Weekly Picks: Ava Luna, 2 Chainz, Southern Belles, Avers, Church Hill Irish Fest

Southern Belles will be at Cary St. Cafe Wednesday night starting at 10 PM and with no cover charge at the Cafe (as usual). The Belles have added Andrew Carper to the band so head to Cary St. Cafe and check Andrew out and what he does. After this show, the band heads out on tour for a month, hitting sites in VA, NC, TN and NYC. Good luck on your tour boys and we know you'll represent RVA well! Here's their full show (w/pro audio) from The Camel on 3/7, which opens with their killer version of the Grateful Dead's "Mississippi Half-Step Toodleloo":



The latest Richmond buzz band, Avers, will be at The Camel Thursday night with Sister/Lovers and Sleepwalkers opening. Doors will open at 7 and it's only $5 to get in. Avers is also spreading their wings heading out to NC, DC, Philly, NYC, and C'ville after this show. The RVA music scene is on the move! It's only a matter of time before Pitchfork or Rolling Stone calls us the best music city in the US and we are inundated with crappy musicians and music biz leeches which bring the scene to the ground. OK, maybe I'm being a bit pessimistic but enjoy it while you can.

Indie rock/pop/soul band Ava Luna will be at Gallery 5 Thursday. After a description like that you can see they like a little of everything and the influences they list on Facebook run through Fugazi, Clarence Carter, Prince, Bauhaus, Al Green, and Can. Whatever you want to call them, I like their sound. Doors open at 7:30, show starts at 8 with openers Krill, Navi, and Naked Baby. Here they are down at SXSW a couple weeks ago:



The gangsta rap Too Good to be T.R.U. tour comes to the Altria Theater (the theater formerly known as The Mosque and The Landmark) on Friday night. Show starts at 8 and features 2 Chainz, Pusha T and August Alsina. Tix run from $34.50 to $54.50. Here's 2 Chainz new single, "Fork":

Saturday and Sunday it's the 29th Annual Church Hill Irish Festival in Church Hill (duh!) at Broad and 25th. It's only a $5 donation to get in and that benefits a bunch of local charities. It'll run on Saturday from 10 AM to 7 PM and on Sunday from 10 AM to 6 PM. They'll have music all day with both rock n' roll and traditional Celtic music represented. Lots of food, beer (though everyone is always well behaved), a kids area, crafts and more. It's always a good time.

And just for the hell of it, here's Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band doing "Stayin' Alive". This really kicks ass way more than you might think it would.


That'll do it. Have a great weekend!

Tony Jordan