Toast

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

Marilyn Drew Necci | June 5, 2019

Topics: Angel Dust, Asylum 213, Bandito's, Berries, Big Gorgeous, Broken Beaches, Brown's Island, Cardinal, Cary Street Cafe, Charlie's American Cafe, Colder Planets, Colin Phils, Comrades, Cuzco, Dave Watkins, Deli Kings, Doll Baby, Dumb Waiter, Eaves, evolv, F.R.E.E., feat. MAP Quintet, Firehouse Theatre, Founding Fathers, friday cheers, gallery 5, Gel, Ghost Piss, Glitterer, Gouge Away, Gull, Gumming, Honor Code, ING, Invalids, Kore Rozzik, Ladada, Larrabee/Millner Duo, Mingus Awareness Project, Nervous System, New Turks, Nita Strauss, Piranha Rama, POST RVA Fest, Post Sixty Five, Raging Nathans, Raise Hell Over The Summer, Retrosphere, ROC KANDI, Saint Mingus, shows you must see, shy low, Smoke Break, Spooky Cool, Street Weapon, Talk Me Off, THE BBC, The Broadberry, The Camel, The Canal Club, The Teskey Brothers, The War And Treaty, Toast, Truth Cult, Unity Fight, way shape or form

FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, June 8, 7 PM
New Turks (Photo by Sarmistha Talukdar), Gumming, Deli Kings, Ghost Piss, F.R.E.E., ing @ Gallery 5 – $5 in advance/$10 day of show (order tickets HERE)
The arrival of Raw Mom Presents on the Richmond live music scene has made me really happy, mainly because it allows my old pal Rivanna Youngpool to put her personal stamp on some of the shows she puts on at Gallery 5. Years ago, when we were roommates, Rivanna worked hard to make the shows she booked in our living room safe, welcoming, and fun, and to keep the emphasis on community and friendship. Now that she’s booking at a real venue, it’s nice to see her keeping the vibe alive with an awesome all-local show to celebrate her birthday.

As befitting any birthday party, this one is full of friends, and the headliners in particular are two long-lost friends you’ll all want to see. Heavy bass-drum duo New Turks rocked the hell out of Richmond during their four years of existence, but Ethan and Lou stopped making music together back in 2015, and other than one reunion gig a year later, they haven’t done a thing since. But just for old times’ sake, they will be returning for one night only this Saturday night to headline this show, and that’s a birthday gift not just for Rivanna but for the whole city. You won’t want to miss this one, because who knows if — not when, IF — they’ll ever do it again.

The fun doesn’t stop there, as this gig features a highly varied lineup sure to keep your attention throughout the night. Deli Kings have got that Southern-style garage rock on lock, and Ing keep things eclectic and melodic with some charming lo-fi pop. Former Richmonder and eternal friend River Allen will be back in town for the evening with her haunting electro-ambient project, Ghost Piss, and I can’t seem to figure anything out about F.R.E.E. except that they are neither a reformed version of Have Heart nor that British band who sang “All Right Now.” But with the rest of the bill looking so great, this one is worth taking a chance on. Plus, advance tickets are literally 50% cheaper than the price at the door, so mark your calendar, make your plans, and hit that ticket link now!

Wednesday, June 5, 9 PM
Founding Fathers, Big Gorgeous, Asylum 213 @ Cary Street Cafe – $10
I’ve heard a lot of synth-based bands over the years, and one thing I can say for sure is that the studio recordings by the majority of them give you no idea what the band could possibly sound like live. That’s why it’s always refreshing to run across a band that is both synth-heavy and manages to sound on its records like an actual band playing their songs as a unit. Ohio band Founding Fathers, who place the emphasis on synthesizers and programmed beats but also incorporate guitars and live drums into their sound, totally pull this off on their 2018 LP, Mating Rites, and that’s a big part of why I think you should go see them tonight at Cary Street Cafe.

The music reminds me somewhat of Future Islands, another synth-based band that works particularly well as a live act, and there are also hints of upbeat early-00s bands like Bloc Party and Franz Ferdinand in there. It all adds up to a rocking band that’ll keep you dancing throughout the evening — and the world could definitely use more of those, so come out tonight and get familiar with the Founding Fathers. While you’re at it, check out the ridiculously fun synth-metal antics of California’s Big Gorgeous, who’ll give you even more reason to dance around with a big grin on your face. This one’s gonna rule.

Thursday, June 6, 9 PM
Raging Nathans, Smoke Break, Talk Me Off @ Bandito’s – Free!
Raging Nathans are a band out of time. This band from Dayton Ohio, who are probably tired of hearing about Guided By Voices, have a sound that is in its own way just as anachronistic as that of GBV themselves — only instead of harking back to some alternate-universe lo-fi garage-psych past, Raging Nathans will make any of you old-timers who were there the first time around think of pop-punk’s mid-90s heyday. Post-y2k pop-punk tends to follow in the gruffer footsteps of bands like Hot Water Music and Dillinger Four, but on last year’s Cheap Fame LP, Raging Nathans bypass all that for some good old Lookout!/Fat Wreck sounds that, while I wasn’t looking, seemingly became part of a bygone era.

This Bandito’s show is the perfect opportunity for all of us to bring that era back, at least in our own hearts. The fact that the Raging Nathans have released splits with both The Parasites and Jon Cougar Concentration Camp in the past year should let you know that they’re on board. And they’ll have you pogoing up a storm when they hit the stage on Thursday night. They’ll be joined by one of Richmond’s great slacker melodic-punk bands, Smoke Break, who may not play another show for six months, so you better get there. And of course, Talk Me Off opens up with a snottier brand of punk, mostly without the pop, to remind us all of our angry teenage days. It’s gonna be a whole lot of fun.

Friday, June 7, 6 PM
The War And Treaty, The Teskey Brothers @ Friday Cheers at Brown’s Island – $10 (order tickets HERE)
Usually you can expect the bands who play Friday Cheers to be pretty familiar, so I was surprised to see a name I didn’t know on the schedule this week: The War And Treaty. I’m glad I dug in, though, because this musical group is one of the most interesting that’s come to my attention recently. Specifically, The War And Treaty is a husband-and-wife duo, Michael and Tanya Trotter, who sing together while Michael plays piano and a variety of other musicians add color and depth to their exuberant, soulful songs.

The result, born from Michael’s difficult experiences growing up impoverished and joining the military just in time for the Iraq war, is a sound that taps into blues, R&B, folk, gospel, country, and a ton of other American sounds. On their debut album, Healing Tide, Michael and Tanya sing together to chase away the darkness and create a musical force more powerful than any trauma. They pull it off flawlessly, and they’re sure to uplift all of Brown’s Island this Friday night when they take that Friday Cheers stage and make this whole city their own. Be there ready to sing along — this kind of healing is exactly what we all need.

Saturday, June 8, 3 PM
POST RVA Fest, feat. Comrades, Invalids, Gull, Shy Low, Colin Phils, Dumb Waiter, evolv, Spooky Cool, Cuzco, Post Sixty Five, Eaves, Cardinal, Way Shape Or Form, Dave Watkins, Colder Planets @ The Broadberry – $12 – $18 (order tickets HERE)
Here’s an impressive effort that’s starting out the right way. Spearheaded by Richmond-via-Korea band Colin Phils, the first ever POST RVA Fest will take over the Broadberry for a full nine hours of music this Saturday. Rather than going too big and biting off more than they can chew (something I know all about), the organizers of POST RVA Fest have mostly stuck with local groups in pulling together this 15-band showcase sure to appeal to anyone who digs epic instrumental post-rock, jazzy technical math-rock, melodic progressive metal, complex guitar-driven indie, and everything in-between — which covers a good deal more ground than you might expect.

Just look at this bill, which is topped by peripatetic former locals Comrades, a heavy trio who combine metalcore, post-rock, emo, indie, and a whole bunch of other genres into their unique, driving sound. New Jersey’s Invalids, by contrast, dish out hyperspeed math-rock with emphasis on guitar and drum pyrotechnics that’ll have the gear nerds in the audience watching very closely. There are a ton of other amazing bands, mostly from the Richmond area, on the bill, from Gull’s indescribable one-man sonic creations and Cardinal’s gorgeously complex indie-math-rock to Dumb Waiter’s freaky instrumental jazz-metal and Shy Low’s Mogwai-style moving instrumental epics. There’s so much here, for such a cheap ticket price, and if it all comes together perfectly, it may just be able to draw a loose, disparate group of musically similar local musicians into an actual scene. What could be a greater goal for a show than that? Get your ticket and be a part of it. You won’t be sorry.

Sunday, June 9, 7:30 PM
Mingus Awareness Project, feat. MAP Quintet, Larrabee/Millner Duo, Saint Mingus @ Firehouse Theatre – $15 in advance/$20 day of show/$10 for students (order tickets HERE)
This Sunday, if you want to both support a great cause and hear some amazing music you won’t hear anywhere else, then the only place you need to go is Firehouse Theatre. There, you’ll find local jazz-rock drum legend Brian Jones putting on the 12th edition of his yearly Mingus Awareness Project concerts, which exist to bring attention and support to the cause of curing ALS, the deadly incurable disease that took the life of bass legend Charles Mingus back in 1979. And as part of this charitable goal, Jones will be joining together with a variety of confederates from around the Richmond jazz scene to pay unique tribute to the phenomenal masterpieces of the one and only Mingus.

This time around, those tributes will take three forms, beginning with the MAP Quintet, which matches Jones up with his longtime collaborator, saxophonist JC Kuhl, as well as Virginia jazz powerhouses John D’earth on trumpet, Mike Hawkins on bass, and Calvin Brown (aka Calvin Presents) on piano. Then we’ll get a performance from the electric-guitar duo of Adam Larrabee and Jamal Millner, as well as a quintet known as Saint Mingus, which will match Jones with Richmond jazz ambassador Reggie Pace as well as Suzi Fischer (The Big Payback), Giustino Riccio (Bio Ritmo), and Stefan Demetriadis (No BS! Brass). Such an incredibly talented conglomeration of musicians is sure to do justice to Charles Mingus’s incredible compositions, and you’re going to want to be there to see them do it. Donating to a good cause is just the icing on the cake.

Monday, June 10, 7 PM
Angel Dust, Gouge Away, Glitterer, Truth Cult @ The Camel – $15 (order tickets HERE)
One thing I’ve learned from my years in the hardcore scene is that, as long as you put a few years into playing hardcore music, the kids will follow you to whatever new thing you do, regardless of how it sounds. Angel Dust is a perfect case in point: while this band features members of Trapped Under Ice, Turnstile, and Mindset, you’d be totally incorrect to expect anything hard or heavy from their brand-new album, Pretty Buff. Instead, this album finds the quintet of tough boys showing their sensitive side and, indeed, getting downright upbeat. And that’s not to mention the predominantly-acoustic guitar sound.

