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RVA Shows You Must See This Week: March 30 – April 5

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FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, April 2, 2 PM
WRIR‘s Party For the Rest Of Us, feat. Colin Phils, Ant The Symbol, Gritty City Records, Prabir Trio, Cassidy Snider & The Wranglers, The Wimps, Holy River @ Hardywood Park Craft Brewery – Free!
Y’all, it’s been 17 years since WRIR, the community-run, non-profit, low power station at 97.3 on your FM dial, started broadcasting from its studio up above The Camel on Broad St. And for those of us of a Certain Age, the obvious reaction is “Wow, time flies.” Meanwhile, I assume pretty much everyone in the local music scene under 30 feels like WRIR’s just kinda always been there. It’s an understandable reaction, considering how young y’all were when it started broadcasting. On a radio dial that is more than ever full of the same songs you’ve heard a million times before inbetween what feels like 45 minutes of advertising per hour, WRIR is a breath of fresh air, bringing us all community info, a finger on the pulse of the local culture, and music you’ve generally never heard before — often from right here in Virginia.

However! It’s important that none of us here in Richmond ever start to take WRIR for granted. This non-commercial station survives and thrives only through the valiant efforts of many volunteers, as well as all the donations they can scare up. That’s what WRIR’s Party For the Rest Of Us is about: bringing the Richmond community a really great event, full of music and fun, in return for all of our support to keep them going for another year. In previous years, this annual event has generally been coupled with a request for donations. This year, they’re advertising it as free, but you should still bring a few bucks to help them out — or drop those buckaroos into the virtual tip jar you can find over at wrir.org.

In exchange for your contribution (or even for your lack of one — which is OK, because between high heating bills and gas pump sticker shock, lord knows a lot of us don’t have a dime to spare right now), you get an amazing afternoon at Hardywood, full of outstanding musical talents from the Central Virginia area. There are too many to get to even if I hadn’t spent most of my space talking about how great WRIR is, but let’s go for a lightning round: Colin Phils bring delectable post-rock goodness, Ant The Symbol and Gritty City Records represent the finest in RVA hip hop, Prabir Trio and The Wimps show us all how great indie rock can be even in 2022, Cassidy Snider & The Wranglers dish out yet another helping of their buzzworthy Americana, and last but not least, there is the uncategorizable psychedelic folk atmospherics of Holy River. A truly formidable lineup that’ll be the perfect soundtrack as you while away your afternoon hanging out with the fine folks at Hardywood. What more could you ask for? Another great year of wonderfully unpredictable non-commercial community-run radio, you say? Well, you know what to do.

Wednesday, March 30, 6:30 PM
Drug Church, One Step Closer, Soul Blind, Lurk @ The Broadberry – $16 in advance, $18 day of show (order tickets HERE)
This one’s exciting. Drug Church, who hail from upstate New York, play an incredibly catchy brand of post-hardcore, and feature as frontman one of the current hardcore scene’s most colorful and fascinating veterans, just released their fourth album, Hygiene. Even if you, like me, already loved this band, you’re bound to be impressed with the quantum leap they’ve taken with this brand new release. In particular, the aforementioned frontman, Patrick Kindlon, has stepped up his game. His unique vocal style might not have been for everyone in the past, but he’s managed to bring significantly more melody to his approach on this album without losing an ounce of the frenetic urgency that’s always made him such a riveting frontman.

So yeah, what I’m saying is this: if you don’t have plans tonight, you gotta get over to the Broadberry and catch Drug Church. And if you do have plans, you probably should just break them and bring whoever it is you were gonna chill with to the show with you. The newest Drug Church material is so much fun, even your grandma will probably dig it. And it certainly doesn’t hurt that Drug Church are coming through accompanied by One Step Closer, whose intense, powerful, yet always subtly melodic take on hardcore will excite fans of Turning Point, Fiddlehead, Praise, and a whole ton of other classic bands. The lineup is rounded out by the grungified post-hardcore of Soul Blind and the chunky alt-rock of Lurk. This one’s gonna be a solid gold banger from beginning to end. Get there.

Thursday, March 31, 7 PM
The Warhawks, The Octavias, Sincerely Iris, Wallpaper @ Garden Grove Brewing – Free!
Do you like to rock? Who doesn’t, am I right? Those of us who do are certainly delighted to see the return of the semi-regular free rock shows at Garden Grove Brewing, a place that became a good under-the-radar spot to see some killer bands in the year or so before the pandemic destroyed live music as we knew it. Not every venue that used to be a solid bet for good music in the pre-pandemic days has made it back, but it’s good to see a few lately that I wasn’t hearing from back when I first restarted the column — especially this one.

Thursday night at Garden Grove will be a real rock n’ roll ripper, so get stoked! New Jersey’s The Warhawks are the out-of-town guest on this bill, and they’re touring right now in support of This Ain’t Art, a new six-song EP that brings us all plenty of loud guitars and moody vocals in the classic tradition of everything from Jesus And Mary Chain to the Black Keys before they jumped the shark. They’ll get the room rocking when they take the stage and crank up their amps, as will local garage-rock duo The Octavias, who more than make up in noise and fury what they lack in low-end amplification. Todd Murray’s prolific solo project, Sincerely Iris, who play what Murray calls “road trip music,” will add a more emotional flavor to the evening while keeping toes tapping. Meanwhile, slowcore newcomers Wallpaper will enrapture us all by evoking Mark Kozelek before he jumped the shark. Show up for this one — you won’t regret it. And hey… the price is right.

Friday, April 1, 7 PM
Flight Club, Keep Flying, Nancy Raygun, Shotclock, Plastic Flamingos @ Richmond Music Hall at Capital Ale House – $15 (order tickets HERE)
Pop-punk is supposed to be fun, and this show is definitely going to live up to that billing. I know, I know, local guitar-slingers Flight Club want everyone to stop thinking of them as pop-punk; they even released a single called “High Roller” a while back that did its best to convince us all that they went post-Killers disco-hipster rock. Thankfully, the rest of their new album, Until The Sun Drowns, shows that this RVA quintet has retained their flawless melodic sense and driving punk energy, and it’s a very safe bet that all of this will carry over to this Richmond Music Hall double bill.

Sharing headlining duties is New Jersey quintet Keep Flying, who somehow manage to be an upbeat poppy punk band with a horn player without turning into a ska band. Instead, said horn player adds saxophone melodies that do a great job augmenting the skate-punk leads, then contributes to the band’s multi-vocalist round robin. It sounds like a crazy idea, but it ends up totally working. If you can get into Knuckle Puck, Four Year Strong, or State Champs, you’re sure to enjoy what Keep Flying brings to the table for this show. This stacked bill also features a variety of openers, including North Carolina pop-punk goofballs Plastic Flamingos, Richmond alt-rockers Nancy Raygun, and local newcomers Shotclock. Be there.

Saturday, April 2, 7 PM
Spoken To: An Evening Of Spoken Word and Poetry, feat. Ryan Kent, Black Liquid, Denise Walters, Summer Storms, S. Preston Duncan @ Gallery 5 – Free?
Poetic and musical forms have always been closely linked, from Jim Morrison and Bob Dylan’s lyrics getting published as poetry to Jack Kerouac legendarily setting his writings to jazz accompaniment. And don’t even get me started on hip hop. For that reason, I have no qualms recommending that all of you spend your Saturday night at Gallery 5 taking in the non-musical sounds of Spoken To, an evening of spoken word and poetry. After all, the label up there at the top says “shows you must see,” right? It doesn’t say a damn thing about music.

