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RVA Shows You Must See This Week: May 18 – May 24

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FEATURED SHOW
Big Takeover, Vol. 1
Day 1: Friday, May 20, 7 PM
Genocide Pact, No/Mas, Mutually Assured Destruction, Restraining Order, The Fight, Restless Spirit @ The Camel – $20 (order tickets HERE)
Day 2: Saturday, May 21, 1 PM
Terrorizer, Mindforce, Division Of Mind, Dead Heat, Judiciary, End It, BIB, High Command, Downfall, Spy, C4, Gel, Final Gasp, Armor, Protocol, Vomit Forth, Kontaminate, Never Again, Killing Pace @ The Broadberry – $65 (order tickets HERE)
There were a lot of casualties of the pandemic, and I don’t just mean the million Americans (and millions more outside of America) who died. Bands broke up, venues went away, restaurants closed down. And in the midst of all that, Richmond’s long-running annual hardcore festival, United Blood, decided to end their run. This was definitely the end of an era. The great thing about the hardcore scene, though, is that anytime one era ends, someone else starts up a new one. Just like that song Lambchop used to sing (and is presumably still singing, somewhere), hardcore doesn’t end.

This weekend marks the launch of the new era in Richmond hardcore fests: the first annual Big Takeover. And it’s jam-packed with heavy music. I’m not even covering it all here; for one thing, there’s a pre-show Thursday night at a bike shop out on Williamsburg Road. For another, there’s a Friday night after-show at some warehouse (that one’s strictly an “ask a punk” situation). But the two shows listed above, Friday night at The Camel and all day Saturday at The Broadberry, are the big ones. If you can only make it to two, put the priority on these two.

As for what you’ll see there, there’s so much to talk about I have no idea how I’m gonna get through it all. With that in mind, floor it! In a move that will let you know where hardcore is as a genre right now, both nights are headlined by death metal bands. DC ragers Genocide Pact cap off Friday night’s mayhem, while legendary Los Angeles grinders Terrorizer (featuring legendary Morbid Angel drummer Pete Sandoval) provide the climax of Saturday’s festivities. Friday night also features Richmond crossover up-and-comers Mutually Assured Destruction and hyperactive Massachusetts maniacs Restraining Order, among others. Highlights of Saturday’s ridiculously stacked bill include metal-thrashing hardcore powerhouse Mindforce, Richmond dark hardcore veterans Division Of Mind, the bizarrely psychedelic hardcore punk of Nebraska’s BIB, and hardcore’s #1 buffalo chicken fans, C4. But look, we’ve barely scratched the surface — there’s so much to love at these shows. If you are into hardcore at all, you gotta go. Oh, and by the way, there have been a ton of social media posts over the last week about “low ticket warnings” or “almost sold out” about these two shows, but as of 11 am Wednesday, tickets for both shows were still available. So hop to it, punk.

Wednesday, May 18, 7:30 PM
Brian Jones’ Kaleidoscopic Haze, Noah Campbell Trio @ Artspace – $20
I’ve noticed a surprising boom in intriguing jazz shows around Richmond as we all work our way back from the pandemic’s extended shutdown. And while I don’t actually know if this is a big new movement within the Richmond jazz scene or if it’s just that I’ve developed a better network of tipsters for local jazz stuff, I’m grateful for it either way. Because otherwise, I might totally miss this midweek show by a trio of RVA jazz heavyweights, and that would truly be a tragedy.

Brian Jones’ Kaleidoscopic Haze is a trio put together by legendary Richmond jazz drummer Brian Jones back in the days before the pandemic, which also features guitarist Trey Pollard and bassist Adam Hopkins. They laid down an album’s worth of tracks at Spacebomb back in 2019 sometime, and it actually came out in January of 2021, but with no shows happening back then, it’s taken until now for them to come together for a proper album release show. The sound of this particular combo is highly atmospheric and somewhat avant-garde, but constructed around a tight melodic sense and strong fundamentals that produce highly enjoyable results. It’s certainly the type of thing that will make for a fascinating live performance. But don’t just take my word for it — go to the show and find out for yourself! After all, what good is a boom in live jazz if you’re not there to experience it?

Thursday, May 19, 7 PM
Gusher, Weird Tears, Bonjinski @ The Camel – $10 in advance, $12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
This one is bittersweet. For while it marks the first show since the pandemic for two-thirds of the bands on this bill, and a record release celebration for at least one of them, it also marks the last show ever for those same bands. That’s incredibly unfortunate, but we can at least take comfort in the fact that we get to see them one last time. Plus, at the top of the bill: Gusher, the one band on this lineup who isn’t playing their last show. We’ll get to appreciate their synth-infused grunge-punk brilliance for quite a while after this — which is no reason to miss them Thursday night.