All told, Angel Dust’s upbeat sound has led to comparisons with groups like the Lemonheads or early Green Day. But despite all that, it’s done nothing to chase the hardcore faithful away — and one listen to Pretty Buff is enough to see why. These guys are every bit as good at lovelorn melodies as they are at hard n’ heavy mosh-pit anthems. So why not celebrate all of it equally? Join all the HC kids Monday night in doing exactly that at The Camel. And while you’re at it, enjoy what’s sure to be an incredible set from raging hardcore-punk quartet Gouge Away, who will deliver every bit of vitriol you might have expected from Angel Dust and then some. The bill will also feature Title Fight frontman Ned Russin’s electronic side project, Glitterer, and the killer up-and-coming sounds of Baltimore’s Truth Cult, a decidedly Swiz-ish group featuring members of Give, Red Death, and more. Every second of this is sure to be outstanding.

Tuesday, June 11, 6 PM
Nita Strauss, Kore Rozzik, THE BBC, Roc Kandi, Retrosphere @ The Canal Club – $17 in advance/$20 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Maybe it’s only because I came up in the late 80s era of hair metal’s world domination (OK, yeah, that’s probably it), but I just love some really ridiculous over the top metal shredding. And as much as I enjoy this kind of thing from veteran masters of the field — Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, you know the ones — it makes me way happier to see someone younger carrying on the tradition. And a woman, at that! Nita Strauss first grabbed attention with her string-bending star turn in all-female Iron Maiden tribute act The Iron Maidens, but she’s since graduated to all sorts of original work, from joining Alice Cooper’s touring band to scoring video games like Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.

Now she’s gone out on her own, releasing her debut solo album, Controlled Chaos, last year and hitting the road on a headlining tour to support it. Keeping with the tradition of shredders past such as Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, Strauss forgoes vocals for this album’s anthems, instead using her multilayered melodic leads as color and giving the album’s many headbanging riffs more than sufficient texture to keep you smiling and thrashing along. You can do that exact thing at the Canal Club Tuesday night when Strauss’s headlining set caps off a night full of shred-tastic adventures. Notorious NYC metal maniacs Kore Rozzik will provide plenty of those, along with several killer locals. Get ready for some serious thrash, y’all — because it’s happening.

Elsewhere around the state:

Friday, June 7, 7 PM
Gel, Honor Code, Nervous System, Street Weapon, Unity Fight @ Charlie’s American Cafe – $5
For all you diehards who might be feeling a little deprived by Angel Dust’s relentlessly upbeat post-hardcore melodies, rest assured we’ve still got plenty of straight-ahead no-frills hardcore for ya, and — unsurprisingly enough — it’s happening this Friday night in Norfolk. Gel, a recently formed New Jersey band who have only a demo to their name, are coming to town to tear it up. The demo’s five songs blow by incredibly fast, and are full of sloppy, out-of-control hardcore riffage with a decidedly maniacal edge. This band seems like a prime candidate for an absolutely explosive live performance, and you’re gonna want to be there to see it go down.

Down in the Hampton Roads area, Honor Code are sure to draw just as much attention as the New Jersey headliners — after all, this is their first show in nearly two years. Does that mean this 82-style old school VBHC combo has returned to full time action? Maybe, maybe not, but it does mean you’ll have one more chance to circle pit to their legendarily primitive hardcore tuneage — and that’s sure to be a blast. The show will also feature local NFKHC up-and-comers Nervous System, as well as brand-new VB bands Street Weapon and Unity Fight, both of whom have names that sound suspiciously randomly generated. However, we can guarantee that both are entirely made up of real flesh-and-blood humans. Pure organic hardcore, coming right up.

Saturday, June 8, 5 PM
LAVA Presents GRILLED OUT, feat. Ladada, Berries, Piranha Rama, Broken Beaches, Doll Baby, Raise Hell Over The Summer @ Toast – $10 in advance/$14 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Memorial Day has come and gone, and at least in Virginia, that means summer has arrived, y’all. And what better way to spend a sunny summer evening than grillin’ out and chillin’ out with some great tunes? This weekend, LAVA Presents has you covered on both of those scores, as their Saturday evening GRILLED OUT fest will find the Tidewater-area promotional crew hanging out in the Toast parking lot, joined by Handsome Biscuit burgers, Smartmouth Beer, and a whole conglomeration of excellent Virginia musicians.

Ladada are at the top of the bill, and this Norfolk indie group has just the tunes you need for a summer afternoon cookout — they even put a guy floating down a river with a red solo cup in hand on the cover of their recent LP, Heaven On The Rocks, so you know they’ve got the right idea. The day will also feature delicious indie-pop sounds from VB group Berries, excellently named New York indie-rockers Raise Hell Over The Summer, and some rad RVA sounds from local faves Piranha Rama and Doll Baby. You Richmonders might want to get a crew and roll down with a carful — especially since the tickets are cheaper if you buy them at the group rate! Grab some burgers, rock out to some tunes, and enjoy the summer — it’ll be gone before you know it.

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

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

VA Shows You Must See This Week: May 8 – May 14

Marilyn Drew Necci | May 8, 2019

Topics: Among The Rocks And Roots, Bandito's, Bear's Den, Brian Markham, Cacophonous Pianos, Capital Ale House Music Hall, Dylan Languell, gallery 5, Gardener, Hampton Coliseum, Kristeva, Little River Creek Police, Margox, Murder By Death, Mystery Girl, Petrichor, Russ Waterhouse, Sarah Shook and the Disarmers, shows you must see, Sick Bags, Southside Stranglers, Steady Sounds, Suitcase Junket, The Broadberry, The Camel, Toast, Tool, Twin Drugs, Tyler Meacham, Uniform, VCU ICA, VCU Institute of Contemporary Art, Vera Sola, Wear Your Wounds, Zeal & Ardor

FEATURED SHOW
Friday, May 10, 4 PM
Saturday, May 11, 3 PM
Cacophonous Pianos at ICA, a sonic arrangement by Dylan Languell @ VCU Institute Of Contemporary Art – Free!
Summer’s coming, and as the saying goes, the living’s easy. It’s in the 80s pretty much every day lately, and who can complain about that? But you know us critics — such contrarians! Which is why I’m here to inform you that this week is all about difficult music. You know, the stuff that’s the opposite of “easy listening.” The stuff you have to think hard about to really follow; the stuff that, on first listen, kinda hurts your ears. As a dyed-in-the-wool metal nerd, I love shit like this — and not just when it’s black metal, either.

I also love it when it’s experimental music performed on piano. Or hey, why not a dozen pianos? Dylan Languell, a local artist, filmmaker, and VCU alum who is perhaps best known locally for his curation of the Direct-To-Video film festivals, is presenting a “sonic arrangement” entitled Cacophonous Pianos at VCU’s Institute of Contemporary Art. It’s part of the ICA’s current exhibition of artist Rashid Johnson’s sculpture, “Monument,” which in addition to the display of the sculpture will also “activation” by live performances made in response to the work.

Languell’s arrangement for a dozen pianos is one of these performances; it’ll take place twice this weekend — once on Friday and once on Saturday. It’ll feature a variety of noteworthy local musicians and artists, including Chino Amobi, Christian Luke Brady (Antlers/Father Sunflower), Abdul Hakim-Bilal (Among The Rocks and Roots), photographer David Kenedy, violinist Jessika Blanks, and a whole bunch more. As for what it will sound like, I only have wild guesses: a dozen Cecil Taylor records playing at once? The video for “Close (To The Edit)” by Art Of Noise where the punk girl destroys the piano? Those MIT students dropping a piano off a building? Maybe none of the above — but we can at least guarantee that it will be interesting. So show up, and bring an open mind that’s willing to do some thinking. You will be rewarded.

Wednesday, May 8, 9 PM
Tyler Meacham, Little River Creek Police, Margox @ The Camel – $5 in advance/$7 day of show (order tickets HERE)
OK, so it’s not ALL difficult music this week — local singer-songwriter Tyler Meacham is if anything just the opposite. Her beautiful pop music goes down like a cool drink of water, and the whole city now gets a chance to find this out, as she celebrates the release of her new single, “Moving On,” at the Camel tonight. Now, I am an old lady, and therefore have to be at least a little skeptical — how does a single release work in a post-streaming world? Does an artist even have anything to sell the people that come out? A download card, maybe? Or are even those passé now?

I guess we’ll all find out at The Camel tonight. One thing I do know for sure is that Tyler Meacham’s excellent voice, talented song construction, and flawless ear for pop melodies all show themselves to perfect effect on “Moving On,” a song that, if YouTube videos are any indication, I particularly enjoy in its full-band incarnation (though as a bit of a car nerd I am still kinda wondering what local shop they filmed that performance in). Tonight at the Camel, you’re sure to as well — and you’ll get a whole additional set from Meacham and her backing band, plus openers from fellow locals Little River Creek Police and Margox to glory in. Get stoked!

Thursday, May 9, 7 PM
Murder By Death, Sarah Shook and the Disarmers @ The Broadberry – $20 in advance/$25 day of show (order tickets HERE)
It’s time to swing back a little bit towards difficult, at least where descriptions are concerned. Because Murder By Death… they’re a bit hard to pin down, as a band. Having named themselves after a satirical mystery starring Truman Capote (no, not Philip Seymour Hoffman, the REAL Truman Capote. RIP to them both), this Indiana quintet proceeded to construct themselves in the form of a rootsy alt-country act.. and then play music that totally colored outside those genre lines, as a matter of course. That was over 15 years ago, and they haven’t headed back toward the conventional since.

So what is the story with Murder By Death? Well, musically, they land somewhere between the sort of gothic country death purveyed by Nick Cave in his more recent years, the epic punk travelogues of Titus Andronicus, and something maudlin, moody, and epic… Scott Walker? The Tindersticks? You get the basic idea. Their eighth and most recent album, The Other Shore, is a concept album about death — about what you’d expect at this point, right? That album came out on Bloodshot Records, and they come to RVA in the company of another Bloodshot artist, Sarah Shook and the Disarmers. This hardscrabble company of country-punks has never been afraid to stand up for causes they believe in, safe spaces and pro-LGBTQ feminism chief among them. Between that fact and the excellently heartbreaking prairie twang of their 2018 second LP, Years, they’ve definitely won me over in a big way. Show up on time at the Broadberry tomorrow night, and they’re guaranteed to win you over too.

Friday, May 10, 6 PM
Brian Markham, Gardener, Russ Waterhouse @ Steady Sounds – Free!
OK, back to the weirdness, and in fact, straight into the world of deep record-store crate-digging. That’s where you find all the best weirdo psych jams, don’cha know. Fledgling local label Flux Editions certainly know that — after all, they’re hosting the celebration for their inaugural release at Steady Sounds, a record store that certainly has more than its share of finds awaiting you in the stacks.