Regardless, there’s music running through the words of Ryan Kent, a local poet who has also spent years singing in several different Richmond-based metal bands. However, he’s also published multiple poetry collections, and is currently preparing a spoken word LP for release. So yeah — where spoken word is concerned, Ryan knows what he’s doing. The same can be said of Richmond rapper Black Liquid, who has certainly written plenty of poetry set to hip hop beats over the years. Seeing what he comes up with when he doesn’t have a backing track will be fascinating. Story quilter Denise Walters, who is a member of the Nottoway Tribe, will bring us tales told through cloth as well as words. The lineup is rounded out by witch poet Summer Storms and poet/pyrography practitioner S. Preston Duncan. All have plenty to offer. Be there to appreciate their gifts.

Sunday, April 3, 7 PM
Daisychain, The Background Action, Death Plumes @ The Camel – $10 in advance, $12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Sunday nights can be tough. Everyone’s gotten their ya-ya’s out on Friday and Saturday, and the weekend is coming to an end, so for many people, Sunday night is a night to head home early. However, true rock n’ roll heads know that some of the best underground sounds can be found on nights when there’s not all that much going on — because touring bands have always got a hole in their schedule to fill. Luckily, The Camel is there to take them in, and those of us who are truly dedicated to music as life get to be there and hear great new bands before everyone else has necessarily caught on.

All of this is a long way of getting to the point, which is that Chicago’s Daisychain are truly essential listening. This band of relatively young people pull from multiple prior generations of Windy City guitar legends, mixing everything from the classic electric blues of Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy to the 70s-influenced grunge-rock of 90s legends Urge Overkill. There’s even a little bit of Janis Joplin and Heart mixed in here, coming out through the angelic voices of singers Sophia Williams and Nickole Regala. I know you might be tempted to head home early Sunday night, but take a disco nap and head back out to catch Daisychain at The Camel instead. I promise you won’t regret it.

Monday, April 4, 7 PM
Soft Kill, Alien Boy, Topographies, True Body @ The Camel – $15 (order tickets HERE)
All Richmond live music heads need to give thanks to whatever deity they do or don’t believe in for The Camel. The only venue in this city who truly seems to share our belief that music doesn’t need a night off, we can always count on the Camel to have a show queued up for us on Monday night, when we’re in desperate need of some solid sounds to blow away the mental residue of another depressing Monday back at work. And it’s almost always a really good show, too — witness this excellent bill that brings us two killer touring bands for the price of one.

Soft Kill is the first; their 2020 LP, Dead Kids, RIP City, does a great job of mixing sharply ringing postpunk guitars with driving dance beats and synth textures, all in a decidedly noir-ish mode that leads one to imagine the Cure with the energy of first-LP Bauhaus. Whether you’re into dark, driving rock n’ roll or moody, gloomy goth, these guys have something you’ll like. As for co-headliners Alien Boy, this Portland quartet were already on my radar due to their excellent 2021 LP, Don’t Know What I Am, which is still growing on me six months later. Driving, melodic punk with a moody gothic undertone is what they bring to the table, in a manner that lands somewhere between Wax Idols and Veruca Salt. That’s enough to win me over right there. San Francisco gothic industrial group Topographies and Virginia’s own postpunk veterans True Body round this one out with aplomb. Shake off the Mondays with this one.

Tuesday, April 5, 7 PM
Escape From The Zoo, Crazy And The Brains, Chupaskabra @ Richmond Music Hall At Capital Ale House – $15 in advance, $20 day of show (Order tickets HERE)
I have a confession to make, y’all: I wasn’t necessarily all that on-board for the whole ska-punk thing back in the 90s. And if I’m even more honest, I really think I missed something by skipping out on all that stuff at the time. Today, I look back at stuff like Operation Ivy and Voodoo Glow Skulls, and I think: dang, those kids sure seem like they were having a lot of fun. Luckily for all of us who missed out — and for everyone who got it when it was originally going on — the whole ska-punk thing is experiencing a major revival right now. And Fat Wreck Chords signees Escape From The Zoo are at the forefront of all that.

Led by Jesse Sendejas of Houston folk-punk group Days N’ Daze and his mandolin-strumming wife Veronica, Escape From The Zoo take all that catchy, upbeat strumming that was the best part of the whole folk-punk thing and mix it with the electrified punk energy of the good bands of the 90s ska-punk revival: the ones that realized you have to lead with the punk and the speed, and just let everything else work itself out. That’s what Escape From The Zoo does on their brand new LP, Countin’ Cards, and that’s what’s gonna win you over when they take the stage Tuesday night at Capital Ale House. Xylophone-driven dance-punk veterans Crazy And The Brains and local ska-punk up-and-comers Chupaskabra round out this bill, and will do more than their fair share to increase the fun quotient and bring your Tuesday night to bright, glorious life. Get ready.

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Email me if you’ve got any tips for me about upcoming shows (that take place after the week this column covers -– this week’s column has obviously already been written): [email protected]

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: March 2 – March 8

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FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, March 5, 7 PM
Banding Together: A Benefit Concert For RPS Elementary School Music Programs, feat. No BS! Brass, Fear Of Music, Prabir Trio, Erin Lunsford, Landon Elliott, Buenas @ The Broadberry – $20-$100 (order tickets HERE)
It’s been a rough ol’ decade so far, folks, and 2022 is clearly trying to make sure no one thinks it’s calming down this year. Not only is there a terrible war in Ukraine courtesy of that despicable dictator Vladimir Putin, and not only is Texas literally attempting to put parents in jail for being supportive of their transgender children, but things are pretty dang rough right here in RVA, the most obvious example of that being the fire that gutted Fox Elementary School recently. Considering how much trouble Richmond Public Schools always has coming up with the funding necessary to give our local children a good public education, this is definitely not the sort of thing we as a city needed.

Luckily, a whole bunch of Richmond musicians feel exactly the same way, and they’re doing more than ranting about it on the internet somewhere; they’ve actually gotten together with local music education-focused nonprofit JAMinc to organize not one but two benefit concerts for Richmond Public Schools’ musical education programs, both of which take place at The Broadberry this Saturday. The more kid-friendly one takes place at 2 PM and features children’s hip hop group The Diggity Dudes, Jonathan The Juggler, and more. If you’ve got little ones in the house, you probably should take them out to this one, especially since kids 12 and under get in free. But RVA Mag is for the adults, so we’re officially recommending the grownup-oriented show at 7 PM, as it features an incredibly stacked lineup of local musical talent.

Topping the bill is No BS! Brass, a band who shouldn’t even need any introduction to Richmond music fans after all these years. However, on the off chance you pulled into town last week, I will tell you that this collection of horn players, percussionists, rappers, singers, and all around fun-loving troubadours incorporate everything from soul, funk, and classic jazz to hip hop, metal, and hardcore punk into their hype-as-hell tunes and incredibly energetic performances. They’re reason enough for you to be at this thing all by themselves, but the fact that talented local Talking Heads tribute act Fear Of Music, veteran power-popsters the Prabir Trio, excellent singer-songwriters Erin Lunsford and Landon Elliott, plus even more great acts will all be on this bill makes it easily worth the $20 price of admission. This is especially true when you contemplate the fact that every dime you pay will go toward Richmond Public Schools’ elementary music programs. And don’t worry — if you want to donate more, tickets with face values up to $100 are available in order to make your donation as easy as possible. Because as we all know, life’s hard enough right now.

Wednesday, March 2, 7 PM
Spirit Of The Beehive, Body Meat @ Richmond Music Hall at Capital Ale House – $14 in advance, $16 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Psychedelic ensemble Spirit Of The Beehive have been around for a while now, and you might think you’ve got them all figured out. But honestly, if you haven’t checked them out in the past year or so, you might get a big surprise when you show up at Capital Ale House’s Richmond Music Hall tonight. For one thing, the band’s lineup has shifted considerably since the pandemic shut down live music for 18 or so months. Their most recent keyboardist switched to drums, and everyone else other than co-founders and lead vocalists Zack Schwartz and Rivka Ravede left. Last year’s Entertainment, Death LP was their first as a trio, and it foregrounds the experimental, electronic, and sonic-collage aspects of the group in new and fascinating ways that led Pitchfork to give Entertainment, Death a much-sought-after Best New Music designation.

