Infamous Stringdusters, Oregon Hill Funk All Stars, No BS Brass Band, DJ Williams Projekt

Lots of local bands this weekend as everyone stays close to home for the Easter holiday. No BS! Brass Band will be at The Camel with M Law and the Modern Prophets of Jazz. Show starts at 9 and it's $7 to get in.

Over at Tobacco Company Friday night, DJ Williams Projekt will funk you up. Show starts at 9 and there is no cover. You can check out their full set from the Canal Club on 3/1 here. That balding dude with the beard and glasses is totally getting down. At about 3 minutes, our cameraman leave balding, bearded, glasses dude behind and hits the front of the stage.



Three Sheets to the Wind will be tearing up The National Friday night as much as a yacht rock cover band can tear things up. OK, maybe they'll just be smoothing your ass over. They'll do a set of Hall & Oates' greatest hits and then a set of Yacht Rock greatest hits. Sweater Band will open and the whole thing gets under way at 7 PM with doors and 8 PM with music. Tix are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Here's Hall & Oates doing "Adult Education" live in 1984 with the great GE Smith in the band.



If you are tripping on Friday night, go immediately to Cary St. Cafe to see King Solomon's Marbles, the Grateful Dead cover band. The show will start at 10 and it's $7 to get in.

Saturday night, bluegrass band The Infamous Stringdusters will perform for your pleasure at The National. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8. Whitehorse is opening. Here they are in DC last year. This ain't your granddads bluegrass. This is kinda scary.

If you are looking to do a non-traditional Easter brunch on Sunday, get the funk out with the Funky Brunch at The Camel. Brunch will be served from 11 AM to 5 PM and the funk will be served by The Oregon Hill Funk All Stars staring at 2 PM.

I'm off to see if my NCAA Basketball pool pick (Indiana) can pull it out. I'll leave you with Chewbacca jamming to Phish:



Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: Kendrick Lamar

Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar is on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight on ABC at 11:35 PM. Kendrick apparently doesn't rest as he's been collaborating with everyone recently including Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Miguel and Kid Cudi. He's also still riding high on the excellent reviews for his last album, "Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City".

Late Night Pick: Little Green Cars

Check out Little Green Cars tonight on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on NBC at 12:35 AM. You'll probably dig Little Green Cars if you like Lumineers, Mumford & Sons, REM, Fleetwood Mac, Woody Guthrie, or Arcade Fire.

Late Night Pick: Wale

Check out underground rapper from DC, Wale, on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on NBC at 12:35 AM. Wale may be doing a project with Jerry Seinfeld later this year. Yes, that Jerry Seinfeld. Turns out Wale is a huge Seinfeld fan who had done two mixtapes with Seinfeld dialogue mixed in. For more on this upcoming collobaration, read the story HERE.

Late Night Pick: Sigur Ros

Atmospheric Icelandic band, Sigur Ros, will be on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tonight on NBC at 12:35 AM. Sigur Ros is starting a rare North American tour in Fairfax VA at the Patriot Center on Sunday night. They always make fantastic, artsy videos and this one for their new single, "Brennisteinn" is no exception. This song is actually a little heavier than they usually are.

Church Hill Irish Fest, The Wonder Years, Blaqtronic, Jackass Flats

DJ Williams Projekt is at Capital Ale House on Friday night. Well, actually it's Blaqtronic which is a new project DJ Williams put together and it's the Projekt with DJ (an actual DJ, not just initials of a name like DJ Williams) Phil Dice. DJ Williams says this is inspired by electronic dance music. Doors are at 9, showtime is at 10 and it's $10 to get in.

The Irish don't stop partying just because St. Patrick's Day is over. The Church Hill Irish Festival takes place Saturday and Sunday. It starts at 10 AM Saturday with a parade and runs until 7 PM that night. Then on Sunday, it kicks off at 8 AM with a 5K run and goes until 6:30 PM that evening. There is a $5 donation to get in, with proceeds going to a number of good causes. There will be beer and food to buy, the large kids area with games and inflatables, and bands of both the Celtic & rock types going on all day, both days including The Atkinsons, Susan Greenbaum and The Taters.

