Late Night Pick: Metric

Tonight on a repeat of Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC, 1:35 AM), check out Canadian indie pop band Metric.The band recently played the Rock the Garden fest in Minneapolis. Here's 24 hours of that fest in five minutes set to Metric's music. Looks like fun!

Infamous Stringdusters, DJ Williams Projekt, Black Girls, Big Payback

This is going to be a quick blog about what's going on this weekend because:

1. It's the weekend before July 4 and there isn't a whole lot going on musically
2. Since I got back from my vacation, I've been really busy at work and home and tired, too. Looks like I need a vacation from my vacation! But I'm hopeful that between the weekend and a lot of people taking off from work next week, that I can catch up and right the ship.

Tonight it's the last Friday Cheers of the summer (a tear rolls slowly down my face) and it should be a fine night (if there is no rain) for sitting by the river and listening to the newgrass/bluegrass sounds of The Infamous Stringdusters. It's $10 to get in. The show starts at 6:30 with opener James Justin & Co. The Stringdusters will come on around 8. Tonight will be a little preview for the Stringdusters as they'll do an "American Rivers Tour" in August going to some of the great river towns in the Western part of the US. They like to book their tours around fun things to do to keep touring fresh for them. Perhaps you'll see them out on the river this afternoon. Here's the Stringdusters doing "Rockets":

Some quick local heroes to note:

Tonight at Capital Ale House, DJ Williams Projekt celebrate their 10th Anniversary with Black Girls opening and perhaps some special guests. Doors open at 9:30, show starts at 10. $12 to get in.

Saturday evening, Black Girls will headline an early show with James Brown tribute band, The Big Payback, at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery. Each band will play two alternating sets with Big Payback staring first around 6 PM. Doesn't look like there is any charge to get in. Black Girls finished the first round of demos for their upcoming album and will be heading into the studio next week to record.

That'll be it. Hope to get back on track next week. Have a great weekend and I'll see you at Cheers!

Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: Damien Jurado

Check out a repeat of Last Call with Carson Daly tonight on NBC at 1:35 AM that features alternative singer/songwriter Damien Jurado. You might dig Damien if you like Nick Drake, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Randy Newman, Cat Stevens, Donovan, John Lennon, Nirvana, or The Replacements.

Late Night Pick: Broken Social Scene with Feist

Tonight, on a repeat of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (from 6/6) you can see indie rockers Broken Social Scene team up with indie goddess Feist. Late Night is on at 12:35 AM on NBC. They'll play the song "Almost Crimes" tonight.

Late Night Pick: Mavis Staples

We're back! I bet you didn't even notice I was gone. I was on vacation with my boys down to Key West and had a marvelous time. Hard to get back in the swing of things today but muddling through.

Anyway, watch soul legend Mavis Staples tonight on Conan at 11 PM on TBS. Mavis' new album, "One True Vine", which is produced by Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, hits stores today and is getting excellent reviews so far.

Late Night Pick: Anamanaguchi

If you think the band name, Anamanaguchi, sounds like a video game character, well, you'd be close. Anamanaguchi are a band that combines your traditional rock instrumentation with their love for the sounds of 80's video games and comes up with a sound called "chip punk". If you interested in checking out how that sounds, watch Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tonight at 12:35 AM on NBC. Or you can see the band live when they play Strange Matter here in Richmond on July 25.

Late Night Pick: Grimes

Tonight on Last Call with Carson Daly (1:35 AM, NBC), check out goth-electronica pop artist Grimes. She's been picking up awards and getting big reviews for her 2012 album, "Visions".

Tame Impala, Lake Street Dive, Kishi Bashi, Houses, Roosevelt Dime

Looks like a busy weekend for music here in Richmond and there are only a few busy ones left before the dog days of summer hit, the bands head out to the festivals to the north and west and we wait for the fall before the bands come back again, as sure as the leaves will change.