One listen is enough to see why; the hypnotic, psychedelic space pop that’s always been a part of their sound has gotten even more unmoored from conventional reality, even as it has absorbed everything from vaporwave vibes to thrift-store “world music” cassette compilations, shoving it all in alongside their tendency toward abrupt sonic shifts and jarring blasts of noise that depart as quickly as they arrive. What’s left is the kind of head-swimmy dance groove that always makes for the best parties; you’re tapping your feet even though you don’t know the song, but you have no idea what the DJ will reach for next or even if they’ll let it play to the end. After a while, though, it starts to make perfect sense. So come down to Capital Ale House tonight and get on Spirit of the Beehive’s level, because rest assured, no matter how weird it seems from the outside, it’s got a lot to offer.

Thursday, March 3, 8 PM
Well Wisher, Strawberry Moon, Closet Space @ The Camel – $12 (order tickets HERE)
I’m always a sucker for some catchy guitar-driven indie tunes with an undeniable undercurrent of melodic punk, and therefore I can’t in any way resist this performance by New Jersey’s Well Wisher, coming to the Camel on Thursday night to get you spiritually prepared for what the weather people are saying will be an at least semi-warm late-winter weekend. Most recently, Well Wisher graced our cooped-up pandemic time with a series of acoustic singles that did what they could to brighten up the precarious summer of 2020. However, to get a sense of what this quartet is capable of when they’re at full strength, we’ve got to go back to their 2019 LP, This Is Fine, which was chock full of great tunes played on pretty dang loud guitars — the sort of sound that would please any lover of PS Eliot or Speedy Ortiz.

It’s likely that this full-strength melodic indie-punk-pop sound will be what Well Wisher bring to The Camel tomorrow night; however, I’ve got to say, even if things focus on the acoustic moods, it’ll still be great. These songs are more than capable of standing on their own. The same can be said of Strawberry Moon, who’ve been bringing the powerful voice and catchy tunes of Katie Bowles and co. to the RVA music world for several years now. All we’ve gotten since pre-pandemic days from them have been a few minimalist demos, but their Bandcamp page heralds a new LP coming this summer, and that’s sure to be a highlight of 2022 for the entire local music scene. In the meantime, see what sorts of new and old tunes they’re bringing out for this Thursday night shindig, and make sure you show up on time to hear what indie-rock newcomers Closet Space have to offer as well. You’ll be glad you did.

Friday, March 4, 8 PM
Phantom Handshakes, Night Idea, Hotspit, Young Scum @ The Dark Room – $10 (order tickets HERE)
Here’s a night of cool moods for a dark room in a historic old building in a hip local neighborhood. Yes, I am of course talking about the Hofheimer’s Dark Room, where a night of excellent local bands will be headlined by visitors from New York. Specifically, I’m talking about Phantom Handshakes, a duo that brings their gorgeous dream-pop tunes south of the Mason-Dixon line to grace all our ear canals. The mix of ambient synth beds, chiming guitars, bouncy programmed beats, and adorable vocals on their 2021 full-length, No More Summer Songs, is truly wondrous, and will surely shine even brighter when it comes to us all from inside a very dark room. Make sure you’re there to see this one glow.

But look, you’ve got a lot of other reasons to be there too, and all of them speak to the always-deep pool of musical talent that has been RVA’s excellent legacy for decades now. Night Idea, a name I haven’t heard in a long minute now, is bringing their melodic math-rockin’ sound back to a Richmond stage at The Dark Room on this fine evening, and what’s more, we’ll also get the first live appearance I’ve heard about in quite a while from incredible local power-pop quartet Young Scum. This is a real dynamic duo of Richmond music right here, and if you’ve been paying attention at all, you know you’ve got to be there when these bands share a stage (and if you don’t know, this is your urgent notice that you need to get familiar ASAP). Rounding out the bill is local buzz band Hotspit, whose lovely indie-shoegaze sounds are getting a warm reception both within and outside of RVA lately. Make sure you don’t miss a moment of this one, folks. It’ll be a night to remember.

Saturday, March 5, 7 PM
Coheed And Cambria, Sheer Mag @ The National – $40 (order tickets HERE)
I’m not as good at being an emo girl as I used to be, and I know this because every time I turn around lately, Coheed and Cambria have yet another new album out, and I’m finding myself once again playing catch-up. I still haven’t really gotten my head around 2015’s The Color Before The Sun, and that’s a seven-year-old album now! Meanwhile, the band has launched into yet another of their multi-album prog epics, in the form of Vaxis. Act I: The Unheavenly Creatures came into the world back in 2018, and Act II: A Window Of the Waking Mind is due out this May, with two advance singles having made it into the world thus far. Oh my goodness! I’ve got a lot of listening to do.

Luckily, at first blush, Coheed’s long-established reputation for metallic, progressive, and eminently melodic emo quality remains sterling — brand new single “Shoulders” shows that they’re still at the top of their game, literally 20 entire years after I saw them for the first time (oh my god, I’m so old). So yeah, all the new jams they’re breaking out for the first time on this tour are sure to knock everyone on their ass, and no doubt they’ll be busting out legendary fan faves like “A Favor House Atlantic” and “Here We Are Juggernaut” to get all us old heads singing along as well. Plus, get this: the opening act on this tour is none other than power-pop-garage-punk titans Sheer Mag, who might not quite be worth the full price of admission just to see them if you don’t dig Coheed (and… why, pray tell, would you not dig Coheed?), but they’re certainly going to provide an excellent bonus for all those in the know who show up on time. So hey, make sure you do that, OK?

Sunday, March 6, 7:30 PM
Summer Salt, Renata Zeiguer, Kate Stephenson @ Richmond Music Hall at Capital Ale House – $19.99 in advance, $23 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Winter’s been rough around here this year, speaking strictly in terms of temperature: like, I can’t remember the last time we got a heating bill as high as the one we were slapped with last month. For that reason alone, it’s good to hear that Texas pop duo Summer Salt are coming through town to wrap up all of our weekends with a lovely performance at Richmond Music Hall Sunday night. You see, where Summer Salt are concerned, the warm sunny sea breezes aren’t just implied by their name; they come through in their glowing, gorgeous pop tunes, to the point where you can almost feel that warm wind on your face when you listen to them. It’s a pleasant prospect, especially with the kind of winter we’ve had.

Summer Salt’s current tour is even more likely to bring the beach vibes; the band is touring in support of their upcoming album, The Juniper Songbook, which will be released mere days after their performance at Richmond Music Hall. It’s a collection of Summer Salt favorites re-interpreted in a more stripped-down, acoustic fashion. And in order to get everyone in the mood, their current tour features the same feel. So not only will we be getting a laid-back acoustic take on Summer Salt’s tunes at this show, we’ll also be getting similarly stripped-down performances from singer-songwriters Renata Zeiguer and Kate Stephenson, each of which has plenty to offer in their own right. Clearly you know what you must do: come down to Capital Ale House’s downtown location and enjoy the vibes this Sunday night.

Monday, March 7, 7 PM
Computer, ApathyFire, K!LL SCREEN @ Fallout – $7 in advance, $10 day of show (order tickets HERE)
This show at Fallout had me ready for some serious goth vibes, as I usually expect from any musical performance taking place at Richmond’s premier fetish bar. However, they threw me for a bit of a curve with this performance by Computer, a mysterious, prolific New York-based project whose work veers between ominous electronic sounds and outright harsh noise in a manner that’s likely to please fans of everything from Pharmakon to Author & Punisher.

Computer’s music seems less likely to inspire dancefloor action than Fallout’s usual fare, but their atonal sonic approach definitely seems at least somewhat appropriate for the moody atmosphere this place always has in abundance. Opener ApathyFire has plenty of additional noise with which to bewitch all comers, while the pounding techno of K!LL SCREEN should be able to at least start the evening with some dance beats before diving fully into the chaos. Jump in and ride the wave, folks.

