Jam Bands Galore, NYE in Richmond

Here it is, Christmas Eve Eve, and not a creature is stirring except my cat, who just threw up a hairball. "Merry Christmas, people. Hack!"

Anyway, Saturday begins the little mini-jam band fest here in Richmond.

Saturday night, the reunited New Potato Caboose plays The National. Tix are $15 in advance, $18 day of show and doors open at 7, with the show starting at 8 with opener Indecision. New Potato had some regional success in the 80s and 90s in the Northeast as a band that played Dead, Little Feat and other classic rock along with some originals.

If you would prefer to see a local Dead cover band, check out King Solomon's Marbles on Saturday night at Cary St. Cafe. Show starts at 10 and cover charge is $7.

Tuesday night, uber-Dead cover band, Dark Star Orchestra plays at The National with Donna Jean Godchaux (formerly of the Grateful Dead) & the Tricksters. Doors open at 6, show starts at 7, tix are $25 in advance, $28 day of show. You know the drill by now, DSO takes the setlist from a Grateful Dead show and "recreates" the show live. Donna will probably sit in for a few tunes.

On Wednesday, 12/30, Keller Williams plays The National. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8, tix are $18 in advance, $21 day of show. Keller will do 2 full sets so there is no opener. I've never been a huge fan of Keller when he does his one man band thing with the looping. Its interesting for about 15 minutes but never really grabbed my soul. I have enjoyed Keller when he is with a band. Looks like you'll get a little of both at this show. The National site says: "Keller Williams with an Added Bonus, an even blend of Keller's solo looping show and new flavors of grassy disco jazz funk featuring Claude Arthur, Jay Starling, Toby Fairchild as well as digital visuals by Scott Sunn." Here you can check out Keller doing his one man band thing with the song "Brown Chicken Brown Cow":



If you are looking for some music on New Year's Eve, the choices are unfortunately very few.

Jackass Flats, The Hot Seats, and Barnun & Co. will be doing the bluegrass thing on NYE,officially known as the 2nd Annual Richmond Roots Music Extravaganza at The Camel. Tix are $20 for the whole night of music, plus heavy hors d’oeuvres and a champagne toast at midnight.

Crucial Elements will be doing the reggae thing at Cary St. Cafe on NYE. Show starts at 10 PM and tix are $10.

If you have recovered enough from your NYE hangover to bang your head on New Year's Day, you can head to The National for a FREE concert from AC/DC cover band, Hells Bells (not to be confused with the all-female AC/DC cover band, Hell's Belles). Doors open at 7 and show starts at 8 with openers Half Brother Sid, Stoke Row and Medusa Switch.

I'll leave you with a video from what could be the weirdest Christmas party you would ever want to go to (and I would want to go to it) presided over by Bob Dylan (in a wig?) in Bob's song "Must Be Santa" from his Christmas album.

Have a Merry Christmas & and Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!

Tony Jordan

Rescheduled: Carbon Leaf @ The National

This just in from The National:

Because of impending Winter Weather the CARBON LEAF show scheduled for THIS Saturday December 19th @ 9pm at The National will be moved to THIS Monday December 21st @ 8pm ... All tickets purchased for December 19th performance will be honored at The National on this Monday. Tickets for Monday performance are on sale no...w at all Ticketmaster outlets, nattickets.com, ticketstobuy.com and The National box office ...See More

DJ Williams Projekt, Jackass Flats, Carbon Leaf, Decade Best Of Lists

As it gets close to Christmas, you always get a couple shows from local bands who return home for the holidays and want to do a show for friends, family and longtime fans. This year is no different. I will state the obvious though, with the snow in the forecast, call ahead before venturing out to see these bands as shows may get canceled or postponed.

Friday night, DJ Williams Projekt takes over The National to celebrate the release of their new 3rd album, "Eleven". Tix are $15, doors open at 8, show starts at 9 with openers Beast Wellington & DJ Paul B. I'm sure it will be a funky good time. There was an article in Style this week about where the band is at now and you can check it out HERE. Here's some video of the band performing at Cafe Diem in June of this year:


If your tastes run more toward bluegrass, check out Jackass Flats at Cary St. Cafe on Friday night. Show starts at 10 and there is a $7 cover charge.

Saturday night, Carbon Leaf pull into The National. Tix are $20, doors open at 8, show starts at 9 with opener The Jim Ivins Band. Here's a video of them live in October in Austin, TX performing "Pink":


In the midst of the many decade-end Best Of lists, one of the more interesting ones is from the web site, Metacritic, which is kind of like Rotten Tomatoes but for music (and video games and TV, etc.). Their list was made up of the most critically acclaimed bands and albums of the last decade based on the scores for a bands albums. Be sure to read the beginning of the article before skipping to the lists so you understand their methodology. What was interesting was that the most critically acclaimed artist of the decade by Metascore was Spoon. Didn't see that one coming did you. Anyway, check the list out, these type of lists are always fun to read and argue about and get some ideas for stuff you may have overlooked. The list is HERE.

A companion to that list is their roundup of all the decade best from all the publications. That is HERE.

If you want a really cool comprehensive list of the most acclaimed albums and songs of all time, check out ACCLAIMED MUSIC. Checked out this site after seeing the link on Metacritic and it looks like a cool site for those who like rock lists.

And let's have a litte Dino lead us in a round of "Let It Snow":


Have a great weekend and have fun in the snow!

Elvis Costello at The National

*** Just Announced *** Rock Legend ELVIS COSTELLO Saturday April 24th @ 8pm ... Tickets on sale THIS Friday December 18th at all Ticketmaster outlets, nattickets.com, ticketstobuy.com, and The National box office

Phish in C'ville review, Sharon Jones & Dap Kings, Hamaganza

Phish put on a great show at Charlottesville on Saturday night. The fun began in the parking lot, which was a somewhat subdued scene compared to a normal Phish lot, thanks to the 30 degree weather and light snow. Luckily by the time Phil and I arrived, Wyatt and Angie had arrived ahead of us and set up a tarp overhead and Wyatt's homemade propane fire pit. The fire pit is about two feet across and filled with glass beads that hold the warmth and are quite attractive. Besides keeping us warm, you tend to make a lot of friends when you have a source of heat on a cold, wet day so we partied with people from NC, MD and VA and had a steady stream of onlookers. The few hours in the lot flew by and around 7, it was time to go in. BTW, Wyatt plans on building and selling his propane fire pits (Lil' Cozys? Pixie Fires? They need a good name.) and if you tailgate or camp you will definitely want to get one. He probably could have sold about 15 or 20 that day.

We had great seats, one step off the floor and about even with the front of the soundboard, so we had excellent sound and a full view of the light show. We were also pleased to find that John Paul Jones Arena now allows you to bring beer back to your seats and you no longer are confined to a "beer garden" area. Though after a few hours in the lot, we decided to hold off until intermission to partake of the brew.

The band came out smoking from the start with "AC/DC Bag" and "Chalk Dust Torture". Then a new one, "Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan", which was good but failed to fully ignite. The set seemed to kick up a notch with "Divided Sky", their progressive rock-ish, mostly instrumental which has always reminded me of something a looser Yes would do. Next up was "Ya Mar", a fun reggae number that lightened things up after the heavy "Divided Sky". What also lightened things up was the naked guy who jumped on stage during "Ya Mar" and managed to avoid security for quite a few seconds as seen in this montage of the naked guy and the band's references to him the rest of the show:


Next up was a deeply funky version of Robert Palmer's (by way of writer Allen Toussaint) "Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley". They went way into the swampy funk on this one, with bassist Mike Gordon propelling the band. Then a little twisted bluegrass number, "My Old Home Place" (which mentions Virginia) to get our hoedown on. Then a solid end to the rest of the first set with Cavern, Funky Bitch, David Bowie, The Wedge and a cover of Hendrix's "Bold As Love" with guitarist Trey Anastasio playing his ass off on that one.

Second set brought the funk back with their great riff rocker, "Tweezer", the "step into the freezer" line resonating with those who had spent time in the lot. They again went into a nice, deep funky jam that had the crowd rising up a number of times. This segued into the new song, "Light", which was bit of a letdown after the jams out of "Tweezer". However, they brought it all back together with a great jam out of "Light" which featured some excellent work on the lights (as always) from their longtime lighting director, Chris Kuroda. Also some amazing work throughout the beginning of this set from drummer, Jon Fishman, to keep a high energy beat going while providing fills and moving the beat in and around the other members. The jam went into "Piper" and then a truly uplifiting version of "Free". Here's the jam into "Piper" with a nice view of the light show:


Next up, a cover of the Stones' "Sweet Virginia" with drummer Fishman on the vocals. For those unfamiliar with Phish, Fishman usually takes a turn on vocals each show and though not the best vocalist there is some goofy charm to his singing. However, despite the singalong aspect of the song and the references to "Virginia", this one never really jelled and seemed more of a breather for both the band and the audience.

The band got right back into the thick of it with a great version of the crowd-pleaser "Harry Hood" into the rocker "Suzy Greenberg" that got the whole crowd dancing and pumping fists. They kept the rockin' vibe going with "Golgi Apparatus" and its sing along lyric, "I saw youuuuuu, with a ticket stub in your hand". Mike Gordon's bass dropped out for a bit during "Golgi", prompting Mike to do the bass parts vocally, which got big smiles out of Trey. Finally, a killer version of "Run Like An Antelope" in which Trey tied the whole show together by remembering the naked guy and changing the lyrics to "Run like a naked guy out of control". Only at a Phish show would (1) the band think to do this, (2) pull it off seamlessly and (3) have the whole audience pick up on it immediately and sing along.

The encore brought more "Exile On Main Street" (the band played the entire album on Halloween) Stones, with a fantastic version of "Lovng Cup" ("Oh, what a beautiful buzz") and then the tension and release of "Tweezer Reprise". "Tweezer Reprise" started with Trey playing the familiar riff and keyboardist Page McConnell doing runs on the piano and organ. Mike Gordon then dropped some deep bass bombs that hit you in the gut and shook your loins. The drums kick in and they build and build, closing the show on a high note.


All in all, an excellent show. 4 out of 5 stars. Can't wait until spring tour.

Onto this weekend in Richmond. If you are dying for some more Phish, check out Strange Design, the Dark Star Orchestra of Phish cover bands. Strange Design take setlists from Phish shows and "recreate" the show. They'll be at the Hat Factory on Thursday night. Tix are $13, doors open at 8 and the show starts at 9 with local Grateful Dead cover band, King Solomon's Marbles, so you can get your Dead and Phish on at the same show. It's a hippie's dream.

Do you like soul music? Sweet soul music? Then get yourself to The National on Friday for Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings. Tix are $20 in advance, $25 the day of the show. Doors open at 8 and the show starts at 9 with Greg Hester. Sharon Jones is a classic soul belter, who recently backed up Phish (it all comes back to Phish on this blog) on their Halloween version of the Stones' "Exile On Main St." album. You may recognize the Dap Kings as the band that backed up Amy Winehouse on much of her "Back to Black" album. If I hadn't just gone to Phish, I would love to go to this show. Should be a great show, especially on a Friday night. Here's the video of their song, "100 Days, 100 Nights". They even go with black & white to further the retro feel of their music:


The traditional Hamaganza charity event takes place Saturday night at the Capital Ale House Downtown. This is a now 14-year running fund & food raiser for the Central Virginia Food Bank. Admission is a cured or canned ham or $10. Anything goes at Hamaganza. Comedians, politicians, (which are sometimes the same thing), whistlers, jugglers, musicians of all types, dancing girls, Dirtwoman, you never know what you are going to see but its a lot of fun and its for a great cause. Doors open at 9. Who knows, maybe Phish will show up? Well, probably not but I had to work them in somehow.

I'll leave you this week with an absolutely mind-boggling, creepily psychedelic video of the new song from N.A.S.A. featuring Tom Waits & Kook Keith, "Spacious Thoughts". Smoke 'em if you got 'em.


Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Phish, Grand Illumination, Christmas Parade, Colbie Caillat

Lots of holiday stuff going on this weekend along with the Phish end-of-tour blowout in C'ville.

Phish will be at John Paul Jones Arena in C'ville on Saturday night. Show starts at 7:30 and I have heard they are starting on time so don't go in on rock n' roll time thinking the show will start at 8. Reports from this tour have been all good with long sets, many breakouts (tunes they haven't played in a long time) and inspired playing. I'm thinking this one should be a blast with a fired-up (hopefully. I haven't been very impressed with crowds at JPJ so far.) Saturday night crowd and the band playing well and excited for the end of the tour. They will be coming off of three nights in a row at Madison Square Garden in NYC so there is a small chance of a letdown but the band usually doesn't operate like that.

If you are going, I'll see you there. Phil and I will brave the parking lot scene despite the cold weather but if we need respite, Starr Hill Brewery is throwing a Phish pre-party at the Millmont Grille from 3 - 6 PM. The Millmont Grille is only 1/2 mile from the arena.

Here is the band playing Zappa's "Peaches En Regalia" from the first night at MSG:


Here in Richmond, there is tons of Christmas stuff going on. Tonight is the Grand Illumination downtown and there are a lot of activities surrounding that. The Grand Illumination itself runs from 6 - 7 PM at 10th & E Cary St. For a full rundown of events, click HERE.

The Richmond Christmas Parade will be running down Broad St from the Science Museum to 7th St. starting at 10 AM on Saturday. We usually bring the kids to this one but unfortuately the weather doesn't look like it will cooperate this year. Snow would be fine. Cold is OK. But rain and cold are not a happy combination and that's the weather services are calling for on Saturday AM. Keep on eye on that though, as it may change.

On Friday, Rise Against will be at The National. Tix are $35, doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with openers Landmines and After Midnight Project.

Colbie Caillat will be playing at The National on Tuesday night. Tix are $21 in advance, $24 day of show, doors open at 7 and show starts at 8. Though I can't say that I'm a huge Colbie Caillat fan, I did like the song "Bubbly" until they played it to death and she is just so damn cute. Click HERE to see lots of cute pictures of Colbie. But just so this isn't all about Colbie's looks, here's the video for her last single, "Fallin' For You", which features Bobby Moynihan, one of the new guys on Saturday Night Live, and Colbie looks really cute...oops, promised not to do that. You'll have to click HERE because they won't let me embed the video.

Have a great weekend! I'll see you at the Phish show!

Tony Jordan

The entire Last Waltz show

If you're looking for some great Thanksgiving listening, Wolfgang's Vault has made available the entire, unedited Last Waltz concert by The Band with special guests. The concert took place on Thanksgiving night 1976 and was the last time the original Band would perform together.

Here's the link: http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/the-band/concerts/winterland-november-25-1976.html?utm_source=NL&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=091124

King Solomon's Marbles, 311, Furthur, Muppets

Turkey Day is here which means not much going on musically in town this weekend. Though if I recall my days working in bars, this was always a good weekend for the bars. A lot of people come home and want to go out with friends they may not have seen in a while. Also, if you've been cooped up in the house with your relatives for a few days, you may need to escape for a while.

On Saturday night, Grateful Dead cover band, King Solomon's Marbles will be at Cary St. Cafe. Show starts at 10 PM and cover charge is $7.

Speaking of the good ol' Grateful Dead, Bob Weir & Phil Lesh of the Dead will be bringing their new band Furthur to the area in February. The new band consists of Phil & Bob, Jeff Chimenti (keyboardist from Bob's band, Ratdog), John Kadlecik (formerly of Dark Star Orchestra), Jay Lane (drummer from Bob's band, Ratdog) and Joe Russo (drummer from Benevento - Russo Duo). They'll be coming to Hampton Coliseum on Friday, February 12 and the Patriot Center in Fairfax VA on Saturday, February 13. Though they have not posted ticket prices yet, the price for their show on 12/30 in SF is $45 so I expect it to be around there. Pre-sale for both shows starts Monday, 11/30 at noon, then official onsale date starts 12/11 at 10 AM. Reviews of the band's first four shows in the SF area have been good. I expect a pretty good show because there isn't the pressure to be "The Dead" and they can just stay loose. Here's the band doing "Cosmic Charlie" at their show at the Fox Theater a couple months ago:


Back to this weekend in Richmond. 311 brings their heavy reggae to The National on Sunday. Tickets are $45, doors open at 7 and the show starts at 8 with opener State Radio. Here they are doing "Come Original" in Tokyo in September.


Finally, among all the usual things I am thankful for (family, good health, a job), I am thankful for the Muppets. They have been entertaining and teaching me my entire life and they continue to do so with this awesome version of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody". The only thing this needs is more Pepe. Pepe rules! Though I must say, I didn't know Janice from the Dr. Teeth Band could totally shred.


Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Tony Jordan

Megadeth, Jackass Flats, Alice In Chains

Thanksgiving approaches and there are only a couple shows on the agenda as the bands head home for the holiday. Kind of the calm before the storm of the holiday season and a number of good bands coming to town next month.

Dave Mustaine brings Megadeth to The National on Saturday night. Tix are $32.50 in advance, $35 day of show, doors open at 6 and the show starts at 6:45 with openers Arcanium, Suicide Silence and Machinehead. Its a tiny metalfest so you can bang your heads 'til your ear drums bleed.

If you are in a completely different mood on Saturday night, a bluegrass mood perhaps, check out Jackass Flats at the Capital Ale House Downtown. Tix are $7 and the show starts at 9. Here is Jackass Flats playing in WV in January:


The National just announced that ALICE IN CHAINS will be coming there on Friday March 5th at 9pm. Tickets on sale December 4th at all Ticketmaster outlets, nattickets.com, ticketstobuy.com, and The National box office. Tickets are $35.50 in advance and $40 day of show. Their new album "Black Gives Way To Blue" has recieved good reviews. Here they are performing the title track on "Later with Jools Holland" (which is an awesome show and is on Ovation here in the States by the way. That's Jools playing keys on this song.):


That's about it from here. Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Dark Star Orchestra webcast live on Thursday

Gathering of The Vibes, the big jam band fest in Bridgeport CT, will be announcing some of their lineup at 7 PM on Thursday night on a webcast on http://govibes.com/. That's cool but what's really cool is that Dark Star Orchestra will play a live three hour show right after the announcement.

DSO is the Grateful Dead cover band that picks a setlist from a Dead show for each one of their shows and then plays that setlist. They'll be featuring their new guitarist, Jeff Mattson. Their old guitarist, John Kadlecik, is leaving DSO to play with a band formed by former member of the Grateful Dead, Bob Weir and Phil Lesh, called Further. So you know if the Grateful Dead is stealing members from DSO, that DSO are pretty damn good.

Also, Jeff Mattson's old band, the Donna Jean Godchaux Band, will be playing on the webcast too. Donna Jean is herself a former member of the Grateful Dead so expect her to sit in with DSO.

As you can see, this is just one big incestual ball of fun.

DSO will be coming to The National on 12/29 with opener, Donna Jean Godchaux and the Tricksters, so the webcast is a good chance to check DSO if you are curious.

Aerosmith isn't breaking up....

...or maybe they are. Or maybe just for a little while. I'm so confused.

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/11/11/rs-exclusive-joe-perry-aerosmiths-problems-far-from-over/

The Cult review, The Bridge, Rusted Root, Robert Earl Keen

The Cult put on a great show at The National last night but had some rock n' roll time faux pas. There was no opening band, but The Cult seemed to keep their schedule as if there was an opener, which was annoying. I figured if there was no opener and the show time was listed at 8, I’d get there around 8. Then The Cult would come on around 8:30 or 8:45 at the latest. They didn’t come on until 9:15 so there was a lot of standing around. I, and others I know, had to bust it to make it by 8. Would have been nice if The National could have changed the start time to 8:30 and/or if the band could have changed their schedule and come on earlier.

When the band finally came on, they started right in with their performance of their 1985 album, Love. I had forgotten what a great blend of hard rock and mystic psychedlia the album was. Highlights included Rain, Brother Wolf & Sister Moon, Phoenix, and, of course, She Sells Sanctuary. Throughout the show, they had some very cool movies playing behind the band. The films mixed original visuals with scenes from old silent films, horror films and samaurai pictures. Also, lead singer Ian Astbury (who played with the reformed Doors in the early part of this decade) has now moved into his 1970 Jim Morrison look. Shoulder length hair, full beard and a beer gut. However, he didn’t appear to be drunk like 1970 Jim Morrison, as he only appeared to drink Red Bull during the show.

After Love, the band took a 5 minute break, then came on for the "Greatest Hits" portion of the show, which consisted of seven songs, highlights being "Wildflower", "Fire Woman" (with the crowd singing the chorus), and the final song of the night, "Love Removal Machine". Though Ian Astbury didn't talk much during the night, he did comment on how great the room (that being The National Theater) was. The band was tight throughout the night, with lead guitarist Billy Duffy ripping off some great solos. However, they were done at 10:45 on the dot, no encore, another bit of lameness and the no encore was not due to the crowd, which was very enthusiastic, especially for a Richmond crowd. Overall, I'd give it three out of five. Would have been four stars but they're docked one for the late start and no encore.

Onto this week's shows, Americana funk band (an odd blend but it works), The Bridge, will be at the Canal Club in Friday night. Tix are $14 and doors open at 9:00 with Cornmeal and that popular band, tba, to open. Here they are performing an acoustic version of "Further On Down The Road" in Corvallis, Orgeon in September:


Saturday afternoon into the evening, you can rock out for a good cause at the Capital Ale House Downtown with Emmyfest II by Musicians for Mitochondrial Awareness. Tix are $10 and the show starts at 3 PM. Here's the lineup:
3:30 Stump Hole Water
4:15 Louis Ledford
5:00 Modern Groove Syndicate
6:00 The Atkinsons
7:00 The Big Guys
8:00 Loose Gravel
9:30 Moossa

If you want to learn more about Mitochondrial Disease, here's a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_disease.

