Rusko, WRIR party, Black Girls, SOJA, American Aquarium

A couple items to start before we get to this weekend's shows.  Dominion Riverrock released the full slate of bands for the weekend (5/18 - 20) to fill in the rest of the schedule after headliners The Travelin' McCourys feat. Keller Williams, Galactic, and JJ Grey & Mofro.  They will have two stages this year and you can find the full schedule HERE which includes The Hot Seats (5:30 Sat.), Crucial Elements (1 PM Sun.), Farm Vegas (4 PM Sun Virginia Lottery stage) and Skydog (4 PM Sunday Tredegar stage).  Should be a fun weekend down on Brown's Island.

Also announced today was that tickets for Dark Star Orchestra are going on sale Friday, 2/3 for their show on May 17.  That in and of itself isn't that interesting as DSO plays here about every 6 months.  However, the location is Pocahontas State Park at either a new venue and/or a new concert series there called Pocahontas Premiers.  No other shows have been announced yet, but national acts playing in a great setting is always cool and I'm sure my friends on the South Side will like having some shows down in their neck of the woods, literally.

Onto this weekend's shows.  Friday night, indie station WRIR has their Party for the Rest of Us to benefit the station.  It'll run from 7 to midnight at the Richmond Renaissance Ballroom and there will be an assortment of bands, DJs, comedy and spoken word.  It's only $10 to get in.

Also on Friday, Black Girls will be at The Camel with Psychobilly Cadillac opening.  Show starts at 9.  It's $6 to get in.  Here's Black Girls performing "So Sorry" at the Canal Club last Halloween:



Also Friday is some reggae at The National with SOJA, The Movement and Fear Nuttin Band.  The Fear Nuttin band is made up entirely of people severely allergic to peanuts.  True story.  Door open at 8, show starts at 9, tix are $22.50.  SOJA will be doing a live webcast at 2 PM on Wednesday, 2/8.  HERE is the info on that.  Here's the lead video from their new album "Strength to Survive" with the song of the same name:

If you are a Deadhead, you might want to check out the annual KPFA Grateful Dead marathon helmed by Grateful Dead Hour host David Gans.  You can hear that at kpfa.org and that starts at noon ET on Saturday and runs until 4 AM ET on Sunday.  There will be lots of rare Dead from the archives, some unreleased Jerry Garcia Band recordings, a live performance by the David Nelson Band, and I bet David will play some tracks from the recent Dave's Pick release from the May '77 Richmond show.

On Saturday, live and in person, you can see American Aquarium with Horsehead and The Fire Tapes at The Camel.  Doors open at 8, show starts at 8:45 with The Fire Tapes. Horsehead will come on around 9:50 and American Aquarium around 10:50.  It's $7 to get in.  American Aquarium plays alt-country in the vein of Whiskeytown and Drive-By Truckers.  Here's American Aquarium playing "Tennessee" and "Hurricane" in Oxford, Mississippi in November:

On Monday night at The National, dubstep DJ Rusko comes to town to rock the party.  Also appearing will be Bassjackers, Beat Down the Kid, and Mammals.  Doors open at 8 and the show starts right up as soon as the doors open.  It's $25 to get in.  Here's Rusko's latest single "Somebody to Love" (not the Jefferson Airplane song):

That'll do it for this week.  Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan