Friday, November 21, 2008

Moshe Dayan at The Canal Club

My friend Tom wanted me to mention these guys so in Tom's words: "Would you mind doing a special post on the blog about Moshe Dayan playing Saturday the 22nd @ the Canal Club? They are a hard core Christian band formed by some of the members of the ROC (Richmond Outreach Center) band. I do love this kind of head banging hard core stuff. They are in the same vein as bands like Disturbed, Stained & Drowning Pool. There should be about 200 sold out ROC Christians down there for the show. Hope you can make it.
You can check them out at http://www.myspace.com/moshedayanrock."

Moshe Dayan will have the middle spot between headliners Hollywood Undead and openers Against Grace. Doors open at 7 and tix are $13.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Sleeveface

Here's something fun you can do with your old albums.

Sleeveface: one or more persons obscuring or augmenting any part of their body or bodies with record sleeve(s) causing an illusion.

Enjoy!

http://www.sleeveface.com/

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Yes, Umphrey's, Radiators, Shelby Lynne

Not a bad week for shows in Richmond.

Wednesday sees the best of the progressive art rock bands, Yes, come to the National. Tix range from $30 (general admission) - $125 (VIP Fan Access) and the show starts at 8 with no opener. Yes's configuration this time (they have had quite the convoluted personell history) is Steve Howe (guitar), Chris Squire (bass) and Alan White (drums) with keyboardist Oliver Wakeman (son of classic Yes keyboardist, Rick Wakeman, who is ailing) and vocalis Benoit David, filling in for original vocalist Jon Anderson. There was some drama around the band touring without Jon Anderson, who is recovering from acute respiratory failure earlier this year. (Man, these classic rock bands used to have problems with drug and alcohol addiction. Life was simpler then.) The band didn't tell Jon they were going to tour and he felt disrespected but all seems to be okey-dokey now and Jon will return next time if he is able. All I know is that Chris Squire is one of the best rock bassists ever and he is worth the price of a ticket alone.

Here's Chris doing The Fish > Amazing Grace in '91:


Thursday night at The National is jam band Umphrey's McGee. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with The Heavy Pets opening. Tix are $20 in advance and $22.50 day of show. Umphrey's has started to gain some critical acclaim along with their growing fan base with their latest album, Live at the Murat, getting four stars from Rolling Stone.

New Orleans favorite The Radiators bring their 30th Anniversary tour (has it really been that long?) to Toad's Place on Friday night. Doors open at 8, tix are $20 and this is a benefit for SCAN (Stop Child Abuse Now). It seems like only yesterday I saw them at Tipitina's during Mardi Gras (was actually 1990). I just wish I could remember that show. But it was Mardi Gras. All I can remember is leaving Tipitina's at dawn and the band was still playing.

Next Tuesday, Americana singer/songwriter Shelby Lynne is at Toad's. Doors open at 7:30 and tix are $20 in advance, $25 at the door, and $30 in the Gold Circle of hell. If you dig people like Ryan Adams, Lucinda Williams, Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, you'll probably dig Shelby. I believe she is still out promoting her well recieved album, Just a Little Lovin', her tribute to Dusty Springfield.

A few other shows of note:

Mark Erelli at Ashland Coffee & Tea on Thursday night. $15 advance, $20 day of show. Think Ben Harper, Chris Smither, Dylan, Allmans.
Chris Knight at Ashland Coffee on Friday night. $15 advance, $20 day of show. Think Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, Rodney Crowell, Dwight Yoakam, John Prine.
Sunday at the Canal Club: an Alt-Pop/Rock, Punk show featuring Aiden, Civet, God or Julie, Halflit Halo and Reasons. 6:00 show time, $11 in advance, $13 at the door. If you go to the show, get there in time for God or Julie (a name inspired by a friend who always writes songs about God or about his wife Julie). Think Stone Temple Pilots, Bowie, Beatles, Queen.

That's all for now. Have a great weekend, Richmond!

Tony Jordan

Friday, November 14, 2008

Robert Earl Keen, Amy Ray, Kelly Joe Phelps, Maxwell

Good day or evening, depending on when you read this.

Saturday night, great Texas singer-songwriter and rockin' country dude, Robert Earl Keen, comes to Toad's Place. Doors open at 8, tix are $20 advance and $25 day of show. REK always puts on a great show, at least all the times I've seen him. If you want to check out a show, he has a free download of a show from January 2008 available on his web site if you sign up for his email list. In a random REK note, I am finally catching up on watching Generation Kill, the HBO mini-series about Marines in Iraq. While the Marines are parked in their convoy, two Marines are singing with each other, trying to figure out the words to REK's "Merry Christmas from the Family". Since its almost the holiday season, and since the song is a classic, here it is for your listening pleasure.


Also on Saturday night, Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls performs at the Capital Ale House Downtown. Doors open at 8 and tix are $15 in advance, $18 day of show.

Kelly Joe Phelps plays at Ashland Coffee & Tea on Friday night. Kelly (a dude) is a blues singer/songwriter and according to the Ashland Coffee & Tea web site, is "Portland's Blues King".

If you are in the mood for some smooth R&B check out the neo-soul artist Maxwell Saturday at the Landmark Theater. Tickets are $49.50 - $125 and the show starts at 8 with up and comer Jazmine Sullivan.

That's it for now. Have a great weekend.

Tony Jordan

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Conor Oberst at the National

Hello, hello.

Conor Oberst (aka Bright Eyes) comes to the National on Wednesday night. Tickets are $25, doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with two openers, Rig 1 and Ben Kweller. Conor's indie pop rock has been critically acclaimed since he started his Bright Eyes project in the late 90s. I'll actually be attending this show thanks to the good folks at Jambase.com, who I won tickets from. Yay me. So if you are going drop me a line or call me and we'll hook up.

If you are interested, you can listen to Conor's entire show from the 9:30 Club in DC on Monday night. It was recorded and is available at NPR.

Just wanted to get that one out there. More on Thursday.

Tony Jordan

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Kathleen Edwards, John Doe, Atkinsons, Rev. Horton Heat and more

Not a whole lot going on this week. I heard there was some kind of vote going on today (Tuesday). Did American Idol start again?

On Wednesday night at The National, Kathleen Edwards plays with John Doe (of X) opening. Tix are $15, doors open at 7 and show starts at 8. Kathleen plays singer-songwriter, alt-country and you'll like her if you like Shawn Colvin, Lucinda Williams, Aimee Mann or Emmylou Harris.

Richmond's own, The Atkinsons play the Highwater Restaurant at Toad's Place on Friday night. That's a FREE show and will start at 6:30. The Atkinsons play great Americana music so check them out.

After the Atkinsons, you can step next door into Toad's Place proper for a raging rockabilly (or psychobilly or punkabilly or whatever you want to call it) show featuring The Reverend Horton Heat, Nashville Pussy and Reckless Kelly. Doors open at 8 and tix are $22.

The Dropkick Murphys bring their celtic-punk sound to Toad's on Saturday night. Doors open at 7 and tix are $28.

Its time for the next installment of my "Tony Remembers the Spectrum" series. I went to see Rush on the Grace Under Pressure tour on either November 5 or 6, 1984. This show wasn't so memorable as far as the band goes, though I'm sure Rush played great as they always do consistently. This show was more memorable for my friend Jim's violently drunk brother. Jim was one of the nicest guys I knew at the time. He went to a different high school then I did but we lived in the same neighborhood and had been hanging out for a couple of years. Jim's brother was two to three years older than Jim and I and had pretty much been a f**k-up since I had known him. He was an alcoholic stoner and a bully.

Somehow he had talked Jim into going to the show with us. Jim wasn't too keen on the idea but reluctantly agreed. The concert went well, though Jim's brother (sorry I can't remember his name so we'll call him Frank) produced a bottle of Jack Daniel's from his jacket shortly after we got in, mixed it with a cup of Coke and finished it the whole bottle off during the show.

After the show, Jim had to call his grandfather to come pick us up. It was about a 15 - 20 minute drive from our neighborhood to the stadiums. As we waited next to the Connie Mack statue outside of Veterans Stadium, Jim and I spent that 15 - 20 minutes fending off Frank who kept trying to start fights with us. However, he was so drunk that we were able to contain him by pushing him to the ground where he would usually sit for a minute or two before getting up and trying to start a fight again. I wasn't really scared as much as annoyed by Frank, though he was stronger than Jim & I when sober, so I was a little worried that he could get a lucky shot in or grab a bottle or something he could use as a weapon. Needless to say, it was a great relief when Jim's grandfather finally showed up and Frank passed out for the ride home.

Jim and I lost touch after that, but not because of that night. We were both getting more involved in things in our high schools. Then, I moved to a different neighborhood, only a couple miles away, but enough that we couldn't do the casual stop-by when time permitted. Unlike his brother, Jim had it together and was in a pre-ROTC program for the Navy. I suspect Jim probably joined the Navy after high school and/or college and is doing well for himself. Unfortunately, Jim has a common last name so Googling him is pointless as you end up with 20+ pages of hits. Hopefully, his brother got it together too, before he hurt himself or someone else.

Anyway, sorry to end on such a somber note but that's the story. The next "Remembering the Spectrum" will be much more fun as it was Prince on the Purple Rain tour on Thanksgiving night.

Until then, have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan