Yonder Mountain String Band, Front Bottoms, Dierks Bentley, O.A.R., Kepone

We've got a lot going on live this weekend but we'll start with a webcast. It's the Newport Folk Festival webcast on NPR. You can watch it HERE. It starts at 2:30 ET on Friday and noon ET on Saturday and Sunday. Performers include Old Crow Medicine Show, Lone Bellow, Shovels & Rope, Jim James, Father John Misty, Trombone Shorty, Justin Townes Earle, The Avett Brothers, Tift Merritt, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Lord Huron, Michael Kiwanuka, Beth Orton, The Lumineers, Andrew Bird, Beck and more.

Yonder Mountain String Band will stop off here on their way to FloydFest. They'll be in town Friday night at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. Gates open at 5:30, music starts around 6. There will be an opener but right now they are TBA. Tix are all General Admission, $25 in advance, $30 at the gate. You'll like YMSB if you like Aquarium Rescue Unit, Bela Fleck, Del McCoury Band, Nickel Creek, Bill Monroe, Infamous Stringdusters, David Grisman, Grateful Dead, Phish, or Widespread Panic. Here's YMSB doing "If You're Ever In Oklahoma":



Classic Richmond hard rock band Kepone will make a rare appearance at Gallery 5 on Friday night. It's only $5 to get in. Doors open at 7 and Joesphine and Kid is Qual will open the show starting at 8. Here they are rocking Balliceaux last October:



At the Hippodrome on Friday, Susan Greenbaum will perform. Doors open at 7 and the show will start at 8 PM. It'll be $10 to get in.

Black Girls will be at Balliceaux on Friday night. It's $5 to get in and show starts at 10. They just finished working on a new album so they should have some fresh new tunes for ya.

King Solomon's Marbles will steal your face with Grateful Dead covers at Cary St. Cafe Friday. They start at 10 and there is no cover.

Indie pop band The Front Bottoms will be up front and personal at The Camel Monday night. The show will start at 7:30 with openers Tiny Moving Parts, Hold Tight! and Lighjars. It's $12 to get in. You might like The Front Bottoms if you like Green Day, Jonathan Richman, or The Replacements. Here's their new video for "Funny You Should Ask":

Wednesday night at Pocahontas State Park (one good thing about all the concerts there this year is that I have finally learned how to spell Pocahontas without looking it up) O.A.R. will perform. Gates open at 5, show starts around 5:30 with openers Andrew McMahon and Allen Stone. It's all General Admission and tix are $25 in advance, $30 at the door. Can't say I'm a big fan of O.A.R. They strike me as Dave Matthews Band light. I would probably have gone to see them when I was in college but only because the sorority girl I was trying to get with liked them. Nowadays...meh. Here they are live at Red Rocks last year:



Out at Innsbrook Wednesday is country star Dierks Bentley. Gates open at 5, show starts at 6:30 with opener Rocketknife. Tix are $30 for General Admission, $45 for Gold Circle Reserved, $60 for Gold Circle Preferred. Dierks recently helped raise $476,000 in a show to benefit the families of the Granite Mountain Hot Shots, the firefighter team that lost their lives in the Arizona wildfires. Here's Dierks doing "Tip It On Back":

If you're playing from home on Wednesday, be sure to tune in to the latest Weir Here webcast from Bob Weir (Grateful Dead, etc.) on his TRI Studios web site. This week's webcast starts at 8:30 ET and will feature guitarist Warren Haynes (Allman Brothers, Gov't Mule, Phil & Friends, The Dead). This show will be a celebration of Jerry Garcia's birthday so hopefully some other musicians will show up to celebrate too.

Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan