, Righter @ Gallery 5 – $5 in advance/$7 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Psych-heads, take note: North Carolina’s Echo Courts return to RVA this coming Tuesday to entrance us all once again. Having slimmed down to a quartet between their 2016 debut and their brand new follow-up, Room With A View, Echo Courts show themselves none the worse for wear by producing a tightly-focused set of melodic tunes that retain a subtler sense of the more overt psychedelia of their earlier work, while also expanding in numerous directions, from a country tinge to an occasional modern math-guitar vibe.

Echo Courts are sure to give everyone in attendance something to rock about when they hit the Gallery 5 stage Tuesday, and the local support they’ll receive from RVA rock n’ rollers The Wimps will be eminently appropriate accompaniment. While The Wimps are absent the psychedelic vibe that pervades Echo Courts’ music, they mine the early days of rock n’ roll for killer hooks with aplomb, showing off their versatile talent on 2017’s excellent full-length, Reel Whirl. Warming up the crowd for this duo of excellent groups will be Righter, a new full-band project from local singer-songwriter Hannah Goad, which takes the atmospheric folk sounds of her solo work in a fuller, more realized direction. Show up on time, catch this group before everyone’s talking about them.

Bonus Hampton Roads Picks:

Friday, August 10, 7 PM
Thunder Dreamer, Wild Pink, LA Dies, Ruth Good @ Charlie’s American Cafe – $7 in advance/$10 at the door (order tickets HERE)
A sound like the one Indiana’s Thunder Dreamer brings to Norfolk this weekend is always welcome, if you ask me. Their melodic bass tone, arpeggiated guitar leads, and catchy choruses stand just slightly on the “indie” side of the divide between indie-rock and emo, but no matter which side claims your allegiance, you’re sure to enjoy the killer tunes from 2017’s 6131 Records release, Capture, as well as any newer sounds this group has in store for us. Thunder Dreamer may at times remind you of the Beach Boys-filtered-through-Neil Young vibes of early My Morning Jacket, they share even more in common with the pastoral sounds of emo bands who hailed from their native midwest in earlier eras, from Cursive to American Football.

Thunder Dreamer aren’t the only reason to head out this Friday night, though; New York’s Wild Pink has quite a bit to offer on their own behalf, even if the twangy touches that show through on latest LP Yolk In The Fur are a surprising thing to hear from a band from the Northeast. Whenever a band evokes Son Volt and The Jayhawks in such a talented fashion, though, it’s always enjoyable, especially when such evocations sit side-by-side with moody new wave vibes reminiscent of early works by U2 and Simple Minds. Lynchburg’s LA Dies (I see what you did there, folks) are also on the bill, bringing a touch of postpunk to the evening, and RVA’s Ruth Good open up the evening with some of that classic Citrus City jangle. Sweet.

Sunday, August 12, 5 PM
Beggars Row, Heavens Die, (Sp)lit, Suffer Through, 3weekoldroses, Consumed With Hatred, Deep Rest @ 37th And Zen – $5
It’s only my second week covering the Hampton Roads area music scene and already I am noticing that things down there are downright brutal. Beggars Row, the Virginia Beach band at the top of this bill, have a downright thuggish sound that feels to me like it could have come out of the northeast in the early 90s and no one would have blinked. The riffs are heavy and chunky, the vocals are harsh and deep, and the breakdowns are custom-designed to get the pit moving — which is exactly what Beggars Row are hoping to see happening at 37th and Zen this weekend, since they’re shooting a video at this show. Limber up those calf muscles before the set, y’all; you don’t want to pull a tendon moshing.

Beggars Row are joined on this bill by a whole bunch of other bands, most prominently Winchester’s Heavens Die. This band has more of a metallic edge to their brutal low-end pound; they’ve definitely got a few early 90s death metal records in their collections. Lancaster, PA group (Sp)lit, who might be the first group to grab my attention through their creative use of typography, are on tour with Heavens Die, and are bringing a faster, chunkier brand of heavy hardcore to Norfolk with this set. Integrity fans should pay special attention to these guys. Maryland’s Suffer Through keep it heavy as well, while Philly band 3weekoldroses have some strong youth crew instincts mixed with a Judge-like tendency toward maximum toughness. The bill is rounded out by two Maryland bands: Consumed With Hatred, who impress me by mixing their heavy-as-fuck metallic hardcore with an overt, in-your-face political message; and Deep Rest, who bring the maximum chug. Lift weights and work out in preparation for this show — it’s just that heavy.

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

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 3/28-4/3

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FEATURED SHOW
Sunday, April 1, 2 PM
Brunch For Presents, feat. Good Cretins, And Out Come The Wools, Christmas Jerks @ Mojo’s – $5
Happy Holy Week, everyone! If you’re an observant Christian this week, you’ll probably be in church wearing your fanciest outfit at least once in the next few days. However, music has always been the closest thing to religion I’ve got, and if you’re anything like me, chances are you’d rather spend Easter Sunday rocking out. Don’t worry, it’s for a good cause — Punks For Presents, that Christmas-themed charity that donates toys to local children’s hospitals every holiday season, has been steadily expanding their reach across multiple holiday seasons.

Now, to their domination of December and their summertime “Christmas In July” shows, they’ve added a special celebration of the Easter holiday taking place Sunday afternoon at Mojo’s (which is becoming a pretty consistent venue for live music lately, and that’s always nice to see!). And if you, like me, are the type to worship at the church of music, this is definitely the Easter celebration for you.

“Brunch For Presents” brings us a triple-shot of killer Christmas-themed punk tribute bands. Good Cretins have become veterans of the Punks For Presents lineups and of the tribute band game in general — after all, how many tribute bands do you know of that go far enough to record? The fact that Good Cretins have an EP worth of Ramones covers available for streaming on Bandcamp should prove that they’re serious about bringing you the best-quality Ramones tribute in the business. They’ll be joined on this bill by Rancid-lovers And Out Come The Wools (whose name, I’m assuming, is a Christmas-related joke I just don’t quite get), and by Christmas Jerks, who’ll bring the music of the Circle Jerks to life in this tiny bar. And it’ll all happen while you eat brunch — assuming you don’t make it to brunch until at least 2 PM. Which sounds about accurate for Richmond, so we should all be fine.

Wednesday, March 28, 7:30 PM
Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog, Rumput, Maria Chavez @ Black Iris – $15 in advance/$20 at the door
Fans of avant-garde jazz, postpunk weirdness, and general atonal insanity should be stoked tonight; Marc Ribot is coming to town! This legendary guitarist has been on the scene since the 80s, first making a name for himself with his contributions to classic Tom Waits albums like Rain Dogs and Mule Variations. He went on to play with a variety of artists with a variety of approaches, from Elvis Costello to John Zorn. He’s also been making solo records since the dawn of the 90s, on which he has teamed up with a variety of talented musicians to create a whole ton of genre-hopping musical madness.

Ribot’s current crew is Ceramic Dog, a trio in which he’s backed by two members of the Mr. Bungle side project Secret Chiefs 3. They’re just about to release their third album and first since 2013, YRU Still Here? Ribot’s work with Ceramic Dog takes a variety of forms, from Grinderman-style angry-old-man noise-rock to instrumental noise-jazz and even the occasional quiet moments. The new album mostly finds Ribot in angry-old-man mode, but for righteous reasons, as is shown in song titles like “Muslim Jewish Resistance” and “Fuck La Migra.” Tonight at Black Iris, he’ll be screaming with his voice and with his guitar, while Ceramic Dog tears your face off with their uncompromising instrumental attack. You’re not going to want to miss this — nor will you want to miss the opening performance by genre-melding folk musicians Rumput, and the post-Ribot DJ set from avant-garde sound artist Maria Chavez. This will be a night to remember, folks. Be there.

Thursday, March 29, 6 PM
Nana Grizol, Loamlands, Benjamin Shepherd @ Strange Matter – $12 (order tickets HERE)
Early all-ages shows were kind of the lifeblood of the scene back when I was growing up in the 90s. These days, they’re a vanishingly rare breed, at least around here, and the fact that I’m fully twice as old as I need to be to get into bar shows doesn’t make this any less of a bummer to me. So I’m glad to see a rare occurrence of an actual all-ages show happening this week over at Strange Matter. Of course, it’s headlined by Nana Grizol, who’ve been around for 15 years and feature members with resumes dating back to the 90s. But you’ve gotta start somewhere, right?

Really though, no matter what age you are, chances are Nana Grizol has something to offer you. Featuring former members of Defiance Ohio and Neutral Milk Hotel, they’ve got impeccable credentials in the worlds of both folk-punk and indie-pop, and the winsome, jangly pop sound of their latest album, 2017’s Ursa Minor, is guaranteed to appeal to fans from both of those musical worlds, and quite a few others. Only intermittently active, this group is probably not coming around again anytime soon, so head over after school and catch their set. You’ll still be home in time to beat curfew! And if you show up on time (always a good idea), you’ll also catch sets from Loamlands, a Durham-based alt-country group with tinges of Fleetwood Mac in their sound; and local singer-songwriter Benjamin Shepherd, who’s bringing a full band with him this time out. Make it happen.

Friday, March 30, 8 PM
Deau Eyes, The Pop Up Duo, Calvin @ The HofGarden – $10 in advance, $15 at the door (order tickets HERE)
Scott’s Addition is popping off like crazy these days, and though I won’t pretend not to miss the sleepy little abandoned factory town, complete with a random patch of woods over towards the train tracks, that I moved into in 2006, I certainly recognize that Richmond has embraced this area as the new hangout spot of choice. After all, there’s a lot to do over there these days, and the HofGarden is making a pretty significant contribution to that fact all by its lonesome. After all, it’s got three whole floors to offer for your entertainment! I’m not too enthused about the one that’s yet another craft beer spot, but the game room and rooftop pizza joint are just what the doctor ordered on some nights.

And this Friday night, the rooftop’s gonna be the place to be as three excellent local acts kick off the HofGarden’s Finally Friday live series with a performance on top of the Hofheimer Building. Deau Eyes has made some noise around Richmond since the start of 2018 with their crowdfunding campaign to produce their debut album, and while you still can’t hear their excellent 90s alt-rock sounds unless you go watch their Kickstarter video, you won’t have to wait for the album to drop if you head over to the HofGarden Friday night and catch their set, now will you? Deau Eyes are joined on this bill by some musicians of a decidedly different style, including the Pop-Up Duo, a standup bassist and a saxophonist who do some pretty fun material, including Tom Petty covers if their Facebook page is any indication. There’ll also be a solo performance from Calvin Brown, aka Calvin, who plays keyboards in Kenneka Cook’s band but also has some sounds of his own to bring to you. All this while you eat pizza on a roof? What more do you need?

Saturday, March 31, 8 PM
The Mostly Dead, The Donalds, Love Roses @ Wonderland – $5
It’s Saturday night — a great night to head down to Shockoe Bottom and party at Wonderland, which is keeping the punk spirit alive down by the river. This week sees the arrival of The Mostly Dead, a rad band from DC with a really solid post-hardcore sound. You could be forgiven for expecting shows at Wonderland to revolve entirely around old-school punk and crossover thrash, but The Mostly Dead are pushing the boundaries of this place’s usual fare with powerful riffing that draws from DC forebears like Swiz while also incorporating melodic touches drawn from Jawbox and Fugazi.

One need look no farther than their 2014 LP, Wilderness, for solid evidence that The Mostly Dead has the goods. Sadly, that seems to be their most recent release. If anything, that may mean you’ll get a grip of as-yet-unreleased tunes from the band’s set Saturday night, though, and that’s always a good reason to show up. And of course there’s also a double-shot of the old-school punk sound you’ve come to rely on from Wonderland, in the form of local bands The Donalds and Love Roses. These bands will give you plenty of fist-pumping tunes to circle-pit and sing along to — just don’t spill your beer on the dance floor, that’d be a bummer.

Sunday, April 1, 9 PM
Ol’ Sport, Futurists, Eaves, Inthewater @ Emilio’s – $5
Emilio’s seems to go back and forth with how active it is in the live music scene. It’s been poppin’ lately, though, and that’s always nice to see. This Sunday night, the little jazz bar on the corner of Broad and Meadow will be visited by two bands from Charlotte, NC, and if you’re willing to deal with the mess the whole new bus line has made of the street down there, you’ll be rewarded with some excellent sounds. Ol’ Sport are doing the emo thing, which I’ve always admitted to being a sucker for. Last summer’s Grass Stains EP has some great songwriting and does a good job of moving back and forth between quietly downcast moments and loud, anthemic celebrations of angst and emotional struggle. This is what I’m looking for, and if it’s not what you’re looking for too, you should maybe reconsider.

Heck, if Ol’ Sport hasn’t convinced you, maybe their Charlotte-based tourmates Futurists can. They’ve got some of that same melodic songwriting talent that shows up in Ol’ Sport’s music, but Futurists are coming from more of that 90s post-Dino Jr distorted-guitar alt-rock space. They’ve got a spacey feel but underneath that they resemble early 90s Sub Pop signees more than anything. And again, that’s just what I’m looking for. Locals Eaves will further sweeten the pot on this bill with some post-rock-influenced post-hardcore tunes, which were showcased in fine fashion on last year’s LP, As Deeply As You Do. These local kids are making things happen, and I for one am glad. New ambient artist Inthewater will kick things off, easing you into it. Works for me.

Monday, April 2, 8:30 PM
Marbin, Curtana, JJ Speaks @ The Camel – $10 in advance/$12 at the door (order tickets HERE)
I’ve tried on many occasions to get y’all into jazz, and here I go trying again. But it’s for a good cause, because jazz music rules. And it especially rules when it’s being played by musicians with talent and originality who are excited about taking it in a new direction. That’s definitely true of Marbin, a quartet that came together almost a decade ago, around the time that guitarist Dani Rabin and saxophonist Danny Markovitch left their native Israel to come to Chicago and play heavy jazz. Marbin’s had a variety of players on the bass and drums since then, but regardless of who Rabin and Markovitch are playing with, they continue to make complex, heavy music that brings an obvious rock n’ roll vibe and influence to bear on their jazz approach.

They’ll be doing that at the Camel Monday night, and you should really be there to take in their own unique brand of “Israeli Jazz.” They’ll be joined on the bill by RVA locals Curtana. No, not Cortana, that’s the silly little “desktop assistant” on your laptop. Curtana are a quartet that play instumental prog-rock with a dual-guitar attack that is sure to keep your attention. They certainly have a jazzy flavor at times, but this is straight up rock music with some metal tinges, which makes them both an apt pairing and a delightful contrast for Marbin. JJ Speaks open up with their own instrumental prog sound, bringing a lighter touch to the genre and emphasizing melodies over metallic crunch. On the whole, it’s going to be a delightful evening, during which vocals won’t be necessary. Nor will they be missed.

Tuesday, April 3, 9 PM
That 1 Guy, Dave Watkins @ The Camel – $15
Oh joy, That 1 Guy is back in town! If you’ve been keeping up on the wonderful underground world of the musicians known as “one-man bands” (my wife’s really into this stuff), you’re probably aware of That 1 Guy, a classically trained double bass player and rockabilly musician who has built a few instruments of his own and creates and performs his music entirely by himself on these instruments. Most famously, there’s The Magic Pipe, an aluminum frame with a couple of upright bass strings on it and a whole bunch of sample triggers, all of which That 1 Guy plays, sometimes with a drumstick. Yeah, seriously. It’s wild.

