Weekend Picks: Screaming Females, Lucero, Ryan Bingham, Particle, Cobalt Cranes, Kepone, Brown Sabbath, Diamond Center

Despite the wintry weather on Thursday, it feels like spring is on the way as the concert calendar is starting to busier. The bands are coming back out after hibernation, Friday Cheers has been announcing their shows and it is getting easier to imagine watching bands in shorts and t-shirts under the stars.

Thursday gets underway with RVA's own, DJ Williams Projekt, at The Answer Brewpub. They'll be tapping brews from Maine Beer Co. starting at 4. The band starts at 8 and it's FREE to get in. Here's DJWP when they played with Karl Denson at The Broadberry.

At The Broadberry on Thursday, it's the return of one of the original jamtronica groups, Particle. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9 with opener Greenhouse Lounge. It's $15 to get in. I caught Particle at the Canal Club when they were in town about a year ago on their first show here in Richmond in a long time. They can still bring the funk and they were really good. Particle keyboardist and leader Steve Molitz played with Phil Lesh & Friends for a while and recently played a Phil & Friends show at Phil's Terrapin Crossroads concert venue in CA. Here they are at the Catskill Chill festival in 2013.



Friday, The Southern Belles are at The Camel for their usual First Friday show. Doors open at 8, show starts at 9 with openers The Get Right Band. It's $7 in advance, $10 at the door. After this show, the Belles head out on a tour that starts in my old stomping grounds of Allentown, PA, and will also take them to KY, CO, MT, and KS. Spread the word, boys, spread the word! Here's the show they did at The Camel on 1/2/15:



Country rock band Everwilde will be at Sine' Irish Pub Friday night. It was announced today that one of the founding members of the band, Shawn Drudge (drummer), and his cousin, Adam (guitar), left the band so you can see how the new guys are working out at their first show on Friday. The band will start at 9 and I believe it's FREE to get in. Here's Everwilde's "Trucker Man":

Friday night at Strange Matter, it's a psychedelic grunge fest with Cobalt Cranes (from Los Angeles), The Diamond Center (RVA) and Manzara. Kyle & Brandi of Diamond Center will be relocating to Austin TX soon so this will be the last time they play Strange Matter as an RVA band. I'm sure they'll be back to play in the future when they'll be just another Austin band (albeit a great one), but they'll always be an RVA band to us. Here's Cobalt Cranes latest music video, "Flowers on Your Grave":



You will get another chance to see The Diamond Center on Saturday when they play at Hardywood Craft Brewery for the Black Vinyl Stout release to celebrate Plan 9 vinyl passion over the decades. Beers at tapped at 2. From 2 - 4:30 you can bring your favorite, weirdest, or rarest vinyl for special guest DJs from WRIR to spin. Bring your story about the record and tell it and you may win a gift certificate. At 4:45, Hotel X (world music/jazz) will perform. The Diamond Center will be on from 5:50 to 6:35. White Laces (dreamy, atmospheric indie-pop from Richmond) will be on from 6:35 - 7:40. Legendary Richmond punk rockers, Kepone, will close the show from 8 - 8:50. Here's Kepone at last year's GWAR-B-Q:



Indie rockers Screaming Females will be at Strange Matter Sunday. Tix are $10 in advance, $12 day of show. Doors open at 8 and openers include Downtown Boys, Fat Spirit, and Cherry Pits. Screaming Females have a new album out called "Rose Mountain" and here's the first single, "Hopeless":

Tuesday night, Richmond's greatest Black Sabbath tribute band, Brown Sabbath, will be at The Broadberry. Doors open at 8, it's only $5 to get in. Channel 43 and Deep Vinyl Groove open. Here's some footage of Brown Sabbath from a few years ago at The Republic (language NSFW):

Wednesday night at The National, alt-country-rock acts Ryan Bingham & Lucero will perform. Tix are $20 in advance, $23 at the door. Doors open at 7, show starts at 7:30 with Twin Forks. A lot of the shows on this tour have been selling out so get your tickets now. You'll dig these guys is you like Johnny Cash, Drive-By Truckers, The Replacements, Neil Young, The Blasters, or Springsteen. Here's Lucero's brand new video, "Women & Work":



That's it for this week. Next weekend gets even crazier with a whole bunch of St. Patty's Day festivals. We'll leave you with some classic Neil Young and Crazy Horse from 1991 when Neil earned his nickname, The Godfather of Grunge. Have a great weekend! I may see you at Hardywood on Saturday and Brown Sabbath on Tuesday.



Tony Jordan