It’s definitely the last opportunity any of us will get to catch Weird Tears, though, and that’s a damn shame, because this swinging melodic punk band with hints of 50s rock n’ roll has always been a ton of fun. And you can keep listening to their excellent pre-pandemic tape release (I’m sure I will), but this will be the last time you can dance to their tunes in person. Missing that chance would be a truly terrible decision. Bonjinski is also breaking up after this performance, but we can at least take comfort in the record this jangly alt-rockin’ trio has been working on since back before the pandemic hit has finally made it into the world. Get yourself a copy, and get out on the dance floor one last time.

Friday, May 20, 6 PM
Prince Daddy & The Hyena, Macseal, Insignificant Other, California Cousins, Flight Club @ The Broadberry – $18 (order tickets HERE)
I’ve been digging Prince Daddy & The Hyena for quite a while now, and it’s nice to have an excuse to write about them here, as they blow into RVA on a Friday night to spread the word about their new self-titled album. The follow-up to 2019’s Cosmic Thrill Seekers — the album that got me onto the Prince Daddy train — the new album takes what they were doing before to the next level. The band is more emo, more alt-rock, and more punk, all at once. One thing that makes the band’s new work more accessible than ever, though, is that vocalist Kory Gregory, who had the kind of intense voice on previous albums that people either really love or really hate, has toned down the harshest, shrillest aspects of his vocal approach. There’s real melody here now!

How that will come across live, of course, is anyone’s guess. And I have to admit, I’m the kind of emo nerd who really hopes he’s still willing to hit those throat-shredding semi-screamed high notes. But regardless of whether Prince Daddy & The Hyena focus on their slightly smoothed-out new material or dip heavily into the early shit they made their name on, this show is bound to be great. Get ready for a lot of dancing and screaming along. Also, while they’re pretty far down on the bill, I’ve gotta mention how stoked I am that California Cousins, who are actually from New York, are playing this show as well. These guys (actually from New York) have a chunkier emo sound that will work equally for fans of Joyce Manor and Soul Blind, and they’ve got a new album called Secret Footage out in a few weeks, for which this set is sure to act as a tantalizing preview. Make sure you show up on time for that one.

Saturday, May 21, 8 PM
Rough Age, Gnawing, Work Wear @ Fuzzy Cactus – $5
I could say something like “the theme of this week’s column is the after-effects of the pandemic,” and I probably wouldn’t be wrong, but that’s mainly because all of us are going to be dealing with the after-effects of the pandemic in every aspect of our lives for years to come. So maybe it’s trite to even mention it? I don’t know. What I do know is that Rough Age got started during that brief pre-pandemic part of 2020 that we’ve all sorta forgotten even happened, and now that two years have passed, a lot of changes have happened for this Richmond band during their time out of the public eye. For one thing, half the band has departed; the two former members of RVA indie-rockers Lightfields who got the whole thing started are now joined by music-making machine James Hoffer (Buzzard Dust, Charmer, a million other bands) on bass and multi-instrumental talent Robert Lindstedt (Fat Spirit) on guitar. For another, they’ve put together a brand new EP, entitled Blank Eyes, for which this show will act as a record release celebration.

The new Rough Age EP shows off their strengths as a band, from the muscular twin-guitar attack that certainly evokes quite a few of their 90s alt-rock heroes to the driving rhythm section that brings an undeniable punk rock undercurrent to the proceedings. All of this is bound to hit even harder once they unleash these songs in a live environment, so you’re definitely well advised to be at Fuzzy Cactus this Saturday night so you can be there when it happens. You’ll also get to catch a set from Gnawing, whose jangly grunge-punk sound mixes early Uncle Tupelo vibes with a solid dose of Screaming Trees thrown in. They’re always great, but you should know that by now. Charlottesville’s Work Wear, a new trio I’m just discovering now, round out this bill. Their new EP, Charger, features three indie-rock tunes that slowly build at a relaxed pace, all of which stretch past the seven-minute mark. Safe to call these guys “slowcore”? Yeah, I think so. They’ll be an intriguing contrast on this bill, that’s for sure.

Sunday, May 22, 6 PM
Julie Karr, Richmond Vampire, Muck, Curriculum @ Studio Two Three – Donations encouraged
For years and years, it’s seemed like the Christian right has been whittling away at our right to legal abortion. It’s been such a steady drumbeat for the past several decades that sometimes reproductive rights supporters like me could get a little numbed to it all. Now, though, they’ve won a real, substantive victory. It seems clear that the Supreme Court will, in the next month or so, officially strike down Roe v. Wade, thereby erasing the right to abortion in over half of the states in the USA. Looks like it’s time for all of us to wake up, shake up, and get the blood flowing once again.