The find of the night Friday is Brian Markham, a recent Richmond transplant and member of underrated psych-drone champs Ancient Sky, as well as Dommengang and the Holy Sons, among others. His first solo release, Bat In The Baptismal Room, is just as deep and wide a space-drone excursion as you’d expect from one with the sort of pedigree he offers, and what will be fascinating will be seeing him bring this humming colossus to life right there on the floor of Steady Sounds. Get your records purchased and out to your car early, because you’re going to want to be prepared for takeoff before the music starts.

Saturday, May 11, 7 PM
Zeal & Ardor (Photo by Henry Schulz), Among The Rocks And Roots, Petrichor @ Capital Ale House Music Hall – $15 (order tickets HERE)
The internet. It used to be kinda OK, sometimes. I’ll give it that much, at least. But in recent years, it’s taken a definite turn towards the suck. Therefore, one really has to give props to anyone who can find a way to unearth something good from the social media shitpile. Like, for example, Swiss-American metalhead of color Manuel Gagneux, who — in a masterful display of resilience despite marginalization — took a maliciously-intended 4chan suggestion to mix black metal and traditional black music and turned it into a glorious reality, in the form of his latest band, Zeal & Ardor.

On their latest LP, Stranger Fruit, Zeal & Ardor made clear just what an emotional powerhouse can be created by mixing tremolo-picked hyperspeed guitars with soulful lead vocals backed by a transcendent gospel chorus. It’s tough to say whether Gagneux and company are playing anything that could be properly categorized as metal, but if what you want from your metal is to be laid flat by massive heaviness, Zeal & Ardor have the stuff you need. Open your mind to it and let it flow over you. You won’t regret it for a second. Equally powerful sounds from local champions Among The Rocks And Roots and Petrichor await you as opening preparation for what Zeal & Ardor have in store. Don’t miss it.

Sunday, May 12, 9 PM
Southside Stranglers, Sick Bags, Mystery Girl @ Bandito’s – Free!
The Southside Stranglers have been gone for quite a while now; not only was Richmond’s most notorious serial killer Timothy Wilson Spencer, executed by the state 25 years ago, the ripping Richmond punk band who used said serial killer as a namesake and, depending on which member you asked, a mascot, also played their last show a good seven years or so ago. Well, at least, their officially-billed “last show,” that is. Since then, they’ve risen from the grave to terrorize Richmond’s punk faithful several times, and this free Sunday night showdown is just the latest.

You might wonder, what’s this about? Is there some bigger meaning to be derived from this sudden return our long-expired local anti-heroes? Well, not necessarily — these guys are all still friends, and maybe they just felt like doing it once again. That said, it’s been three years since last time something like that happened, so if you value having your head rocked by a speedy, no-holds-barred punk rock attack, you are going to want to mark your calendars for this one. In addition to current-era Richmond punk torchbearers Sick Bags, support for this one will also be provided by upstate New York’s own Mystery Girl, a melodic punk outfit with the perfect dose of 50s greaser cool thrown in. Turn up the collar of your leather jacket before you hit Bandito’s back room for this one.

Monday, May 13, 7 PM
Bear’s Den, Vera Sola @ The Broadberry – $20 (order tickets HERE)
Little-known fact about me: bears are my favorite representatives of the entire animal kingdom (and yes, I know humans are members of the animal kingdom too. That doesn’t change my opinion one iota). So if your band name is a bear reference, I’m predisposed to like you. Actual results tend to be mixed on this score — for every Huggy Bear, there is a corresponding iwrestledabearonce. But Bear’s Den have proven themselves over their first three albums to be on the positive side of that equation, and I for one couldn’t be happier.

Bear’s Den have evolved significantly over the course of their still-brief career, beginning as a band whose moody alt-folk sounds split the difference between Tom Petty and Frightened Rabbit, then moving in a more electronic direction on second LP Red Earth And Pouring Rain. The just-released So That You Might Hear Me sees the UK ensemble maintaining their more electrified instrumental palate even as they increase the emphasis on their emotion-laden chorus melodies. While they started out drawing allegations of Mumford soundalike-ness, they’ve left all that behind in order to reach something deeper, something more profound. They’ll bring that sound to life at the Broadberry this Monday night. They’ll make you feel some feels — one of which should include positivity toward bears, nature’s perfect animals.

Tuesday, May 14, 7 PM
Wear Your Wounds, Uniform, Twin Drugs, Kristeva @ Gallery 5 – $15 (order tickets HERE)
As crazy as it might seem to those (like me, your decrepit yet intrepid columnist) who remember their teenage beginnings, Converge have become venerable elder statesmen of metallic hardcore in the quarter-century since their earliest EPs. Therefore it shouldn’t be any real surprise to find their vocalist, Jacob Bannon, spreading his wings with a solo-ish project. That’s the story with Wear Your Wounds, which began a couple of years ago with Bannon’s debut solo album of the same name. Since then, the project has turned into a full-time band, featuring members of The Red Chord, Cave-In, Twitching Tongues, and Trap Them.

Which would lead you to expect something in a similar vein to that of Converge, right? But no — if you’re looking for roaring vocals, blasting beats, and ripping thrash riffs, you better look to Bannon’s main project, because on the group’s forthcoming (first? second?) album, Rust On The Gates Of Heaven, they explore a dark, epic terrain much more familiar to fans of Neurosis, Swans, or Nick Cave than anything remotely resembling the metallic hardcore scene from which these vets all arise. Which doesn’t mean you should yawn or tune out — if anything, you should listen closer; interesting things always happen when proven musical talents extend themselves into new musical territory. This group is no exception. On Tuesday night, set your GPS for Gallery 5 — you’re going to want to be there.

Elsewhere Around The State:

Wednesday, May 8, 7 PM
The Suitcase Junket @ Toast – $10 (order tickets HERE)
There are many different ways to approach being a one-person band, and considering that my wife is a huge fan of the form, I’ve seen just about all of them. One thing I’ve learned about this particular musical approach is that it lends itself to rootsy, countrified bluesy sounds, and The Suitcase Junket definitely lands somewhere along those lines. Another thing I’ve learned is that feet are very important to one-person bands; that’s something else that The Suitcase Junket definitely proves.

This man and his somewhat ridiculous mustache do pretty normal band-guy things from the waist up — singing and strumming a guitar, mostly. But the foot pedals — The Suitcase Junket uses at least four — are what’s really important here, working not only an abbreviated but relatively conventional drum kit but also a series of percussion instruments, including a loud and memorable cowbell. If there’s one thing Christopher Walken’s taught us, it’s that we can all use a little more cowbell in our lives. So if you’re down Norfolk way tonight, you could certainly brighten up your midweek with a visit to Toast to watch The Suitcase Junket do his thing.

Friday, May 10, 8 PM
Tool @ Hampton Coliseum – $105-$145 (order tickets HERE)
It’s been 13 years since Tool released their fourth and, thus far, final album, and many of the leading lights in the progressive metal world are still trying to catch up with where they were back then. Over the decade plus since 10,000 Days, various members have kept busy making wine, investigating sacred geometries and occult rituals, writing comic books, and working with a variety of musical side projects, but it now seems clear that Tool will indeed be releasing a new album in the very near future. Not only have they been playing new songs live, they’ve given it an official release date of August 30. As in, this year.

So yeah, a lot of people are stoked — and I feel sure that at least a few of those people are regular readers of this column. Listen, if that’s you, I only hope I’m not the first one to bring you news of this upcoming Tool show on Friday at Hampton Coliseum. I say that because, as of last night, despite the show originally featuring tickets for as low as $70 (still a pretty high price from my vantage point), the cheapest ticket one could actually obtain online stood at over $100. Too rich for my blood, for sure — but if you’ve got one of those cushy office jobs that I hear some people luck into by the time they’re solidly into their 30s, maybe you can grab one for yourself. God knows you’re bound to have a great time — this band’s live performances are noteworthy both for their intensity and the sheer musical talent displayed on stage. And with the prospect of brand new songs in the offing? Who can resist? At least, who with 120 or so bucks to spare. If you have the means, this one gets my highest possible recommendation.

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

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

VA Shows You Must See This Week: April 17 – April 23

Marilyn Drew Necci | April 17, 2019

Topics: Bantustans, Battlemaster, Beeline, Bogues, Brick, Broken Beaches, Corridor, Cris Jacobs, Crumb, Delta Sleep, Doll Baby, Earthling, From Overseas, gallery 5, Han Gan, High Voltage, Hikes, Horse Culture, Hot Spit, Hotspit, Jeremy Enigk, LA Guns, Lance Bangs, Landon Elliott, Red Death, Shormey, shows you must see, Sinister Purpose, Slump, Snake Mountain Revival, Strawberry Moon, Tavernier, The Beacon Theatre, The Broadberry, The Camel, The Canal Club, The Do-Nothings, The Golden Pony, Toast, Tomo Nakayama, Toward Space, Venus Milo, Wonderland

FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, April 20, 8 PM
Battlemaster (Photo by David Morton), Sinister Purpose, Horse Culture, Doll Baby, Shormey @ Gallery 5 – $6 in advance/$12 at the door (order tickets HERE)
This year 420 falls on a weekend, and for quite a few of y’all out there, that’s a particular cause for celebration. I may not choose to partake in the herbal sacraments, but I like music and munchies as much as the next girl, so I can certainly appreciate a good 420 party — and Gallery 5 is throwing a great one this Saturday. My old roommate, who handled all the booking back when I lived at a show house, has moved up in the world, and is booking at Gallery 5 these days (remember that the next time someone tells you you’re wasting your time with all this DIY crap and it’ll never amount to anything), and she’s pulled together a show that reminds me of the great holiday shows we used to throw in our living room, not so long ago. Boy, a lot can change in three years, huh?

At the top of the bill, heading up Gallery 5’s 420 festivities for the third year in a row, is the almighty Battlemaster. Richmond’s death-thrash terrors may not be the most active of bands — it’s been four years since the release of their last LP — but their onstage energy is nothing to scoff at. Rest assured, when these maniacs start dishing out the riffs, blastbeats, and tortured screams, you’re gonna be headbanging at full speed just like everyone else in the room. Rockin’ rollin’ hardcore maniacs Sinister Purpose, who somehow manage to sound like Motorhead, Negative Approach, and the New Bomb Turks at the same time, are equally prepared to lay you out with their fierce sounds.

Horse Culture are also on the bill, presenting their multi-layered take on blackened shoegaze sludge. But it’s not all heaviness — the show will also feature a set of heartfelt melody and passionate emotion from Richmond faves Doll Baby, and Tidewater favorite Shormey will be joining in with some gorgeous electro-indie sounds. Plus, in a move that takes me back to the house-show days, this event will feature a table full of munchies to ease your 420 cravings, along with a photo spot and some fun temporary tattoos! Gotta keep shows interesting, right? What’s more, I really must advise you to buy your tickets in advance — if you wait to pay at the door, the price doubles. If that’s not an incentive, I don’t know what is.

Wednesday, April 17, 7 PM
Delta Sleep, Bogues, Hikes, Venus Milo @ The Canal Club – $15 in advance/$17 day of show (order tickets HERE)
There are those who will tell you that UK band Delta Sleep are math-rock, but if you ask me, that’s a bit of a misnomer. While they do incorporate the sort of delicate melodic complexity that has become a hallmark of post-Y2K math rock (replacing the harsh atonal noise that was the genre’s signature in the 90s), this band demonstrates on last year’s Ghost City that what really matters to them is creating music that moves you. They pull that off with aplomb and panache on their latest LP, and they’re sure to do the same when they hit the stage at the Canal Club tonight.

Nashville’s Bogues join Delta Sleep on this trip to Richmond, and while they’ve got an excellent sound in their own right, there’s definitely some daylight between the two out-of-towners. A solo-oriented project that sometimes takes the form of frontman AJ Gruenewald strumming an electric guitar and singing his heart out, Bogues have a strong melodic feel and a definite emotional orientation that’s likely to remind you of Julien Baker or Into It. Over It. in solo form. Texas band Hikes, who have a bit of the twinkly emo revival about them but are by no means easily slotted into a simple flavor-of-the-month genre, will also be on the bill to delight fans of tangled guitar leads, while relatively new locals Venus Milo kick the whole thing off.

Thursday, April 18, 7 PM
LA Guns @ Beacon Theatre – $22-30 (order tickets HERE)
One of the classic Sunset Strip glam metal bands of that genre’s 80s heyday, LA Guns have quite a storied history. Early lineups featured everyone from a pre-Guns n’ Roses Axl Rose (indeed, that’s where the “guns” half of his signature group’s name came from) to Weirdos/Germs drummer Nickey Beat, while more recent years saw longtime singer Phil Lewis and founding guitarist Tracii Guns leading two different versions of the group on competing US tours. Eep. Thankfully, the two buried the hatchet several years ago, and now lead a unified version of LA Guns once again (…though apparently the band’s longtime drummer now has a competing version with a bunch of randos he hired. It never ends, apparently).

Guns and Lewis will be coming to Hopewell’s Beacon Theatre, a venue that has quietly become the most reliable place in Virginia at which to see still-touring glam metal greats of decades past. I don’t know about y’all, but I for one am IN. A chance to hear classics like “Sex Action,” “Never Enough,” and “Rip And Tear,” along with the immortal power ballad “The Ballad Of Jayne,” of course — who could pass that up? These guys may not be as young and gorgeous as they once were, but the riffs are still straight fire, and that’s what should really matter, right? Head down to Hopewell this Thursday night, and let’s rock.

Friday, April 19, 8 PM
Cris Jacobs, Landon Elliott, Tavernier @ The Broadberry – $15 (order tickets HERE)
Singer-songwriter Cris Jacobs might be a relatively new name to some of you, but he’s been around for quite a while, getting his start in the early 00s fronting a Baltimore band called The Bridge. He’s been a solo artist for a while now, and his brand new album, Color Where You Are, features Richmond musicians Todd Herrington (Big Payback/Mekong Xpress) and Dusty Ray Simmons (DJ Williams Projekt/Fear Of Music) making up the rhythm section. And anybody who can recruit local talents like these to make up the core of his backing band, not only in the studio but on tour as well, is assuredly worth paying attention to.

Jacobs does a great job of laying out his sound on Color Where You Are, an album he wrote in the few spare moments he could find between his day job as a touring musician and his home life as a husband and father. The result is full of the hum and buzz of day to day life, a heartfelt album featuring touches of country, folk, and heartland rock all mingling together in a classically American sound. It’s the opposite of a stressful listen, and hearing Jacobs and his band bring the album to life at The Broadberry this Friday night is sure to ease your mind and help you put your cares aside. Don’t let the work week wear you out — come have some fun this Friday night with Cris Jacobs and his band. You’ll never regret it.

Saturday, April 20, 9 PM
Toward Space, Snake Mountain Revival, High Voltage @ Wonderland – $5
In the days since Slaughterama went away, I’ve been less than completely aware of what the dirt bike scene is like around Richmond. But there’s one thing I know that hasn’t changed in the years since I was up on all that — dirt bike kids are crazy. They do insane things frequently; it’s their idea of fun. And while I’ve never been the type to join in that kind of high-stakes broken-bone-risk action, I’ve always known how fun it is to watch. So the fact that FBM Bikes and DIG BMX will be holding the latest installment of their DIY World Championships at semi-secret bike/skate spot the Lost Bowl this Saturday lets me know that lots of fun will be had.

I can’t tell you where the Lost Bowl is, so #askapunk, but I can tell you that everyone will be headed straight for the bottom for the afterparty. I speak of Shockoe Bottom, of course, and the punkest bar in town, Wonderland. There, sets from (post-)teenage garage punk maniacs Toward Space and Virginia Beach-based psych-noise trio Snake Mountain Revival are set to get everyone flipping out. Plus, the evening will start with a (you guessed it) AC/DC tribute set from High Voltage, who based on their name are sure to go heavy on the Bon Scott era — as one should. So whether you make it to the Lost Bowl to see the crazy dirt bike action or not, you’re well advised to coast your dirt bike downhill to the Bottom and rock out with the BMX kids. Because as many of us know by now, BMX kids throw some incredible parties.

Sunday, April 21, 9 PM
HotSpit, Beeline, The Do-Nothings, Strawberry Moon @ The Camel – $5 in advance/$7 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Y’all, is HotSpit one word or two? I’ve certainly written it as both, and looking around facebook, I see I’m not the only one. Right now I’m going with the one-word-featuring-mid-word-capital-letter thing, but I’m sure in a few months I’ll have a much better understanding of what is correct. For you see, while HotSpit are a relatively new local band without too much history to draw on, I’m sure we’ll all be hearing a lot more about them in the next few months. Their demo shows a promising shoegaze quartet with strong vocal melodies and ringing guitars flexing their muscles and launching a distinctive and memorable sound.

So yeah, certainly the kind of band worth taking a Sunday night flyer on. HotSpit will be joined at The Camel by a few other local up-and-comers, first and foremost of which is Beeline. I hadn’t even heard this band’s name before now, but I’m glad they’ve been brought to my attention, as their demo shows off a catchy 90s-style jangly indie-rock sound that has significant charms. I’m already looking forward to more from these guys. The Do-Nothings, yet another new-to-me band, feature members of Recluse Raccoon playing some weird, shambling rock n’ roll that’s straight out of a basement somewhere in town. It’s hard to get a handle on, but it has its charms — as, of course, does Strawberry Moon, probably the most seasoned indie-pop group here, kicking off a fine bill that’s sure to please you, assuming you like catchy songs — and I’m not ashamed to say I do.

Monday, April 22, 7 PM
Jeremy Enigk, Tomo Nakayama @ The Canal Club – $16 (order tickets HERE)
Jeremy Enigk is a tough guy to figure out. Were he not so incredibly talented, people might have just given up trying to figure out what he’s up to. But as the frontman and chief songwriter for Sunny Day Real Estate, Enigk crafted some truly classic albums, the first of which, 1993’s Diary, has sometimes been credited with launching the emo genre (it didn’t really, but its importance can’t really be overstated). However, Enigk has broken up Sunny Day Real Estate, and post-SDRE band The Fire Theft, at least three separate times. It seems he’s ultimately most comfortable in the solo environment, and it’s as a solo artist that he returns to Richmond this Monday night for the first time in quite a while.

Enigk is currently touring behind his crowdfunded 2017 album Ghosts, his first release in nearly a decade. Fans quickly realized that his long period out of the spotlight had in no way diminished his songwriting powers, and indeed, Ghosts finds Enigk at the top of his game, his acoustic solo chops just as powerful in their own way as his louder electric sound was at the head of SDRE. The melancholy introspection and angst-ridden beauty of Enigk’s classic solo debut, Return Of The Frog Queen, shows through in abundance on Ghosts. The subdued, mostly-acoustic backing band provides a perfect canvas for Enigk’s gorgeous vocals and incredibly powerful guitar melodies. Enigk will come to town with a full band backing him up, and it’s easy to imagine the sound of Ghosts filling The Canal Club with gorgeous, vibrant sound. But why imagine it when you can be there? Get your tickets yesterday.

Tuesday, April 23, 7 PM
Crumb, Corridor, Lance Bangs, Slump @ Gallery 5 – $12 in advance/$15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Psychedelic indie-rockers Crumb first came to my attention through the attentions of Citrus City Records, who released the cassette version of their self-titled debut EP, so it’s no surprise that the show-promotion arm of Citrus City, Underground Orchard, brings them to RVA once again this Tuesday night. Crumb, who hail from NYC these days, are preparing for the release of their debut LP, Jinx, which based on advance singles certainly seems like a deeper delve into the groovy, soulful take on indie-psych bounce that Crumb have made their stock in trade from day one. That’s certainly an appealing prospect.

They’ll be joined on their latest passage through RVA by Francophone Montreal group Corridor, who’ve demonstrated a Television/Parquet Courts-like facility for guitar-driven rock/punk/indie songcraft on releases like their 2017 full-length, Supermercado. Their toe-tapping melodies and popwise song construction also makes me think of late 80s/early 90s UK indie-pop groups like The Dentists or Heavenly, but I might be showing my age with references like that (as usual). Regardless, this two-band package packs enough of a soul-pop-indie-psych punch to keep you smiling throughout — and local support from slack alt-rockers Lance Bangs and psych-noise-core freaks Slump is a significant bonus.

Elsewhere around the state:

Friday, April 19, 7 PM
Bantustans, Han Gan, Broken Beaches, From Overseas @ Toast (Norfolk) – $10 in advance/$12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Things are gonna get interesting at Norfolk’s Toast this Friday night, and I don’t mean that in a Top Five sort of way either. For starters, dual-drummer quartet Bantustans is at the top of the bill, and when they’re in the house, it’s always gonna be an unusual situation. While the group hasn’t released anything officially since 2016, they’ve recently been playing material from an upcoming album due for release sometime this year. And as with previous material, they continue to interweave complex guitar lines with even more complex multi-layered percussion to create instrumentals so intense and dynamic they have absolutely no need of vocals.

DC’s Han Gan will provide all the vocals you need, though, as Norfolk hometown boy Brian Nicewander, of storied 90s Norfolk post-hardcore group Words A Game, comes to town at the head of an energetic, Fugazi-esque trio with political energy and musical power to spare. If the group’s excellent 2018 debut, The City Of Magnificent Intentions, is any indication, this will be a proud homecoming indeed. Tidewater hometowners Broken Beaches, who have a heavy-grunge shoegaze vibe about them, and ambient guitar solo project From Overseas open this one up to get y’all going.

Saturday, April 20, 8 PM
Earthling, Red Death, Brick @ The Golden Pony (Harrisonburg) – $7
Harrisonburg metal heroes Earthling are celebrating 10 years of existence this weekend at their hometown venue, the Golden Pony. It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long, but then, that’s life, isn’t it? It’s already been two years since the last Earthling full-length, Spinning In The Void, launched forth from Richmond’s own Forcefield Records, full of epic brutality and blackened psychedelic rage, so the fact that this band released their first demo all the way back in 2009 isn’t that shocking in retrospect.

It is, however, a cause for celebration, and Earthling will be celebrating at the Golden Pony this Saturday night. They’ll be joined by the almighty Red Death, who have connections to both DC and RVA, and who just signed to Century Media records a couple months ago. Their 2017 LP, Formidable Darkness, has the crossover thrash-core chops to make such a signing eminently apropos, and it seems likely that you’ll be seeing Red Death in much bigger venues in another six months or so. So join them at The Golden Pony now, and thrash to your heart’s content before you’ve got to compete with 1000 other hessians for your floor space. Harrisonburg hardcore crew Brick kick this whole thing off, and they’re gonna kick it HARD. Show up on time to this one, and get ready to go off.

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

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

VA Shows You Must See This Week: April 10 – April 16

Marilyn Drew Necci | April 10, 2019

Topics: Allison Shearer, Alukah, angelica garcia, Bandito's, Black Matter Device, Calvin Presents, Capital Ale House Music Hall, Cycles, Dave Mackay, Destruct, Eliza Battle, Erin Lunsford, Filth, Hewolf, Horsewhip, Infant Island, Jim Shorts, Life In Vacuum, Manzara, Mas Y Mas, McCormack's, Mestis, Ostraca, Papadosio, Pet Name, Plini, Shake Your Baby, shows you must see, Suppression, The Bones Of JR Jones, The Camel, The Canal Club, The Machinist, The National, Toast, weekend plans, Wonderland

FEATURED SHOW
Friday, April 12, 9 PM
Horsewhip, Infant Island, Eliza Battle @ Wonderland – $5
The loss of Strange Matter at the end of 2018 was, as everyone reading this knows firsthand, a devastating blow to the Richmond music scene. We were really feeling its departure in January of this year, when it became a real struggle some nights to find a place where good bands were playing. Thankfully, though, the Richmond scene has shown its longtime resilience in the face of setbacks; these days, we’re starting to see a new normal establish itself. Indie bands that would previously have played Strange Matter have a number of potential alternative destinations — The Camel and Capital Ale House’s Richmond Music Hall among them. As for the heavy bands, they’ve got Wonderland.

Wonderland’s always been a good spot to see a punk or metal show on a Saturday night, but it seems of late that their stage is seeing a good bit more use, and by more high-profile bands, than ever before. That’s certainly a positive development, especially when it gives bands like Horsewhip an opportunity to play in town. These Florida-based hardcore veterans released an absolutely pulverizing self-titled mini-LP last year, and they’re set to bring the noise to Shockoe Bottom this Friday night.

The group’s lineup is packed full of multi-decade DIY hardcore vets, featuring members of Early Grace, Reversal Of Man, Order of Importance, and the Sutek Conspiracy — and if you weren’t around in 1999 to hear the sounds they were cranking out at the time, rest assured they’ve lost not an ounce of power as they’ve aged. Their self-titled debut brings all the hectic chaos of prime 90s chaotic hardcore bands like, well, the ones they used to be in, as well as packing a heavy-as-fuck wallop that draws strength from bands like His Hero Is Gone and From Ashes Rise. Joined by a couple of Virginia bands representing the new generation of a similarly heavy, chaotic, and noisy hardcore sound — Infant Island and Eliza Battle, to be specific — Horsewhip is set to terrorize Shockoe Bottom this Friday night with some essential high-volume rage. Bring your earplugs.

Wednesday, April 10, 7 PM
Life In Vacuum, Ostraca, Manzara @ The Camel – $10 in advance/$12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
One night of chaos deserves another, so let’s move forward in the show column as we move backwards in time from Friday night to tonight, when Canadian trio Life In Vacuum rolls into town and sets up shop at The Camel. This group might not have Horsewhip’s sheer heaviness to draw on, but their chaotic energy more than makes up for it; last year’s All You Can Quit finds the group drawing on frenetic influences from multiple decades. I hear everything from Angel Hair to Single Mothers in this band’s sound, and all of it sounds great when they do it.

So yeah, get ready for some manic chaos with a quirky, mathematical feel when Life In Vacuum take the stage, and stay stoked for the local openers. Though, having said that, I should admit that at least in my heart, Ostraca are headliners in their own right. And considering the sheer power of their dark, heavy take on chaotic hardcore, as displayed most recently on their third LP, 2018’s Enemy, they should be headliners in your heart too. They will pair well with Life In Vacuum’s less heavy but just as chaotic approach, and the opening set by local psychedelic postpunk gloom merchants Manzara will get things started off on the perfect note. This one’s gonna rule.

Thursday, April 11, 7:30 PM
The Bones Of JR Jones, Angelica Garcia, Erin Lunsford @ Capital Ale House Music Hall – $10 (order tickets HERE)
This one’s gonna be fun, because The Bones Of JR Jones is an honest-to-god one-man band, and I always enjoy those. JR Linaberry sits behind a highly abbreviated drum kit he plays with foot pedals, singing and playing rootsy countrified rock n’ roll on a hollow-body guitar. The results sometimes appeal in a similar way to gutbucket roots-rockers like Hasil Adkins and Scott H. Biram, but there’s an undeniable tinge of heartfelt emotion and sincerity that comes through in the group’s more melodic moments.

The overall feel is somewhere between high-lonesome country and noisy garage rock, and that’s definitely a good place to be. 2018’s Ones To Keep Close LP showed Linaberry’s talented songwriting capability, but you won’t get the full feel of what The Bones Of JR Jones are about unless you go see them live, in all their foot-stomping one-man glory. Local songwriting excellence will come to us in the form of talented openers Angelica Garcia and Erin Lunsford. This one will be glorious.

Friday, April 12, 9 PM
Suppression, Hewolf, Destruct @ Bandito’s – Free!
It’s always great to see local veterans at the top of their game show off their prowess in an intimate venue, and we’ll get multiple chances to see that exact thing go down at Bandito’s this Friday night. Suppression’s coming close to three decades of existence, and their sound has mutated multiple times over the course of that lengthy history; their recent revival as a hyperspeed powerhouse of lo-fi grind, as captured on last year’s Placebo Reality LP, has been a real blast to watch and enjoy. When they start tearing it up at Bandito’s this Friday night, there’s no telling what chaos will result from the wave of sonic destruction they unleash. The prospect is thrilling.

But what’s really fun about this night is that it offers us a bonus chance to see what some multi-decade scene stalwarts are up to these days. In this case I am talking about Hewolf, a new trio with a grunge kick and some killer riffage to dispense. Out-of-towners might not completely know what’s up, but longtime local showgoers will know exactly what I mean when I say this band brings together members of Alabama Thunderpussy, Darkest Hour, and the almighty Crackhead to dish out some Slianglaos-style heavyosity. It’s gonna be fun as hell, in a Headbangers Ball-flashback sense, so get ready to throw some devil horns. Destruct starts the evening off with some blown-out Negative Approach-meets-Discharge old-school hardcore punk to get your juices flowing. Grab some tacos and settle in for a long night of awesomeness.

Saturday, April 13, 7 PM
The Machinist, Filth, Alukah, Black Matter Device @ McCormack’s – $12
It’s a heavy week in Richmond, y’all. And Saturday night might just be the heaviest of them all, as New York deathcore crew The Machinist rolls through town on a tour celebrating the release of their debut album, Confidimus In Morte (which apparently translates to “In Death We Trust” — love it). Opening single “No Peace” shows not just how heavy this band can make their breakdowns, but also their extensive rage, as huge chugging riff monsters meet with more melodic, progressive interludes, all topped with vocalist Amanda Gjelaj’s incredibly powerful roars.

The Machinist certainly aren’t just here to sound spooky, either, as their lyrics tackle weighty political topics and don’t hesitate for a second to confront the powers that be who keep us all in chains. Their music is a defiant roar in the face of trying times, and that’s always a huge plus. The Machinist are joined on this tour by Filth — not the Northern California crust-punk group a lot of us may be thinking of right now, but the North Carolina death metal group whose guttural vocals and sludgy tempos add up to a more straight-up take on deathcore than that of The Machinist. One thing’s for sure though — both of these bands are extremely heavy. Like, atomic-weight-of-plutonium heavy. Wear your radiation suits for this one.

Sunday, April 14, 7:30 PM
Papadosio, Cycles @ The National – $15 in advance/$20 at the door (order tickets HERE)
I will go ahead and admit I don’t typically pay much attention to the scene from which Papadosio hails, a scene the proponents of which twist themselves into rhetorical pretzels to avoid calling “jam-tronica.” It’s not exactly a term that invites curiosity from wary outsiders, of which I’ve certainly been one at many points. However, once I checked out the latest LP from Papadosio, 2018’s Content Coma, I found myself surprisingly intrigued. It seems that perhaps I have sold this band short.

What I found when I listened to their music, the sound they will present onstage at the National this Sunday night, was a band with almost none of the post-Phish “jam” tendencies I feared. Instead, they tend towards a proggy vibe with a lot of spaced-out ambient melodies. At its more digital moments, Content Coma has an atmospheric feel; when things kick in, they get downright epic. I hear moments reminiscent of everything from Yes and Soft Machine to Tangerine Dream and Tame Impala. And thankfully, it never makes me think of Disco Biscuits. So yeah, if you’re bored Sunday night, you should head over to the National and groove with Papadosio. It’ll do you no harm.

Monday, April 15, 9 PM
Allison Shearer (photo by Drew Bordeaux), Weekend Plans, Calvin Presents @ The Camel – $7 in advance/$10 day of show (order tickets HERE)
It seems not a week goes by lately without me writing about live jazz in the show column, and I for one am stoked about that! Let’s keep the ball rolling this week, shall we? Alison Shearer is coming to the Camel this Monday night with her quintet in tow. This New York saxophonist has both jazz and hip hop cred due to her founding membership in PitchBlak Brass Band, who worked with everyone from Pharoahe Monch to Snarky Puppy during her tenure with the group.

These days, she’s heading up her own quintet, which mixes together the rockin’ jazz sound of fusion and the groovy bounce of hip hop. Their instrumental tunes are sure to get you moving and shaking on the Camel’s dance floor. What’s more, they’ll be in good company! Local brass-heavy ensemble Weekend Plans have a good bit of hip hop sound in their jazzy mix as well, having done Slick Rick covers during past Camel sets. Maybe we’ll get more of that this time around? We’ll certainly get some soulful keyboard-driven jazz tunes from Calvin Presents to start off the evening, and that’s sure to be wonderful. Give the grey start of the work week a delightful splash of color with this one.