Tuesday, March 8, 7 PM
Rick Maguire (of Pile), Allie Smith (of Blush Face), Brent McCormick (of The Wimps) @ Gallery 5 – $12 in advance, $15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
I’m guessing it’s the pandemic that did it, but lately we’ve been seeing a move toward more stripped-down, acoustic takes on bands’ and songwriters’ previous material. Indeed, it’s a phenomenon that already appears elsewhere in this very column. However, it takes on a whole different feel when it’s explored by someone like Pile’s Rick Maguire, who normally plays a loud, distorted guitar and hollers animatedly overtop of Pile’s pounding noise-rock anthems. He’s completely subverted that formula with his 2021 solo album, Songs Known Together, Alone. This album sees Maguire stripping Pile’s blasting tunes down to their core elements and converting them into songs full of ambient sound, singular emotion, and lyrics that take on a whole new meaning with the harsh pounding of his backing band stripped away.

It’s an interesting choice from a musician whose songs normally sound like they wouldn’t work at all without all the distortion and screaming noise. What Maguire proves on his new solo album is that you can just as easily love a quiet, bare-bones recreation of a Pile tune just as much as you loved the chaotic, raging original. His set at Gallery 5 on Tuesday is sure to bring that fact home in even more dramatic fashion — and what’s more, it’ll give Richmond heads a chance to see local talents Allie Smith of Blush Face and Brent McCormick of The Wimps do similar things with their own bands’ rockin’ tunes. The results are sure to be illuminating — so come down to Gallery 5 on Tuesday, and let the light shine upon your face.

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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]

Weird Flex But Awesome

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The brand new flexi-disc from Richmonders The Wimps and Grebes comes to us as the first release from Perpetual Care, a locally-focused “interdisciplinary studio,” and revives an unusual format with an intriguing history and aesthetic.

It’s always nice to see local people trying something new, especially when that leads to their work existing beyond the digital space in which we’ve all been confined for way too much of the past two years, while out in the real world — you know, IRL — a deadly pandemic raged.

The split EP from Richmond bands The Wimps and Grebes, which was released about a month ago, is definitely a great example of something new on the Richmond scene — though, in reality, it gets to a place the scene has not previously gone by returning to a very old technology that was relatively common in the DIY world around a quarter-century ago. The technology I refer to is the flexi-disc, a record made not with solid slabs of vinyl but merely a thin, floppy vinyl sheet — one that often needs to be stabilized by having something relatively heavy, like a coin, set onto its inner label while it plays.

Back in the 90s, when alternative rock and its many subsets were enjoying a moment of popularity in tandem with underground “zine culture,” a lot of independent record labels and independent magazines joined forces to promote their music while adding value to their zines by giving away flexis inside zines — something they were particularly well suited for. I still have close to a dozen from 20-plus years ago, including promo singles by Elastica and Shonen Knife, and a flexi that was given away in the Beastie Boys’ Grand Royal magazine featuring Biz Markie covering Elton John’s “Bennie And The Jets.”

I don’t think I’ve played any of these in at least 15 years.
(Photo by Marilyn Drew Necci)

Flexis have experienced a bit of a revival in recent times, and this one, which features two songs adding up to exactly six minutes on one side with a blank backing, is the first one I’ve seen from a local Richmond endeavor. And I guess you could say it’s somewhat of a novelty, but I for one think it’s pretty goddamn cool. And I’m not just saying that out of nostalgia, either.

This split flexi is the first release by Perpetual Care, which co-founder Darrin Higgins calls “a Richmond, VA project-based interdisciplinary studio with an emphasis on music and culture.” Higgins and co-founder Brent McCormick, who are both designers in their day jobs, founded Perpetual Care in order “to partner with, partake in, and promote the community caring for them.” Their hearts are certainly in the right place, then, and the music on this record is coming from a pretty great place as well.

The Wimps at Go West during the recording of “Great White Shark”

The Wimps are first up on this “soundsheet,” and they’re probably the better known of these two local groups. A four-piece group that prominently features organ on its contribution, “Great White Shark,” the Wimps offer a lot of appeal to underground music fans around the city. They aren’t a punk band by any means, but their driving, no-frills power-pop is close enough to the more melodic end of that genre to have crossover appeal for the punks, while still easily connecting with the more melody-focused indie kids around the scene.

Grebes are a newer project from around town, or at least they haven’t caught my attention before now. The project of songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Jacob Ungerleider, Grebes has a delicate indie mood on their track, “Locust.” Ungerleider may not be all that familiar a name to me, but he’s got a pretty formidable resume, with previous stints touring with the Fruit Bats, Natalie Prass, Angelica Garcia, and others. Chances are if you’re impressed by those names and the music they’re responsible for, you’re going to find a lot to like in the Grebes tune gracing the inner portion of this flexi-disc’s playable surface.

Jacob Ungerleider of Grebes

Perpetual Care have clearly just begun with their Richmond-focused artistic and cultural efforts, but this is a strong opening salvo from a project that isn’t afraid to think outside the box. I definitely will be keeping an eye out for what else they bring to the city in the future — hopefully good things are coming soon. For now, if you want to get a copy of The Wimps/Grebes split flexi for your very own (and why wouldn’t you?), you can get a copy for $6 plus $2 shipping from Perpetual Care’s website. Christmas is coming; get one for the Richmond indie music fan in your life this holiday (even if that does mean you’re just buying it for yourself).

Photos courtesy Perpetual Care, except where noted

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: November 10 – November 16

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FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, November 23, 2021, 7 PM
Beach Bunny, Miloe @ The Broadberry – $20 in advance, $24 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Oh hey, how’s it going? What have you been up to for the past year and a half? It’s been a wild ride for me too, but I’m back, I’m fully vaxxed, and I’m ready to rock. Lucky me, because the big news my first week back is that Beach Bunny is returning to RVA this Saturday night. If you were paying attention back in 2019, you’ll surely have noticed Honeymoon, the debut full-length by this Chicago four-piece. Led by singer-guitarist-songwriter Lili Trifilio, Beach Bunny started out as a solo project, gaining members over their first few years as they released four promising EPs. Honeymoon fulfilled that promise on its best songs, the vast majority of its running time being occupied by upbeat, jangly power-pop with an undeniable punk energy and attitude. There were still a few quieter, more minimalist ballads on the album, which weren’t my faves but stood as an understandable hangover from the solo years.

However, at this point, Beach Bunny’s moved on from all that, and their two post-pandemic statements, four-song EP Blame Game and brand new single “Oxygen,” go all in on the catchy, punky, power-pop vibes, and feature sharp lyrics that unflinchingly take on the worst aspects of interpersonal relationships among the youthful subculture the best music always comes from. Case in point: Blame Game opening track “Good Girls (Don’t Get Used),” which inverts the potential victim-blaming of the title to call out slack-ass indie boy hypocrisy. Meanwhile, the EP’s title track takes on rape culture in unsparing terms, and “Nice Guys” skewers the many dudes who don’t realize that putting women on a pedestal is still objectification.

So yeah, Beach Bunny has a lot for us, but it’s not all acid; “Oxygen’s” lyrics are an upbeat celebration of the dawning of a great new relationship, and pretty much all of the songs have that bouncy swing that we all loved from those early Best Coast records. So yeah, if you wanna dance with a big smile on your face, this is the show for you! Show up Saturday night at the Broadberry, bring your vax card, and get ready to have a blast.

Wednesday, November 10, 8 PM
Blvck Hippie, The Wimps, No Moniker @ The Camel – $8 in advance, $10 day of show (order tickets HERE)
This is one of those times where I’m not actually sure who’s opening and who’s headlining, so let me just say — you really want to show up at the beginning and stay to the very end for this one. But let’s start by talking about Blvck Hippie, since they’re the ones who are on tour. A Memphis-based project led by Josh Shaw, Blvck Hippie takes an intricate approach to indie tunes that contain a trenchant analysis of the limitations inherent in the indie rock scene of 2021. And of course, as a Black man playing music in a scene that is all too often way too white, Shaw’s observations aren’t the same old typical indie-boy laments.

