Boston, Tony joins the Bee Gees, and Watermelon Fest

Ah the weekend is just about upon us. As I write this, I am listening to the Taper's Section on the Grateful Dead site. On the Taper's Section, they feature some selections from shows on this week in GD history. This week they are featuring a sequence from one of the only two West Coast shows I attended on 8/4/89 at Cal Expo in Sacramento. (My second West Coast show was the next night.) The sequence is quite a unique order of songs and very well played to boot.

Anyway on to the weekend. Friday night at Innsbrook, Boston (the band, not the entire city) will perform. Sure they lost their lead singer, Brad Delp, last year, but they've found two new guys to take his place, one of which I believe they discovered on YouTube. This seems to be a growing trend among '70s bands as Journey also found their latest singer on YouTube. Perhaps I will post my stunning version of "Jive Talkin'" on YouTube in the hopes that I can get hired by the Bee Gees. I would look kick-ass in polyester.


Anyway, tickets for Boston are $25 and the gates open at 6 PM with an opening band. The rich bastards have filled up the Gold Circle so they can be really close when they relive their 70s memories of their brother crankin' up "More Than A Feeling" while washing his Camaro on a Saturday afternoon. And that's not a bad thing.

Also on Friday, Rodrigo y Gabriela bring their acoustic-metal-flamenco guitar playing to The National. Doors open at 8, the opener is Ki:Theory Acoustic and tix are $30.

Over at Capital Ale House Downtown, Larry Keel & Natural Bridge will play. Doors open at 9:30 and tix are $12. I saw them back-up Keller Williams and they were pretty good. Here's what the Capital Ale House site says about them:
Connecting traditional songs of yesterday with their own original and inventive sounds of today, Larry Keel & Natural Bridge create astonishingly powerful acousticmusic rich in heritage, heart and hot licks! With a style that evokes both atomic rock energy and dynamic tonal purity, Keel and hisensemble are intent upon taking their instruments and their voices to their fullest potential for emotion and amazement. While paying respect to the legacy left by the forefathers of bluegrass, Keel bridges the gap between traditional and contemporary American Mountain Music. Larry Keel & NaturalBridge includes flatpicking guitar master Larry Keel (guitar, vocals), Jenny Keel (bass fiddle, vocals), Mark Schimick (mandolin, vocals), and Jason Flournoy (banjo, vocals).

Alternative Pop Rock band The Whigs will headline a show at the Canal Club on Friday night with three other bands. Show starts at 8 PM and tix are $13. If you like Son Volt, My Morning Jacket, or The Raconteurs, you may dig these guys.

There are also three outdoor festivals to choose from this weekend: Carib Fest, Filipino Festival and the 25th Annual Carytown Watermelon Festival. The weather looks good for this weekend, in the 80s, so you may see me and the family at the Watermelon Fest. For details on all the fests, check out this article from the Times-Dispatch: http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/living.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-08-07-0003.html.

Also, the massive coverage of the Olympics begins on all the channels NBC Universal owns along with their web site. You will be able to see every event at the Olympics with that. Go ahead and try. I dare you. China will be doing their best to make you think they are a benign, clean and peaceful nation when they are really the closest thing we have to the polluted technological totalitarian nation of Orwell's 1984. But the games themselves should be good. Just don't believe all that "China loves you" hype.

On that lovely note, have a great weekend and I'll see you at the Watermelon Fest!

Tony Jordan