Tuesday, April 16, 7 PM
Plini, Mestis, Dave Mackay @ The Canal Club – $18 in advance/$20 at the door (order tickets HERE)
Remember the Generation Axe tour that came through town back in December? It packed practically all the legendary shredders of the 80s and 90s — Malmsteen, Bettencourt, Vai, etc — onto one single stage for a night of metallic fingertap gymnastics. I bring this up now because the arrival of Plini in Richmond could easily be heralded as the new generation of axe.

The man’s playing is not just skillful in the manner of too many guitar-store showoffs — million-note runs going nowhere in particular over generic backing beats. Instead, on releases like his latest EP, Sunhead, Plini shows that he’s actually got riffs and songs to make his guitar instrumentals not just worth admiring but worth listening to. Best of all, his tunes aren’t just triumphant, in the Iron Maiden-ish power-metal sense, but downright jubilant. If you never thought a performance by an instrumental guitar shredder could lift your mood and make you smile, you should definitely go to the Canal Club Tuesday night and check out what Plini has to offer. Your therapist will definitely thank you for it.

Bonus Hampton Roads Pick:

Saturday, April 13, 7 PM
Pet Name, Jim Shorts, Shake Your Baby, Mas Y Mas @ Toast – $8 in advance/$10 day of show (order tickets HERE)
For indie/alt-rock/power-pop types, the name to watch in the Virginia Beach area is LAVA. They book a lot of other shows too, but it seems like this particular conglomerate gives particular shine to groups playing jangly, melodic sounds with a quirky feel. That’s certainly what you’ll get at this show over at Toast Saturday night. Headed up by Norfolk locals Pet Name, this bill is chock-full of charmingly amateur-sounding indie tuneage.

Pet Name’s self-titled EP from last year lets you know that, while you can’t expect major volume or heaviness from this crew of popsters, you can expect catchy tunes delivered with a winsome charm that’s sure to win you over. Meanwhile, Maryland’s Jim Shorts, who’ll be in town on a solo jaunt by frontman David Haynes (who has recorded a fair amount of the group’s tunes on his own anyway), bring a bit more of a Weezer-ish alt-rock kick to their powerful pop sounds. How that’ll translate when brought to life by just one guy isn’t entirely clear, but we do know that he’s got some incredibly well-written and memorable tunes to work with. Expecting great things is a safe move. Punk rockers Shake Your Baby (not actually a good tip, like, at all) and energetic indie kids Mas Y Mas open this one up. Get ready to smile!

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

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

VA Shows You Must See This Week: March 27 – April 2

Marilyn Drew Necci | March 27, 2019

Topics: Aenimus, Ashland Theatre, Bennett Wales & The Relief, Bob Miller, Camp Howard, Capital Ale House Music Hall, Colin Phils, Curtana, Danet Jackson, DBUK, EU, Ex Hex, Fleshgod Apocalypse, gallery 5, Go-go, Gutted Christ, Hunter Rhodes, Hypocrisy, Jawbreaker, JC Kuhl, Junkyard Band, Kenneka Cook, Landon Elliott, LAVA, Mas Y Mas, Milk, missangelbird, Moaning, Modern Color, No Sun, Norman Westberg, Old Gun Road, Pohgoh, Positive No, Ramblin' Ron Talman, Recluse Raccoon, Seraph, Shormey, shows you must see, shy low, Standards, Starcoast, The Brecker Brothers, The Camel, The Canal Club, The Dark Room, The National, The NorVa, Tmobyle, Toast, Trouble Funk, Two Cars, W I S H, War On Women

FEATURED SHOW
Friday, March 29, 6:30 PM
A Tribute To The Brecker Brothers, feat. JC Kuhl & Bob Miller @ Ashland Theatre – $12-25 (order tickets HERE)
The Ashland Theatre’s only been doing shows for about a month now, and already they’ve become a venue to watch. No doubt this has something to do with the Broadberry Entertainment Group, whose bookings around the city are consistently some of the most interesting and cool live shows on any given week. And for this show, at least, it also has to do with Richmond’s jazz scene, which is always doing something new and creative in the live performance arena.

This time around, Ashland Theatre and Broadberry Entertainment Group will be presenting an evening in tribute to the Brecker Brothers. Now, that name may not jump right out at you, but I can guarantee you’ve heard their work. The brothers — Randy, who played trumpet, and Michael, who played saxophone — contributed their talents to all sorts of classic 70s albums, from George Clinton to Todd Rundgren to Frank Zappa to Eric Clapton. They also had a duo of their own, which was a primary exponent of that jazz/funk fusion sound that the 70s so generously gave to us, before pushing things farther with their landmark 1978 album, Heavy Metal Be-Bop, on which they ran their horns through guitar amps and distortion effects.

You’ll never see the Brecker Brothers themselves; Michael passed away a decade ago. But this weekend, you can see the next best thing — a full-band tribute to the Brecker Brothers, featuring JC Kuhl (of Agents of Good Roots and local jazz scene fame) playing the role of Michael, while Bob Miller (of Richmond’s salsa legends, Bio Ritmo) in the role of Randy. Backing them up will be a stacked lineup of Virginia talent, including members of Butcher Brown, the Spacebomb house band, and more! Get ready for some skunk funk, because these musicians are going to keep the music going all night at a venue that’s rapidly becoming an essential Central VA spot for live music.

Wednesday, March 27, 8 PM
Modern Color, No Sun, W I S H, Two Cars @ The Dark Room – $5
It’s a shoegaze paradise at The Hof’s Dark Room tonight. The Underexposed series, of which this show is a part, is designed to bring us sounds from bands we might not have heard much about, and while that might lead you to expect Richmond-based bands, tonight the big surprises are going to come from out-of-towners. Modern Color is at the top of the bill; they hail from SoCal and bring us a melodic yet driving take on a loud-guitar alt-rock sound that’s honestly way too clear to be shoegaze — but someone will call them that anyway, so it may as well be me, right?

One thing is for sure where Modern Color is concerned: they use their loud guitars to the fullest, evoking their beachfront hometown environs while still bringing plentiful energy. No Sun, who ironically come from the sunbaked state of Utah, generate the sort of fuzzy clang you’d be more likely to expect from a shoegaze band, and they embrace it fully, calling to mind 90s UK legends like Swervedriver or My Bloody Valentine. Getting this touring duo from a $5 local midweek show is one of the subtle treats this city loves to grace us with. And rest assured, the sets from local openers W I S H and Two Cars will be another. This one is well worth your cash, so pony up and get down to the Hof tonight.

Thursday, March 28, 8 PM
Shy Low, Standards, Colin Phils, Curtana @ The Camel – $5 in advance/$7 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Math-rock, post-rock, indie — whatever you want to call it, one thing is certain: there’s a lot of this kind of thing happening around Richmond lately. And it’s definitely a good thing, especially since it seems to have resulted in a recent rejuvenation of Shy Low, the long-running four-piece who’ve long evoked Mogwai and Mono with their epic, intense instrumentals. It has still been a few years since their last release, but… perhaps that will change soon? We can hope. In the meantime, there have been several opportunities to see them live lately — this is just the latest.

And as if availing yourself of that opportunity isn’t enough of a reason to hit the Camel this Thursday night, Shy Low will be accompanied on this bill by Standards, an outstanding LA duo who are on tour behind their freshly-released EP, Friends. For fans of instrumental guitar pyrotechnics, this record will be an embarrassment of riches, as Marcos Mena’s fingertap gymnastics impress on a whole other level. You’re sure to find yourself staring at his fretboard at some point during Standards’ set, wondering how the man can possibly do all that with only ten fingers. He does, though, and you’re going to want to see it happen live and in the flesh. Opening sets by the always-reliable Colin Phils and dazzling local prog-rockers Curtana only sweeten the pot.

Friday, March 29, 6 PM
Hypocrisy, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Aenimus, Seraph, Gutted Christ @ The Canal Club – $20 in advance/$22 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Oh wow. The fact that this tour is named after the legendary long-running compilation series, Death… Is Just The Beginning, definitely brings back memories for a true 90s metalhead like me. Nuclear Blast Records have been putting these comps out every few years for three decades now, and headliners Hypocrisy have been around for about as long. This killer Swedish death metal band hasn’t released an album in six years, but between their rock-solid track record and the fact that 2013’s End Of Disclosure was a sure-fire winner from beginning to end, headbangers can certainly take heart — this set is guaranteed to rule.

Even cooler is the fact that Hypocrisy’s co-headlining this tour with another Euro death metal sensation — Fleshgod Apocalypse. These Italians have always had a symphonic edge to their sound, even integrating operatic vocals on occasion for peak melodrama. However, they’ve always known how to keep it heavy and give us the killer riffs in abundance, and even after a significant lineup shakeup a couple years ago, the first single from upcoming fifth album Veleno shows they’ve still got the juice. So head out to the Canal Club this Friday night, and wear your best studded gauntlets, because this one is going to be tough as nails.

Saturday, March 30, 7 PM
Kings & Queens Of Go-Go Tour, feat. EU, Trouble Funk, Junkyard Band @ The National – $25 in advance/$35 at the door (order tickets HERE)
Do you like to get down? Do you like to get funky? Do you like to DROP THE BOMB? If so, you’re in luck, because this Saturday night sees three of the brightest stars of DC’s legendary go-go scene visiting Richmond to tear the roof off the National — and you’re gonna want to be there. Go-go is a highly regional scene centered around Washington, DC — for most of its history, it was only truly popular in the DMV area. However, it had a big moment in the 80s; while go-go has its roots in funk, it’s a particularly rhythmic, percussion-heavy strain, and that appealed strongly to early hip hop fans.

EU (short for Experience Unlimited) had one of the most popular go-go hits ever with “Da Butt,” a sexually charged party-starter from the soundtrack to Spike Lee’s School Daze. It was so popular, I once saw a guy in a Scooby-Doo costume dance to it in a make-your-own-video booth at King’s Dominion (#onlytrue80skidswillunderstand). Meanwhile, Trouble Funk’s 1982 single, “Pump Me Up,” was a huge club hit — especially in DC, where at the height of their fame, they co-headlined shows with hardcore pioneers Minor Threat. Meanwhile, onetime Def Jam recording artists The Junkyard Band can be seen performing their signature song, “Sardines,” in the Run-DMC movie, Tougher Than Leather. And we get all three of these groups on the same stage, for $25? This is the deal of the decade, folks — don’t miss out. And wear your dancing shoes, because your feet will be moving.