In fact, you can tell that as soon as you listen to Blvck Hippie’s debut full-length, If You Feel Alone At Parties, released just last month and containing gems like “Answering Machine,” “July 5th,” and the title track, all of which deal frankly with alienation and the ongoing fallout from trauma. At the same time, Shaw’s lead guitar riffing adds an unmistakable melodic counterpoint to all of the music he’s presenting here, with the result that some of these subtly sad songs are also perfectly structured to stay in your head all day. Which is good, because this is a band whose music should give you plenty to think about. Of course, it should be acknowledged that The Wimps and No Moniker are also pushing back against the standard whiteboy-indie paradigm. And that’s definitely good. But the real reason you should catch both of these groups is the reason it always should be: both the quirky alt-rock of The Wimps and the bouncy disco-infused indie sound of No Moniker are excellent — as is Blvck Hippie. So hey, rock with ’em.

Photo by Alden Bonecutter

Thursday, November 11, 7 PM
Shakey Graves, Sun June @ The National – $25 in advance, $30 at the door (order tickets HERE)
If you’re aware of Shakey Graves, it’s probably due to his lengthy tenure in the rootsy world of the genre known as Americana — which is to say, he pulls from old-time music, but he doesn’t discriminate. Folk, country, blues, rockabilly… it’s all welcome. That very musical freedom is probably what led ol’ Shakey to the intriguing sound of his latest EP, 2020’s Look Alive, which is closer to moody, synth-infused indie rock than anything you’d normally associate with the “Americana” tag. In that way, he’s sort of following a similar path to that of Sturgill Simpson, though his approach is very much his own.

And of course, now that I’ve said all that, I should mention that the release Shakey Graves is really touring behind right now is Roll The Bones X, a tenth-anniversary reissue of his debut LP featuring another entire LP’s worth of outtakes tacked onto the end. And if it’s intriguing takes on what Greil Marcus called “the old weird America” that you’re looking for, well, on Roll The Bones X, Shakey Graves absolutely has what you’re looking for — and plenty of it. The million-dollar question, then, is: which of these Shakey Graves sounds will you get when you go see him on Thursday night at the National? His most recent explorations of the outer boundaries of genre? His original raw, earthy take on folk/blues/country vibes? A little of both? All I can tell you for sure is that, whichever you get, you can’t really go wrong. My advice: show up, and let it roll from there.

Friday, November 12, 9 PM
Sigmund Fraud, Mad Abbey, Marshall Family Values, Rikki Rakki @ The Camel – $10 in advance, $12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
What better night than Friday night to dive into a show full of up-and-coming local talents, and really re-immerse yourself in the depths of what’s going on down here in the river city? If there is a better night, I didn’t find it this week. So I’m definitely advising that you come out to the Camel this Friday to enjoy the festivities around the release of Sigmund Fraud’s latest album. Aside from their great name, what do you need to know about Sigmund Fraud? Well, there’s the fact that they mingle a variety of different genres into their jammy, soulful, rockin’ sound, and the fact that, if you move around their Bandcamp page from one song to another, you’ll have a tough time really pinning them down. Everything they try, though, from the synth moods of “Lovespell” to the spaced-out slacker rock of “West Clay Street Blues,” is a lot of fun. And that’s what really counts.

There’s more going on here than just one band, though. Three other Richmond ensembles will be on hand to liven up your night, and all of them have a very strong likelihood of doing exactly that. Mad Abbey’s rocked-out approach to the power trio format brings some prog and classic rock touches to the fore. Marshall Family Values have a bit of desert spookiness to their rock n’ roll sound — I’m almost reminded of the Meat Puppets at some points. Finally, Rikki Rakki sees singer-songwriter Erika Blatnik take a somewhat noisy approach to what are fundamentally really beautiful heartfelt tunes. What form they’ll take live is open to question, but I’m certainly intrigued — as I am by this entire bill.

Saturday, November 13, 9:30 PM
Thunderchief, Future Projektor @ Bandito’s – Free!
OK, this show is a big relief. I say that because, as a dyed-in-the-wool metalhead, I found this week’s lineup of live music hits surprisingly weak on heaviness — that is, until I got to this Saturday night shindig at Bandito’s. Richmond metal veterans who wish to experience the bliss that is a Saturday night spent banging your head while mercilessly heavy riffs fly at you with great force, this show is for you. The bill starts off with Thunderchief, a duo that pairs talented thrasher Rik Surly with RVA metal/punk veteran Erik Larson (Avail, Parasytic, Alabama Thunderpussy, etc). Surly screams and dishes out huge riffs while Larson pounds the hell out of the drums. On last year’s No Sufferance For Thy Fools LP, their sound is way heavier and thicker than you’d expect a duo to generate, and that’s sure to be true in the live room at Bandito’s as well (secretly the best-sounding smaller venue in this city. Yeah, I said it).

Then there’s Future Projektor, the other band on this evening of heavy sounds that all of us are blessed to receive for our zero-dollar investment. If you remember Gritter, you may recognize some of these fellows; guitarist Adam Kravitz and drummer Kevin White were both part of that downbeat metal outfit, while bassist Sean Plunkett is a veteran of fellow Richmond metallers I Am The Liquor. The three of them have now come together to crank out some instrumental heavyosity in the glorious Richmond tradition of Breadwinner, the Alter Natives, and many others. Get ready for a night of serious brutality — one that you can start by saving your cash for a big plate of pre-show nachos (secretly the best nachos in this city. Yeah, I said that too).

Sunday, November 14, 6:30 PM
Samantha Fish, River Kittens @ The National – $22.50 – $32.50 (order tickets HERE)
Here comes a night full of rip-roaring blues guitar pyrotechnics courtesy of Kansas City’s own Samantha Fish, a woman whose music I admit I was unfamiliar with before I heard she was rolling into town. Well, checking out the singles from her latest album, Faster, which came out last month on Rounder Records, made me a believer. There’s some of Bonnie Raitt’s talent for guitar-slinging pop balladry in Fish’s DNA, for sure, but like both Raitt and Stevie Ray Vaughan — another obvious influence on what Samantha Fish is up to in 2021 — she can rip out guitar leads sharp enough to cut yourself on. And if you don’t watch out, that’s exactly what’ll happen.

But don’t panic — you’ll be safe at The National this Sunday night (assuming you’re vaxxed up, that is. I shouldn’t even need to say that at this point). All you’ll have to worry about is how much fun you’re going to have rocking out to the straight fire Samantha Fish and her band are gonna lay down (again, only speaking metaphorically). And hey, based on what I’ve seen, at least a little bit of that fire is going to come from Samantha Fish’s outfit. The woman is not only a top-level shredder but an impeccable dresser, so be sure to keep your eyes open.

Monday, November 15, 9 PM
Cassidy Snider & The Wranglers, Brady Heck, Jacob Ritter, Chuck Jones @ The Camel – $10 in advance, $12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Let’s go from a touring blues singer to a homegrown one. I’m speaking, of course, of Richmond’s own Cassidy Snider, who is less focused on shredding and more on deep country soul. So far, the only release she and her backing band, The Wranglers, have up on the internet is a live album recorded at The Camel last winter, and it showcases the sheer amazingness of Ms. Snider’s voice. Her four-piece backing band features banjo, fiddle, organ, bass, and drums, but no guitar. However, with her singing up front, it’s totally unnecessary. Her powerful instrument shakes the rafters, at times completely overpowering the microphones that documented that fateful performance at the Camel.