I don’t pretend to know everything we can do to protect our rights where this issue is concerned, but I do know there are quite a few groups working their tails off to make sure the things we can do get done. One of those groups is the Richmond Reproductive Freedom Project, and this Sunday evening show at Studio Two Three is a benefit for them. Even if you don’t have time to volunteer, or the energy to repeatedly call your elected representatives, you can at least come out to this show and make a hefty donation. In return, you’ll get some excellent musical sounds in a variety of genres, from Julie Karr’s moody, entrancing indie-blues tunes to Richmond Vampire’s speedy, snotty hardcore punk. Local newcomers Muck are nowhere on the internet, so I have no idea what they sound like, but people say they’re good; meanwhile, Curriculum will make their live debut at this show, but the practice-space demo they’ve got up online leads me to expect good things. Come to this one to support a great and extremely important cause; stay for the plentiful amounts of killer tuneage.

Monday, May 23, 7:30 PM
Sylvan Esso, Benet @ The National – $32.50 in advance, $35 day of show (order tickets HERE)
North Carolinians Sylvan Esso are an interesting phenomenon. You can look them up and read about their history, find out how singer Amelia Meath and producer Nick Sanborn formed the duo after stints in Appalachian folk group Mountain Man and jam-folk ensemble Megafaun, respectively, and you’ll expect one thing. But as soon as you listen to them, you’ll find that what you have on hand with Sylvan Esso is a completely different proposition. This isn’t folk or jam-band music, by any stretch of the imagination. Instead, Sylvan Esso produce the sort of indie-electro tunes that you’d expect to appeal equally to fans of Bjork, Portishead, and fka Twigs.

All of that being said, a clear flavor left over from the old-time roots and psychedelic offshoots of their former projects shines through on recent Sylvan Esso singles like “Frequency” — which manages to generate an undeniable dance groove despite a total abscence of conventional beat — and “Ferris Wheel” — which intriguingly pairs a minimalist melody with a bedrock of rumbling low-end synths. These songs are actually nearly two years old now; Sylvan Esso, like everyone else, had to put touring for the album they released in September 2020 on hold for a year and a half. But they’ll still hit just as hard through the National’s powerful PA stacks on Monday night as they would have if we could all have enjoyed them live two autumns ago. So hey — show up and dance. You know you want to.

Tuesday, May 24, 8 PM
BoDeans @ Tin Pan – $55 – $61.50 (order tickets HERE)
There was this period of time back in the 80s, before Nirvana happened and dragged the underground rock scene straight into the spotlight, when the occasional sincerely alternative band would break just enough above the waterline to get a minor amount of mainstream success, but not really enough to become a truly big band. The Connells would be one example of a band like this; another would be The Del Fuegos. And a third would be Wisconsin’s own BoDeans, who I used to hear every once in a while on XL102 when I was in middle school in the late 80s, and who I always liked, but never heard as much of as I might have liked.

Today, BoDeans are probably best remembered for having contributed their song “Closer To Free” as the theme for so-90s-it-hurts teen drama Party Of Five, but they’re far from one-hit wonders. Singles like “Only Love” and “You Don’t Get Much” remain underrated heartland-rock classics over three decades after their original release, while 2017’s Thirteen (their 13th album, natch) still contains a clutch of excellent tunes. In light of all that, going to see BoDeans on Tuesday at Tin Pan is certainly a good idea. It’s a great opportunity to get familiar with a long-running group that never quite got their due. Don’t let it slip by.

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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]

Top Photo: Mindforce at United Blood preshow, 2017. Photo via Mindforce/Twitter

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: April 20 – April 26

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FEATURED SHOW
Friday, April 22, 8 PM
Book Of Wyrms (Photo by Joey Wharton), Night Goat, Foehammer @ Wonderland – $10
There are a lot of underrated bands at work in Richmond’s music scene these days, but I think stoner-metal quartet Book Of Wyrms deserves special recognition within that cohort as a band that has never let the hometown love they haven’t gotten slow them down. Forming back in 2015, a time when doom metal was at a relatively low ebb in the wake of the genre’s having reached hipster saturation point in the early 10’s, Book Of Wyrms blazed their own trail, building up a cult following within the world of metal and sticking with what they knew they did best, regardless of which way the trend-wind blew, for seven years.