Bluegrass band Jackass Flats will be at The Camel Saturday night with The Hot Strings opening. It's $7 to get in and the show starts at 9 PM.

Punk pop band from Philly, The Wonder Years, headline a show at Kingdom with Fireworks, Hostage Calm, Misser and Back to Normal. It'll start at 6 PM and it's $13 to get in. The Wonder Years have a new album coming out on May 14 called "The Greatest Generation". Here's a preview:



Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

No BS Brass Band, Trongone Band, 3 Sheets to the Wind, Late Night Pick: Angel Haze, Sirah, Big Black Delta, Grape St.

No BS! Brass Band will be at Balliceaux tonight. The show starts at 10 and it's $3 to get in.

Trongone Band will be at Cary St. Cafe tonight. Show starts at 10 PM and there is no cover. Here's the band at The Camel on 11/30/12:

Over at Tobacco Company tonight, it's yacht rock cover band Three Sheets to the Wind. Show starts at 10 PM and it's free to get in. Here's the band doing the Doobie Brothers' classic, "Taking It To The Streets":



And here's Michael McDonald of the Doobie Brothers with two other, er, "Michael McDonalds":



Check out another all music show from last week's SXSW on Last Call with Carson Daly on NBC at 1:35 AM. All the basketball games should be over by then. Tonight's show features Angel Haze, Sirah, Big Black Delta, and Grape St.

Late Night Pick: the Coup, Glossary, Chloe Chaidez, Boneshaker

Another all music show recorded at last week's SXSW Conference on Last Call with Carson Daly tonight at 1:35 AM on NBC. This one features the Coup (Oakland hip-hop crew similar to The Roots or Outkast), Glossary (alt-country), and Chloe Chaidez (lead singer of pop-rock band, Kitten).

Late Night Pick: Angel Haze, Jake Bugg, The Trouble with Templeton, Maximum Hedrum

Tonight, it's four, count 'em FOUR, bands for the price of one on an all music episode of Last Call with Carson Daly on NBC at 1:35 AM. You'll see female underground NYC rapper Angel Haze, English indie folk singer/songwriter Jake Bugg, alternative folk band Trouble with Templeton, and electronic artists Maximum Hedrum which is headed by Derrick Green, the singer for Brazilian heavy metal band, Sepultura..

Late Night Pick: Killer Mike

Dirty South rapper Killer Mike is on the Late Show with David Letterman tonight at 11:35 PM on CBS. His last album, "R.A.P. Music", got rave reviews last year. Spin Magazine said Killer Mike was the best show they saw at SXSW last Thursday.

Late Night Pick: Dropkick Murphys

Just in time to start getting your Irish on this weekend, Irish-American punk pop band Dropkick Murphys will be on Late Show with David Letterman tonight at 11:35 PM on CBS. They actually taped the performance last night because they are doing a St. Patty's Day Irish fest blowour at TD Garden in Boston tonight with Black 47 (love them), The Mahones, and Old Man Markley. Expect lots of drunk, tattooed guys with thick Boston accents and more than a few fights at that one.

Lotus, Pinback, Wale, Larry Keel & Natural Bridge, Nighthawks, The Atkinsons

St. Patty's Weekend! Dance a jig, wear green and party until you puke green beer. Much music this weekend.

Jamtronica band Lotus headlines two nights at The National on Friday and Saturday night. Tix are $22 in advance, $25 at the door, or you can buy a two day pass for $40. Doors open at 8 and the show starts at 9 each night. Friday night, the opener is The Werks, Saturday night, Richmond's own Former Champions opens. Both shows are getting close to sold out so get your tix now. Here's Lotus doing "Kodiak" live at Red Rocks:



If you are more Mr. Natural than rave guy, head to the Capital Ale House on Friday night to see Larry Keel and Natural Bridge. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9. Tix are $12 in advance, $15 day of show. Last time they played at Capital Ale House they sold out so get your tix early. They recently played NPR's Mountain Stage Radio Show with Asleep at the Wheel and others. The show will be broadcast on May 3. Here they are playing a few days ago at Jewish Mother in VA Beach:



Saturday, Shamrock the Block goes down in Shockoe Bottom around the Farmer's Market area. This has become a huge event with more than 30,000 attending last year. It'll run from noon to 6. It's free to attend, there will be food and beer to buy, and bands playing all day. Click HERE for the band lineup.

That night at the Canal Club, indie pop band Pinback will perform. Doors open at 8, tix are $15 in advance, $18 at the door. No opener is listed on the Facebook event page for this one, but you might want to check the Canal Club site later. The site is down as I type this. They'll be playing on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on March 19. Here's their video for the fine song "Proceed to Memory" from their latest album, "Information Retrieved":



Sunday night, blues greats The Nighthawks will be at Lulu's. The show will start around 7 and it's $15 to get in. Here's a taste of their show in Rockville MD on 2/23:



Underground rapper Wale will be at The National on Sunday night. Tix are $32.50 in advance, $40 at the door. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9. No opener is listed on The National's site. You might like Wale is you like Gorillaz, Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, Jay-Z, Outkast, DJ Kool, or Chuck Brown. Here's Wale's "Street Runner" (language NSFW):



Over at Capital Ale House on St. Pat's Day, it's a full day of FREE music with Donnybrooks Band from 3 PM to 6 PM, then The Atkinsons from 7 PM to midnight with St. Andrews Legion Pipe & Drums making appearances throughout the day. The Atkinsons are an Americana band but they say they've got some Irish tunes ready for the show. Here's The Atkinsons playing at the 2012 Watermelon Fest:



The tenth best video of 2012 according to Paste Magazine is this sad little animated video from Wilco for "Sunloathe":



Have a great St. Patrick's Day!

Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: Justin Timberlake

Justin Timberlake continues his week-long residency as the music guest on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on NBC at 12:35 AM. He's supporting his well-recieved new album, "The 20/20 Experience". Apparently, he's a big fan of that ABC news show and the entire album consists of him doing classic news stories from the show. OK, that's not really true, but you can see/hear what the music sounds like tonight on the show. Here's a clip from his appearance on Saturday Night Live last week where he reprised his "D**k in a Box" character with Andy Samberg. And you may recognize two other wild and crazy guys.

Late Night Pick: Josh Ritter

Singer/songwriter Josh Ritter will be on the Late Show with David Letterman tonight on CBS at 11:35 PM. He'll be finishing up his US tour for his new album, "The Beast in its Tracks" here in Richmond at Lewis Ginter Botanical on May 22 as part of this year's Groovin' in the Garden series. You can watch him perform songs from his new album along with some older stuff in a special show he did just for me and my readers. OK, really it was done for NPR, but we can pretend, can't we?

Late Night Pick & Webcast: Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode is in full-on comeback mode with an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman tonight at 11:35 PM on CBS and a live concert webcast from the Ed Sullivan Theater which you will find HERE. The concert webcast begins at 8 PM ET. They'll be doing songs from their new album, Delta Machine (out March 26) along with a few of their classic tunes. They also announced a US tour this AM with the closest stop at the Jiffy Lube Live amphitheater in Bristow VA on Sept. 10.

Late Night Pick: Damien Jurado

Another Last Call with Carson Daly repeat tonight, this one with Damien Jurado. Last Call is on NBC at 1:35 AM. You'll probably dig Damien if you like folks like Nick Drake, Neil Young, Bob Dylan (got my tix for his show at the Landmark on 4/16 today!), Lou Reed, Randy Newman, Elliot Smith, Cat Power, Rufus Wainwrigh, Cat Stevens, Donovan, John Lennon, Nirvana, or Paul Westerberg.