The result of all these musical hijinks is a fun blast of energetic, funky rock n’ roll with elements of Tom Waits (whom That 1 Guy once played with) and Primus, plus the occasional moment of straight-up jazz. His music is not just any one thing, it’s a variety of things all rolled up into one — and that’s always fascinating. The same is true of RVA-based opener Dave Watkins, who veers from acoustic folk played on old-time instruments to avant-garde ambient noise loops played with amps and pedals. Sometimes he does both at the same time, and like That 1 Guy, he’s even made his own instrument — an electric “dulcitar” (part dulcimer, part guitar) — on which to perform his compositions. If you like adventurous, unusual musical explorations, both Watkins and That 1 Guy are musicians you need to see. Luckily for you, you can see both for the price of one this Tuesday night at The Camel! I think you know what to do.

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

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 3/21-3/27

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FEATURED SHOW
Friday, March 23, 7 PM
Windhand, Satan’s Satyrs, Prisoner @ The Broadberry – $15 (order tickets HERE)
It’s been a long time, y’all, but the time has finally come for the return of Windhand! This crew of almighty shredders has been quite a while away from the recording studio — their last full-length, Grief’s Infernal Flower, was issued nearly three years ago. However, not only have they returned to action this year with a split LP combining their sludgy brutality with the shredding rippage of NoVA slayers Satan’s Satyrs, they’re returning to the stage here in Richmond for the first time in a year with this epic celebration of the aforementioned split LP’s release!

The Windhand side of this full-length is the first release featuring Windhand’s current single guitar lineup, but it shows no diminution in the power, volume, and density of the band’s sound. The spooky gloom sludge of new tunes “Old Evil” and “Three Sisters” carries on the foreboding mood of the band’s previous work, with Dorthia Cottrell’s witchy vocal melodies and some excellent organ undertones making the perfect contrast to the brutal riffs these songs are veritably overflowing with. You’ll get a good taste of their excellent new material as well as some old favorites at this show, so come prepared for the onslaught.

Satan’s Satyrs will be on hand as well, giving you a heavy dose of the rockin’, rollin’ biker metal grooves from their own side of the brand new split LP. They aren’t quite as crushing as Windhand, but they’ll keep your head banging and your ears ringing just fine on their own behalf. And of course, Prisoner will bring plenty of thunderous fury of their own from their opening slot, reminding us all how great their 2017 LP Beyond The Infinite was, with its mix of denim n’ leather thrash and grit-encrusted D-beat doom. Make sure you’ve got some ibuprofen in the medicine cabinet before this one, because your neck and ears will be in serious need the next morning. And you’ll never regret it for a second.

Wednesday, March 21, 7 PM
Forever Came Calling, In Her Own Words, Hold Close, Telltale, Last Night’s Ghost @ The Canal Club – $12 in advance/$15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
I try to be honest when shows like this come up, so let’s just get it out front right now — I’m a sucker for emotional pop-punk bands with a vague hardcore edge. The Story So Far, State Champs, Four Year Strong… all that stuff just has me dead to rights. Like those other bands, Forever Came Calling was signed to Pure Noise Records earlier this decade when they were putting out killer LPs like 2014′ s What Matters Most and winning me over with outstanding emo-pop gems like “Defenseless” and “Rather Be Dead Than Cool.” They fell off the map for a bit, leaving Pure Noise and doing some lineup restructuring that kept them off the road and in the practice space for a while.

However, Forever Came Calling have come back full-strength this year with a new guitarist and a new self-released EP, Retro Future. The two advance singles from the EP show that they’re still firing on all cylinders, and between these killer new tunes and the passel of singalong classics from their first two LPs they’ll have for us, tonight’s gonna be a hell of a night! Tourmates In Her Own Words — a pretty good emo-pop-punk band in their own right, though their name would make a lot more sense if they actually had a female singer — and Hold Close — another crew of emo-punk bad boys with a bit of a Knuckle Puck vibe (always good in my opinion) — will bring a significant amount of excellent tuneage to this night as well.

Thursday, March 22, 7 PM
Gavin Riley Smoke Machine, Anneliese, Mylo Shift @ Gallery 5 – $5
It’s getting pretty far along in the week, but the weekend’s not quite here yet — so if what you really need this Thursday night is to add some spice to your week, look no further than the Gavin Riley Smoke Machine show at Gallery 5. It’d be easy to just call Riley’s sound electronic hip hop, but there’s so much more to what he and his Smoke Machine have to offer, and a lot of it only fully comes alive in the live environment. You see, performances by the Gavin Riley Smoke Machine are sort of like those Choose Your Own Adventure books we all used to read when we were seven years old. Wait, what? Hold on a second, I’ll explain.

Each song presents us with a plot point in Riley’s “Space Needle Adventure.” At the end of the song, the audience will be given two choices, and how they vote will determine what happens next in the story… and, in turn, what song the Smoke Machine plays next. Eventually, we’ll arrive at an ending, though it may not be one you necessarily expected. The songs themselves are fun and amusing, littered with plot twists reflecting Riley’s dark sense of humor. And therefore, it makes some sense that hilarious local one-man band Mylo Shift is one of the locals on this bill — his own twisted sense of humor and wacky antics are enough to put you in the perfect mood for your headliners. And of course, we can’t forget Anneliese, who you may know from The Folly or Museum District but who has some pretty great pop-soul sounds of her own in store for you. Show up on time, and be prepared for an unusual and unforgettable show! It’ll get you through til the weekend, and then some.

Friday, March 23, 8 PM
Palm, Spirit Of The Beehive, Lance Bangs, Basmati @ Strange Matter – $12 (order tickets HERE)
This Friday night, Palm comes to town to prove to everyone who thinks there’s nothing new under the sun that they’re just not paying close enough attention. The zany, frenetic hybrid sound of Palm’s brand new second album, Rock Island, is the kind of thing that could never have existed before the current moment in the indie continuum, synthesizing as it does disparate influences from mellow math-rockers like Tera Melos, pop experimentalists like Animal Collective, and impossible-to-categorize hyperkinetic weirdos like Deerhoof. If any of these bands appeal to you, you’re sure to enjoy watching Palm dash headlong through sounds that remind you of all of them and a good deal more, in the space of a single song. And somehow, they keep the melodies memorable and the tunes entertaining throughout it all.

Spirit Of The Beehive are another excellent product of the recent indie evolutions, though they have landed in a very different spot. Initially channeling that whole early 90s “shoegaze” sound that many bands attempt these days (with varying rates of success), their second LP, last year’s Pleasure Suck, is an altogether different animal that sees Spirit Of The Beehive retaining their sense of tuneful energy but adding programmed beats, underwater synth sounds, and an air of general weirdness that shifts the whole thing at least 90 degrees off-kilter. The result is something that local Citrus City fans should really dig, which makes it all the more apropos that Citrus City standard-bearers Lance Bangs bring their jangly slacker-pop to one of the opening slots on this bill. Basmati interject their own unique take on math-pop indie sounds as well, making this a night full of bizarrely captivating music that is sure to win you over.

Saturday, March 24, 8 PM
Gumming, Lipid, Butt, Haircut @ Mojo’s – $8-10 donation to RRFP
Punk rock has gotten really psychedelic and weird in recent years and I love it. I’m particularly stoked about Gumming, a relatively new RVA band featuring members of fellow psych-punk oddities Pucker Up and Whorecough. They’ve got a brand new tape, Human Values, out on Not Normal Records, which showcases their rumbling, pounding riffs, messy guitar sound, and frustrated vocal ranting. The sum total of the whole thing reminds me of incredible UK punk band Good Throb with some demented Flipper/Butthole Surfers energy and a dose of early-80s psychos The Crucifucks. Gumming might freak you out at first, but if you stand your ground and give yourself a chance to get on their wavelength, the rewards will be plentiful. Trust me.

This show celebrates the release of Human Values, but it also benefits the Richmond Reproductive Freedom Project, and Gumming will even be giving a portion of the money from their merch sales to RRFP, so that’s all the more reason to score your own copy of Human Values at this show. The other bands on this bill offer plenty of additional reasons to show up. Butt aren’t quite as ranty as Gumming but definitely have that weirdo psych-punk vibe in excess. Haircut drop the psychedelia in favor of full-on angry old-school hardcore, but without going all tough-guy style and ruining it. Lipid follow the trend of one-word names that is apparently sweeping the city based on this bill, but that’s all I can really tell you except that the facebook event page calls them “rap punk” and I have no idea whether to take that seriously or not. Regardless, you already have more than enough reason to make it to Mojo’s this Saturday night, and I haven’t even mentioned their food! Get there.

Sunday, March 25, 8 PM
Love Roses (photos by Eric Maupin), Ruin By Design, LNT, Brainbuster, Hanoi Jane @ Wonderland – $8
I tend to think of package tours as the sort of thing that brings four or five emo or metalcore bands to The Canal Club and turns a show into an all-day festival even before there are openers added, but if the bill hitting Wonderland this Sunday night is any indication, package tours aren’t just for Warped Tour graduates anymore. The final date of the Worldwide Weekend Tour sees five different bands from around VA finish up a jaunt across the state that will bring the same five bands to clubs in DC and Roanoke before finishing up down in Shockoe Bottom. I wonder if they rented a bus for the occasion?

In all honesty, I can’t imagine. After all, these are hardly the sort of well-scrubbed heartthrobs you’d find on a Warped Tour bus. Instead, we’ve got the raging old-school HC/punk hybrid of RVA’s Love Roses at the top of the bill — and anyone paying attention knows these guys are always a blast. DC’s Ruin By Design bring a tough yet somewhat melodic take on fast USHC, while NoVA rippers LNT, aka Like No Tomorrow, bring some Dwarves-style raging punk with a hint of melody. Then there’s Fredericksburg spiky punks Brainbuster, who mix Casualties-style US punk with some old-school Boston HC sounds. And of course, we wrap it up with Roanoke’s Hanoi Jane, who mingle Poison Idea’s rockin’ punk rage with some oddly Op Ivy-ish ska-punk moments. It’s gonna be a lot to take in all at once, but since all of these bands keep the pedal to the floor, you’ll be able to skank on through to the other side with no problem. So throw away your preconceptions about five-band tours and come out ready to circle-pit — it’ll be a blast. And it won’t take all night!

Monday, March 26, 8 PM
Patsy’s Rats, Scott Yoder, Big No, Sick Bags @ Strange Matter – $10 (order tickets HERE)
It kinda keeps to itself, but if you pay attention, you’re sure to notice just how active the local garage-punk scene is here in Virginia. If you haven’t caught on just yet, this show is definitely a good reason to pay attention. After all, Patsy’s Rats, an incredible power-pop ensemble out of Portland that combines the talents of former Scavenger Cunt frontwoman (and Howe Gelb of Giant Sand’s daughter) Patsy Gelb with those of Mean Jeans frontman Christian Blunda, aka Billy Jeans, have turned to the VA garage scene for their current rhythm section: Paul Kirk (Cherry Pits) and Tim Abbondelo (the Ar-Kaics). If you want to see these favorite local sons rocking it with a killer group from the left coast — and you do, I assure you — this Monday night’s your chance.

Patsy’s Rats will arrive in town in the company of their Burger Records labelmate Scott Yoder, who hails from Seattle and has a sweet acoustic sound on his 2016 LP, Looking Back In Blue. Regardless of the decided lack of punk snarl, Yoder’s work has a real kinship with what Patsy’s Rats are doing, being just as firmly grounded in the basics of excellent pop songcraft as the Rats are. This can also be said of Big No, the local band featuring Tim Abbondelo’s long-ago Crestfallen bandmate Nathan Grice and his partner, Heather Jerabeck, delivering some psychedelic sounds that will add a measure of outer space to this evening’s festivities. Sick Bags will open up with all the snotty punk snarl you could ever want in your garage punk, just to keep all the leather-jacket kids happy. This one’s got it all.

Tuesday, March 27, 8 PM
Ceschi, Onry Ozzborn, Moodie Black, ESH, Trauma Lavern @ Strange Matter – $10 (order tickets HERE)
If you’re both stoked on the DIY underground and a true-blue hip hop head, this might just be the best show for you all year. Ceschi Ramos, who records and performs under his first name (which is pronounced chess-key), has been running his own label, Fake Four Inc, for a decade now, and he’s on tour with some labelmates to bring the celebration across the country. Ceschi has an intriguing sound that is more hip hop in approach and mindset than strictly in sound — while the man can rap rings around most emcees working these days, he sometimes forgoes the boom-bap beats in favor of acoustic guitars, choosing to sing instead of spit. His expanded palette always keeps his performances interesting, and everyone from open-minded hip hop fans to singer-songwriter types are sure to find plenty to love in his performance Tuesday night.

But Ceschi’s got a whole crew of Fake Four artists along with him this time around, and those artists are at least as much an attraction as Ceschi himself. Onry Ozzborn, who may be best known for his membership in Seattle rap duo Grayskul, is showing up solo with sounds from his 2017 release, Black Philip, and presumably quite a bit more as well. With less genre-hopping tendencies than Ceschi, Onry is mainly here to spit some killer lyrics over strong beats and electronic vibes. Meanwhile, Moodie Black brings the noise rap sounds from way back, coming out of Arizona with an aggressive sound that originated long before any of us had heard of Death Grips. Boston rapper/producer Esh rounds out the crew of Fake Four tourmates with some sick rhymes and unusual beats, while PT Burnem continues his long local association with Ceschi and Fake Four by bringing his current group, Trauma Lavern, to an opening spot on this bill. Liven up your week with 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] [for more of my deranged ramblings, check GayRVA each and every day. Sometimes I even write about music over there.]

Top image by Vivienne Lee

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 9/20-9/26

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FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, September 23, 8 PM
The Broadberry presents RVA Live! feat. Matthew E. White, Natalie Prass, Tim Barry, Bio Ritmo, Clair Morgan @ Carpenter Theatre at Dominion Arts Center – $10-80 (order tickets HERE)
OK yes I am usually on some more underground/DIY type stuff than anything that takes place at the Carpenter Theatre but sometimes something too big and important and cool to ignore comes along and you just gotta send people to the big bourgeois theatre in the center of town, right? Well, that’s my opinion anyway. This event is also being presented by The Broadberry, a relatively small venue with deep connections to the local independent music scene, so its DIY bona fides are pretty well beyond question.

Therefore, I must tell you that something amazing and very difficult to rationalize missing is happening downtown at the Carpenter Theatre this Saturday night, and tickets start at a very reasonable $10, so there’s really no excuse not to be in attendance. RVA Live! is an evening featuring several of the Richmond scene’s most noteworthy veteran artists–everyone from salsa stalwarts Bio Ritmo to punk-gone-country troubadour Tim Barry–performing in collaboration with the Richmond Symphony. With orchestration and arrangements being handled by Trey Pollard of Spacebomb Records, who has done string arrangements for artists ranging from Matthew E. White to Foxygen and The Waterboys; along with Bio Ritmo members Marlysse Simmons and Toby Whitaker; this is going to be a collaborative project on multiple levels, bringing the best of Richmond’s singer-songwriter community together with the leading lights of our local classical music scene–a scene that popular-music fanatics like myself, and probably yourself, tend to sleep on.

With Matthew E. White and Natalie Prass at the top of this bill, you know Spacebomb is going to be representing itself admirably at this performance. Bio Ritmo’s Latin swing and jazzy funk influences will get a whole new twist when recontextualized through the lens of the Richmond Symphony, and will add a multicultural strain to an evening that could get decidedly monochromatic without them. Plus, we’ll get the mathematical pop of Clair Morgan and the austere country blues punk of Tim Barry, embellished with the sorts of layers neither of their sounds generally contain. All of this will be fascinating for any music lover. And with so many hotshot performers on the bill, you’re sure to get caught up in the awesomeness of it all, even if seeing the symphony at the Carpenter Theatre generally isn’t your thing.

Wednesday, September 20, 8 PM
Polyphia, Night Idea, Paint Store @ The Broadberry – $15 (order tickets HERE)
The worlds of screamo, math-rock, prog-metal, and metalcore have some pretty surprising intersection points at times, and the whole prog-metalcore scene that’s built up around bands like Periphery is one of the strangest and most interesting ones. Polyphia are a metallic instrumental quartet of young post-metalcore dudes with swoop haircuts and skills for days, and they’re hitting Richmond tonight on a day off from their current tour opening for prog-metalcore pioneers Between The Buried And Me. If you want to dig into the shred-heavy instrumental end of this whole scene, this show is your perfect chance to do it at a relatively small venue for a reasonable ticket price.

Polyphia’s latest release, The Most Hated EP, sees them dipping into more electronic layers, including programmed beats and synthesized background swells. However, the guitar pyrotechnics remain on full display, with occasional licks copped from the dawn-of-the-90s micro-trend of blazing metal guitarists putting out instrumental solo albums. What I’m saying is, these guys have a definite Vai/Satriani tinge to their djent-inspired riff fests these days, and the intersection of these surprisingly congruent sounds is a lot of fun to explore. With local openers consisting of poppy math-rockers Night Idea (the only band this night to feature a vocalist) and fellow math-obsessed instrumental shredders Paint Store, this show is guaranteed to fill your quota for riffage, even if it does run slightly low on vocalizations. You definitely won’t get bored in their absence.

Thursday, September 21, 6 PM
El Malpais, Candy Spots, Worse Curses @ Champion RVA – Free!
And we progress from one instrumental group to another as we go through this week’s picks, landing once again at Champion RVA on Thursday night to shed the night-before-payday blues with some excellent free sounds from both local and touring artists. The stars of this Thursday night’s show will be El Malpais (“the bad country,” if my rusty high-school Spanish hasn’t failed me), who come from Charlotte, NC with an original and fascinating instrumental sound pairing guitar and drum rhythms with flute to create the kind of unusual and engaging sound that “jazz flute” might have conjured up in your head if it weren’t for that phrase’s eternal association with Anchorman.

Regardless of whether you would ever expect a group based around flute melodies to be able to rock with aplomb, you should definitely be in the house when El Malpais takes the stage, because they’re guaranteed to erase all doubts. Their excellent self-titled LP from earlier this year is full of somewhat foreboding tunes accented by riveting melodies, which create the overall impression of tiptoeing through a forest late in the afternoon, on the hunt for forgotten old huts where strange creatures may or may not still live. OK, maybe I’ve read too many horror novels in my time, but still, this band rocks. They’ll be joined on this bill by local alt-garage rockers Candy Spots and catchy up-and-comers Worse Curses for an evening of jams that would be cheap at twice the price (because after all, zero dollars x2 is still zero dollars).

Friday, September 22, 7 PM
Madeline Kenney, Rikki Shay, Majjin Boo, Minor Poet @ Gallery 5 – $5 in advance/$7 day of show (order tickets HERE)
The Broadberry’s showing up all over town this week. This show, which is actually the night before that RVA Live! show up at the top of the column (my chronology’s a little weird, deal with it), sees the larger venue collaborating with generally awesome (and kinda cavernous itself) DIY art gallery space Gallery 5 to present an evening headlined by Oakland singer-songwriter Madeline Kenney. You may be unfamiliar with this artist, but Kenney’s brand new album, Night Night At The First Landing, gives all the reason you need to change that in a hurry. In a manner that is spiritually if not entirely sonically similar to alt-rock shredder Marnie Stern, Kenney takes that whole singer/guitarist/songwriter mold and smashes it over her knee on her new album, integrating dreamy guitar textures with an ambient overall sound and topping them all off with evocative vocal melodies and profound lyrics that cut to the heart of the emotional issues that plague so many young women in this world.

Expect her live performance to do just as much to both destroy and elevate your expectations from a “female singer-songwriter” (kill that cliche forever please). Kenney’s openers on this bill definitely reflect the Broadberry’s involvement in this evening, with recent Broadberry performers Rikki Shay and Minor Poet making a rare appearance at Gallery 5. That’s good, though, maybe it’ll bring some new people out to check out this excellent venue. Madeline Kenney is really all the inducement you, the super clued-in RVA show attendee, should need to add this show to your calendar, though. She’s worth the price of admission all by herself.

Saturday, September 23, 8 PM
Meg Mulhearn + Elisa Faires, Dazeases, Womajich Dialysiez, Rachel Lynch @ Vagabond – Free!
OK, this is two awesome free shows in the space of three days; you should definitely take advantage of this phenomenon, because it’s not something that occurs every week by any means. This evening over at up-and-coming new live music space Vagabond brings us a couple of heavy hitters in the ambient/experimental music world, on a collaborative tour linked to a still-in-production album-length collaboration that’s apparently on the way next year. You can get a preview of it this Saturday night at Vagabond though, and that’s certainly worth doing.

Meg Mulhearn is a violinist who has worked with US Christmas, Void Ensemble, and others, and releases solo recordings under the name Divine Circles. Elisa Faires is an experimental vocalist who has taken part in projects like Astral Magick Soundtrack and Xambuca. Both of these artists use electronic effects to loop, layer, and otherwise accent their instruments, and the two together bring to life a lush ambient soundscape that seems way bigger than anything two musicians can produce by themselves. Combined with the soulful vocal-driven ambience of Dazeases, the constantly-evolving improvisational experimental project Womajich Dialysiez, and experimental performance artist Rachel Lynch, this bill will explore all sorts of different musical and performative avenues, and should take the listener on a sonic journey that is not too frequently experienced, but all the richer for that fact.

Sunday, September 24, 6 PM
Common Ground Fest South, feat. Bren Lukens, Daisyhead, Centerfolds, Something More, Small Talks, Telltale, Nominee, She’s A Legend @ Strange Matter – $14 (order tickets HERE)
OK yes there’s always gonna be some emo coming to you in my column, and I guess this is where it arrives, because seriously–how could I neglect this excellent event? Common Ground Fest, a one-day mini-festival of emo/pop-punk bands put on by Common Ground Records and taking place in three different cities across the US over the course of this month, brings its southernmost incarnation to Richmond VA, and we are in for a treat. After all, not long after Modern Baseball co-founder Jake Ewald hit the Strange Matter stage with his Slaughter Beach Dog project, we get the other Modern Baseball co-founder, Bren Lukens, coming through with a solo acoustic performance. How sweet is that?

But that’s just the beginning. If you ask me, one of the biggest thrills on this whole lineup shows up down towards the bottom of the bill in the form of excellent up-and-coming emotionally-driven pop-punk band Nominee, whose January EP Drag Me Out has been a big one for me so far this year. Hearing songs like “Stay” and “White Water” live might just be enough to get me to pay the full ticket price all by itself. But even with both Bren Lukens and Nominee on this bill, so many other awesome groups are showing up that it’s hard to even attempt a full encapsulation. That said, Nashville’s Daisyhead, who released a killer LP In Case You Missed It on No Sleep earlier this year; and Baltimore’s Something More, who impressed all comers with their 2015 EP compilation Physical Copy, are just some of the additional reasons to make sure you’re right up front for this entire gig. I could say more, but this should be enough. Be there.

Monday, September 25, 8 PM
Love Roses, Brainbuster, The Donalds, Skumboyz @ McCormack’s Irish Pub – $5
I was introduced to Love Roses’ fun, speedy take on punk rock earlier this year when my admittedly pretty screamo band played a house show with them. It wasn’t exactly a predictable pairing, but we ended up meshing pretty well, and I really dug this band’s energetic rage. Since then, Love Roses have been busy, releasing a brand new split on local label Tired & Pissed with Fredericksburg punks Brainbuster, who by no coincidence at all are also on this bill. Love Roses and Brainbuster are just finishing up a tour together, and this is a much more predictable pairing of VA punk bands than anything involving my band would have been.

Brainbuster have a Dead Kennedys-ish sarcastic approach to their lyrics and an early-80s LA punk approach to their music, showing influence from bands like the Adolescents and Bad Religion as well as a snottier edge that gives the whole thing a harsh bite. That split is gonna be a real ripper when it hits, that’s one thing I know for sure. Local punks The Donalds and Skumboyz round out a lineup full of Tired & Pissed artists who are sure to please the circle-pitting punk fanatics of this town–of whom there are more than you think–as well as anyone who gets a kick out of speedy riffs that are both angry and fun.

Tuesday, September 26, 8 PM
Dryjacket, Eaves, Sleave, Nine Line @ Strange Matter – $10 in advance/$12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
And here we have some more emo, because it’s awesome. New Jersey’s Dryjacket really impressed many listeners, myself among them, with their debut full-length For Posterity. That album, released earlier this year, shows an introspective, multi-layered approach to the sort of emo-revival template that the best bands from that slowly-fading era are still building and improving upon. Dryjacket definitely demonstrates their own qualification for that top tier of still-extant emo bands with a sound incorporating the complex guitar arpeggios that led people to throw the term “twinkle” around a few years ago and some incredible pop choruses that seem to draw as much influence from The Beatles as from Dads–always a welcome phenomenon.

And how about the RVA bands on this bill? Well, Eaves has certainly shown their own bona fides in the whole introspective, multi-layered emo genre over the past little while, and their contribution to this show is therefore sure to be both apropos and entirely welcome. Sleave has a gruffer approach that draws a great deal from that whole vibe of bands like Hot Water Music or Latterman, but with a chunkier guitar sound that shows a bit more hardcore influence than you might expect. Newcomers Nine Line hark back to the 90s days of the more emotionally-driven Fat Wreck bands like Lagwagon or Good Riddance, which is a refreshing change. There’s definitely some daylight between these four bands, but all share a similar feel, one that’s sure to move 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] [the rvamag address isn’t working for some reason, I haven’t had time to look into it! Bear with me]