In 2021, Book Of Wyrms released their third album, Occult New Age, on Desert Records — an album that didn’t get much local attention until it showed up on the short list for the Newlin Music Prize a few months ago. Having not caught up with what they were doing in a few years, I was duly impressed by its expansion of the sonic territory laid out by these headbangers. They’ve certainly not let their fundamental grounding in the primeval riffage of Black Sabbath, Saint Vitus, and Hawkwind stop them from upping the tempo and bringing in more modern textures — notably synthesizers, which are generally used to create abstract layers of space noise and heightened atmosphere on an album that really benefits from their inclusion. And of course, the riffs that stand as the bedrock of the entire sound remain absolutely top-notch.

At Wonderland this Friday night, Book Of Wyrms will be celebrating the long-awaited vinyl release of Occult New Age (when you hear that pressing plants take a year to fulfill orders for vinyl, that’s not an exaggeration) with a show that’s sure to be full of pounding riffs, soaring vocal crescendos, and volcanic amplifier rumble. Their efforts to shake the foundations of Shockoe Bottom will be joined by Ohio noise-rockers Night Goat and VA-based Khanate-style apocalyptic dirge-metal merchants Foehammer. If you haven’t seen Book Of Wyrms live before now, there’s no shame in that — but if you miss this show and continue to wallow in your ignorance of their excellence, that’s an extremely shameful decision. Don’t blow it.

Wednesday, April 20, 8 PM
Greet Death, Infant Island, Downhaul @ Richmond Music Hall at Capital Ale House – $10 (order tickets HERE)
If you know what’s up, you surely recognize that Michigan quartet Greet Death take their name from an Explosions In The Sky song. Therefore, it probably wasn’t a surprise, if you tuned in to what they were doing a few years ago, to find a band with a decidedly shoegaze-influenced approach to their melodic, emotional songs. On their first two albums, they derived some of their power from how loud their guitars got even in the midst of the catchy choruses they wrote. However, the pandemic has clearly changed some things. Over the past six months or so, Greet Death has taken the first steps toward following up 2019’s New Hell, releasing four stand-alone singles with a decidedly less noisy and at times downright acoustic feel. It’s almost as if they stripped away the shoegaze noise to reveal an indie-folk band with atonal tendencies, like Wilco circa Yankee Hotel Foxtrot or something.

Now, that’s not a complaint — personally, I think the new Greet Death singles are all brilliant, especially “Panic Song,” which still retains some of the fuzzy guitars we came to know and love from previous Greet Death releases. Even at their softest, though, the latest music from Greet Death carries forward the band’s facility with pop hooks and indelible choruses. At the end of the day, the best part of previous Greet Death material was the tunes that got stuck in your head all day. Rest assured, they still have plenty of those. And traditionally everything is louder in the live environment, so if you want to hear the new Greet Death tunes at their loudest and most raucous, the time and place to do so is tonight at Richmond Music Hall. You’ll fortunately get to catch a set from Fredericksburg screamonsters Infant Island as well, and while this excellent quartet brought us not one but two LPs back in 2020, I’m definitely hoping some new material is in the offing at this show. Only one way to find out.

Thursday, April 21, 6 PM
Smino, Kaash Paige, Kidz At Play @ Bon Secours Training Center – $25-35 for students, $35-45 for general public (order tickets HERE)
Y’all, I try to keep up. I really do. But the fact is, I’m 46 years old, and I don’t necessarily always know what the kids are listening to. Therefore, it might be a little more understandable when you hear that I didn’t really know about Smino until only a couple of weeks ago. Nevertheless, once I heard he was coming to town, I knew I needed to write about it. Because where modern sounds in hip hop music are concerned, Smino’s music strikes me as near the top of the heap. MCs who seem to croon over their beats as often as they rap have become quite common in the past several years, but the results they get from this technique are mixed, at best. After all, just because you can spit killer rhymes with a perfect cadence doesn’t mean you can hit a note worth a damn.

Smino can, though. If you need evidence, look no further than his two most recent singles, “Rice N Gravy” and “I Deserve,” both of which came out in 2021 and both of which have been in heavy rotation for me lately. Both of them mix melodic grooves and R&B-style sung choruses with quick, assured rhyme flows that burrow into your brain and don’t let go. These two singles are supposedly the first two singles from Smino’s forthcoming third LP, Luv 4 Rent, but whenever I google things like “Luv 4 Rent release date” what I get is Reddit threads speculating that it’s coming out in February of 2022. That clearly didn’t happen. So I can’t tell you when the new Smino album comes out, I’m afraid. All I can do is send you to Bon Secours Training Center to see Smino live and in the flesh. If there’s one thing I can tell you, it’s that the music at this show will keep you dancing.