Local jazz jam boys Modern Groove Syndicate will be at Cary St. Cafe on Saturday night starting at 10 PM. Tix are $7. Here they are at Cary St. Cafe in January:


Sunday night, Kyle Hollingsworth, keyboard player of String Cheese Incident fame brings his appropriately titled band, Kyle Hollingsworth Band to Capital Ale House Downtown. The show starts at 9 PM and tix are $12. Here they are with their take on Paul Simon's "Kodachrome":


Rusted Root, who put on a great show at Friday Cheers this past summer, will be at The Hat Factory on Monday night. Tix are $20 in advance, $25 at the door, doors open at 7 and the show starts at 8 with opener Mikey Wax. Here they are with some Halloween shenanigans, a little "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" before going into "Driving One":


Tuesday night Texas troubador, Robert Earl Keen, comes to The National. Tix are $25, doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with opener, Sons Of Bill, who impressed me when I saw them open for Jason Isbell this summer. Robert Earl is one of my favs and my wife too. She is getting to go to this one while I stay home and watch the kids so I'll expect a full report from her. We were in the process of looking for a babysitter but then her brother begged her to take him (she got some free VIP tix from a friend) so I'm hangin' with the boys. I owe it to her since she's let me see about 50 shows while she watched the kids.

There was a good article about REK in the Times-Dispatch today with all the latest on him. Here's the link: CLICK HERE. Here's a very young REK performing his classic "Road Goes On Forever" (celebrating its 20th anniversary) acoustic:


Finally, Hasidic reggae rapper Matisyahu will be at The National on Wednesday. Tix are $23.50 in advance, $25 at the door, doors open at 7 and show starts at 8 with opener Trevor Hall. Here's "One Day" from his latest album, "Light":



Its late. I'm outta here. Have a great weekend.

Tony Jordan

Colbie Caillat at The National, Aerosmith looks for a singer

Just Announced - Q94 / Lite 98 Christmas Show with COLBIE CAILLAT Tuesday December 8th at The National ... Tickets go on sale THIS Friday at all Ticketmaster outlets, nattickets.com, ticketstobuy.com, and The National box office. Don't know much about Colbie other than she is cute and this song is kind of fun and, well, bubbly:


Apparently Steve Tyler has left Aerosmith. I actually might have cared once. I remember the kick I got from listening to the Toys From the Attic album and trying to decipher the lyrics of "Walk This Way" (when you are 11, some of the lyrics are a bit beyond one's experience to that date). I remember the thrill when we listened to "Live Bootleg!" on the last day of school in fifth grade and couldn't believe that Steve Tyler said "motherf**cker" in the middle of "Dream On". When they came back in the late 80s - early 90s it looked like they would restore some of their glory and I thought Permanent Vacation and Pump were steps in the right direction. But then came a seemingly endless string of power ballads, the pimping of Liv Tyler in the videos (sexy but dude, its your daughter) culminating in their jump the shark moment of "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing", a song better suited for Celine Dion or Meat Loaf. From that point on, they were dead to me. So maybe breaking up is the best thing then can do and we can remember them from everything pre-1990.

The Cult, Monsters of Folk, Larry Keel, Tony Rice

We've got some good shows in Richmond this week and I'll catch you up on Halloween happenings too.

Friday night, The Hat Factory will have Larry Keel & Natural Bridge featuring Tony Rice. Larry & Natural Bridge hail from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and plays mountain music with a modern twist. Bluegrass great Tony Rice will be playing with the band. Should be a great show. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9 (no announced opener so get there early), and tix are $15. Here they all are playing together in C'ville back in '07:


A couple music-related events during the day on Saturday. The 10th Annual Brunswick Stew Festival will take place from 11 AM - 5 PM at the 17th St. Farmer's Market. Here is the lowdown on that from Venture Richmond:
"The Brunswick Stew Festival, the cornerstone of the 17th Street Farmers' Markets annual events, is one of the largest of its kind in the nation. It will feature the bluegrass/country sounds of Native Son and the smooth rock, reggae and rap rhythm sounds of Richmond's own Proverbial. It will also offer children's programs along with Too Tall Torrie. The Brunswick Stew Festival was recently featured in Pat Willard's 2008 bestselling book, America Eats! and is listed as an example of "one of the best Americana-style festivals merging traditional country recipes, local beer and eclectic mix of music to mainstream America." Taste samples from the stew masters will be available for purchase from 11:00am-1:00pm. Larger-sized containers will be available to the general public after 1:00pm. For additional information please visit http://www.17thstreetfarmersmarket.com/ or call 804-646-0477. The event is presented by the 17th Street Farmers' Market and Shockoe Bottom Neighborhood Association (SBNA) along with partners at Cox Communications and Brown Distributing."

Also on Saturday from 11 AM to 5 PM at the Capital Ale House Downtown is the Screens 'N' Suds benefit. Here is what's up with that:
"On Saturday, November 7, Screens ‘N’ Suds will feature the art of some of America’s most celebrated concert poster artists, and the beers of some of Virginia’s finest breweries, including Starr Hill, Blue & Gray, St. George’s, and Legend. Nationally known poster artists Jeff Everett (El Jefe Design), Richard Biffle, JP Flexner (No Division Design Syndicate), John Foster, Ryan Kerrigan, and Richmond’s own Adam Stockton and Andrew Stronge will show and sell their limited-edition, collectible posters for bands ranging from The Decemberists, Grizzly Bear and Gov’t Mule to The Melvins, Helmet and Rancid in the Capital Ale House Downtown Music Hall. Richmond’s own one-man band, Gull, alt-jazz duo Illbrain, and more will provide the soundtrack, while in the Ale House proper, some of the area’s best brewmasters will offer tastings and specials of their best brews. In addition to 100% of a raffle featuring rare, autographed concert and beer memorabilia, all proceeds from ticket sales will go to benefit Young Audiences of Virginia (www.yav.org), an organization that brings no-cost, SOL-ready music and art education into Virginia schools. All event sales of the Screens ‘N’ Suds poster series will go to benefit the Central Virginia Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society."

Tuesday brings alternative-folk supergroup Monsters of Folk to the Landmark Theater (finally a new, real web site for the Landmark). Monsters of Folk are Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes), Jim James (My Morning Jacket), M Ward and Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes). This will be a 2 1/2 hour show in which they'll play songs from their new album as well as songs from their respective Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket and M Ward catalogues. Tix are $35 , doors open at 7 and the show starts at 8. If you are going, get there early because there is usually a good size line to get through security into the Landmark. As of Thursday night, there are still good seats available. Here is their video for "The Right Place" sounding very The Band-like in this one. And that ain't a bad thing.


Next Wednesday night, a show I may be attending (holding off on buying tix in case kids get sick or rowdy), The Cult at The National. Tix are $25 in advance, $30 day of show, doors open at 7, show starts at 8 and there is no opener listed. The Cult hit it big in the 80's and early 90's. Lead singer Ian Astbury also sang with The Doors for a few years this decade. The Cult will be doing their entire Love album along with their greatest hits. Love was the album that first gained The Cult big exposure in the States with the hit "She Sells Sanctury". Here they are doing that one back in '85:



Just for kicks, here's Ian playing with the Doors:


Some cool shit went down on Halloween. Out in Indio, CA, Phish held their huge Festival 8 with eight sets over the weekend including their Halloween "costume" of playing the entire "Exile on Main St." album with Sharon Jones (of the Dap Kings and coming to Richmond in December) and a horn section. Here they are doing one of my favorite tracks from the album, "Ventilator Blues/Just Wanna See His Face":


Pearl Jam played the last show ever at Philly's Spectrum on Halloween and played Devo's "Whip It" costumes and all:


Hopefully some good music this week will help soothe me after my Phils couldn't pull off the Series win. But its been a great ride the last two years and hopefully they'll continue their winning ways next year.

Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Perpetual Groove, Karl Denson, King Solomon's, Black Cash

Friday night, for your pre-Halloween party, you can check out Grateful Dead cover band, King Solomon's Marbles at Cary St. Cafe. The show starts at 10 PM and the cover charge is $7. Here's the band performing "Scarlet Begonias" at Cart St. Cafe in May:


On Halloween night, if you're still in a jam band mood, check out Perpetual Groove at The National. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9 (no opener) (Note: Perpetual Groove's web site says the set starts at 10 PM) and tix are $15 in advance, $18 day of show. For a little Halloween fun, Perpetual Groove is calling this the John Hughes Halloween Variety Show. On their web site it says: "Once again carrying the torch for their favorite movies, Perpetual Groove will present their tribute to movie director John Hughes for Halloween 2009. We highly suggest you attend dressed as your favorite character from any of John Hughes' movies. Except maybe Curly Sue." Here's a little taste of the Groove from earlier this month in NYC:


If you are in more of a classic country mood on Halloween night, head back to Cary St. Cafe for Black Cash & The Bad Trips, the Johnny Cash cover band. Show starts at 10 and cover charge is $12. Here's the band doing "Hey Porter" in August:


On Tuesday, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe plays at Capital Ale House. Tix are $20 and the show will start at 9 with opener NOMA. Karl and the band play funky jazz, or jazzy funk, if you prefer. Karl first appeared on my radar when he played on Lenny Kravitz's first, and best, album, "Let Love Rule". You'll dig Karl and the Tiny Universe if you like early Kravitz, Maceo Parker or P-Funk. Its definitely a danceable show. Here's the band playing at the Trocadero in Philly in July:


Here's your Halloween treat. Oingo Boingo with "Dead Man's Party" live from '85. Lead singer Danny Elfman would go on to score such movies & TV as "The Simpsons", "Batman", "Nightmare Before Christmas" and others.


Have a Happy Halloween!

Tony Jordan

Gogol Bordello tonight at The National

I usually do one big blog for the week but this week it will probably be a few smaller ones. Why? Well, the PHILS ARE IN THE WORLD SERIES AGAIN starting tonight, so I will of course be watching those games as they try to defeat the Evil Empire. ("The New Yankee Stadium. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villany.") Also, both kids have now decided that they need a parent in the room until they fall asleep and that has led to my falling asleep with them. Thank God for DVRs so I won't miss any of the games in case that happens over the next week.

Anyway, tonight at The National, Gogol Bordello brings their energetic, gypsy punk to Richmond. I have really enjoyed watching this band on all the festival webcasts over the last year but have yet to see them live. Unfortunately, that won't change because THE PHILS ARE IN THE WORLD SERIES and game 1 is tonight so I will have to catch them next time. Tickets for the show are $23, doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with opener, Apostle of Hustle. Here's Gogol Bordello performing "Start Wearing Purple" at last year's Coachella Festival:


Have a good day!

GO PHILLIES!

Tony Jordan

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, David Allen Coe, GWAR and more

A great night of music on Thursday. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals come to The National to open their fall tour. Tix are $15, doors open at 7 and show starts at 8 with opener Blues & Lasers. Blues & Lasers is Nocturnals' guitarist Scott Tournet's side project. GP & the N will start at 9, per their web site. I would love to attend this one but unfortunately a combination of travel for work and commitments my wife has at my kids' school will prevent that. I would like to see how the two most recent additions to the Nocturnals (Catherine Popper on bass and Benny Yurco on rhythm guitar) are fitting in with the band. If you like blues ala Bonnie Raitt, Janis Joplin, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers or Led Zeppelin, you should definitely check out Grace & The Nocturnals. In fact, Ms. Raitt called them "One of the most soulful new bands around.” Here is a little sampler of three songs from their show at The Pines a month or so ago. Vocals are a little low in the mix but otherwise good video:


Also on Thursday, at the Hat Factory, outlaw country great David Allen Coe comes in. Doors open at 7 and show starts at 8 with opener Rebel Son. Tix are $20 in advance and $25 day of show. He's written #1 hits for Tanya Tucker and Johnny Paycheck ("Take This Job and Shove It") but is perhaps better know for his own humorous and often raunchy songs. Here's DAC doing his song "If That Ain't Country":


Also on Thursday, Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band bring their rollicking gutbucket blues to Capital Ale House Downtown. The show starts at 9 and tix are $10 in advance, $12 at the door. If you like the Avett Brothers, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Muddy Waters, BB King, Dylan, or Neil Young, you may like the Big Damn Band. Here they are on the Warped Tour this year doing "Mama's Fried Potatoes":


More blues at Capital Ale House Downtown on Friday night with The Nighthawks. Show starts at 9:30 and tix are $12 in advance, $15 at the door. These guys play blues-rock just the way you like it. Here they are at a festival in Maryland in August doing the theme song from "The Sopranos" (Video is black for first five seconds. Be patient, man!):


If you are looking for something a bit more Halloweenish, check out horror rock band(and Richmond natives) GWAR. I don't know what that says about Richmond that GWAR was born and raised here, but somehow I like it. GWAR will be at The National. Tix are $18 in advance, $21 at the door, doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with openers The Red Chord and Blinded By Madness. Make sure you wear something you won't mind getting splattered with fake(?) blood and other random bodily fluids. Believe it or not, GWAR is celebrating 25 years of madness and mayhem and. led by lead singer, Oderus Urungus, have created their own demonic, alien alternate universe that you will be lucky to be a part of. Here is the first video off of their new "Lust In Space" CD, "Let Us Slay". Not for the timid:


On a completely different note, Sunday night, Sugar And Gold play at The Triple with James Husband. The Triple is at 3306 West Broad Street. Sugar And Gold play danceable psychedelic electronica indie rock. Figure that one out. Oh, hell just listen and see if you like it. Here they are kicking off the tour in their hometown of San Francisco:


The show at The Triple starts at 8. Amazing Ghost & Cubscout and the Rhinoceros will play before Sugar And Gold. James Husband (of Of Montreal) will play after Sugar And Gold.

That's all I got. I need to get some sleep because I've been up late the past two nights watchin' those fightin' Phils get one game away from the World Series. J-Roll rules!

I'll leave you with an oldie but a goodie suggested by Sarah via Vince (or was it Vince via Sarah), Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show with "At The Freaker's Ball":


Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

U2 Live on YouTube - Sunday night

U2 will be webcasting their entire show live from the Rose Bowl in Pasadena CA on YouTube, or U2ube, on Sunday night starting at 11:30 PM ET. If you don't want to stay up late to watch it, the rebroadcast of the show will be available the next day.

Here's the announcement video:

Waybacks, Zoso, Gregg Allman, Duke Robillard, Social Distortion

What do we got this week? October, always a busy month concert-wise in Richmond, continues with The Waybacks at Capital Ale House on Thursday night. The show starts at 8 and tix are $15. Here is what the Capital Ale House site says about The Waybacks: "They draw freely from the old school and the old world, but The Waybacks are no throwback. They’ve
been erroneously pigeonholed as a bluegrass band and celebrated as purveyors of “acoustic mayhem.”
They are as uninhibited and unpredictable as the eclectic San Francisco Bay area that claims them,
and for nearly a decade, their experiments have always proven sharp-witted and musically dazzling.
They’re living proof that in music anyway, evolution and intelligent design are entirely compatible.

The Waybacks will mix a whole bunch of stuff into their own style and just to prove it here they are doing The Grateful Dead's "St. Stephen" along with a little Zeppelin:


Speaking of Zeppelin, Zoso - The Led Zeppelin Experience returns to The National on Friday night. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 and tix are $12.50. Openers are Steel Shot & Reawakened.

Just announced at The National, GREGG ALLMAN with a Full 7 Piece Band Friday January 8th @ 8pm ... Reserved Seat tickets on sale this Saturday October 17th at all Ticketmaster outlets, nattickets.com, and The National Box office. Tix are $35.

On Saturday afternoon, you can check out Shoctoberfest at the 17th Street Farmers' Market. Admission is FREE and the event runs from 11am-5pm. The Farmers' Market describes this event at "A Bavarian-style festival honoring our fall harvest just as they do in each year in Bavaria, with local restaurants specializing in German-Hungarian foods along with music, varieties of rich beverages and plenty of entertainment. There will be dancing and singing of traditional Germanium Polka songs, so gather up your lederhosen and your favorite beer stein and join us in the market for Richmond's best Shocktoberfest."

Also on Saturday, Modern Groove Syndicate bring s their acid-funk-jazz to Cary St. Cafe. The show starts at 10 and tix are $7. Here they are grooving at Cary St. Cafe in January:


Sunday, you can check out the Innsbrook Beer & Wine Festival. This will run from 2 PM until 7 PM. Admission is free and tastes, full glasses or portions are pay as you go. This is a benefit for Connor's Heroes so you can party with a conscience. There will be live music all day too.

Also on Sunday, blues great Duke Robillard will be at the Capital Ale House for a special 3:00 PM show. Doors open at 2, tix are $12 in advance and $15 day of show. This show is sponsored by the River City Blues Society and if you like the blues and live in Richmond, you should check them out. Here's what they have to say about Duke:
"Guitarist. Bandleader. Songwriter. Singer. Producer. Session musician. And a one-man cheering section for the blues, in all its forms and permutations. And every one of those names has shared recording studio space or stage time with a man who is a legend in the blues community.

The Blues Music Awards (formerly W.C.Handy Awards) have named Duke Robillard "Best Blues Guitarist" four years out of five (2000,2001,2003,2004) making him the second most honored guitarist for that award! He was also nominated in that category in 2005, 2007 and again this year of 2008. In 2007 Duke received a Grammy nomination for his "Guitar Groove-a-rama" CD and was also honored with the prestigious Rhode Island Pell Award for "excellence in the arts" along with actress Olympia Dukakis, actor Bob Colonna, and R.I. Choreographer/Festival Ballet director Mihailo "Misha" Djuric.The Pell award is named for Senator Claiborne Pell who help establish the the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities in 1965.

Other awards over the last decade include three Canadian Maple Blues Awards in 2001, 2002, and 2003 for "Best International Blues Artist," The Blues Foundation's "Producer of the Year" award in 2004, The French Blues Association "Album of the Year" award in 2002 (Living with the Blues) and "Guitarist of the Year" awards in 1999 and 2002. BB King himself has called Duke "One of the great players," The Houston Post called him "one of God's guitarists. And the New York Times says "Robillard is a soloist of stunning force and originality. (reprinted from http://www.dukerobillard.com/meet.cfm)"

And here's Duke with Sax Gordon from a few years ago doing a boogie-woogie number called "Blue Coat Man":


Finally, 80's/90's punk band Social Distortion will be at The National on Tuesday night. Tix are $25, doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with openers, The Strangers. Here they are doing their hit, "Bad Luck", last night in Clifton Park NY:


Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Monsters of Folk at Landmark Theater

The concert announcements are coming fast & furious today. "An Evening With Monsters of Folk: Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes), Jim James (My Morning Jacket), M Ward and Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes) will be a 2 1/2 hour musical event showcasing brand new songs from the forthcoming album as well as songs fans have come to enjoy from their respective Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket and M Ward catalogues."

The show will take place Tuesday, November 10 at the Landmark Theater. Tickets available starting tomorrow Oct 10th at all Ticketmaster outlets and The Landmark Theater Box Office.

Phish coming to C'ville

Phish will be playing John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville on Saturday, December 5. This has long been rumored but is now official. The on sale date is October 23 at 10 AM. If you want to get into the pre-sale lottery sale, you can go here http://phish.portals.musictoday.com/.

Richmond Folk Festival, Everclear, Citizen Cope

This weekend is Richmond Folk Festival weekend. Its a great festival, like taking a trip around the world without leaving home. This is "folk" as in indigenous music not "folk" like old Dylan, Pete Seeger or Peter, Paul & Mary (though you may see some of that too). There is also a great family area where we spent about 90 minutes last year while Zach checked out turtles, dressed up in costumes and made crafts. The event starts Friday at 6:30. I'll be volunteering that night at one of the Information booths (don't know which one until I get there) so stop by all the Information booths until you find me and say hello. I'll give you some FREE information (the whole event is FREE) like "Pierre is the capital of South Dakota" or "A concertina is an instrument like a small accordion". I can also give you information about the festival, like where to find a bathroom, get a beer or hit up an ATM.

The Folk Fest continues on Saturday (noon - 10:30 PM) and Sunday (noon - 6:30 PM). The Times-Dispatch had some good articles last Sunday describing each artist. Go HERE and then check out the links to the articles in the gray box ("Names You Might Know", "Acts You Won't See Anywhere Else", "World (music) party"). I should be down there hanging out on one and maybe both days on the weekend so I hope to see you.

If you are looking for some other non-folk fest bands this weekend, check out Everclear at The Hat Factory on Friday night. Tix are $25, doors open at 8, show starts at 9 with openers Paper Tongues and Tracy Lyons. At one point in the mid-90s, Everclear seemed poised to be the next big thing, but their poppy alternative music was drowned out by the onslaught of rap-rock led by Limp Bizkit (God help us all, they have reunited) and they never quite got over the top. Here's one of their hits, "I Will Buy You A New Life" (can't embed it): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wERdV8wRB6Q.

Saturday night, Citizen Cope brings his hippie, dance, hip-hop, reggae to The National. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9 with opener "a Special Guest", and tix are $20 in advance, $23 day of show. You'll dig Citizen Cope if you like Everlast, G. Love & Special Sauce, Jack Johnson, Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, Randy Newman and Stevie Wonder. Here's Citizen Cope's song "Bullet & A Target":


Finally, I'll leave you with this clip from Saturday Night Live last week, the latest SNL Digital Short from Andy Samberg, "On The Ground". Me and my five-year-old dig this one. I don't know what that says about my sense of humor or his.


Have a great weekend and I'll see you at the Folk Festival!

Tony Jordan

Cheick Hamala Diabate, Drivin N Cryin

Thursday night before the Folk Fest in Richmond and what does that mean? Well it means another episode of the Richmond Roots Music Sessions. This one is at the Capital Ale House downtown and will feature Cheick Hamala Diabate (w. african blues and dance music) - with - Antero (reggae). The show starts at 8 and tix are $10. Here is Cheick's song "Wanto Doke". This music will totally get you movin'.


Also, Thursday night, Drivin' N Cryin and Horsehead play Alley Katz. BTW, Alley Katz, I hate the little music bit you play every time I change the page. If you must have it, please leave it just on your home page. It gets old real fast. Anyway, the show starts at 8 PM and tix are $15. DNC are a hard rockin' Southern rock band in the vein of Black Crowes, Neil Young, Gov't Mule, Allman Brothers, Wilco, Soul Asylum, or The Replacements. They had a minor radio hit back in the early 90s with "Fly Me Courageous". I always like that one. Here's the link to the video (can't embed it): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3wbdld2vQQ.

