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
No comments:
Post a Comment