Friday, April 22, 9 PM
Vinyl Conflict Presents: Ekulu, Division Of Mind, Richmond Vampire, DJ Hip Hop Henry @ Fuzzy Cactus – $10
Here’s a welcome sight: a straight-up hardcore show at Fuzzy Cactus. It’s not that odd, really; Fuzzy’s all about the raging punk circle-pit action, as you know if you follow this space. However, the introduction of Ekulu and Division of Mind into this space might just be the outright heaviest core action this place has seen yet. And I love everything about it. Ekulu may hail from New York, but they have some strong connections to Richmond, with at least one member having also done time in RVA’s own Candy. Regardless of where they’re from, though, it only takes one listen to their debut full-length, 2021’s Unscrew My Head, to see that these guys are on some next-level shit. Personally, the album’s title reminds me more than anything of the late-80s Suicidal Tendencies single “Trip At the Brain,” and that’s appropriate since Ekulu have successfully reincarnated the same crossover thrash sound that created such an amazing musical movement back in the late 80s and early 90s. On Unscrew My Head, I hear echoes of everything from Suicidal Tendencies and Anthrax to the Cro-Mags and Agnostic Front, all of it delivered with a vicious aggressiveness that makes extremely clear that this is not music for the faint of heart.

Richmonders Division Of Mind, who co-headline this bill, made this same thing clear about themselves on their self-titled debut LP, released back in 2019. The territory these guys patrol is decidedly darker and heavier, even slightly noisier, but what DOM has in common with Ekulu is a similarly aggressive, confrontational sound that’s sure to wake you up if you’re dozing off in the back of the club between bands. I realize that to some readers, these descriptions might not be all that inviting. However, if you’re the sort of person who walks through every day feeling assailed by the millions of ways in which modern American life is a depressing, alienating shitshow, this is the show for you. You’ve got some frustrations to let out, and these are the bands to help you do so.

Saturday, April 23, 7 PM
Blake Layman, Dogwood Tales, Wifipassword @ Richmond Music Hall at Capital Ale House – $12 (order tickets HERE)
When I saw the notice for this show, I didn’t recognize the name Blake Layman. However, in the process of giving things a listen in order to decide which shows to pick for this column, his single “Unhistoric Acts” grabbed my attention and made me want to dig deeper. Layman’s music is quiet, delicate, and focused on melody; and his warm, pleasant vocal tones and undeniable guitar-playing talent are obvious as soon as you pay attention. The fact that he turns out to be the bassist for Frames, the Richmond quartet whose 2021 LP, Every Room, was probably the biggest pleasant surprise of the Newlin Music Prize shortlist for me (more on that in the next blurb), helped me understand how it’s possible that this singer-songwriter dude I’ve never heard of is releasing music this good without me hearing it before now.

Layman’s new LP, the release of which he is celebrating with this Richmond Music Hall show, is called Goodness Littered. And to be fair, it’s been out a while — the digital release was last summer. But, you know, something something pandemic. Indeed, this show is a rescheduled version of a January show he postponed during the Omicron wave. So is the music we’ll be getting here worth all of the waiting we’ve had to do to receive it? My magic 8 ball says “It is decidedly so,” and I couldn’t agree more. Layman and his band, which features close relatives and members of Frames, will recreate the delicately beautiful sounds of Goodness Littered live on stage, and we’ll all be the beneficiaries. Assuming, of course, that we show up. You know what you must do.

Sunday, April 24, 7 PM
Good Morning, Packs, Frames @ Richmond Music Hall at Capital Ale House – $18 (order tickets HERE)
I think I discovered Australian duo Good Morning through one of my nerdiest middle-aged loves: the KEXP Song Of the Day podcast. I can’t be sure at this point, but what I do know for sure is that hearing one of their songs sent me hunting for their 2021 album Barnyard, which I loved as soon as I heard. This indie-folk group manages to simultaneously evoke groups like Okkervil River or Iron And Wine, and others like Parquet Courts or The Velvet Underground. Even as they strum their acoustic guitars overtop shuffling minimalist drumbeats, even as they sing sweetly in the manner of fellow Aussies The Go-Betweens, they bring an undeniable slacker-rock drone to the proceedings. The mix is perfect for disaffected rockers who want to mellow out a little before they go crazy, and for folky types who wish Camper Van Beethoven would make another album already.

Meanwhile, from Canada (specifically Toronto) comes Packs, the quartet led by singer-songwriter Madeline Link, who started the project on her own but has definitely been aided by the project swelling into a quartet. The ramshackle jangle-pop of 2021 LP Take The Cake can at times evoke everything from Courtney Barnett to Courtney Love, but what unites it all is the flawless melodic sense Link brings to the group, which always keeps listeners tapping their toes. The third band on this bill is Richmond’s own Frames, who I mentioned above, and whose relatively under-the-radar status here in Richmond is baffling to me now that I’ve heard last year’s Every Room. This album’s evocative emo-pop tunes are sure to come alive in glittering detail at this Richmond Music Hall performance, and it would be a damn shame if you weren’t there to see it. So come to this show, and make sure you show up on time. There’s no better way to wrap up your late April weekend.