Matchbox 20, Bob Dylan tix on sale, Kepone, Trongone Band

Getting to start (and finish!) this while the sun is still up for a change after being granted a 1/2 snow day by my employer (the boss' name rhymes with Ronald McDonald but he's a different kind of clown).

Thursday night at Cary St. Cafe, Trongone Band continue their Thursday night residency. The show will start at 10 PM and there is no cover. You can also catch the band unplugged at Tobacco Company from 7 PM - 9 PM on Sunday night. Here's the band performing Stevie Wonder's "Boogie on Reggae Woman" > Grateful Dead's "West LA Fadeaway" at The Camel back in November:



On Sunday at The Landmark Theater, Matchbox 20 comes to town. The show will start at 7:30 with Matt Hires opening. Tickets are $40, $60 or $70 dollars. Looks like some single seats are still available but otherwise it's sold out. If you really like Matchbox 20, you can join them on their cruise in December. It's on a Carnival ship. Hope that turns out better than that one a few weeks ago. Here they are, land locked and  performing "English Town" live in Australia on this tour:

Speaking of the Landmark Theater, tix for Bob Dylan & His Band will go on sale on Friday at 10 AM at etix.com. The show is April 16 and Dawes will be the opener. The tickets are a reasonable $52. See him now because he's getting old but his shows are still pretty damn good. BTW, if you wanna go, let me know as I'm currently looking for a concert buddy that night. I also have the super-secret pre-sale password.

Richmond's classic indie-power-punk-pop band, Kepone, will make a rare appearance as they've reunited for three East Coast shows. They've got gigs in DC and Philly before they hit Strange Matter here in Richmond on Sunday night.  Doors will open at 9, show starts at 10. It's $8 in advance, $10 at the door. Office of Future Plans and Daria will open. Here's Kepone at Balliceaux in October of last year:



Here's the 9th best video of the year 2012 according to Paste Magazine. It's the one where Fiona Apple wears an octopus on her head. She so crazy! It's actually a pretty cool video.


Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: Tift Merritt

Americana songstress Tift Merritt will be on Last Call with Carson Daly tonight at 1:35 AM on NBC. This is a repeat of the show that was on a month ago. Tift has a new collaboration out with classical pianist Simone Dinnerstein called "Night" that comes out March 19. Here's the first video from that album for "Only in Songs / Night and Dreams":

Late Night Pick: Dave Grohl's Sound City Players featuring Rick Springfield, John Fogerty, Rick Nielsen, Lee Ving & Krist Novoselic

It's an all-star cast on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight with a little someone for every rock n' roll era. Dave Grohl is still celebrating his release of the movie he directed, "Sound City", and tonight his Sound City Players are made up of Rick Springfield, John Fogerty, Rick Nielsen, Lee Ving & Krist Novoselic. Should be fun. Jimmy Kimmel is on ABC at 11:35 PM.

Late Night Pick: Little Big Town

It's pretty much a night of repeats on late night now that February sweeps is done. So we'll go with a repeat of the Late Show with David Letterman featuring country act, Little Big Town. Little Big Town got four nominiations for the Academy of Country Music Awards: Vocal Group of the Year, Album of the Year for "Tornado", Single of the Year for "Pontoon", and Video of the Year for "Tornado".

Late Night Pick: Prince

Prince will be on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tonight on NBC at 12:35 AM. Questlove from Jimmy's house band, The Roots, is a huge Prince fan so I'm hoping Prince might bust out something a little rare. Prince may also play some new music as he seems to be raising his public profile lately, doing more TV and playing live. Since Prince hates YouTube, it's damn near impossible to find anything on there since the Prince police take it down quickly. But since this clip belongs to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, he can't take it down. Here's Prince, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Steve Winwood and Dhani Harrison (George's son) doing "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". Prince whips off an amazing solo, and looking at Dhani's face, I would say he agrees.