Sunday, March 31, 7 PM
Milk, Missangelbird, Danet Jackson @ Gallery 5 – $5 in advance/$6 day of show (order tickets HERE)
It’s not often that a piece of music manages to take me by surprise, so when it happens, it’s certainly worth noting. Milk’s 2017 LP, Horsetown Threshold, does exactly that, not only over the course of the album but even in a single song. The first track, a beautiful acoustic ballad called “Too High To Drive,” is occasionally interrupted by squalls of distorted heavy noise — but in a manner that is not only intentional but meshes well with the song as a whole. This is what Milk do throughout the album, really; present us with gorgeous melodies that draw from indie-folk sources, then shift into heavy moments that pulverize the listener with some prime Blue Cheer/Crazy Horse riffage.

Seeing this whole thing take place live might be a bit of a mind-bender… but who wouldn’t want that, especially on a Sunday night? Sometimes life has to throw us a few curveballs just to keep us from sleepwalking through it, and it’s much better to have those curveballs come in the form of a truly unpredictable band than in that of a car crash, right? So put down the cellphone and drive carefully to Gallery 5 this Sunday night, where Milk will proceed to blow your mind. Local openers Missangelbird and Danet Jackson will provide you with some sweet melodies of their own to prepare the way for the Boston headliners. Get there.

Monday, April 1, 7 PM
DBUK, Norman Westberg, Old Gun Road @ Capital Ale House Music Hall – $12 (order tickets HERE)
Denver’s DBUK were originally called Denver Broncos UK, a joke that I can appreciate as both a fan of American football and UK indie bands. Apparently the Denver Broncos football team didn’t appreciate it, though, since they’re known only by their initials now. But regardless of the name they’re going by, DBUK is definitely worth going to see. The group arises from a Denver scene known for producing dark, apocalyptic varieties of folk-Americana. DBUK features Slim Cessna’s Auto Club mastermind Slim Cessna, as well as Jay Munly, who has led various solo projects as well as taking part in Slim Cessna’s Auto Club and Scott Kelly & the Road Home.

DBUK just released their second album, Songs Nine Through Sixteen, and while it’s got less overt country and Americana influences than previous projects the members have been involved with, it maintains the deep dark mood that has always been the most compelling aspect of that whole Denver scene (which also produced Wovenhand and 16 Horsepower, among others). It’s therefore fitting that they come to Richmond in the company of Norman Westberg, who has played guitar in Swans for nearly 40 years and will be doing a solo set that, if it’s anything like the solo albums he’s released in recent years, should lean heavily on ambience and atmosphere. Local openers Old Gun Road consist of a bunch of hardcore and metal musicians playing the type of country music they loved as kids. Like everything else on this bill, that’s sure to be a treat.

Tuesday, April 2, 7 PM
Ex Hex, Moaning, Positive No @ Capital Ale House Music Hall – $20 (order tickets HERE)
Ex Hex were all the rage a few years back. This tough-rockin’ trio from DC made a whole lot of fans around the country with their 2014 debut album, Rips, and its Shangri-Las-meets-Runaways take on catchy garage punk. However, the group’s been quiet a while, and you couldn’t be blamed for thinking they’d dissolved after one LP, just as singer-guitarist Mary Timony’s previous project, Wild Flag, did.

Fortunately, we learned as 2019 kicked off that this was not the case after all, and Ex Hex came roaring back just last week with the release of its sophomore full-length, It’s Real. They’ve definitely grown as a band, but the elements everyone loved about their first batch of tunes are all intact here, even as they stretch out with some heavier riffs, contrasting those at other points with some introspective moments. The end result is sure to delight all previous Ex Hex fans, and might just make some new ones (assuming everyone doesn’t love this band already). They’re accompanied on their return to Richmond by Los Angeles new-romantics Moaning, as well as perennial Richmond indie-pop faves Positive No. This one is a guaranteed delight.

Bonus Hampton Roads Picks:

Friday, March 29, 6 PM
Jawbreaker, War On Women, Pohgoh @ The NorVA – $37 in advance/$42 at the door (order tickets HERE)
All the 90s emo and pop-punk kids are sure to be freaking out over this one. Blake Schwarzenbach has done several memorable bands over the years, including Jets To Brazil and Forgetters, but none have ever captured the hearts of music fans the way his late-80s/early-90s band Jawbreaker did. For many years, even as fans clamored for Schwarzenbach to reunite with his former Jawbreaker bandmates, he swore he’d never do it. But then, in 2017, the band returned to headline Riot Fest and, improbably, kept working together, playing shows around the US and even starting work on their first album in 23 years.

They’re currently in the middle of a run down the East Coast, and this show brings them to Virginia for the first time in over two decades. They’ve even been playing some new-ish tunes (although they are really just unreleased songs from various Schwarzenbach projects over the years), and we can all look forward to the possibility of a new album on the horizon. For now, though, it’ll be enough to bop around the NorVA singing along with classics like “Save Your Generation,” “Boxcar,” “Chesterfield King,” and many more. Plus, opening sets from War On Women and Pohgoh are sure to make an amazing night even more special. Don’t miss this one.

Saturday, March 30, 5 PM
LAVA Mini-Fest, feat. Bennett Wales & The Relief, Camp Howard, Starcoast, Shormey, Mas Y Mas, Landon Elliott, Kenneka Cook, Recluse Raccoon, Ramblin’ Ron Talman, Hunter Rhodes MAGIC, Tmobyle @ Toast – $12 in advance/$15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Here’s a fun way to spend your Saturday evening — by gassing up the ride, heading east down 64, and enjoying an evening mini-fest brought to you by Norfolk’s own LAVA Presents. These Norfolk promoters work with a variety of genres down in the Hampton Roads area, and they’re demonstrating that by bringing a variety of sounds from around Virginia together at Toast to get you stoked.

There are a ton of different genres on this bill, from the Southern-tinged rock n’ roll of Bennett Wales & The Relief to the cleancut indie jangle of Richmond’s own Camp Howard, from the electro-pop of Shormey to the heartland rock of Landon Elliott, plus a whole lot more. There are definitely some names that will perk up the ears of Richmond music fans (Kenneka Cook, anyone?), as well as some very interesting sidetrips, including a magic show, a pop-up record shop, and a craft market! Sounds to me like a great way to spend a Saturday night — you know what to do.

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Email me if you’ve got any tips for me about upcoming shows (that take place after the week this column covers -– this week’s column has obviously already been written): [email protected] [and yeah, there’s plenty more of my writing to read over at GayRVA — come say hey.]

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

VA Shows You Must See This Week: January 30 – February 5

Marilyn Drew Necci | January 30, 2019

Topics: 30 Year Sick, Aesthetic Barrier, Alfred, Billy Neptune, black liquid, Boathouse Live, Boy Harsher, Brian Jones Trio, Capital Ale House Music Hall, Cold Choir, Colpa Mia, Doug Richards Orchestra, Fallout, Garden Grove Brewing, Gemini Love, Gothic Lizard, Illiterate Light, Joel Worford, JR Wolf, Khrundo, Loxias, Midlife Pilot, Minor Poet, Nightcrwlr, Piranha Rama, Rayland Baxter, Rebekah Rafferty and The Wakes, Renaissance Ballroom, Return To Sender, shows you must see, Sweet Potatoes Music, The Camel, The Canal Club, The Goodbye Forevers, The Heart Stompers, The Josephines, The Renaissance, The Vulgar Bulgars, Them Evils, Toast, Trapcry, Tyler Meacham, Unmaker, Vanilla Summit, WRIR, Zack Mexico

FEATURED SHOW
Friday, February 1, 7 PM
WRIR’s 14th Anniversary Party, feat. Unmaker, Black Liquid, Trapcry, Alfred, Minor Poet, Rebekah Rafferty and the Wakes, The Vulgar Bulgars, Sweet Potatoes Music, Jr Wolf, RVA Comedy showcase, and more @ The Renaissance Ballroom (107 W. Broad St) – $15 (order tickets HERE)
It’s kind of amazing to look up every February and realize that it’s been another year with the awesomeness of WRIR right here in our city. From one unicorn to another, we certainly must admit that the cards tend to be stacked against the kind of radio station WRIR is — a community-run, volunteer-operated radio station that manages, despite its low 42-watt broadcast power, to reach a wide range of local listeners and to connect strongly with the Richmond musical community. What’s more, it’s a great place to learn more about the issues of the day, from right here in Richmond to around the country and the world.

So yeah, it’s a little tiny miracle to see WRIR holding on for another year — 14 so far, and here’s to many more. It’s also a cause for celebration, and that’s what the station and its community will be doing when they gather once again at the Renaissance Ballroom this Friday night for the latest edition of a yearly party that never fails to deliver the goods. This year’s edition features all kinds of excellent music, covering the wide spectrum of local talent. Unmaker are at the top of the bill, and their dark, heavy, metallic postpunk is sure to bring down the house at the end of a long happy night — especially considering their always-active live performance style.

But that’s just the beginning, really. The music on offer runs the gamut from the cerebral hip hop of Alfred to the indie rock of Minor Poet and from the klezmer (jazz-influenced Eastern European/Jewish folk dance music) sounds of the Vulgar Bulgars to the melodic alt-rock of Rebekah Rafferty and the Wakes, this show has seriously got everything the curious music fan could desire. Plus, it brings the kind of adventurous programming you can expect from WRIR into real life before your eyes, as Black Liquid coordinates a hip hop showcase that’ll recreate the kind of improvised rhyming excellence that often graces his Saturday night radio shows, and Jameson Babbowski brings a talented slate of local comedians to his own non-musical showcase. And of course, all your favorite WRIR DJs will be in the house, spinning tunes and making friends. Best of all, your ticket price goes toward helping WRIR bring us another year of awesomeness. What could be more worthwhile than that?

Wednesday, January 30, 8:30 PM
Vanilla Summit, Khrundo, Return To Sender @ Vagabond – Free!
Now that we’re out here in the world moving on after the loss of Strange Matter, there’s definitely been some urgent searching (at least on my part) for another reliable local venue to fill in the mid-week holes in the Richmond live music schedule. What I’m fast learning is that on Wednesday nights, Vagabond is likely to deliver the goods. Their Jazz Wednesdays series is a great place to be pretty much every single week if you want to learn more about the community of excellent jazz musicians existing in Richmond. Their scene may not get as much attention as punk, metal, or hip hop, but that says nothing about what the local players have to offer — which, it turns out, is a lot.

Vanilla Summit are a five-piece jazz group who’ve been grabbing spots on live dates around town for a while now, and their 2017 Green Session EP shows exactly why — this dual-drumming quintet creates some excellent funky grooves while also bringing the introspective melodies we so often want from jazz. They may not be joined live by the ever-talented McKinley Dixon, who graces one of the tracks on their EP, but they will be performing along with a couple of intriguing ensembles, also hailing from the world of local jazz. Khrundo is a group led by guitarist Jake Adams, which is apparently going to feature nine members on this Wednesday night, all coming together to kick some ferocious grooves. Plus there’s Return To Sender, a bass-less trio led by Vanilla Summit sax player Nate Clark, to kick things off right. If you don’t know, you’re gonna learn.

Thursday, January 31, 8 PM
Zack Mexico, Piranha Rama, Billy Neptune @ Capital Ale House Music Hall – $8 in advance/$10 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Zack Mexico isn’t one guy, it’s a band — and a full one at that, featuring eight members, two of whom are drummers who each play full kits. And this group doesn’t hail from the country across our controversial Southern border; instead, they come to us from the much closer region of North Carolina’s Outer Banks, which must be a pretty wild place to be if you’re not a tourist or a vacationer. The music Zack Mexico makes is certainly wild, and hard to pin down as well; what sort of sound you get from them depends significantly on which track you listen to.

However, one thing can be determined for sure — there’s a psychedelic sensibility that underpins everything this band does, and an unorthodox approach to music that lands them pretty far outside of what we expect from “indie” in 2019, though it always seems to result in catchy tunes that get your feet tapping and put a smile on your face. In that way, they’re a perfect musical companion to one of the best new bands to come out of Richmond in the last year. I’m speaking here of Piranha Rama, of course, whose music can just as easily be said to be catchy unorthodox psychedelic genius — as you know, if you heard their excellent LP from last year. Openers Billy Neptune will get this show started right, and Piranha Rama and Zack Mexico will come together to take care of the rest. Get on board.

Friday, February 1, 7 PM
Midlife Pilot, Joel Worford, Colpa Mia, Tyler Meacham @ Garden Grove Brewing – Free!
Here in Richmond, the kids really are all right. This show is a good opportunity for all of you to find that out, assuming you haven’t already been paying attention to the many mini-waves of talented singer-songwriters bringing out excellent music around this wonderful city over the past couple years or so. Midlife Pilot are at the top of this particular list, and they’ve certainly shown sufficient merit to justify that position — this group, the brainchild of singer-guitarist Casey Graham, released an excellent EP of emotionally-oriented melodic alt-rock tunes late last fall.

While Midlife Pilot demonstrated an outstanding full-band sound on that EP, Ready To Be That Way, it’s hard to say exactly how it’ll translate live, since Graham himself played everything but drums on the record. Can we expect an Into It. Over It.-style solo performance? Or will there be a full band onstage? Either way, based on Graham’s track record, we’re sure to get some awesome songs out of it. Colpa Mia is more clearly a full-band effort, and recent single “Atlas” shows them dabbling in both the emotional melodies of the alt-rock world and dipping into synthesized postpunk/indie sounds. Live, their multi-layered sound is sure to captivate. More definitively solo singer-songwriters Joel Worford and Tyler Meacham will round out this excellent bill of up-and-comers, which you can partake of for no money down! How can you pass that up? Be there.

Saturday, February 2, 7 PM
Them Evils, Gemini Love, Loxias, The Goodbye Forevers @ The Canal Club – $10 in advance/$13 day of show (order tickets HERE)
I don’t know where we as a society stand on loud, noisy rock n’ roll in this day and age. It seems like if you check out festival lineups it’s the indie bands who get the most acclaim, and when the occasional band manages to rise above the fray and get a reputation for rocking hard, they draw more hate from the tastemakers than anything else. So are all y’all gonna think I’m a behind-the-times middle-aged lady for sending you to see Them Evils on a Saturday night?

You’ll be either frustrated or relieved to know that I really don’t care how you judge me on this one. I’m over here rockin’ out, blissfully ignorant of any judgment that might be coming my way. And you’ll be in much the same position if you make your way to the Canal Club Saturday night. Because while the hipsters may all be allergic to distorted guitars and hard-hitting good-time grooves these days, it’s always such a relief to cast off that albatross of manufactured coolness and let yourself enjoy something sincerely. Them Evils are primed to provide you with some sincere enjoyment, and in all seriousness, you cool kids who enjoyed Wolfmother and Red Fang at one time or another are gonna dig this just as much as your Greta Van Fleet-loving little brother will. Stop with the excuses and show up already.

Sunday, February 3, 8 PM
30 Year Sick, Cold Choir, Gothic Lizard @ Fallout – $5 in advance/$8 at the door (order tickets HERE)
30 Year Sick is a pretty evocative name for a band, even if any contemplation of the concept behind the name just makes you (or at least me) think, “There’s no way you’d stay sick for 30 years and not die.” I mean, unless we’re talking “siiiick!” in the modern-slang sense of the term, in which case we just end up down a rabbit hole of talking about which bands that have been around since the late 80s still legitimately rule (spoiler: not many, that’s for sure). But seriously, we’re not here to talk about that — we’re here to talk about the show that’s coming to Fallout, everyone’s favorite Shockoe Bottom fetish bar, on Sunday night.

30 Year Sick, the band, who hail from North Carolina, have a pounding synth-goth sound, which is definitely on the rockin’ end of things where that genre is concerned. Their 2018 EP, Postpunks, has an intriguing title that certainly invites rock-crit types like myself to use lazy genre terms, but I’m trying really hard not to take the bait. Instead, I’ll tell you that 30 Year Sick mingle a gloomy rumbling rhythm section with ominous guitar and synth melodies, all of which is topped by the true star of the show: Akmeraj Niroc’s incredibly powerful voice, which is strong enough to raise the tiny hairs on the back of your neck. And then the whole band will rock you out in a manner sure to thrill fans of Sisters of Mercy and Killing Joke alike. Don’t be afraid — explore the darker corners of Fallout for this one. It’ll do you no harm.

Monday, February 4, 7 PM
Boy Harsher, Nightcrwlr, Aesthetic Barrier @ The Camel – $13 in advance/$15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
It’s a good week for dark, gothic sounds. Spooky electronic duo Boy Harsher are releasing their latest LP, Careful, this Friday, and then on Monday, they’ll be here in town to play it live for us all. Careful was clearly born out of some pretty hard times, from loss of loved ones to difficulties in relationships, and singer Jae Matthews puts all of that into Boy Harsher’s music, combining as always with electronic musical genius Gus Muller to create an album’s worth of foreboding synthesized soundscapes.

Boy Harsher’s dark melodies and unnerving lyrical conceits have been compared (even by members of the group) to a David Lynch movie, and sonically, their work lands closest to a diabolical combination of Suicide and Yaz, with a strong dose of Nitzer Ebb-style severe European dance music. The kids in gleaming black Doc Martens will be stomping on the dance floor to this one, for sure; meanwhile, Matthews and Muller’s riveting presence is sure to keep you focused on the stage. Local electro-freaks Aesthetic Barrier will kick this all off, and we’ll get a bonus appearance from Nightcrwlr, yet another identity of the shapeshifting Kristina Esfandiari (King Woman/Miserable). It’s all going to be so amazing.

Tuesday, February 5, 9 PM
Brian Jones Trio, Doug Richards Orchestra @ The Camel – $10 in advance/$12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
RVA jazz really is a solid ticket for your midweek musical jones in 2019, and that’s probably why our week is bookended by shows that fall under that category. This one brings us the latest appearance of a Brian Jones-led ensemble here in Richmond, and as local jazz heads know, the presence of Brian Jones in any group is a sign of top quality musicianship. Of course, we’re not talking about the original Rolling Stones guitarist who died in the late 60s, we’re talking instead about the local drummer who has played with everyone from Agents Of Good Roots to Jandek to Randy Brecker.

The Jones trio on display this time will include fellow RVA jazz luminaries Daniel Clarke (piano) and Randall Pharr (bass), but one of Jones’s most frequent collaborators, saxophonist JC Kuhl, will also be on the bill — but performing with the other group. The Doug Richards Orchestra will contain around 18 different musicians on this Tuesday night, including local jazz luminaries like John D’Earth, Bryan Hooten, Stefan Demetriadis, and the aforementioned JC Kuhl, as well as all three members of the Brian Jones Trio. Doug Richards, who founded VCU’s Jazz Studies program in 1980 and recently retired after four decades at the university, has a robust pedigree of his own, and what he brings to this formidable ensemble is sure to be intriguing and delightful. Don’t miss a moment.

Bonus Hampton Roads Picks:

Friday, February 1, 7 PM
The Josephines, The Heart Stompers @ Toast – $10 (order tickets HERE)
If you like to rock but also identify strongly with the Southern sound with which all of us from this state are intimately familiar, the music of The Josephines is sure to call to you on a deep, primal level. This group — yet another in which a feminine name belies the all-masculine lineup — hails from Kentucky and will definitely remind you that that state, like Virginia, is very much a part of the South no matter what latitudinal parallel Bowling Green sits on. They’ve got loud rockers in their repertoire that are sure to have you stomping, raging, and headbanging, but they’ve also got a big dose of bluegrass in their sound, ensuring that you’ll never forget what state they hail from.

The Josephines’ 2017 EP Sober Up certainly lets you know the musical headspace where these guys are coming from. Likewise, Hampton Roads local country ensemble The Heart Stompers lets you know where they’re coming from right in their name. Formerly known as Gina Dalmas and the Cow-Tippin’ Playboys — certainly an evocative name in itself — this group taps into the outlaw country sound of the 70s and 80s with a modern punk edge and an amazing voice out front, courtesy of Gina Dalmas herself. If you can get down with some honky-tonk partytimes, Toast is the place to be for you on Friday night.

Tuesday, February 5, 8 PM
Rayland Baxter, Illiterate Light @ Boathouse Live – $15 in advance/$18 day of show (order tickets HERE)
You Tidewater residents are sure to have a fun Tuesday night at the Boathouse with Rayland Baxter. This alt-country singer-songwriter comes from a music family (his dad played on REM and Bob Dylan albums), and certainly has his feet planted in that tradition, as his more alt-country/folk-Americana tunes make clear. But on his latest album, Wide Awake, Baxter showed that he’s capable of the sort of widescreen pop that made the Beatles and the Byrds legendary figures that influenced a generation. Baxter taps into that psychedelic power-pop sound rooted in Americana dirt that is so au courant in 2019 United States of America, evoking the Beach Boys, the Grateful Dead, and other powerful musical touchstones with aplomb… and just a splash of post-Mac DeMarco slacker irony.

But we shouldn’t focus only on our headliner here — tourmates Illiterate Light hail from right here in VA, Harrisonburg to be exact, and have been making a powerful impact on the commonwealth’s music scene for a couple of years now. For a guitar-drum duo, they make strong, deep music, which connects power-pop, alternative rock, and the melody-uber-alles alt-country approach of My Morning Jacket or Band Of Horses. They show off all this and more on brand new EP Sweet Beast, which is an excellent calling-card to present to music fans of all stripes who find themselves wondering whether they should take the plunge on these local boys striving to make good. Message from us: dive in. You’ll be glad you did.

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Top Photo: Unmaker, by David Morton

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond