Thursday, May 17, 2012

RiverRock, Galactic, Justin Townes Earle, Infamous Stringdusters, Dark Star Orchestra, Donna the Buffalo, Jerry Joseph, Jonny Lang, Willie Nelson

NOTE: Corrected night of Dark Star Orchestra show from Friday to THURSDAY. Thanks to Michael W. for noting the mistake and letting me know about it!

Big weekend starts Thursday with some bluegrass and some old school jams.  Bluegrass band The Infamous Stringdusters kick off the Groovin' in the Garden series this year. The show will be at the beautiful Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. Tix are $20 in advance, $25 at the gate and kids 10 and under are free. Gates open at 5:30 and the music begins at 6 with Steep Canyon Rangers who have recently been playing with Steve Martin, though Steve is not expected to be at the show. The Stringdusters will be at Bonnaroo this year. Here they are performing "I Wonder" and "Y2K" in Portland OR in April:



Also, Friday THURSDAY night, Grateful Dead tribute band Dark Star Orchestra will perform in what should be a beautiful setting at Pocahontas State Park Amphitheater in Chesterfield. Tix are $16.50 in advance and $20 at the gate. Children 10 and under are free. There will also be a $5 fee per car charged at the park entrance but that fee is going to the park so that's cool. Gates open at 6, show starts at 6:30 with two 90 minute sets from DSO. Here's DSO doing "Scarlet Begonias > Fire On the Mountain" with former Grateful Dead member Donna Jean Godchaux on vocals at the Gathering of the Vibes in 2011:


Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Dominion Riverrock takes over Brown's Island for what is always a rockin' good time. There will be people mud runnin', dogs catchin' air and jumpin' in the water (my kids love this), freestyle BMXing, kayaking and rock climbing and, of course, great music. There are two stages this year and music will be going on the whole day, each day, Friday starting at 6:30, Saturday and Sunday starting at 1 PM. For the full schedule, click HERE. Headliner on Friday is great bluegrass with Keller Williams with the Travelin' McCourys coming on at 9 PM and going until 10:30. Headliners on Saturday will be Galactic (9 PM), bringin' the New Orleans funk and featuring Corey Glover of Living Colour on vocals, and JJ Grey and Mofro (r&b and roots rock n' roll at 7:30 PM). On Sunday, the festival closes with Allman Brothers tribute band, Skydog, starting at 4:00 PM. By the way, did I mention that the whole festival is FREE. Here's the first three songs of Galactic's set on April 18 in Nashville:



More bluesy, folksy jam bands at Kingdom on Friday night with Donna the Buffalo, Rattlemouth, and Men of Leisure. Show starts at 7 and it's $17 to get in. Here's the full set from Donna the Buffalo at the Virginia Key Grassroots Festival near Miami earlier this year:



Also, Friday, roots rocker Jerry Joseph and the Jackmorons will be at Capital Ale House downtown. Show starts at 10 PM and there does not appear to be an opener. Tix are $10 in advance, $13 day of show. The band has a new live concert DVD out. Here's a track from that:



Also on Friday, NO BS Brass Band will be at The Camel with Paul Wilson opening. It's $7 to get in and the show starts at 9 PM. Here's No BS doing "2 the day":



If you are at home at all this weekend, you can check out the live stream of the Hangout Music Fest from Gulf Shores, AL HERE on MySpace. Yes, that MySpace. They are still around and trying to make a comeback, I guess. I'm not sure if this is video or just audio. But you can't argue with the bands on the webstream including Jack White, String Cheese Incident, Umphrey's McGee (coming to Groovin' in the Garden this summer), Dispatch, Gogol Bordello, Michael Franti & Spearhead (coming to The National this summer), G. Love & Special Sauce, Dr. Dog, Dawes (coming to Friday Cheers this year), Alabama Shakes (also coming to Friday Cheers this year), Gary Clark Jr. and others. They had a schedule up earlier but it's not up now. Music starts at the festival at 12:30 PM ET on Friday, and 12:15 ET on Saturday and Sunday so check it out then.

Saturday, blues guitarist Jonnny Lang will be at The National. Tix are $35 reserved orchestra / $30 reserved balcony / $25 reserved balcony / $25 GA standing. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with opener Michael Williams Band. Jonny has been in the studio working on a new CD so maybe you'll hear some new tunes on Saturday night. Here's Jonny and his band acoustic with "I Believe":



Willie Nelson plays his rescheduled (from May 9) show at Innsbrook on Sunday night. Gates open at 6 and music starts with a tba opener around 6:30. Tix are $20 in advance, $25 at the gate for GA and $45 for Gold Circle. Children under 10 are free. Here's Willie doing "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain":



Tuesday night, Groovin' in the Garden continues with a great Americana triple bill of Justin Townes Earle, Tristen, & Todd Snider. The show is at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. Gates open at 5:30, music starts around 6. Ticket prices are General Admission Lawn- $20 in advance, $25 at the gate. Children 10 and under are free.  General Reserve Seating- $35 in advance. Here's Justin on Letterman in February performing "Look the Other Way":



Have a great weekend!  I'll see you at RiverRock, hopefully both nights and maybe some other places too.

Tony Jordan

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