Monday, April 25, 7:30 PM
Godspeed You! Black Emperor (Photo by Grywnn, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia) @ The National – $25 in advance, $30 day of show (order tickets HERE)
I’m thankful that Godspeed You! Black Emperor have become a musical institution these days. Back in 2003 when they went on hiatus after Yanqui UXO, it was hard not to think of how much more they had in the tank, how much more amazing, uncategorizable, almost indescribable music they could surely have left us with. And of course, they’ve proved that suspicion correct on the four albums they’ve released since their 2011 return, beginning with 2012’s ‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend! and showing up most recently with last year’s G_d’s Pee At State’s End! The uninitiated among you may wonder what this band’s about; the rest of you are now about to snicker under your breath at my forthcoming attempt, which will surely be ham-fisted, at describing and categorizing a band I’ve already admitted are indescribable and uncategorizable. Nevertheless, here’s a valiant attempt.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor are, if nothing else, anarchist both in musical and political intent. Their strong left-wing consciousness comes through clearly in their music despite its almost complete lack of lyrics and vocals. They act as a huge collective featuring ten or so members, who augment the standard rock instrumentation of guitars and drums with everything from violins and French horns to tape loops and film projections. Their sonic foundations are in hardcore punk, but their epic, often 20-plus-minute compositions operate more like classical symphonies building slowly into entrancing grooves that seem particularly appealing to post-rockers who love Mogwai and Explosions In The Sky. But there’s something there that has a strong chance of appealing to just about any music fan, whether they’re into Mahler, John Coltrane, Talking Heads, or Black Flag. Or even if they don’t like any of that stuff. What I’m saying is: if you care about music at all, in any form, seeing Godspeed You! Black Emperor is something you should do at least once in your life. Why not this Monday night? After all, who knows when they’ll make it to town again?

Tuesday, April 26, 7 PM
The Story So Far, Joyce Manor, Mom Jeans, Microwave @ The National – $50 (or… more?) (order tickets HERE)
OK, for this show, I need to start out by saying that I’m not really sure what’s up with tickets. It sure appears that tickets aren’t available at face value anymore. However, the ticket vendor who sells tickets for The National will still absolutely sell you a ticket for this show; when I checked last night, it looked like you could get one for about $50. Which is steep, especially for bands that you could once have seen for $10 at a VFW hall — or maybe for $5 at the gone-but-not-forgotten Bike Lot right here in RVA. Whatever — this is apparently the price you’ll have to pay to see them now, but considering that’s still only $13 or so per band, and all four of these bands are brilliant, I think there’s a good argument that it’s worth it regardless.

The Story So Far are our headliners, and they’re the sort of band whose melodic emo-punk means so much to its fans that they can all tell you a story about which song or album helped them through which hard time they were going through when they first heard it. For me, it’s “Empty Space,” which got me through a really terrible Christmas in 2013, but anything this band has ever done has that sort of power. As for Joyce Manor, this frenetic punk band have survived multiple disappearances and overjoyed their many fans this year with the sudden appearance of their sixth album and first in four years, 40 Oz To Fresno (yes, that’s a Sublime joke). Indie-punk quartet Mom Jeans also just dropped their first LP in four years, Sweet Tooth, and it’s got the same strong melodic sense this band’s always had, but with a more profound musical depth that sees them taking their sound to a whole new level. Microwave are the heaviest of these four bands, but the emotional resonance of their music is easily matched with the others on this bill. Overall, this gig is an embarrassment of riches, and is well worth what it takes to get you there — even if that is fifty bucks.

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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 Red Vein Army Wants To Help You Hunt For The Richmond Vampire

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The Ashland-based troupe of haunters have expanded beyond their annual Halloween-focused activities to open Red Vein Escape, an escape room with experiences based around some classic Richmond spook stories.

Every town has a legend. In West Passaic, New Jersey, it’s the 10-mile Clinton Road; in Stull, Kansas, legend has it that the local cemetery holds a gateway to Hell. Richmond’s ghost stories run rampant due to the city’s long history, but one story has reigned supreme for nearly 100 years: the legend of an old mausoleum, located in the famous Hollywood Cemetery, that houses the remains of a vampire.

Some hear about it for the first time around a campfire, others as they walk the campus of nearby Virginia Commonwealth University, the air growing colder as the night grows near. Ryan Sligh, member of the Red Vein Army, has known about it pretty much his whole life. And now he’s made it a big part of the Red Vein Army’s latest venture: Red Vein Escape Room.

The Story 

The legend itself is fairly straightforward. On October 25, 1925, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad’s tunnel, under Richmond’s Church Hill neighborhood collapsed, tragically burying several workers alive. In the midst of all the chaos, rescue workers spotted a ghoulish, blood-covered humanoid creature with jagged teeth and skin sloughing off of its body crouching amongst the bodies of the dead. Pursued by a group of men, the creature escaped from the cave-in and made its way towards the James River, where it allegedly disappeared into a mausoleum at Hollywood Cemetery bearing the name of W.W. Pool.

The mausoleum itself is where a majority of the vampire connections to Pool were made. This place of death may be the birthplace of the rumors that claim Pool was driven out of England in the late 1800s for being a vampire. Above the door of the mausoleum are Pool’s first and middle initials, along with his last name: “W.W. Pool.” Some, perhaps wanting to give people a spook, proposed that the double W’s resembled fangs. Combined with the various Masonic and Egyptian elements incorporated into the structure and the fact that the year of death is listed as 1913, nine years before Pool actually died (spoiler alert: 1913 is the year that his wife died), all combine to tell a pretty terrifying tale: there really IS a vampire buried deep within that mausoleum. 

Unfortunately, anyone feeling an itch to go vampire hunting will ultimately be disappointed; while creepy, the truth behind the story of our undead friend is ultimately as paranormal as a toaster oven. According to Gregory Maitland, a paranormal researcher with the Virginia Ghosts and Haunting Research Society, the ghoulish looking person that somehow made it out of the cave-in was none other than railroad foreman Benjamin F. Mosby, who made the mistake of working in a steam train without a shirt on, and was fatally scalded when the boiler that he had been shoveling coal into exploded. A grotesque sight, with shattered teeth and skin hanging off of his body, Mosby ran for his life from the tunnel, later dying from his injuries at nearby Grace Hospital.

What is the Red Vein Army?

Founded in 2011,Red Vein Army (RVA) is described by Sligh as “a group of haunters who can’t quite sit still.” They began as a group traveling around to different haunted houses, usually staying at each one for around a week. In 2016, they opened Red Vein Haunted House, a yearly event at Hanover Vegetable Farm consisting of four different attractions that visitors go through consecutively: The Witch’s Plague, Redvyn Asylum, Rabbit’s Cry Field, and Providence’s Home for Wayward Children.

For the group, details are everything. The haunted house, which runs during the fall leading up to Halloween, bases their various haunts around the legend of the Ashland Witch, taking local folklore and weaving original ideas and details through it. The fictional diary of Thomas Redvyn, the missing husband of alleged Ashland witch Emily Redvyn, is available for download via Kindle. The backstories of each of these attractions intersect with each other, creating a terrifying tale that will leave you thankful that the Redvyn family isn’t real. 

Along with the haunt, the group also hosts a horror movie club (the only horror movie club in Richmond) and a horror book club, along with the Ashland Haunted History Tour, run by Red Vein Outreach Coordinator Kitty Barnes.

We’re Going on a Vampire Hunt

In August of 2019, Sligh, along with three other members of the Red Vein Army (Barnes, Andrew Powers, and David Hayworth) opened their latest Ashland-based, horror-themed venture, Red Vein Escape, featuring its signature attraction: Hunt for the Richmond Vampire. Inspired by the legend, they put their own spin on it. Pursued by vampire hunters, our undead friend has set up camp in a railroad tunnel in Ashland, Virginia. Charged with the task of assisting the vampire hunters in killing the vampire, we have to do so before dusk — or else. 

Somewhat appropriately, the room itself doesn’t resemble an actual crypt; after all, he’s packed up and moved 20 minutes north. Not only has the Red Vein crew done an incredible job of designing the various sets, but the vampire should consider getting into interior decorating during his stay in Ashland, because he’s done a great job of making a railroad tunnel look like home. Bookshelves line the walls, well stocked with an assortment of ancient-looking books, along with a skull. On the adjacent wall is a portrait of the man himself in all of his menacing glory. On the other side of the room are more books, another fairly decrepit-looking skull, and a rather eerie-looking stained glass window featuring some hooded figures with candles. I also got a nice little jump scare when I walk in, courtesy of a railroad worker.