You won’t have to worry about that at The Camel this Monday night, though — only the limits of your ears. However, even with my own significant hearing loss, I’m not the least bit worried about picking up everything Ms. Snider is laying down. It’s gonna be great. And even greater is the opportunity to pick up a copy of Cassidy Snider & The Wranglers’ brand new LP, which they’ll be releasing at this show. Opening sets from local talents Brady Heck, Jacob Ritter, and Chuck Jones (not the guy who directed all those old Tom and Jerry cartoons… though wouldn’t that be sweet?) only serve to make this entire evening even more enjoyable. So shake off the Mondays and spend the first night of your workweek at the Camel. It’ll do you no harm.

Tuesday, November 16, 7 PM
Post Animal, Ron Gallo @ Richmond Music Hall at Capital Ale House – $15 in advance, $18 day of show (order tickets HERE)
I have been hearing the name Post Animal for a few years now, but this is my first time really diving in. And I must say, what I’ve found has been particularly enjoyable; a psychedelic quartet from Chicagoland who know how to create a huge atmosphere and a powerful mood. Last year’s second LP, Forward Motion Godyssey, demonstrates this in fine fashion, layering melodies aplenty, both vocal and guitar, with oceans of reverberating sound and color. I can’t imagine this music will be anything but even more amazing at full volume in the live environment. Now, if you’re one of those people who’d go to see Post Animal hoping to get a close-up look at Stranger Things actor Joe Keery, I must warn you that he’s no longer in the band. While he may have contributed to the band’s most recent album (I’m actually not able to tell), he won’t be performing with them.

But look, if you skip out on this show for that reason, I have to question your taste. After all, this quintet still contains five very talented songwriters, who are capable of channeling the best of that early Tame Impala vibe through a psych-pop lens that is pure Elephant 6. What’s not to love there? Plus! You’ll also be getting a set from Ron Gallo, whose catchy rock n’ roll vibes early in his career, circa 2017 single “Young Lady, You’re Scaring Me” have been augmented with a fair dose of psychedelia in its own right on his most recent album, Peacemeal. You know you’re gonna dig that.

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Email me if you’ve got any tips for me about upcoming shows (that take place after the week this column covers -– this week’s column has obviously already been written): [email protected]

VA’s Can’t-See Shows This Week: March 18 – March 24

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Hey there, folks, it’s that time of the week when we normally let you know all the best goings-on in the live music scene here in Richmond and around the state for the next week! As you may have realized, though, the current COVID-19 outbreak and the many social and legal restrictions placed on large gatherings have almost entirely shut down the live music scene here in Virginia. There may be a few things still going on, but we wouldn’t feel very responsible advocating for you to go see them. What’s a show-loving girl to do?

Well, for this week’s column, I decided to have compassion for those of you who have either joined me in the wonderful world of working at home (welcome to the club — isn’t it fun doing your job in your pajamas?) or, more unfortunately, found yourselves without any work while your place of business is temporarily shut down. I may not be able to send you to any clubs to see awesome bands light up your evening with their killer sounds… but I can offer you ten great performances by Richmond bands, all available for your viewing pleasure right here on the internet. You can space them out one (or two) per day as with the usual column, or binge them all tonight — the choice is yours! Crank the volume on your headphones for this one.

Lamb Of God at Hellfest Open Air, Clisson, France, June 23, 2019

We’ll start with what we all certainly hope is a preview of coming attractions — a full set by Lamb Of God, complete with multiple cameras and top-quality audio. Richmond’s veteran metal faves are planning as of now to release their latest LP, Lamb Of God, on May 8, and follow it up with a full US tour, featuring June dates at Jiffy Lube Live in NoVA and Veterans United Amphitheater in Virginia Beach. Will all that still happen in light of COVID-19? We can hope… and in the meantime, we can take comfort in this one-hour preview of what Lamb Of God’s latest lineup, now featuring former Prong drummer Art Cruz in place of retiring OG Chris Adler, has in store for us.

Division Of Mind at FYA Fest, Tampa, Florida, Jan 5, 2020

Taking things to a bit more of an underground level, here we have a room-destroying performance by Richmond hardcore ragers Division Of Mind, at Florida’s FYA Fest back at the beginning of this year. Guttural vocals, chugging guitars, brutal breakdowns, and an equally brutal mosh pit are what this video is all about. Better yet, despite the circumstances, it still features multiple camera angles and a great sound mix. Division Of Mind don’t have a social media presence (right on, I wish I didn’t), so I don’t know what’s up with them at this moment, but I’m sure they’d appreciate you grabbing a copy of their recent self-titled LP on Triple B Records if you haven’t already.

No BS! Brass Band at The Broadberry, April 17, 2014

Let’s take things in a more upbeat direction, shall we? This six-year-old live performance by No BS! Brass Band isn’t the most recent live footage online by this group, but there’s no substitute for seeing this Richmond favorite right here at home. And since at this moment, we have no way of knowing whether their gig planned for April 3 at The Broadberry is still going to happen or not, we may as well enjoy their music from home right now. Push the coffee table back and dance, y’all. And consider buying some merch from them, if you have the scratch — they will really appreciate the support. (Needless to say, that goes for all the bands on this list.)

Avail at House Of Independents, Asbury Park, New Jersey, September 5, 2019

Did you miss all the Avail reunion sets last year? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. And if you’re not planning to head to Punk Rock Bowling or Furnace Fest later this year, you might especially appreciate this audience recording of their set in Asbury Park last summer. This is one of the few videos I’ve picked that doesn’t have pro audio, so the sound isn’t perfect, but what is perfect is that evocation of what it felt like to be crammed up against the stage (always my favorite spot), singing along and avoiding the moshers… and the sweat flying off Beau Beau’s head. We can’t be there now, but it’s a lovely reminder.

Nickelus F and Ohbliv at Brewer’s Cafe, November 27, 2019

Want to chill with some fine hip hop? Check this Brewer’s Cafe session from last fall, featuring two of Richmond hip hop’s leading lights of the 21st century. Nickelus F is on the mic, spitting some of the best rhymes you’ll find anywhere in the world, while Ohbliv keeps the beats flowing on the decks. They’re behind the Brewer’s counter, and they aren’t serving up any hot drinks, but Brewer’s Cafe is still open for carryout and delivery today, and both Sweet Petey and Ohbliv have plenty of great tunes available over on Bandcamp for your listening pleasure (links above). They’d all appreciate your business during this trying time, I can assure you.

Palm Palm at River City Roll, September 1, 2019

If you know how awesome J. Roddy Walston & The Business were as a live act, you really need to catch Palm Palm, Walston’s new band with members of The Trillions, The Southern Belles, and the Milkstains. These folks had the misfortune of having their spring tour fall apart while they were on it earlier this month; they had to skip the last half of their dates and head home because all the other shows were cancelled. Fortunately for us, their set from last summer at River City Roll is online in its entirety, featuring high-quality audio and a very active single camera capturing the event from all kinds of angles. If you dig this, hit up Palm Palm online to support them by buying a t-shirt. After losing quite a few tour dates, they sure could use the help.

Windhand at Elsewhere, Brooklyn, NY, November 2, 2018

Windhand is another Richmond band who had a tour fall apart on them this month; indeed, this very night, they were supposed to be in Harrisonburg playing The Golden Pony. Now that show, and the rest of their March tour dates, are cancelled, and the only place we can see them is on YouTube. Luckily for us, this incredible live performance was captured by Revolver Magazine in high-quality audio by multiple cameras back in 2018, and we can enjoy it to our heart’s content now. With their tour having been cancelled, Windhand have been selling leftover tour merch on their BigCartel page — go grab some records and t-shirts if you’ve got the scratch.

.gif From God at Wonderland, July 5, 2019

Here’s what will doubtless be the messiest live video you’ll see this week — .gif From God laying waste to Wonderland last summer, in their inimitable fashion. This video is washed out and chaotic, full of flying hair and overdriven guitar chugs, and if you don’t know these songs going in, you might at times struggle to make out what’s going on. But that’s what .gif From God are all about, and if you ask me, it’s part of their charm — a delightful wall of chaos. No word as yet on the status of .gif From God’s April tour, but if you don’t have a copy of their latest LP, approximation_of_a_human, now is absolutely the time to get one. And if you do, you should donate to their Richmond Reproductive Freedom Project fundraising team — a good cause is still a good cause, even during a quarantine.

Bio Ritmo at Rio Loco Festival, Toulouse, France, June 19, 2015

And now for something completely different — a high-energy salsa infusion from long-running local band/party machine Bio Ritmo. This was filmed several years ago and far from home, but don’t get it twisted — this impeccably-documented performance is still muy caliente and well worth your time. Bio Ritmo haven’t performed locally since back around Christmas and don’t have anything in particular coming up, so why not stock up on their impressive back catalog over at their Bandcamp? Guaranteed to heat up your living room even if your space heater’s broken.

Good Day RVA Live Sessions Playlist, feat. Benjamin Shepherd, McKinley Dixon and Friends, Sports Bar, Doll Baby, The Wimps, Spooky Cool, Antiphons, Dumb Waiter, Clair Morgan aka New Lions, Dave Watkins, Lobo Marino, Navi, The Trillions, Andrew Alli & Josh Small, White Laces, Nelly Kate, Houdan The Mystic, Black Girls aka Rikki Shay

Who’s up for a lightning round? Good Day RVA have got the mother of all live sessions for you here with a mega-playlist featuring all of the sessions they’ve filmed over their entire career, which has been going on for… damn near 10 years now. Wow, time flies, huh? These videos feature a who’s who of Richmond’s best musicians, captured at various evocative sites around Richmond and ensuring that the city itself is just as much of their videos as the excellent bands involved. Maybe you’ve missed some of these over the years and need a reminder, or maybe you saw them all when they came out and would just enjoy a playlist full of great Richmond sights and sounds with which to warm your heart while you’re stuck in the house. Either way, this will go down smooth and warm your heart and soul. Guaranteed.

Must-See Shows will be back next week. Whether we return with actual live shows around town, or more video picks to get us through another week of quarantine, only time will tell… but I’m not getting my hopes up. See you then!

VA Shows You Must See This Week: June 19 – June 25

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FEATURED SHOW
Sunday, June 23, 7 PM
Toxic Moxie (Photo by David Morton), Magnus Lush, Among The Rocks And Roots @ Gallery 5 – $6 in advance/$8 day of show (order tickets HERE)
One of the core principles of this-here column is as follows: local music, specifically music from Richmond, is awesome. But that’s not just because our city had the fortune of attracting (or incubating) a lot of really talented people. A big part of what makes this relatively small US city so great at producing a ton of wonderful sounds from talented musicians is the community that exists within the scene here. Pretty much everyone involved in the local scene works to help support each other in our mutual creative endeavors. That’s not only true across styles and genres, it’s also true for people who don’t necessarily play music themselves — the promoters, the photographers, the zine-makers, even the kids who just go to a lot of shows and help make sure that bands get paid.

In that spirit, it’s great to see three local bands with significantly different sounds all coming together at Gallery 5 this Sunday to help a friend. I’ve never known Celeste Canady to play in a band, but her photography and overall scene support has made her an essential member of Richmond’s music community for years. Now she’s headed off to start the next chapter in her life by moving to Chicago — and three great Richmond bands are playing this fundraiser to help Celeste on her way.

Whether you personally know Celeste and also want to contribute, or are just looking for a great night of local music to cap off your weekend, Gallery 5 is the place to be this Sunday night. Toxic Moxie are our headliners, and they’ve been teasing a new LP for a damn minute now, so chances that this show will bring you a live preview of their killer new material are pretty high, I’d say. Magnus Lush’s excellent post-hardcore sound is always captivating and worth your time. And Among The Rocks And Roots are still building yet further from their 2018 LP, Raga, a creative peak in their epic multi-movement song construction and noisy, raging, yet hypnotic and enticing bass-drum duo sound. These groups are very different, but they are all excellent, they’re all coming out of Richmond, and best of all, they’re all coming together to support members of their community. Gotta love it.

Wednesday, June 19, 7 PM
Daddy Long Legs (Photo by Colby Sadeghi), The Bush League, The HellHounds @ Capital Ale House Music Hall – $10 (order tickets HERE)
It’s not exactly in the mainstream eye right now, but if you know where to look, you’re sure to notice that there’s quite the revival in rootsy, bluesy rock n’ roll happening these days. Daddy Long Legs are part of that whole thing — the NYC three-piece play music landing somewhere between the amplified Chicago blues of Howlin’ Wolf and Little Walter, and the noisy gutbucket howls of The Cramps and Jon Spencer. Hard not to love that!

On their new LP, Lowdown Ways, dish out some rollicking noise, making the most of their unusual lineup configuration — a slide guitarist, a singer who plays blues harp at times and guitar at others, and a drummer with a tiny kit and an ever-present maraca in one hand — and crank out some sounds that will appeal both to fans of early Fat Possum Records superstars like RL Burnside and T-Model Ford, and to Richmond punks who miss the heyday of local roots-punk rippers The Nervous Ticks. All of this adds up to a ton of fun; you’ll certainly be moving your feet if you make it out to this one.

Thursday, June 20, 8 PM
Moon Hooch (Photo by Jeffery Allen), Nathan-Paul & The Admirables, Brunswick @ The Camel – $15 in advance/$18 day of show (order tickets HERE)
I love it when something totally unexpected rolls through town, and that’s why I’m super-stoked to see Moon Hooch coming through. This trio is the kind of thing you’ve almost never seen before — two saxophones and a drummer, plus some occasional electronic augmentation and a completely unpredictable approach to songwriting that creates some of the freshest sounds I’ve encountered in a while. Moon Hooch are definitely not jazz. Nor are they a sax-driven rock n’ roll band. They aren’t an avant-garde experimental noise ensemble, either. And while their latest release, a collaboration with rapper/producer Tonio Sagan, has a decided boom-bap feel, they aren’t hip hop either.

So if Moon Hooch aren’t any of those things, then what are they? Answer: they’re a whole lot of fun. Any group who got their start as subway buskers are sure to know how to entertain a crowd, and Moon Hooch are no exception. They make danceable tunes full of groove and forward motion that are sure to get your booty shaking. Sometimes the result is reminiscent of John Zorn’s more accessible work, while at other times you just may find yourself thinking of Richmonders Dumb Waiter; those of you with longer memories may also end up thinking at times of Morphine. But mostly what you’re going to be thinking about when Moon Hooch are onstage at the Camel is what a great time you’re having. And that’s ultimately the best result possible.

Friday, June 21, 8 PM
Briana Marela, Plastic Pyramid, M4DF4C3 @ Sediment Arts – $9
This Friday night, it’s time to step into a slightly different headspace over at Sediment Arts. Many of us associate shows at art galleries with avant-garde sounds and performances, and while that isn’t universally true, such an instinct is not going to steer you wrong this Friday night. Briana Marela is an electronic musician from the West Coast, who uses her voice to create ambient layers of ethereal melody, then augments these floaty textures of sound with subtle programmed beats, synths, and gorgeous vocal melodies with their own flawless sense of melodic pop excellence.

The result might make you think of more recent work by Bjork, or even Grimes in her pre-Elon Musk days. But Briana Marela very much has her own thing going on, which she shows both on her most recent LP, 2017’s Call It Love, and a song she created last year in collaboration with Radiolab. “4th Amendment” is a song that uses the Bill Of Rights’ prohibition against unwarranted search and seizure to explore important issues relating to consent. Clearly she’s coming from an intelligent mindset — she’s currently pursuing an MFA in Electronic Music at Mills College — and her complex music demonstrates that, giving the listener a lot of sonic rabbit holes to fall down. In the best way, of course.

Saturday, June 22, 7 PM
Minor Poet (Photo by Joey Wharton), The Wimps, HotSpit @ The Broadberry – $10 in advance/$15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
A whole bunch of Richmond indie musicians — Matthew E. White, Natalie Prass, Lucy Dacus — have made it big in that world over the past several years, and now it appears that Minor Poet’s Andrew Carter is set to follow in their footsteps. Following up on And How!, his 2017 debut LP under the Minor Poet name, Carter has just released his follow-up EP, The Good News, with none other than Sub Pop Records. Which technically makes Minor Poet labelmates with Nirvana, and if that isn’t impressive, I don’t know what is.

OK, actually, I do know what is — the brand new six-song offering from Minor Poet. The Good News is a triumph of pop songcraft, full of lush instrumental augmentation around a really solid core of pop-rock melody that nods toward both the Beatles and the Shins on the way to an excellent, original place of its own. At The Broadberry this Saturday night, Carter and his allies in Minor Poet will bring the whole thing to vibrant Technicolor life before your very eyes. And then you’ll have a chance to grab a copy of The Good News on vinyl for your very own. Trust me, you’re going to want to.

Sunday, June 23, 9 PM
Greenbeard, Lady Killer, 3:33 @ Wonderland – $10
We’ve explored all sorts of multi-faceted sounds and styles this week, but we all know what the music scene in Richmond was built on, so this Sunday night, let’s all head down to Wonderland and get back to our roots in the rich earth of Southern metal. Two Texas bands are headed to Shockoe Bottom to help us out with that, and with a name like Greenbeard, you know the first of these two has to be good. You might wonder whether that name is intended to be a weed reference, but the fact that the first song on their latest EP is called “Contact High II” should remove any doubt.

And of course, these guys churn out exactly the sort of rumbling sun-baked grooves that you’d hope for from any metal band who like to make marijuana references. Greenbeard’s music occupies a territory bordered on one side by the hazy psychedelia of Hawkwind or Monster Magnet, and on the other by the straight-up Camaro grooves of Fu Manchu. If you like spending time in that territory — and let’s be real, who doesn’t? — this show is for you. Fellow Texans Ladykiller push that vibe in a bit more of an 80s cock-rock direction, complete with some of that slightly-awkward “pretty women as scenery” vibe straight out of mid-80s Motley Crue videos. But once they start to play, all doubts go by the wayside — these guys are riff masters, and there’s no denying it. Local metal-punk madmen 3:33 will kick off their next tour with an opening slot on this one, so expect things to be hard n’ heavy from the word go. Which is exactly what you want.

Monday, June 24, 6:30 PM
Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, Father John Misty, Jade Bird @ Altria Theater – $59.75 – $79.75 (order tickets HERE)
I’ve been a fan of Jason Isbell since back when he was still in the Drive-By Truckers. He wrote some of the best songs on their albums that he played on, and when he left the group a dozen years ago to kick off a solo career, I certainly wasn’t complaining. Isbell’s been repaying my faith in him ever since, creating half a dozen excellent solo albums thus far. The most recent of these, 2017’s The Nashville Sound, was the first to give his band, the 400 Unit, equal billing, and it makes sense — it’s very much a band record, with a sound that is guaranteed to please everyone who loves heartland rock, alt-country, and any sort of heartfelt anthem delivered with grace and sincerity.

Since that album was released, Isbell has contributed a song to the Star Is Born soundtrack. Meanwhile, his current tourmate, Father John Misty, recently started playing a song that he swears was rejected from that same high-profile film. Of course, as with anything Father John Misty is up to, you’ve got to take it with a grain of salt — the guy’s been one of the music world’s most notorious tricksters since he quit Fleet Foxes and changed his name from plain old Josh Tillman back in 2012. But for someone who’s public persona is sometimes quite difficult to figure out, Father John Misty’s music is always excellent, something he proved yet again on last year’s God’s Favorite Customer. You might hear all sorts of weird between-song pronouncements during his set at the Altria this Monday night — but you’ll definitely hear some powerful music. And that’s really what it’s all about.

Tuesday, June 25, 7 PM
Damien Jurado, Corrina Repp @ Capital Ale House Music Hall – $18 in advance/$20 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Here’s another pretty impressive labelmate Minor Poet can now claim as a result of his Sub Pop signing. Damien Jurado’s been making his spare, affecting music for around 25 years now, and in the late 90s and early 00s, he was recording for Sub Pop, releasing moody acoustic singer-songwriter masterpieces like Ghost Of David back before Iron And Wine was a name anyone knew.

In the years since, Jurado’s released over a dozen albums, at times dabbling in full bands and more electrified sounds. But on his latest, the just-released In The Shape Of A Storm, Damien Jurado has once again returned to his roots, producing an album of haunting ballads that aren’t quite folk, country, indie, or emo, but will likely appeal to people who enjoy any of those genres. Jurado’s music is always an intense, haunted listening experience, even on record. When he takes the stage at Capital Ale House this Tuesday night, you should be prepared for an emotional journey — one that may take you to some pretty dark places. But even so, you’ll be tremendously glad you took the ride.

Elsewhere Around The State:

Saturday, June 22, 7 PM
The Connells @ The Jefferson Theater – $20 (order tickets HERE)
It may very well be that you have to be “of a certain age” to remember the Connells in 2019. And if so, that’s a shame, because while this band’s most successful periods were the college radio era of the late 80s and the post-Nirvana alt-rock boom of the early 90s, their songwriting talent was more than sufficient to make them the authors of some truly classic alt-pop tunes. Granted, they weren’t as heavy as the grunge bands of the day. What’s more, their roots in North Carolina linked them much more closely to fellow Southern indie groups like REM and Dillon Fence than to the quirkier collegiate alt-rock of the Massachusetts area (like the Pixies or Dinosaur Jr).

All the same, songs like “Stone Cold Yesterday,” “Slackjawed,” and “Fun And Games” showed that namesake brothers Mike and David Connell, along with perennial lead vocalist Doug MacMillan, knew exactly how to put together a perfect pop tune. The results on album after album harked back to 60s classics by the Beatles and the Byrds while also indicating a clear kinship with UK groups like The Smiths and The House Of Love. All that sounds pretty great, right? And see, that’s why you should definitely make it out to the Jefferson Theater Saturday night when The Connells come through — regardless of whether or not you saw them on the lawn at your college in 1994. Their heyday may be a bit far back in the rearview, but these songs are timeless.

Tuesday, June 25, 7 PM
Kristin Hersh Electric Trio, Fred Abong @ The Golden Pony – $12 in advance/$14 at the door (order tickets HERE)
Kristin Hersh has been making music for nearly 40 years, and she’s been a unique and fascinating artist that entire time. Beginning in the early 80s with her band Throwing Muses, Hersh used a spiky iconoclasm learned from punk to twist her noisy pop tunes into strange, off-kilter shapes that made the results fascinating. Beginning in the early 90s, Hersh began alternating full-band Throwing Muses albums with more minimal but no less fascinating solo albums, which veered from raw emotional declarations to covers of old Appalachian folk ballads.

These days, Hersh has managed to distill all her disparate musical threads into a single unified sound. 2018’s Possible Dust Clouds integrates the noisy, tangled postpunk sound of Throwing Muses and Hersh’s post-Throwing Muses project, 50 Foot Wave, with the arresting minimalist songcraft of her previous solo material. Now she’s out on tour performing not as a solo artist or a bandleader but something in-between — fronting an Electric Trio featuring former Throwing Muses bassist Fred Abong and former 50 Foot Wave drummer Rob Ahlers. Will the result be an overview of her 35-year recording career, or will Hersh plunge fearlessly into the future on the trail of her unique muse? Regardless of which way things go, the result is sure to be a captivating performance. Head up to Harrisonburg and see it for yourself — it’ll be worth the trip.

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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]

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