We start with the lovely and talented Sheryl Crow. You may remember her as the backup singer for Michael Jackson. She's had a few hits since then. She'll be out at Innsbrook....WAIT! STOP THE PRESSES! The Innsbrook site is reporting that the show has been postponed until Thursday, July 11. Here is the statement on the site, "Due to the potential for severe weather conditions with high winds in the Richmond area and with safety of the audience in the forefront of our minds tomorrow’s Sheryl Crow concert has been moved to Thursday July 11th.  All tickets will be honored for the new date."

Though there may be potential for bad weather, that won't stop the indoor shows. Mike K. told me about this band, Roosevelt Dime, which he saw at a very hip wedding and they will be at Ashland Coffee & Tea tomorrow night. Tix are $10 in advance, $15 day of show. Show starts at 8 with openers Goodnight Moonshine (featuring Molly Venter of Red Molly and Eben Pariser of Roosevelt Dime). Roosevelt Dime describe themselves as "a four-piece, Brooklyn, N.Y.-based band that blends elements of acoustic jug-band blues, classic New Orleans soul and neo-folk to create an original sound best described as Kings County Steamboat Soul." Here's RD debuting "Calvary" before a NYC crowd a couple months ago:



Over at The Camel on Thursday night, People's Blues of Richmond will rock hard. Doors open at 9 PM, the Shack Band opens and it's $7 to get in. Here's PBR's new video for "Genghis Khan"! Hey, is that Gandalf watching the band? I think he's their new roadie.



Friday starting at 5 PM at ustream.tv/Bonnaroo, the Bonnaroo webcast begins. It'll run Friday through Sunday, with two seperate video feeds so you can pick your band. And you'll see bands such as Paul McCartney, Jim James, Mumford & Sons, Of Monsters & Men, Wilco, Passion Pit, Jason Isbell, Glen Hansard, Lumineers, Beach House, The National, Father John Misty, Tame Impala and much more. The schedule is HERE.

Friday night here in Richmond, it's another Friday Cheers, this time with co-headliners Kishi Bashi (6:30 PM) and Lake Street Dive (8:15 PM). Kishi Bashi is singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist K. Ishibashi and plays a pop/folk/world music blend that'll make you smile. Lake Street Dive hail from Boston and play jazzy pop/rock with a classic rock feel. So it should make for for some fine, fun music on what looks to be a pleasant evening weather-wise once we get through the big storms tomorrow. Here's a 1/2 hour performance Kishi Bashi did for KEXP Seattle in February of this year:



And here's Lake Street Dive doing their song "Use Me Up":



And just for fun, here's LSD doing a Hall & Oates classic:



Over at Ashland Coffee & Tea Friday night, you can catch one of Richmond's favorite homegrown Americana bands, The Atkinsons. They'll start at 8 and it's $10 to get in.

For all you vegans or those who want to be vegan for a day, the Richmond Vegetarian Festival will be at the Azalea Gardens in Bryan Park on Saturday from noon until 6 PM.

At the Canal Club Saturday night, it's a mini-blues fest called "Blues in the Bottom 4" (I hope they use lubricant) with The Bush League, Janet Martin Band and Michael Burgess & the House of Burgess. Tix are $7 in advance, $10 to get in and the doors will open at 7 and the show starts at 8.

Balliceaux will host Black Girls on Saturday night starting at 10:30 PM. It's $5 to get in and The Delphine and Zak Hryciak & the Jungle Beat will open. Black Girls put on a great show opening for Head & The Heart a couple weeks ago at Friday Cheers, their 70's funk/disco/pop gettin' the island groovin'. They've just started working on a new album so maybe they'll have some new jams for us. In fact, there they are at Friday Cheers:



It's an indie electronica show at Strange Matter on Sunday night with Baths, Houses and D33J. Doors open at 8 and it's $12 in advance, $14 at the door. Here's a show Baths (aka Will Wiesenfeld) did in LA in November. The people behind him are quite the motley crew of hipsters.



Tuesday night, fresh off their Sunday night appearance at Bonnaroo, Australian psychedelic rock band, Tame Impala, will be at The National. Some extra tickets had been made available to this sold out show over the last couple days but get them quick. Tix are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with opener Fascinator. I really dig these guys and if I wasn't leaving town early the next day, I would be there. Maybe next time. Here's Tame Impala doing "Elephant". Smoke 'em if you got 'em.
This one sounds like "Saucerful of Secrets" era Pink Floyd.


I'm off to watch the second OT of the Stanley Cup Finals. Nothing like OT playoff hockey!

Catch you later!

Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: Paul McCartney

Sir Paul McCartney will be on a special hour-long Colbert Report tonight on Comedy Central at 11:30 ET and then repeated throughout the day. Paul will probably talk about his current tour, the deluxe release of "Wings Over America" (the first album I bought with my own money) and accompanying "Rockshow" DVD, and his appearance at Bonnaroo this weekend. You'll be able to watch that performance on the live Bonnaroo webcast this weekend, but more on that in tonight's blog.

Late Night Pick: The Lumineers

Tonight, watch The Lumineers on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on NBC at 12:35 AM. They'll be trying to follow up their big hit, "Ho Hey". Relix Magazine recently profiled them in their 13th Annual Relix Festival Guide and you can check that out HERE.

Late Night Pick: Queens of the Stone Age (again)

Yes, we picked Queens of the Stone Age last night but I enjoyed their live webcast so much last night and I guess Dave enjoyed them so much, that they are on Late Show with David Letterman again and I'm picking them again. I even bought their CD today at Plan 9. Late Show is on CBS at 11:35 PM.

Charles Bradley, Passion Pit, Mary J Blige, Social Distortion, Darwin Deez, Atlas Genius, Andrew WK

We'll begin on Thursday night when party rocker and kids show host ("Destroy Build Destroy"), Andrew WK, plays Kingdom. Don't bring the kids to this one unless they are old enough to mosh. At least 5 years old. Tix are $15, doors open at 7 and openers are Strike the Chord and Burn and maybe some others too. Andrew will be "Armed only with a microphone, a keyboard and the will to survive". Here's Andrew doing "Get Ready to Die" last night (6/4) in Greensboro NC:



R&B/Soul (yes, that's with a capital S) diva Mary J. Blige will be at Richmond Coliseum Thursday night with Anthony Hamilton opening. Tix are $57 - $112, doors open at 7 and Jay Lamont will also be opening. Here's Mary's press blurb: "With a track record of eight multi-platinum albums, nine Grammy Awards® (plus a staggering 29 nominations) and four American Music Awards, Mary J. Blige is only getting started. “I know who I am and what I can do. With each album, it’s just me continuing to grow,” claims Mary J. Blige in a pure, unadulterated and empowering voice. That has been Mary J. Blige’s calling card ever since her 1992 multi-platinum debut album, What’s the 411? And in the ensuing years, the singer/songwriter’s musical strong suit has attracted an intensely loyal fan base—responsible for propelling worldwide sales of more than 50 million albums. Blige’s 10th and most recent studio album, “My Life II … The Journey Continues (Act 1)” was released in November 2011 and is the sequel to Blige’s 1994 classic My Life." Here's Mary J's latest, "Don't Mind":

Thursday night, the 4 day live webcast of Warren Haynes' Mountain Jam Festival starts live from Hunter Mountain, NY. You can check it out HERE. Thursday starts at 8 PM ET with Rubblebucket and Primus (10 PM). Friday starts at 1 PM and will feature Avett Brothers (5:45 PM), and two sets from Widespread Panic (8 PM). Saturday starts at noon and features Michael Franti & Spearhead (3:30 PM), Gary Clark Jr. (5:15 PM, the future of blues guitar, don't miss him), the Lumineers (6:45 PM) and two sets from Gov't Mule (9 PM). Sunday, The Lone Bellow (who recently played Friday Cheers) kick things off at noon and Phil Lesh & Friends (featuring Warren, John Scofield, Joe Russo & Jeff Chimenti and probably Jackie Greene too since he plays at 4:30 PM) wrap things up with two sets starting at 6 PM. I know what I'll be doing when I'm home this weekend and that's watching this webcast. And, of course, Warren Haynes will probably play with every band.

Friday Cheers has the show I circled on my calendar the day they announced the schedule and that's with soul man, Charles Bradley. Charles struggled for years, making money as a James Brown tribute act and is finally getting his just due now that he's teamed up with a band of young bucks, similar to Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings (get well soon, Sharon!). This guy went to the SXSW conference this year and even with all the young bands there, he came out as the talk of the festival. I don't care if it rains (it keeps the party crowd down so we just get the music people and it's easier to get beer and Goatocado food), don't be a puss, put on your big boy or girl rain gear and go see this guy. If a thunderstorm cancels this one, I will personally kick Thor's ass. Charles will come on around 8, The Rootdowns start the show at 6:30 and it's just $10 to get in. Here he is performing "Love Bug Blues" at SXSW:

Over at The National Friday night, punk/indie rock icons, Social Distortion, will rock the place. Tix are $27.50 in advance, $32.50 day of show. Cheap Time and Dave Hause will open the show at 8 and doors open at 7. Here's "Gimme the Sweet and Lowdown" from their latest album, "Hard Times & Nursery Rhymes":



Wacky, indie, alternative singer/songwriter Darwin Deez is at Strange Matter on Saturday night. Tix are $10 in advance, $12 day of show. This is an early show with doors opening at 5 PM and openers are Crushed Out (FKA Boom Chick) and Herro Sugar. You might like Darwin if you like Beck, Fleetwood Mac, Napoleon Dynamite, Architecture in Helsinki, Phoenix, MGMT, Ra Ra Riot, or The Strokes. Here's his video for "You Can't Be My Girl". This is a great video!


The National (the band) has sold out The National (the venue) on Saturday night. I'm just lettin' you know in case some tickets open up or you win some or your friend says, "Hey, I've got an extra ticket for The National at the The National. You wanna go?" If tix open up, they'll be $30 in advance, $35 at the door. Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 with opener People Get Ready. Here they are performing "Graceless" on "The Colbert Report":

The Colbert Report
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Passion Pit (indie electronic pop)  will play two shows at The National (the venue), one on Sunday and one on Monday. Tix are $30 in advance, $35 day of show, doors open at 7 and show starts at 8 with Cults opening both nights. The Monday show is sold out. Here's "Carried Away", another pretty cool video:




Over at Strange Matter on Sunday night, Ugly Radio Rebellion will play the music of Frank Zappa with original Zappa band member, Ike Willis. Black Sabbath tribute band Brown Sabbath will open the show. Doors open at 8 and it's $10 to get in. This video features none of these people but does feature Frank Zappa performing "Montana" from the just released on DVD "A Token of His Extreme" and I like it:



Indie electronic band Atlas Genius will be at Canal Club next Wednesday (6/12). Tix are $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Doors open at 7 with opener Pacific Air and Haerts. Atlas Genius has been playing some pretty big clubs and festivals so it should be a treat, and perhaps the last time, you can catch them in a place the size of The Canal Club. Here they are performing on an "MTV Artist to Watch" show recently. The song is "Trojans":

Get More: Atlas Genius, Trojans (Artist To Watch Live), Music, More Music Videos

Have a great weekend! See you at Friday Cheers!

Tony Jordan

Late Night Pick: Queens of the Stone Age & John Mellencamp

Had to take a couple days off from the blog because they've been cray-zay. Today is too, but I gotta get back.

Tonight, check out one of the best hard rock bands of the last 20 years, Queens of the Stone Age, on Late Show with David Letterman on CBS at 11:35 PM.  QOTSA will also be doing a concert webcast tonight at 9 PM ET, live from the Ed Sullivan Theater, where Dave tapes the show. You can check that out HERE. John Mellencamp will also be on the show tonight but he won't be performing. He'll be talking about the new Southern Gothic musical he wrote with T-Bone Burnett & Stephen King called "Ghost Brother of Darkland County".