That's it for me tonight. Back tomorrow.

Tony Jordan

U2 - Charlottesville review, Third Eye Blind, Richmond Roots Music Sessions

Will probably a couple short entries this week especially if the baseball games are anything like tonight's game. The Twins-Tigers one-game playoff for the AL Central crown tonight was an all-time classic. 162 games wasn't enough, 9 innnings wasn't enough, an exciting game through and through. And I must say thank you to the inventor of the DVR for allowing me to watch that game in its entireity even though I gave the kids a bath and put them to bed. It will also allow me to watch the Phils game tomorrow after work even though its a 2:30 PM start. I just need to avoid all media until I can get home. GO PHILLIES!

Anyway on to the U2 review and what a show it was. My appreciation of the show was certainly helped by the fact that Gordon and I got into the inner circle of the massive stage and were 25 ft. from the band between Bono and Adam Clayton. When the boys would walk on the outer circle, we were only 10 feet away. Here is the setlist:
10/01/2009 Scott Stadium - Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
Breathe, Get On Your Boots, Mysterious Ways, Beautiful Day / The Hands That Built America (snippet), No Line On The Horizon, Magnificent, Elevation, Your Blue Room, New Year's Day, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For / Movin' On Up (snippet), Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of, The Unforgettable Fire, City Of Blinding Lights, Vertigo, I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight / Thank You (Falettin Me Be Mice Elf Again) (snippet) / I Want To Take You Higher (snippet), Sunday Bloody Sunday / People Get Ready (snippet), MLK, Walk On / You'll Never Walk Alone (snippet)
encores: One / Amazing Grace (snippet), Where The Streets Have No Name, Ultra Violet (Light My Way), With Or Without You, Moment of Surrender
comment: Ninth consecutive concert at which Pride is not played; this is a record, beating eight consecutive shows in March/April 2001.

The show opens with two from the new album. Breathe was great, Get On Your Boots hasn't really done it for me yet.

Things really get cooking with Mysterious Ways as we watch Clayton lay down the bass line and the bridges linking the stage with the outer ring swing nearly over our heads and Bono and Clayton pass over.


Beautiful Day was, well, beautiful with stage breaking out into rainbow colors. No Line on the Horizon is one of my favorites from the new album but I don't know how familiar the crowd was with it. I expected the "Woooa - woooa - woooa - wooo!" lines to get more audience participation. It was sometimes hard to tell how much the crowd was getting in the stands was getting it because we were so close. Elevation, however, was the first song were I felt like the crowd and band really got together. Everyone on the floor was bouncing up and down and I think the band started to feel the love. Your Blue Room was a real wild card, an obscure track from the Passengers CD. I had just discovered this song when it popped up on my iPod while I was mowing the lawn the previous weekend and was instantly taken by it, listening to it a couple times. So needless to say I was quite pleased when they went into it and it provided a breathy, psychedelic moment to cool down and catch air. The space visuals worked well with the song also, equating the blue room of the girl in the song to images of the blue Earth from space.


New Year's Day and Still Haven't Found were standard, nothing new there. Stuck In a Moment was just Bono and the Edge on acoustic guitar. Not one of my favorite U2 songs. Don't dislike it but can take it or leave it. However, Bono and Edge harmonized quite well on this one with Edge really showing off that falsetto he has and getting a hug from Bono at the end.

At this point the show really started to take off for me. This was also the point where the video screen surrounding the top of the stage began to expand downward like a trellis and the light show really kicked in. Unforgettable Fire was an unexpected but welcome song in the set. I had forgotten (pun intended) how great this song is and Bono really nailed the vocals. (The sound isn't so hot on this clip but you get a nice view of the stage.)


City of Blinding Lights was fab (I've been singing it all day today) with Bono coming to the outer circle near us to get the crowd singing the "Oh...you... look...so...beautiful toniiiight!" chorus.


Vertigo truly sucked me into a Vertigo with the lights on the video screen spinning around and actually making me dizzy but in a good way not a puking kind of way.

Next came the highlight of the show for me, the new song I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight. They changed the arrangement from the album to turn this into an extended drums/bass rave-up. The whole band took to the outer circle, including Larry Mullen on a djembe drum. The crowd on the floor was dancing like crazy and the whole band ended up near us on the outer circle for the last part of the song and the pit around us turned into beautiful, crazy dancing chaos. One of those moments when I felt truly transported by the music and the crowd.


Sunday Bloody Sunday was made contemporary with Bono and the stage visuals placing it in the context of the Iranian revolution after the elections earlier this year. The politics continued with Walk On becoming a truly moving tribute to about Burma's Ang San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for 20 years. The outer circle was completely manned by volunteers from Amnesty International wearing Ang San Suu Kyi masks. It threatened to get a little cheesy but the conviction of the band and the realization of what Ang San Suu Kyi has been through pulled it through.

During the break before the encore, they played a pretty cool short speech from Bishop Desmond Tutu on the video screens. It compared people who fight for human rights all over the world and the twinkle in his eye and his beatific smile really pull you in and he ended by saying "We are all One", which of course led into One.


As much as Bono has sung this song in his lifetime, he still sings this with absolute conviction and feeling and it really is one of the great songs of rock and roll. Where the Streets Have No Name was good but standard.

My second highlight came next with the performance of Ultraviolet (Light My Way). A microphone dropped from the top of the stage that had a round neon light around it (if you saw their performance of this at the end of SNL a couple weeks ago you know what I'm talking about). Bono was wearing a jacked with LED lights in it and when the dry ice fog surrounded him it looked like he was emanating needles of red light. The microphone was on a high-strength cable so Bono was hanging off of it and swinging over the crowd at times. Combined with a transcendent perfromance of the song, it was a true sight to behold.


With or Without You was next and then the show ended with one of my favorite songs from the new album, Moment of Surrender, and was given a great performance.


Everyone I spoke with liked the opening band Muse and their industrial 80's meets metal sound was pretty good.

U2 should be back in the spring for more stadium dates in the US. If you go, buy the $50 General Admission seats and get in early because they let the first 2000 people into the inner circle. It was not overly crowded in there and even if you don't get in there, you can get a nice spot on the outer circle. I'm hoping to catch the show again in the spring.

Now quickly because I need to get some sleep before work, Wednesday nights shows in Richmond.

Third Eye Blind will be at The National. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with opener Blueskyreality. Tix are $27.50.

The Richmond Roots Music Seessions continue with Brad Spivey and the Honky Tonk Experience (country honky tonk freakout) - with - Hamburger James (rock-a-billy) & David Shultz and the Skyline (alt-country) at the Hat Factory. Doors open at 8 and tix are $10.

See you tomorrow.

Tony Jordan

U2, Disco Biscuits, Bruce Hornsby, Austin City Limits Fest

October starts with a busy weekend here in Richmond. We kick things off tomorrow night with U2 at Scott Stadium at the University of VA in Charlottesville. Doors open at 5, show starts at 7 with opener, Muse. Tickets range from $30 - $250. As of 9:40 PM on Wednesday, there were seats available (and pretty good ones) at the $250, $95, and $55 levels. The only ones sold out were the $30 seats. (Sidenote: In looking up the Scott Stadium site I discovered that it has the completely ridiculous full name of "the Carl Smith Center, home of David A. Harrison III Field at Scott Stadium".) If you're going to the Carl Smith Center, home of David A. Harrison III Field at Scott Stadium to see U2 (I really hope Bono works the whole name in. "Hello, Carl Smith Center, home of David A. Harrison III Field at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia! Are you ready to rock!?!"), they aren't allowing you tor bring anything into the stadium not even a bottle of water. All the better to get you to buy those tiny $4 bottles they'll be selling. And the bastards don't even serve beer!

If you have never seen U2, you really must. They are a legendary band at this point, one of the biggest bands in rock history and one of the few bands left that can do a huge stadium show and do it well. And the stage for this one is the largest stage OF ALL TIME. The previous largest stage, the Stones' Bigger Bang tour stage, could fit UNDERNEATH this one. It should be a site to behold.

I will be there on the field with the rockers who don't mind standing and going nuts for hours on end. I have seen U2 on each tour since the Joshua Tour, except for the last tour, so the layoff has me rather excited to see them. I have been avoiding pictures and setlists so as to keep the show as much of a surprise as possible. So I have come up with my dream setlist. My rules: At least one song from each album, 25 songs and in order of where they should be in the show. Feel free to contribute your own setlist in the Comments field. Here we go:
No Line on The Horizon - from album No Line on The Horizon (They usually start with a song from the latest album and I think this one will make a good opener.)
Vertigo - How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (Hello! Hello!)
I Will Follow - Boy
Where The Streets Have No Name - Joshua Tree (No pauses between the first four songs. Come out banging!)
Sort of Homecoming - Unforgettable Fire (A breather. Great bass line from Clayton.)
Surrender - War (Been listening to War a lot lately and this one just seems to stand out. No New Year's Day or Sunday Bloody Sunday. Overplayed.)
Pride In The Name of Love - Unforgettable Fire
Even Better Than The Real Thing - Achtung Baby
Gloria - October
Bad - Unforgettable Fire
Exit - Joshua Tree (A great song that just builds and builds until it explodes. Was phenomenal in the Joshua Tree show. Watch Rattle & Hum if you forgot.)
Until The End of The World - Achtung Baby (Some of Bono's best lyrics. He takes the point of view of Pontius Pilate speaking to Jesus.)
Elevation - All That You Can't Leave Behind
Angel Of Harlem - Rattle & Hum (Perhaps their funnest song. Great horn lines that would have to be pre-recorded or played on keys.)
Stay (Faraway So Close) - Zooropa (When I worked overnights at the radio station, I used to crank this one way up. Perfectly captures that half-awake/half-asleep dream world of 2 AM.)
Love Is Blindness - Achtung Baby (Some of the Edge's best work at the end of this one. Really jammed it out at the end of the Zooropa show.)
Red Hill Mining Town - Joshua Tree (Just something different to play off of this album.)
The Saints Are Coming - single (w/Green Day) (This would be killer live.)
Do You Feel Loved - Pop (A great song with another great Clayton bass line. Listen to it again. You'll thank me. Really nice production on this one too.)
Moment of Surrender - No Line on The Horizon (This one is standing out early for me as I learn the new album. Will probably have a new fav from the album after seeing some of the songs in concert.)
Bullet The Blue Sky - Joshua Tree (The Edge as Hendrix, all squawling semi-controlled feedback. Off the charts.)
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me - single (A great song from a lame movie. The movie also gave us "Kiss From A Rose" by Seal. Listen to that one on the headphones. Beautifully sung by Seal and produced by Trevor Horn.)
Please - Pop (I think this one of their best songs ever. No shit. This album also had one of their worst songs ever ("Miami").)
Beautiful Day - All That You Can't Leave Behind (A great, feel-good song. And they gotta get the lights all rainbowy at the proper moment.)
Ultraviolet (Light My Way) - Achtung Baby (A great closer. They must bust out the mirror ball for this one.)

Its getting late now since I took 15 minutes out to watch the Phils win the NL East for the third year in a row (GO PHILLIES!). That list took longer than I thought it would too. Had to get just the right order and seperation between the slow songs. But since it took so long, I'm going to quickly run down the weekend's events in Richmond.

Thursday night, if you can't go to U2, to the National and check out jam band Disco Biscuits. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with opener Big Gigantic and tix are $25. As their name would imply, Disco Biscuits tend toward the dancey, electronica side of the jam band universe. Here they are at the Fuji Rock Fesitval in Japan this year:


The Austin City Limits Music Festival will be broadcast for FREE on iclips.net starting on Friday at 12:30 PM, then Saturday & Sunday at 11:45 AM. They are still working out some of schedule but highlights include Avett Brothers, Coheed & Cambria, John Legend, Medeski, Martin & Wood, STS9, The Dead Weather and you're sure to find a new favorite band in there too.

Jamie McLean & DJ Williams Projekt are at the Capital Ale House on Friday night. Show starts at 10 and its $6 to get in. Jamie is the guitarist for the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and if you like classic rock, blues and such you'll dig him. Here he is performing in July:


Steve Kimock and his new band Crazy Engine will be at the Canal Club on Saturday night. Doors open at 8 and the opener is the Jesse Chong Band. Tix are $20. Some jam band aficionados worship the ground Kimock walks on. I've found him to be good at jammy and jazzy stuff but he doesn't really rock much or get a dancable groove going at least in past bands I've heard him with. I tend to find his solo stuff a might sleepy. Maybe that's changed with Crazy Engine. Keyboard great Melvin Seals is in the band so that should definitely add some soul. Here they are at the All Good Festival this year. Look for Phil and Angie in the audience. GET WELL SOON YOU TWO! I can't lose my concert buddies for any reason.:


Bruce Hornsby and The Noisemakers will be at The National on Saturday night. Wonder if you may see Kimock stop by with Hornsby or vice versa as they were bandmates in the Grateful Dead offshoot, The Other Ones. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8. No opener, Bruce and the band will do 2 full sets. Tix are $35. Here they are doing a song from their latest album "Space Is The Place":


Sunday, "A Taste of Carytown" 6th Annual Food & Wine Festival will take place in Carytown from noon to 6. Tix are $15 in advance and $20 at the gate.

Sunday, the Richmond Roots Music Sessions "tour" stops at Legend Brewery. This series is leading up to the Folk Festival next weekend. At Legend will be Eden and John’s East River String Band (old timey blues duo from NYC) - with - Slack Family (bluegrass). Tix are $10 at the door and the show starts at 5 PM.

Also Sunday, Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain, and Edgar Meyer will be at Modlin Center for the Arts. However that one is sold out so you if you don't have tix you're out of luck.

Monday, Richmond Roots Music Sessions will be at Gibson's Grill with Fight the Big Bull (multi-musical jazz blowout) - with - Miramar (brazilian love duets) & DJ Rattan. Tix are $10 at the door and the show starts at 8 PM.

On Tuesday, Richmond Roots Music Sessions is at Plaza Bowl with Jesse Lege (cajun dance band) - with - Gypsy Roots (django Jazz and gypsy music) & Horo (bulgarian dance troop). Tix are $10 at the door and the show starts at 7:30 PM.

Finally, also on Tuesday, guitar great Robin Trower will be at The National. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with opener 3borne and tix are $20 in advance, $23 day of show. Here's one of my favorite Robin Trower songs (had it on a K-Tel album!), Too Rolling Stoned:


Have a great weekend and I'll see you at U2! Bono, feel free to use my setlist.

Tony Jordan