Along with “Hunt for the Richmond Vampire” is a second escape room, “Phobia: An Experiment in Fear,” with a backstory that ties into the rest of their attractions. According to the website, a scientific organization known as Unexplained Virginia, which has investigated haunts such as the Ashland Witch, the Richmond Vampire, and the Order of Red Vein, is conducting an experiment on how the human body experiences fear. In order to conduct this experiment, UV has designed and built a special chamber where, submerged completely in pitch-black darkness, participants will be subjected to a 10-minute/two-person challenge testing just how much fear their nervous system can take. There is no help; if you find the series of tasks too challenging, or you become overwhelmed with fear, you’re promptly removed from the game.

Coming soon is a submarine-themed escape room based the Jules Verne adventure classic, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Judging by the job the Red Vein crew have done on the first two, I wouldn’t be surprised to have to fend off an octopus tentacle or two in order to solve a puzzle.

Ultimately, whether through Phobia, or the Hunt For the Richmond Vampire, Red Vein promises you’ll have a scary good time. The only question is — what happens when the time runs out?

Red Vein Escape Room can be contacted for booking at redveinescape.com.

Photos courtesy Red Vein Army

VCU ASPiRE: Engaging Beyond Campus

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VCU’s ASPiRE program helps students at Richmond’s largest college discover, engage, and make a difference in the city outside their campus.

VCU ASPiRE is a program at Virginia Commonwealth University that focuses on students learning about the history of Richmond, with the aim of sparking community engagement for areas of the city that are in need. Established in 2012, it has expanded its partnerships from campus-based organizations or organizations near the campus to habitat restoration centers in the northside, landscaping and renovations at the Oak Grove-Bellemeade Elementary School and community center, aided in renovations for historic African American East End cemeteries by finding lost grave markers, and more. 

During the last two years of my college tenure, I was enrolled in VCU ASPiRE’s community engagement program, and when I graduated last May, I received not only a bachelor’s in Health, Physical Education, and Exercise Science but also a certificate in community engagement through the VCU ASPiRE program. A native of Richmond, Southside born and raised — Jefferson Davis Highway and Terminal Avenue, to be specific — I grew up in the former murder capital all my life, and I have seen the city change. To quote Noah-O from his first visit on Sway in The Morning, “I’m from the RIC before it became RVA.”

I joined VCU ASPiRE because I wanted to bring my own perspective to it from a true local standpoint, having grown up in poverty, in the middle of food deserts and gang influences, living in a part of Richmond that was once highly known for sex and drug trafficking. It was an indirect challenge from an old teacher inspired me to become a part of the program. Mr. Stevens, my old math teacher from Thomas Jefferson High School, said to me months before my high school graduation, “Get out of Richmond — there’s nothing for you here.” Years later, I found a way to challenge what he had told me through working with VCU ASPiRE.

Thanks to the program, I learned more about the story of the African American neighborhood of Navy Hill, how it was torn down to build I-95, and how Jeff Davis (aka Route 1) was I-95 before I-95. I expanded my knowledge about the origins of Oregon Hill, learning that it was a blue-collar neighborhood in the 1900s. I even heard the story of the Richmond Vampire, who ran all the way from Church Hill to the Richmond Cemetery [more on the truth behind this legend coming soon from RVA Mag -ed].

By becoming a part of the program, my love for helping the community that I once starved in truly grew. I went back and volunteered at homeless shelters in Southside, and helped renovate the same community center where I used to work out, which influenced my eventual degree. The program also aided in connecting me to resources in the city that I can refer other people and organizations to.

In my second year at VCU ASPiRE, when I was able to do independent events for my required hours, I used my contributions to Richmond’s hip hop culture, such as organizing events and speaking at WRIR for Lovelace Magazine and HennyNCoke, along with lecturing at VCU, the University of Richmond, and Virginia State University in the same semester. The program even allowed me to get volunteer hours when I organized a community hooping session at the basketball courts in Randolph, where friends from ATL and artists like Mally Goku and Van Silke helped bring people out and donated food and drinks.

Through the program, I was also able to create volunteering opportunities at the Richmond City Health District when I was an intern in the opioid department, during my very last semester of college. In February 2019, I represented the program alongside other classmates at the National Impact Conference at UVA. For a former grade school dropout who once lied about going to college, I never could have imagined myself representing a university in a national conference coming straight out of Richmond. But VCU ASPiRE brought me there.

VCU ASPiRE helps inform students about the city, showing them how to find hidden gems well beyond the campus and the popular downtown and Carytown scenes usually affiliated with the RVA tourist brand. I’m grateful for the opportunities it brought to me and brings to many VCU students, and very appreciative of the program’s staff, including Erin Brown, Michael Rackett, Nanette Bailey, former staff member Samuel Brown, Nerice Lochansky, and everyone else invloved.

If you’re a VCU student and the opportunity to engage with your city beyond the campus sounds appealing, look into the VCU ASPiRE program at community.vcu.edu/aspire.